Along with An English-Dakota Dictionary, this remains the most comprehensive and accurate lexicon available.

This Dakota-English dictionary was sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society when it was first published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1852. The editor, Stephen R. Riggs (1812-83), had worked with Samuel and Gideon Pond and Dr. Thomas S. Williamson to create the dictionary as well as prayer books and hymnals. All four men were missionaries sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to work among the Dakota of the