We are pleased to announce that this spring, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe officially launched a large-scale language revitalization initiative. Chairman Ron His Horse is Thunder is fulfilling his commitment to bring Lakota language back to the people of Standing Rock. The initiative, undertaken with the technical assistance of the Lakota Language Consortium, provides every K-12 student on the reservation with Level 1 and Level 2 textbooks, as well as supplementary materials. Over 2000 students in eight schools will participate—the first coordinated effort by any of the Lakota tribes to fully implement the language revitalization curriculum. The tribe’s initiative is being directed by the Education Committee under the leadership of Jesse Taken Alive and the SRST’s Tribal Department of Higher Education. Managing and coordinating the training and scheduling of the program, is Tribal Education Manager, Ms. Sacheen Whitetail, who has worked diligently to ensure that all participating schools teach Lakota for the necessary number of hours per week. The tribe’s hope is that this effort will encourage schools to become more fully involved in teaching to tribal youth.
At the beginning of the school year the materials will be distributed, and the tribe and LLC personnel will introduce parents and communities to program goals, and provide some practical help for parents in assisting their children with language learning in the home, and supporting its use in school. The goal of the initiative is for students to achieve proficiency in Lakota after the fourth year of regular use. By the eighth year, the tribe expects that there will be some level of fluency for the children in reading and writing.
One important way the tribe will help ensure their goals are being met is by implementing pre- and post-tests for all students studying the language. This will help determine how schools are doing in their instruction of Lakota, as well as challenges students face in their studies. The results of these tests will help schools improve their language programs, while establishing more accountability for teachers and students alike. Critical to launching this program is a thorough teaching-training program in June 2007, a three-week summer course taught at Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, North Dakota. More than 30 teachers working with Lakota language in the Standing Rock school systems will join this intensive training session.
SRST Chairman, Ron His Horse Is Thunder
SRST Councilman and Chair of HEW Committee,
Jesse Taken Alive
SRST Tribal Education Manager,
Sacheen Whitetail
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