Ojibwe ( ),Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh also known as Ojibwa ( ), Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878. A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian language family.Goddard, Ives, 1979.Bloomfield, Leonard, 1958. The language has various dialects with local names and frequently local writing systems. No single dialect is considered the most prestigious or prominent, and no writing system covers all dialects.
Dialects of Ojibwemowin are spoken in Canada, from southwestern Quebec, through Ontario, Manitoba, and parts of Saskatchewan, with outlying communities in Alberta;Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 6.Nichols, John, 1980, pp. 1–2. and in the United States, from Michigan to Wisconsin and Minnesota, with communities in North Dakota and Montana, as well as groups that were removed to Kansas and Oklahoma by the Indian Removal Act.Rhodes, Richard, and Evelyn Todd, 1981. While there is some variation in the classification of its dialects, at least the following are recognized, from east to west: Algonquin, Eastern Ojibwe, Ottawa (Odawa), Western Ojibwe (Saulteaux), Oji-Cree (Severn Ojibwe), Northwestern Ojibwe, and Southwestern Ojibwe (Chippewa). Based upon contemporary field research, J. R. Valentine also recognizes several other dialects: Berens Ojibwe in northwestern Ontario, which he distinguishes from Northwestern Ojibwe; North of (Lake) Superior; and Nipissing. The latter two cover approximately the same territory as Central Ojibwa, which he does not recognize.Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 456.
The aggregated dialects of Ojibwemowin comprise the second most commonly spoken First Nations language in Canada (after Cree), and the fourth most widely spoken Native American language in the United States or Canada behind Navajo, the Inuit languages and Cree.
Ojibwemowin is a relatively healthy indigenous language. The Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Immersion School in Hayward, Wisconsin, teaches children in Ojibwe only. A similar program is in place at Lowell Elementary School in Duluth, Minnesota.
Classification The Algonquian language family, of which Ojibwemowin is a member, is a branch of the Algic language family. Other non-Algonquian Algic languages include Wiyot and Yurok. Ojibwe is sometimes described as a Central Algonquian language, along with Fox, Cree, Menominee, Miami-Illinois, Potawatomi, and Shawnee. Central Algonquian is a geographical term of convenience rather than a genetic subgroup, and its use does not mean that Central languages are more closely related to each other than to the other Algonquian languages.Goddard, Ives, 1978; Goddard, Ives, 1979.
Exonyms and endonyms The most general Indigenous designation for the language is 'speaking the native language' ( 'native person,' verb suffix 'speak a language,' suffix 'nominalizer'),Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 1.Nichols, John and Earl Nyholm, 1995, p. 10. with varying spellings and pronunciations depending upon dialect. Some speakers use the term .Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 1, Fn. 2.Nichols, John and Earl Nyholm, p. 105. The general term in Oji-Cree (Severn Ojibwe) is , although is widely recognized by Severn speakers. Some speakers of Saulteaux Ojibwe call their language . The Ottawa dialect is sometimes called ,Baraga, Frederic, 1878, p. 336. but the general designation is , with the latter term also applied to or Eastern Ojibwe.Valentine, J. Randolph, 2001. Other local terms are listed in Ojibwe dialects. English terms include Ojibwe, with variants including Ojibwa and Ojibway.Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, p. 2. The related term Chippewa is more commonly employed in the United States and in southwestern Ontario among descendants of Ojibwe migrants from the United States.Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, pp. 3–4.
Relationship with Potawatomi Ojibwe and Potawatomi are frequently viewed as being more closely related to each other than to other Algonquian languages.Goddard, Ives, 1978, pp. 585–586; Valentine, J. Randolph, 1994, pp. 100–102. Ojibwe and Potawatomi have been proposed as likely candidates for forming a genetic subgroup within Proto-Algonquian, although the required research to ascertain the linguistic history and status of a hypothetical "Ojibwe–Potawatomi" subgroup has not yet been undertaken. A discussion of Algonquian family subgroups indicates that "Ojibwe–Potawatomi is another possibility that awaits investigation."Goddard, Ives, 1979, p. 95. In a proposed consensus classification of Algonquian languages, Goddard (1996) classifies Ojibwa and Potawatomi as "Ojibwayan", although no supporting evidence is adduced.Goddard, Ives, 1996, p. 4.
The Central languages share a significant number of common features. These features can generally be attributed to diffusion of features through borrowing: "Extensive lexical, phonological, and perhaps grammatical borrowing—the diffusion of elements and features across language boundaries—appears to have been the major factor in giving the languages in the area of the Upper Great Lakes their generally similar cast, and it has not been possible to find any shared innovations substantial enough to require the postulation of a genetically distinct Central Algonquian subgroup."
The possibility that the proposed genetic subgrouping of Ojibwa and Potawatomi can also be accounted for as diffusion has also been raised: "The putative Ojibwa–Potawatomi subgroup is similarly open to question, but cannot be evaluated without more information on Potawatomi dialects."Goddard, Ives, 1979, pp. 95–96.
