KBIC native language effort continues (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

KBIC native language effort continues

Published: Friday, February 23, 2007
By DAN SCHNEIDER, DMG Writer
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=5919

BARAGA — More than a means to communicate, members of the Ojibwa tribe
say their native language is an essential aspect of their culture.

“Certainly, the language is communication but also it tells who you
are,” Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) member Earl Otchingwanigan
said. “Not only does it communicate, but within the language itself
there is history and culture built into it. And even all of the
spiritual aspects of the native people is carried through the
language.”

Otchingwaniga is a professor emeritus of the Ojibwe language at
Minnesota State University-Bemidji.

(Here, the spelling “Ojibwe” is used to refer to the language, while
“Ojibwa” refers to the wider tribe and culture).

Otchingwanigan is also a native Ojibwe speaker. English was his second
language.

“I was raised with the language,” he said.

With few living native speakers left, the KBIC, like many tribes
nationwide, is launching an initiative to preserve Anishinaabeg. The
term means “the first people’s language.”

“What we’re doing this year is assessing the status of the language here
on the L’Anse Indian reservation,” project director Jesse Luttenton
said.

That assessment is being conducted with a $109,708 grant from the United
States Department of Health and Human Services through the
Administration for Native Americans (ANA).

It is an important initiative, according to Carrie Ashbrook, who was
recently hired to coordinate the project.

“What’s happening is the language is being lost,” Ashbrook said. “It’s a
sacred part of being Anishnabe (“first people” or “native people”) that
is being lost.”

On Jan. 22, the KBIC sent out 1,200 written surveys to its members
asking them to assess their own fluency and interest in the language.
The survey asks questions like “Where do you use the Ojibwe language?”,
“Do you feel comfortable using the Ojibwe language?”, and “If you had
the opportunity to participate in language instruction, what fluency
level would you hope to attain?”

“The survey is to determine the status of the language as it is today so
we can see what we need to do,” Luttenton said.

A community gathering to discuss the preliminary results of the survey
is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Ojibwa Casino Chippewa Rooms.

As of Feb. 22, 250 completed surveys had been returned, according to
Ashbrook.

Survey results so far indicate enthusiasm among KBIC members, she said.

“So far the support has been great because people are wanting the
program,” she said. Ashbrook said 345 completed surveys are needed, and
a series of oral interviews must take place, before the tribe can apply
for the second-phase grant from the ANA. The next grant in the ANA’s
three-phase grant series would be a one-year grant to fund the tribe’s
development of a language instruction program and curriculum individual
to the tribe.

“Ojibwe is spoken all across the Great Lakes, but there are many
different dialects,” Luttenton said. “We want to preserve and
revitalize the language as it is specific to the Keweenaw Bay.”

ANA’s step-three grant would fund the implementation of the program.
Luttenton hopes to be ready to apply for that grant by September.

Methods of revitalizing the language, Luttenton said, could include
“language nests,” a program for preschool students in which Ojibwe is
the only language spoken; classes conducted at L’anse and Baraga public
schools and immersion programs.

Otchingwanigan is one of three advisors for the tribe’s program. He said
the project of revitalizing and preserving the language is a large one,
but it can be done.

“Absolutely, I think other cultures around the world that have
endangered languages have brought their languages back from the brink
of extinction, such as the Maori in the South Seas,” Otchingwanigan
said. “The Jewish people in Israel have brought their language back, so
it can be done.”



Dan Schneider can be reached at dschneider at mininggazette.com