In Denver’s North and East High Schools, an endangered language is finding new life. Eileen Masquat, who survived government attempts to erase Native American culture, now teaches Lakota—a language with just 2,000 first-language speakers remaining—to a diverse group of students in Denver Public Schools.
Her journey from a South Dakota reservation to an urban classroom instructor reflects both historical trauma and modern resilience, as she works to preserve her native tongue for future generations. “I was born and raised on the reservation,” Masquat said. “Lakota is my first language; I didn’t learn English until I was 7.”
Masquat has taught Lakota at all levels for over 10 years at both schools, with 32 students at North and 16 at East. The language being endangered has prompted a movement of young Lakota speakers.
Lakota is spoken by seven tribes who live on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock and Lower Brule reservations. The Lakota tribe, also known as the Teton Sioux, is primarily located in North and South Dakota, but they also have a strong population in the Denver metro area. Denver Public Schools supports around 1,000 Native American/Alaska Native students. To better represent those students, North and East High School offer Lakota 1-4 classes.
Masquat grew up on the Lakota reservation in South Dakota before leaving to attend CU Boulder. Masquat was part of a program Congress adopted in 1957 called ‘The Indian Relocation Act.’ Newly graduated students from the reservation were encouraged to join the program and leave.
“At the time, I didn’t know what they were doing; it was just a pathway to get off the reservation,” Masquat said. “They were essentially trying to get all the Natives off the reservations so they could shut them down. We talk about this stuff now in 2024, but I lived through it. They told me they would pay for my tuition, rent, and my books at school. I made it through one year. When I was getting ready to come back to Boulder for my second year, the relocation office told me my name wasn’t on the list anymore. ‘You’ve had enough education for an Indian,’ they told me.”
After this, Masquat wasn’t able to go back to school. She was placed in a boarding house on 11th and Pennsylvania Street with nine other women from reservations. 20 years later, she finished her undergrad and her master’s at Regis University prior to pursuing teaching.
“When I teach here [at North], I don’t go into detail about how I lived through it and what happened to me,” Masquat said. “I don’t like teaching it because it brings up a lot of bad stuff for me. That part of my life is gone; I don’t want to dwell on it, but we went through hell.”
Despite not getting into the hardships she faced, Masquat still immerses her students in the culture of Lakota. Not all of her Lakota students are of Native descent; she has a lot of Hispanic and white students as well. She has learned through her Hispanic students that the Lakota culture and Hispanic culture have many similarities, the biggest being elderly respect.
When asked why he chose to take the course, tenth grader and Lakota 2 student Noah Loya said, “I am Native American, so I wanted to learn Lakota. I’ve been able to speak a bit but understand a lot from my grandma in Lakota because of what I’ve learned in class.”
Masquat believes the vitality of the Lakota language has gotten stronger in her lifetime. “A lot of the young adults that go to the Indian center understand what’s going on because they’re able to learn it in school,” Masquat said.
Masquat’s goal is for students to speak Lakota fluently once they have completed Lakota 4, the highest level taught. Students at all four levels are given a workbook they are expected to complete by the end of each week. The curriculum moves at a pretty fast pace, but Lakota is known for being an easier language to pick up.
Lakota 3 student Autumn Whatley shared about learning Lakota, “I find it easier to learn than Spanish, even though my dad speaks Spanish and I’m Native.” Autumn is reading a land acknowledgment in Lakota at the First Annual Native American Student Alliance Banquet for Denver Public Schools on November 18th.
For Masquat and her students, these Lakota language classes represent far more than just another foreign language credit. They embody resistance against historical attempts to erase Native American culture and signal hope for the language’s survival.
“I don’t know how long they’ll keep offering it here, but as long as they do, I’ll keep coming back and teaching,” said Masquat.
