One of the many great Native organizations working on preserving a particular Native American language is Dakota Wicohan, a Minnesota nonprofit organization working on revitalizing the Dakota Sioux language. Dakota is less endangered than many Native American languages, with around 25,000 speakers (if the Lakota dialect is included), but most of the Dakota-speaking communities are located in the Dakotas and Canada. Few Dakota speakers remain in Minnesota (only five fully fluent speakers now, according to the organization.)
To address this problem, Dakota Wicohan is involved with a number of language preservation projects ranging from video recordings of fluent speakers to elder-apprentice and language-nest programs. We're hoping to be able to support their work through one of our Language Preservation Grants next spring, but you can help them directly at this donation page. Every little bit helps!
Pidamaya ye,
Native Languages of the Americas
Further reading:
Dakota language
Tribes of Minnesota
Language revitalization
There is a very successful international TV network in the Arctic that among other things has a cultural element, broadcasting in Lapp, Inuit and other languages of native peoples. That looks like the best way to keep endangered languages alive: some kind of TV. Keep up the good work.
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