Ojibwe language
Ojibwe (/oʊˈdʒɪbweɪ/ oh-JIB-way),[2] also known as Ojibwa (/oʊˈdʒɪbwə/ oh-JIB-wə),[3][4][5] Ojibway, Otchipwe,[6] Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian language family.[7][8] The language is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems. There is no single dialect that is considered the most prestigious or most prominent, and no standard writing system that covers all dialects.
Ojibwe
Canada, United States
Ojibwe people
(50,000 cited 1990–2016 censuses)[1]
-
Algonquian
- Ojibwe-Potawatomi
- Ojibwe
- Ojibwe-Potawatomi
(see Ojibwe dialects)
Latin (various alphabets in Canada and the United States),
Ojibwe syllabics in Canada,
Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics in the United States
oj – Ojibwa
oji – Ojibwa
oji – inclusive code – Ojibwa
Individual codes:ojs – Severn Ojibwaojg – Eastern Ojibwaojc – Central Ojibwaojb – Northwestern Ojibwaojw – Western Ojibwaciw – Chippewaotw – Ottawaalq – Algonquin
ojib1241 Ojibwa
62-ADA-d (Ojibwa+Anissinapek)
Ojibwewaki
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Dialects of Ojibwemowin are spoken in Canada, from southwestern Quebec, through Ontario, Manitoba and parts of Saskatchewan, with outlying communities in Alberta;[9][10] and in the United States, from Michigan to Wisconsin and Minnesota, with a number of communities in North Dakota and Montana, as well as groups that were removed to Kansas and Oklahoma during the Indian Removal period.[10][11] While there is some variation in the classification of its dialects, at least the following are recognized, from east to west: Algonquin, Eastern Ojibwe, Ottawa (Odawa), Western Ojibwe (Saulteaux), Oji-Cree (Severn Ojibwe), Northwestern Ojibwe, and Southwestern Ojibwe (Chippewa). Based upon contemporary field research, J. R. Valentine also recognizes several other dialects: Berens Ojibwe in northwestern Ontario, which he distinguishes from Northwestern Ojibwe; North of (Lake) Superior; and Nipissing. The latter two cover approximately the same territory as Central Ojibwa, which he does not recognize.[12]
The aggregated dialects of Ojibwemowin comprise the second most commonly spoken First Nations language in Canada (after Cree),[13] and the fourth most widely spoken in the United States or Canada behind Navajo, the Inuit languages and Cree.[14]
Ojibwemowin is a relatively healthy indigenous language. The Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Immersion School teaches all classes to children in Ojibwe only.[15]
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Notable speakers of Anishinaabemowin include:
Mobile learning apps and online resources[edit]
An "Ojibway Language and People" app is available for iPhone, iPad, and other iOS devices.[102] The source code is available for others interested in developing their own application for learning a native language.[103]
The Ojibwe People's Dictionary is an online language resource created in collaboration with the University of Minnesota. It is an accessible system that allows users to search in English or Ojibwe and includes voice recordings for many of the 17 000 entries in the collection.[104]
U.S. government attempt to erase native language[edit]
In the late 19th century, the American federal Native American boarding school initiative which forced Native American children to attend government-run boarding schools in an attempt to "acculturate" them into American society. Often far from their home communities, these schools attempted to remove any ties children had to their native culture and to limit their ability to visit home. Students were forced to speak English, cut their hair, dress in uniform, practise Christianity, and learn about European culture and history.[105]
Although the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 mandated the phasing-out of the Native American boarding school program, the practice of sending youth to these institutions continued into the 1960s and 1970s. Because children were forced to live away from their home communities, many never had the opportunity to hear and use their native language. This government assimilation effort caused widespread loss of language and culture among indigenous communities, including the Ojibwe people.[106]
Language revitalization[edit]
With the remaining population of native speakers declining as older generations die off, many historians consider now an important point in the language's history that will determine if it will proliferate or become extinct. Ojibwe historian Anton Treuer estimates that there are about 1,000 speakers of Ojibwe left in the United States, most residing in Minnesota on the Red Lake Indian Reservation or in Mille Lacs region. Teacher of the language Keller Paap approximates that most fluent speakers in the United States are over 70 years old, making exposure to spoken Ojibwemowin limited in many communities.[100]
Ojibwe educators and scholars across the region are working with the remaining elders who speak Ojibwemowin, known as the First Speakers, so as to document and learn the language in hopes to preserve it and pass it on to the next generation of speakers. In recent years, historian and Ojibwe professor Anton Treuer has been recording stories told by about 50 different Ojibwe elders in their native language so as to preserve both the language and pieces of knowledge and history. Alongside his current mentor, a Ponemah elder named Eugene Stillday, he writes the recorded stories in both Ojibwe and translated English.[101]
Recently, there has been more of a push toward bringing the Ojibwe language back into more common use, through language classes and programs sponsored by universities, sometimes available to non-students, which are essential to passing on the Ojibwe language.[107][108][109] These courses mainly target adults and young adults; however, there are many resources for all age groups, including online games[110] which provide domains for online language use. In the 1980's, The Northern Native-Languages Project was introduced in Ontario to get Indigenous languages such as Ojibwe, to be taught in schools. Years later, the first curriculum was established for the program and it was known as Native Languages 1987.[111] There has also been an increase in published children's literature.[112] The increase in materials published in Ojibwe is essential to increasing the number of speakers. Language revitalization through Ojibwe frameworks also allows for cultural concepts to be conveyed through language.[113]
