An ongoing discussion of Lakol wicoiye

Recently I had the pleasure of listening to a couple of prominent Lakota language teachers and was duly impressed by the fact that they really do embody what it means to be an waunspe wicakiyapi or one who knows what we call pedagogy or the art of teaching.

As I listened to Earl Bullhead of Lower Brule and Robert Two Crow of the Pine Ridge "rez" I thought to myself that these guys still have the innate cultural knowledge of what it means to be Lakota.

Furthermore, they know how to write little known Lakota words and even come up with lists that might speak to a hierarchy of things or groupings.

I told Robert that whatever he was sharing in Lakota just might show up in my column and he didn't seem to bat an eye.

He does a Saturday morning talk show over KILI FM radio from the butte in Porcupine and he mentioned that it is a time for him to discuss a range of issues in Lakota.

Earl needs no introduction on the northern plains area, but just remember "wheels on the bus" and it might cause you to chuckle as he is a great composer of Lakota rhymes.

He said that he was challenged by a granddaughter to learn such rhymes and one day he simply turned them into Lakota children's song and they became quite educational. Robert's wife, Sharon confirmed the fact that her Head Start children have gotten quite good at singing along.

Recently I heard Earl talk about the color purple and its descriptive nature.

I am sure it is being taught one way in the schools, but I wanted to document his version which appears to be more authentic. said it is written canunyanpe iyustake and I am just sure that someone will challenge that, but it translates to a grape that surrounds itself.

Robert also managed to come up with a term for confidence and it is spelled Iki'pi I'cila.

It appears to suggest someone who sees themselves as ready for whatever comes their way.

Finally, Robert came up with an unofficial list of proficiency levels for Lakota and I documented them for future use.

One who is an excellent speaker would be considered Glaheya Lakotiye, one who is advanced would be Wayupike, one who knows the language would be Unspe, one who is learning Lakota would be at the Unspeiciye level and one who comprehends Lakota but does not speak would be at the Nahon level.

Anyway, for Lakota speaking scholars it is a once in a lifetime experience to be hanging out with these guys and documenting the bit and pieces that they come up with.

It is something that they do rather spontaneously so you have to be there to appreciate their skills as a waunspe kiyapi.

Time passes by so quickly and with it our Lakota language also undergoes changes and it sometimes gets transformed into something that we may not be comfortable with. Earl confirmed the fact that there are only five female Lakota speakers on the Lower Brule reservation.

I think it is even more crucial that he is there to teach the children.

Finally, I asked Robert what Lakolyake meant for sure. I had to laugh as I assumed it meant the Lakota way and he said it meant "to Indianize" something.

Anyway, thanks Robert and Earl for the mutual respect as it is great to listen to a couple of colleagues who are my own age and who know that respect is a part of all that is Lakota.

To comprehend what they are saying in Lakota and to be able to document it is a rare glimpse into Lakota.