Pictographs

Ojibwe documentary wins Emmy

2012-01-13T10:31:00.000-08:00

Native Language Documentary Emmy Tours Participating SchoolsLast September, First Speakers: Restoring the Ojibwe Language, a documentary funded through Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment, was awarded a MidWest Regional Emmy for Artistic Excellence in the Documentary-Cultural category.

The golden statuette recently visited one of the many organizations featured in the one-hour film, the Niigaane Ojibwemowin Immersion School on the Leech Lake Reservation near Bena, Minnesota.

“Niigaane kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms participated in the film during late spring of 2010,” said Leslie Harper, the school’s director. “At Niigaane, all academic and social content is taught through the medium of Ojibwe language. In this way, the Leech Lake communities hope to reclaim the Ojibwe language as a vital, necessary language for the coming generations. In order to revitalize and maintain a language, it must be spoken and used by all generations in a community.”

The Emmy is currently on a “Miigwech Tour” to all of the sites that participated in the film. First stop was the Niigaane school, where Harper said the Niigaane students took care of the award and “talked about the importance of our language in today’s world.” The award was at Niigaane until January 6.Below: "Niigaane Ojibwemowin Immersion School is located on the Leech Lake Reservation near Bena, Minnesota."

Inuktitut iPad app

2012-01-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

New Inuit language app makes learning fun for little ones

Educational tool available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and English.

By Sarah RogersYoung Inuit children are growing up with fast-evolving technology, but some parents fear their traditional language skills just can’t keep up.

That’s what inspired one Iqaluit father to create an educational online game and application software for children in the Inuit language.And:The Inuit-language page presents a list of syllabics alongside Arctic animals. When the user clicks or touches the fish image, they’ll hear the word iqaluk, and then must spell it out using the listed syllabics.

Successful spellers then move onto a page where they can colour in the image they’ve spelled.Below: "Iqaluit filmmaker Qajaaq Ellsworth’s new app and educational game, Iliarnnarnaqsivuq, or Time for School, is designed to encourage learning among Inuit youngsters. Users choose an avatar, like the ones pictured here, to walk through a day at school, starting from dressing in warm Arctic gear, eating a nutritious breakfast and choosing a safe route to get to school."

Porcupine books in Ojibwe

2011-12-17T02:07:00.000-08:00

Mom Turned Author Creates Aboriginal Children’s CharacterFaced with two sons learning to read and no dual-language books at her disposal, Emilie Corbiere took matters into her own hands. She created Porcupine, a “grumpy sourpuss” who trots through the world having adventures and making friends.

“There just didn’t seem to be anything out there for my children,” she told the Canadian digital magazine MuchMoreCanada.com. “I looked in bookshops and in the library and couldn’t find what I was looking for. I made up my mind to create a character that children could relate to but that could also be written using the Ojibwe language.”

What sets the series apart is that each book contains four Ojibwe words that are repeated throughout the story, by way of teaching a bit of language as kids learn to read.

Census data on Native languages

2011-12-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

Arizona has most Indian language speakersApache County in Arizona has 37,000 speakers of an American Indian language, the highest concentration in the nation, the U.S. Census Bureau says.

A report by the bureau's American FactFinder said although the majority of American Indian language speakers reside in areas where there are concentrated populations of American Indians or Alaskan indigenous peoples, only 5 percent of the residents of those areas speak a tribal language.

Sixty-five percent of tribal language speakers live in just three states--Alaska, Arizona and New Mexico. Nine counties within the three states contain half the nation's tribal language speakers, the report said.

After Apache County in Arizona, McKinley County, N.M., has the second most speakers at 33,000. Together, about 20 percent of all American Indian language speakers in the nation live in these two counties.

The most commonly spoken American Indian language is Navajo, with more than 169,000 people speakers nationally--nearly nine times larger than the second- and third-most commonly spoken languages of Yupik and Dakota, with each having about 19,000 speakers.Navajos top list of Native language speakers in US

By Felicia FonsecaMore people speak Navajo at home than any other Native American language, a seemingly promising 169,000 people at a time when some tribes have lost their native tongue or are struggling to retain the words of their ancestors.

