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Beloved Child: A Dakota Way of Life
“Far greater even than the loss of land, or the relentless coercion to surrender cultural traditions, the deaths of over six hundred children by the spring of 1864 were an unbearable tragedy. Nearly one hundred and fifty years after the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862, Dakota people are still struggling with the effects of this unimaginable loss.”
Among the Dakota, the Beloved Child ceremony marked the special, tender affection that parents felt toward a child whose life had been threatened. In this
moving book, author Diane Wilson explores the work of several modern Dakota people who are continuing to raise beloved children: Gabrielle Tateyuskanskan,
an artist and poet; Clifford Canku, a spiritual leader and language teacher; Alameda Rocha, a boarding school survivor; Harley and Sue Eagle, Canadian activists; and Delores Brunelle, an Ojibwe counselor. each of these humble but powerful people teaches children to believe in the “genius and brilliance” of Dakota culture as a way of surviving historical trauma.
Crucial to true healing, Wilson has learned, is a willingness to begin with yourself. Each of these people works to transform the effects of genocide, restoring a way of life that regards our beloved children as wakan, sacred.
Diane Wilson, director of Dream of Wild Health Farm, is the author of Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past, which won a Minnesota Book award. She is a Mdewakanton descendent; her mother was enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published August 29, 2011
21 people are currently reading
535 people want to read
About the author
Diane Wilson
4 books305 followersDiane Wilson is a Dakota writer who uses personal experience to
illustrate broader social and historical context. Her new novel, The
Seed Keeper, will be published by Milkweed Editions in March, 2021.
Wilson’s memoir, Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past, won a 2006
Minnesota Book Award and was selected for the 2012 One Min-
neapolis One Read program. Her nonfiction book, Beloved Child: A
Dakota Way of Life, was awarded the 2012 Barbara Sudler Award
from History Colorado. Her work has been featured in many pub-
lications, including the anthology A Good Time for the Truth. She has
served as a Mentor for the Loft Emerging Artist program as well as
Intermedia’s Beyond the Pale. Awards include the Minnesota State
Arts Board, a 2013 Bush Foundation Fellowship, a 2018 AARP/
Pollen 50 Over 50 Leadership Award, and the Jerome Foundation.
She is a descendent of the Mdewakanton Oyate and enrolled on
the Rosebud Reservation. Wilson currently serves as the Executive
Director for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance.
Source: https://www.dianewilsonwords.com/about
illustrate broader social and historical context. Her new novel, The
Seed Keeper, will be published by Milkweed Editions in March, 2021.
Wilson’s memoir, Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past, won a 2006
Minnesota Book Award and was selected for the 2012 One Min-
neapolis One Read program. Her nonfiction book, Beloved Child: A
Dakota Way of Life, was awarded the 2012 Barbara Sudler Award
from History Colorado. Her work has been featured in many pub-
lications, including the anthology A Good Time for the Truth. She has
served as a Mentor for the Loft Emerging Artist program as well as
Intermedia’s Beyond the Pale. Awards include the Minnesota State
Arts Board, a 2013 Bush Foundation Fellowship, a 2018 AARP/
Pollen 50 Over 50 Leadership Award, and the Jerome Foundation.
She is a descendent of the Mdewakanton Oyate and enrolled on
the Rosebud Reservation. Wilson currently serves as the Executive
Director for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance.
Source: https://www.dianewilsonwords.com/about
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 11, 2012
This book is a reminder that both sides of a story need telling, especially when it involves mass genocide, and what Diane Wilson refers to as "cultural trauma." "Beloved Child" was a very difficult book to read, not because of its prose, but due to its truths. Whatever is being taught about European/American-Native American history in school, fails to include information that would reveal the United States as one of the greatest perpetrators all of time, in regard to the calculated destruction of culture and Indigenous people. But this book also shows us all how to live, and how to come to grips with one of the most destructive misnomers in American history.
September 10, 2011
This is a must-read. The author tells the stories of several Dakota elders who are working to heal those around them from historical trauma, much of which stemmed from horrors after the 1862 Dakota war here in Minnesota. These are stories of honesty and courage that provide the beginnings of insight into this rich culture that it so different from the culture that surrounds it.
