News & Recent Events

Sharing Love Phrases

This month on social media you’ll see a series of posts that highlight LOVE! Shania Black Bear has been working with Ben Black Bear Jr. to create a series of short videos that highlight this theme. We hope that this series on social media will give you a chance to share how much you care about your Valentine with these Lakota phrases.

A Personal Language Journey

Learning the Lakota Language is a gradual journey that evolves over time. Throughout the year, we’ll be highlighting Lakota people’s journey toward fluency. This blog is the first in a series that will highlight how people are integrating the Lakota language into their daily lives.

I’m Jamie Marquez-Bratcher, a Lakota Language Learner since 2020. I’m Oglala Lakota and chicano woman raised in the Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) territory. My mother and I started learning Lakota to speak with each other and reconnect to our culture through language. Our family is working toward reclaiming our language and connecting with lost family through this slow mending process, just as many others do as well. In this blog post, I share what I learned while studying on my own using the Lakȟótiya Wóglaka Po textbook and corresponding audio.

Eháŋk’ehaŋ Lakȟóta Olówaŋ
Traditional Lakota Songs

This book has a long history that began in the 50s and 60s in Rosebud, South Dakota, home of the Sičháŋǧu Lakȟóta Nation. Moving through this book you will see 36 different styles of songs in Lakȟóta with the English translations. This book is a snapshot of what Lakȟóta songs were like in this period before they experienced the transition into the modern pieces we hear at gatherings today.

These songs were originally published by Ben Black Bear Sr. and Dr. Ron Theisz in 1984 as a part of a larger project on Rosebud in collaboration with Sinte Gleska University. The goal of the project was to teach Lakȟóta people how to sing and dance to Lakȟóta songs in an engaging environment close to home. The early project held classes with dancers in full regalia teaching the songs to Lakota people. A few elders on Rosebud still remember participating in this project and have good memories of these classes. Unfortunately, very few copies of the original publication remained.

In 2018 Ben Black Bear Jr., in collaboration with the LLC, worked to assemble these songs in print for Lakota people today. This book provides the opportunity to reconnect with Elders in your life about the origins of these songs. You’ll also be able to see how these songs have changed over the years in the pow wow community.

February is the month of love, and several songs featured in this book are love and rabbit dance songs that express how to sing to the beloved. Printed copies of these songs are available in our bookstore, this month the book is being offered at a 35% discount using promo code LoveLakota35 at checkout.

Do you listen to podcasts or stream music? Well check your preferred audio streaming app and search for Lakota Language Consortium! Our digital media team has been working to make as many Audio lessons and songs available on these platforms like Spotify, iHeart Radio, iTunes, Google Play Stores, Amazon’s Audible, and many more!

One of the best ways to build fluency is to spend time learning with a Lakota speaker. Unfortunately for many people gaining access to Elders or Fluent speakers is not an option for a variety of reasons. This series features the voices of Ben Black Bear Jr. and Iris Chasing Eagle.

Also available on audio streaming services – Lakota Audio Series Volume 1, Lakota Audio Series Volume 2, Children’s Songs Volume 1, Textbook 1 Audio

If you are new to using streaming audio applications we can offer assistance, just reply to this email and our team can help! Our email address is news@lakhota.org.

New Lakota Dictionary 3.0 for Desktop – Available Soon!