November has arrived, which means that Rising Voices/Hótȟaŋiŋpi is coming to a station near you!
November 1 marked the first premieres of the film on public stations in Washington, Colorado and Michigan. This week, the film was shown on stations in North Carolina and will be shown on stations in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Virginia! You can now check your local listings, or click the following link to find out broadcast dates for your state.
To celebrate the premieres, we will be going on tour to schools and museums in North and South Dakota November 8-14! Below is a schedule of our events, which you can also find here.
We’ve just returned from an exciting weekend at Thuswéča Thiyóšpaye, which took place in Rapid City, SDOct. 8-10! If you’ve never been to the summit, it’s a gathering of kindred souls – a chance for people who love their Lakota/Dakota language to connect with each other and share their passion.
This year’s agenda featured many of our friends, including Ben Black Bear, Nacole Walker and Sunshine Carlow, Peter Hill, and a screening of Rising Voices/Hótȟaŋiŋpi. We’re happy to share some of the highlights from the Language Summit below!
We’ve got a busy fall season ahead of us! One event we’re particularly excited about is a fundraiser we’re hosting in Bloomington, IN – Supporting Native Voices Gala. We welcome everyone to join us for an evening to benefit and celebrate indigenous language and culture! The event will be held at Deer Park Manor on November 5, 2015 at 6 PM. UPDATE: The 2017 Gala will be held Nov. 3 at Deer Park Manor!
The evening will feature an indigenous flute and hoop dance performance by Kevin Locke, appetizers, and a screening of our new documentary – Rising Voices/Hótȟaŋiŋpi. See below for more details!
RSVP – purchase your ticket at the BCT Box Office in-person or online at bctboxoffice.com. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at 812-961-6360
As tickets are limited we recommend reserving yours as soon as possible at the following link.
Kevin Locke (Tȟokéya Inážiŋ, meaning “The First to Arise”) is a world-renowned indigenous flute player, a traditional storyteller, cultural ambassador, recording artist and Lakota educator. Kevin has received numerous awards and honors, including the National Heritage Fellowship (1990) from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Enduring Vision Award (2009) from the Bush Foundation. You can read a great interview with Kevin here.
Rising Voices/Hótȟaŋiŋpitells the story of a passionate, dedicated and diverse group of people – members of the Lakota community and Linguists from outside of the community who are working together to save the Lakota language and restore it to its rightful place in Lakota, and American, culture. Told through the voices of a wide range of Lakota people who share their feelings about their language and the myriad challenges facing their community, the film also incorporates four short films created for Rising Voices by Lakota filmmakers and artists.
We had one of our biggest and most successful Summer Institutes thus far. We were happy to welcome many new Lakota language teachers and learners, and welcome back many familiar faces.
This summer we also launched our Lakota Vocab Builder for Android. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, hop on over to the Google Play store to download the Free or Pro version (only $0.99)! If learning Lakota wasn’t fun enough already, this app will provide even more enjoyment! Stay tuned for news about the iOS version.
As we are getting ready to say goodbye to Summer 2015, we’re looking forward to new opportunities and events in the fall.
If you missed this year’s LSI, don’t despair! Coming up September 26-27 we are hosting Lakota Language Weekend in Pine Ridge, SD. It will be an opportunity to see old friends and make new ones, all the while learning Lakota!
Check out the flyer below for more information!
Registration for the event is $20; you can register at this link, and follow updates on our Facebook event page.
As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Continue to support and encourage each other in your Lakota language-learning journeys.
June 19th marked the last day of the ninth Lakota Summer Institute (LSI)!
Can you believe that we’ve been running the Institute for almost ten years?
This year was big in many ways! Last year we had more than 100 participants at Sitting Bull College, but that included Lakota, Crow, and Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara Summer Institutes. This year, we had over 100 participants just at LSI!
So, our program keeps growing, in terms of participants and classes. For example, this year we offered Phonology II with Jan Ullrich, which gave participants the opportunity to listen to recordings of eloquent Lakota speakers, transcribe text from these recordings, and familiarize themselves with fast speech phenomena.
The big event at LSI this year was a pre-screening of Rising Voices/Hótȟaŋiŋpi, which took place at the Standing Rock High School Auditorium June 11-13 (at 8 PM). There was an overwhelmingly positive response to the film, and we can’t wait for our premiere tour in November. Follow our Facebook page and Twitter to hear about the cities, dates and times of Rising Voices screenings!
