More from Naming Jett
Jul 19, 2016
Our July/August issue features the story of a traditional Native American naming ceremony held by Donna and Mike Stroup for their son, Jett, north of Pierre last summer. Keith Hemmelman photographed the event, but our pages could only hold so many of his images. Here are some that didn’t make the magazine.
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Mike erected a ceremonial tipi on a hill overlooking the Missouri River for his son’s Lakota naming ceremony. -
The tipi will be Jett’s to keep throughout his lifetime. -
On the appointed day, friends and family gathered at the Stroup home 5 miles north of Pierre, near the top of Zuze’ca Paha (Snake Butte) overlooking Lake Oahe. -
The ceremony began inside the tipi. -
Native children receive a given name at birth, as Jett did, but naming ceremonies — in which another name is bestowed and celebrated — have long been a part of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota traditions. -
Mike and Donna served water and wasna — a mixture of dried chokecherries and buffalo meat — to their guests. -
These elements have been used in naming ceremonies “forever,” said Mike, “reflecting that water and the buffalo have been around since the beginning." -
Jett, 2 years old, sips water after receiving his new name. -
Clark Zephyr (left), a Fort Thompson medicine man, officiated. -
Mike and Donna are both Lakota, enrolled tribal members of the Lower Brule and Cheyenne River tribes, but they didn’t come of age in traditional families, where their ancestral culture and language were woven into daily life. -
They plan to learn more about their treasured Lakota heritage as they teach their children to carry on their traditions.
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