Living Our Language_ Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories - Anton Treuer [1]
Visiting
Gaa-ina’oonind Anishinaabe
How Indian People Were Gifted
MELVIN EAGLE
Gimishoomisinaan
Our Grandfather
Zhimaaganish Ezhinikaazod
The One Called Zhimaaganish
Gekendaasojig
The Learned Ones
Dewe’igan Meshkawiziid
The Power of the Drum
Nandawenjigewin Gechitwaawendaagwak
The Sacred Art of Hunting
Wenji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan
Why We Take Care of Our Earth
Gaa-nandawaabamag Waabooz
My Rabbit Quest
Gii-ina’oonind Anishinaabe
The Indian Was Gifted
Inwewin Meshkawiziimagak
The Power of Language
Dibendaagoziwin
Belonging
Bizindamowin Miinawaa Gaagiigidowin
Listening and Speaking
Gaa-waababiganikaag
White Earth
JOE AUGINAUSH
Gaawiin Giwanitoosiimin Gidinwewininaan
We’re Not Losing Our Language
Gaa-jiikajiwegamaag Ingii-tazhi-ondaadiz Wiigiwaaming
I Was Born in a Wiigiwaam at Gaa-jiikajiwegamaag
Gii-pakitejii’iged Wenabozho
When Wenabozho Played Baseball
Miskwaagamiiwi-zaaga’igan
Red Lake
COLLINS OAKGROVE
Zhaawanoowinini Indizhinikaaz
My Name Is Zhaawanoowinini
Bijiinag Anishinaabe Gaa-waabamaad Chimookomaanan
The First Time an Indian Saw the White Man
Wenji-nibwaakaad Nenabozho
Why Nenabozho Is So Smart
Bebaamosed Miinawaa Gawigoshko’iweshiinh
Bebaamosed and Gawigoshko’iweshiinh
Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag
Leech Lake
EMMA FISHER
Gii-agaashiinyiyaan
When I Was Little
Indayag
My Dogs
Gii-kinjiba’iweyaan
When I Ran Away
Gii-kikinoo’amaagoziyaan
When I Went to School
Indinawemaaganag
My Relatives
SCOTT HEADBIRD
Waawaabiganoojiish
That Old Mouse
SUSAN JACKSON
Chi-achaabaan Naanaagadawendamaan
When I Think About Chi-achaabaan
Aabadak Waaboozoo-nagwaaganeyaab
Using a Rabbit Snare Wire
HARTLEY WHITE
Onizhishin o’ow Bimaadiziwin
This Is a Good Way of Life
Ishkwaakiiwan
The Apocalypse
PORKY WHITE
Gegwe-dakamigishkang Gaagiigido
Gegwe-dakamigishkang Speaks
Gaagoons Indigoo
I’m Called Porky
Dibiki-giizisong
On the Moon
Niibaa-giizhig
Niibaa-giizhig
Ogii-izhinaazhishkawaan Bwaanan
They Chased Off the Sioux
Aabaji’ Gidasemaa
Use Your Tobacco
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading
Living Our Language
INTRODUCTION
We’re Not Losing Our Language
“We’re not losing our language, our language is losing us,” says White Earth elder Joe Auginaush. I have been both haunted and driven by that thought for many years now. The current peril faced by the Ojibwe (Chippewa) language is a matter of a declining number of speakers and a people who have lost their way, rather than a language that is lost or dying. The Ojibwe language, spoken by as many as 60,000 Anishinaabe people in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, is alive.1 The grammar, syntax, and structure of the language are complete. The oral tradition and history of the Ojibwe are still with us. Yet in many areas fluency rates have plummeted to unprecedented and unsustainable levels. Especially in the United States, most speakers are more than forty-five years of age.2 In some places, the fluency rate is as low as one percent.3 As the population of fluent speakers ages and eventually leaves, there is no doubt that the Ojibwe language will lose its carriers. We are not losing our language. Our language is losing us.
A battle now rages to keep Ojibwe alive. At stake is the future of not only the language, but the knowledge contained within the language, the unique Ojibwe worldview and way of thinking, the Anishinaabe connection to the past, to the earth, and to the future. In recent years, educational initiatives have been implemented at every level of the curriculum. Elders, such as those whose stories are collected in this book, have made extra efforts to teach and to be heard. Young Anishinaabe people have been making extra efforts to listen and to learn. It is the hope and prayer of all those involved in creating this book that these recent efforts will not be too little, too late. “We are not losing our language” is a statement of fact. “We are not losing our language” is a battle cry. “We are not losing