A user-friendly guide that teaches core Nakoda vocabulary and how to use it in conversation

Practising Nakoda contains basic Nakoda vocabulary, organized into 30 themes (such as animals, clothing, directions, and time) and divided into sections meant to enhance daily and ceremonial communication (including dances, ceremonies, and ceremonial clothing). The guide provides words for every theme from which the reader can forge a general view of word formation patterns.

In a thematic dictionary, words are not organized alphabetically but are grouped according to the root element or their meaning. Since Nakoda is a polysynthetic language where words are often built up with many elements that attach to the root, this is a necessary format that enhances the learner’s “morphological awareness.” The guide will help learners identify the root of each word, along with the “morphemes,” critical to the successful learning of the Nakoda language, and the comprehension of complex vocabulary.

Vincent Collette is a professor of linguistics at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, and the editor of Nakón-i’a wo! Beginning Nakoda and A Concise Dictionary of Nakoda (Assiniboine). He is interested in Indigenous languages of North America, and is specialized in historical linguistics, semantics, and morphology.

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Tom Shawl has worked as a Nakoda culture and language instructor at the Aannii Nakoda college in Fort Belknap and jr./sr. high in Harlem, Montana. He currently manages the Teeples IGA grocery store in Browning, Montana, and is an instructor for the YAM program based out of Montana State University.

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Wilma Kennedy (1923–2020) Heȟága hóta’į wį́yą (Echo of the elk woman) was an educator and activist from Carry the Kettle Nakoda First Nation. She was involved with the Nakoda community’s culture and traditions, and co-authored Nakón-i’a wo! Beginning Nakoda and A Concise Dictionary of Nakoda (Assiniboine).

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