Saginaw Chippewa tribe

 

Author: Soh W.

 

             I pick the Saginaw Chippewa tribe and they are also known as Anishinaabe people because I feel like their history is so interesting and I love to learn more about it if I ever have a chance to meet with them again in the future. I want to talk about the issue that these people have to face in their community and how it makes them feel when they lose it. The issue that I want to talk about is Language because I feel like this is one of the most important things that these people have to face right now in their society. The language has started a long time ago back when their children were taking away from their parents and put in boarding school. It starts when the children have to go to another school and have to speak another language. Their children have to learn and speak other language or they will get beat in school for speaking their own language. Some of them were trying to escape because they don’t want to stay in school where they can’t speak their language, and they also want to live with their parents. It brings many issues to the community because the Anishinabek people worry that their children will grow up and can’t speak their language anymore this day either. I learn that they have built a special school for their people because they do not want to lose their language and culture. To be able to take care of their language, these people have to do whatever it takes to make it stays alive.

This issue impact on their culture and society because they don’t want their children to grow up and speak another language. They want their children to speak their language and learn where they came from. They don’t want their people or children to speak another language in their family because it will show that they don’t know who they are anymore. The issue is huge because it can separate their people one to another if they don’t understand each other. The Anishinaabe people know that if their children can't speak their own language, then soon or later they will lose their people and language. They don’t want that to happen that’s why they build a school that can teach their language and culture. They want to make sure their language will keep living even though they might not live forever in this world. They are going through many things in the past and losing their language will be the thing that they will all regret if they don’t have it anymore. In their website, they have an opening school for children who grew up in the community and want to learn their language. “Most parents are putting their children to the school that speaks their language because they don’t want them to forget where they came from.” This is not only about this generation that they are having, but they also care about the upcoming generation. They believe that language is so important and they want their children and generation to learn and figure out where their roots came from. It can affect so many people in society because if their children grew up and didn’t speak their language, then others will say they are not Anishinaabe. People will also judge them by the way they look and most importantly they will judge them by not speaking their own language.

The impact that I see in their community is that they have to build their own school and find their own teachers. What I have learned so far in their history is that Natives have to go through a lot of struggle to stay alive and survived. To keep their language alive, they have to build their school and even college for their people can go so they can still learn their language. “The loss of language results mostly from a widespread effort in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to force Indians to assimilate to the majority culture. Indian children were taken — sometimes forcibly — from their families and sent to boarding schools. They were forbidden to speak native languages, wear traditional clothing or worship according to their own customs.”(Lavey) You can see that they lost their children and their language in the past because they were taking away. Not only they don’t allow to speak their language, but they also have to wear other people shirt and act like others.  In the article, “They Had a Chance to Talk to One Another” I learn that a lot of Natives kids were also sent to war and become soldiers. This article is a little bit interesting because these Natives can actually speak their language when they are at war. They can communicate and talk to each other in their language and I think that is good, but they were not sending back to their home at all.  I learn that they have to work together and really hard to build a school in their community. They don’t get a lot of help from others so to build a school and college must be difficult for them too. If they don’t work together as a team, then they will never have a chance to build schools and most importantly they will lose their language. If they don’t have leaders that can control the community, then there is no doubt that these people will be gone soon or later. Even though they don’t make a high income, they still care about each other and love their culture and language. The struggle that they been through makes them realize that even though they are not rich and have everything in their life, they still have and care about each other.

The issue has been solved since they have a lot of elderly, chiefs and people who care about culture and language in their community. These people are the one that looks out for their children’s and generation because they worry that they will lose their language. They have older people who have a lot of experiences of the past and they also been through a lot of pains. They have so much older people in the community who were facing many things in their life, not only losing language but also losing land and nature that they love and care. If they don’t have people who been through a lot of struggle and get to witness it, then there is no way their children will understand how important their language is to them. “I know it works," said Carol Bob, who teaches in the classroom. “I know the little ones will achieve their highest potential knowing their language, their culture, their heritage, their belief systems."(Lavey) In her article, I learn that she went to the school and get to meet with those teachers who are working with Anishinaabe. I learn that teachers who are working in the school or college have hope for their children and also believe in them. They believe that their language will go through many generations as long as they stick together and never forget where they came from. They not only believe in them but they also love them so much that’s why they give up their time to help and make sure these kids are safe and understand the meaning of language. People in the community give up their time to build schools and focus on the thing that will make their community a better place in the future.

When it comes to cultural relativism, there is a good thing and also a bad thing that relates to it. For my experience, when I meet these peoples I treat them with respect and they also treated me with respect. However, when I talk to one of the tribe members that I met, he told me that they don’t get a much as respect that they deserve when they go out in a place where people don’t speak Anishinaabe. In their tribe, they were treated with respect and love each other like they are families. These people love and respect each other in their community, but they were not treated with respect at all in other places. What he told me did not shock me at all because I feel like I been through the same thing as them. He told me that “maybe we have different color and don’t speak English really good that’s why we don’t get as much as respect.” I remember when I first came to America and when I go to school nobody care or respect me because I’m a different person. I don’t speak English very well and I am also the only Asian in my classroom. However, what I learn from Anishinaabe people is that they ignore people who don’t like them and instead they focus on respecting each other and their language. They don’t care about what others think of them as long as they have their people, language, and culture with them. When I heard he said that, I just realize that I will not even fit with my own people. I feel like I start to focus on other languages, culture when I came to America and instead I ignore my own language and culture. Hearing him says that to me make me want to go back to my country and start learning about all my history all over again.

In the end, I feel like the issue that Anishinaabe are facing can’t grow bigger if they are working as a

team and focus on the future. By learning so far, I think they are doing pretty good on keeping their

culture and language alive. The struggle that these people have to go through is really hard because

they will never forget it as long as they live. When I went there, I get to meet the tribes and they also

take me to the boarding school. I can't imagine how much these people have to go through in the past

and now they are living close to an area where it brings back a lot of crazy memories of the past. I

also learn the impact on their culture and society. I learn about the issue that they are facing in their

community and they are working hard to build something that can keep their children safe and their

language alive.



Author Bio: Soh W., student at IUPUI.




Sources:

“Sasiwaans Immersion School.” History, www.sagchip.org/language/SasiwaansEarlyChildhoodCenter.asp#.XG9-2lxKjIU.

Lavey, Kathleen. “Chippewa Tribe's Kids Preserving Anishinaabe Language.” Detroit Free Press, Detroit Free Press, 23 Nov. 2014, www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2014/11/23/kids-preserving-chippewa-language/19410339/.

Meadows, William C. “‘They Had a Chance to Talk to One Another...’ The Role of Incidence in Native American Code Talking.” Ethnohistory, vol. 56, no. 2, Spring 2009, pp. 269–284. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1215/00141801-2008-058.