The LLC is excited to share that there is a Lakota language immersion school in the works for Eagle Butte! There is a strong chance that Lakȟótiyapi Okáȟtaŋič’iya Wičhóičhaǧe (LOWI) will open in September 2016. While we are eagerly waiting for the final grant approval from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), we wanted to let all of our L

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 Tri

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 ingred

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 l

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 a

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 o

Greetings from LSI! The 10th year of our Institute has brought a multitude of new and returning Lakota language learners, totaling around 120 participants in all! This year we also welcomed special visitors from the Mohegan Tribe, the Three Affiliated Tribes, and Apsáalooke Nation, who traveled to the Institute to learn about the best-practice teac

Have you heard about the Lakota Grammar Handbook, due to arrive in Fall 2016? The Grammar is a 600-page self-study and reference pedagogical guide to the language. It is based exclusively on data obtained from authentic narratives recorded by native speaking elders across Lakota country. With over 220 units, 7273 example sentences and 11613 practic

May is National Teacher Appreciation Month. May 3 marks the official National Teacher Appreciation Day – a day to honor educators everywhere; a day to honor those who influence and change the lives of young people all over the country. On this occasion, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to those who have made LLC’s work poss