Opening Song of the Sun Dance

Sung by Kendall Little Owl

Song No. 19 • Catalog No. 479
Densmore recording sung by Išnála Wičhá (Lone Man)

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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.

The project has been made possible by generous grants and support from:

The Densmore/Lakota Songs Repatriation Project is intended for educational purposes only. All of the media materials of this project, whether video, audio, written text, photographs or illustrations, are intended for free distribution and educational use. However, the content of the traditional knowledge and cultural teachings and understandings conveyed in the project remain the intellectual and cultural property of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Any use or re-use of these materials outside the educational purposes of the Densmore/Lakota Songs Repatriation Project requires prior consent of the tribe.

The Densmore Repatriation Project

Songs ∙ Videos ∙ Book ∙ Study Guide ∙ About ∙ News

Download the Densmore Unit Lesson Plan.

Hear more than 70 songs from the collection re-recorded in 2022.

Watch 30 videos providing context and history for individual Lakota songs.

Watch videos explaining more about the project.

Read eight guides for further study.

Download an updated e-book version of Teton Sioux Music.

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