Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

[Review Of] Stephen F. Feraca. Wakinyan: Lakota Religion In The Twentieth Century And Julian Rice. Before The Great Spirit: The Many Faces Of Sioux Spirituality, Raymond A. Bucko

Ethnic Studies Review

Each of these authors provides unique approaches and insights concerning Lakota ritual and belief. Julian Rice, a prolific writer on Lakota Literature, attempts to reconstruct the essence of Lakota religion before European contact while Feraca, who logged long periods of interaction with Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Reservation as a government employee and field worker, provides an intricate portrait of Lakota ritual during his tenure on the Pine Ridge reservation. They reach similar basic understandings of Lakota religious practice: the importance of the acquisition of spiritual power, the primacy of kinship, the democratic and charismatic nature of individual religious …