From The Morning Sun:
Tribe strives to preserve Ojibwe language
By PATRICIA ECKER
Sun Staff Writer
Many Native American communities are realizing that the languages of their ancestors and the unique dialect of their regions are disappearing.
In 2005, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe did an assessment of the Ojibwe language use within its community and discovered that the number of fluent speakers was very low.
“There’s still hope,” Ojibwe language immersion specialist Bonnie Ekdahl said. “There are still ways we can preserve the language.”
Ekdahl, former director for the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture and Lifeways, said that she is managing a collection of language tape recordings of Tribal member Beatrice Colwell. She is speaking in the ancient language of Ojibwe that is recognized as specific to this region.
“We have one treasure, and she’s not well,” Ekdahl said. “The whole idea is to catalog information to use as references and for resource purposes.
“Bea Colwell is in her 70s, and she’s been ill, so we haven’t recorded anything in a while.”
Ekdahl said she believes the reason more elders who speak the language do not come forward is because of shyness.
A hot button topic surrounding the preservation effort is whether the dialect is true to the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe.
Beatrice (Kahgegab) Colwell, 75, of Rosebush said she is fearful the language will disappear because some people do not want to learn, and because when it is taught, it is of the Canadian Ojibwe language dialect. “A lot of people don’t know the language, and how we really talk,”
Colwell said. “(There are ) very few trying, but they’re not getting it right. “And it upsets me, sometimes. I have walked out (of places where the Ojibwe language is being spoken incorrectly in her opinion).”
Colwell, who worked for Central Michigan University for 27 years, said the Canadian Ojibwe language is understandable by her, but is not her ancestral language.
“It’s a little bit different, but we can understand each other,” Colwell. “I guess, I am about the only one here (who speaks the language).”
“There’s no young people who talk Indian.”
The revitalization effort at the Ziibiwing Center was started by Julie White Pigeon, Colwell said.
“We worked well together,” she said.
Ekdahl, who stepped in following White Pigeon’s resignation, said the Tribe received grants from the Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services Program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services for their language documentation project.
“The grant allows for the creation of immersion opportunities by the Anishinaabemowin Club,” Ekdahl said.
The club hosts gatherings where people are required to speak in Ojibwe during meal and social situations. Instructional cards were created to generate dialogue.
“We also have a Little Language Warrior Club for 3- to 7-year-olds,” Ekdahl said. “The program targets young children and parents.”
Ekdahl said the project work has created tools to teach young children, including board games, Bingo and charades translated into the Ojibwe language, which are used during the immersion programs.
“We teach them how to play ‘duck, duck, goose’ in the language,” Ekdahl said. “The parents have to participate.
“The parents are their cheerleaders.”
Ekdahl said there is a tiny, mock slot machine, and a few children have learned to say “Geep Kinagay” or “I win.”
She said the parents have cue cards during the immersion classes that teach them to learn directional words for their children such as “come here”, “sit down,” and “be quiet,” and phrases such as “time for your bath” and “I love you.”
“The rewarding thing is they use it in a natural situation,” Ekdahl said. “We say it in the language.
“We try to modify the programs to make the learning more action oriented. We teach the children everyday phrases,” she said.
Ekdahl said that children are quick to learn the Ojibwe language when the immersion method is used.
“I worked with the little ones for three and a half years,” Colwell said. “They were learning.”
She said she remembers one young child who would ask her in the Ojibwe language for food.
“She would say, ‘Grandma, can I have a sheman?'” Colwell said. “Sheman means apple in the language.”
Colwell, who introduced herself as “Behgeeshgo kwe ndishnahkos” which translated means “Lady of the day is my name.”
“I was named that quite a while ago,” Colwell said. “I always knew that.” Ekdahl said there is more work to be done, but that the immersion programs are getting stronger.
The third grant period ends in September, and an application has been submitted for a fourth grant, which will continue to help the Ziibiwing Center.
Ojibwe language opportunities can be found at different entities within the Tribe such as the Seventh Generation Program, Tribal Education, including the Saginaw Chippewa Academy, the Ziibiwing Center, and at community activities and the Native churches.
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