“Wačhí Awášteyalaka he?”

or, “Do You Like to Dance?”

The first in a series of six children’s books to be published solely in Native American languages has been released in the Lakota language. “Wačhí Awášteyalaka he?”, or “Do You Like To Dance,” is an 18-page monolingual Lakota picture book developed for early elementary and preschool children.

Illustrated by Oglala Lakota artist Marty Two Bulls, the book uses the topic of dancing to help children with the use of adverbs and basic question and answer structures. An additional five other picture books will first be released in Lakota, followed by versions in Crow, Hidatsa and Mandan.

Two Bulls, also a sculptor, jeweler and designer from Pine Ridge, S.D., whose satirical cartoons are regular features at the Indian Country Today Media Network, is among three Native American artists who are part of a team illustrating the series being published by The Language Conservancy and the Lakota Language Consortium. The others are Standing Rock Sioux cartoonist and illustrator Omani Luger of Fargo, N.D., and Maliseet artist and animator Tara Audibert.

Each of the books is designed to provide a specific area of language education. In addition to Wačhí Awášteyalaka he?, upcoming titles to be released in Lakota on Dec. 1 will include:

• Gnaškála (Froggy), which introduces time clauses for habitual and past reference activities.

• Šuŋǧíla Waŋ Naǧí Waŋgláke Kiŋ (The Fox Who Saw His Own Shadow), which exposes children to equative, comparative and superlative structures.

• Maká Waŋ Waŋbláke! (I Saw A Skunk), which teaches words for parts of the house and exposes children to the use of prepositions.

• Waúŋyutapi Iyéhaŋtu! (Time To Eat!), which teaches a number of important terms for family members and their reciprocal counterparts.

• Wakíŋyaŋ Aglí (The Storm), which teaches children terms for weather and exposes them to verbs of perception.

“These books are designed to immerse children in their own indigenous languages and to be used as a tool for parents, caregivers and teachers looking to stem the tide of the loss of indigenous languages and to offer an option beyond use of the English language,” said The Language Conservancy Executive Director Wil Meya. “Our aim with these monolingual children’s stories is to provide an opportunity for children to be absorbed in a cultural authenticity that can rarely be provided in the context of reading material.”

All of the children’s books are available for pre-order through bookstores at The Language Conservancy and Lakota Language Consortium websites. Be looking for upcoming announcements for a public reading in Lakota of the picture books at a special children’s book hour at the book store at Prairie Edge Trading Co & Galleries in Rapid City, N.D.

First-Ever Lakota Language Weekend in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is home to an enthusiastic, interested and dedicated group of Lakota language learners, the Lakota Language Consortium learned during its first ever Lakota Language Weekend to be conducted in the L.A. area (Nov. 12-13 at the Four Points Sheraton in Culver City).

About 30 beginners to learning the language came out for the two-day event led by three fluent Lakota speakers – Alayna Eagle Shield, Nacole Walker, Dusty Nelson – all from the Standing Rock area of North Dakota.

The event began with an opening prayer, then went into an introduction to basic sound and language systems, followed by a session of vocabulary learning facilitated through a fun and lively afternoon of circle games that helped participants develop skills for pronouncing animal names, the names of family members, how to introduce one’s self in Lakota and more.

Just as important, according to Elliott Bannister, a Lakota Language Consortium linguist fluent in Lakota who facilitated during the event, participants were provided the direction, tools and knowledge to improve Lakota language skills through self-instruction.

“When participants ‘flew the nest’ that weekend, we wanted them to be equipped to conintue learning at home,” Bannister said. “We want them to be able to apply the language learning techniques they pick up here for their own self-study. Leaving L.A., we recognized there was a very powerful sense of community, a great intimacy, that developed between the participants.”

Be looking for future Lakota Language Weekends in coming months in the cities of Bismarck, Denver and Minneapolis.

The Language Conservancy’s hour-long documentary Rising Voices, which documents the efforts of Lakota tribal members and language rescuers to save the tribe’s native language, will air across the country on the World Channel at 7 p.m. EST as part of Native American Heritage Month.

To view on a station near your, just go to the World Channel website, click on Set Your Station, and your entire zip code to determine what channel Rising Voice will air on.

The third week at LSI, on two different occasions, participants gathered to honor Lakota teachers and students.

Last year was a particularly difficult one, with the passing of many respected elders and powerful advocates of the Lakota language.

LSI teachers, organizers and staff wanted to honor Mr. Milton Brown Otter, former Standing Rock Sioux Tribe councilman, and Ms. Velia Salas, a vibrant Lakota language teacher. Both Velia and Milton had been involved with LSI since its inaugural year, and were an inspiration to many of our participants. On Tuesday, June 21, we held a ceremony in their honor.

