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About This Course

Notice on Language Accuracy

Language Content Under Community Review

The language content in this course was generated with AI assistance and has not yet been reviewed or verified by Dakota language speakers or community language authorities. Known issues include dialect inconsistencies and mixing of Dakota and Lakota forms.

Do not use the vocabulary, grammar examples, glossary, or games for language instruction until this content has been verified. This course is actively being revised to align with materials from Dakhóta Iápi Okhódakičhiye and other community-approved sources.

Historical, cultural, and AIS 112 content is based on documented record and is appropriate for classroom use.

Purpose

Dakhotiyapi — Beginning Dakota Language is a high school introductory course pairing Dakota language acquisition with AIS 112 American Indian Studies content. Language and history are taught together because they are inseparable — the Dakota language encodes a worldview, and that worldview was the target of deliberate destruction. Learning the language is part of understanding and responding to that history.

Approach

This course follows four commitments:

  1. Language is living. Dakota is not a museum piece — it is actively spoken and revitalized. Learners engage with it as a living tradition, not a historical curiosity.
  2. History is present. The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, Fort Snelling, the Mankato executions, exile, and boarding schools are not distant events. Their consequences shape Dakota communities today.
  3. Learners have responsibilities. Non-Dakota learners approach this language with humility (wóuŋšila), respect, and honesty about their position as guests in a tradition that was nearly destroyed.
  4. This is a beginning. A year of introductory Dakota opens a door. Students are encouraged to continue, connect with Dakota communities, and support revitalization efforts.

Orthography

This course uses the Standard Dakota Orthography used by Dakota language programs in Minnesota. The orthography uses accent marks (á, é, í, ó, ú), special characters (č, š, ȟ, ǧ, ŋ), and aspirated consonant notation (čh, ph, th, kh). Regional variations exist and are all valid.

Land Acknowledgment

This course was developed on the homeland of the Dakota people — the Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute, Sisíthuŋwaŋ, and Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ peoples. The land was ceded through the 1851 treaties and the aftermath of the 1862 war. Dakota people were exiled from Minnesota but have maintained connections to their homeland and are reclaiming their presence, language, and sovereignty.

Mitákuye Oyásʼiŋ.