This special edition newsletter will give you some of the highlights through participant perspectives! We caught up with a lot of people at the institute—from brand new members to devoted LSI veterans and teachers—to see what they thought about this year’s program. (And psst, for the record: all those that came to LSI for the first time are definitely planning to come back next year).
Allen James Wilson – a first-time LSI participant from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, who is a language and culture teacher at St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, SD. “I really really enjoyed the institute, and learned so much from the methods. For example, in Rosebud we use Albert White Hat’s orthography, which is great, but having the [Standard Lakota] orthography explained with the introduction of phonemes helps so much.” One thing Allen would fix about LSI? “I wish the Institute was longer…at least 6 weeks!” Us too Allen, us too.
Enya Agard – a junior in high school and a returning (2nd year) participant of LSI. Her favorite part of LSI: “I lke interacting and meeting new people”. When we asked her what it feels like to be learning Lakota, she said, “My parents don’t speak Lakota. It feels cool to know another language and to be able to teach them Lakota words.” Right on!
Alli Moran – a third year LSI-er who practices Lakota at home by herself. “When I was 10 everything began to come together. I began to understand what it means being a Native woman and the importance of Lakota language and culture […] I love it here. I love seeing everyone come together and we all have a common cause, which is to learn and speak the language.”
Paulette R. High Elk – a Lakota language teacher from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Paulette has been coming to LSI for 7 out of 9 years. She recounted, “For one thing, I enjoy coming here because it’s a time I can be around other language teachers and fluent speakers. After the year is done, it’s kind of like a retreat where I can get re-energized, get motivation, and learn something new. Even though I’m a fluent speaker I didn’t know how to read or write, so I learned the majority of that by coming to the Institute.” She’s been teaching Lakota for about 21 years, but we were surprised to learn that her training was in…nursing! When we asked her if she missed nursing she laughed and said, “Well, there’s a lot of nurses out there, but not a lot of fluent Lakota speakers”.
Mike (Mac) McFarland – a first-timer at LSI, who has been avidly studying Lakota for 3 years at University of South Dakota. “I came to be interested in the language through Plains History and culture […] My language teacher years ago told me about the LLC.” When we asked him what his favorite part of LSI was, he responded with “Frankly, the amount of learning materials, which is vastly more than any of those out there, both for learners and teachers. I am very anxiously awaiting the Lakota teachers’ grammar. Having a document that expands on the grammar in such depth will be invaluable.”
Quinn (left) with good friend Blaze Starkey, another enthusiastic LSI participant.
Quinn Orris – a second year LSI-er from the Yankton Sioux Tribe (Dakota). Quinn received a grant from his college this year to come to LSI. “I needed to take a language for my degree, so I searched for Lakota and found the Institute. This is one of the best places for learning an indigenous language that I’ve ever heard of. When I got here it was mind blowing. Everyone here is so nice and there are so many intelligent people teaching us. This year is more exciting to me with all the new resources that have become available, which I can use in my off-time. I plan on coming back as many years as I can.”
Tipiziwin Tolman – Tipiziwin is a teacher at the Language Nest and has been involved in LSI from 2007. “I remember where there was only 20 something people and only one track of courses. At the time it was mostly native speakers that came. It’s grown so much.” Tipizi hopes to engage more of the community as a whole, “It’s been a really good experience and I wouldn’t change anything, I just wish community members would understand the opportunity that’s right on our front door.”
Waníya Locke – Waníya is an LSI veteran and participant of the LLEAP program. “I like seeing how much it grew, so many new people from different countries this year…And I like seeing everyone having their ‘ah-ha!’ moments, saying ‘This makes sense’ or ‘I didn’t think of it that way!’ There’s always something for everyone – for secondary language learners, for teachers, for new language learners, and for children!”
Šišóka Dúta (left) and his wife Katie, showing off our LSI 2015 mugs.
Šišóka Dúta (Joe Bendickson)– a Dakota language teacher. It was Šišóka Dúta’s second time teaching at LSI. He previously taught 3 years ago, but this year it was the first year he taught intensive Dakota for beginners and Dakota teaching methods Level 1. Šišóka shared some of his thoughts, “I really had a good time. We are building a cross-dialectal unity. Instead of just doing Dakota, we are bringing people together to learn Lakota and Dakota […] I think the kind of atmosphere that language strives in is a positive, safe environment where people can learn. And that’s what we have here.”
