Ivan Star Comes Out: Togiyapi ki le ihangunyanpi ktelo

Thursday, May 16, 2019  

As natives of this continent and as residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation, we have to not only “see” but we must accept what really happened to us since 1492. It certainly appears we are in denial of the fact that our ancestor’s and their way of life were nearly destroyed by the newcomers. They were “hell-bent” on establishing prosperity and posterity for their kind at the native’s expense.

Consequently, decades passed before I learned what our ancestors called themselves. I went from “Indian” to Sioux to Lakota to Oglala/Hunkpapa. The fact that they answered to Okaspe Yamni (Three groups) was a more recent revelation. The name Oceti Sakowin (Seven Fires) was also a recent surprise
 for me. Today, I understand that we are Ikce Wicasa (Humans/Natural Man).

When the newcomers came here from “across the ocean” and saw the so-called “new” land and its resources (gold, oil, timber, etc.), they laid claim to it all. To achieve their goal of establishing themselves in the “new” land, they tried to exterminate our ancestors and then targeted our languages, cultures, and histories for obliteration. Many indigenous languages and cultures have become extinct since.

Sadly, amidst our struggle to keep our ancient Lakota language, learners are creating a strange new one. I am not the only Lakota speaker who sees our language in its altered state. The language spoken today involves 70 years of my life and the lifetimes of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. In other words, today’s Lakota speakers are using the same language spoken for thousands of years.

I cannot call this new language Lakota nor can I call it English. It is an odd mix of the two languages. We have to keep in mind the fact that our Lakota language was targeted for obliteration. In the shadow of the new nation’s Manifest Destiny doctrine, our language is continually marginalized. For example, school language programs are always segregated or set apart.

One way for modern language learners to “see” what I am trying to relay here is to determine if the new language is English-Lakota or Lakota-English. Some people have said that our Lakota language should change with the times. I agree, but what we are doing is obliterating it further by integrating with the English language. Anyway, the few surviving Lakota language speakers do not speak this new lingo.

It is vital to the future of our language to stop this from developing further by simply not using it. Doing so will allow the two distinct languages its proper place in society. Like the proverbial “square peg in a round hole” idiom, the only way for the two to integrate is for one to change. Historically, Lakota language, culture, and history have been changing and fading into oblivion.

The following is a response to one of my articles regarding Lakota language. Ulma J. Black Crow, Wilkinson (state unk.), wrote on Feb. 2016, “The schools are where the children get lost because English is spoken and taught and Lakota language is marginalized. It ought to be reversed, Lakota language first and English secondary.

“And yes I agree. It is your Lakota language speakers who are the natural speakers who can transmit the language… and you don’t need state or federal standards in order for them [students] to achieve success. The “standard” ought to just be transmitting the language successfully to produce fluent speakers.”

Immersion is the natural way to transmit Lakota language effectively. In the space of six to seven years, Lakota was infused in my mind. Immersion was instrumental to my Lakota proficiency. Most speakers today learned Lakota the same way but are ignored in lieu of books, computers, and other audio visual aids. These orthographies should be supplementary, not primary.

It has been proven that “book learning” is not the best way to transmit Lakota language. First of all, Lakota is by nature an oral language. Also, the Lakota language does not have an established authority. Such an “authority” can adopt one official alphabet and dictionary further preventing production of new alphabets.

Emmett Martin, Northern State University (Jan. 2016), expressed his position regarding Lakota language teachers and fluent speakers. “These new generations of ‘Lakota’ language teachers are not speakers and are making Lakota second language to English. Some of us have tried to provide more accurate interpretations but instead have been marginalized.”

He continued by describing a very disturbing situation, “These young ‘Lakota teachers’ say fluent speakers have ‘historical issues’, and therefore are not reliable sources of the Lakota language.” Personally, I have heard “professional” Lakota language teachers voice this particular concern. Similar to the adage, “it takes a village to raise a child,” it takes many to produce Lakota language speakers.

Ivan F. Star Comes Out can be reached at P.O. Box 147, Oglala, South Dakota, 57764; via phone at 605-867-2448 or via email at mato_nasula2@outlook.com.

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today