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SUMMARY:Culture-based literacy: improving access to Lakota texts at Standi
 ng Rock - Elliot Bannister (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe)
DTSTART:20171018T161500Z
DTEND:20171018T170000Z
UID:TALK93841@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Oliver Mayeux
DESCRIPTION:*Abstract*\n\nThe Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is home to a flour
 ishing movement to revitalize Lakota\, a language it shares with several o
 ther sovereign nations. Among the ground-breaking initiatives to “move t
 he language forward" is a 4-hour-a-day language course for tribal college 
 students. Following best practices in curriculum design\, reading and list
 ening activities are based authentic material\, but access to such materia
 l is riddled with challenges. \n\nMissionaries among the Dakota were the f
 irst to put the language into the Latin script\, followed by native writer
 s such as George Bushotter\, George Sword and Thomas Tyon. An enormous amo
 unt is also owed to Ella Deloria\, a Native anthropologist\, who transcrib
 ed hundreds of narratives and traditional stories in the mid twentieth cen
 tury. More recently\, in the past few decades linguists have recorded hund
 reds of hours of speech by fluent Elders. As these speakers gradually make
  their journeys\, such texts and recordings provide an increasingly vital 
 lifeline to authentic language.\n\nHowever\, most of these materials sit i
 n archives and private collections thousands of miles away from Lakota Cou
 ntry. Curriculum designers must on the one hand negotiate repatriation of 
 the materials\, and on the other\, navigate nuanced community attitudes to
  whether (and how) Lakota should be written in the first place. This talk 
 looks closely at these challenges\, and evaluates possible solutions withi
 n the broader context of decolonization.\n\n*About the speaker*\n\nElliot 
 Bannister is the Language Specialist for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Th
 e tribal Language and Culture Institute\, headquartered in Fort Yates\, No
 rth Dakota\, works in partnership with Sitting Bull College to revitalize 
 the Lakota and Dakota languages. Elliot is originally from Northampton and
  graduated from SOAS\, University of London.
LOCATION:Faculty of English\, Boardroom
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