What does Tatanka mean?
Tatanka is the Lakota word for “Big Beast.” For the Northern Plains People, the big beast (or bison) meant life in the form of food, clothing, housing, tools, and much more.
What is Tatanka, the Story of the Bison?
Tatanka is an educational center that I had the privilege of visiting during my trip to South Dakota. It’s a storyteller’s dream founded and owned by storyteller, Kevin Costner (lead actor, director, and producer of an epic movie filmed in South Dakota — Dances with Wolves, the story of a Union Army lieutenant and his friendship with the Lakota).
Tatanka’s centerpiece is a group of bronze sculptures depicting a story: fourteen bison pursued by three Native American hunters on horseback.
You can watch this video to learn why and how Kevin Costner created Tatanka, the Story of the Bison.
I’d love to make a return visit. I feel the same about many places in South Dakota. Until I return, I have the memories, my Wyoming hat, and the Deadwood story I wrote about Raven, a Lakota woman who loves only her family and her Appaloosa horse until (in the summer of 1876) she meets a man named Charlie Jennings.
Read Rescuing Raven’s excerpt on my website.
For all of 2018, you can read Rescuing Raven in the Wild Deadwood Tales anthology (featuring 17 stories set in Deadwood, with all proceeds going to the Western Sports Foundation).
UPDATE: As of January 2019, Rescuing Raven is now available as a standalone read.
Want to see the PHOTO-FUN we Wild Deadwood Tales authors had on our South Dakota trip? CLICK HERE
