The Importance of Ojibwe Language Revitalization

Introduction
This is a follow-up to my last post "Ojibwemowin Writing Systems" posted here on February 27th. This essay then is on "The Importance of Ojibwe Language Revitalization." This of course is important for all languages. Much has been done in Hawai'i, New Zealand, Ireland and other areas of the world to hold on to indigenous languages. Can humanity risk losing the ancient knowledge of heaven and earth that may be hidden in the depths of dying languages and cultures? 


I have been told by "Medicine Men" that there are healing herbs and plants that Americans and the world may never learn of, because there is the very realistic fear, in my view, that Monsanto or Bayer will come along, steal it, patent it, and the people (Anishinaabeg) will lose these valuable healing plants. So it's not only language, it's culture. There is no culture without language. If we are not to go the way of the dinosaurs, (also likely if we don't change our ways in my view) we'd better learn from our Indigenous brothers and sisters around the globe and realize our place as part of Mother Earth and the scheme of things.  

Every single school in Bemidji now posts Ojibwe/English (bilingual) Signage. Here Principal Drew Hildenbrand points to a sign at the front door that says, "Hello, welcome to Bemidji Middle School."

The Importance of Language Revitalization
Loss of language and culture is a main concern of Ojibwe people today. According to Dr. Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, in his book entitled Ojibwe in Minnesota, estimates that there are fewer than 1000 Ojibwe speakers in the United States with nearly all of them residing in Minnesota*, and a majority of them from Red Lake. Treuer estimates that fewer than 100 speakers are left in Michigan, Wisconsin and North Dakota combined.
(*Coincidently like Ma'iingan/wolf? More on that in a coming post)

Multidimensional Efforts Underway in Minnesota to Preserve Ojibwemowin. Dr. Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University estimates 675 speakers in Minnesota, 400 of them from Red Lake.

Although their are thousands of speakers in Canada, language revitalization is becoming a concern there as well. Even within reservations speakers tend to be concentrated. “Almost all the speakers from Red Lake are from the community of Ponemah”, says Treuer. He estimates 675 speakers in Minnesota, 400 of them from Red Lake. “Language and culture go hand in hand”, adds Treuer, and points out that there are only a handful of Ojibwe speakers who conduct all traditional funerals in Ojibwe country.

Original stories written in Ojibwemowin delight learners with the antics of animals who playfully deal with situations familiar to children in all cultures. This and other books are "new" stories written by a half dozen or more fluent speakers.

Minnesota Ojibwe have begun a multifaceted approach to preserve the language. Immersion schools are being funded, and several other approaches are being conducted to garner renewed interest in language and culture, not only among Indians, but non-Indians as well.

The Minnesota Legislature recognizes the issue too, and has written legislation that states that the revitalization of American Indian languages is of vital importance to preserving the American Indian culture. The legislature has provided funding, with efforts in Minnesota designed to develop programs to teach the Dakota and Ojibwe languages to students, and to create fluent speakers at both the kindergarten through grade 12 level, and at the postsecondary level.


In the United States there is an "English-Only" political movement that questions the value of teaching languages other than English, including indigenous languages. But throughout many language symposiums, there has been a theme of how language and culture are intimately entwined and cannot be separated.

Elder and First Speaker Eugene Stillday of Ponemah is very much involved  in language revitalization  

Hope


Treuer writes in the aforementioned book that "The Maori of New Zealand went from 7% fluency to 100% for all students in their school system and made Maoritanga one of the country's official languages. Native Hawaiians went from 500 speakers to 15,000. Hawaiian is also an official language in Hawai'i along with English. Both groups have not only enjoyed language revitalization of their traditional languages and cultures but also a major boost to community cohesion, pride and solidarity. They've also seen the first major declines in gang activity and drug and alcohol abuse in their histories. The Ojibwe could pursue the same goals in Minnesota.


Gaelic in Ireland is also having great success in revival.

In the summer of 2009 efforts began in Bemidji to successfully convince over 150 businesses to post bilingual signage in English and Ojibwe from bathrooms to produce.


At a language symposium in Alaska the Iñupiaq Eskimos produced a card describing values. One side of the card read:
"Every Iñupiaq is responsible to all other Iñupiat for the survival of our cultural spirit, and the values and traditions through which it survives. Through our extended family, we retain, teach, and live our Iñupiaq way."


