Honor the Grandmothers Honor the Grandmothers takes a look at four Dakota and Lakota women who offer to share the stories of their lives to the reader. It is a heartfelt look into their hardships through racism, to their ongoing battle to pass along the rich history of their ancestors while fighting poverty on the reservation. The first grandmother we get the chance to hear from is Celane Not Help Him. I wondered how she got her name because I think that would be an entire story all by itself, but unfortunately I couldn’t find any research that would answer my question. Celane’s story was the most informative and vivid of all the tales in my opinion. The stories she recounted of the massacre at Wounded Knee really gave me a full …show more content…

The slumlords preyed upon poor people, as they tend to do to the underprivileged. But, Cecilia was determined and she found work at a local café and worked her way up from there. She got involved in community action programs and found her niche in activism. She helped people on the outskirts of town get water supplied to them from the city; she fought landlords that overcharged poor tenants with substandard housing. Even after helping so many people, she still fights her own battle with poverty by trying to stretch a meager income. Somehow she makes it work while taking care of her children and a grandchild. Sadly, she lost 2 of her children. She teaches her children and grandchildren not to let others push them around because they are different than the white kids. She teaches them self-respect and the proudness of their heritage and traditions. Our last entry is Iola Columbus. She was born in Minnesota, but raised on Pine Ridge Reservation. She was chosen by her grandmothers to be raised the traditional ways and to learn her heritage so she could pass it from generation to generation. They taught her the value and hard work of living off the land and how important it was to maintain a balance with nature. She was instilled with knowledge of roots, vegetables, and medicines and how crucial it was to leave some so that they could spread their seeds and be able to reproduce for future use. She was taught to respect everyone and