University faculty push for Ojibwe, Dakota languages to become majors (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

*University faculty push for Ojibwe, Dakota languages to become majors*
Monday, September 08 2014
Written by Molly Michaletz, The Minnesota Daily,

*S*ome faculty members within the University of Minnesota’s Department of
American Indian Studies are trying to preserve two languages indigenous to
the state.

Currently, students don’t have the option to major in Ojibwe or Dakota, the
two languages offered within the department. But with a recent push from
veteran and new professors, students may eventually be able to major in the
languages.

Brendan Fairbanks, a long-serving assistant American Indian studies
professor, said creating the option to major in each of the languages would
allow students studying the languages to receive better jobs after
graduation and would ensure the languages stay alive.

If the languages remain used, she said students who know them “can go on to
teach their children the language.”

University students can currently receive teaching certificates – named the
Dakota Iapi Unspewicakiyapi and the Ojibwemodaa Eta! certificates – that
allow them to teach the languages at immersion schools.

Access full article below:
http://thecirclenews.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1021&Itemid=1
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