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STAND TALL

SPRING 2022

Stories of Red Cloud Schools, The Heritage Center, Pastoral Ministries


Chanda Lays Bad, Lakȟóta language immersion teacher, Red Cloud School
WIČHÓUŊ YUWÁŊKAL UŊGLÚZAPI / CELEBRATING OUR CULTURE

Immersed in Lakȟóta

Uŋčí Philomine, one of Red Cloud’s most beloved teachers, often said that Lakȟóta culture can’t exist without the language. With only 6,000 first-language Lakȟóta speakers still living, there has never been a more important moment to empower a new generation of fluent Lakȟóta speakers. Today Red Cloud is rising to that call.

After launching the nation’s first comprehensive K-12 Lakȟóta language curriculum over a decade ago, Red Cloud has taken another groundbreaking step in its language revitalization work: transforming into a dual-language immersion school. Students in kindergarten, first, and second grades are already using the Lakȟóta language as the primary medium for learning in the classroom. Over time, all Red Cloud students across all grade levels will study a range of academic subjects — math, science, language arts, social studies, and more — in a dual-language environment.

“We’ve seen educational outcomes improve across every grade,” Red Cloud’s Superintendent Moira Coomes said. “But more than that, we’ve seen our students’ confidence and self-esteem grow exponentially as they reconnect with their heritage and culture. They are deeply committed to sustaining the Lakȟóta language for generations to come after them.”

Despite the scarcity of learning resources in Lakȟóta, Red Cloud’s language team — which includes several Red Cloud alumni — are developing an innovative, culturally grounded curriculum from scratch. It fully integrates Lakȟóta values and an indigenous worldview, bringing first-language speakers into the classroom to offer inspiration and guidance.

For Elyssa Sierra Concha ’13, seeing her first-graders learning entirely in Lakȟóta is a reminder of what was nearly lost.

“My grandfather was taken from his family, from his mother, when he was really, really young. There [at a boarding school] he lost his culture and his language, and that affected our family heavily,” she shared. “But he was able to see, before he passed, the language being revitalized...to see his grandchildren going into school and learning Lakȟóta, and being in a Lakȟóta classroom, rather than what he experienced as a child.”

“This program will help us raise an entirely new generation of fluent Lakȟóta speakers — who will be strong leaders and who will ultimately help heal our community. It’s a beautiful movement to be a part of.”

OUR SCHOOLS, HERITAGE CENTER AND CHURCHES

Reverberating
Across Red Cloud

First thing in the morning, walking down the hallway at Red Cloud, you’re just as likely to be greeted with “Híŋhaŋni wašté!” as with “Good morning!”

For years, staff and administrators have been working to normalize speaking Lakȟóta far beyond the classroom walls. And now there’s evidence of those efforts wherever you look.

Students can be found practicing their language skills in after-school conversation groups and interpreting Lakȟóta art in the Heritage Center. All new school staff receive some form of language training. And the language is often used during athletic events and community gatherings.

In Red Cloud’s six churches, Masses incorporate the language, with hymns and prayers often sung and spoken in Lakȟóta. And in the near future, all signage across all Red Cloud’s sites — including two school campuses, six churches, and the Heritage Center — will be translated into both English and Lakȟóta.

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