Originals and English translations of 77 letters in Dhegiha language, written by Omaha and Ponca Indians and translated by James Owen Dorsey.

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Excerpt from Omaha and Ponka Letters Every syllable ends in a vowel. Pure or nasalized. When a consonant appears at the end of a word or syllable, it is a sign of contraction. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Published through the Recovering Languages and Literacies of the Americas initiative, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Omaha Language and the Omaha Way provides a comprehensive textbook for students, scholars, and laypersons to learn to speak and understand the language of the Omaha Nation. Mark Awakuni-Swetland, Vida Woodhull Stabler, Aubrey Streit Krug, Loren Frerichs, and Rory Larson have collaborated with elder speakers, including Alberta Grant Canby, Emmaline Walker Sanchez, Marcella Woodhull Cavou, and Donna Morris Parker, to write this book. The original and creative pedagogical method used in this textbook—teaching the Omaha language through Omaha culture—consists of a structured series of lesson plans. It is the result of a generous collaboration between the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the Umóⁿhoⁿ Language and Culture Center at Umóⁿhoⁿ Nation Public School in Macy, Nebraska. The method draws on the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of Awakuni-Swetland to illustrate the Omaha values of balance and integration. The contents are shaped into two parts, each of which complements the other—just as the Earth and Sky do. This textbook features an introduction by Awakuni-Swetland on the history and phonology of the Omaha language; lessons from the Umóⁿhoⁿ Language and Culture Center at Macy, with a writing system quick sheet; situation quick sheets; lessons on games; lessons on spring, summer, fall, and winter; an Omaha language resource list; and a glossary in the standard Macy orthography of the Omaha language. The textbook also includes cultural lessons in the language by Awakuni-Swetland and lessons from the Omaha language class at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The Omaha Language and the Omaha Way offers a linguistic foundation for tribal members, students, scholars, and laypersons, featuring Omaha community lessons, the standard Macy orthography, and UNL orthography all under one cover.

Traces the history of the Omaha Indians from 1790, through the years under Chief Black Bird, to their confinement to a reservation in the 1850s and the loss of most of their land in 1916

Published through the Recovering Languages and Literacies of the Americas initiative, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Dictionary of the Ponca People presents approximately five thousand words and definitions used by Ponca speakers from the late nineteenth century to the present. Until relatively recently, the Ponca language had been passed down solely as part of an oral tradition in which children learned the language at home by listening to their elders. Almost every family on the southern Ponca reservation in Oklahoma spoke the language fluently until the 1940s, when English began to replace the Ponca language as children entered government boarding schools and were forced to learn English. In response to demand, Ponca language classes are now being offered to children and adults as people seek to gain knowledge of this important link to tradition and culture. The approximately five thousand words in this volume encompass the main artery of the language heard and spoken by the parents and grandparents of the Ponca Council of Elders. Additional words are included, such as those related to modern devices and technology. This dictionary has been compiled at a time when the southern Poncas are initiating a new syntactic structure to the language, as few can speak a full sentence. This dictionary is not intended to recover a cultural period or practice but rather as a reference to the spoken language of the people.