June 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, June 8, 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 gathers each month to develop additional language materials and teaching tools for Red Lake Head Start Ojibwe Immersion School.

This time Elders gave input on the upcoming third annual summer language/culture camps for youth, and would start documenting Elder's memories of childhood on the reservation.

After an opening prayer by Elizabeth "Pug" Kingbird, immersion school Coordinator Elizabeth Strong opened the meeting with announcements and introductions. Moving clockwise, all present shared their name, clan, and home in Ojibwemowin, including the non-fluent speakers who are at various levels of learning the language. These learners can't help but digest more Ojibwemowin and culture from these lighthearted and cheerful elders. Perhaps half the meeting or more is spoken in Ojibwemowin.

Announce camp dates: Staff announced that there would be two summer language and culture camps for youth this year. From July 21 to 23, a camp will be held for the third consecutive year at the Ponemah Round House. An additional camp will be added this year on the west side of the reservation from August 4 to 6. The site is yet to be determined.

The elders then broke into two small groups, staff seeking input and discussion on topics for the summer youth camps. Ideas included several different games or physical activities including lacrosse, swimming and canoeing. Language and culture ideas included; nature walks plant/medicine identification, to learn how introduce oneself in Ojibwemowin, learning new Ojibwemowin words, clan teachings, birch bark work, bead work, leather work, dream catchers, Seven Teachings, traditional foods, and snaring.

Interviews: During small group discussions, Ojibwemowin teacher Zac Mitteness and first-speaking consultant Brian Smith began interviewing each committee member individually. They were asked to relate a short message about their childhood in order to document what it was like when they were growing up on the reservation.

There was time today for four elders to share their stories and lessons. They included Elizabeth "Pug" Kingbird, Eliza Johnson, Donald Iceman, Sr., and Robert "Shoopon" Kingbird. The elders spoke mostly in Ojibwemowin, though some slipped into English from time to time. Some had a message for youth; others had stories to share, both glad and sad. Smith will later transcribe the videos into Ojibwemowin and then translate to English in order to have forever the wisdom and knowledge of the elders of the nation.

A light supper was enjoyed before the group headed home.

The next committee meeting of the Ojibwe Language Advisory Committee will be held Monday, July 13, 2015, from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. at Oshki-maajitaadaa (New Beginnings) in Redby. All are welcome to attend.

The words and phrases translated by the committee are being transcribed and will be made available, in the near future, to any and all...including Ojibwemowin dictionaries....in order to document the Red Lake dialect.

Want to know how to pronounce these words? Listen to Red Lake Spiritual/Cultural 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., Robert "Shoopon" Kingbird, Violet Patterson, Arnold Kingbird, 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 use 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.