Ivan Star Comes Out: The situation isn't looking good for our Lakota language

Friday, October 4, 2019

Local Lakota lady may have solution to speaking coherent Lakota

By Ivan Star Comes Out

Native Sun News Today Columnist

Here at Isna Wica Owayawa (Lone Man School), we “taught” Lakota language to elementary youth for 42 years.

Our students learned what we taught them, which was mostly shapes, numbers, colors, animals, and kinship terms, but I’ll be the first to admit that we did not teach them to communicate with the language. I know many will disagree and others will point fingers, as we have done for decades.

I, for one, like to think that I’ve outgrown that immature and useless finger-pointing. It’s true we had to comply with restrictive federal educational funding guidelines but blaming does not alleviate that situation. I am inclined to find solutions to our factual yet destructive situation involving our language and culture, which includes our tiospaye (extended family) histories.

Ivan F. Star Comes Out. Photo courtesy Native Sun News Today

These elements are central to our indigenous identity. We have not made much headway with our language retrieval efforts until the language immersion concept was reintroduced recently. Our ancestors have implemented this method for thousands of years. One must understand that immersing one’s self in the language, and culture, is the most productive way to learn but is the most difficult.

Although few in numbers some of our toddlers have been exposed to the immersion method and are now speakers. However, when those students enter the next level on their educational path, they enter the Head Start program where English language is still dominant. Isna Wica Owayawa has implemented the immersion method in its past but the dominant educational expectations are biased and restrictive.

Actually the influences of the new dominant Euro-American society are everywhere. Today, young adults are making an effort to relearn or learn Lakota but their speech is highly influenced by the English language. For example, too many are substituting Lakota sounds with English sounds. I am among a few whose first language is Lakota, and it is irritating to hear these new sounds spoken by learners.

This is a real situation and it is not good for our Lakota language. Our cultural customs are also being altered and integrated with new dominant culture ideals. I am not trying to discourage Lakota language learners. I am merely stating a fact and also present a possible solution. We need a single introductory language class focused on the unique Lakota sounds.

Karen White Butterfly, a Lakota language-speaking lady and educator has been collecting and documenting as many as 75 distinct Lakota sounds. She is employed by the Wounded Knee District School as a Lakota language teacher. She identified exactly what areas are most problematic, like the double consonants, the “glottal stop,” and the gutturals, as the most troubling for learners.

What has been happening is that instead of learning these unique Lakota sounds, they are substituted with English sounds. At any rate, this is a real deterrent to language acquisition. I have been listening to this new and unidentifiable language for a long time and it still riles me every time I hear it.