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How to Get Involved
Do you want to get involved, but don't know where to start? We have ways for Mvskoke Speakers to get involved in sharing their language knowledge if they wish, and ways for Mvskoke Learners to get involved with the language and resources.
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The Mvskoke Speakers section will cover how a speaker of the language can get involved with our program if they wish to find some way to share their language knowledge with others around them or aspiring speakers.
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The Mvskoke Learners section will cover how to navigate this website, ways that we meet virtually and in person, and how you can navigate your language learning journey.
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Mvskoke Speakers Who Want to Share Language


Community Classes

Below, you can find different ways to get involved as someone who wants to help share language. There is a small explanation on each different way you can help revitalize the language and share your knowledge with others.
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For more specific details, you can click on the button below or use the listed contact information below:
918-304-3362
1008 E Eufaula, Okmulgee, OK 74447
Jump to a specific section:
Jump to a specific section:
Community Language Sharer

Mvskoke I & II Curriculum



Teaching Certification

Master-Apprentice Language Partner



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People Who Want to Learn the Language
Let's explore how to best use this website to learn, ways that you can get involved in lessons and classes, ways to connect to community, and where to go on your language learning journey!
Jump to a specific section:
Navigating the Mvskoke Opunvkv Website
The About Us section allows you to learn a little more about what our program stands for, our various staff members, and an opportunity to learn more about our Summer Language Camps.
​It's a good place to stop by if you are wanting some extra information on our program.
The Resource Section covers all different kinds of materials that you can use to expand your Mvskoke knowledge and become more confident in being a part of the Mvskoke speaking community as a second language speaker/learner!
Access to an online English-Mvskoke dictionary thanks to the hard work of the College of the Muscogee Nation and Jack Martin. If you do not have a dictionary, or want to look up a word quickly, use this.
There is also an app version available for smart phones!
Full of handouts and lessons for people who are either brand new to the language, don't know a lot of vocabulary, or can't quite put sentences together yet.
If you already have some vocab under your belt and have started forming sentences with more and more confidence, even if simple, then this section helps you learn how to form better, more detailed sentences.
Most materials in this section are lessons or more complicated/specific vocab and phrase handouts.
Once you have a solid grasp of making your own sentences and can have conversations with others, this section teaches harder level concepts to push your language use to be more fluid, natural, and confident. It's very much focused on using the language.


Need to learn how to make sentences? Especially with someone there to walk through the steps and pronounce the words? Whether you are starting from zero or have a grasp on making Mvskoke sentences, this section will walk you through each step.
This section includes the video lessons, powerpoint, lesson notes/cheat sheet, a worksheet, and answers to the worksheet!
Find ways to practice vocab you've learned via flashcards, word-searches, crosswords, and coloring books! Use the games section to practice speaking the language while having fun!
Listen and learn Mvskoke hymns to connect with our language through songs. This page provides direct links to several songs that include the Mvskoke lyrics and English translations.
The songs are on our YouTube. You can also find children's songs, Christmas songs, and more there too!
If you want to learn or connect with the language via the Bible, this section will connect you to the Bible verses of your choice where you can listen to the amazing dedication of Pastor Jimsey Harjo Tate reading out the New Testament in Mvskoke for you as you follow along.
A packet that will take you from knowing little to nothing to knowing something! It's a great resource for those who are starting their language learning journey and want some physical items to start.
You can register for a packet via this section of the website, or come to our physical office and request one.
Full of posters you can put up in your house or classroom for Mvskoke language
Common question and phrases you can hear in a doctor's office or health setting in Mvskoke
The Learn section is a place to start when you are brand new to the language.
It covers the Mvskoke Sounds/Alphabet and how to begin reading (with audio to help!) and then dives into the first phrases you'll need to talk with others; greetings and introductions (with video and audio!)
The Events section shares learning and community event opportunities that the Mvskoke Language Program hosts that you can take part in.
The Zoom Class schedule can be found on this page, as well as a list of different possible classes at community centers.
The Contact section includes several ways to get in contact with us. You may call, email, or visit us during our office hours.
If you want more information on classes, events, or language questions, feel free to contact us!
The Members Only section is a section that includes more culturally specific lessons that are only appropriate to be shared with tribal members.
To qualify, you must be a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and have a role number with the tribe.


