University of Michigan program seeks to preserve Native language (fwd link)

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University of Michigan program seeks to preserve Native language

Posted: June 04, 2008
By Jeff Karoub -- Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) - The statistics might not be promising, but personal experience
offers Brooke Simon hope that her ancestors' language won't disappear.

''I can walk down the street and hear someone yell 'aanii' from across the
street,'' said the 20-year-old University of Michigan student, referring to a
greeting in Ojibwe, or Anishinaabemowin. ''Students aren't afraid to use the
language and learn about this language.''

Simon participates in the Ann Arbor university's Program in Ojibwe Language and
Literature, one of the largest of its kind in the nation. It seeks to teach and
preserve the American Indian language spoken by about 10,000 in more than 200
communities across the Great Lakes region - but 80 percent of them are older
than 60.

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