A Dakotah Sioux Indian Dictionary: Over 4,000 Words, Pronunciation-at-a-Glance

Alternate Language Names

Dakota: Dakhota, Dakhótiyapi, Dakȟótiyapi, Dakotah.

Lakota: Lakȟótiyapi, Lakhota, Lakhóta, Teton, Teton Sioux.

Region

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, Canada; Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Minnesota, and Iowa, United States.

Who

Paul WarCloud (Speaker and Author).

Others Involved

Unnamed speakers and contributors; Edgar Light, Leonard Baldus, Grace Adams (Support); Stanislaus Maudlin, the monks of the Blue Cloud Abbey (Resources); Marcella WarCloud (Typing).

Publishing Information

Published 1989 by Tekakwitha Fine Arts Center. An earlier version of this dictionary was published in 1967, seemingly self-published by WarCloud. This edition (an expanded version of the original publication) was self-published in 1971. The 1989 edition, published posthumously with permission from WarCloud’s wife, is noted as the fourth printing.

How People are Cited

People are cited in the dictionary’s Acknowledgements.

How Information is Cited

Unnamed contributors are mentioned in the Acknowledgements. WarCloud’s life and achievements are detailed in the About the Author section.

Where is Information Coming from

Information in this dictionary predominantly comes from WarCloud who was Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakotah and a speaker of the Lakota/Dakota languages. He was assisted by fellow Lakota/Dakota speakers and relatives for vocabulary and confirmation. While he does mention these speakers, he does not cite anybody by name. He also accessed the library of “Indian culture” housed at the Blue Cloud Abbey for vocabulary and definition purposes. None of the written materials he accessed are cited by name or publication date.

Tools and Framework used

This dictionary is available as a physical and digital book.

Access

The physical book is accessible through libraries. The digital book is available open access through the Internet Archive (a free account is required to access the entirety of the dictionary).

Included Languages and Directionality

English to Lakota (Teton)/Dakota (Santee-Yankton).

Dialects Included

This dictionary includes what the author defines as three dialects of Dakota/Lakota: Teton, Santee, and Yankton. The author hyphenates Santee-Yankton, which seems to indicate that WarCloud is actually referring to Lakota (Teton) and Dakota (Santee-Yankton).

Type of Dictionary

This is a bilingual, mono-directional word list.

How are Entries Organised

Entries are listed alphabetically by English. They contain the English headword and the word in Dakota (Santee-Yankton). Where the Lakota word differs, it is listed following the Dakota, marked with a lowercase ‘t’. All Dakota and Lakota words are written phonetically in the Latin alphabet with stress marked by uppercase letters.

Prior to the dictionary section, the author gives a brief history on Siouan languages and peoples to situate what he calls the dialects (Teton, Santee, and Yankton).

After the dictionary there are several topical word lists. Topics include months, Dakota and Lakota Bands, other tribal names, and numbers. These word lists (aside from the numbers which only has the English and Dakota/Lakota terms) contain the English word/name, the Dakota/Lakota translation, and an English gloss of what the Dakota/Lakota name means.

Other Features

Other Notes

The Lakota and Dakota terms in this dictionary are written phonetically with the author’s intention that they can be more easily read and pronounced by an English-speaking person without having to learn a new orthography. Stress is marked by uppercase letters.