We want to hear what you thought about this year’s Lakota Summer Institute, and what you want to see next year! Suggestions and ideas for classes or topics you’d like to explore are welcome. Email us, tweet at us, Facebook us! If you weren’t following our news, check out our Twitter and Facebook, and search for hashtags #LSI2015 or #speaklakota.
And while we know you’ll miss us during the year,
we’ll be working hard to bring you even better Lakota language-learning tools and products for the next summer institute! This week we are at Makoché Studios in Bismarck recording some of our new projects, including Lakota Children’s Songs Volume 3! If you know any Lakota songs and would like to share them for the next album, contact Marek Kupiec at marek@lakhota.org
Thank you to all organizers and participants for making LSI 2015 a memorable experience!
Lakota Keyboard – Mobile is a free app that lets you type correct Lakota into any text area by simply switching to the Lakota Keyboard on your phone or mobile device.
The Lakota Keyboard – Mobile is available now on iTunes and Google Play.
With the Lakota Keyboard – Mobile installed you can switch between Lakota and English as you type emails, texts, web content, and any other text-input field! You can use your new keyboard as a companion to your NLD – Mobile (iTunes or Google Play) or maybe text a friend using the new words that you learned listening to your Lakota Audio Series.
If you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to register here for the 2015 Lakota Summer Institute. The fun is just around the corner! Also, don’t forget about our many other new products available at the LLC bookstore.
Back in 2013, LLC released an optimized Web link that allows your phone browser to tap into the New Lakota Dictionary-Online (NLD-O). It’s still up, and still free, but of course it only works when your cell phone has internet access.
How simple it was! Easy to make, easy to use … and now we know it was just the beginning.
Today there is a true app, the NLD-Mobile, which does far more than just access the online dictionary.
Three years in the making, the NLD-Mobile is the full NLD-Pro, the downloadable interactive dictionary with audio files that LLC released in December.
The NLD-Mobile really is a talking dictionary in your pocket! It is now
Priced at $19.95, NLD-Mobile works with Android smartphones and iOS iPhones. It downloads all of the same features as the desktop NLD-Pro:
26,000 verified words – 3,000 more than the NLD-O or Print Dictionary
Example sentences
More than 40,000 Audio files for each word and example sentence
Male and Female voices
Search-and-translate function
“Close” spelling recognition – correct spelling not needed
Mac (iPhone) and PC (Android) compatibility
Can be downloaded to iPads and other tablets as well as phones
No Internet connection needed to use NLD-Mobile
No cell reception needed to use NLD-Mobile
The only limitation we can think of is that you have to download it directly from GooglePlay or the iTunes AppStore, because mobile devices work somewhat differently from computers. We can’t just email you a link.
For an app, $19.95 is a steep price – but consider these facts:
It is the most inexpensive version of the New Lakota Dictionary. The print book and the DVD NLD-Pro are both $50. The NLD-Pro streaming download is $40. This app is $20.
The NLD-Online hasn’t been updated since 2011. The NLD-Mobile will be updated at least twice a year – at no cost to its users.
The NLD-Mobile has 3,000 more words than the NLD-O or print book, plus example sentences.
The NLD-Mobile has more than 40,000 audio files for every word and example sentence.
Overall, the NLD-Mobile is a fantastic investment for self-study.
We put our products through rigorous testing, but once they are in use, you are the reviewers other users will trust. GooglePlay and the iTunes AppStore have product review pages, so please drop by there and talk about your experience. Also, please pass the news of NLD-Mobile on to product-review bloggers you may follow.
Knowing the technopshere, there will soon be other devices and programs to carry the NLD. We intend to see the Lakota language on all of them!
“The Compassionate Bear Family,” aka the Berenstain Bears
Everyone’s favorite Lakota-speaking Bear Family, Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe, will be back on public television starting Saturday, March 7th — this time bringing the Lakota language to the Los Angeles area.
LLC is proud to announce that Southern California stations KVCR and FNX will broadcast the show every Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 am (PST) and 10:30 am (EST). Once again, the series begins airing on Saturday, March 7th.
KVCR is a PBS-affiliate station in San Bernardino, California. Its sister station is the cable channel FNX (First Nations Experience), a project of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in partnership with KVCR. FNX presents Native American stories and content across all media platforms.
Twenty episodes of the Berenstain Bears cartoons were dubbed into Lakota in 2011 and first broadcast on Prairie Public Television in September of that year. Since 2011, the Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe series has been available free online, and comes with the option to download vocabulary lists and full scripts for each episode.
