Tribal Sovereignty Statement:
Wóoyake was built by staff in the Standing Rock Iyápi Program, with the oversight and support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council. This began by resolution (certified February 6th, 2018) wherein the Tribe recognized “the need to increase community access to language and culture resources, including historical ones,” and approved a project “to create an online platform where the public can engage and interact with these materials in the original Dakota/Lakota.”
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has the sovereign right to “encourage and foster the … Sioux language and culture” under Article IV, Section 1 of its Constitution, which it exercises “pursuant to the Treaty of April 29, 1868 15 Stat. 635 and unwritten Tribal laws, customs, and practices.”
Our people make up part of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, alongside the people of many other tribes across Turtle Island that also have sovereign rights regarding our common language. For its part, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe recognizes the language as a collective Očhéthi Šakówiŋ birthright, and offers its support to all Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota language learners.
Terms & Conditions of Use:
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Eligibility and registration
To access certain content on Wóoyake, registration is required. By registering for an account, you confirm that you meet Wóoyake’s eligibility criteria and agree to provide accurate and complete information. If any information provided is found to be deceptive, untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete, Wóoyake reserves the right to suspend or terminate your account and access to the site. You are also required to maintain the confidentiality of your account credentials and promptly report any unauthorized use of your account.
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Protection of rights
The Wóoyake Project asserts our fluent Elder speakers’ copyright to recordings they make. Other materials within this site are owned by their respective rights holders, which may include the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, individuals, or other entities, and are used by the Wóoyake Project as permitted by applicable law or agreement. To report any copyright infringement on the site, according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) section 17 USC 512 (c) (3), please send a notification including specific required information to hau@wooyake.org.
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Access and use of site content
Access to the contents of the site is governed by real-life cultural protocols of Dakota/Lakota people. Users may not circumvent or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the site. Users are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the materials for personal, non-commercial purposes only. Teachers in Dakota/Lakota schools are further granted a license to create derivative works for their classrooms, as long as they attribute the Wóoyake website, and share the works under the same cultural protocol associated with the original materials. Users may not harvest or download language data in bulk from the site for ingestion into text corpora, dictionary databases, AI training sets, or other projects without prior written consent from the Wóoyake Project and/or the relevant rights holders.
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User-generated content
Users may submit user-generated content to the site (such as comments), acknowledging that it may be hosted, shared, and publicly published without confidentiality. By submitting content, users affirm the content is their own or that they have permission to share it, and that it does not contain abusive, obscene, defamatory, or unlawful material. Wóoyake reserves the right to screen, refuse, remove, or edit user-generated content without notice, and may terminate access for violations of these terms.
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Privacy Policy
Protecting your personal information is important. Personal information is only collected when you voluntarily provide it through the site. The Wóoyake Project collects, uses, and shares information obtained from online visitors only in the following ways: (i) We use personal information only for its intended purpose. (ii) We may disclose personal information to contractors or associates to carry out your requests. (iii) We will not otherwise disclose personal information to outside parties, including other government agencies, without first obtaining permission from you, unless disclosure is required by law or court order or to protect the site itself. (iv) We have safeguards in place to protect the information collected. (v) Wóoyake has hundreds of recordings and related materials made available digitally to users on its website. Because of the extensive number of items available through the website, it is possible that some online items may contain personally identifiable information. Regardless of the format in which the materials are presented to users, all users are responsible for complying with all privacy and publicity rights, rules, and applicable laws when accessing and utilizing the collections.
If you have a question about personal information in the collection, contact: hau@wooake.org.
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Disclaimer of warranties
Wóoyake provides the materials on an “as is” and “as available” basis. While we strive to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the materials, we make no warranties or representations regarding their completeness, accuracy, or reliability. Your use of Wóoyake is at your own risk.
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Limitation of liability
In no event shall the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, or its officers, employees, or contractors on the Wóoyake Project, be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or in any way connected with your use of Wóoyake or the materials contained therein.
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Modifications of terms
The Wóoyake Project reserves the right to modify or update these terms and conditions of use at any time without prior notice. Any changes to the terms will be effective immediately upon posting and will be presented to each user for review upon their next log-in. It is your responsibility to review these terms before accepting any modifications.
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Governing law
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
For any questions or concerns about these terms and conditions of use, please contact us at hau@wooyake.org. By accessing or using Wóoyake, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions of use. If you do not agree to these terms, you may not access or use Wóoyake.
