Beneath the Same Stars by Phyllis Cole-Dai

Author:Phyllis Cole-Dai [Cole-Dai, Phyllis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: One Sky Press

* * *

He offers his ledger book and a stub of pencil. “Teach me wakaŋ words.” After pondering, she writes wowićada, faith. Woape, hope. Caŋtekiyapi, love. She prints these words in big, bold strokes, like when she taught her little brothers to spell. He copies them dutifully in a childlike hand, but for him, she can see, they possess no power.

“Does My Husband know these words?”

“They are missionary words. They are not Dakota.”

“If you will tell me a wakaŋ word, I will try to write it for you.”

He brightens. “Waćiŋ taŋka.”

A phrase she has heard often. “Waćiŋ taŋka ye,” the grandmothers say to the warriors. “Waćiŋ taŋka ye,” they say to the children. It seems to be an admonishment to have great patience, to act with deep purpose. But as he copies her spelling with care, she realizes it must signify considerably more.

“What is the meaning of these words?” she asks.

To answer, he tells her a story about a strange woman who comes on a journey from another world, bearing gifts. At first the people can’t tell whether she’s an enemy or a friend. But she speaks their language. She prays their prayers. She dwells among them, sharing everything she has, until she walks on.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.