Lakota Language Weekend in Rapid City
Natalie Morris | KOTA | October 5, 2019
Lakota language instructor, teaches a class for the Lakota Language Weekend on October 5.
Lakota Language Weekend is taking place Saturday and Sunday at Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza. This is the second Lakota language weekend hosted in Rapid City this year.
Lakota is a considered by the United Nations to be a critically endangered language and event coordinator, Katie Norman, said there is an increasing amount of people who want to learn the language in surrounding communities.
Instructors at the event use total physical response methods to help teach the language.
The method utilizes animal props to visually help learn vocabulary used in every day activities.
“Each class focuses on Lakota grammar, in part, but also on communicative Lakota. In the mornings, teachers can either start off with grammar basics or jump right into what’s your name, how are you doing today,” said Norman.
Norman said the event is typically for high school students and older, but there are youth schools that teach Lakota language across the region.
She also said the event takes on a special importance because the United Nations declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