Get Involved in Lessons & Community
Learning the language from materials is helpful, but the heart of our language is community and fellowship. Let's talk about opportunities that focus on getting people together in order to further your language journey.
The Mvskoke Language Program runs 6-week long rounds of courses that are free. All you need to do is register to be a part of them. To register, you can find the link on our Events page or on our Social Medias pages.
Some classes take place at noon and some in the evenings. Participants are welcome to join any and all sessions, and though it would help not to miss any lessons, if a session is missed, don't sweat it and jump back in when you can.
Due to some policies from Leadership to protect our Mvskoke language and our sovereignty, there is a verification process we must follow for participants who register, so please keep that in mind.
The Mvskoke Language Program runs 6-week long rounds of courses that are free and (generally) hosted at Mvskoke Community Centers. These are in-person classes where a Mvhayv (teacher) comes for 1-2 hours and works with participants on learning words, phrases,
and/or sentence building. They work on pronunciation, memorization, and creation in the language.
Most community classes take place in the evenings, but there are a handful that take place during late mornings or early afternoons. We try to keep the list on our Events page up-to-date, but if you are ever curious about classes or want to ask about what is currently available, you can check our socials and/or contact our front desk.
On the third Tuesday of every month, the Mvskoke Language Program hosts our Opunvkv Kerreyat Ipunkerrepvs (Language Circles). Each one rotates between Mvskoke community centers in different parts of the reservation--usually alternating between Middle, South, and North reservation locations.
These are gatherings for Second Language Learners/Speakers to come and practice conversing with others. Different levels are offered to help support learners at all levels. We invite First Language Speakers in the community to come as well to build relationships with learners and give them support as they practice staying in the language and living the language. All levels are welcome! We post the link to pre-register for each Language Circle on our website and on our socials. You can come if you did not pre-register, but you must bring your Citizenship card or CDIB card if you do not pre-register.
Due to some policies from Leadership to protect our Mvskoke language and our sovereignty, there is a verification process we must follow for participants who register, so please keep that in mind. Because of this process, we require specific ID for those who do not pre-register.
Separate from our Mvskoke Language Facebook Page (Mvskoke Language Program), we also host a separate page for learners to post questions, get feedback, practice, and connect with other learners. This Facebook Group is called Mvskoke Opunvkv Emetohkvlketv, and you must request to join to be admitted.
If you do request to join, be sure to answer all the questions, as these must be answered for staff to admit any new members into the group. A link to this group is: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1D5bm1eff9/


Due to some policies from Leadership to protect our Mvskoke language and our sovereignty, there is a verification process we must follow for participants who request to join, so please keep that in mind.
We hold a yearly Student Language Immersion Camp (for youth) and Adult Language Immersion Camps in the summer. These are opportunities for participants to not only spend a work week learning the language every day with Mvskoke Language Program Mvhayvlke (teachers), but also learning culture and building community with other Mvskoke learners!
The Student Immersion Camp for youth is held in June. Registration usually opens in spring. These camps are only for MCN Citizenship card holders. You can gain more insight by visiting the Language Immersion Camp page.
For the Adult Immersion Camps, we have the main camp in July. This last year, we were able to offer a second adult camp for those who were on the waitlist for the main adult camp. As long as resources are available, we try to offer the second camp as well. The camp is set up similarly to the student camp. As for the student camp, you must be an MCN Citizenship card holder to sign up for the camp. Registration for these camps is generally released not too long after the student camp registrations are released.
Language Learning Steps (Where do I start?)
Language learning is a big task and can feel very overwhelming, but learning our language is extremely rewarding and important for our community. You may be just starting and wondering what to do, or you may have started but got stuck after the basics. Either way, here is one of the many ways you can approach your learning journey.
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Remember, this is just a recommendation, but there are so many ways to learn our language, so if another method words for you, go for it! And if you join community classes, feel free to share what has worked for you with others!
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The "Learn" page is perfect if you are just starting out or only know just a little. This is because it goes over the Mvskoke Sounds/Alphabet with a video, audio, and text.
Then, after you cover the Mvskoke En Yvlonkv (Mvskoke Sounds/Alphabet), it also takes you on to learning your basic greetings with video, audio, and text.
If you do not wish to use our "Learn" page to do this, that's fine! Either way, it is recommended to start off with learning the Mvskoke sounds so you get an idea of how to pronounce new words and phrases you come across and learn. Then, it is always a good idea to start off with your basic greetings and survival phrases--that way you can start saying something to others in the language.
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Now that you have at least the basics of the Mvskoke sounds down and have your beginning phrases in your toolbox, the next step will be to learn some words.
We would definitely recommend you learn verbs and some nouns. Verbs are generally "action words", like to run, to walk, to sleep, to eat, to drink, etc. Start with learning some verbs you use daily. As for "nouns", these are going to be your 'person, place, or things' category. Think of stuff like cat, dog, spoon, house, etc.
For Verbs, we have an "Everyday Verbs" list in our Novice Learning Materials section, as well as several vocab lists of nouns. The best thing you can do is start with 10 verbs you think will be the most useful and 10 nouns you think will be the most useful. Practice and memorize those first. Then you can add 5-10 more at a time when you feel confident.
Some verbs we recommend to start with:
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Hompetv = to eat
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Esketv = to drink
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Vyetv = to go*
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Liketv = to sit*
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Nocetv = to sleep*
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Noricetv = to cook
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Hueretv = to stand*
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Hecetv = to see
Some nouns we recommend to start with:
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Hokte = woman (can also used for girl)
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Cepane = boy
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Honvnwv = man
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Eco = deer
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Efv = dog
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Pose = cat
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Cuko = house


