We believe that the only way to end six decades of counter-productive arguments about orthographies is for everyone to respect other people’s orthographic choices.

Our policy is to promote one spelling system for orthographic standardization. We do so while respecting that community members may continue to use orthographies that they were raised with or have been accustomed to using throughout their Lakota language journey. We also respect that others may want to promote other orthographies. 

It is a well-documented fact that orthographic standardization plays a significant factor in language revitalization and stability.  However, most world language orthographies are not chosen through a broad consensus in the community, but rather through publications of materials.  In 2004, LLC’s Board considered several competing orthographies for its Level 1 Textbook and chose one.

If you’d like more information on the history of Lakota orthography, we’ve created a great resource on our YouTube Channel here.