Program Aims to Preserve Ojibwe Language (Zhaabwiitoonaa Anishinaabemowin)
| Nwiikajitonaa |
maampii |
Kchikinomaagegamigong Michigan |
wii |
ankenmaageyaang |
maanda |
Anishinaabemowin. |
| We are trying |
here |
at the University of Michigan |
to |
transfer |
this |
Anishinaabe language. |
| E-shkimaadzijig nda'kinoomawaananig. |
| The young people are being taught by us. |
| Niizhwak-shi-nisimdana |
Anishinaabe-newewin |
maampii |
Kchimookiman-kiing. |
| Two hundred and thirty |
Indigenous languages are spoken |
here |
in America. |
| Gondag |
ge-shkiitoojig |
geyabi |
wii |
giigidoowaad |
epiichi |
jaaganewag igo giinwa. |
| Those |
who are able |
still |
to |
speak |
now |
are dying off. |
| Midaaswi |
boonigak |
swi |
goweta |
geyabi |
daa |
tenon |
Anishinaabe-newewaad. |
| In ten |
years |
three |
only |
still |
will |
be |
Indigenous languages will be spoken. |
| "Bebikaan gondag daa zhagaabwiiwag wii zhaabwiitowaad |
maanda |
Anishinaabemowin" |
| Each of them differently they are standing decision to save |
this |
Anishinaabemowin |
| gii kidowag |
Margaret Noori |
miinwaa |
Howard Kimewon |
ekinomaagejig |
| they said |
Margaret Noori |
and |
Howard Kimewon |
teachers |
| maanda |
Anishinaabemowin |
miinwaa |
enewewin naakinigewin. |
| this |
Anishinaabemowin |
and |
voices way of life (literature program). |
| Maaba |
bezhig zhooshkwaadeniniis |
Michigan |
enaadamaged |
Travis Turnbull |
| This |
one hockey player |
Michigan |
he's on the team |
Travis Turnbull |
| gii'enh gwa gokomisan gii gwaan kwa |
"gegwa" boontan. |
| really his grandmother he did hear |
"don't do that." |
| Miinwaa |
Margaret Noori |
kido |
Christy Bieber |
mii maampii |
noongwa |
niizho |
boon |
| And |
Margaret Noori |
says |
Christy Bieber |
so here |
today |
two |
years |
| bi skooniwed wii mshkiikiininikwed |
nii-ing |
maaba |
gii binji kooganaa |
Maryland |
ezhinkaadeg. |
| here to go to school medicine to study |
there |
she |
was raised |
Maryland |
it is called. |
| Michigan |
dash |
gii nendam |
wii binji skoniwe |
miinwaa |
wii gikendaan waa ezhi Anishinaabemod. |
| Michigan |
then |
she thought |
I will come |
and |
I will learn to speak Anishinaabe. |
| Baawating |
gashwan |
gii bi onjibaad (Chippewa). |
| Sault Ste. Marie |
her mother |
is originally from. |
| Maanda |
Anishinaabemowin Naakinigewin |
Michigan |
gii maajtamigad |
| This |
Anishinaabemowin Program |
at Michigan |
it started |
| midaaswi shi zhaangaaswi shi niizhwaasmidana ensa boonigag. |
| in the 1930s. |
| Mii igo maanda mii enji |
mshkoogaabwemigag |
maampii |
Kchimookaman-kiing. |
| This really is one of the |
strongest |
here |
in America. |
| Megwagwa |
niizhwak shi naanimdana |
aayaawag maanda |
eskonwedamjig |
maanda Anishinaabemowin. |
| Meanwhile |
two hundred and fifty |
are here |
as students of |
this Anishinaabe language. |
| Aaniind gondag |
daapnaawaa |
maanda |
Anishinaabemwoin |
zaam doogishkaanaawaa Nishnaabewin. |
| Some of these |
take |
this |
Anishinaabe language |
because they are some part Anishinaabe. |
| Aaniind ge gondag |
daapnaanaawaa Anishnaabemowin |
wii gikendamowaad |
maampii Michigan |
gaa bi ezhiwebag. |
| Some of these |
take this Anishinaabe language |
to learn |
here in Michigan |
what happened. |
| Miinwaa |
aaniind daapnaanaawaa |
wii gizhaapshkamwaad |
maanda ezhi-kinomwindawaa. |
| And |
some of them take it |
to finish out |
their requirements. |
| Maanda kchigaaming enigog kaamigising geyabi ge gonemaa midaaching daaswak daa iyaawag |
| Here in the great lakes there still are maybe ten thousand of |
| gondag Anishinaabemjig. |
| these Anishinaabe speakers. |
| Ezhibiigejig gondag endaghkendamajig. |
| This is what is reporters currently estimate. |
Preserving the language is personal for many students, say Margaret Noori and Howard Kimewon, instructors for the Ojibwe language and literature program. Senior Travis Turnbull, a U-M hockey player, remembers his grandmother using "gegwa," the Ojibwe word for "don't do that." And Noori says that Christy Bieber, a sophomore studying pre-med who grew up in Maryland, chose U-M in part so she could learn the language of her mother, a descendent of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe.
The Ojibwe program was started at U-M in the early 1970s and is one of the strongest in the country. Of the approximately 250 students enrolled in classes, about a third take it because of their personal heritage. Another third take it to learn more about the history of their home state of Michigan and the rest take it to meet their language requirement.
According to an Associated Press story on the program last spring, there are about 10,000 Ojibwe speakers in the Great Lakes region today.
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