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.

Awanigaabaw (Brendan Fairbanks) has started a new Ojibwemowin blog on MySpace. He has posted reviews of topics/drills covered at the language table he runs in St. Paul. Check it out for yourself! Don’t worry you don’t have to have a MySpace page to view his blog.

The Canadian government officially apoligized to First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples this week for a century of abuse endured at boarding schools. From the 1870s through the 1990s, an estimated 150,000 Native children were forcibly removed from their homes and communities, and taken to government funded residential schools whos purpose was to eradicate Native culture and language.

The apology is being accompanied with a Truth and Reconciliation council and compensation for the approximately 80,000 survivors still living.

• Harper ’sorry’ for native residential schools, Tronoto Star
• Natives welcome PM’s apology: Government sorry for abuses at country’s residential schools, Barrie Examiner
• Saying sorry: PM’s apology heals old wounds, Windsor Star

The sad tale of abuse and neglect suffered in Canada parallels what happened to Native children in the United States during the same time frame. In fact, the Canadian boarding schools were modeled on the U.S. system of residential schools for American Indians. The abusive treatment of children in residential schools has been responsible for the loss of indigenous languages, particularly in the U.S. where they were compounded by federal allotment and relocation policies. Sadly, an apology from the United States government seems unlikely.

Many were taught to feel shame for speaking their language, and refused to teach their children the language as a way to protect them from the same pain.

As the indigenous language revitalization movement gains momentum, one of the challenges for many in learning their language is healing the internal pain left from internalizing the oppression of generations. There are many varied strategies for language acquisition, and perhaps this healing can be thought of as an emotional strategy. Healing the past and learning language anew together can become a way to reclaim idenitity as Indian people and to take back the power and strength of Indian people that was once denied.