Every Tree Has Its Own Name

My name is Zona Loans Arrow now.

Everybody roamed this country. It was theirs. Tunkasina, Wakan Tanka created us and put us on this Turtle Island to take care of this Earth, so that it'll replenish and we would benefit.

They were to follow the herds of buffalo, deer, antelope, whatever. They were meat-eating people and then herbs, too. They used the herbs as medicine.

We'd go off and hunt and in the fall about August, September and October they go hunting. They bring all the meat they can. They use everything on the buffalo. They make the robes and leave the hair on one side. They scrape the fur off and they make tipis out of them for the winter. That's what they go out hunting for. They use it for meat and they cook them because there's always a famine in the wintertime.

And if you're not a good worker as a woman your people are going to go hungry. You've got to learn to store. Dry it and store. They dry the meat and they dry everything. Why? Because we are a people that travels. We don't just stay in one place.

We had to learn to preserve our food and preserve the animal hides because that's going to be your tent, your living quarters. Some of it's going to be your clothing and your footwear, your moccasins, your gloves. Indians made gloves too. An Indian made parka hoods, and everything. They're made out of buckskin. The skins of the hides of little creatures like beavers and muskrats and things. The mothers used to teach them and you had to learn these things to survive.

They were Isanti women. We're taught to raise our children in a nice way; to learn all the things, how to sew, how to tan, how to cut things, and make things for their family, and their clothing and their shoes. They taught them how to tan hides and how to make robes and tipis out of hides. They taught them how to pick the wood. Every tree has its own name. They taught them that. Sometimes you cut a tree down or you get some wood from that tree and it won't burn right away. Some burn for a long time. They use that for the winter to keep it warm. They taught them how to make a tipi, how to warm it and keep the warmth inside of the tipi, how to stake them down and how to bank them.

The men knew how and when to go out and scout for animals like buffaloes, elk, moose and different animals. They would bring it back to feed the people. It was always to feed the whole band not just you and your family, but the whole band. They would know how much in the tiospayes there are. How many people that they have to go hunting for.

On the sides for the wintertime they put ground or earth around. Then the, the snow covers it up and then it's warm in there. There's no air coming out.