“This has been a long time in coming,” Yankton Sioux elder Faith Spotted Eagle told Native Sun News Today as lawmakers in South Dakota moved to declare Dakota, Lakota and Nakota as the official Native languages in the state. She is seen here speaking at the Native Nations Rise rally at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 10, 2017. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

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Native Sun News Today: Bill declares official Native languages of South Dakota

Friday, February 15, 2019

South Dakota poised to recognize official native language

By Talli Nauman
Native Sun News Today Contributing Editor
nativesunnews.today

PIERRE – After hearing fervent appeals from a roomful of native speakers, the legislators on the State Affairs Committee voted unanimously February 8 to ask the Senate for an amendment making the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota dialects the official indigenous language of South Dakota.

The bill, introduced by Lakota lawmaker Troy Heinert, reads: "The official indigenous language of the state is the language of the Oceti Sakowin, Seven Council Fires, also known by treaty as the Great Sioux Nation, comprised of three dialects, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota."

Septuagenarian Dakota speaker Faith Spotted Eagle of Lake Andes brought grandchildren with her to the Committee session.

“This has been a long time in coming,” she testified. Recalling how she was forced to attend an English-only elementary school when she knew only Dakota, she added, “It’s going to make me happy because it’s going to open doors.

“The important thing is to support it and understand that you come from a land called Dakota. If you teach Spanish in school, you definitely have to have Dakota.”