Ojibwe Language Camp Helps Pass on Culture and Heritage to Next Generation

The Camp Uses Games and Activities to Help Teach Children the Ojibwe Language

FOND DU LAC RESERVATION, Minn.- The Language and culture of the Ojibwe has been fading after generations of tribal members had been forced to assimilate into European-American culture.

“I don’t know the language, my mom grew up in the era where she was punished for speaking in school, and she didn’t want us to go through it. Her kids. So she didn’t teach us,” says Bernice Diver, a camper.

But Kiwenz Ojibwe Language Camp put on by the Fond du Lac Community Language Program is aiming to change that.

“A lot of our history is, I can’t say blotted out because we remember them, but mainstream society does not know them or publicize them, or teach them in our schools,” says Janis Fairbanks, the Anishinaabemowin Coordinator for the Fond Du Lac Reservation.

The camp helps teach children and adults the Ojibwe language through games and cultural activities. Organizers believe knowing your language and culture is a big part of building your personal identity.

“A language camp like this is one place our kids are going to learn their own history, and knowing your own history is really important to knowing who you are,” says Fairbanks.

But many people with Native American ancestry living in the United States, have not had the chance to get in touch with their roots. So while some of the campers live on the Fond du Lac reservation and know about their culture, others are new to learning about their heritage.

“I’ve never known much about my history but stuff like this, I could start learning the language and the dances, and it’s all good, it’s always good to learn you know, knowledge is power,” says Heidi Molnau, who works for American Indian Housing Community.

And all are working to pass the language and culture that was stripped from their ancestors hundreds of years ago, on to the next generation.

“Now the generations that are coming need to speak it,” says Diver.