The Sioux Indians had one language with many different dialects of that language, all of which were memorized and weren’t written down until missionaries came into the area. The Sioux language is one of the Siouan languages. The Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota each spoke a dialect of the Sioux language, called Mississippi Valley Siouan. Mississippi Valley Siouan is also known as Central Siouan. Central Siouan is then broken down into 3 separate dialects. Dakotan is the dialect we will focus on, and then it broken down further, into 3 more dialects. One of these is the Sioux dialect, and we will be focusing on the Sioux dialect. This dialect is then further broken down into more dialects. Each separate group (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota) speaks its own dialect. The Dakota people speak the Santee-Sisseton dialect. The Nakota people speak the Yankton-Yanktonai dialect. The Lakota people speak the Teton dialect. These people either speak Northern Teton or Southern Teton. None of these languages were ever written down until missionaries recorded them back in about 1840. The only way these languages survived was through people passing it on through other people. As you can see, there are many different dialects that just this group of Native Americans had, and there are still many more in other parts of North America.
By: Josh Russell
