27 Braveheart Womens Society: Coming of Age in South Dakota

Published: Aug. 11, 2015, 7:20 a.m.

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The Braveheart Women\\u2019s Society, a group of Yankton Sioux grandmothers and tribal elders, have re-established an almost forgotten coming of age ritual for young girls\\u2014the Isnati, a four day traditional ceremony on the banks of the Missouri River in South Dakota. The girls learn to set up their own teepee, collect traditional herbs and flowers used for remedies.\\xa0They\\xa0are not allowed to touch food or feed themselves for four days; they are fed and given water by their mother or other women\\xa0at the ceremony. They\\xa0are being\\xa0treated as babies for the last time in their lives. One of the grandmothers makes\\xa0each girl a special dress. On the\\xa0last day of the ceremony, the girls, one at a time, go into the teepee with their mother or their auntie\\xa0who\\xa0bathes them and dresses them and does their\\xa0hair. The elder tells the girl\\xa0stories\\xa0about what she\\xa0was like as a baby, how beautiful she is\\xa0and about the hopes and promises for her\\xa0future.The girls prepare sacred ceremonial food and feed their community.\\xa0She\\u2019s\\xa0given a new name and is\\xa0presented to the the community as a woman.

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