It’s mid-october, the temperatures are dropping, the leaves are not only changing but also falling, and many of our children throughout Lakota country are getting excited for Halloween. While this holiday is not a traditional holiday in Lakota culture, we do have some spooky stories that have been told for generations. Some of these stories are part of the ohúŋkakaŋ legends often told to children at bedtime. In this episode, we hear some of these stories as they’re remembered by elders. In these stories are scary creatures or characters such as Íya, Hiŋháŋ Káǧa, Hiŋháŋ Ská and wanáǧi. We also talk about the meaning and symbolism behind some of these stories. We’d like to wish everyone a happy and safe spooky season! 

Speakers in this episode include: Imogene Roy (Oglála), Leola One Feather (Oglála), Ben Black Bear Jr (Sičháŋǧu), Harriet Brings (Oglála), Wilber Witt (Oglála), Robert Two Crow (Oglála), and Alex FireThunder (Oglála). 

This podcast was made possible by Hóyeya and The Lakota Language Consortium. 

Wičháho Blihélya means, “with energetic voices” in Lakota. This podcast is intended to serve three major purposes: language preservation via documentation of the Lakota language as it is spoken by Native speakers and elders, language revitalization via providing interesting and engaging content for language learners to listen to in low-anxiety environments and for teachers to use in classrooms, and finally language maintenance by providing Lakota speakers with a talk show to listen to in their first language. 

This podcast is a free resource to share the language.

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Thanks to the LLC team that worked on this episode:  Alex FireThunder, Robert Two Crow, Shania Black Bear-Searby, Jamie Marquez-Bratcher, Jan Ullrich, and Marek Kupiec. A special wóphila to Shania Black Bear-Searby for our amazing podcast artwork. #WichahoBlihelya #LakotaLanguagePodcast #LakotaLanguageConsortium