June 3, 2012
I had to read this book over a period of weeks. I wanted to fully absorb the woundedness of the Dakota families. It definitely spoke to my heart and I would atone for the sins of "my people" if I could. I will certainly do what I can to work for justice for all people today.
March 3, 2015
In 1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged by the federal government for their alleged roles in the "Sioux Uprising." Hundreds of others were forced to march from their homes in Minnesota to Nebraska and North Dakota. Along the way, many died from disease, exhaustion, exposure, and starvation. In subsequent decades, Sioux children were removed from their families and placed in boarding schools and foster homes. This misguided effort to "civilize" Native youth sometimes resulted in further emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Generations of unresolved pain and lack of culturally-appropriate behavioral models has contributed to cycles of alcoholism and violence among American Indians.
In Beloved Child, Diane Wilson asks the question of how Native people can heal from these historical traumas. As an answer, she presents several possibilities. There is Clifford Canku, an elder who is translating the letters of Sioux prisoners held at Camp McClellan following the Dakota War so that the complete story is brought to light. Harley and Sue Eagle are an interracial couple who are building a marital relationship based on mutual respect and trust. Together they are engaging Sue's church in issues of restorative justice. Delores Brunelle has accepted the difficult responsibility of parenting her grandson, to "move from being the person who was not there for my kids to being the person who is there for my grandson" (pg. 136). A recurring theme throughout these and other personal stories is a focus on quality family relationships -- especially with children, who were much-loved in Sioux society.
Interestingly, the "Dakota way of life" does not require followers to completely renounce Anglo-American society -- not even Christianity. Canku, who is a Reverend in the Presbyterian Church, sees Christianity and WoDakota as very similar. In his view, divergence occurred when members of both groups followed "false traditions" to justify "material gain" or "sexual gratification" (pg. 82). The Dakota tenets of silence, dependability, respectfulness, helpfulness, compassion, positiveness, and bravery (described on pgs. 175-176) are useful to anyone. This is not to say that anyone who lives by this "recipe" can become Dakota, but that descendants like Wilson, who were raised outside of their cultural traditions, can still access them.
Wilson's work is quite moving because she reveals her own struggle for identity and her shifts in perspective along the way. While attending a Sun Dance with Alameda Rocha, for example, she feels like "the equivalent of a gray-haired, middle-aged child, a beginner at an age when I should have have been preparing to assume the role of an elder" (pg. 152). She learns to put aside tape recorders and other accouterments of the Western-trained academic so that she can fully listen to what Native people are telling her. By the end of the work, she has discovered that personal transformation occurs not through "big, broad teachings" such as learning Dakota ceremonies or language, but by the "small ways to act" -- "how to treat people, how to speak up, where to go when the word was hard" (pg. 173). In this way, Wilson herself becomes a model for those wanting to embark on personal development via uncovering their personal cultural history. I look forward to reading Spirit Car and other writings which describe her journey.
In Beloved Child, Diane Wilson asks the question of how Native people can heal from these historical traumas. As an answer, she presents several possibilities. There is Clifford Canku, an elder who is translating the letters of Sioux prisoners held at Camp McClellan following the Dakota War so that the complete story is brought to light. Harley and Sue Eagle are an interracial couple who are building a marital relationship based on mutual respect and trust. Together they are engaging Sue's church in issues of restorative justice. Delores Brunelle has accepted the difficult responsibility of parenting her grandson, to "move from being the person who was not there for my kids to being the person who is there for my grandson" (pg. 136). A recurring theme throughout these and other personal stories is a focus on quality family relationships -- especially with children, who were much-loved in Sioux society.
Interestingly, the "Dakota way of life" does not require followers to completely renounce Anglo-American society -- not even Christianity. Canku, who is a Reverend in the Presbyterian Church, sees Christianity and WoDakota as very similar. In his view, divergence occurred when members of both groups followed "false traditions" to justify "material gain" or "sexual gratification" (pg. 82). The Dakota tenets of silence, dependability, respectfulness, helpfulness, compassion, positiveness, and bravery (described on pgs. 175-176) are useful to anyone. This is not to say that anyone who lives by this "recipe" can become Dakota, but that descendants like Wilson, who were raised outside of their cultural traditions, can still access them.
