Language Preservation/Retention
News
The first Dakotah Scrabble game was developed by AAIA Director of Language Prorgams, Tammy DeCoteau, working with elders of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and the first Dakotah Scrabble Tournament was held at the Dakotah Language Bowl at Dakota Magic in Hankinson, North Dakota on Friday, March 24, 2006.
"Language contains generations of wisdom, going back to antiquity. Our languages contain a significant part of the world's knowledge and wisdom. When a language is lost, much of the knowledge that language represents is also lost."
The words of the elders are wise. Tribes across the United States are attempting to revitalize and preserve their languages.
It is well recognized that most Native languages are in danger. Of 155 Native languages spoken in North America today, 135 are endangered. The majority of languages are spoken fluently only by grandparents. In recent years, tribes have become increasingly concerned about the loss of language and have begun developing programs to reverse this trend.
AAIA’s Dakota Language Preservation project takes place on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation. The reservation is located in Northeast South Dakota and a portion of Southeast North Dakota and is home of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate (“the tribe”). The reservation is home to approximately 4,000 of the tribe’s 10,000 members.
Currently, only elders over the age of 55 speak the Dakota language fluently. Younger members of the tribe may understand phrases, learn Dakota songs and otherwise have some limited knowledge of the language, but none of them are fully fluent speakers. Within a generation, the language will be lost from the community. In a recent survey conducted by AAIA staff, only 9% of the adults surveyed in Sisseton community were fluent speakers, all tribal elders. This is true of all 9 Dakota-speaking communities in the United States, although there a few small bands in Canada where the language is still more widely spoken.
In 2002, AAIA started a intergenerational program of instruction in the Dakotah language called Dakota Iapi!, a two hour weekly class held during the evening and taught by a qualified Dakotah-speaking teacher. The program led to increased usage of the language, including bilingual signs at tribal businesses and the increased use of Dakotah within the tribal government.
The next phase of the project, called in the Dakotah language “Wakanyeja Kin Unspe” (Teach the Child), was started in 2003. This program involved AAIA working with the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Sisseton Wahpeton Community College to develop a pre-school immersion program or “Language Nest”.
In 2005, AAIA worked with the College to create the Family Dakotah Language Learning Center. The philosophy of the Center was to provide an immersion program for youth and language instruction for adults. This model program has now been moved to the Enemy Swim Day School where it has been enthusiastically embraced. AAIA continues to consult concerning the development of the program as needed and requested.
Another vital part of AAIA’s language program has been the development of Dakota-language materials for children, something that is otherwise not currently available. AAIA has created several children's books, videos and CDs in the Dakotah language. We also recently created a Dakotah language Scrabble game, including a 207 page dictionary of Dakota words for use in the game. The first Dakotah language Scrabble tournament took place in March. We have also created and distributed a rap CD in the Dakotah language. Currently, we are creating a K-2 Dakotah language curriculum.
In addition to introducing children to the language, these programs have also created within the community a greater awareness of the language and its potential loss.
In an article published in our newsletter Indian Affairs, reprinted in Tribal College Journal, Vol. 16, No. 1, Fall 2004, Tammy DeCoteau, the Director of our Native Language Programs, discussed from a personal perspective why this is so important. She asked our members to imagine what it would be like if the phrase “I love you” was outlawed. “How would you express that emotion?” she asked. She went on to say
The Dakotah (Sioux) language has within it many, many phrases like, “I love you;” phrases that are also rich with meaning, phrases that are now in danger of disappearing forever, phrases like “mitakuye owasin.” Many people translate “mitakuye owasin” as “all my relatives.” This is correct. But it is so much more than that. To me, it is an acknowledgement of all that has ever been created, in the entire universe, as your relative. To nod your head in acknowledgement to a rock or a blade of grass and to think of that rock or that blade of grass as your brother and to call him “brother.” But, it was not just one phrase of the Dakotah language that was outlawed. It was an attempt to obliterate an entire language. People that I know today, elders I respect, were beaten for speaking.
Dr. William Lonefight, President of Sisseton Wahpeton College, explains that Native languages are webs of connectedness and relatedness. They connect relationships, roles and interactions. At our 2003 annual meeting, he asked our membership to consider what would be lost if English disappeared – everything from Shakespeare to baseball and football would be different. And he pointedly noted that it is only Indian people who get asked, “Do you speak your language?” “This gives a strange impression to our children,” he said.
Moreover, by its focus on youth, our program strengthens the self esteem of the most vulnerable individuals in the community leading to better life choices. The evidence is that fluency in a tribal language increase the chances that the children involved will achieve academically, and succeed in life. In addition, the culture of the people is intertwined within the language and thus funding language revitalization also ensures the continuation of tribal cultures.
Language Preservation Samples
| Title | Type | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Pahinzizi ka Mato Yamni (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) | ||
| Cable/DSL Version | Flash | Cable/DSL |
| Modem Version | Flash | Modem |
| Mary Tahca Skana Cistina Yuhe (Mary Had a Little Lamb) | ||
| Cable/DSL Version | Flash | Cable/DSL |
| Modem Version | Flash | Modem |
| Wicozani Mitawa (My Life) | .mp3 | 715 KB |
| Dowanpi (They Sing) | .mp3 | 994 KB |
| Phrases to Use with Children As Spoken by Women | .mp3 | 671 KB |
| Ihakam Unpi Unyuwicakapi (Pledge of Allegiance) | .mp3 | 665 KB |
For more information on these and other materials, please visit the Sisseton Wahpeton College Bookstore.
Language Program Materials List
The AAIA Native Language Program offers these materials in Dakotah for sale as an attempt to be self-sustaining. The income from sales is used to create new materials and to help defray the costs of publication.
These materials are currently offered only in Dakotah (a dialect of the Sioux language.) We are working towards a goal of translating these materials
into other native languages.
View the Language Program Materials List (Word, 44KB).
For ordering information, please contact:
Tammy DeCoteau, Director of Language ProgramsP.O. Box 509
Agency Village, SD 57262
Phone: 605-698-4400x367
Fax: 605-698-7067
E-Mail: