Chief Dull Knife College holds Language Immersion Camps

CDKC Immersion Camp instructors:: Mina Seminole, coordinator; Christina Medicine Bull, St Labre; Alvera Cook, lame Deer Public Schools; Seidel Standing Elk, Lame Deer Public Schools; Lenora Wolfname, CDKC.

LAME DEER, Mont. – Summer time is camping time: sports and educational camps for youth are ubiquitous. However, in Cheyenne Country, one of the most important is the annual language immersion camp held by Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC). It is a key part of an overall strategy to maintain and revitalize the Northern Cheyenne language, especially among the youth.

This year from July 7-18, two camps were held. The first week was for the very young: pre-school and elementary students. Twenty-seven students enrolled for that week. The second week was for the juniors, many the graduates of previous camps, high school students. Sixteen students enrolled for that session. The camps are four days in duration, from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. After morning flag song and prayer, the campers receive both breakfast and lunch. During the day a variety of activities, including a Cheyenne version of the popular “Cornhole” game are conducted, some inside beautifully painted tipis, where students are taught tipi etiquette and seated in a circular fashion, the traditional manner of teaching.

The four teachers or language coaches are all fluent Northern Cheyenne speakers, certified as “Class 7” language instructors, by the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) Montana Indian Languages Program (MILP) which also funds the immersion camps. They include Alvera Cook, Principal, Lame Deer public schools; Christina Medicine Bull, language instructor at St. Labre Indian Academy; Siedel Standing Elk, language teacher, Lame Deer Public Schools; and Verda King, language instructor, Northern Cheyenne Tribal School, Busby.

The camps provide an array of activities, designed to make learning Cheyenne fun. The Total Physical Response (TPR) method of instruction is a primary teaching method. As Alvera Cook explained, TPR is similar to sign language, involving commands requiring a physical response from the students. Examples include the words “Walk, Run, Stand Up, Sit Down, Listen all delivered person-to-person with accompanying sign language etc.” “As Native people we are all about tactile learning” she said. “We learn better that way. TPR is the way children first learn the language – by responding to commands.”

The junior group will also make a day trip to Bear Butte, the spiritual Center of the Universe to the Northern Cheyenne as well as many other Great Plains Tribes. At Bear Butte, the students will scale to the mountain top, a very arduous trek where fasting is conducted and sacred vows completed. As Alvera explained, the students will be taught several critical Cheyenne lessons: Respect for Bear Butte; stories associated with the Mountain such as the Sacred Arrows and Sacred Hat; the importance of vision quests and sweats that are conducted there and so forth. “Every Cheyenne needs to know Bear Butte,” she summarized. “It’s our home.”

Taking young people to the Sacred Mountain has also been a focus of other tribal camps held by the Northern Cheyenne Boy’s and Girl’s Club. The CDKC immersion camp program is administered by Cultural Resources staff, including Mina Seminole, Lenora Wolfname, Joesphine Firecrow, and Rosalie Bad Horse, CDKC language instructor and language interns. “The camps are a highlight of the year,” Mina smiled. “It is so good to hear young ones speaking our language. It gives us hope for the survival of the language.

(Contact Clara Caufield at acheyennereview@gmail.com)

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