(cheerful music) (music continues) (music continues) - Welcome to "Almanac North".

I'm Maarja Hewitt.

On tonight's episode, we are joined by experts, preservationists, speakers, and practitioners of Indigenous languages and traditions to learn about the importance of preserving cultural heritage and language.

All of that is coming up on "Almanac North".

But first, during National Breastfeeding Month, the Minnesota WIC program has been nationally recognized for its efforts to support breastfeeding.

The USDA awarded Minnesota WIC with the WIC Breastfeeding Performance Bonus for increasing the rate of fully breastfed infants over the past year.

This recognition comes with a financial bonus of nearly $170,000 to further enhance breastfeeding services across the state.

In celebration of these efforts, the Minnesota WIC program is taking part in the Minnesota State Fair by partnering with Twin Cities PBS to provide the Nursing Nest.

Located next to Sweet Martha's Cookies the Nest offers a quiet private space for parents to nurse, pump, or change their babies, along with resources on how to apply for WIC benefits.

The Nest is open daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM during the Fair.

Minnesota WIC director Kate Franken expressed pride in state's recognition, saying the award highlights the dedication of both state and local WIC agencies in supporting families and promoting breastfeeding.

In addition to the state award, four local WIC agencies, Anoka County, Lake County, Carlton County, and Itasca County also received accolades for their outstanding work in promoting breastfeeding.

This recognition is especially timely as August marks both Minnesota Breastfeeding Awareness Month and National Breastfeeding Month.

For those attending the fair, additional private spaces for nursing are available throughout the grounds.

More information is available online.

And for those of you looking for fun a little closer to home, this weekend is the 63rd Annual Lakehead Harvest Show in Esko.

Events include a flea market, petting barn, sawmilling, and of course tractors of all shapes and sizes.

The event opens to the public at 9:00 AM, and activities go until 5:00 PM Saturday and 4:00 PM Sunday.

The educational nonprofit demonstrates sawmilling, threshing, and other work, how it would've been performed 100 years ago, providing spectators a window into the history of work and survival in the region.

If you are interested in attending, tickets are $10 or weekend passes are $20.

We have a full show today, and to start it off, we have a special report from Dennis Anderson.

Denny?

- And thank you very much, Maarja.

In northeastern Minnesota, the preservation of language and culture is not just a matter of heritage, it's a vital link to identity and community resilience.

Indigenous languages in particular hold a wealth of knowledge and tradition, serving as the backbone of cultural preservation efforts among Native American communities in our region.

Now, at the forefront of these efforts are initiatives like the Ojibwe Language and Culture Revitalization Project, which partners with local schools and community organizations to teach the Ojibwe language to both young people and adults.

This program has seen remarkable success, with more and more students becoming fluent speakers, ensuring that the language along with its rich cultural context is passed down to future generations.

Now, another notable effort comes from the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community college where courses in Ojibwe language and culture are offered to students of all backgrounds.

And these courses are designed to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of Native American history, traditions, and the ongoing efforts to sustain these vital cultural elements in the face of modernization.

These initiatives are not limited to Indigenous communities alone.

Across northeastern Minnesota, there is a growing recognition of the importance of cultural preservation for all ethnic groups.

Now, for example, the Nordic Center in Duluth offers classes and workshops that teach traditional craft, language, and folklore from Scandinavian cultures, celebrating the region's diverse heritage.

However, challenges do remain.

Many elders who are fluent speakers of these languages are now aging, and there's an urgent need to document their knowledge and pass it on.

Funding for these programs is also a constant concern as they rely heavily on grants and community support.

Despite these hurdles, the dedication of those involved in language and cultural preservation in northern Minnesota is unwavering.

Their work not only helps maintain the unique identity of our region, but also enriches the broader community by fostering a deep respect for the diversity of cultures that call this area home.

And now, Maarja, back to you.

- Thank you, Denny.

We're continuing our exploration of Indigenous language and culture preservation.

The "Almanac North" team had the opportunity to meet with filmmaker, Anishinaabe language culture coordinator for Red Cliff, and voice actor who helped make "Star Wars" in Ojibwe language.

Let's hear what they had to say.

(Niigaanii-Animikii speaking Ojibwe) - Hello, my name is Niigaanii-Animikii Inini.

I'm Bear Clan, and a member of the Sault Ste.

Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

I give Ojibwe voice to Red Leader, played by the late Drewe Henley in "Star Wars, A New Hope".

So one day after work I was perusing Facebook, like so many of us do, and on my friend's page, I saw a posting advertising and calling for Ojibwe speakers to apply to audition for voice acting in "Star Wars, A New Hope".

As somebody who is a fan of "Star Wars" since childhood, a filmmaker who is interested in progressing into acting and voice acting as well as very passionate Ojibwe language revitalization, I had to apply.

Like many Ojibwe families, I did not grow up speaking or hearing our language.

It hasn't been spoken for at least four generations in my family.

That said, I did grow up in a Native neighborhood just down the street from my tribe's main reservation.

And many of my neighbors, classmates, family members, friends were Native.

I thought that most people were Native until the age of 18 when I began my studies at Michigan Tech, where there are students from around the world, some of whom told me I was the first Native person they had ever met.

And they let me know that we're actually only 2% of the United States population.

From thinking that we're the vast majority to 2% was mind blowing.

And it helped encourage me to dig more deeply into what does it mean to be Native?

And that led me to the importance of revitalizing the Ojibwe language, learning the Ojibwe language for myself, bringing it back to my family.

I'm not a fluent speaker, but I've been learning off and on for more than a dozen years.

And I have deep, deep gratitude to Michele Wellman-Teeple, to Orian Korberabun, to Migizi Michael Sullivan, and many other instructors, teachers of the language.

I would not be where I am today without their help.

And I very much look forward to continuing learning our language.

Well, for me and my understanding of Ojibwe, I can't speak to other Indigenous languages, but I imagine it's probably similar.

For me and my understanding, our language is our connection to our ancestors.

So as we learn and speak our language, we better understand how our ancestors see the world.

So it's very important for us to continue revitalizing, strengthening, growing our language into the future so that future generations can also understand how our ancestors see the world.

I really hope that this grand milestone, this huge milestone in Hollywood history, in Ojibwe revitalization, our journey revitalizing the Ojibwe language, that it really strikes people.

This is the first Disney film dubbed in Ojibwe and I believe the first major Hollywood film dubbed in Ojibwe.

And I hope that "Star Wars, A New Hope" can inspire more people, including young people, to continue learning the Ojibwe language or to begin learning the Ojibwe language.

Earlier this year, Pat Ningewance, who is the lead translator for this project, she was the keynote speaker for Anishinaabemowin Teg.

And she, in her keynote speech, talked about a dream.

A dream that all Ojibwe communities will be able to use our language, speak our language for everyday things, whether that's going to school, going shopping, watching Hollywood films, in addition to going to ceremony.

And I wanna see that too.

I wanna see our language as strong as it has ever been.

- Stay tuned because later we will show the dubbed trailer for "Star Wars" in Ojibwe.

Now we have Naawakwe joining us from the Anishinaabewigamig Language Center.

Thank you for joining us.

(Naawakwe speaking Ojibwe) It's a pleasure to have you here.

Let's start with learning a little bit about you growing up and how the Ojibwe language and culture were a part of your life.

(Naawakwe speaking Ojibwe) (Naawakwe speaking Ojibwe) - Well, I was born and raised in a village on the Fond du Lac Reservation known as Bapashkominitig, which is the village of the bald-headed island.

And so growing up, I did not hear a lot of Ojibwe language.

Single words and things.

That's not to say there weren't people and families that were utilizing it, but by the time I was growing up and with my family and my grandparents and great grandparents' history of attending those boarding schools and such, language use in the home and around was limited to single words and things like that for the most part growing up.

But when I got into my pre-teens and early teens is when I really started to get into wanting to understand and utilize Ojibwe.

- And tell us about like your line of work and how you've made it an important part of the work you do.

- Well, I work in the program for the Fond du Lac Reservation.

It's a language and culture department.

The program is called the FDL Gegaanzongejig Ji-Aabadak Ojibwemowin, the ones who push our language forward to be used, with the idea of revitalizing our Ojibwe language on the Fond du Lac reservation, but also in the broader community.

And so I'm the Ojibwe language project manager there for the last three years now.

- So what does managing those projects look like?

- Managing those projects looks like a lot of things.

I do many different things.

One is to develop quality projects that are designed to bring back and restore the use of our language, normalize our language on our reservation in the broader community, whether that's signage, whether that's translations, whether that's people's names and job titles and all of these different things that come back, come into the realm of normalizing something that once was very prominent and then had a time where it wasn't.

