World of the Teton Sioux Indians: Their Music, Life, and Culture

By: Frances Theresa Densmore

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Synopsis: Sometime in August 1913, two Sioux warriors, Old Buffalo and Swift Dog, met with Frances Densmore at a makeshift recording site in McLaughlin, South Dakota. What Old Buffalo and Swift Dog said that day—about life as they knew it before the reservation era began—lives on still in the pages of this fascinating book. Densmore went on to interview numerous Sioux (or Lakota)/Teton (Lakota) Sioux men and women, collecting both their songs and their stories. The present version is an abridged edition of Teton Sioux Music, which according to William Powers is &“one of the few monographs universally regarded as a true classic of Lakota culture.&” It has been skillfully edited to focus less on musical technicality and more on the cultural value of Densmore's work. Its subjects include the Sun Dance, dreams, treatment of the sick, military societies, buffalo hunts, and social dances. Also included are over 130 color and black-and-white illustrations which further bring to life the world of the Teton Sioux.