Jottings from Janis: Winter nights are made for storytelling

Last weekend, as they've done for more generations than there are records, Ojibwe descendents gathered for aadizookeng - wintertime storytelling which can be told only at night when there is snow on the ground.

The fifth annual Ojibwe Language Symposium at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College attracted close to 200 participants from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, and Canada Feb. 2-4.

Arne and Ivy Vainio shared my table during the feast. They said conferences like this one are important because they bring the community together to learn the stories of our people.

"Hearing the language is learning the language, especially for those of us that are beginners," Ivy said. "Hearing the stories told in Ojibwe brings us closer to our ancestors. My great-grandmother Frances was the last fluent speaker in my family. Being at conferences like this one, I always think of her."

There was something for everyone in the family-oriented, collaborative, community event where language holders and learners came together to experience the joy of a community event that celebrates our unique Ojibwe language and cultural practices. The place was packed with happy people.

I had the opportunity to visit several workshops, talk to people, and partake in the delicious feast foods, such as hominy with moose meat stew, , provided by the community on Friday night. During the Living Legends storytelling session that followed the feast on Friday, we enjoyed the words and antics of Nibaa-Gaabaw (David "Niib" Aubid), renowned storyteller from East Lake. To me, the most memorable part of his storytelling was when he held up one finger and said, "The most important thing for you to remember is one thing." I waited. "Don't ever give up," he concluded. Words of hope.

Multiple mediums

In addition to aadizookeng, there were two strands of workshops offered: emergent and immersion style.

Emergent workshops are bilingual. At this symposium there were Ojibwe games designed to allow participants to learn and practice new words, and there were three workshops centered on the use of digital media to create new interactive Ojibwe curriculum.

Valerie Barber presented "Ginny, 'a'aw ajidamoo-kwesens-ish: The story of a naughty girl-squirrel" performed by Lightbox Puppets. Ginny Krizan and her son, Archer, acted as the puppeteers while Barber told the stories. Another popular workshop was "Reclaim! The Ojibwemowin point and click adventure game." The session was an interactive playtest. Presenters Waabishkiimiigwan (Mary Hermes) and Anangokwe Hermes-Roach hope workshop participants will want to continue to play test versions of the Ojibwemowin (Ojibwe language) teaching software and audition to become Ojibwemowin voice actors.

A third media-based workshop was presented by Niigaanii-Animikii Inini (Kalvin Hartwig) of the Endangered Language Alliance. An independent film producer, Hartwig is also the Anishinaabe language-culture coordinator for the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. His team's award-winning short film on language and identity, "This Is Who I Am," has been used as a teaching tool across Turtle Island (any space occupied by indigenous people). One interesting aspect of the film is that part of the film is in eastern Ojibwe dialect with English subtitles. This aspect gives students who have studied southwestern Ojibwe dialect common to Minnesota an opportunity to pick out differences and similarities between the dialects.

Molding an image

Children listened attentively to the bilingual presentations and one young man - 12-year-old Waaseyaa Hendrickson - busied himself making clay figures while he listened. I wondered whether the figures he created stood for any of the characters in the stories that were being told.

"I like listening to the stories. The presenter, Migizi talked about how he learned to aadizooke from his teachers," he said of presenter Michael D. Sullivan. "He also talked about his family history and how his grandma had alcohol problems that she overcame, and after that she adopted kids and helped them learn."

I was frankly amazed at the information he absorbed while he worked on his air-dry clay figures. Hendrickson is a member of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa located in the town of Nashville, in Forest County, Wisconsin. He came to Cloquet with his father, Zak Mitteness, a leader in Ojibwe-speaking traditional practices community in Minnesota.

Fun and games

Finally, the Saturday night social time with a game of Baaga'adowewin (a forefather of lacrosse) for all ages was an invigorating activity for everyone. There were three games: women first, then children, then men. Conference participants donated gifts. Dr. Arne Vainio donated a stethoscope he had worn during the Covid pandemic as he cared for his patients. He explained the significance of his donated item as a symbol of his gratitude for the survival of our people. His donation was the first item selected from the blanket.

As winners chose a gift from the gift blanket for their scores, they awarded their chosen gift to someone in the audience. I saw one winner give his loaf of bread to a woman with a child. One of the girls gave her gift to another girl. And I was very honored when Naawakwe (William Howes III), one of the conference organizers, selected a ceramic frog and gave it to me, saying "You wrote a story about a frog, didn't you? Well, here's your frog."

I cradled the frog gently, saying "Howa, miigwech Naawakwe!" I have the frog on my shelf to remind me of the goodness of our people and our way of life.

When the conference comes around again next February, if you want to learn more about your indigenous neighbors, come and join us.

Ozhaawashkogiizhigokwe Janis A. Fairbanks is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior and is an Ojibwe Cultural Consultant specializing in the history, language, literature and culture of the Great Lakes Ojibwe. She holds a Ph.D. in American Studies and served as the inaugural Anishinaabemowin coordinator for Fond du Lac's Ojibwe language program, where she is now the chair of the language advisory board. She also does accounting for Pine Knot News. Contact her at [email protected]