The other side read, 
"With guidance and support from Elders, we must teach our children Iñupiaq values" and then the card listed the values of "knowledge of language, sharing, respect for others, cooperation, respect for elders, love for children, hard work, knowledge of family tree, avoidance of conflict, respect for nature, spirituality, humor, family roles, hunter success, domestic skills, humility, [and] responsibility to tribe." The card concluded with "OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OUR UNIVERSE AND OUR PLACE IN IT IS A BELIEF IN GOD AND A RESPECT FOR ALL HIS CREATIONS."

What a wonderful reminder that indigenous language revitalization is part of a larger attempt by indigenous peoples to retain their cultural strengths in the face of the demoralizing assaults of an all-pervasive modern individualistic, materialistic, and hedonistic technological culture. The card reminds us of why it is so important to do everything we can to help the efforts of any person or group that wants to work to preserve their language.


Perhaps had the English, Spanish and later Americans assimilated with the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island as did the French, we would have a better society today.

At the entrance of Sanford Medical Complex in Bemidji. Sanford has taken the concept of "signage" very seriously. Eventually the whole complex will be posted bilingually. 

The Written Language


CHIPPEWA - CHIPPEWAY - OTCHIPWAY - OJIBWAY - OJIBWA - OJIBWE


The Ojibwe language has different sounds than many may be unfamiliar with. This is because Ojibwemowin does not lend itself to the 26 letter English alphabet. Rules then for pronunciation are being developed using the English alphabet as a base. As one can see demonstrated above, Ojibwe and Chippewa are actually the same word heard and then written differently.


There is always discussion on the correct spelling of Ojibwe words. In preserving the language, work is being done to get an accepted or standard spelling of Ojibwe words. It is felt by many, that the double vowel system seems to be the way to go.

Sanford Event Center in Bemdiji owned by the City. Sign posts with Ma'iingan (Wolf) Maang (Loon) Makwa (Bear) Migizi (Bald Eagle) and others help drivers remember where their cars are parked.

The Ojibwe Dictionary Project


The Endangered Languages Program of the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities is funding the development of a new dictionary of Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language, through the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

John D. Nichols, left is co-author of A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe with BSU Professor Earl Nyholm.

Building out from the widely-used Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, the new bilingual dictionary will contain words contributed by elders through their recorded stories, conversations, and discussions about words. The completed reference dictionary is expected to have entries for between 30,000-40,000 main Ojibwe words, each illustrated with a variety of inflected forms and example sentences, related to other members of its word family, and analyzed into its meaningful word parts.


Smaller specialized dictionaries for student use at different levels will be derived from the reference dictionary. An electronic dictionary will feature recordings of the pronunciations of words by the speaker contributors. Classification of words by word class and by meaning will allow users of the on-line dictionary to choose and display words according to their topic, form, or level of difficulty.

Come In! Says a sign at Dunn Bros. Coffee in Bemidji

Ojibwemowin: A Nation Lives Through Its Language
"Life is plurality, death is uniformity."

Scottish Gaelic
Am fear a chailleas a chanain caillidh e a shaoghal.
He who loses his language loses his world.

"Every view of the world that becomes extinct, every culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of life." ~" Octavio Paz

Spanish
Con cada lengua que se extingue se borra una imagen del hombre.
For every language that becomes extinct, an image of man disappears. ~Octavio Paz

Absolutely nothing is so important for a nation's culture as its language. ~Wilhelm von Humboldt

Spanish
Una lengua natural es el archivo adonde han ido a parar las experiencias, saberes y creencias de una comunidad.
A natural language is the archive where the experiences, knowledge and beliefs of a community are stored. ~ Fernando Lázaro Carreter

The loss of languages is tragic precisely because they are not interchangeable, precisely because they represent the distillation of the thoughts and communication of people over their entire history. ~Marianne Mithun

Manx
Çheer gyn çhengey, çheer gyn ennym.
A country without language is a country without an identity.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.~Nelson Mandela

Irish (Gaelic)
Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste, ná Béarla cliste.
Broken Irish is better than clever English.