Sisseton Wahpeton College CI Report – Interim

What has been most instrumental to your progress?

As referenced in the previous interim report, the family outreach program recognized a need to shift from set curricula to the expressed interests of the participating families. This shift was made and saw success when preparing resources around target topics. The two main topics investigated by the Family Outreach Assistants during the past year were child rearing and traditional foods—both the language used for these topics as well as the cultural teachings of the Dakota worldview that are critical context for this language. The selection of these two topics reflected the interest of involved families in the community as well as the Outreach Assistants, who are young parents themselves, and thus was important for gaining and maintaining interest in the program.

Bringing language and cultural elders into the center of the program’s work was instrumental in the advancement of the program’s goals. This was particularly true in the creation of curricula responsive to the interests of program participants. The Family Outreach Assistants relied heavily on the valuable knowledge elders shared during elder sessions, knowledge that the Outreach Assistants could then pass on in their meetings with mentees and bring home to use with their own young families. In this way, the knowledge from elders could pass on to those community members seeking it out who might not otherwise have access to grandparents or other knowledge keepers. Also critical has been financial compensation for elders and hosting them in a way that demonstrates respect for the truly invaluable knowledge they offer.

Collaboration with other groups working with language preservation and revitalization was also instrumental in making progress in this project. Specifically, the Outreach Assistants cooperated with the Dakota Language Institute (DLI) to create language materials that families could use at home. This pairing arose from DLI’s familiarity and ability to create professional-grade print materials. In this way, the Outreach Assistants would design materials such as flashcards and posters based on the needs from participating families and then take those designs to the printers at DLI, who would work with the Assistants to bring them to fruition.

Key lessons learned

The work of the Family Outreach Assistants has been laudable. However, the past year has also demonstrated the potential that was lost through lack of direction and communication from managers. The first interim report stated that, in light of the then-recent resignation of the Family Outreach Coordinator, the project would come under direction of the Project Manager and the newly-hired Family Outreach Assistants. These personnel changes did take place. However, the Assistants experienced a lack of attention and support from the two Project Managers since then. The Assistants did their best to carry out what they understood of the project, but the neglect of leadership left them without direction. The vagueness of the directives they were given meant the vision of the project was not communicated clearly to those executing much of the project’s heavy lifting. In the last four weeks (after the most recent co-directors assumed responsibility) the lessons learned about faults of communication have been taken into account, and there are now meetings clarifying the objectives and intermediary steps of each grant with everyone department member involved, no matter how small their role.

The lack of attention from the previous Project Manager was disadvantageous to the project’s progress in another way: specifically, the Assistants had just started on their language learning journey and had no training in language teaching before being handed nearly full responsibility for the outreach program. This meant that the Assistants not only experienced a lack of direction from leadership, but also felt unequipped and unsupported when it came to language content and the process of outreach and family mentorship. The Assistants have gained confidence during their year of language study and are now excited to share what they have learned so far with other families interested in bringing the language into their homes. Despite this excitement, the new leadership recognizes the ongoing need for scaffolding and support, and as such, is working closely with the Assistants to support them as we work to increase use of the Dakota language in homes.

Reflections on inclusive, collaborative or resourceful problem-solving

In the past year, the element of resourcefulness has contributed the most to this program’s progress. The Family Outreach Assistants were resourceful when taking full advantage of the opportunities to learn and document knowledge from language elders about child rearing and traditional foods. Not only was this knowledge available in the community, but it also is extremely rare outside of this community, making it even more valuable to preserve and promote.

An example of both resourcefulness and collaboration was the Assistants’ work with the Dakota Language Institute to produce learning materials such as flashcards, placards, and posters. Utilizing DLI’s existing capacity for professional printing allowed us to increase the caliber of this program’s work while also fostering a collaborative relationship with another important organization in local language work. Once distributed to families to use in the home, this work did not go unnoticed, as even local daycares and the tribal K-5 school requested these materials for use in the classroom. This demonstrates the continued need for quality language learning materials, in and out of the home.

Other key elements of Community Innovation

A recent addition to the community process has been feedback and critique. Once the Family Outreach Assistants and others involved in the project were given the opportunity to give feedback, the way forward became much clearer. Under the Family Outreach Coordinator in the first year of the grant, feedback from the participants was taken into account and the curriculum was changed to become more individually relevant to different families. This was a praiseworthy step. However, after her departure, this culture of feedback and critique was not extended by the Project Managers to those working the grant themselves (the Family Outreach Assistants). This hindered the progression of the project, as the Assistants were unable to express their need for greater support during the beginning of their language learning journeys and outreach positions. This culture of feedback has already begun to be introduced by the new leadership in the department, who have opened multiple routes of feedback by department members, both through formal meetings and informal conversation and collaboration.

Understanding the problem

The work so far has demonstrated the need for community building and mutual support. During the first year, the Family Outreach Coordinator realized the need to allow families to be participants in the program, not just recipients. In the second year, we’ve learned that this extends even further, that the status of families should be closer to ‘collaborator’ and ‘supporter’. While individualized programming and support is effective for families, it is also inefficient to have the program as the sole node connecting individual families. Instead, moving forward, we recognize the need to foster relationships between the families themselves. In this way, families not only receive support from the program (‘vertical support’), but they also receive support from families who are in similar positions of encouraging use of Dakota in the home (‘horizontal support’). Another key element of this network is language elders themselves. The program does not need to act as an intermediary between language elders and families. By nurturing a robust network of families and elders engaged in language work, the vision of Dakota language revitalization becomes more innovative and more resilient.

If you could do it all over again…

A recurring theme of the lessons learned throughout this grant is that the program should move away from a role of ‘teacher’ and toward a role of ‘facilitator.’ This is especially true for many of the target families who already have high levels of language knowledge. These families, many of which are composed of parents who are highly proficient 2nd language speakers, have less need for language content and more for at-home language implementation techniques, emotional support, and comradery. They would benefit most from support groups where they can learn from each other and elders.

There are other families where the parents have a background in the language but need support in building their fluency to a level that can be used in the home. Here, curriculum will be important, but collaboration, speaking practice, and mutual support between these families is still critical.

Even for those who need a lot of support in learning the Dakota language, fostering a network is still essential. Those who feel a part of a greater community and movement are much more likely to commit themselves to the years-long effort it takes to bring Dakota into the home.

One last thought

The repeated changes in staff and leadership have proven very challenging to the ongoing implementation of this program. As mentioned in the last interim report, the Family Outreach Coordinator departed from the program in early summer 2021, so the program shifted to two Family Outreach Assistants and the Project Manager (who was also the Co-Director of the Dakota Studies Department). This Project Manager resigned in November of 2021, so the other Co-Director assumed responsibility for the grant. This individual then resigned from the department in April of 2022, and the current Interim Co-Directors stepped into their positions in the first week of May 2022.

The Co-Directors and the Outreach Assistants alike are looking forward to bringing stability to the program and using the remaining time and resources allotted build up the family network and place it on a good path forward that utilizes not just the resources that the program can provide to families vertically, but also fostering the relationships between families and language elders so they can support each other horizontally.