There are two language conferences coming up in October, both held in Minneapolis. The CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition) Immersion conference will be held Oct. 16-18 with school tours and workshops on the 15th. This year the CARLA conference will have a conference stream specifically for indigenous languages, and will feature speakers from Maori, Hawai’ian and Ojibwe communities.

CARLA Immersion Conference website

The 40th Algonquian conference will be held at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus on Oct. 24-26. This is an international meeting for researchers working in the area of Algonquian studies — which includes the Ojibwe language. While the conference website doesn’t yet have the schedule posted, organizer John Nichols showed me a preliminary line up of topics, and they will include:

• Problems and strategies in the analysis, redaction and presentation of native texts,
• Currents in contemporary Ojibwe art, and
• Ojibwe language teaching, curriculum development and research

among others.

This last theme on Ojibwe language teaching, curriculum development and research will be of interest to those working in the language revitalization field. Presenters in this theme include: Keller Paap (Waadookodaading Immersion School), Henry Flocken (Bemidji State U), Adrian Liberty (Niigaane Immersion School), Margaret Noori (University of Michigan), and J. Randolph Valentine (U of WI - Madison).

40th Algonquian Conference website

Brush up your language skills. There’s a 7-Day Ojibwe Language Immersion Camp at Lac Seul First Nation, 30 kms north of Sioux Lookout, Ontario, August 1st – August 8th, 2008.  Held in an outdoor setting at Lac Seul by the lake.  The teachers will be Lola Goodwin and Pat Ningewance Nadeau (author of Talking Gookom’s Language). Three Lac Seul Elders will also be on site every day.

The purpose of the course is to have students hold simple Ojibwe dialogues with each other and with elders, and to follow ordinary conversations amongst fluent speakers. Fluent fishing guides will take students out for fishing excursions for pickerel and northern pike  as well as boat trips to the main community and beautiful surrounding area.

SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK

• Aug. 1st  Friday  Day of Arrival and Orientation Period. Survival phrases introduced.
• Aug. 2nd  Saturday  Reviiew of phrases. Weather, Getting to know each other. Kinship.
• Aug. 3rd   Sunday  Getting to know others. Excursion. Commands. At Home. Animals.
• Aug. 4th   Monday  In the Workplace. Occupations, Feelings. Senses. Appearances.
• Aug. 5th   Tuesday  Going to town, store, office, restaurant.  Food. Table talk. Cooking.
• Aug. 6th   Wednesday  Visiting in a hospital. Being at a Conference. Placenames.
• Aug. 7th  Thursday  Camping, Geography. Preparing fish and other natural food.
• Aug. 8th    Friday  Packing up, saying goodbye. Self-assessment. Debriefing in English.

Tuition fee: $350.00 per person covers meals, and materials for 7days. Travel and camping gear are your responsibiility. Please advise us on dietary restrictions and whether you will need a ride from Sioux Lookout and the Kejick Bay landing.

For information, email books@patningewance.ca or p_nadeau@canada.com. Call (204) 774-8007. Fax (204) 489-3869. Also inquire at Frenchman’s Head (Lac Seul First Nation): (807) 582-3499.

Miigwech Teresa Reed for passing this information on to us.