Language Teacher, Philomine Lakota Featured on Front Page for Commitment to Language Revitalization
posted April 7, 2015
As seen in the Rapid City Journal
Red Cloud's Lakota Language Department chair, Philomine Lakota was featured in the Sunday edition of the Rapid City Journal for her work as a community leader, working to revitalize the endangered Lakota language. As a fluent community elder, she is widely regarded as a keeper of the Lakota language and culture and has been instrumental in the creation of the nation’s first comprehensive K-12 Lakota language curriculum at Red Cloud Indian School. Read the article below and learn more at www.RedCloudSchool.org/LLP
by Danie Koskan, Rapid City Journal Correspondent
If there was ever any question about Philomine Lakota’s rapport with students, one word should erase all doubt.
“Uŋčí,” she said. “They call me ‘Uŋčí.’”
“Uŋčí” (pronounced oon-chee) is Lakota for grandmother.
Affection for the 68-year-old educator runs deep at Red Cloud Indian School, where Philomine teaches nearly half a dozen Lakota language classes daily. The private Catholic school serves elementary, middle and high school children on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
“She’s an amazing teacher,” Red Cloud senior Jaime Richards said. “I’ve learned so much from her.”
Philomine has been helping Red Cloud students learn their native tongue for a decade. But her lessons impart so much more than Lakota words, spellings and expressions. She’s given her young charges a sense of identity and belonging.
“She’s taught us not only the language, but the stories and the culture,” Richards said.
Her indelible impact on the school and the greater Pine Ridge community recently earned her a nomination for a LifeChanger of the Year award. The national program annually recognizes and rewards exemplary K-12 teachers, administrators and support staff. The top 10 nominees and their respective schools receive cash prizes, with $10,000 going to the grand-prize winner. (Winners will be announced later this spring.)
“It’s kind of humbling,” Philomine said. “I feel so honored.”
