My Relatives Say
Traditional Dakotah Stories as Told by Mary Louise Defender Wilson

• Awards
• Cover Art
• Artist and Album Tracks
• Track Sample
• Production Credits
• How to Order

Awards

Winner:

• Native American Music Award for Best Spoken Word Recording (2002)

Artist and Album Tracks

Mary Louise Defender Wilson, also known as Gourd Woman, is a Dakotah elder and traditionalist born into a family of storytellers on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation of North Dakota. The first story she remembers hearing at age three was told by her mother, Helen Margaret See the Bear, and grandmother, both of whom were midwives. These stories were told to educate both children and adults and were told whether working, relaxing, or as part of a ceremony. While traveling in horse-drawn wagons to visit expectant mothers, Helen Margaret would tell stories to her daughter about the plants, birds, and animals they saw along the way.  By the age of eleven, Mary Louise was fluent in the Dakotah language and telling stories herself. For decades since, Mary Louise has been telling these stories to following generations so they might live "in a good way". Her wisdom, artistry, and serene dignified presence have earned her the nation's highest honor for a traditional artist, a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She has also received a Native American Music Award for Best Spoken Word Recording (2000), the National Education Association’s H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award for Human and Civil Rights, and a Notable Document Award from the Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association.

Track List:

1. The World Never Ends
   Expresses the eternity, circle of life, and the importance of telling stories for the betterment and continuance of that life.
2. The Blue Heron Who Stayed for the Winter
   Expresses the value of helping others in need regardless of differences, of truly recognizing your own and other's gifts, and of knowing when to be independent in thought or part of a larger context.
3. Earth Beans
   Teaches us to respect the needs of all life regardless of size, power, and seeming importance.
4. The Dakotah Have Had Horses for a Long Time
   Explains the origin of the Dakotah horses and the importance of and the reward for treating life with gentleness.
5. How Snake Creek Came to Be
   This is a story of pride, power, making mistakes, and ultimately of redemption.
6. Why the Fawn Has Spots
   A doe's love for her fawn makes one think about life that is less fortunate.
7. The Star in the Cottonwood Tree
   This story relays a star's longing for a beautiful sound on Earth, and was given to Mary Louise by Dale Childs.
8. The First Flute Was Used for Courting
   The origin of the flute and certain animals' roles in that origin is communicated in this narrative.

Track Sample

• "The First Flute Was Used for Courting"

Production Credits

Acknowledgements:

William Dean Wilson, Dale Childs, the Dakotah community, Hoksina, Bryan Akipa, Cherie Harms, Lisa Dowhaniuk, Eileen Bittner, National Endowment for the Arts, Bob Martinson, North Dakota Tourism Division, Harold Umber and Craig Bihrle of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Bob Dambach and Dave Geck of Prairie Public Television, Aneata Hagy, and Perihelion Films

Musicians:

• Bryan Akipa (flute)

Executive Producers:

• North Dakota Council on the Arts
• Makoché Recording Company

Producers:

• Troyd Geist, North Dakota Council on the Arts
• David Swenson, Makoché Recording Company

Art Design:

• Stephanie Meisel

Enhanced CD Portion:

• Ben Nemenoff
• Troyd Geist

Media:

• Mike Anderson, Ben Nemenoff (video)
• Aneata Hagy (video and photography)
• Ed Bry, Jayne Erickson, Dennis Gad, Troyd Geist, Chris Grondahl, Dan Koeck, Harold Umber (photography)
• Dennis Gad (CD cover photograph)

Album © 2001 Makoché Word/North Dakota Council on the Arts

Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Dakota Tourism Division.

Post production, editing, mixing, and mastering was completed at Makoché Recording Studios by David Swenson.

How to Order

• Makoché Recording Company, 208 North 4th Street, Bismarck, North Dakota 58501; 
• or call 1-800-637-6863
• or e-mail Makoche@aol.com