Evangeline Parsons Yazzie, a Navajo professor at Northern Arizona University, said the figure recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau is no surprise, but can be misleading. The country's population of Navajos is well over 300,000. For every one who speaks the language, one doesn't--and those are likely younger Navajos, Yazzie said.

"Navajo has the largest population, they say, of Native speakers, but it also has the largest population of non-speakers," she said Wednesday. "And it kind of presents a skewed picture."

The figure is based on five-year estimates from community surveys that allowed the Census for the first time to study small segments of the U.S. population. The Census found in a study released this month that fewer than a half-million people age 5 and over speak a Native American language at home. About 65 percent of them are in nine counties in Arizona, New Mexico and Alaska.U.S. Census: Over 27,000 Oklahomans Speak A Native American LanguageA northeastern Arizona county has the highest number of Native American language speakers in the country.

The U.S. Census Bureau says Apache County in eastern Arizona has 37,000 such speakers, while 10 Oklahoma counties have just over 27,000 Native American language speakers.

The figure is based on five-year estimates from community surveys that allowed the Census for the first time to study small segments of the U.S. population.

The Census found that fewer than a half-million people age 5 and over speak a Native American language at home.

Salish numbers book

2011-12-14T11:34:00.000-08:00

Salish Numbers Book Helps Kids Learn Native LanguageChildren aged 2 to 6 can now learn to count in nsəlxcin—the Colville-Okanagan Interior Salish Language spoken by Native American and First Nations peoples who live between the Cascade and Rocky Mountains in Washington and British Columbia, Canada.

The 26-page book nsəlxcin sc'ak'—Salish Numbers by Jennifer Childress is illustrated with full-color photographs and includes a pronunciation guide. The book was published by Shinkashim, which is a division of Childress Media & Design, LLC, which according to its website “offers Interior Salish language books and educational materials for young children as part of the on-going effort to preserve and promote the family of endangered Interior Salish languages.”

The book is $19.95 for paperback and $49.95 for hardcover. To download the order form visit the Shinkashim website.

Raiders broadcasts in Navajo

2011-12-14T02:03:00.000-08:00

Raiders vs Lions to Be Broadcast in Navajo

Sunday marks the 13th time a Raiders game will be broadcast in Navajo on KTNN 660 AMFor the seventh consecutive season, KTNN 660, the Voice of the Navajo Nation, will broadcast a Raiders game to their audience in the four-corners of the Southwest this Sunday when the Oakland Raiders take on the Detroit Lions at O.Co Coliseum. Raider games have been broadcast in Navajo 12 previous times over the past six seasons through an agreement with KTNN 660 AM–one each in 2010 and 2009, two in 2008, four in 2007, two in 2006 and two in 2005. L.A. Williams and Ray Tsosie, both award-winning broadcasters, will again call the action.

"We salute the Navajo Nation and are honored and proud to broadcast Raiders games in Navajo," said Oakland Raiders Chief Executive Amy Trask. "Broadcasting our games in Navajo is part of our commitment to reaching our global fan base in a variety of languages and furthers the efforts of the Navajo Nation to preserve this important and valuable language."

Mvskoke-language Bible

2011-12-12T02:10:00.000-08:00

From Greek to Creek: Man publishes Mvskoke language Bible

By Karen ShadeA retired welder from General Motors’ Oklahoma City plant, Randall formed the idea to reprint the Bible in the language of the Muscogee-Creek and Seminole people when he attended a Muscogee language class. Randall doesn’t speak the language but for some phrases and a handful of words, yet he remembers his parents and grandparents speaking it in the home to all the children.

“They spoke fluent Creek and talked to one another. They spoke to us in the Creek language also,” he said. “We understood what they were saying, but for some reason we didn’t pick it up.”And:Randall learned a few early versions of the Creek Bible New Testament had been printed. However, it was a woman named Ann Eliza Worchester Robertson who made the biggest leap. By the time of her death in 1905, Mrs. Robertson, a missionary at the old Tullahassee Mission, had nearly finished revising her translation of the New Testament for its fifth edition printing. She’d even worked on part of the Old Testament directly from Greek holy texts where she could. A woman of letters, she found antiquity Greek language had similarities to Creek, and it made sense to work from a more direct source than from the King James Version.

Eventually, the Tullahassee Mission was closed. Robertson was a frail woman and tended to be ill. During her periods of recuperation, she worked on her translation with the help of native speakers.

