The Challenges of the Literary Tradition of the Oceti Sakowin.

The historic harms that tribal nations have endured are detrimental to the Oceti Sakowin or Seven Council Fires' literary tradition. Ongoing challenges exist in tribal communities due to U.S. government policies that took away the freedom to take part in cultural activities, participate in spiritual practices, and to speak one's language. The Oceti Sakowin Writers Society, formerly the Oak Lake Writers' Society, have discussed these issues during their annual writers' retreats, including challenges facing language revitalization and creating a contemporary orthography from a language that is originally oral. Important work remains for the Oceti Sakowin to continue language recovery efforts and the critical development of a contemporary orthography by the Oyate. These works are vital to continue the Oceti Sakowin literary tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]