IT'S SAFELY RECORDED IN A BOOK AT LAST




For many years, Albert White Hat taught Lakota language from memory and from five faded yellow tablet pages of notes. So much wisdom and history and knowledge in his head.

In the 1990s, Albert had a heart attack and that made him wonder what would happen to all that information when he dies. Fortunately, he hasn't died. I just talked to him this morning. And he informed me that, with the help of a young lady from Yale who is interested in the wisdom found in Western languages, he has now written and published a 226-page book, Reading and Writing in the Lakota Language. It is an academic best seller, read all over the world.

Albert told me language has power, and even pyschologists and pyschiatrists and physicians have come to learn that because some call him for assistance. Sometimes he refers them to a medicine man; other times he talks to them about language and its power to mold lives, depending on how it is interpreted.

We'll have a short story on Albert's book in our Jan/Feb issue, but he invited us to the Rosebud Reservation for more information on his work at Sinte Gleska University. We'll keep you posted.

In today's Rapid City Journal, veteran outdoorsman Kevin Woster philosophizes on poet Robinson Jeffers lines,
I'd sooner, except the penalites,
kill a man than a hawk.
Woster's thoughts are in reference to the state's new mountain lion season.

We Wouldn't Want A Magazine Anywhere Else



Here we sit in South Dakota, with the wind blowing and snow drifting. The first winter storm. Even our office cat is interested in the weather.

Schools are closed along with many businesses. About the only person working in downtown Yankton is Emily, the smart young lady at Ace Hardware who can fix anything. She just showed me how to get the fuses out of the Christmas lights we burned out when we plugged a dozen strings together. Normally she might be too busy to fuss with a $1 fuse sale but today you can get her undivided attention. We might go back and ask Emily about dripping faucets and a snowblower that won't start and a light bulb that broke off in the fixture.

Yes, is this great weather to be stringing holiday lights. It didn't seem appropriate in 45 degree weather Saturday. A little wind and snow makes it feel like winter at last.

And let's be perfectly clear. We wouldn't want to be publishing a magazine anywhere else. I always thought the four seasons are a gift from God. They help us to appreciate the good times. Actually, that's what our preacher said about evil on Sunday. He said it enables us to appreciate good. So is winter bad or a blessing?

I say one to four inches is a blessing. Above that and you can blame it on the devil.

Mention Lakota foods to most Midwesterners and they think of fry breads and Indian tacos. Actually, those came along when the government flooded the reservations with white flour and lard. Now, Native American tribes throughout the country are trying to regain their culinary heritage .... and not surprisingly, fry bread isn't at the top of their menu.

On the Pine Ridge Reservation, the Oglala Sioux have started a company called Lakota Express to explore marketing opportunities for traditional foods. Their first is a snack bar made of dried fruits and grains.

The New York Times has a good story on Lakota Express and other efforts around the USA to promote native foods.

Mobridge restaurant would be one of Dakota's most colorful even if it wasn't painted purple. The place really sparkles on Thanksgiving.



A lot of heart-warming things happen every Thanksgiving in South Dakota. Here's a link to a nice little event in Mobridge,
where longtime restauranteer Rick Christman welcomes the poor, seniors, shut-ins, and anyone who's alone as well to join him at his cafe on main street for a dinner with all the trimmings. He is aided by local businesses and volunteers. Last year they served 900.

Rick is quite a character. He is former state chili cookoff champ and an excellent chef. He markets his own brand of seasonings and sauces. His restaurant is hard to miss because it's painted purple.

Operating in Mobridge, you might think he'd go out of his way to welcome everyone. You'd think he might avoid local politics and other controversial issues. But Rick has a mind of his own. He sometimes informs certain characters that they simply will not be served anymore because of something they said or did.

One particular community leader was told by Rick to not return, but he still showed up with a group at a large meeting. Rick didn't throw him out. But he never took his order or served him either. That's how it works at Rick's.

Stay on his good side. The food is worth it, regardless of your opinions.

The pilgrims sailed to America for the freedom to run a restaurant like Rick does in Mobridge. So here's to a Happy Thanksgiving to Rick and all who join him on Thursday ... as well as to all the good folks who welcome strangers to their table this week. That's an American tradition worth celebrating.

Was the Lewis & Clark birthday over-planned?



Twenty-five million is a lot of people, but that's how many tourists the "experts" were predicting would visit the Missouri River Valley in 2004-2006 for the bicentennial of the Corps of Discovery. I was at a few tourism/Chamber of Commerce meetings where those in the hospitality industry were salivating at the thought.

Now that we're well into the bicentennial, the same people are wondering whether it's just their town that the 25 million people hopped over? No, it seems to be most of the Missouri Valley. The November issue of the Fedgazette reports that results are mixed at best in the 15 states along the river. North Dakota spent $6 million promoting their Lewis & Clark sites but tourism actually weakened in 2005. Annual visits to Knife River Indian Villages had been 40,000 in recent years but attendance actually dropped 15 percent last year.

We haven't seen any official date in South Dakota, but if there was good news we'd probably have heard it. Our office is a block from the river. We have not seen too many of the 25 million come past here. We did see one guy from out of state. He was lost. He was looking for The Ice House, the local outdoor brew pub.

Seriously, it doesn't appear that the bicentennial is going to be the economic panacea some had hoped. If only it were that easy to make a buck. But there are many other benefits to all the history and hoopla that is occurring. We all know a great deal more about our heritage and our natural environment. That will benefit us forever.

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader announced today that the editors are holding a Holiday Cookie Contest. To enter you simply bring six cookies to the editorial office from 4 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 5. Cookies will be judged Dec. 6 and winners will be announced Dec. 8.

Here at South Dakota Magazine we are holding a Holiday Strawberry Pie Contest. To enter you can bring a pie anytime of the day or night, anytime this month or even sometime in 2006. Winners will be announced at a later date.

And we are not going to nitpick. It need not be strawberry. It needn't even be pie. Let's just call it a dessert contest. Anything with sugar, that's the criteria.

P.S. -- Those big city daily editors are smarter than we thought they were.

If you watched the recent congressional hearings on the oil companies' big profits, you saw Exxon Mobil CEO Lee Raymond dismiss the idea that anyone was being ripped off. The big Texan didn't express sympathy, however, for farmers who depend on fuel to produce his food; or for seniors living in the cold north who also face high drug prices; or for blue collar workers who have to commute long distances to their "three gallons an hour" jobs.

Mr. Raymond seems to have forgotten his roots. He was born in South Dakota in 1938, and raised in Watertown, the son of a railroad engineer.