Band Member Voices
May Culture Column - the Next Five years
By Nazhike, Mille Lacs Band Member
As Anishinaabe, we were given a gift and with that gift comes responsibility. Taking care of that responsibility will in turn take care of our life. Long ago, we were gifted the Anishinaabe language by the Manidoog. They entrusted Aginjibagwesi to bring the language around to all of us. Over time, the language has declined due to circumstances beyond and, I need to stress again, AND within our control.
We need to accept that although there were measures taken to restrict our language, we have currently had over 30 years to remedy the situation. We need to accept that responsibility now.
We are the deciding generation to determine where the language goes from here — if it goes from here. We carry a version of the language that is lighter than what our Elders held and still, this is what we were meant to have at this moment at this particular time. Avoid thinking of it as a limitation, but instead know that it is our starting point. The question is not what we lost. The question is what we will build with what we have.
The next 10 years will decide whether Ojibwemowin stays in our community or settles into memory as a language that was once spoken by Shinaabe in Mille Lacs.
We need to be clear about the target. We need at least 10 speakers in the next five years. Not people who recognize words. Not people who can introduce themselves once and switch back to English. We need speakers who think in the language, who go through their day with it, who can teach without translating every thought back into English. Ten daily language users. That is the standard. Everything we do from now on must support that.
That kind of shift takes time — committed and deliberate time. One thousand hours is a starting point, the first step. Lis-tening, speaking, repeating, being corrected, trying again. Fluency is more than understanding, it is using what you know everyday to know more the next. From being in it long enough that it stops feeling like something you are reaching for and starts feeling like something you are living.
If we want speakers, we need to invest in a small group. We need 15 people who are willing to carry this responsibility. Support them. Pay them. Expect something from them. Hold them accountable. This is not about limiting others. It is about ensuring that a group actually reaches the goals set forth.
This work also has to be recognized for what it is, real work. Language cannot survive on spare time and good speeches alone. There must be roles, pathways and expectations tied to it. When language becomes part of how we lead, how we work and how we are accountable to one another, it begins to stabilize.
Leadership matters here. If the language is not present in governance, in decision-making, in the way we show up publicly, then it remains optional. And what is optional is rarely sustained. Language has to be built into the structure of how we operate, not just the programs we offer. It must be mandatory.
What we build in the next five years must look more like infrastructure than activity. Systems that carry the language forward. Spaces where it is used. Tools that support it. Pathways that move a person from beginner to speaker to teacher without losing momentum in between. And through all of this, we have to be honest with ourselves, inspiration is not enough. The next five years are crucial for the language.
We have what we are meant to have. Now we decide what we will do with it. Miigwech