In an interview with ICTMN, LSI attendee and Lead Lakota Language Activities instructor at the Lakota Language Nest in Sitting Bull College, Tipizin Tolman said, “Their passing reminded the community that we have a closing window of opportunity to do language revitalization and do it well, while our speakers and supporters are alive”.

The second ceremony of the week was less somber, as we celebrated the graduation of four students from Sitting Bull College.  Marilyn Circle Eagle, Emmanuel Red Bear and Courtney Yellow Fat were honored with a traditional eagle feather, a medicine wheel and their Sitting Bull College diplomas. The fourth graduate, Evelyn Goodhouse, was unfortunately not in attendance.

We congratulate the graduates!

This week, Linda Black Elk’s 3-week Ethnobotany course culminated in a mouthwateringly tasty potluck, all made with freshly picked ingredients and wild meat brought from home.

In fact, the during the whole third week Ethnobotany students did daily hands-on activities- making shampoo, lip balm and massage oil – all with the herbal ingredients they learned about throughout the week.

Many students were impressed with the class; LSI attendee Barb Dupris shared, “I’ve lived here my whole life, but I didn’t know what half of those plants were or how to recognize them.”

But it wasn’t only the students who were learning. Instructor Linda Black Elk commented, “I feel so thankful and blessed to have so many elders in my class this summer. I am learning so much from them and I hope they are learning a little from me.”

Linda was particularly excited to have Hazel Red Bird in her class.

“She is my sons’ grandmother. She hadn’t dug thíŋpsiŋla (Pediomelum esculentum; turnip) since she was a little girl of about 10 years old. Now she is 91. A few years ago, she made a bucket list. ‘Going out to dig thíŋpsiŋla‘ was on that list. I’m thrilled to say that we made that happen this week by taking her out on the hills behind Sitting Bull College and helping her dig her first thíŋpsiŋla in 80 years. It was very emotional for her and for all of us. She is a remarkable woman.” 

All LSI participants were invited to the potluck and were encouraged to learn about the ingredients used in the cooking.

At this year’s Lakota Summer Institute history was made with the first ever Lakota Poetry course, taught by Ben Black Bear and Lawrence Diggs.

While poetry as we know it today wasn’t prevalent in Lakota culture, many Lakota songs could be considered a form of poetry. The language itself is poetic and easily gives way to creating a new literary style.

The class explored different poetry styles in Lakota, all the while discovering new ways the language can be beautiful when we play with the sounds, nuanced meanings of words and unique Lakota expressions.

Additionally participants in the class worked on poetry reading and public speaking skills, including a focus on body language to help communicate their poetry. The class recorded to see how different every participant sounded to others in comparison to themselves.

Courtney Yellow Fat, long-time LSI participant and now teacher, shared: “Ever since I was a young man I have been interested in poetry, because it gave me an outlet to express my feelings. Poetry isn’t a new thing to the Lakota people, we have always had poetic expressions in our stories and especially in our songs. […]”

We’ll be putting together an album of recordings from this class, so stay tuned! In the meanwhile, check out this video on our Facebook page – Lakota Poetry class participants reading a poem all together. We hope that many new, creative possibilities for language learning will emerge in the future as the Lakota Summer Institute continues to blossom.

With every consecutive year, we have more and more attendees at LSI. We spoke with participants during week 2 & 3 to bring you a variety of impressions about this year’s training.

Manny Iron Hawk – Manny, an LSI veteran, has been attending the Institute every year since 2008! He used to teach grades 7-12 at a school in Eagle Butte and still gives presentations today. Manny admitted that when he first heard about the Institute, he was suspicious: “I was skeptical, but I wanted to come with an open mind, to come and see for myself and to participate in the classes.”
He shares that since that year he’s been eager to return every summer.

“I found out that this could really have impact with kids, especially all the Methods classes with engaging actives and games, as well as the spelling system and diacritics – I find it easier to read. I also come here to meet other language speakers, to speak, to socialize. That’s the way to keep our language going.”

Teachers like Manny are the heart & soul of LSI. “I tell young people interested in the language to come here and to check it out for themselves,” he said.

Barb Dupris – Barb is an 8th grade Lakota language & culture teacher at Eagle Butte Jr. High. This is Barb’s third, non-consecutive year at LSI; she was previously at the Institute in 2010 and 2015. “In 2010, I took my very first phonology class. That was very helpful because Lakota was my first language, but I got away from it for a while and wasn’t using it. The class reminded me about the sounds of the language.”

Barb shared that reading and writing were one of the strongest points about the Institute, “Fluent speakers have been speaking their whole life but don’t necessarily know how to read and write. Now I can read and write and I am getting more and more comfortable.”