Produced and distributed with the permission of Berenstain Enterprises, Inc., Nelvana Limited and PBS (Public Broadcasting System), this 20-episode Lakota language edition of the Berenstain Bears is the first Lakota-language cartoon ever created.
Voices of the characters are all from the Lakota-speaking Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge, and Rosebud communities of North and South Dakota, and reflect all local dialects of the language.
Equally as important, the original Berenstain Bears series lines up very well to Lakota values, which was very important in the making of this series. Lakota values such as bravery, respect, generosity, and fortitude all play significant roles throughout the 20-episode series. Lots of different family interactions reflecting day-to-day life, as well as many idiomatic expressions help keep the langauge use real and relevant in every episode.
Immersion education is recognized as the most effective way to learn and teach a language – especially for very young children. It has become the preferred pre-school model for Native American tribes trying to rebuild a generation of fluent first-language speakers.
One immersion preschool – the Lakȟól’iyapi Wahóȟpi, a Lakota Language Immersion Nest preschool, faces closure unless it can raise more than $200,000 in the next three months.
Tom Red Bird reads in Lakota to the Immersion Nest children, filmed by a documentary cameraman.
The Lakȟól’iyapi Wahóȟpi is featured in the upcoming documentary film, Rising Voices/ Hótȟaŋiŋpi. The Nest’s Director, Thipiziwin Young, speaks in the film about the importance of the Nest for families, children and elders. Elder Tom Red Bird rides a bus down from Bismarck every day to help out as a fluent speaker.
A crowdfunding campaign has been set up at https://www.gofundme.com/LakotaNest, but sustaining donors are also sought for long-term support.
The Lakȟól’iyapi Wahóȟpi is housed on the Sitting Bull College campus, located on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Reservation in North Dakota. It opened its doors in September 2012 with seven 3 year olds as students. Since that time, four more students have entered. The initial cohort are now six years old and in their third year of the immersion program.
The children in this immersion school are 100% immersed in the Lakota language for 8 hours a day, 4 days a week. All instruction is conducted in Lakota with lessons mixing traditional Lakota seasonal and cultural knowledge with best practices in early childhood education.
The students are not only learning the Lakota language and helping to save the language and culture, they are also learning the same early childhood lessons as students in other preschools, just in a different language. Research from other immersion schools across the world show that students who attend immersion schools often test better than their peers on standardized assessments that are given in English.
Parents, teachers, and community members want to expand the immersion school into kindergarten and 1st grade for the 2015-2016 school year. However, an initial ANA grant to establish the Nest preschool ran out in June of 2014.
“We have been just barely getting by on tuitions and other small grants,” said Thipiziwin Young, Director, “but if the Nest does not locate a funding source their doors will officially close on June 30th. We desperately need allies to bring the Lakota Language back to a healthy state for our children.”
“the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage … and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.”
We’re calling out to Lakota speakers, learners and supporters to claim this day for your own, and call it “Lakota Language Day.”
Some reasons to honor Lakota with tweets and words on February 21st could inspire you, and help you inspire others:
Remember the elders who kept Lakota songs, traditions and ceremonies alive;
Remember the generations silenced in the boarding schools;
Remember the Code Talker soldiers of World War II, who had to keep their service a secret for so long;
Remember the civil rights activists of the 1960s and ’70s who fought for Native cultures’ and languages’ right to exist;
Honor the speakers who have brought their understanding of the language into classrooms and have done their best to find a way to teach it;
Honor yourself and your fellow students for your commitment to learning.
Even if it’s just one word or phrase, sharing the Lakota language with the world around you will support your “Lakota thinking.”
To make it a worldwide party, several language-preservation organizations have set up a social media campaign, asking speakers and learners to Tweet in your language, however much you can.
They suggest:
Step One – Tweet in Your Mother Language
Throughout the day, tweet using your mother language. Please share “why is it important to use your language on the Internet?” or tweet greetings or your favorite words/phrases in your language. You might also choose to tweet a translation in order to encourage speakers of other indigenous and minority language communities.
Step Two – Add Hashtags
Add the hashtag #MotherLanguage
Add the hashtag of the language (i.e. #Lakota, #Yoruba)
Step Three – Join the Conversation!
Find others using the #MotherLanguage hashtag and retweet them
Follow others tweeting in your mother language. Search for the hashtag of your language.
Connect with other people celebrating language diversity 🙂
Have fun!
(We think that last step – Have fun! – is the most important step of all.)
