Anishinaabemowin
Mashkawendamang
Dr. Anton Treuer
Bemidji State University
All you people who study
Indians, study that!
Giboozhoo’ininim
•
•
•
•
Wiinzowin
Doodem
Ishkonigan
Giishpin wii-anishinaabewiyang nawaj…
Language Imbeds Meanings
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Niiyawe’enh (My Namesake)
Niiyaw (My Body)
Gichi-aya’aa (Elder)
Mindimooyenh (Female Elder)
Ode’imin (Strawberry)
Oodena (Village)
Dewe’igan (Drum)
Doodem (Clan)
Giboodiyegwaazonag (Pants)
Mazinaatesijigan (Television)
Pierre Trudeau &
Rene Levesque
• If you no longer speak your language
and no longer practice your culture,
then you have no right to demand
aboriginal rights from us, because you
are assimilated with the ruling class.
First Ministers of Canada Conference,
1983
Obama’s Criteria for Tribal
Recognition by United Nations
• Living Language
• Living Identifiable Culture
• Sovereign Landbase
Ojibwe Fluency in MN & WI
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Red Lake, 400
Mille Lacs, 150
Leech Lake, 90
Nett Lake, 20
White Earth, 15
Grand Portage, 3
Fond du Lac, 0
St. Croix, 25
•
•
•
•
Oreilles, 10
Lac du Flambeau,
3
Bad River, 1
Red Cliff, 1
Mole Lake, 0
Importance of Language
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identity (Blood, Place, Culture, LANGUAGE)
Culture
Ceremony
Sovereignty
History
Literature
Economy
Health
Community Struggle
•
•
•
•
•
Violence
Health
Education
Economic Opportunity
Drug & Alcohol Abuse
Community Solution
•
•
•
•
•
Maori
Hawaii
Blackfeet, Crow, Mohawk
Waadookodaading
Niigaane
Resistance
• English Only Laws
• Lack of Awareness, Involvement,
Commitment
• Valuing Otherness – Colonized Minds
(Tobacco, Food, Alcohol, Poverty,
Indian Time)
• Cultural Disconnection
• Funding
• Need for Resources
Resource Tool Box
• Get Informed on Your Resources
(Speakers & Materials)
• Get Informed About What Does Work
(Immersion, Grammar, Standard Ortho)
• Don’t Re-invent the Wheel (Acquire
Everything That’s Already Here,
Clearing House)
• COMMIT – Just Do It — the fire within
What Can I Do?
• Self Education – Language & Culture
• Advocacy – Language & Culture Awareness
& Program Building
• Teach - Immersion
• Culture Based Social Work
• Culture Based Treatment
• Funding Initiatives
• Vote
• Parent
You can do it, whatever it is, in
the language.
•