Language kept alive

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Seven hundred delegates participated in the eighth annual Ojibwe language conference held in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on March 27 to April 1.

The yearly assembly was first organized by language instructors as a forum for networking and sharing of resources, said Sam Senecal, conference planner and co-ordinator. A conscious effort is now made to involve a broader range of people, including youth and Elders, in the sessions. Workshops involve teachers, students and the general public.

As program director for Anishinaabemowin Teg, Senecal maintains an office at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) in M'Chigeeng, Manitoulin Island in Ontario. The annual conference is funded by a partnership of stakeholders, including Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, the Union of Ontario Indians, Sault College, Cambrian College and other First Nations in Michigan.

Twenty-eight presentations and workshops were offered. Topics ranged from the study of basic everyday phrases and root words to the evolution and revitalization of the language.

In his fourth year as a presenter, Alan Corbiere of M'Chigeeng shared his discoveries of historic documents written in Ojibwe.

"Often there's the assumption that we never used the language in written form," he said. However examination of university and national archives reveals letters and petitions written in Ojibwe. "These letters were requests or inquiries or instructions in a number of different handwritings. Clearly, quite a few of the people had this skill," he said.

From Jesuit and United Chiefs and Councils records, Corbiere identified documents that confirm "there was a high level of fluency in Ojibwe in both the oral and written form." Some Manitoulin chiefs wrote to urge the Indian agent or the governor general to honor their promises and treaties. Other written messages were directed to other chiefs or to priests, Corbiere said.

At the conference his presentation was well received, he feels, because many people are unaware that the Anishinabe people communicated in writing about treaty provisions.

Like many First Nations youth, Alan Corbiere has been striving to achieve the fluency he admires in his ancestors. As a student at the University of Toronto, he longed to learn Ojibwe but found very few resources available. Eventually he took responsibility for his own learning and taught himself the basics using distance education materials.

"In Toronto I felt part of my identity was missing," he explained. "I wanted to learn, but I really had to dig around and get materials. I really worked at it on my own. It was all informal at the time. I knew a lot of words but I couldn't put them together properly. Then I began to tape-record the Elders and I listened to language tapes over and over, especially on long drives."

At present he is working on a co-operative venture with his father, Ted Corbiere, in the collection of Ojibwe stories. The purpose of the project, called Teaching Each Other, is to "share the history and the language of Anishinabe life with each other," he said.

In future, he aspires to teach history in Ojibwe since it is mostly done in English now.

Corbiere said there were many positive outcomes of the annual language conference.

"It is valuable for sharing resources, for practicing the language and for finding out what special projects are going on in other communities. The camaraderie is great too."

"It's great to see a whole banquet room full of like-minded people dedicated to a particular cause. We can see how the language is evolving, adapting and growing. And we can draw upon the energy, enthusiasm and the commitment of others for our on-going language work."

Senecal shares Alan Corbiere's mission to advance language immersion programs. Plans are underway to conduct week-long language programs in 16 Ontario First Nations in the summer of 2002. The intention, said Senecal, is to bring language instructors rom all the participating communities together for training and planning sessions this spring.

He said family involvement will be encouraged in the immersion programs. As always the Elders will be consulted on dialect variance and accuracy.

Eventually, Senecal hopes to develop a data base of Native language instructors for boards of education to use in developing immersion classes in both Canada and the United States.