Скачать или смотреть Dakota Language Revitalization

This presentation was part of a series of events marking Indigenous People's Day 2020.



The Dakota language is an oral language that is passed down intergenerationally from grandparent to grandchild. This process was interrupted by US government policies of genocide and assimilation. Only two fluent speakers remain in the four Dakota communities in Minnesota. In his presentation, Šišóka Dúta Joe Bendickson will intertwine personal family history and the implications of language loss on Dakota society. He will also present current initiatives to revitalize the Dakota language at the University of Minnesota.


Šišóka Dúta is a Dakota language instructor in the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota.