Owls Hoot at Me

Sung by Jerren Elk

Song No. 160 • Catalog No. 627
Densmore recording sung by Wíyaka-waŋźíla (One Feather)

Brave Buffalo:

“All animals have not the same disposition. This is also true of the fowls of the air, the living creatures in the water, and even the insects, they all have their own ways. Thus a man may enjoy the singing of all the birds and yet have a preference for the melodies of certain kinds of birds. Or he may like all animals and yet have a favorite among them.”

Lyrics

Owls may hoot and wolves howl at me
To these I am accustomed in all my life

Red Weasel’s Prayer

Before singing, Red Weasel bowed his head in prayer, “Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka, hear me. This day I am to tell your word. But without sin I shall speak. The tribe shall Live. Behold me for I am humble. From above watch me. You are always the truth, listen to me, my friends and relatives, sitting here, and I shall be at peace. May our voices be heard at the future goal you have prepared for us.”

From Teton Sioux Music & Culture by Frances Densmore

The Densmore Repatriation Project

The Densmore/Lakota Song Repatriation Project is supported by a generous Community Innovation grant from the Bush Foundation. It is made possible also by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the federal American Rescue Plan Act, in partnership with Humanities North Dakota. Further support is provided by the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, and Dakota Legacy.

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