The Grandmothers were and are a very important part of the Lakota culture.  The wise Grandmothers are the teachers who remind us of the past, and show how it is the guide into the future. They teach us of their wisdom, and then guide us to the Grandfathers to complete the teachings. They are the watchers of children for they know that information must be passed on, for someday these children will be the keepers of the earth. Some say the old ways are gone, but through time the old ways have shown that there is only one way of life.  In the ways of our culture we stand by Honor, Integrity, Respect and Love for all people. 

We are on a pathway that was foretold by the Grandfathers. The old ones know that it will never be like the time of their elders, but a time of new awakening of the old ways. The Grandmothers know that time is short and their work will be hard for they are the last to be close to the ancestors of the ones that lived the ways of old. Their Grandfathers and Grandmothers experienced the great buffalo herds and the grandness of nature as it was meant to be. In that time you took what the people needed for every day life, cared for mother earth, and thanked her for the abundance. A different time...

Today's Grandmother travels from place to place when she is called and she is called often. There is much work in the way of our customs and it is part of the culture that must live on in our children and their children's children. There are those that are watching that may not be natives but have been here a long time and see that the old ways were good and too live by them in their hearts. They too know that the old ways of Honor, Integrity, Respect and Love of one another and the respect of mother earth and all that inhabit it are of utmost importance.

Help one of those Grandmothers in her journeys, in the ways of the ancestors. Let us be a part, to know that we are helping in keeping the wisdoms of old alive. Let us help at least one grandmother on this path. Though there are many and we would like to help them all. 

Please visit the site of a special Lakota Grandmother that has been through much in her life, and does much to bring the old ways to our young people. http://www.uncisioux.com/

There is also another Lakota program called "Adopt a Grandparent" which is so worthy of our attention.  Please visit this site.  Adopt A Grandparent

Lady Hawke