#25 - Leadership and Virtue: Carryover from the past

Tribal Research Specialist: The Podcast

In this new episode, the Tribal Research Specialist (TRS) team discuss some important details related to traditional leadership in Indian country. The episode starts with an old Salish War Dance Song from sang by Paul Finley in 1950. The Salish name for the war dance is “Swenš ” and this was same name as that given to the Salish war dance that predated the more recent "Grass Dance". Paul Antoine noted that around 1873 a party of Salish that he was with, was on its way to the Plains where they up with some Crows and it was there that they first saw the grass dance. He also noted that previously the Crow had a war dance similar to the Salish.
The discussion focuses on the details of Crow chieftainship, including the merit and character needed to be considered to ascend to leadership. Challenged are the stereotypes and romantic ideas that we hold about the realities of our ancestors and how these pitfalls can propagate falsehoods or misunderstandings about past tribal life. The question posed is are we truly striving to live up to the ideals and values that our ancestors held?
The second half of the episode starts with a Salish War "Snqaqaa" (Going to war) sang by Paul Finley 1950 near Arlee. When raiders are prepared to depart camp and night arrived, these men would go from teepee to teepee, singing one of these raiding songs. In the buffalo hunting days these songs were gained as gift from the supernatural and each man would have one or more of them.
The discussion continues with an examination of morality and virtues in todays tribal communities. We continue to discuss if tribal life and the common notions of virtue hold true in Indian country. The considerations of virtues life honesty and bravery are pondered in this unfinished discussion. Important questions remain, such as "Does tribal ceremonial practice foster greater personal and tribal virtue?"
Join the discussion and let us know your thoughts.
Listen in to Host Aaron Brien on the Extreme History Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dirt-on-past-indigenous-archaeology-crow-war-shields/id1532514949?i=1000505227864
Hosts: Aaron Brien, Shandin Pete
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