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They were punished for speaking it and they didn’t want us to be punished.

They were punished for speaking it and they didn’t want us to be punished.

Ms. Swenson talks about the effects of boarding school on her parents' language.

Audio Chapters

Chapter 1

DL: Did you learn enough of the language so you could talk it?

LS: No. They would never speak it to us.

DL: I wonder why that was.

LS: Well, because she said they were punished in school. When they went to boarding school they were punished for speaking it and they didn’t want us to be punished. So that’s where our language stopped in our family.

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LaVonne Swenson. "They were punished for speaking it and they didn’t want us to be punished.." https://www3.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/contributors/lavonne-swenson/1131
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Oral History- Interview | Narrator LaVonne Swenson Interviewer Deborah Locke made in Morton, Lower Sioux Community, MN | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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Citation: Minnesota Historical Society. U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. They were punished for speaking it and they didn’t want us to be punished.. May 23, 2025.