According to StatsCan, there are over 60 different Indigenous languages spoken across Canada. In our school board, there are 4 First Nations with 2 very different Indigenous Languages spoken, Lenape and Ojibwe. In this blog post, I am speaking about Ojibwe Word of the Week because that is what I have experience with, but these examples could definitely be used for Lenape Word of the Week.
Let me tell you a story: Last year a teacher at P.E. McGibbon (Nicole Gooding) said, “Hey! Let’s start doing an Ojibwe Word of the Week on our video announcements!” Nicole would find a new word each week, starting with greetings and then moving on to words based on the seasons and special events (eg. snow, rain, rabbit, egg). She, along with Chantima Olivera (Grade 1/2 ) would work together to get these words of the week spoken by children on their daily video announcements and onto the school’s Facebook page. Fast Forward a few months: Jen Gilpin from PE McGibbon and Chantima teamed up with Gretchen Sands-Gamble (that’s me) and Allie Kelly from A.A. Wright to form a TLLP (Teachers Learning and Leadership Project http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/tllp.html). This TLLP team has created a blog to share our learning and understanding of implementing Indigenous Education and culture into their daily lives at A.A. Wright and P.E. McGibbon.
Gretchen, Allie, Chantima, Jen
Where to Next?
If you’re wondering how you can include an Ojibwe (or Lenape) Word of the Week into your classroom or school there are many ways that this can take shape. Adding them to video announcements is what works at P.E. McGibbon. At A.A. Wright, a student goes on the announcements on Monday morning and says the Ojibwe Word of the Week for the whole school. A link to the Word of the Week Video is then sent out to each teacher in the school so they can share them in their classes.
Some classes create posters each week and put them up around the school so students are exposed to the Word of the Week when they are getting a drink or walking to the learning commons. Some people post the words to their Word Wall. Maybe instead of sharing through the announcements a class could take on the responsibility of sharing the Ojibwe Word of the Week through videos, emails and signs. The possibilities seem endless! What works at P.E. McGibbon or A.A. Wright might not work at your school, but keep trying until you find what works best for your school population.
Without staff members who are speakers of Ojibwe or Lenape, this can be difficult for most schools. A simple google search might not lead you to the word that you are looking for. There are many dialects of the Ojibwe language and the word you find online might not be the one that is spoken in your area. The best way to accurately find the words you want is to go to a local language speaker. If you’re having trouble finding a language speaker to help feel free to use the Ojibwe Word of the Week videos provided on the TLLP Blog: http://fne21c.blogspot.com/search/label/Ojibwe
Including the local Indigenous languages into your school day allows Indigenous students to hear and see their culture reflected and it gives them the space to feel belonging and meaning in their school. Non-Indigenous students get the chance to experience another culture’s language and share in the learning with the students and staff.
As always, if you need assistance send me an email! I’m here to help
gretchen.sands-gamble at lkdsb.net
Miigwech!
Baamaapii ngowaabmin
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