A man integral to revitalizing the written form of the Indigenous Osage language received his honorary doctorate Friday at Kansas State University’s Graduate School Commencement Ceremony, delivering his remarks as the ceremony’s speaker in Osage as well.
Now Dr. Herman “Mogri” Mongrain Lookout was among the many recipients of degrees at Bramlage Coliseum celebrating the culmination of years of scholarly and intellectual endeavors.
“An honorary degree is among the highest honors a university can bestow and thus is reserved for those who have contributed in a very significant way to advance the quality of life for our citizens and the world,” says K-State President Richard Myers. “It is therefore with honor and great pride that Kansas State University recognizes an outstanding leader.”
Dr. Lookout spoke in the Osage language, with translations read by Graduate School Dean Claudia Petrescu, expressing gratitude for the recognition.
“I am […] Little Soldier That Gets What He Wants. This name was given to me by my father. His name was my grandfather’s name. I am of the Bald Eagle Clan and I live my Osage Ways. I have brought my family and some relatives with me to witness this great honor being bestowed on me for my work with the Osage languages. I am very appreciative of this honor and want to tell all of you thank you.”
“Thank you, Dr. Lookout,” Petrescu said. “We are extremely honored to have you.”
Dr. Lookout is among a small number of living full-blooded Osage Nation members. Following European arrival to North America and eventual U.S. settlement, the Osage were removed from their land and relocated numerous times before ultimately being displaced from Kansas into Oklahoma in 1871. By the 1900’s almost all Osage children were being educated in boarding schools, a system known for the forbidding of Indigenous languages and spiritual practices.
Amid this context, Osage cultural and language knowledge diminished among members of the nation. Dr. Lookout was told in his youth to let the language die. While he did not learn to speak it conversationally, he did learn to pray in the old language from his father. That was until 2000, when he was inspired to pursue learning and revitalizing the language by Eddy Red Eagle Jr.
“The important part of language revitalization is that our identity and our worldview is tied up in that language,” says Kiowa Tribe Language Advocate Warren Queton, featured in a video dedication for Dr. Lookout played during the commencement.
Dr. Lookout was hired to be director of the newly created Osage Language Program in 2003, where his work began. With no existing alphabet or orthography and finding the English alphabet an imprecise tool to express the sounds of Osage, in 2006 Dr. Lookout organized a group of elders, experts and linguists to begin formulating a unique Osage orthography.
Since then, the 36-character Osage orthography has been standardized in unicode, enabling the Osage language to be used on digital platforms. The orthography was adopted via resolution by the Osage Nation in 2015.
