UCLA

This thesis examines Lakota storytellers, specifically through the works of Ihunkthunwan Dakota anthropologist Ella C. Deloria, and analyzes the various research methods and spaces she articulated her communities’ histories with her “kinship methodology.” Deloria, by writing in different genres and speaking to different audiences, allowed her to serve her community while also shaping the development of Federal Indian policy, reforming the general public’s views about Native peoples, and documenting traditional histories. Deloria’s use of “tribalography,” oral history, and storytelling showcase the valuable ways to (re)create history grounded in tribal traditions, values, and ceremonies that went against a Western approach to documenting history. In her lifetime, she created a multitude of texts that were intertextually connected through the Lakota concept of tiospaye. Deloria would ultimately impact the way her community was viewed more accurately while also preserving their culture, languages, and histories.