STANTON, N.D. – Generations ago, it wasn’t unusual to hear the native languages of Hidatsa and Arikara spoken in North Dakota.
But experts estimate fewer than 65 people in the world today are fluent in Hidatsa and Arikara. After the last fluent Mandan speaker passed away in 2016, tribal elders are now educating future generations to keep what’s left of the languages alive.
Some remaining speakers of those northern plains tribal languages gathered at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in Stanton at a native language summit on Saturday.
The site’s culture resource program manager, Alisha Deegan, says it was a “pretty powerful and wonderful experience.”
The historic site is open year-round.
