Lakota Virtue:Truth

What is Truth?
Truth is that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality. “Truth is the marker along the roads we travel in life” (Marshall 119). This quote accurately describes the meaning of truth because he says that truth is the marker along the roads in life, so if you ever get deceived by lies you can always find the truth. I got this quote from “The Lakota Way” and it was also a quote in the book when Joseph Marshall (the author) was talking about when his grandfather would talk to him about the virtue of truth.

Iktomi is a man who just awoke from a deserted bear cave he slept in. He walks out with a bundle of sticks on his back and the ducks he passed fly away in fear because Iktomi will eat anything he comes across. The ducks aren’t used to being ignored and they call out to Iktomi to see what’s up with the wood he has on his back. Iktomi says this isn’t wood, it’s ancient songs. Although he was lying, the ducks fell for it, because one thing Iktomi knows to do, is trick people. He’s not a hunter, but he’s very good at lying and deceiving. So he got out the sticks and sad that he’d play an “ancient song” for them. Only problem was the ducks had to close their eyes or else they would get red eyes for the rest of their lives. As Iktomi is singing the “ancient song” he goes around and starts killing the ducks. They have no idea it’s happening because the ducks are dancing around and have their eyes closed. One duck opened his eyes and saw that he was just killing all the other ducks. He yelled out “look out!” They started to fly away, but by them Iktomi has killed over seven ducks with the stick.

The truth is important, because when you tell the truth you won't feel like guilty or bad. People like to know the truth, because it won't makes a person feel insecure. People, even if you don't think so, don't like that feeling of someone keeping the truth from them. In the story the author, Joseph Marshal says “The truth is sometime painful but without it there is only illusion.” What this says to me is that even if the truth hurts, it is good to tell them, because they deserve to know. Another quote by the author is, “Truth is like the wind. You can't see is but you can feel the effect that is has.” What this means to me is that, you can’t feel the truth you can only hear and know the truth. The truth can be both good or bad, kind or cruel, a gift or a burden, no matter what it is tell the truth. As for me truth is everything, I don't can if it hurts I only want the truth. I don't like to lie, so I only tell or hear the truth.

Truth is important to the Lakota culture. The truth is important to the lakota because without it would be hard to see the good in things. In the book The Lakota ways it talks about how the two thing are certain and in detail about it. Those two things are one that once life begins you start to die and the other is death comes and claims us all eventually. Death is alway true. It is  one thing that can not be changed by  even the most powerful person on earth.