Lakota Tribe Research Paper

The Lakota tribes environmental wisdom and spirituality grew to stabilize among years of conservation and concern for the earth. All animals were respected like humans and the rivers and trees were cared for because the natural world was well alive like the humans that existed in it. The Lakota tribe lives on the Northern Plains of North America and are often referred to as “Sioux”. The Lakota tribe of the Great Plains are very much rooted to the earth and place a huge emphasis on home. In their culture the world was not savage, nor were the animals wild because on earth all spirits resided in nature. They defined their culture and continue to strengthen their values like kinship, courage, and wisdom in their community through rites of renewal/passage, dancing, and their style of clothing.

In Lakota tribe peoples perform both the rite of passage and the rite of purification as a part of their spiritual practice. A rite of passage marks one's stage of life into another and is often what most people observe in their lives. Rites of passage include birthdays, graduations, weddings, etc., basically any phase in one's life that gives that individual a new role in society. On the other hand, the rite of purification was to purify one’s mind, body and soul of its impurities. It is a ritual performed to seek the benefits of better

The Vision Quest is a very common passage to many peoples of the Lakota tribe. It was significant in their religion because it marked the transition from childhood to adulthood. Boys often undergo the quest at puberty. “In most quests, the initiate will remove himself from normal society by spending seven days alone in the wilderness… After a period of preparation, a boy was taken deep in the in the woods where he would remain by himself, fasting, until he received a vision.” (Brodd, 51) As a result boys strengthen their kinship with nature, they grow a tremendous amount of respect for