Dakota and Lakota language instruction at the University of South Dakota

To honor Indigenous traditions, languages and stories during Native American Heritage Month, we are highlighting Dakota and Lakota language classes at the University of South Dakota. The newsletter of the Institute of Indian Studies recounts, “There is an interesting story behind the development of the course. It started as a topic introduced from the floor at the Annual Conference on Indian Affairs sponsored jointly by the United Sioux Tribes and the Institute of Indian Studies in October 1966. The course was not offered at any other university” (The University of South Dakota Bulletin. Institute of Indian Studies, 1972 May, page 1). Dakota language classes first appear in the USD Catalog in 1972 under the Sociology Department, Anthropology Program. In the 1976 USD Catalog, the courses move to the Modern Languages Department and are listed as Lakota courses. The newsletters of the Institute of Indian Studies (later called the Institute of American Indian Studies) are in the Digital Library of South Dakota under the title News Reports. The USD Catalogs are in the Archives and Special Collections. Please contact us if you have information to share about the history of Dakota and Lakota language instruction at the University of South Dakota or in Vermillion. One rumor that I would like to track down is that Lakota Language was taught in a Vermillion grade school before it was taught at the University.