Teresa R Peterson

Grasshopper Girl Teresa R Peterson

A story within a story about Psipsi, a young Dakota girl, whose father shares a traditional Uktomi story with her. Uktomi stories have been shared in Dakota families and communities for a very long time. This tradition continued into the childhood of my mother's generation. Depending upon location and community, variations of this Uktomi story have been told. This Uktomi story is a local version my mother and her siblings heard from their father, primarily when they were ill, perhaps to lend comfort in addition to impart lessons to a captive audience.