The Siouan and Caddoan Conference is an annual gathering of linguists, anthropologists, indigenous educators and scholars, and other researchers to promote the study of the Siouan and Caddoan language families. The conference serves as a way to share academic work as well as to connect academia with groups or individuals who traditionally speak one of these languages. 

Anyone interested in these languages who does not plan on presenting is also welcome to attend the SCLC.

Our Story

The SCLC began in 1981 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where faculty such as John Koontz, Allan Taylor, and David Rood had been deeply involved with the University of Colorado Lakhota Project since the 1970s. The conference has been held annually, and has been held in various locations around the Great Plains the Midwest. These locations often take place near to locations currently inhabited by Siouan or Caddoan peoples, and nearly half of the conferences held in the past decade have been hosted on Native land as the conference aims to be inclusive as possible to Native scholars and educators.

This spirit of inclusiveness also guides the less formal nature of the conference. Presentations often center on some aspect of theoretical linguistics or language description, but past conferences have included presentations on language teaching, names of various flora and fauna, cultural practices, corpus work, inter alia.

SCLC 43 will take place in Norman, OK at the University of Oklahoma thanks to the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. The locations for future conferences are traditionally decided two years in advance, a topic which will be discussed at the business meeting at the conclusion of each year’s conference.

 
 

Various institutions have played a major role in the study of Siouan and Caddoan languages since the second half of the twentieth century. The University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago trained many of the individuals during the 1960s and 1970s that went on to build strong programs of research on these languages at other major universities, including the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Kansas, and Indiana University. Other institutions that have been involved in promoting the study of Siouan and Caddoan languages are the University of Nebraska, Wayne State College, and the University of Oklahoma.

Our past conferences

 The list of locations and hosts for the SCLC appears below.

  • 45th — 2025: TBD

  • 44th — 2024: Bismarck, ND (Hiraaca MaaAruCaawi)

  • 43rd — 2023: Norman, OK (University of Oklahoma)

  • 42nd — 2022: Charlottesville, VA (University of Virginia)

  • 41st — 2021: Conference held remotely due to COVID-19 (University of California, Berkely)

  • 40th — 2020: Conference held remotely due to COVID-19 (University of California, Berkely)

  • 39th — 2019: Broken Arrow, OK (Northeastern State University)

  • 38th — 2018: Chicago, IL (Northeastern Illinois University)

  • 37th — 2017: Joplin, MO (Missouri Southern State University)

  • 36th — 2016: Newkirk, OK (Otoe-Missouria Tribe)

  • 35th — 2015: Marksville, LA (Tunica-Biloxi Tribe)

  • 34th — 2014: Madison, WI (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • 33rd— 2013: Fort Yates, ND (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe)

  • 32nd — 2012: Lawrence, KS (University of Kansas)

  • 31st — 2011: White Cloud, KS (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska)

  • 30th — 2010: Chicago, IL (Northeastern Illinois University)

  • 29th — 2009: Lincoln, NE (University of Nebraska)

  • 28th — 2008: Joplin, MO (Missouri Southern State University)

  • 27th — 2007: Saskatoon, SK (University of Saskatchewan)

  • 26th — 2006: Billings, MT (Rocky Mountain College)

  • 25th — 2005: Kaw City, OK (Kaw Nation)

  • 24th — 2004: Wayne, NE (Wayne State College)

  • 23rd — 2003: East Lansing, MI (Michigan State University)

  • 22nd — 2002: Spearfish, SD (Black Hills State University)

  • 21st — 2001: Chicago, IL (University of Chicago)

  • 20th — 2000: Anadarko, OK (Wichita and Affiliated Tribes)

  • 19th — 1999: Regina, SK (University of Regina)

  • 18th — 1998: Bloomington, IN (Indiana University)

  • 17th — 1997: Wayne, NE (Wayne State College)

  • 16th — 1996: Billings, MT (Rocky Mountain College)

  • 15th — 1995: Albuquerque, NM (University of New Mexico)

  • 14th — 1994: Lawrence, KS (University of Kansas)*

  • 13th — 1993: Boulder, CO (University of Colorado)

  • 12th — 1992: Columbia, MO (University of Missouri)

  • 11th — 1991: Stillwater, OK (Oklahoma State University)

  • 10th — 1990: Lawrence, KS (University of Kansas)

  • 9th — 1989: Morley, AB (Stoney Nation)

  • 8th — 1988: Billings, MT (Rocky Mountain College)

  • 7th — 1987: Boulder, CO (University of Colorado)

  • 6th — 1986: Wisconsin Rapids, WI (Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin)

  • 5th — 1985: Tulsa, OK

  • 4th — 1984: Winnipeg, MB (University of Manitoba)

  • 3rd — 1983: Rapid City, SD

  • 2nd — 1982: Medora, ND

  • 1st — 1981: Boulder, CO (University of Colorado)

* The SCLC did not meet formally in 1994, but there was a number of Siouanists and Caddoanists at the Mid America Linguistics Conference held in Lawrence that year. The numbering for the conference counts this as an informal meeting.