A 2014 study has indicated that learning Indigenous languages such as Ojibwe in school helps in learning the language and language structure; however, it does not help grow the use of the language outside of a school setting. The most effective way of promoting language is being surrounded by the language, especially in a familial setting. This is difficult to replicate in schools, which is why speaking Ojibwe with family and in one's home life is important in growing language revitalization.[114]
Research has been done in Ojibwe communities to prove the important role language revitalization has in treating health concerns. The use of language connects a community through shared views and supports the well-being of said community.[115] Researchers found that language and the notion of culture were intertwined together instead of being separate concepts, and the people who regularly practiced their language and culture were often associated with more positive health outcomes, particularly for psychological health and mental well-being.[115]
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Language immersion schools[edit]
Despite what they have faced in the American and Canadian Governments' attempt to force Ojibwe into language death through the educational system, many indigenous communities across the Great Lakes region are making efforts towards the Ojibwe language revival by similarly using the school system. Largely inspired by the success of Polynesian languages immersion schools in Hawaii and New Zealand, similar school programs have been starting throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin in recent years. One of the most notable programs—developed by Ojibwe educators Lisa LaRonge and Keller Paap—is that of the Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Immersion School located on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation in northern Wisconsin.[116] Most students come from English-speaking homes and are learning Ojibwemowin as their second language. At this school, instructors and elders teach the preschoolers to third graders entirely in the Ojibwe language, so that by the time that students complete kindergarten, they know both English and Ojibwe alphabets and writing systems. In the classroom, students generally first become familiar with the language by hearing and speaking it and then advance to reading and writing it as well. They are taught mathematics, reading, social studies, music, and other typical school subjects through the medium of the Ojibwe language so as to increase student's exposure to Ojibwemowin while providing a well-rounded education.[100] In her research study on Ojibwe immersion schools, Ojibwe scholar and educator Mary Hermes suggests that educating through the Ojibwe language may be more culturally meaningful to communities than simply educating about the culture through English.[117]
The goal, as with many other language immersion schools across the country, is to meet state-mandated standards for curriculum in the native language. This can be a challenge as public education standards are rigorous with curriculum on complex mathematic and scientific concepts occurring at the second and third grade levels. Ojibwe educators at these schools are constantly working with elders so as to design new ways to say lesser-used words in Ojibwe such as plastic or quotient. Because the Ojibwe language is traditionally oral, it is often difficult for educators to find adequate resources to develop the curriculum. Thus, through these school programs, the language is constantly evolving.[101]
Many of these Ojibwe language immersion schools are also considering the question as to whether or not they should include English instruction. Some research suggests that learning to write in one’s first language is important prior to learning a second language. Therefore, many schools include some level of English education at certain grade levels.[117]
Along with using the native language, Waadookodaading uses native ways of teaching in its education system. "Ojibwemowin, the Ojibwe language, is a language of action."[118] Therefore, students are encouraged to learn the language by observing and by doing. For example, each spring the students at Waadookodaading participate in a maple sugar harvest. Older students and elders instruct the younger students on the harvest process, narrating what they are doing in Ojibwemowin as the younger students observe. The younger students are then encouraged to participate as they learn, gathering wood, helping to drill trees, and hauling buckets of sap. Thus, the Ojibwe language is kept alive through indigenous methods of teaching, which emphasizes hands-on experiences, such as the sugar bush harvest.[119] The language is then passed on in a similar manner in which it has been throughout history in that older members of the community—including elders/instructors and older students at the schools—relay their knowledge and experiences to the younger generation.
Another notable program is that of the Niigaane Ojibwemowin Language Immersion School on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, which teaches kindergarteners to fifth graders.[100] Program director Leslie Harper describes the structure of the school in that each classroom is led by an elder who is fluent in Ojibwemowin paired with a trained instructor who also teaches in the native language. Along with typical school subjects like reading and math, children are also taught indigenous skills such as maple sugar harvesting and archery.
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