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Once you have some words to work with, it's time to learn and practice how to use them in sentences. So often, people will say "Well, I know words, but I don't know what to do with them," and that's usually a good sign that it's time to learn sentence building!
"Sentence Building" can sound intimidating, but it's really just learning how to put your word together in order to talk to others. The good news? We have a whole section of lessons that focus just on learning how to make your own sentences! In the "Mvskoke Grammar & Sentence Building" section, you can access full video lessons, the powerpoint/presentation, a handout sheet, a worksheet, and an answer sheet for each topic.
The topics are ordered from easiest/very beginning at the top, with each next lesson building on the one before it. If you are brand new at making sentences, we recommend starting with Lesson 1. However, if you know some basics, you can try starting on a different lesson that covers something you don't know. If you don't recognize something during the "Quick Recap" portion of the lesson, that may be a sign to go back to an earlier lesson to start.
Now don't think you have to cover these and learn them super fast. Take your time feeling confident (or at least good enough) at the sentence building concept before moving forward. Since each lesson builds off the last, you'll need to remember the previous concepts to work on new concepts.
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To be able to participate in conversation and recognize what is being told to you, you need to get "audio input". This is a fancy way of saying that you need to practice listening to the language and trying to understand what is being said.
At first, you won't understand much, if anything. That's okay. Following along with transcriptions can help, but it can also just be helpful to listen to the same audio a few times before looking at translations and transcriptions. Take notes of words you don't know and look them up, making yourself a learning dictionary. You can find interviews on our YouTube (Mvskoke Opunvkv) or on the Muskogee (Seminole/Creek) Documentation Project to use for this sort of practice
If you aren't able to sit and actively practice your listening, you can still listen to the audio to help build your listening skills! So if you're driving, you can play one of these interviews and just listen to the language being spoken. There is still a lot your brain will pick up from even that.
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The best thing for improving your language is actually using it! If you can meet up with others or grab a friend to practice with or a speaker, then that is the best practice you can have. However, if that isn't an option, or you need a way to practice on those in-between days, talking to yourself is also a useful technique!
Remember that you can come to our Language Circles, come to community classes, make a mini group with people on our Facebook group, talk with people you know in your community or join one of the other community-led zoom practice groups to get practice with other people. There are definitely ways to get to practice really using your language.
However, when you have those days where it isn't an option or can't participate in one of the get-togethers, you always have the option to "self-talk" to practice. This is a useful language-learning method in which you talk to yourself, a pet, etc and just try to talk. The more coherent of a conversation you can create, the better, but in the beginning, it may just look like you saying a lot of random sentences. Here's a tip! You can record yourself doing "self-talk" practice with your phone to listen back to and notice what you are struggling with and what you're doing well at! Plus, as you continue, you'll be able to see your improvement!


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Language learning is about building habit and sticking to it. It's hard work, but don't give up! Remember your ancestors that fought for our language, culture, and people and let that keep that fire in you going.
As you continue your language journey, repeating these steps is how you'll grow. You add more vocab to your toolkit. We recommend you always add more verbs and then add other words and phrases you come across or realize you want to use. We emphasize verbs because they are essential in our language. As you gain more words, you're exposed to and able to learn more sentence building concepts, then you're able to understand more during listening practice and noticing things you didn't notice before, and all this comes together in your ability to try using it with others!
As you learn more and more, explore the other resources we offer to expand ways you practice listening, speaking, and what kind of sentences you can create.
There are different occasions in our lives that we may want to learn very specific vocabulary and phrases, such as holidays, birthdays, raising babies, etc. Here is the place to find them!
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