The Significance of Culture

    Recently I came across a podcast called the i'm fine podcast on youtube and the video that caught my attention was really amazing and once again opened my eyes to the significance of culture. This episode was interviewing a man named Moses Brings Plenty, who also starred in the TV series Yellowstone. Mo is from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and is dedicated to authentic indigenous representation and the preservation of Native traditions. He is an actor, a cultural adviser, and advocate, but most of all he is a proud Lakota. In this episode he shares many amazing traditions and stories but something that caught my attention the most was the sacred symbolism behind his braids. He went on to explain how significant a braid is to the Lakota people because in their culture women are the next best thing to god. The reason why they understand and believe that is because females have the great gift to give life, So the men wear their hair in two separate braids to honor the woman. He says "It takes three strands to make a braid - one for the higher power, one for the earth, and one for the spirit. All three brought together as one". This was so touching to me to see someone so proud and in tune with their culture even though not many people will understand the why behind it. It was so inspiring to me and once again reminded me how important culture is as a whole to everyone who belongs to one, no matter how different they are from one another. I can't wait to continue to learn about cultures and the joy they bring to others for hopefully the rest of my life.

    Mo also talked a little bit about how as a kid growing up he struggled a lot with how society viewed his people and their existence as Lakota people and when he was little he would go outside and curse god for making him a Lakota because of what they have been through and what they are going through. The center of his traditions is holding himself accountable and never forgetting where he came from. He said the best days of his life were when they had no electricity or running water. That amazes me and you could tell how much gratitude he had for his culture and way of life. When I relate this to our class concepts and material I think of Diego's Blog Exhibition and how he taught us about modern Native Americans and played that video that let us hear and learn from their perspectives what it's like to be a Native American. I want to do that more, I want to learn from the people themselves about their culture and what it means to be a part of their culture instead of just assuming what it might be like or believing everything I hear about how others see it and think it is when really we don't know. I Appreciate culture more than I ever have and I Notice it more than I ever have. I used to think culture was only music, food, and language but I know now that that doesn't even come close, it is so much more than that!

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