I am from the Íŋyaŋ Woslál Hé-Oyáŋke "Standing Rock Indian Reservation" of present-day North and South Dakota. Our treaty territory was established by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, comprising all of present-day South Dakota west of the Mníšoše "Missouri River," including the sacred Ȟesápa "Black Hills" and the life-giving Mníšoše. My people are members of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ "Seven Council Fires," also known as the Great Sioux Nation, which consists of the Dakota, Lakota, and Nation nations. "Dakota," "Lakota," and "Nakota" mean "friends" or "allies." Our people of these nations are often called "Sioux," a term dating back to the seventeenth century when we lived in the Great Lakes area. Our Ojibwa/Chippewa (self-name Anishinaabe) relatives called my people "Nadouwesou" meaning "adders." This term, shortened and corrupted by French traders, resulted in the retention of the last syllable as "Sioux." There are seven Sioux bands, such as Mdewakanton – "Dwellers by the Sacred Lake," Wahpekute- "Shooters Among the Leaves," Sisitonwan/Sisseton – "People of the Marsh", Wahpetonwan – "Dwellers Among the Leaves", Ihanktown/Lower Yanktonai – "People of the End", Ihanktowana/Upper Yanktoni – "People of the Little End", and my people the Tetonwan – "People on the Plains." Each band has important cultural, linguistic, territorial, and political distinctions.
Archives will help my community of Standing Rock and the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ "Seven Council Fires" document and preserve our history from our point of view and our own Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota philosophies. For example, our people could archive the history of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, formerly the Missouri River Basin Project, and its negative impact on my community. Engaging in my community by bringing together the elders who experienced the flooding of the Missouri River and documenting their testimonies would help us younger generations remember and understand the present. Another example would be documenting and preserving the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and its negative and positive impacts on my community after the pipeline is out of the courts and over with. We could, lastly, document and preserve all citizens of Standing Rock who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, specifically those who experienced combat. Our elders and community members are the knowledge holders since they have experienced historical events and continue living in the present.
Tribal Archivists play a guiding role in my community by gathering the knowledge keepers and community members willing to learn what an archive is and how to utilize it to document and preserve our history from our perspective. In addition, our community members look to the Archivist for guidance on maintaining, handling, and organizing primary sources such as oral history, pictures, maps, and paper documents. Tribal Archivists can also train my community to properly store and preserve their collections at home. I can see myself in this role already because I am educating my mom on how to store, arrange, and preserve our family photos, letters, heirlooms, VCR tapes, DVDs, and documents. This summer, I plan on going through our family archives and rehousing and rearranging our materials into acid-free folders and boxes.