Efforts at reviving the Lakota Language are ramping up across the northern plains.
Thunder Valley CDC stepping up efforts to save language
By Brandon Ecoffey
Lakota Country Times Editor THUNDER VALLEY— Thunder Valley CDC is going above and beyond in its efforts to improve the lives of Lakota people living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with the recent announcement of a new cutting edge approach to Lakota language revitalization. “Thunder Valley CDC has developed a comprehensive, innovative and grassroots approach to collaborating with and empowering Lakota youth and families on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to improve the health, culture and environment of our community in a way that heals and strengthens our identity,” said the CDC in a release. The new efforts at language revitalization will partner the highly successful Thunder Valley CDC, Lakota Immersion Childcare or Iyapi Glukinipi, and Red Cloud School that will attack the problem of the rapid decline of first language Lakota speakers. According to a release from Thunder Valley the new language initiative will be multifaceted in its approach and will also include grassroots efforts from community members. “By approaching language revitalization from several angles, we aim to improve fluency among current speakers, increase the number of fluent speakers, create greater access to the Lakota language in literature & digital arenas, deepen ties to culture, and empower people through the legacy of language,” said the release. The initiative comes on the heels of the very successful efforts by the Lakota Immersion Childcare program that has taken preschool age children and immersed them in to a language nest where only Lakota language is spoken. The strategy of fully immersing students in a learning environment where only their traditional language is used has successfully been employed by Maori people in New Zealand and with Haudenosaunee peoples in New York State. According to Matt Rama, Director of the Lakota Language Initiative, the work will go beyond just the language nest.
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“We aim to improve fluency among current speakers, increase the number of fluent speakers, create greater access to the Lakota language in literature and digital arenas, deepen ties to culture, and empower people through the legacy of language,” said Rama. The initiative will also partner with Red Cloud School allowing for students of the Lakota Immersion Daycare to continue on learning the language in a similar environment well in to elementary. According to the Lakota Language Consortium, an organization also dedicated to the revitalization of the Lakota language, there are currently somewhere in the range of 8,300 to 9,000 Lakota speakers which equals about 15% of Oceti Sakowin citizens. The Lakota language had been declared as being in a State of Emergency by former Oglala Sioux Tribal President Bryan Brewer in inaugural address in 2013. Since then local tribal colleges in Pine Ridge, Rosebud, and Standing Rock have stepped up efforts to preserve the language and a number of immersion schools have opened their doors however funding has been hard to come by. The Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act, which will provide money for language preservation through the federal grant process introduced by Sen. John Tester (D-MT) has made it out of committee along with the Native American Languages Reauthorization Act are currently waiting to be debated by the full Congress. (Contact Brandon Ecoffey at editor@lakotacountrytimes.com) Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter.
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