When Randall resumed her work in 2002, he began by retyping the translation with the help of his son, Monte Randall, to put it back in print. He streamlined the style by making changes such as converting all–not just some–of the chapters to Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals. He was careful about approaching his work and any necessary revisions.

“Even though this lady translated it and I reprinted it, I don’t want to change God’s words. That’s my thought–to be as accurate as I can,” he said.Below: "Steve Randall, a Muscogee Creek, holds a copy of his Muscogee language Bible in front of his church, Hickory Ground No. 2 Indian Baptist, south of Henryetta, Okla." (Karen Shade/Native American Times Photo)

Ojibwe home movies

2011-11-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

New home movies resurrect endangered Native American language

Educator develops multimedia tools to share, preserve Ojibwe language.

By Science NationMon
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Hermes is combining the skills of native speakers with video technology to help others, young and old, learn the language in the most natural way. She's doing it by videotaping short movies of everyday situations, from going to a rummage sale to planting a garden to helping out a sick relative.

"Because Ojibwe isn't spoken on a regular basis, there's not a store or a rummage sale or a resort, but part of what we're doing is trying to re-envision what that would be like," explains Hermes.

"So imagine if Ojibwe was the language of commerce, the language of everywhere you went; everything you did was in Ojibwe," she says.

"What we are hoping is that you hear it in an everyday way, [with phrases like] 'tie your shoes,' 'get up,' 'hey mom what's for breakfast,'—that kind of informal speaking ... that's not necessarily correct formal grammar, but the way you would speak it," she says.

Once those short movies are transcribed by native speakers, they are combined with vocabulary lists, pronunciations, and interactive games to create educational DVDs.

Oklahoma State apparel in Cherokee

2011-11-21T03:58:00.000-08:00

Supporting Sooners and Cowboys with SyllabaryAs reported this summer, Oklahoma State leads the nation in the number of Native Americans receiving bachelor’s degrees, and the University of Oklahoma comes in third—so it is perhaps a simple matter of supply and demand that has given rise to university-branded apparel featuring Cherokee syllabary, now available at CherokeeGiftShop.com. “Cherokee people have had a passion for sports for hundreds of years and these new products allow us to showcase our tribal heritage and culture while supporting the schools we love,’” said Molly Jarvis, vice president of cultural tourism at Cherokee Nation Entertainment, in a statement.

Syllabary caps and T-shirts are also available for Northeastern State University, the school that graduates the second-most American Indians in the country.

Inuktitut mobile app

2011-11-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

There’s an (Inuktitut) App for ThatCanada’s first Inuktitut app has been launched. The Canada Council for the Arts is giving out information on how to apply for grants with an app for iPads, iPhones, the iPod touch and Androids in the language of the Inuit. The goal is to attract musicians, artists and writers of the far north to the programs.And:The app was developed by FaveQuest Corporation, which builds websites and mobile apps for events such as festivals and conventions, according to its own website.

“We’ve built many mobile apps, but never before have we had the opportunity to design and build something with content in Inuktitut. It’s a beautiful looking language, and it was a thrill to bring the first-ever mobile app containing Inuktitut to the Apple iTunes store and the Android Market,” FaveQuest Co-founder Bill Love said in a statement. “FaveQuest is proud that we are part of this first-ever, and we hope these apps will help the Canada Council for the Arts communicate with the Canadian artistic community.”

Inuktitut app

2011-11-20T03:53:00.000-08:00

24-hour Navajo-language radio

2011-10-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

KYAT-FM offers 24-hour Navajo language

By Erny ZahLocal FM radio listeners this week started hearing some unusual sounds at 94.5 on the dial--Navajo-language broadcasts.

Last Saturday, KYAT became the only FM station known to be dedicated entirely to speaking in Diné bizaad.And:Malti and disc jockeys Eugene Plummer, Buddy Lee and Roy Keeto, collaborated to put together a Navajo-language station that has a broadcast philosophy based in traditional Navajo teachings.

Rather than a linear plan, they envision a circular structure with goals to achieve along the way until they have achieved the creation of an enduring community resource to reach and uplift listeners.

More than just music and announcements, Malti said he plans to incorporate history, stories and information that gives a picture of Navajo life, both contemporary and traditional.