So managing those projects is looking at what needs to be done to get more people utilizing our languages, more people understanding and being able to just sort of have a level of respect and normalcy about Ojibwe language being used.

With the most important part of people speaking our language more and more people speaking our language.

And so the management part is the development and then the implementation of those projects.

- What is the impact of preserving the language and its connection to the overall culture?

- Well-- - A loaded question.

- It is a loaded question.

What I would say is that our language, just like any language in any society or culture, is truly one of the greatest resources that that society or community has for its cultural identity and for its own unique way to see the world and the own unique way to interact with one another.

It holds all of our values.

It holds, everything about a group of people is within its language.

And so, you know, the importance of revitalizing our language is to bring all of that back, bring people's identity back, bring people's understanding of themselves and of others, and to really celebrate and utilize that uniqueness as a source of strength, as a source of self-importance, but also as an offering to the world that, you know, Ojibwe people are here, Ojibwe people have always been here.

And our language holds all of that for us.

- Do you see younger generations gaining an interest in the language?

- I would say now more than ever.

Well, not ever, ever's a long time.

Before, of course, you know, people grew up with it.

It's right there for them.

But yeah, absolutely.

There are children, small children from babies all the way up through teenagers and even adults who are hearing it, they're being inspired by it.

And they say, "I wanna learn how to speak Ojibwe.

I wanna learn how to understand Ojibwe.

I wanna learn how to write it," whatever it might be, there really are people of all ages who are engaging in wanting to know more and you know, going to weekly classes, going to college classes, having language in their schools, going to Ojibwe immersion schools and programs that are not just on our reservation, but throughout the region.

And that's of course an important part, that intergenerational transmission of language between adults and children and elders and all of that is vitally important to the health of our language.

- What does the future look like for the Ojibwe language?

Or what do you hope it looks like?

(Naawakwe speaking Ojibwe) - It means bright.

It's bright.

That's just a play on words, of course.

Yeah, I have to look at it that way.

I think, you know, what you can imagine, what you can envision for it.

If you envision failure, if you envision the destruction of something, if you envision something not moving forward, you know, that might be what it is.

And so for me, it's important to see all of the positives, all of the growth in just the last five years, 10 years, 15 years.

I never thought I would have the job that I have.

I always say I'm so lucky, I have one of the greatest jobs that I could ever have.

And I wouldn't have imagined that 10 years ago.

And so I would say that with all of the things happening in the community, in the region, and across, you know, multiple states and even up into Canada, the work to revitalize our language is impressive, it's daunting.

And we're still at a point where, you know, we're trying to save our language and bring it back to a place that's really strong and healthy.

But yeah, I'd have to say the future is bright with the number of people who are engaging in it and working so hard to make it possible.

- Well, and thank you for your work.

And thank you for being here, Naawakwe.

(Naawakwe speaking Ojibwe) - Well now, as promised, let's take a look at the trailer for "Star Wars" in Ojibwe.

("Star Wars" theme) - Yahoo!

(Darth Vader speaking Ojibwe) (Leia speaking Ojibwe) - One of the first major projects like this.

(Obi Wan speaking Ojibwe) - To bring the language back out into the world.

- Breaking down the words, the differences between English and Ojibwe.

(Leia speaking Ojibwe) (Chewbacca roaring) - You have to come up with some new words like lightsaber.

(lightsabers humming) (Obi Wan speaking Ojibwe) - The characters, they're kind of parallel to Anishinaabe people and beliefs.

- My grandchildren will be able to hear this into the future and learn from it, use it.

- It's just great to be a part of it.

("Star Wars" theme concludes) - Our last visitor for the evening is language instructor at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Michelle Goose.

Michelle, thank you so much for joining us.

- Yeah, thank you for having me.

- So maybe you could share a little bit about your role and how you got into the line of work.

- Yeah, definitely.

So I'm the Ojibwe language instructor at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, and I'm also the American Indian Studies Program Coordinator.

So I teach the language courses at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, which are just kind of your standard college Ojibwe language courses.

And then I'm also an advisor to the American Indian Studies Program students.

How I got into this line of work has kind of been a lifelong journey for me.

So I started off as a learner, as a young girl.

So I wasn't raised speaking Ojibwe as a first language or as a language that I knew fluently growing up.

