1890 Dakota "Wotaninwaste" Book of Psalm
GUEST:
I have a Bible printed in the Lakota language. My grandmother got it from a friend, and then gave it to my mom, and then it came down to me. And it's really great, because my family, we are Lakota, so it's really special that we can have it.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh. Your family's Lakota.
GUEST:
Yep.
APPRAISER:
Do you speak any Lakota?
GUEST:
I do, yeah, a little bit. A lot of it's disappearing. I think the title is “Wotaninwaste” (pronouncing title in Lakota), and I think that means "good news."
APPRAISER:
Yeah, there are not too many speakers of the Lakota or Dakota language. It is a religious text. It's Gospels and Psalms. And we do see at the ROADSHOW a tremendous amount of religious books in various languages. Most of the religious texts we see go for, like, $10, $15 or less. But what you brought today is just absolutely fascinating, because it is published, in New York City by the Bible Society in an American Indian language. And back between, like, the 1890s, when this was published, and 1912, they published about 80 Bibles in Native American languages.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And this one is particularly interesting here in this region, because it is in the Dakota language. It's in pristine condition. It's published in 1890. They refer to it as the Dakota...
GUEST:
I noticed that too, yeah.
APPRAISER:
What do you prefer to call it?
GUEST:
Lakota and Dakota are actually two separate dialects. Dakota is towards Minnesota way. Around here, south of Bismarck, will be the Lakota.
APPRAISER:
We would probably place an insurance value of about $500...
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
...on the...
GUEST:
Cool. Well, I do know "thank you" -- (speaking Lakota) (both laugh)
APPRAISER:
You're welcome, anytime.
Appraisal Details
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