A Dakota Woman’s Perspective

By Cynthia Lindquist Mala | Ta’sunka Wicahpi Winyan... Star Horse Woman

As a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow, Cynthia Lindquist Mala earned a PhD in educational leadership at the University of North Dakota, May 2006. She began responsibilities as President of Cankdeska Cikana (Little Hoop) Community College in October 2003, which serves the Spirit Lake Dakota community and her home reservation.

During a three-year stint as a political appointee in Washington, DC, my respite was coming home to North Dakota as often as possible. Home to the quiet beauty of the flat open prairie; home to the magnificent black night sky and brilliant stars, and if lucky, home to a viewing of the Northern Lights dancing in the cold winter to come.

Granted, many friends and colleagues out East could not understand the ‘draw’ for me – the need to come home. You really have to live in North Dakota to appreciate its wonders as well as its frustrations. Where else in the world can you see nature’s geometric patterns from the air with the distinct east/west and north/south perimeters? Or view the morning sun coming up on one horizon while the moon sits on the opposite horizon with nothing in between but the wonders of nature?

As a Native North Dakotan raised in St. Michael, ND, and during my teens in Grand Forks, ND, I love the open and flat prairies. I get claustrophobic when I stay for long periods in spaces with woods and trees or mountains…it’s like I can’t get my sense of direction.

What draws me in?

I know what to expect and that it can be very unexpected. The four distinct seasons reflect our relationship with Unci Maka…Mother Earth…and is also symbolic of the life cycles of birth, adolescence, adulthood, and elder status. As life and the seasons are cyclical, the planets, sun and moon, are round and reflect the circle of life. North Dakota’s landscape and culture distinctly showcase these elements in marvelous ways.

It is always about relationships and understanding those relationships…being respectful – and prepared. I like that I find Juneberries or chokecherries when the season is ripe. I like that I can drive west and see significant diversity in the North Dakota terrain such as the painted canyon or wooded hills rolling toward the prairie or the many rivers and lakes that provide abundance.

The diverse landscape of the State, the seasons, the animals, geography – all tell stories of the beauty of the Plains. There is great variety within the State and yet so much similarity. The geography and weather force us to have an understanding that generally comes from the life experiences that ultimately informs a culture. Those experiences teach us to be respectful. In that process, we learn about ourselves and our resilience. Living in North Dakota forces us to have a strong sense of self because it is the only way we survive. North Dakota’s landscape represents the ‘awe’ of existence for me – beauty, harshness, bounty, famine, mystery and familiarity.

One cannot truly ‘own’ anything, and in particular, land. This is an indigenous concept and value, and though we are very contemporary people today, the concept is still integral to who we are and how we view ourselves within the bigger scheme of life. As the cliché goes, when you die you can’t take it with you. A universal truth as a Dakota person is that human beings are to be a partner of the land and landscape – one of many beings supposedly living in harmony, in unison to survive and to thrive.

Western academics can certainly differentiate the natural from the socially constructed and this is done in many ways…i.e., review the climate change literature that speaks to man’s wasteful nature in contributing to the decline of Mother Earth, or the many artificial products that pollute the earth and our bodies.

North Dakota is a place where anyone and everyone should live! There is so much to learn and to grow from in being a Native North Dakotan. The quiet should inspire, or perhaps force us to think creative thoughts for the writer, new possibilities for the researcher or innovator, and peaceful introspection for those who don’t like crowds or being crowded.

I describe my time in Washington, DC, as a wonderful learning experience and networking opportunity, but also as a place of ‘concrete, crime, and cars’ and though there is a great beauty on the East Coast, I need the open prairies, clean air, and quiet of my homeland to feel whole and complete. It is a nurturing element and reinforces my sense of place in so many ways.

I believe that xenophobia, the fear of strangers, was once rampant in North Dakota, but as the population ages, so to do antiquated beliefs and misunderstandings. There are still remnants of this lingering in the State but it has shifted more to the dynamics of haves/have nots and the economy. This shift will continue as the young adults depart for greener pastures and the energy boom on the Western side of the State drives the inevitable economics of change. Hopefully technology is helping us to learn and experience more broadly and to have a better global sense of the world and in turn our world of North Dakota.

Though there are defined boundaries/ borders, I do not believe in them. We are free to travel and go about our business or affairs wherever that may take us. But my view is from a very different perspective and related to the concept of ownership.

For me, sense of place means belonging somewhere… fitting in with a group or place. Though my ancestors were nomads, they traveled the Great Plains and knew where the best camp sites were located. They traveled and followed the buffalo nation. They were very resourceful and ingenious in their use of the bounty of the plains.

It was (is) a relationship-based connection that thrives via respectful understanding. Our resilience as Dakota people is rooted in the values of that understanding – our interconnectedness to all.

As a Dakota woman – and especially now as a ‘baby’ elder – I’ve come to understand it is about relationships – very personal relationships. My sense of place is about my relationship with my family, with my co-workers and colleagues, and my friends. It is about values and understanding those values as a female human being and that I ‘fit’ somewhere within the big picture. There is an interconnection that is limitless and timeless. It is constant and ongoing. Our role as human beings is respectful behavior that reflects our understanding of roles, that my actions and interactions impact the natural environment. I am not alone and never will be for I am part of the universe.

I think North Dakota is a great unknown, relative to ‘sense of place,’ and that some prefer it to be kept that way.

As a Dakota woman (winyan) I understand that the word Dakota means friend or ally and is derived from the term wodakota. Wodakota means to be in harmony or balance. In North Dakota we are friends and many times survive our winters due to friendships created during a time of crisis. When I think of the word ally, as North Dakotans we tend to stick together and ‘ally’ ourselves due to mutual understandings of our environment. I am not so sure about being in harmony or balance as this implies so many meanings – with nature, the universe, or with each other as human beings, or with the animal nations – but we do well overall though there is always room for improvement relative to stewardship of the land, as well as with each other.

I do not know if the non-Indian settlers or officials understood the indigenous meaning when they named this place the great Dakota Territory, but how ironic and appropriate for our State to be “North Dakota” for it can be translated as “friends of the North” which implies a very strong, and good sense of place.

Mitakuye Oyasin…All my relations.