Living and Learning Lakota starts with a connection
By Christina Gervais, Host and Producer of Lakota Morning Prayer
It started with a search. I wanted to find a Lakota speaker. A connection to live and relearn our language. My cousin Tommy, a fluent speaker, was too far away and was tied up, busy with his own affairs. However he shared some Lakota teachings by Harold Blacksmith. And that was the connection, the beginning of my language journey, though I didn’t immediately recognize it.
At first, I only watched one video but I didn’t continue as Harold wasn’t from my community and I didn’t know him. I then asked a local community member and Lakota person, Lita Ferguson. Although she knew the language as a child, she hasn’t had anyone to speak it to so she also suggested I talk to Harold Blacksmith, who she said is a well known Lakota/Dakota/Nakota teacher and speaker.
Two suggestions now from Lakota people to speak with Harold Blacksmith. So how do I make that connection?
I went back and looked Harold up on Facebook. He has a language group. I then watched several videos straight. I wasn’t sure how much I absorbed but I felt happy and like he was someone I would, at the very least, like to get to know. I sent him a message and he replied to me the very next day with his phone number. That was the start of something special.
“The pride in my language and what we’ve created fills me. I am so proud, and I am working on saying every word properly myself.”
I called and we spoke for over an hour about the project I was doing, who I was, who he was, and where we came from. We got to know a little bit about each other. I was so eager to learn after we got off the phone that I sent his Facebook group to my whole family. I messaged Lita and we spoke about her re-learning our language so we could learn and speak it together! Oh boy, was I ever thrilled!
Then came time to meet Harold. Before we met to learn the prayer, we had gone back and forth messaging. When we finally virtually met we had talked on zoom for hours, and then we learned this wonderful prayer. I have shared with my entire family. When I say entire family I mean, I shared it with my three children, my brothers, my sisters, my mother, my cousins, my aunts, and my uncle.
The pride in my language and what we’ve created fills me. I am so proud, and I am working on saying every word properly myself. It comes with many struggles but Harold told me I will never get made fun of for trying. This prayer is just a start to learning and revitalizing the Lakota language within my family. This isn’t just something to learn and move on from for us, it’s a way to live and relearn our language. It’s a way to reclaim our identities.
Don’t be afraid to seek out those connections, to be humble, and to learn. The pathto re-learning won’t happen overnight, but at least we have started.