The relationship between people and language is reciprocal. Providing space for the language to grow also provides for the people. As one college teacher shared, “Giishpin ganawendaman Anishinaabemowin, giga-ganawenimigon,” which translates to: “If you take care of the language, it will take care of you.” Working to learn a language both contributes to language revitalization and teaches learners about themselves, thus developing a sense of mental and spiritual well-being associated with learning the learners’ ancestral language. In addition, on an institutional level, those who contribute to language revitalization and hold space for the language form connections with people and resources that can contribute to institutional growth.

In alignment with its mission and current strategic planning efforts, it is a goal at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) to continue expanding its language programming. One of the aims that has always been central to the college’s mission is to “respectfully promote the language, culture, and history of the Anishinaabe people.” FDLTCC currently offers various academic and extension programs that contribute to language revitalization, including the Anishinaabe language certificate and major, Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang (the Ojibwe Language Immersion Program), the Ojibwemowining Digital Arts and Storytelling (ODAS) Studio, tribal partnerships, and the Ojibwe Language Symposium. The college has a big vision for connecting these programs as part of a cohesive language revitalization effort. As FDLTCC faculty and staff work on making connections and strengthening these programs, it will expand the college’s reach and deepen community connections for sustained language efforts across generations.

THE FDLTCC LANGUAGE CERTIFICATE AND MAJOR

FDLTCC’s Anishinaabe language classes provide a solid foundation of language study for full-time students and community members alike. The college offers four semesters of Anishinaabe language, Anishinaabe language for the classroom, and Ojibwe Immersion Academy classes. These four semesters of language classes make up the language certificate program. Additionally, FDLTCC is currently in the approval process for offering Anishinaabe language as a major. This program’s requirements will combine American Indian studies courses with the four semesters of language classes to provide students interested in the language a more direct path to finishing their degree. Like many other colleges that offer Anishinaabe language, FDLTCC’s courses can be taken both on campus and off campus via Zoom. The Introduction to Anishinaabe Language course was offered fully online for the first time in the fall of 2023. Offering language classes through a variety of methods is part of the college’s goal to make the language accessible and to connect with more communities.

FDLTCC’s Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang offers immersion opportunities for adults and children alike. Here, Anishinaabe language speaker Nancy “Koko” Jones speaks Ojibwe to Adalynn Wilson during a hands-on activity at summer camp.

Since the college began offering the language courses as a certificate in 2018, 24 students have completed the full four semester sequence, and more students have continued beyond the first two semesters that are required for the American Indian studies major. Anishinaabe language students are mostly full-time students majoring in American Indian studies or elementary education who enroll to meet their majors’ language requirements. A growing percentage of students are community members and working professionals looking to increase their knowledge of Anishinaabe language and culture through the language certificate program. In addition to the program’s full-time students, current language students also include FDLTCC faculty and staff members, faculty and staff from other Minnesota state colleges, elementary and high school teachers, and local tribal language apprentices taking language classes as part of their apprenticeship.

One potential area for growth is to provide more professional development opportunities for those seeking to improve their language proficiency for work, as well as for those who are interested in learning more about one of the Indigenous languages of this land. In addition to sharing the college’s language courses as options for professional development, the college can also serve as a gathering place for professional networks of Indigenous educators, calling upon the faculty’s combined expertise in American Indian studies, Anishinaabe language, and elementary education.