So I've been learning it throughout my life.

And I started kind of young in elementary, continued through high school and college.

And then when I graduated college I wanted to continue learning, and one of the only ways to do that was to teach.

So that's kind of how I ended up where I am today.

- So how were you able to learn the language as a young girl?

Was it through programs?

Was it through community members?

- Yeah, so I was lucky growing up to have family members that could speak Ojibwe.

So I would ask them words as a young girl, just kind of bugging them, asking them questions.

And then I didn't have too much in elementary school.

There weren't really language programs at that level.

But I did have some opportunities in high school to take language as a world language in high school.

And then in college is when I got really serious about it and actually had a double major in psychology and American Indian studies with an Ojibwe language emphasis.

- So what do you enjoy about teaching Ojibwe?

- Oh, what do I enjoy about teaching?

Well, I love it.

It really empowers me as a teacher to continue learning myself.

Kind of repetitive teaching the same thing over and over, but I learn more the more I continue to teach it.

I learn from my students every year, so I get a new perspective from their fresh perspective on the language, and just kind of seeing how it impacts Ojibwe students, at the college level is where I teach, and their sense of identity.

They really develop a stronger sense of their identity as Ojibwe people.

- Yeah, I mean, do you see growth throughout the semester?

Not only just in terms of being more proficient in the language, but also like, understanding more about it too?

- Yeah, yeah, definitely.

So there's definitely growth in their understanding of the language and being able to speak more in the language, and then also that deeper cultural understanding that comes with learning a language.

- Are there other programs in the area that you would suggest, like obviously Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has a great Ojibwe program, but if people are looking for other ways to expand their their language base?

- Yeah, definitely.

So we have a good collaborative relationship with the Fond du Lac Ojibwe Language Program, which is the tribal language program.

And they have various opportunities that are open to community members.

So they have like a Tuesday language table, which is kind of like an more informal structure of a class where you can just kind of show up and study Ojibwe, learn Ojibwe.

Then they also have different community events like storytelling, which is a collaborative thing that we usually do with them.

And then also the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in partnership with the Fond du Lac Language Program and other colleges in the area, we usually host a Ojibwe language symposium every, I believe it's the first weekend in February, usually, which is open to the community.

And it's a free event where people can come and just learn more about the language.

- Do you have any advice for someone just about the Ojibwe language and how you can learn it?

Any advice for new beginners?

- New beginners.

Taking a class is definitely helpful.

It's quite a bit different from English.

The words are longer.

In English, you have all these little words that kind of are separate in longer sentences.

Ojibwe is a polysynthetic language, so there's really long words, just one word that can be a complete sentence or even maybe even a paragraph in English.

There's lots of vowels in the language as well.

Lots of sounds.

- It can be sometimes intimidating looking at-- - Yeah, just looking at the-- - An Ojibwe word, that, like you mentioned, could also be a sentence.

- Right, yeah.

So a good resource is the Ojibwe People's Dictionary, which is an online dictionary that has audio so you can hear how the words should be pronounced by a first language Ojibwe speaker.

- Oh, wonderful, so a resource online.

Well, Michelle, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

- Yeah, thank you.

- Before we go, let's take a look at what you might be up to this weekend.

Already underway and continuing through the weekend is Teeb Con 2024.

This pop culture and tabletop gaming convention is being held at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.

The event will feature vendors, artists, cosplay, contests, raffles, auctions, and special guest stars.

The round table gamers will also be Kings of War, Warhammer 40K, and Magic the Gathering tournaments throughout the weekend.

Teeb Con 2024 runs Saturday from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

On Sunday from noon to 4:00 PM, don't miss the Clover Valley Farm Fest at Agate Acres Farm.

This celebration will highlight local food producers, artisans, live music and children's activities.

The event also offers educational demonstrations and a chance to meet the farmers on the Clover Valley Farm Trail.

Entry to the Farm Fest is free.

And this Saturday from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, the Embarrass Region Fair is in full swing.

Located at 4855 County Road 21 in Embarrass, Minnesota, this fair features family fun with entertainment, live music, food vendors, and more.

There's even a beer garden for the adults.

Daily admission is $5 with weekend wristbands available for $12.

Kids 10 and under are free with a paid adult.

That's it for this week's show.

Make sure you go out and enjoy your weekend.

For everyone here at "Almanac North", I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Thank you for joining us.

Good night.

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