Dakota gym talks

AMERICAN INDIAN ISSUES:  Grants help preserve fading native languagesWith soup and conversation in a college gym, members of the Spirit Lake tribe are trying to keep their language alive.

People gather in the tribal college gym every other Tuesday for conversational Dakota language instruction.

“To do it in a nonclassroom, nonthreatening setting, just to get people talking,” said Cynthia Lindquist, president of Candeska Cikana or “Little Hoop” Tribal College.