The Changing Traditional Value System of the Dakota Indian: A Study of the Conflicting Value Systems of the Dakota Indian and Western Civilization

One of the conclusions of anthropologists is that of cultural variability and the relativity of value systems. This means that the designs for living with its system of moral values which one society has evolved may differ considerably from those of another. Each society has their unique value system (moral code). The Dakota Indians have (or had) theirs and the people of Western civilization have theirs. As a result of the culture contact of these two groups over the past seventy-five years, the Dakota Indian has been exposed to, even coerced to follow, a value system different than his own. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the traditional value system of the Dakota Indians in contrast to that of Western civilization, and, as a result of the conflict of value systems between the two societies, to discover any symptoms of social or personal disorganization which may accrue to the present day Pine Ridge Reservation resident