2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
    Nov 21, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Basic Oceti Sakowin Language Certificate

Location(s): Brookings Main Campus, Online


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Student standing in the American Indian Student Center.

Program Coordinator/Contact

Erin Griffin, Assistant Professor
School of American and Global Studies
Lincoln Hall 229, Box 2212
605-688-5101

Program Information

The Basic Oceti Sakowin Language Certificate provides students a language certificate that marks their achievements in acquiring Oceti Sakowin language, of which Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota are types of dialects, at the basic level. The certificate includes elementary and intermediate language study, with a focus on developing all modes of language production: speaking, listening, writing, and reading in an everyday context. The certificate may be completed as a stand-alone program and may be taken by any students regardless of major. The Basic Oceti Sakowin Language Certificate will be a value-added credential to students majoring in several programs in which communication with modern non-English language populations can be vital. Areas of study may include majors/programs in agriculture, business economics, communication, education, health sciences, and social sciences.

Course Delivery Format

Courses are delivered in face-to-face and online environments, utilizing lectures, discussions, and applied learning.

Student Learning Outcomes


At the completion of the certificate in Basic Oceti Sakowin Language students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate ability up to the intermediate low proficiency level in oral and written Dakota/Lakota.
  • Demonstrate awareness of and respect for differences in cultural perspectives, behavior, and languages (the “3 Ps”: perspectives, practices, products).

Total Required Credits: 14