Dakhóta iápi Okhódakičhiye (DIO) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization of dedicated Dakota community members, language learners and speakers. DIO was created out of a international need for Dakota language materials to be implemented for easily accessible language learning. If someone attempted to learn the Dakota language when we were founded in 2014, they would immediately realize the difficulty in reaching their language learning goals. Dakhóta iápi Okhódakičhiye promotes revitalization of the Dakota language through the creation and distribution of Dakota language materials to be implemented in the home, community and classroom.
The members of the Dakhóta iápi Okhódakičhiye have worked together on a multitude of projects, and collectively have decades of experience in Dakota language education. In the traditional homelands of the Dakota people, Minnesota and South Dakota, DIO members hold weekend family immersion camps, as well as the week-long Dakota Language Summer Institute. Our organization is active around the Twin Cities metro area’s Dakota language revitalization efforts, and if you have attended a Dakota language event in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, you have likely met multiple members of the Dakhóta iápi Okhódakičhiye. Other weekly Dakota language events facilitated by DIO members include language tables, both local and online, as well as academic tutoring at the University of Minnesota. Our learning materials are being used across the great plains, in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
Completed projects include the first and second volumes of Dakhóta iá Wóhdaka Po! Speak Dakota series, textbook with accompanying audio CDs, the Dakota Audio Journal that includes fluent speakers and elders talking about their lives and sharing songs, the 1,001 Dakhóta Verbs textbook that serves as a guide for in depth conjugation of many core verbs, and the upcoming Dakota Dictionary App, featuring recorded pronunciation of words by native first speaking elders.