About Our Website

Our Purpose

The Quapaw Nation Language Department began work on this website in the fall of 2024, shortly after the initial formation of our department. Our goal is to provide our tribal nation with a comprehensive online reference for learning the Quapaw language. While this site is still a work-in-progress, we are pleased with its layout and simplicity.

Prominent features of this site include the Okáxpa searchable dictionary, our database of language-learning materials, as well as a blog where we post departmental updates and write-ups. Additionally, we maintain a historical archive of written works related to our language which spans from the early 1800s to present times.

Unfortunately, Quapaw is considered a dormant language, which means there are no living fluent speakers. Luckily, we have access to archived historical and academic works which document the meaning, structure, and stories of our language. Simply put, this site serves as vessel for our people and the way our ancestors communicated in the times before colonization and forced assimilation stripped us of our culture.

Our goal as a department, and thus as an extension of our tribal nation and government, is to revitalize our language so that future generations will speak Okáxpa.

Dhegiha Language Resources

Okáxpa is a Siouan language which shares strong similarity with a number of other indigenous languages: Ponca, Omaha, Osage, and Kanza. This is because, long ago, our tribes existed as one unified people. Following a journey along the Mississippi River and a subsequent westward migration, our people separated geographically and developed into these five modern tribes. Modern academics classify this original group as the Dhegiha subgroup, a term which our tribal nations have since co-opted.

Each of our tribes maintains our own language, but we convene as one each year at the Dhegiha Language Confernce to discuss new ways to perpetuate and teach our languages. Our tribes have strong ties to one another; we cherish our history both as one and as separate nations. Below, you will find links to our sister tribes' online language-based resources. We encourage you to visit each one to begin to understand the differences and similarities between our languages:

• Kaw Nation Language Homepage
• Omaha & Ponca Digital Dictionary
• Osage Language Department Homepage

Acknowledgements

Our department extends our deepest thanks to Dr. Robert Rankin for his lifelong study and thorough documentation of Dhegiha languages, without whom our work would be an uphill battle. Additionally, we thank Billy Supernaw Proctor for his decades-long dedication to studying, deconstructing, and teaching Okáxpa. Finally, we give utmost praise to those persons who interviewed and recorded our last fluent speakers. We owe you and your kin a great debt and hope you will be proud of our work.

Web Development Resources

This site is coded, designed, and maintained solely by the Quapaw Nation Language Department and is our only official page. The codebase was created and is maintained by Tehya Deardorff, a member and employee of the Quapaw Nation. She exclusively uses open-source products to maintain the project, mainly VSCodium. Listed below are other development resources utilized to create and maintain the site: