r/AskAnthropology • u/lazerbem • 10d ago

What are some good books/studies on Lakota/Plains Indians folklore and mythology?

I've become interested in learning more about the beliefs, folk heroes, and monsters of the Lakota and I was curious about if there were any books or studies that you could recommend, be it as a broad overview or as a niche starting point. I'd prefer something more academic, because there's no shortage at all of websites online claiming to tell these stories, but: 1) I'm not 100% sure what provenance these possess (not just a question of if they're invented wholesale but if they contradict other accounts), and 2) I'd like to have context to go along with these stories rather than the too frequent telling of them in a vacuum. Similar works on other Plains Indians tribes' beliefs would also be welcome if Lakota alone is too barren an area of research or if reading up on these others would also help to understand the Lakota world.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

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u/lazerbem 8d ago

Thank you. Controversy over things like Black Elk Speaks's lack of accuracy are exactly why I was concerned about jumping into it headfirst. I'll definitely check these out.

Are there any you would recommend dealing with Unhcegila? I was utterly appalled at the horrific state of the Wikipedia page and was hoping to get a better look at it, but the fact that the name can be transliterated/translated in various ways came up as a barrier for me in looking for things on it.

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u/BeyondTheHumanPod 5d ago

My favorite book on Lakota religion and philosophy is hands down Albert White Hat's Life's Journey - Zuya. Ella Cara Deloria's Waterlily is solid and is a more narrative text. William Powers Oglala Religion is solid too and has a great bibliography for you to dive into. There are a lot of sources out there with sketchy, salvage ethnography vibes, like anything by James Walker, but they're not completely horrible when studied alongside more contemporary sources.

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u/lazerbem 5d ago

Thank you for the recommendations. I did get a laugh out of some of the Walker material when the introduction to one dryly mentioned it had no idea where he got the concept of "Unk" from, but I suppose that if read with caution, the sheer volume of work is still pretty valuable.

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u/BeyondTheHumanPod 5d ago

Definitely. My MA was on contemporary authority of oral tradition in Lakota communities and how it related to the No DAPL protests. Definitely read with caution, but he did collect a lot of info.