Herman "Mogri" Lookout is the master language teacher for the Osage Nation in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
He's studied the language for forty years and helped revitalize the written portion of it by creating an orthography. Language teachers and experts from all over Native America say that an orthography is a way to reclaim your sovereignty.
Lookout also worked with developers to create Osage for Unicode. Because of that, Osages all over the world can write and text in the language.
He says revitalization efforts started with a desire for people to be able to pray in their own language.
"They wanted to learn to pray."
Below, watch our video portrait featuring Lookout, produced by FireThief Productions:
https://vimeo.com/175605625">Osage Speaker Herman Mongrain Lookout from https://vimeo.com/invisiblenations">Allison Herrera on Vimeo.
Invisible Nations is brought to you by KOSU and Finding America, a national initiative produced by AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio Incorporated, and with financial support from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, the Wyncote Foundation, the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
