‘It brings us back to our roots’: Teams gathered in Shakopee for Dakota language competition
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Drum group Toku Nuwan opened the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Dakota Language Bowl in late April. Three elder judges, fluent in Dakota, sat front and center in the large open space at the community's cultural center, Hoċokata Ṫi.
For the participants, tables with microphones were placed in a circle, facing each other.
Over 30 teams gathered in Shakopee to compete in the daylong event. Competition categories ranged from beginner to advanced, youth to adult.
Legend, Angel and Onyx Young are siblings and members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. Their team competed in the beginner youth category.
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They say their team’s name perfectly describes them: Yamni Tanka, which means “the big three” in Dakota.
“I just thought that would be a good name because there's three of us,” Legend said.
The siblings participate in a Dakota language class through Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools. Angel says this is the first year the class has been offered and that there are plans for a level two class next year.
“It'd be really good to win because then that would show the school that they can keep bringing it back,” Angel said.
Yamni Tanka was one of six teams from the high school at the language bowl. Five competed in the beginner’s category, one in intermediate. Each team was comprised of three participants and needed a teacher, coach or parent present.
The American Indian education coordinator for the school district, Freddy De Leon, says having the competition is an opportunity for language students to practice what they’ve learned in the classroom.
“When they have the language bowls, that is important to us. So that way, our students have the opportunity to use it and speak in our language with the rest of our community,” De Leon said. He says youth reclaiming and learning the language is a part of revitalization efforts in communities.
“Seeing the youth sitting there talking and having conversations with first language speakers, that is something beautiful right there itself,” he said.
Caitlin Welch is a Dakota language support specialist. She says Dakota, along with other Native languages, was stripped away when Native children were placed into boarding schools. She and other organizers decided to start a language competition to encourage younger generations in the community to learn Dakota.
“We need to speak our language. It makes your heart [feel] good when you do. And these kids, they need that,” Welch said. She also added the importance of adult learning as well. “You're never too old to learn your language.”
The language bowl is not exclusive to the Shakopee Mdewakanton community. Teams from neighboring tribes, other states and even Canada traveled to compete.
Harold Blacksmith is a member of the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in Manitoba and is a Dakota first language speaker. He's a language teacher and traveled with a group of students to the competition. Blacksmith says he has been traveling to various language bowls since 2017 in hopes of promoting the language.
He believes in challenging learners to deepen their understanding of the language and their identity.
“Dakota language, for one, it's who we are. Once you learn [the] Dakota language, it brings you your identity of really who you are. Aside from the language itself, it gives you a lot of cultural teachings,” Blacksmith said.
Onyx and her siblings from the Yamni Tanka team share similar feelings — that learning Dakota and participating in the language bowl together connects them to their identities as Indigenous youth.
“It brings us back to our roots and connects us to our ancestors. I'm really glad that I get to learn this language and be a part of this community,” Onyx said.
At the end of the competition, the three siblings earned fourth place in their category.