When it comes to music programming, KYAT plans to maintain a mix of classic and contemporary country, Native American and Western music.Below: Eugene Plummer announces on the first morning of broadcasting for new radio station K-YA-T in Gallup. The station offers 24-hour, all-Navajo language broadcasts." (Donovan Quintero)

Google Maps in Cherokee

2011-10-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Technology group creates Google Maps in Cherokee

By Tesina JacksonAfter translating English words into Cherokee for many projects in the past few years, the Cherokee Nation language technology group decided to use those translations by creating Google Maps using the Cherokee syllabary.

“Other projects that we’ve done we’ve had to do a lot of countries and we figured that one of the reasons we wanted to do this is because we were doing so many different localizations for different projects and we were ending up with a large database of country names,” said Joseph Erb, language technologist. “We wanted to figure out a way to actually put this out there where people could see it and look at things and we wouldn’t just have the data on a couple of computers somewhere. We could actually put it out and the community could go to it and find out different names for things or see a map in the language.”Comment: For more on Cherokee, see Cherokees Mourn Steve Jobs and Webcomic on Cherokee Language.

Below: "Creating a map on Google Maps allowed the language technology group to add places and points of interests and even upload videos providing information on that location in the Cherokee language."

Webcomic on Cherokee language

2011-09-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

In an online comic, Sequoyah (via writer/artist Roy Boney Jr.) explains "How the Cherokee Syllabary Went from Parchment to iPad":

Exclusive: Artist Roy Boney’s Special Graphic Feature on the Cherokee Language

Comment: For more on the subject, see Comic Books Featuring Indians.

Yup'ik language rock

2011-09-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Bethel's Frozen Whitefish to release full-length rock album next year

By Kyle HopkinsFrozen Whitefish is a Bethel based Alaskan Native Yupik Rock band formed in 2010 and all lyrics are written in the Yupik Eskimo language. Frontman Mike McIntyre was raised in the small village of Eek and spoke Yupik as his first language before moving to Bethel as a young child.

Frozen Whitefish was first a project started by Mike after he returned from a trip to Greenland where he played drums for the Kuskokwim Fiddle Band in the Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 2010. He was inspired by the influence of their Native language in their own music and wanted to do the same here in Alaska. Soon after he started recording his music in his home studio, he got a request from a Native radio station in Washington to send his songs over to a TV producer with the Discovery Channel, which was gathering Native music for the "Flying Wild Alaska" TV show.

Ojibwe book is Minnesota's Best Read

2011-09-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

AWESIINYENSAG, Wiigwaas Press, and the Minnesota's Best Read for 2011This is terrific news! Awesiinyensag, a book published by Heid and Louise Erdrich's Wiigwaas Press, was selected as Minnesota's Best Read for 2011. That means the book will represent the state of Minnesota at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C.

As you might glean from reading the title, the text is not in English. Here's the blurb:Awesiinyensag presents original stories, written in Anishinaabemowin, that delight readers and language learners with the antics of animals who playfully deal with situations familiar to children in all cultures. Suitable for all ages, this book can be read aloud, assigned to classes, shared at language tables, gifted to elders, and enjoyed by those curious about the language and all who love Anishinaabemowin.

Authored by a team of twelve and richly illustrated by Ojibwe artist Wesley Ballinger, Awesiinyensag will be the first in a series created to encourage learning Anishinaabemowin, the language of Ojibwe people.(Excerpted from Debbie Reese's American Indians in Children's Literature, 9/7/11.)

Wampanoag word games and children's TV

2011-08-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

Cape Cod’s first language is spoken again

Many are studying Wopanaak

By Ellen ChaheyAccording to literature from the project, “Recognizing that the colonists preferred” written documents, the native people of Cape Cod “became the first American Indians in the English-speaking New World to develop and use an alphabetic writing system…to record personal letters, wills, deeds, and land transfers amongst each other and between communities.”

As preliminary work, the language project has created a dictionary, some Wampanoag-based word games, coloring and storybooks, and even a three-day “immersion camp” where only the native language is spoken. A major characteristic of the language that Hicks called “complicated” is that it does not distinguish between genders but does separate “animate” and “inanimate.”

The organizers hope to create a children’s television program, an interactive website, a school, and other teaching venues to help revive the language. The goal, said Hicks, is “to get everyone” in the tribe “to the level they want” in language fluency.

