After generations of suppression, immersion schools and elders are working to keep Lakota alive. To understand South Dakota is to sit with the heritage of the people who shaped it.

Immersion nests and schools now teach the language to children from an early age.

What sets it apart

Fluent first-language speakers have grown scarce, giving the work new urgency. Small as it sounds, it is exactly the sort of thing that defines the experience on the ground.

Dictionaries, apps and audio archives are helping a new generation learn to speak.

Why it matters

Step back, and a larger picture comes into view: this is South Dakota in miniature, rugged and unhurried. It is a heritage still very much alive in the communities and gatherings of today's South Dakota.