Devoted To The Preservation Of North American Plains Indian Sign Language
Videos
Historical Videos of PSL
Excerpt from the Sign Language Conference of 1930, featuring introductions made by each chief and voice over interpretation by General Scott.
Clip from the same 1930 Conference of Strange Owl, Cheyenne Chief, telling a short story in Hand Talk.
Modern Videos of PSL
Deaf traveler/Youtuber Calvin Young (@SeektheWorld) shows a comparison of American Sign Language (ASL) and Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL) with Cheyenne tribe member James Wooden Legs.
Calvin Young compares ASL to Crow Sign Language, a variation of PISL, demonstrated by Flarin Big Lake—the last Deaf in the Crow Tribe to use Crow Sign Language.
Dr. Lanny Real Bird teaches 20 Dakota words presented alongside Plains Sign Language. This video does a good job of explaining the QUESTION sign, and how it can be modified slightly to mean WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY.
Dr. Lanny Real Bird presents a story in PSL “about the times of the buffalo when camps were moved.” Signs are accompanied by a voice over in the Crow language and captions in English.
Elisa Harkins, a Native American (Cherokee/Muscogee) artist and composer, tells the true story of her friend’s death in PISL. Harkins works in translation, language preservation, and Indigenous musicology—you can read more about her work on her personal website.
Plains Indian Sign Language 