Little Doe, who began the reclamation project in 1993, won a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant in October 2010 for her efforts.Comment: For more on the subject, see We Still Live Here Âs Nutayuneân and Documentary on Reviving Wampanoag.

Lakota Berenstain Bears to premiere

2011-08-25T05:44:00.000-07:00

Native American Version of Berenstain Bears Launches SoonAfter more than a year in the making, the Lakota version of the popular cartoon The Berenstain Bears or Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe—The Compassionate Bear Family—will make its debut September 11 at 9 a.m. through South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB) and Prairie Public Television.

Two episodes a week will air on SDPB digital channel 3 and Prairie Public’s digital channel 4 every Sunday morning through November. Then, local access stations KOLC and REZ IPTV will broadcast the show to viewers on the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River reservations.Comment: For more on the subject, see Berenstain Bears Cartoons in Lakota.

Ute language grade-school elective

2011-08-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

Ute language pull out offered

By Ranae BangerterAll grades at Eagle View Elementary School will have a chance to take Ute Indian Tribe language class as a specialty course.

During a presentation to the Uintah School Board on Aug. 9, Eagle View Principal Robert Stearmer explained when the course would be taught and how students could join it.

He said the 30-45 minute class will be taught three to five days a week depending on the schedule associated with similar specialty classes and can substitute the time slot normally used for music, P.E. or art class.

Resurrecting Tunica

2011-08-06T02:19:00.000-07:00

La.'s Tunica tribe revives its lost languageThere were a few old, wax phonograph cylinders with the language recorded on them, but years of wear and background noise made the chants impossible to decipher, said Kathleen Bell, a graduate student who worked on the project.

"The quality was terrible, and the drums more or less drowned out the chants," she said.

The researchers were able to refer to past work by academics. One published a short grammar of the language in 1921, and a linguistics scholar in 1939 worked with the last tribal member known to be conversant in the Tunica language.

Mary Haas, a linguist who worked with a number of Native American languages, worked with a tribal elder, writing down stories and bits of Tunica history. She used the International Phonetic Alphabet, marking stress and some intonations, but not enough to give Maxwell's group the rhythm, timing and the way the language was phrased, Bell said.

The modern scholars used Haas' material to create glossaries and a "more modern take on grammatical properties of the language," Maxwell said.Below: "In this Aug. 5, 2011 photo, Brenda Lintinger poses with one of her children's books she wrote in the Tunica Indian language, in her home in Metairie, La. Lintinger decided to do more than learn a new language." (Gerald Herbert)

Cherokee tours at Ancient Village

2011-08-05T02:10:00.000-07:00

Cherokee-speaking tour guides enhance Ancient Village

By Will ChavezIt’s as it should be in the Cherokee Heritage Center’s Ancient Village because the Cherokee language is being spoken and heard daily.

Village tour guides J.D. Ross and Steven Daugherty, both fluent Cherokee speakers, use the language to explain the culture and traditions showcased in the village while using their first language.

This is the second year the men are serving as Cherokee-speaking tour guides.

Ross, of the Greasy Community in Adair County, said he enjoys speaking Cherokee and teaching others the language but finds it unfortunate that not many Cherokee-speaking people visit the village.Below: "Cherokee Heritage Center tour guide Steven Daugherty demonstrates bow shooting with a Cherokee bow for visitors at the Ancient Village in Park Hill, Okla. He is one of two Cherokee-speaking guides for the Ancient Village."

Tlingit flash cards

2011-08-04T06:39:00.000-07:00

Alaska institute striving to pass on Tlingit, other endangered Native languages

By Jonathan GrassTlingit speakers and educators are fighting to keep that language alive. As those at Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) put it, creating new speakers will be key in accomplishing this.

In fact, the Native institute has just introduced a new Tlingit language card program as part of this mission.

The program is a set of flash cards and audio CDs to help gain efficiency in the alphabet. They use pictures as well as an online interactive tool to help kids learn the Native language.

Tlingit Curriculum Specialist Linda Belarde said the tool is important because new speakers are needed for a language to survive. As for Tlingit, she said there just aren't that many birth speakers left.Comment: For more on the subject, see Children's Book in Tlingit and Learners' Dictionaries for Alaska Languages.

