We are always hearing and saying much about "tradition." We say "traditional" this and "traditional" that. But what does this all mean? Is there such a thing as a "traditional Indian"? Whose tradition is it? When we say traditional, what do we mean? Tradition is anything done consistently over a period of time. When we say tradition or traditional Indian what do we mean? Do we mean pre-Colombian, pre-contact, turn of the century, or current practice? Do we mean traditional Cherokee, traditional Sioux, or traditional Plains, etc.? Often we use the word tradition without being sure of what it implies. What is a traditional Chickasaw? A Chickasaw speaks the Chickasaw language, a Muscogean language. A Chickasaw believes in the four beings above. A Chickasaw is tribally oriented, etc., etc. If we defined a traditional Chickasaw as a person who lived, spoke, behaved and believed as the Chickasaw did before European contact, would there be any traditional Chickasaw left? If we defined a traditional Chickasaw as a person who lived, spoke, behaved, and believed as the conservative Chickasaw did at the time of the Removal, would there be any traditional Chickasaw left? I'm not picking on the Chickasaw. This could be said of any Indian tribe in North America. When the first red man put on a calico shirt, he changed. When the first Indian woman cooked in a cast iron pot, she changed. Life is about change, the cycles of the sun and moon, the seasons, birth, adolescence, old age and death. Change is inevitable. Contact with the white man changed the Chickasaw. But what about this -contact with the Chickasaw changed the white man! So we see that Indian traditions have changed, some slowly, others quickly, since contact with the Europeans -- and Africans -- and Chinese and so on.

There is something else we must consider. Indian contacts with other Indians. For example, when the Sioux left the eastern woodlands and ventured out onto the plains, contact with other plains tribes changed the Sioux. From other plains tribes, they received the Sacred Pipe and its related ceremonies, such as the Sun Dance. This occurred during the 18th century.

Consider the Cherokee, a people speaking an Iroquoian language, yet a major tribe in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Did they learn the language by contact with the Iroquois, or the culture by contact with the Muskogeans, or both? What about intertribal marriages? The children learn the ways of both parents, combining traits of each culture, which results in change. This subtly effects the ways of the whole tribe. The point is nothing stays the same. This is also true of what we call tradition.

Once a tradition is lost or drastically changed can we go back and recover it? Not exactly. There is a saying, "No man can step into the same river twice." The water is still there but the current has moved the water first stepped into downstream. The sand is still on the bottom, but again the current has rearranged it. The current is life and life is change. The water is our understanding, our concept, our beliefs. And they also change with the current of time and incoming ideas from the people we meet. The sand is our tools, our materials and they too, change.

We can revive our traditions, but they will not be exactly as they were before. Is it wrong to try to revive as many of the "old ways" as possible? I don't think so, but they will be different and we must accept that. Take, for example, the Scalp Dance. If we can learn the dance steps, if we can learn the songs, we can do the Scalp Dance. But it will not be the same Scalp Dance done by our ancestors 200 years ago. Why? Because we no longer take scalps! And most likely, this is one tradition we won't be reviving. How about traditional dress? Do we want to dress the way our ancestors did before European contact? Probably not. The men wore little more than a breechclout and the women wore only a short skirt (they went topless!). So, what do we call traditional dress? It is actually the traditional dress learned from the white man, the European, and from the African. And today, we call it "tradition"! We can go on and on with examples of how tradition has been changed, lost and in some cases abandoned. The point I am trying to make here is that tradition is somewhat subjective and constantly changing.

It almost appears as though I am saying there really is no tradition. That is not true. Tradition exists. It always has and it always will. Over time, tradition gets altered. We need to realize that when we get into discussions over what is traditional, it is not a simple issue to resolve. Are we saying what is traditional now, or what was traditional back when? Are we saying what is traditional for the Oklahoma Cherokees, or what is traditional for the North Carolina Cherokees? We need to learn not to be so quick to judge what is and is not traditional. My wife once asked a lady if the bread she had made was a Cherokee bread (a reasonable question at the time). The lady responded by saying "Well, I am Cherokee, and I made the bread, so I guess it is Cherokee bread." She was right. Too many times someone says "that is not the traditional way to do it." According to whose tradition!?

Many people today think that the Sioux or Comanche culture is the culture of all Native Americans. This is just not true. So many times I hear someone from the Southeast saying "That's the traditional way to do such and such." (most commonly with the pipe and sweat lodges, colors and directions, and hairstyles and clothing.) Generally, they are telling someone the Sioux way, or the Comanche way, mostly Sioux. I am not knocking the Sioux or Comanche. But for a Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, Natchez, Catawba, Lumbee, Delaware, Shawnee, etc. to say that the Sioux way is their traditional way is just as incorrect as saying the Irish way is their traditional way. (If the person is part Irish, it becomes more incorrect.) We do not say that the ways of the Spanish are the ways of the Irish, nor the ways of the Greek the ways of the Dutch. So why should we say the ways of the Sioux are the ways of the Creek, or the ways of the Comanche the ways of the Choctaw?

Again, we have to consider time and distance when discussing tradition. Cherokee tradition in Oklahoma is somewhat different from Cherokee tradition in North Carolina, etc. Choctaw tradition in 1880 is much different than Choctaw tradition in 1780. Dress styles change, dominant religious views change, etc. A perfect example is Choctaw men's hairstyles. Choctaw men were wearing their hair long and loose when Europeans first met them. By the early 1800's, they had begun to roach or "Mohawk" their hair like the Creeks, Chickasaws, and Cherokees did. By the late 1800's, early 1900's they had begun to wear their hair in the contemporary style of the European conquerors. Here is an example of Indian changing Indian and European changing Indian.

We must be tolerant of other people's traditions and proud of our own. One tradition that I do believe to be somewhat universal among Native Americans is the belief that we should not try to force our ways, beliefs, culture and traditions upon others. Any effort to do so is probably learned from the Europeans.

Am I saying we cannot participate in the traditions of other peoples besides our blood ancestors? No! I am not saying that. We can, if we so choose, participate in any other people's cultural activities. In fact, we are already doing so. Most of us speak English, a European language. Some follow the Christian faith, a Middle-Eastern (oriental) religion. We enjoy eating lots of Mexican, Italian, and Chinese food. And much of our contemporary music has its roots in African soil. Many Indians, and non-Indians, are participating in the Sioux Sun Dance. Many Indians participate in the Native American Church which came up from Mexico and is a mixture of Mexican Indian tradition (the peyote way), and Christianity. But, I am saying, let's know before we speak. Don't say this is our tradition when it is the tradition of someone else. It may become our tradition in time, but let us know and give honest and knowledgeable accounts of what we do, how we do it, why we do it, and where it came from.

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