These Were the Sioux

by Mari Sandoz

"The Sioux Indians came into my life before I had any preconceived notions about them," writes Mari Sandoz about the visitors to her family homestead in the Sandhills of Nebraska when she was a child. These Were the Sioux , written in her last decade, takes the reader far inside a world of rituals surrounding puberty, courtship, and marriage, as well as the hunt and the battle.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Indigenous, Native American, Memoir, Native American History

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Mari Susette Sandoz (May 11, 1896 – March 10, 1966) was a novelist, biographer, lecturer, and teacher. She was one of Nebraska's foremost writers, and wrote extensively about pioneer life and the Plains Indians.

Reviews

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good. An interesting look into the Sioux culture, beliefs, and a traditions.

Counting this for my 2015 reading challenge as "a book based on a true story."

[Mette Borsboom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fascinating and interesting read. It is sad to know how such a beautiful way of life was forcibly changed

[Susan Soesbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the great things about having access to books and to the internet is that you never know where your reading will take you.

I’ve been enjoying a YouTube channel called History Buffs, which offers reviews of historically-based movies. I stumbled on it when I was reading up on Stalin, and I watched a History Buffs review of a movie called The Death of Stalin. Recently, I watched their review of Dances With Wolves, a movie set in the post-Civil War American frontier, in which a former Union soldier interacts with a group of Lakota Sioux. I had watched the movie back in 1990 when it first came out. The review pointed out some inaccuracies (not many) and gave me more information about this Plains Indian tribe.

Then I remembered that one of the five or so books I brought back from Lithuania was actually about the Sioux. Yes, I had brought few books with me to Eastern Europe, and even fewer made the cut on the way home. But These Were the Sioux, by Mari Sandoz, made it. Coincidentally, here it was, right in my suitcase.

So I dug it out. At 93 pages, it was a very brief read. Sandoz describes her personal interactions with the tribe when she was a young person, and then proceeds to follow the typical Sioux from birth to adulthood, explaining the customs, relationships, roles and learning processes for people at each stage of life. Her writing is very simple and straightforward. She clearly has great respect for this group. Her bio on the website of the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society describes her as “a passionate partisan for the Plains Indians.”

These Are the Sioux seems like a good primer for a person interested in finding out the basics of the culture. After reading this book, I was left with these questions:

-How consistent has this culture been over the previous hundreds of years? In other words, is this a snapshot of a brief period in the tribe's history, or is it a portrait of a well-established, conservative culture?
-To what degree is this description of Sioux culture still accurate?
-How similar or different is this culture from those of other Native Americans?

Sandoz’s work, though limited in scope, is valuable because it is based on her personal experiences over many years. I would recommend it as one component of an informal course of study for those who want to appreciate Sioux culture and history.

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

-A society that has no locks can tolerate no thief; without paper or other easy record of man's word it can tolerate no liar, and no troublemaker if there is no jail, no prison.

-"It is well to be good to women in the strength of our manhood because we must sit under their hands at both ends of our lives".

[Adam Carman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mari Sandoz was the daughter of Swiss immigrants but she lived among the Sioux tribes and recorded her observations. While this is the perspective of an outsider and thus must suffer a bit from probably writing things she doesn't fully understand, Sandoz accepted the Sioux on their own grounds and developed personal relationships with many. There is no judgment in this book, unless it is of overly violent white colonizers. It's a great introduction for young people to an important native tribe.

[Persephone Abbott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who was this book supposed to seduce? Here it is, the old battle cry of my childhood, the 70's of Berkeley, California, be liberal, be apologetic for the treatment of the native Americans by European immigrants, quite often themselves illiterate superstitious settlers. Against the prejudice of the white races against native Americans, "Sioux Indians came into my life before I had any preconceived notions about them," writes the author, promoting her vision of the nomad Indians she met in her childhood in the early 1900s on the plains of Nebraska, is a somewhat rosy telling of Sioux life. Her personal insights are fascinating, Sandoz' life is intriguing, and yet basically when it boils down to brass tacks, the life of the nomad Sioux before the constrictions of the reservations, was just that: a nomad life. It contained hunting, moving, marrying, children, raids, death etc. Should I be impressed, envious, horrified? It's difficult to choose. While I admired the identity of the Sioux nation, I was bothered by the lumping of people as one, women did this, men did that, these were the rules of the Sioux society so this is what people then thought, etc. Really what was I supposed to feel? Honesty, I am still horrified of the brutal imposition of Christianity, and the banning of traditional dances, and yet these days many native Americans are proud to call themselves Christian. And this is what I get out of this book: The trespassing of moral boundaries from the past still bears gaping wounds, waxing nostalgic is of no use even in the event that traditions are alive, and finally a healthy respect for individuals and their identities and beliefs is crucial. I am just not sure of this book's intentions. Patronizing, romanticizing, admiring, friendly, Indian expert and scholar....All the same it was an interesting encounter with an author of whom I had no previous knowledge.

[Tanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but very interesting and worthwhile book about the Sioux customs and beliefs by Mari Sandoz who, especially during her childhood, had contact to them as their old camping ground near the Sandoz family's home.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapters focus on different aspects of Sioux life. Short, interesting.

This line resonates:
"This sense must not be that of the infant, to whom all things are joined, his to command, but that of the adult, upon whose conduct all things are dependent."

[Jay French · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, easy to read book, the author’s understanding of Sioux culture, looking from the outside in. The author was an early settler in Nebraska. She focuses on the rituals that she saw or heard about, and she explains them as she understood them. Quite interesting.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the author as a young girl in the 1890's learning about the Sioux from the curious and nonjudgmental eyes of childhood.

[Monika Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writer who is of Swiss origin, her parents settled in Nebraska, was in personal contact with this Indian tribe and gives a first hand account of their lifestyle

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I am going to teach a Native People, I like to read a background book. Ms. Sandoz wrote this in old age from childhood memories. Wonderful details, sensitive.. wish it were longer!

[Sara Furr]

I've been inspired to start reading Mari Sandoz after my wonderful vacation to northwest Nebraska.

[Ardith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read elsewhere the that Sioux of Mari Sandoz' day highly respected her for telling their stories accurately. This short book gives excellent insight into Sioux culture and world view.

[Samuel Longoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

short book. interesting quick look at Sioux life. very interesting (and admirable) view on importance of women in their culture/world.

[Renee King · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful peek into the Sioux culture. I appreciated the insight into how the children transitioned to teens and then young adults, and then especially the description of how Sioux women were regarded and celebrated. "To the Sioux not only the honor but the very existence of the tribe lay in the moccasin tracks of their women".
Many tie-in's to Sioux history, names, places, etc. Easy read.