Wilson's work is quite moving because she reveals her own struggle for identity and her shifts in perspective along the way. While attending a Sun Dance with Alameda Rocha, for example, she feels like "the equivalent of a gray-haired, middle-aged child, a beginner at an age when I should have have been preparing to assume the role of an elder" (pg. 152). She learns to put aside tape recorders and other accouterments of the Western-trained academic so that she can fully listen to what Native people are telling her. By the end of the work, she has discovered that personal transformation occurs not through "big, broad teachings" such as learning Dakota ceremonies or language, but by the "small ways to act" -- "how to treat people, how to speak up, where to go when the word was hard" (pg. 173). In this way, Wilson herself becomes a model for those wanting to embark on personal development via uncovering their personal cultural history. I look forward to reading Spirit Car and other writings which describe her journey.
April 1, 2023
My eyes have been opened to the effects of colonization on our entire culture. An important lesson for us all.
February 22, 2016
This book was amazing. I highly recommend reading this and Spirit Car, Diane's other book. We should all become students of our shared cultural history, own all parts of it, and work toward a greater understanding of eachother in the future. Her presentation of Dakota history in MN and beyond is brilliant. Read it for the history and insight on how historical trauma continues to impact lives today and new ways to work toward healing. I drew inspiration from the individual portraits of native community members she created.
October 12, 2021
A book we all need to read - to try to wrap our heads around the cultural genocide done to the Native American people. How do you raise a beloved child? Break the cycle? Understand what can't be undone for the victims of boarding schools, etc. "Throughout our lives, we are taught, shaped, scarred and strengthened by the stories we are told, the stories that we live, and the invisible legacies that help shape who we become. When these stories are silenced, as has happened to many generations of Dakota people, when the history is ignored, then we are unconscious witnessed to the past."
March 21, 2012
Thoughtful stories of what the various Indians are doing and thinking today to "fix" the problems of alcoholism, drug use, diabetes, suicide, unemployment.
October 21, 2019
Writing about trama without re-traumatizing the reader is delicate; Diane does so marvelously. Her style of writing echoes the peace of the Dakota way. This book is a must-read for Minnesotans.
June 13, 2022
Beloved Child is noteworthy on a few counts. First, in the introduction and initial chapters Wilson provided a succinct description of the physical, cultural, and spiritual genocide which the members of the Dakota Nation have been subjected to since the mid 19th century. A brief timeline in which significant events were outlined will be particularly informative for those readers unfamiliar with the tragic history of the Native Americans.
Second, the subsequent chapters about various individuals trying to recover from the impact of the transgenerational trauma in order to raise beloved children who are sacred (wakanyeja) were equally informative. Using a direct, narrative style of prose the author engagingly, if not at times poignantly, depicted the quiet, persistent determination and resilience with which these people were living. On the one hand, they cling to traditional ceremonies and rituals like talking circles, silent prayer, and Sundance. On the other, they try to integrate these basic Dakota values with such Western approaches as mindfulness, counseling, and restorative justice. Wilson’s reflections on her own path to discover and assimilate her own Dakota heritage added another impactful element to the book.
Ten pages of sources at the end and a handful of other titles noted over the course of Beloved provided me with some other books to read in the future.
I can readily acknowledge the challenge Wilson faced in trying to consolidate many hours of interviews with these individuals into cohesive, informative albeit succinct 25-30 page chapters. However, there were times when I wished she had included a bit more than she did. For example, a Dakota man and his White, Mennonite wife were actively engaged in employing restorative justice methodology to help the Native American and White church members achieve reconciliation with each other. More information about this process would have been helpful. Also, they are raising two daughters. How do they help their children to understand and assimilate their biracial identities? More details about how some of the other individuals integrate Western philosophies and methodologies with their Dakota based practices could have proved even more informative than they already were.
Overall, however, Beloved was well worth reading. It is a solid companion piece to Wilson’s memoir Spirit Car which I also recommend.
Second, the subsequent chapters about various individuals trying to recover from the impact of the transgenerational trauma in order to raise beloved children who are sacred (wakanyeja) were equally informative. Using a direct, narrative style of prose the author engagingly, if not at times poignantly, depicted the quiet, persistent determination and resilience with which these people were living. On the one hand, they cling to traditional ceremonies and rituals like talking circles, silent prayer, and Sundance. On the other, they try to integrate these basic Dakota values with such Western approaches as mindfulness, counseling, and restorative justice. Wilson’s reflections on her own path to discover and assimilate her own Dakota heritage added another impactful element to the book.