History
Lingua franca
Several different Ojibwe dialects have functioned as a lingua franca or trade language in the circum–Great Lakes area, particularly in interactions with speakers of other Algonquian languages.Rhodes, Richard, 1982, p. 2. Documentation of such usage dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, but earlier use is likely, with reports as early as 1703 suggesting that Ojibwe was used by different groups from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to Lake Winnipeg, and from as far south as Ohio to Hudson Bay.Bakker, Peter and Anthony Grant, 1996, p. 1117.
Documentation from the 17th century indicates that the Wyandot language (also called Huron), one of the Iroquoian languages, was also used as a trade language east of the Great Lakes by speakers of the Nipissing and Algonquin dialects of Ojibwe, and also by other groups south of the Great Lakes, including the Winnebago and by a group of unknown affiliation identified only as "Assistaeronon". The political decline of the Hurons in the 18th century and the ascendancy of Ojibwe-speaking groups including the Ottawa led to the replacement of Huron as a lingua franca.Bakker, Peter and Anthony Grant, 1996, p. 1116.
In the area east of Georgian Bay, the Nipissing dialect was a trade language. In the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula, the area between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and along the north shore of Georgian Bay, the Ottawa dialect served as a trade language. In the area south of Lake Superior and west of Lake Michigan Southwestern Ojibwe was the trade language.Rhodes, Richard, 1982. A widespread pattern of asymmetrical bilingualism is found in the area south of the Great Lakes in which speakers of Potawatomi or Menominee, both Algonquian languages, also spoke Ojibwe, but Ojibwe speakers did not speak the other languages. It is known that some speakers of Menominee also speak Ojibwe and that the pattern persisted into the 20th century. Similarly, bilingualism in Ojibwe is still common among Potawatomis who speak Potawatomi.Rhodes, Richard, 1982, pp. 3–4.
Reports from traders and travellers as early as 1744 indicate that speakers of Menominee, another Algonquian language, used Ojibwe as a lingua franca. Other reports from the 18th century and the early 19th century indicate that speakers of the unrelated Siouan language Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) also used Ojibwe when dealing with Europeans and others.Nichols, John, 1995, p. 1. Other reports indicate that agents of the American government at Green Bay, Wisconsin, spoke Ojibwe in their interactions with Menominee, with other reports indicating that "the Chippewa, Menominee, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sac, and Fox tribes used Ojibwe in intertribal communication". Some reports indicate that farther west, speakers of non-Algonquian languages such as Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Iowa, and Pawnee spoke Ojibwe as an "acquired language".
U.S. government attempt to erase native language In the late 19th century, the American federal Native American boarding school initiative forced Native American children to attend government-run boarding schools in an attempt to "acculturate" them into American society. Often far from their home communities, these schools attempted to cut children's ties had to their native culture and limit their ability to visit home. Students were forced to speak English, cut their hair, dress in uniform, practice Christianity, and learn about European culture and history.
Although the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 mandated the phasing-out of the Native American boarding school program, youth were still sent to these institutions into the 1960s and '70s. Because children were forced to live away from their home communities, many never had the opportunity to hear and use their native language. This government assimilation effort caused widespread loss of language and culture among indigenous communities, including the Ojibwe people.
Language revitalization With the remaining population of native speakers declining as older generations pass away, many historians believe we are at a point in the language's history that will determine whether it proliferates or goes extinct. Ojibwe historian Anton Treuer estimates that there are about 1,000 Ojibwe speakers left in the United States, mostly in Minnesota's Red Lake Indian Reservation and in Mille Lacs region. Teacher of the language Keller Paap believes most fluent speakers in the United States are over 70 years old, limiting exposure to spoken Ojibwemowin in many communities.
Ojibwe educators and scholars across the region are working with elders who speak Ojibwemowin, known as the First Speakers, to document and learn the language in hopes to preserve it and pass it on to another generation. Treuer has been recording stories told by about 50 different Ojibwe elders in their native language to preserve both the language and pieces of knowledge and history. With his mentor, the Ponemah elder Eugene Stillday, he writes the recorded stories in both Ojibwe and translated English.
As of the late 2010s, there has been more of a push toward bringing the Ojibwe language back into more common use, through language classes and programs sponsored by universities, sometimes available to non-students, which are essential to passing on the Ojibwe language. These courses mainly target adults and young adults; however, there are many resources for all age groups, including online games which provide domains for online language use. In the 1980s, The Northern Native-Languages Project was introduced in Ontario to get Indigenous languages such as Ojibwe, to be taught in schools. Years later, the first curriculum was established for the program and it was known as Native Languages 1987. There has also been an increase in published children's literature. The increase in materials published in Ojibwe is essential to increasing the number of speakers. Language revitalization through Ojibwe frameworks also allows for cultural concepts to be conveyed through language.Noori, Margaret (2009). "Wenesh Waa Oshkii-Bmaadizijig Noondamowaad? What Will the Young Children Hear?" J. Reyhner and L. Lockhard (ed.). Indigenous Language Revitalization: Encouragement, Guidance, and Lessons Learned. pp. 11–22.