Education and Aanjibimaadizing Visit Cherokee Nation
Bette Sam, Shirley Boyd, Carol Nickaboine and Ningaabi’anookwe are listening to hosts at the Cherokee cultural grounds
By NAZHIKE, MILLE LACS BAND MEMBER
Deep in the woods of Eastern Oklahoma on lands of the Cherokee Nation, a group of Anishinaabeg gather near a creek. They are taking part in a ceremony that will wash away what you're ready to let go of and then the creek will take it far away from you. Throwing water over their shoulders as the singer chants in the Cherokee Language, the group faces the rising sun that is blaring heat as the clear water passes by their feet. The visit starts this way. They are there to learn how the Cherokee Nation is going about language and cultural revitalization.
Commissioner of Education, Niiyogaabawiikwe Gonzalez, has a vision to shift the infrastructure of Education for the Mille Lacs Band. “That is my biggest focus and the benefit of a comprehensive plan,” gaa-ikidod a’aw Niiyogaabawiikwe, “which is why I look to the Cherokee.” The Cherokee Nation has roughly 2,000 first Language Speakers left today and they have been in a critical state for 20 years. The team has been building for the two decades and major shifts have been taken in recent years as their Language Speakers have been dying. 150 have changed worlds in the most recent year alone.
Why is an Indigenous Language Important? For the Cherokee, it is crucial that their language continues. They believe that once their language is no longer spoken, there will not be any Cherokee left. For one young Cherokee speaker it has greatly connected him to the ancestors and his own self. “I know who I am”, gaa-wiindamawaad the Anishinaabeg. The Language of our ancestors is more than mere words to speak to one another in the physical world. The sounds resonate through our spirits, offerings and helpers to the spirit world which binds us together in a divine way.
The Cherokee programs were once scattered about their government infrastructure. A language program here, a culture program there or a grant funded activity with a piece of their culture tied into it. Today, there is a third immersion school going up in one of their communities, the start of Cohort 6 of Apprenticeship Programming and a newly created fast track for apprentices to become teachers at the immersion schools. With all programming under one department, they use the various aspects which allows them to take a holistic approach to language and culture revitalization, you can’t have one without the other.
They use internal resource development to fulfill the needs of students, youth and adults alike. Technological resources for devices as well as the common books and posters are created on an as needed basis by a team of three to six staff. To support resources there are translators in charge of the language usage. And to further support the program there are also language documenters whose sole job is to record and categorize the language. Then it's all used in books, posters, videos, social media, signage, websites and so on.
Mille Lacs is in a similar situation with a decline of Ojibwe first language speakers, programs being housed in different areas and teachers having to create curriculum, lesson plans and resources on the fly. There is also immersion programming at the schools, apprenticeship programming in Aanjibimaadizing and great interest from community members to know more about who we are.
The end of the visit concluded with an invitation to a Stomp Dance. A long held ceremony that honors their ancestors and the spirits. They gather according to clan and hold a feast. Lots and lots of food. As the sun sets, a fire is built. The Cherokee move closer to the firepit, a local leader of the ceremony says words in the language with deliberate cadence. The ladies strap turtle shell rattles to their legs. The helpers build up the fire and a few members of each clan approach. The singing starts by the men and the ladies stomp their legs one by one that shakes the rattles tied to them. Male, female, male, female is how the line goes and they all stomp with their legs one by one going around the fire in a counter-clockwise fashion. They dance well into the night until near sunrise.
