A 55-letter word for blueberry pie, Ojibwemowin

By Melissa Rickers on Sep 9, 2009

Chippewa National Forest incorporates Ojibwe Language into Visitor Center programs

Campers at the Norway Beach Visitor Center are always greeted with a friendly smile and hello, but this year, they received an extra "boozhoo" as they walked through the door. Visitor Center Naturalist Kelcie Bouchonville and Tribal College Student Brenda Fairbanks added a little Ojibwe language to everyone's day.

The Chippewa National Forest shares boundaries with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and it just seemed to make sense to add Ojibwe language to the programs. It started simply, with bike trips along the Migizi (or bald eagle) trail. The language program meshed with our Forest critters program after working with a group of kids from Dikinaagan, the local early childhood education center. When we presented animal programs to the kids in Cass Lake, they quickly taught us the names of the critters, in Ojibwe. Soon, we were telling campers to watch for esiban, or their marshmallows might get stolen, or that a makwa cub had been seen near the trail.

Campers walk in looking for the weather report, and were startled to find the forecast for noodinoon (windy) or ningwaanakwad (cloudy). Drawings on the weather board helped to make the translation easy. Informal teachable language moments became weekly programs. Every Thursday morning, Brenda or Kelcie would present a short 20-minute Ojibwe language lesson, teaching greetings, animals and pronounciations in Ojibwe.

Kids catch on fast, especially with the use of puppets, and the adults followed right along. The program will only continue to grow, thanks to the help of Kelcie and Brenda. Kelcie is a tribal studies/criminal justice major at Bemidji State University and Brenda worked as part of the Leech Lake Tribal College's STEM (Science, Technology, Environment, Math) program. Both came to the Forest with Ojibwe language skills.

As the summer ended, we completed the Ojibwe language series with an Ojibwe Breakfast. With bacon sizzling in the background and pancakes being flipped in front of them, campers had to learn the Ojibwe words for all that delicious food before they could dig in. As they went through the line, they politely requested giikanaamozigan (bacon), manoomin gwekiwebinigan (wild rice pancake). The words got easier as the food was served, and the language became accessible. The biggest challenge of the morning, besides keeping the waawaan (eggs) warm, was the battle for the blueberry danish. Visitors could attempt to say the Ojibwe word for blueberry pie, which is the longest word in the Ojibwe language. Brenda repeated "Miin-aan baash kimini-sij-i-gan bitooyin sij-i-gan-i bukwayszhiigan " a few times for the crowd and then three brave souls came up and tried it. We decided Brenda should win the blueberry breakfast treat, and the rest of us should keep practicing!

As we look toward the seasons change, and the naturalists go back to school, we see that this wonderful language component has added a cultural education link to our program. This fall, we will add Ojibwe language to our signing across the Forest, and continue to build programs and community partnerships. Migwetch, Kelcie and Brenda!