As referenced above, the Anishinaabe language classes are not only a part of the language certificate program but are also embedded in FDLTCC’s American Indian studies and elementary education majors. The elementary education program is unique in many ways. It is notably the first bachelor’s degree program to be offered at the two-year college, a first for two-year colleges in Minnesota. The cultural standards that guide the American Indian studies program, the Ojibwemowining Digital Arts Studio, and all of the college’s language programming also guide the elementary education and early childhood development programs. The primary goal of the elementary education program is to train more teachers who are American Indian and teachers who are familiar with American Indian culture and language. The curriculum includes liberal arts requirements with an American Indian studies focus, including the courses Introduction to Anishinaabe Language and Anishinaabe Language for the Classroom, in addition to elementary education methods coursework. Notably, the majority of the college’s elementary education courses are taught by American Indian educators. This is remarkable considering that American Indian and teachers of color make up only 4% of the teachers in the state of Minnesota. Two of the students in the first cohort of elementary education majors who will graduate this spring with their bachelor’s degrees have also completed the Anishinaabe language certificate coursework. Their knowledge of Anishinaabe language and culture makes them exceptionally capable to incorporate it into their future classrooms. Although two years of language instruction can at most yield intermediate-level proficiency, it allows for the possibility that they can also successfully begin a career in an Ojibwe immersion classroom as an assistant or as a co-teacher under the guidance of a more experienced mentor teacher. The pairing of Anishinaabe language courses with the elementary education program is one way FDLTCC has been developing the college’s language program to prepare Ojibwe immersion teachers. The college may still be a few years away from reaching this goal, but it is moving forward by expanding language course offerings, including Ojibwe immersion field experiences and internships, and connecting students with the college’s Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang immersion program.

OJIBWEMOTAADIDAA OMAA GIDAKIIMINAANG

The Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College language extension program, Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang (OOG), offers immersion opportunities for adult learners and families. The first program of its kind in Minnesota and the surrounding states, the program began in 2011 with a three-week summer immersion academy and expanded to offer monthly weekend immersion workshops throughout the winter months. Participants in the program often include college students or recent college graduates looking to improve their language proficiency through immersion. These students often have goals of becoming teachers or someday teaching their own children Ojibwe. Anishinaabe language teaching professionals also participate in the program as an opportunity for professional development. Participants in the program have the option to register for up to six college credits through FDLTCC’s Ojibwe Immersion Academy course. This program has been impactful in improving the proficiency of adult learners who then return to their communities to share what they have learned. Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang has also served as a model for other communities and groups interested in creating their own adult immersion workshops.

Language immersion is intensive and challenging, but it can also be lots of fun. Here, participants in an immersive track session at FDLTCC’s language symposium play Ojibwe immersion games.

Although this program is a tribal college program that offers the option of participating for college credit, FDLTCC students do not often participate in the summer academy or winter weekend workshops. Many of the participants in the immersion program are from four-year institutions that offer options for advanced language courses. There are several potential reasons for this. One factor could be that FDLTCC students don’t feel adequately prepared for immersion, having completed only four semesters of language courses. Another factor could be lack of time due to busy schedules that often involve full-time course loads, work, and family commitments. As the college further expands its language course offerings and adds more co-curricular activities, the path to the immersion program should become clearer and offer natural choice for enrolled FDLTCC students. In recent years, the immersion program has expanded to include the babies and young children of program alumni through the Gookonaanig Endaawaad (Grandma’s House) language nest for children ages 0 to 5. This program began as a pilot with a small group of five parent-child pairs. This language nest program is based on an intergenerational model bringing together elders, caregivers, and children. With the addition of this program, the summer immersion academy has shifted its focus to serving as a family camp for Gookonaanig Endaawaad families and other families from surrounding areas. The program is still working to grow with this first cohort of children as they plan to open a preschool classroom later this year. This intergenerational program is one example of how tribal colleges can support families to use and maintain Native languages. Language revitalization efforts must make their way into the homes of young families in order for the language to truly thrive. Providing intergenerational programming based on community learning models is one way to help bring the language out of the college and into homes.

THE OJIBWEMOWINING DIGITAL ARTS STUDIO

The studio has served as a space for elders working with the college’s extension program, Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang, to record stories and work on various language documentation projects. Hundreds of hours of Ojibwe language stories and songs have been recorded in the studio and in the surrounding community by the studio coordinator, multimedia productions faculty, and students. A limited number of audio recordings are available as work samples on the college’s website, and more are available through the Ojibwemowining Digital Arts Vimeo and YouTube channels, as well as through Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang’s public resource drive. Still, these samples represent only a portion of the many hours of recordings that have been produced. There is still much work to be done in archiving previous recordings while also continuing to add to the collections.

