February Update: Ojibwemowin Advisory Committee Meets

A mixture of elders/first speakers, teachers, and staff for Red Lake's Ojibwemowin Advisory Committee attended their monthly meeting at Oshki-maajitaadaa (New Beginnings) in Redby on Monday, February 9, 2015, from 3:30 until about 6:00 p.m.

The Ojibwemowin Council gathered round a four-sided table-group, including again, several residents of Jourdain/Perpich Nursing Home.

The group had gathered to develop additional language materials and teaching tools for Red Lake Head Start Ojibwe Immersion School. The group has been meeting monthly. This time they would translate "words and phrases to do with cleaning," with spring just around the corner The words are being transcribed and will be made available to any and all...including Ojibwemowin dictionaries....to document the Red Lake dialect.

After an opening prayer by Frances Miller, updates, and announcements, Immersion School Coordinator Elizabeth Strong presented a survey to members for the purpose of gathering feedback on ways for this committee to continue in the most positive way. The group offered feed-back to the following questions.

1. What is your role or relationship to the committee e.g. member, learner, supportive staff?

2. In what ways do you feel that this committee positively impacts the community?

3. Specifically, do you feel as though this committee is creating materials that will be used to successfully teach our children and families Ojibwemowin?

4. What improvements could be made to make this committee better or more effective?

Associate for Ojibwemowin revitalization, Nate Taylor then presented the topics for discussion: language sets for tasks like sweeping, doing laundry, cleaning, etc. Classroom themes for future meeting topics may include language sets for sugar bush, rabbit snaring, transportation, and Nanaboozhoo.

After breaking into four small groups, speakers began translating three sheets of words and phrases obtained from Fond du Lac's immersion school that Taylor attended this past year into the Red Lake dialect. A more complete list as well as other work the group has done will be available through the Advisory Committee.

Words We Might Use for Cleaning (partial list)

Photos were used to aid in the translating words related to mopping:

• Gidaa-mooshkinebinaa akik gizhaagamideg nibi = Filling it up with warm water.

• Ziibiige'igan gidaaziiginaan nibiing = Pour cleaner into the water.

• O'owe minik gidaaziiginaan = That's enough pouring.

• Jekaagaminan imaa nibiing ji-dipaabaawidooyan i'iwe giziibiigisaganigewinaatig = Put the mop in the water to wet it.

• Ziinibidoon i'iwe giziibiigisaganigewinaatig = Wring the mop.

• Gigaa-giziibiigisaganige endazhi-wiisiniyang = You mop where you're eating.

• Gidaa-aanjitoon nibi giishpin wiinaagamig = Change the dirty water.

• Gidaa-ziigwebinaan waanaagamig imaa endazhi-zaaga'aming = Pour the water down the toilet.

• Giida-na'inaan or Gidaa-azhe-atoon imaa ataasowining = Two ways to say "put away in the closet."

• Endaso-niizhogonagak gidaa-giziibiigisaganigemin = We should mop every other day

Other groups translated phrases for sweeping the floor, and for washing clothes. Again, contact the Ojibwemowin Advisory Committee, the Head Start Immersion Program, or Immersion School Coordinator Elizabeth Strong for these and other language sets.

A light supper was enjoyed before the group headed home.

Want to know how to pronounce these words? Listen to Red Lake Spiritual Advisor Eugene Stillday and others pronounce these and other words and phrases at the following U of M link for the "Ojibwe Peoples Dictionary." http://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu

Afterword

Get Involved with Ojibwemowin and Cultural Revitalization in Your Community

The effort is part of the Head Start Immersion Classroom. Zac Mitteness is the lead teacher along with Marcus Tyler. Guiding elders, Frances Miller and Elizabeth "Pug" Kingbird, join them. The first immersion Head Start school classroom opened this past Fall with nine students. The school is behind Red Lake Elementary and meets on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday weekly from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Ojibwe Language Revitalization Advisory Committee consists of First Speakers; Elizabeth "Pug" Kingbird, Frances Miller, Anna Gibbs, Susan Johnson, Mary Lou Stillday, Eliza Johnson, Murphy Thomas, Eugene Stillday, Donald Iceman, Sr., Violet Patterson, Arnold Kingbird, Greeting Spears, Lee Whitefeather, Carol Barrett and John Barrett, with more and more getting involved each meeting.

The group hopes to develop immersion school project partners, including a collaboration of skilled and fluent speaking community members. Partners would include the Red Lake School District, Head Start, and Red Lake Nation College.

The team meets monthly on the second Monday at Oshki-maajitaadaa, (New Beginnings). The Ojibwemowin Council of Elders invites any and all to get involved with Ojibwemowin Language and Culture Revitalization within the Red Lake Nation community! Get involved in this or one of the many other cultural projects in your community for a better Red Lake Nation.

The Red Lake immersion programs will use of the "double vowel" system as developed and presented in the Nichols/Nyholm dictionary. The double vowel system is used at Ojibwemowin immersion schools, public schools, and colleges across the country. It is the preferred spelling used in Ojibwemowin books.

Red Lake Nation Language Revitalization Plan, Vision and Mission

It is our vision that within 10 years Red Lake will have a younger generation of fluent speakers that promote the language and culture in our communities and act as leaders for the next seven generations. It is our mission to promote this vision through an immersion school as well as through a variety of other initiatives.