Intensive Language Study Class at 2014 Language Summit

Tusweca Tiospaye has announced a special two-day breakout session during the 2014 Lakota-Dakota Language Summit in Rapid City, SD in October -- one that will earn its students college credit at Sitting Bull College. The Intensive Lakota/Dakota Language for Beginners breakout session is “designed for second-language learners who are at a beginner to elementary level,” according to Tusweca’s release. “It will give

Make Your Voice Heard for Your Language

We’re sharing this appeal from the Linguistic Society of America and CELP, the Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation. It’s a simple way to keep up on Congress’ consideration of two important pieces of legislation supporting preservation and education in endangered Native American languages.                CELP and LSA

Native Languages Get Bipartisan Support

There’s good news out of Congress for Native American languages, thanks to intensive effort by the Linguistic Society of America’s Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation (CELP)! Two pieces of legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year, S. 1948, the “Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act” and S. 2299, the “Native American Languages Reauthorization Act of 2014,” were both approved by

Plains Languages Light the Past – and Future

A Lakota-Dakota-speaking Berenstain Bears cartoon is the kid magnet at the new Innovation Gallery at the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The Gallery is one of four new galleries built in the Society’s newly expanded Heritage Center educational museum space. You can see that children hear the language on the telephone handsets while seeing

Long Trail of Translation

The Lakota-language play, Iktómi Lečhála Tȟawíčutȟuŋ (Iktomi’s New Wife) has its premiere tonight at 7 pm at the Standing Rock High School Auditorium, 9819 Highway 24 in Fort Yates.  Admission is FREE. Blaze Starkey and Peter Hill practice being MeadowlarksIt's based on two Iktomi stories, one of which is well-known: "Iktomi's Blanket." That story was collected

White House Officials Come to Hear About Languages

After this excitement on Friday … SRST Chairman Dave Archambault and President Barack Obama, June 13, 2014 … more visitors from Washington, DC arrived on  Saturday … L-R: Jan Ullrich, Sunshine Carlow, William Mendoza, Ron Lessard, Wil Meya, Kim Campbell … to talk about Native American language preservation. Roundtable on

LSI Week 2 Recap

During Week 2 of LSI, the schedule was stretched to “start early, end late,” in order to accommodate the special event that fell in our laps: a visit by the President of the United States and First Lady to the Summer Powwow at Cannon Ball, ND, on the Standing Rock reservation, less than an hour

No Language? No Problem!

Oneida Native Steve Elm doesn’t speak Lakota – but that doesn’t stop him from having a blast at the Lakota Summer Institute! Steve Elm Steve is a polished theater pro from New York City who has worked with renowned Native American theater companies and artists, writing, directing and performing in original works.  His

Inclusion Was an Energy Infusion

While still abuzz with LSI classes and anticipation of President Obama’s visit on Friday, the Sitting Bull College campus is a bit quieter this week. The MHA and Crow Nations have finished their first Summer Institutes, initiating language education and revitalization programs based on carefully planned K-12 curricula and proven second-language education methods. The MHASI

Fun and Freedom with Lakota Language

Teacher and LSI Instructor Courtney Yellow Fat meets a young language student Many of the second-language speakers and students at LSI are parents of young children, and they are determined to pass the Lakota language on.  One of these is Denny Gayton, of Standing Rock. Denny Gayton Denny told us he

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