Tatanka
by Don Spenner
Title
Tatanka
Artist
Don Spenner
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
#3903
What Is “Tatanka”?
In the Lakota language, the word “tatanka” is translated as “buffalo” or “buffalo bull.” However, according to native Lakota speakers, the literal translation is something more like “He who owns us.” Lakota elder Birgil Kills Straight explains it this way:
“The four leggeds came before the two leggeds. They are our older brother, we came from them. Before them, we were the root people. We came from them. We are the same thing. That is why we are spiritually related to them. We call them in our language “Tatanka,” which means “He Who Owns Us.” We cannot say that we own the buffalo because he owns us.1
Today, “bison” is considered to be the correct name for the species. Though both “buffalo” and “bison” are widely accepted and are often used interchangeably, the scientific name for the species is “bison bison.” The term “buffalo” is more frequently used in American Indian communities, especially when referring to the buffalo in its cultural context.
In Lakota, “tanka” means “great” or “large.” The name Tanka Fund represents both our focus on the significant and positive impact of buffalo restoration in Indian communities as well as our partnership with Native American Natural Foods, makers of the Tanka Bar.
http://www.tankafund.org/history-of-tatanka
1 LaDuke, Winona (1998). Pte oyate: Buffalo nations, buffalo people. St. Paul, MN: Honor the Earth.
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Photograph Copyright 2017 Don Spenner All Rights Reserved
Uploaded
September 2nd, 2017
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