Both men and women worked at missions in Indian territory, preaching and teaching. They lived their lives as examples of how they wished the Sioux to be. They converted hundreds of Sioux people, and several Sioux became missionaries themselves.
To teach the Bible to the Sioux, the missionaries first had to teach them to read, since the Dakota language had existed only in oral form. Earlier missionaries had created a written form of Dakota for this purpose. Because Dakota uses sounds that do not exist in English, missionaries borrowed sounds from other languages, such as German and French. Dakota also has a different language structure so word-for-word translations are not possible.
Here, Verne Ashley, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and a fluent Dakota speaker, translates a Word Book Wall Roll. The wall roll was used in mission schools to instruct students in the Dakota language of the Sioux. Alfred Longley Riggs, brother of Thomas, designed the poster set, ca. 1880.
