Dakota Dialects

[Koontz John E]

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005, Parks, Douglas R. wrote:
> ... The history of the fallacy that Yanktonais referred to themselves
> with an n is given in DeMallie's and my paper, pp. 242-48.  James Howard
> is the 20th century promoter of the use of the n form, and his
> assertions have been accepted by many, particularly younger people who
> like the "neat" classification that it provides.

JEK:

> Which would indicate that the canonicalization of the d-n-l division was
> subsequent to Riggs.  I wonder what the history of it was?

From:

Parks, Douglas R. and Raymond DeMallie.  1992.  Sioux, Assiniboine, and
Stoney Dialects:  A Classification.  Anthropological Linguistics 34, Nos.
1-4, Special Issue:  Florence M. Voegelin Mwemorial Volume, pp. 233-255.

This is a summary of the survey that Parks & DeMallie present, pp.
234-240.  Their classificaiton of Dakota dialects is inserted first for
reference.

Parks & DeMallie  Santee-         Yankton-      Teton      Assiniboine  Stoney
(1992:251)        Sisseton        Yanktonai



Gallatin          Eastern         Yankton       Teton      Assiniboine
(1836:124)        Dahcota

The Pond, Riggs, et al., mission(s) and associated linguistic work began
in 1834.

Riggs          1) IsaNti          IhaNktoNwaN   TitoNwaN   -----
(1852:viii-ix) 2) SisitoNwaN
                  (Lake Traverse)

Riggs discusses some subdialects of IsaNti and distinguishes it generally
from the variety of SisitoNwaN spoken at Lake Traverse.  Supressing these
distinctions arising from his closer study of Santee, he distinguishes
three dialects, but without reference to Assiniboine and Stoney.  In other
words, up to this point his analysis concurs with that of Gallatin.

Riggs (1893:188) mentions the Assiniboine dialect, saying "Their language
differs less from the Dakota in general, than the dialects of the Dakota
do from each other.  ...  The Assiniboin are said to have broken off from
the Pine Shooters (Wazikute), a branch of the IhaNktoNwaNna."  From these
two remarks, the first of which is misinformed and the second of which is
unattributed, one might deduce, albeit falsely, that Assiniboine is much
like Yanktonais, which would presumably be much like Yankton, with
Assiniboine differing less from Yankton than Yankton differed from Santee,
etc.

In spite of this, the early Siouanists followed Gallatin's lead and listed
four dialects of Dakota.

Dorsey (1885:919)    Santee          Yankton       Teton      Assiniboine

Boas & Swanton       Santee          Yankton       Teton      Assiniboine
(1911:879)

Problems crept in with Lowie's Indians of the Plains.  Lowie evidently
made the deductions that Riggs (1893) supports.

Lowie (1954:8)       Eastern         Central       Western
                     (Dakota)        (Nakota)      (Lakota)
                                     (var. Assiniboine)

Howard's work on the Dakota separates Assiniboine back out, but retains
the erronious characterization of Yankton(-Yanktonais) as like
Assiniboine.

Howard               Dakota         *Nakota        Lakota     Nakoda
(1960:249, n. 2;     (Santee)        (Yankton)     (Teton)    (Assiniboine)
1966:4)

Howard's scheme in particular, caught the attention of anthropologists,
and was widely cited thereafter.

Hassrick (1964:6), Powers (1972:7, 1977:11), Schusky (1975:3), Grobsmith
(1981:3), Elias (1988:xiii), Biolsi (1992:4)

I thought it might be interesting to see what the Siouan comparativists
thought, since their fell into this time range.  Interestingly, they
actually say very little, perhaps sensing that the issue was a vexed one.

Wolff                Santee                        Teton
(1950 I:63, 1951)

Matthews (1958:5-6)  Santee          Yankton       Teton
Matthews (1959:253)  Santee                        Teton      Assiniboine
                                                              - Montana
                                                              - Canada

Wolff's list is certainly not intended to be complete.  Matthews seems
implicitly to follow Lowie or Howard, but comments in his kinship term
study that Canadian Assiniboine (perhaps meaning Stoney) differs
dialectally from Montana Assiniboine.

Incidentally, Alexander Lesser's 1958 dissertation on Siouan Kinship finds
it convenient to discuss Dakotan terminology in terms of Santee, Yankton,
Teton, and Assiniboine lists, and he finds some diffferences between his
two Assiniboine authorities, Morgan and Lowie, that seem to come down to a
difference between Assiniboine and Stoney.  At last certain forms are
listed specifically as Stoney.

Lesser says of the Assiniboine "according to Lowie, their speech must be
considered at least a major dialect of Dakota, differing from Santee and
Teton perhaps to a greater degree than these dialects differ amongst
themselves."  (Lesser 1958:14)  It's not clear what work of Lowie's he is
citing, but the implication is that it is Lowie's 1910 monograph The
Assiniboine.  So, it appears that Lowie's perceptions of Nakota are based
on Assiniboine, and that it is Yankton-Yanktonais that is being
overlooked.

Returning to the presentation in Parks & DeMallie, we join the company of
the more recent Siouanists:

Chafe (1973:1179)    Santee          Yankton       Teton
                     (Dakota proper) & Assin.     (Lakota)
                                     (Nakota)

Chafe follows Lowie, essentially, but indicates specifically that there is
a Canadian variety of Assiniboine called Stoney.

At this point more extensive field experience, close study of the earlier
materials, and, I suspect, rumors of the Dakota Dialect Survey's findings,
begin to assert themselves again in the Siouanist community.  Shaw, for
example, distinguishes essentially the same scheme as Parks & DeMallie.

Shaw        Santee          Yankton     Teton     Assiniboine  Stoney
(1976:4-5)  - MdewaNtuNwaN
            - WaxpetuNwaN

Shaw's Santee subdialects are not intended to be exhaustive, I think.

Rood        Santee     Yankton     Teton  Yanktonai Assiniboine  Stoney
(1979:236)

Rood's list is again the modern one, but with Yanktonai retained as
separate, probably on the strength of the original comments in Riggs.

The most complete study, and the best documented linguistically (and
historiographically) is Parks & DeMallie 1992.  However, Riggs and Shaw
provide a certain number of comparative forms, too.