The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons in Living

The stories that Marshall tells have been passed down by the Lakota for centuries. He writes that these stories have sustained the Lakota for years, especially after their lands were taken away and they were pursued and killed by whites. Crowded on reservations without much of their ancestral lands, the stories contained their wisdom and lessons about the virtues that they held dear. Marshall credits these stories with sustaining the Lakota in difficult times. He offers them now as lessons to the wider world.

Stories are also a way in which to reclaim and proclaim Lakota glory and truth. The stories about the Plains Indians that are often heard in American culture are those created and told by whites. These stories often portray the Lakota as craven, weak, or destroyed. Marshall’s stories change this dominant narrative and restore the Lakota sense of dignity and power.

Marshall writes about the historical record from the point of view of being from the Lakota. His essays offer another point of view, one that is distinct from the traditional white narrative. For example, he writes that Crazy Horse, the Oglala leader during the Battle of Little Bighorn, was brave but was also known for his humility, as he never bragged of his victories.