Association on American Indian Affairs

Language Preservation/Retention

"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 was later moved to the Enemy Swim Day School.

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 more than 80 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 2006.  We have also created and distributed a rap CD in the Dakotah language.

In 2007, we completed a K-2 Dakotah language curriculum. Lesson plans have been developed for 36 weeks of school for kindergarten, first grade and second grade as well as proposed Standards and Benchmarks, and CDs, books, games, flash cards and other materials have been developed for each lesson. These materials are designed to be translated into any Native language and the curriculum was recently translated into Ojibwe.

In 2008 and 2009, the language program embarked on a program to record elders speaking in Dakotah to preserve a record of fluent speakers and continued to create learning materials for schools. We also commenced a project to translate all of the books that have been created into Lakota.

In 2010, the language program will be working to develop materials for "new media". We plan to develop a website dedicated to language learning and create podcasts for specific teachings, hearing conversation and learning language through song.

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. 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 Program, 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.

 

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
     

Language Program PBS Video

Dakota Life, a PBS television program, recently produced a story about our Language Preservation program. Click the link below and scroll to "Play Media" to watch.

http://sdpb.org/Archives/ProgramDetail.asp?ProgID=5776

Language Program Youtube Videos

The AAIA Native Language Program now offers language videos and are available at http://www.youtube.com/user/AAIALanguageProgram.

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 Programs
P.O. Box 509
Agency Village, SD 57262
Phone: 605-698-4400x367
Fax: 605-698-7067
E-Mail: