Native scholar Elizabeth Cook-Lynn archive on display at SDSU

BROOKINGS – There were few dry eyes in the house as Native Studies Professor Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (Crow Creek Hunkpati Oyate), who made her journey to the spirit world in 2023, was remembered by the Oceti Sakowin Writers Society during the 2024 Festival of Books in Brookings. Cook-Lynn had co-founded the Society and had mentored to and alongside many of the Society’s members. The remembrance, held at South Dakota State University’s Briggs Library’s Archives and Special Collections room was standing room only as teachers, former students and colleagues came to honor her.

Cook-Lynn is recognized as a scholar and a powerful advocate for Native American sovereignty. Her work has been instrumental in establishing Native Studies as an academic discipline during the mid-20th century.

Briggs Associate Librarian Michelle Christian said the Archives and Special Collections have been working diligently to process, preserve and archive Cook-Lynn’s research and writings to coincide with the Society’s annual retreat as well as the 2024 Festival of Books.  Christian said they have had the papers for almost 20 years and received the last of the papers in 2017. Cook-Lynn donated 80 boxes of her papers and her personal library to the Archives. “This past two years, we received a Wokini Initiative Challenge Grant from the University to hire a student to help us with some projects, to help process the rest of Cook-Lynn’s papers which she had donated to us, to create some guides for her books and create some digital materials.”

They hired Alexis DuBray from Rapid City. “Alexis has worked extensively with the papers. She selected the items to go online. She also read several of Cook-Lynn’s books and created discussion guides following the outline used by the #NativeReads campaign.” #NativeReads is a partnership between First Nations Development Institute and the OSWS to increase knowledge and appreciation of the Oceti Sakowin literatures. In 2019, the Society compiled a list of nearly 200 books by Dakota, Nakota and Lakota writers. #NativeReads features the top ten from this list.

Once processing is finalized, all of the physical documents in the collection will be available for public viewing in the Archives. Selected items from the Elizabeth Cook-Lynn Papers will be digitized and accessibility will be free to researchers worldwide.

Elizabeth Cook-Lynn Papers are currently on display at the Briggs Library on the second floor, in the Special Collections featured alongside South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle whose papers are also under the care of SDSU Archives.

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

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