Ten pages of sources at the end and a handful of other titles noted over the course of Beloved provided me with some other books to read in the future.
I can readily acknowledge the challenge Wilson faced in trying to consolidate many hours of interviews with these individuals into cohesive, informative albeit succinct 25-30 page chapters. However, there were times when I wished she had included a bit more than she did. For example, a Dakota man and his White, Mennonite wife were actively engaged in employing restorative justice methodology to help the Native American and White church members achieve reconciliation with each other. More information about this process would have been helpful. Also, they are raising two daughters. How do they help their children to understand and assimilate their biracial identities? More details about how some of the other individuals integrate Western philosophies and methodologies with their Dakota based practices could have proved even more informative than they already were.
Overall, however, Beloved was well worth reading. It is a solid companion piece to Wilson’s memoir Spirit Car which I also recommend.
October 15, 2021
This book is short but powerful. (And as I read, I realized the print is quite small, so the book isn’t as short as it looks.) I found meaning on every page.
Diane Wilson is “a Mdewakanton descendent;” her mom is Dakota but not her dad. And her mom didn’t make a big deal about being Dakota as Diane grew up. So Diane is putting all that together as an adult. Her several books are all part of her finding and celebrating her Dakota heritage.
So this book is a series of essays. Some are the author’s own reflections; others are interviews with various native leaders. They all say important things.
But on a simpler level this book tells us of the importance of children in Dakota culture and the relationships with parents and grandparents, especially mothers and grandmothers. And over it all is the repeated theme of the damage that boarding schools did to both individual children and to the culture. Shameful, shameful, shameful. This book was published in 2011, so many years before the current headlines about boarding school abuse.
I wish I had taken notes on the important thoughts within this book. I will resolve to read it again.
Diane Wilson is “a Mdewakanton descendent;” her mom is Dakota but not her dad. And her mom didn’t make a big deal about being Dakota as Diane grew up. So Diane is putting all that together as an adult. Her several books are all part of her finding and celebrating her Dakota heritage.
So this book is a series of essays. Some are the author’s own reflections; others are interviews with various native leaders. They all say important things.
But on a simpler level this book tells us of the importance of children in Dakota culture and the relationships with parents and grandparents, especially mothers and grandmothers. And over it all is the repeated theme of the damage that boarding schools did to both individual children and to the culture. Shameful, shameful, shameful. This book was published in 2011, so many years before the current headlines about boarding school abuse.
I wish I had taken notes on the important thoughts within this book. I will resolve to read it again.
December 15, 2022
Beautiful book. I enjoyed this read, it was sad in a few parts but in whole, it was such a healthy read for the mind. The author writes about how we need to raise our children out of love, how residential schools impacted young children (and foreword with their lives), the Dakota 38, the Dakota 38 marches and a program in Hugo, Minnesota that teaches Native Youth how to properly take care of the land - how to take care of themselves starting with proper meals and how to grow their own produce :)
August 1, 2024
This book was to be read slowly, which is not how I normally read! However, I tried my best and was able to learn so much about the history of the Natives in the area where I live. I can now understand more about their lives, and I have a deeper understanding of how historical events have continued to affect them. Wilson did exceptional work!
February 12, 2022
Beautifully written and poignant. It was a lot for me the first time around and I had to set it aside for awhile to prepare myself for the the truth shared in the book. I still highly recommend it and enjoyed it.
December 3, 2023
The book was full of holy moments and while it is framed as a book on the concept of the beloved child, there are many, many pieces that weave into all aspects of life. I don’t know why this book isn’t more widely read.
Want to read
February 1, 2020970.3 D149WI
September 28, 2024
A true guide to being a good human. So many lessons and beautiful quotes. Thank you for this gift.
February 25, 2012
A deeply rewarding and moving look into my grandfather's Lakota culture. A journey through history and the healing pathways of the present. A fine read indeed.
July 21, 2012
I too was drawn to the book to learn of the daily lives of my ancestors. My father was a victim of boarding school and unable to share any traditions as he was not taught any. Thank you, Diane!
November 26, 2016
Can anyone help me please. How does wilson answer the following question: How do you raise beloved children and break the cycle of self destruction in Native Communities?
September 27, 2015
A beautiful view of holding close the sacred.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews