Saving the Ojibwe Language


Written by: Samantha Riley


Language instructor Michael Zimmerman leads an Ojibwe language class at Indian Community School in Franklin, Wis. Photo courtesy of WUWM.



The Ojibwe is a group of indigenous people who live in Canada and the United States. The Ojibwe speak not one standardized language, but a chain of linked local varieties, with nearly a dozen dialects. The different dialects have varying pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. The differences in dialects can be great enough to prevent speakers from understanding each other. The Ojibwe consider their language to be one of the greatest treasures of their cultural heritage, with its ability to be precise, descriptive, and visual.
Unfortunately, the Ojibwemowin language is endangered. The Ojibwe have had no choice but to speak English due to being forced to attend English boarding schools, urban life, popular culture, and other public interactions. Serena Graves, a member of the tribe, said in a presentation about Ojibwemowin that her family stopped speaking their language when she was six years old because her father was beaten for speaking it; many Ojibwe, and other indigenous people, have similar stories.
 "If you're not worried about Ojibwe language, you should be," Graves said. "It is a vital part of our existence as Ojibwe people, and it holds our culture, and our funeral rites, and the ways of being...Before I knew a little bit of Ojibwe language, I didn't have my identity.” Today, there are few Ojibwemowin speakers younger than 40 years old. The Ojibwe are working to ensure that their language is not erased.
There are a number of initiatives to preserve Ojibwemowin. Minnesota’s Onamia High School runs a program to educate students about Native American history, language, and culture. The topics are intertwined in the learning community to encourage student engagement and prepare them to be diverse members of society. The Onamia school district’s students are 53% Native American. The high school’s language class, which teaches Ojibwemowin, is in its second year. The school reports high success rates.
“The amount of language the kids have learned is amazing. One tribal elder told me he was very impressed with the program,” the School Board Chair, Virgil Wind told the Mille Lacs Messenger.
Beyond being taught during school, the Onamia High School offers an after-school class, which accepts students, teachers, and staff members. The program hopes to show the community that the teachers are dedicated to the students, and to anyone else who wants to learn the language. The program is still in its beginning stages; the school intends for it to evolved to focus on the whole student. There is also discussion of opening up language classes for younger students.
“We are worlds away from where we started. We know not where we want to be. There is still more work to do,” Wind said.
Bemidji High School, Minnesota, is taking a technological approach to teaching Ojibwemowin. Student and staff worked together to place 29 different signs and QR codes around the school outside of doors and locations in the school. The signs offer the location’s name in English and in Ojibwemowin, and the QR code, when scanned, provides the student, teacher, or visitor with a recording of the Ojibwemowin pronunciation. The idea came from the Ojibwe language and culture teacher in the school. He was often approached by students asking how to pronounce certain words around the school. The implementation of the QR codes will allow them to learn the pronunciation whenever they wish.
In Franklin, Wisconsin, the Indian Community School (ICS) was developed to preserve Native American language, including Ojibwemowin, Odawa, and Potawatomi dialects. The school offers biweekly Ojibwe courses. The teacher, Michael Zimmerman provides the informal, adult classes with worksheets with Ojibwemowin words and phrases.
“I try to make it as open ended as possible because I’d rather folks, instead of saying, ‘Well, I’m here. Teach me,’ I want them to take something from it that they themselves are looking to get,” Zimmerman told Teran Powell of WUWM.
Zimmerman said that part of the struggle with teaching Native American languages is presenting it in a way that will make it open to everyone. He believes that anyone should be able to learn Native languages, whether they have indigenous blood or not. Due to the decline of language speakers, many Native Americans want as many people as possible to learn their languages. These initiatives have helped revive the Ojibwe language. The hope is that with the continuation of these programs, one day the language will be spoken to a greater degree.





Sources
Bowen, Joe. “’Languages are identity’: An Ojibwemowin revival and more at Student Achievement Day.” The Bemidji Pioneer. April 3, 2019. https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/education/4594393-languages-are-identity-ojibwemowin-revival-and-more-student-achievement-day

Bowen, Joe. “Ojibwemowin out loud: BHS installs QR codes on Ojibwe signage so people can hear the language.” The Bemidji Pioneer. March 28, 2019. https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/education/4591709-ojibwemowin-out-loud-bhs-installs-qr-codes-ojibwe-signage-so-people-can-hear

LaMoore, Vivan. “Onamia Schools – Ojibwe language classes earn high praise.” Mille Lacs Messenger. March 28, 2019. https://www.messagemedia.co/millelacs/community/education/onamia-schools---ojibwe-language-classes-earn-high-praise/article_a1e25de8-4fcd-11e9-841a-7beeefd0b59d.html

“Ojibwe People’s Dictionary.” The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary. https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/

Powell, Teran. “Ojibwe Language Classes Hope to Help Revitalize Native Languages In Wiscosin.” WUWM. April 2, 2019.https://www.wuwm.com/post/ojibwe-language-classes-hope-help-revitalize-native-languages-wisconsin#stream/0




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