The college’s vision for preserving the language for future generations includes creating a resource database with capacity to store the recordings that have already been produced, along with new contributions to the collections. This database would provide a space to access recordings and allow space for others to store and share their own resources. FDLTCC also envisions the studio contributing to language revitalization by providing the space for recording and access to professional equipment. One barrier to producing high-quality language materials is often a lack of equipment. This studio can improve access to recording equipment, empowering elders, language teachers, students, and community members to record the Ojibwe language.

TRIBAL PARTNERSHIPS

Many of the college’s extension programs, including the Ojibwemotaadidaa immersion program, are actually Fond du Lac reservation programs, and the staff are employees of the college’s chartering tribe, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. In addition to these programs, the college also collaborates with the Fond du Lac Band Language and Culture Program to host an annual Ojibwe language symposium. Additional partnering organizations for this event include the College of St. Scholastica, Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang, and the Misaabekong Ojibwe Immersion Program. The goals of the symposium are to celebrate and honor language holders and learners, make language learning accessible to everyone, and inspire and encourage others to care for and protect the language. Each program contributes to the planning process through time spent organizing the event and through funding. This collaborative effort and a generous sponsorship from South Fox Ranch has enabled the college to host the symposium free of cost to participants. This is a great example of how to increase accessibility to the language through collaboration and shared resources.

This past winter marked the fourth annual symposium. It was the first year since the pandemic that participants were able to meet in person. The symposium drew people from all over Ojibwe Country to gather on the campus to uplift and honor the language. Elders, language scholars, educators, and language students of all ages came together to participate in keynote and breakout sessions on topics such as language and sovereignty, Ojibwe language games from beginner to immersive levels, immersion education, and storytelling, among others. As part of the collaboration, in the winter months leading up to the symposium, the college hosts winter storytelling events. These storytelling events are primarily organized and funded by partners in the symposium, with the college providing the space for the events. With events such as these where community partners excel, the college’s role is to simply provide gathering space for people to hear and speak the language. Although the college’s role as a host and as a gathering space for the community may seem simple and straightforward, it requires actively maintaining community relationships and continuing to invite people in.

Although FDLTCC’s main tribal partnership is with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, it is the only tribal college in Northeastern Minnesota and hence also works to serve the neighboring Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Through this partnership, FDLTCC began offering courses in its American Indian studies program through interactive television (ITV) and online options. Prior to the pandemic, Mille Lacs students attended classes from a video conferencing classroom in one of the Mille Lacs community classrooms. During and after the pandemic, students began attending class from work or home through Zoom video conferencing. Now that classes are offered through Zoom, students located anywhere with a stable internet connection can attend the American Indian studies and Anishinaabe language classes. In addition, any Mille Lacs tribal employee (tribal member or nonmember) has the opportunity to take language classes at FDLTCC. Employees are allowed time within their workday to take these language classes and the tribe pays the tuition.

Elders play a critical role in FDLTCC’s myriad language initiatives. Here, a group of elders enjoy a feast during the college’s annual Ojibwe Language Symposium.

The college is working to expand its tribal and community partnerships to more areas that do not have access to a tribal college. College staff are excited about the potential of technology to increase accessibility to Anishinaabe language and support tribal communities in language preservation. FDLTCC will continue to bring the language into the future by keeping up with current course delivery technology and language documentation methods.

HONORING THE PAST, LIVING THE PRESENT, DREAMING THE FUTURE

FDLTCC’s vision statements reads, “Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College offers a postsecondary education to honor the past, for those living in the present and dreaming the future, through a spirit of respect, cooperation, and unity.” The college’s founding leaders saw a need for a college in the area grounded in Anishinaabe values. In recent years, President Larry Anderson and the late President Stephanie Hammit led the college into more groundbreaking work by becoming the first Minnesota two-year college to offer a bachelor’s degree program. Always keeping the vision of dreaming the future in mind, FDLTCC now dreams of the potential for adding more bachelor’s degree programs, including one in Anishinaabe language.

Just as the founders of the college made connections that allow those living now to have access to a tribal and community college in the area, those today add in their own ties through their efforts to build just a little more onto the vision they started with. Each program and each person contribute a bit more thread to the collective web that is the language revitalization movement. The more every person can work collaboratively and tie the individual pieces together, the stronger these efforts will be.

Michelle Goose is American Indian studies faculty at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.