We are pleased to offer a follow-up on the three Lakota students who are enrolled at the University of Colorado Linguistics M.A. program at Boulder, with scholarships funded by the National Science Foundation. Sidney Bad Moccasin (Rosebud Reservation), Gwendolynn Holmes (Cheyenne River Reservation), and Babette Thin Elk (Pine Ridge Reservation), who began their studies in August 2007, will soon complete their first year of the three-year program. They are taking classes in general linguistics, phonetics, phonology and semantics, and are learning to apply their new knowledge to an understanding of their own language.
In May they will help administer the Level 1 Posttest at schools in South Dakota. In June they will be attending a two-week workshop at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to learn techniques for recording and preserving the language as it is spoken today. This important study will be the first extensive non-print documentation of the language, during a period when we continue to lose native speakers at a rapid rate. By training native speakers to be researchers, UC provides some highly qualified people to undertake leadership roles both inside and outside the Tribe. The project contributes substantially to the possible survival of the Lakota language, and we look forward to following the progress and contributions of these graduate students.
Moccasin, Holmes and Thin Elk are being mentored by Prof. David Rood, who was responsible for the NSF funding and has done a great job in keeping the Project focused as he works to support students in every aspect of their academic careers. |
