When I flipped on the radio Sunday morning it took a few moments to realize the chuckle I heard belonged to David Treuer and not to some commonly heard radio host.

As he was recently interviewed on Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, what David had to say might be well known to the language revitalization faithful. He talked much about our language being intrinsic and absolute to our ceremonies. As familiar as it all may be it’s still a great deal of fun to recognize voices on the radio – it feels a little bit famous.

But what really struck me is how lucky we are as Ojibwe people. And that might be a strange thought, how could we, as Ojibwe people with abundant culture and language loss be lucky- and as I write it now it does seem a bit perverse, but I still hold to it. We have our language. We have our ceremonies and we have our faith. We have to work at it for sure. We have lost a lot, but as an elder has reminded me, we focus a lot on the past, on what we have lost. But what we have is in the future, now and in the future, that’s where we live.

Additionally captured in this radio show is something that radio can do that print media simply cannot, it brings the voices of our kids into our homes from our friends at Nigaane and Waadookodaading. Those voices shine a light on some of our first steps we are taking into the future.

Check it out: Sustaining Language, Sustaining Meaning — an Ojibwe Story