Below: "In this Aug. 1, 2011, photo, Linda Belarde, a Tlingit Curriculum Specialist with the Sealaska Heritage Institute, displays some of the 50 Tlingit alphabet cards that she help produce in Juneau, Alaska." (Juneau Empire/Michael Penn)

Ojibwe signage spreads in Bemidji

2011-07-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Bemidji's Ojibwe Language Project Seeks to Make Effort Irreversible

Permanent Signage Posted by Sanford Health, Schools, OthersMany businesses and organization are trying new things with Ojibwe words demonstrating permanence, creativity, and fun. Beaver Books and others are using portable street ad signs to get their message across. Business owner Brian Larson had his business name translated into Ojibwe Mezinibii'igaadegin Wenizhishingin (Amity Graphics).

Noemi Aylesworth of the Cabin Coffeehouse, (the first business to post Ojibwe/English signage) has headings on menus written in Ojibwe, such as Dekaagamingin (Cold Drinks), Gitigaanensan (Salads), Gigizhebaa-wiisining (Breakfast), and more.

The Sanford Center has "Permanent" Ojibwe/English bi-lingual signage. All doors coming and going at the Sanford Center says Boozhoo (Hello) and Miigwech (Thank you) respectively. There are twelve pairs of restrooms in Sanford Center, each posted with permanent signage with Men/Ininiwag or Women/Ikwewag. And the parking lot has animal images with names in both languages to help you find your car.

Last but not least, Bemidji State University continues to be a leader in this effort by posting first class permanent Ojibwe/English signage throughout both campuses. Bemidji State Park, Itasca State Park, MN DOT, and the DNR are also participating along with over 130 other businesses and organizations.

"One of our concerns when soliciting businesses and organizations to post bi-lingual signage, was permanence," noted Meuers. "We wanted plastic, vinyl, or metal; we are hoping paper signs are only temporary. We are so excited, with Sanford Health, the schools, BSU, and others demonstrating leadership in posting permanent signage...and more. With efforts like this and the new creativity being shown, Bemidji will surely soon be known for its Ojibwe/English signage."Comment: For more on the subject, see Bemidji Businesses Post Ojibwe Signs.

Below: "Principal Drew Hildenbrand points out a sign that says, "Greetings, welcome to Bemidji Middle School."

"Cherokee Language Through Art"

2011-07-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

'Generations'

A visual narrative of the Cherokee language opens at Museum Center at Five Points on Saturday

By Ann NicholsBeginning Saturday, visitors to the Museum Center at Five Points in Cleveland can see a stunning exhibit of works created by 93 Cherokee artists. Different parts of the Cherokee culture are represented in "Generations: Cherokee Language Through Art." Ages of participants range from 3 to 91 years old, and the 85 pieces in the show display a wide range of media, styles and approaches.

The artworks were created by artists from the Cherokee Nation (Oklahoma), United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (Oklahoma) and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina). Participants are practicing artists from all three Cherokee tribes, Cherokee Nation Immersion School language students and Cherokee families.
And:Traditional materials used by Cherokee artists (river cane, gourds, wood, quilting, clay, basketry) contrast with contemporary items in the creation of the works in the show. For example, K.A. Gilliland, Andrew Sikora and their two children, Skyla and Sean, collaborated on a sculpture that incorporates a small television that is operated by remote control.

In addition to the artworks on display, there will be a section of the exhibit where a DVD will help visitors learn the correct phonetic pronunciation of each character in the Cherokee syllabary.

"Way of Life" summer camp

2011-07-17T04:59:00.000-07:00

Land of 10,000 Stories: Reviving the dying Dakota language

By Boyd Huppert"I see this as we're trying to rebuild that tiwahe and tiospaye, that family and that extended family component," said Teresa Peterson, the executive director of the project known as Dakota Wicohan--meaning "Way of Life."

"So what you're seeing is that reclaiming of kinship, in the way that we treat each other. That's the way of life," explained Peterson.

Dakota Wicohan recieves its funding primarily through state and federal grants, including monetary contributions from the Minnesota Legacy Amendment administered through the Minnesota Historical Society.

Gianna Strong is among those learning the language through the summer day camp. "I can eventually pass it down to my children," she said. "I think it's a big responsibility."