Lakota Winter Counts

The Lakota Indians marked the passage of time by drawing pictures of memorable events on calendars known as “waniyetu wowapi” or “winter counts”. The Lakota Winter Counts website features 16 of these Native American Calendars from Smithsonian collections – plus a timeline of images showing events recorded by winter count keepers in various communities between 1701 and 1905, a searchable database of 19th Century commentaries, a documentary about Lakota history and culture as well as video interviews with Lakota people who relate these indigenous calendars to a wide range of historical and contemporary concerns, both local and global.