Her favorite classes this year included Ethnobotany and Teaching Methods with Kim Campbell. “Kim is very knowledgeable,” Barb said, “There are a lot of activities and exercises that go along with the book. There is a whole different, engaging idea of teaching, of building up material and doing final review exercises.”

Barb also enjoyed the 3-week Ethnobotany course that was offered this year. “I’ve lived here my whole life, but I didn’t know what half of those plants were or how to recognize them.”  In week 3, Ethnobotany students did daily hands-on activities using the plants they gathered and picked throughout the week. Activities included making shampoo, lip balm, massage oil, and cooking a meal for a potluck at the end of the week. Check out this post for more information.

 Sammi Seidel – Sami is a lively high school student from Rapid City who came to LSI for the first time this year! She first heard about the Institute from her sister, Savannah, who attended LSI last year and has since been at a few of LLC’s Lakota Language Weekend events in South Dakota. Sammi has been taking a Lakota language class in Rapid every Tuesday, but she says that being at LSI for all 3 weeks has really improved her language skills.

“It gives me a better opportunity to learn the language. I like how everybody gets involved. We get together to do activities and I feel very welcome here.”

Sammi also shared that she felt very supported by her teachers in class, “I like that the teachers will teach the whole class but also help you one-on-one. They really reach out to every student and follow their progress.”

When we asked Sammi if she was planning on returning next year she said, “Definitely. It’s just a great experience and I’m so lucky to be here. If you want to learn Lakota, I would recommend coming here.”

Aŋpétu kiŋ lé okó ičínuŋpa kiŋ iháŋke kštó.

This week, LSI participants explored the richness of Lakȟótiyapi with courses like Intensive Lakota/Dakota for Elementary II, Neologism Development, Voice Performance & Audio Materials Development, Immersion Methods, Lakota/Dakota Inflectional Morphology II, and others! We caught up with some of our participants to see what they had to say about week 2.

Winona (“Nona”) Gayton – This is Winona’s second year taking classes at LSI, but she’s been hanging around the Institute since 2014. “My dad first brought me here, since he teaches. And after I saw how the Institute was set up, I wanted to come be a part of it.”

When we asked her what exactly drew her to the Institute, Winona said, “I like that the teachers understand that the language is such a high priority in our communities. I also like that everyone here is like family – we all know each other and look forward to seeing each other every year.”

And Nona’s favorite classes? Lakota Morphology and Lakota Grammar.

“The classes are challenging for me, so I am able to learn a lot from them. Datives, conditional clauses…it all sounds really scary, but it’s actually fun learning it!”

We’re looking forward to seeing this motivated 9th grader next year!

Don Grey Day – Don teaches Tribal Culture at Selfridge Public Schools (K-12), and incorporates Lakȟótiyapi into his teaching. He’s been coming to LSI since 2013 to learn effective teaching methods and to be around fluent speakers.

This week Don took Immersion Methods with François Fouquerel, “What I like most about it is that I am a second language learner and I am in a class with fluent speakers. I get to sit amongst them and take it all in.”

As it turns out, Don’s favorite part about LSI is similar to Winona’s – “The main thing I like is that I have established relationships with people here. I also like meeting new people, who are just starting to learn and are anxious, scared and excited all in one. I like encouraging the beginners. Never tell anybody that learning your own language is not useful!”

Social Highlight – Humor The Ruse & Scatter Their Own at LSI

The social highlight for this week was a performance by Humor the Ruse (top left) and Scatter Their Own (bottom left) in honor of LSI’s 10th Anniversary.

Humor The Ruse is a musical duo from Standing Rock. Members Bubbsy Luger and Charli Fool Bear blew the audience away with their musical talent and by singing in Lakota! Stay tuned to hear one of their songs – we’ll be posting a video on the LLC Facebook page.

Scatter Their Own is an Alter-Native rock duo from of Oglala Lakota ancestry from the Badlands of South Dakota. A real family effort, the duo Scotti Clifford (Guitarist and Vocalist) and Juliana Brown Eyes-Clifford (Bassist and Vocalist), are actually joined by Scotti’s teenage children – Welby June (16) on guitar and Wahpe Waste Win (14) on drums.

The group shared why they were excited to play at LSI:

“We are a Lakota family. For us, it is all about relationships. The more fire that we can share as a world community, the stronger our unity. The more language we can build within our own culture, and even outside our own culture, the better. The heartbeat of our culture is the language, and that’s why this is important to us.”

We encourage you to follow all of our LSI 2016 updates on our Facebook  and Twitter pages. Stay tuned for week 3 wrap-up and more interviews with participants!

LSI Photos Week 2 – Click Here!