By MARISA LORANGER, Staff Reporter.
The Sasiwaans Immersion School in Mount Pleasant, Mich. is trying to bring back Michigan’s oldest language. The Anishinaabe language is the language of many tribes in Michigan. The
Anishinaabe language started being taught in tribal schools in 1996.
The Sasiwaans Immersion School has four classrooms that teach children from 14 months to Kindergarten, while the grades above that attend an academy or public school in the area. There are 10 kids in the toddler program and 15 in the older classes. 15 is the maximum number of children they allow in a classroom. The Sasiwaans Immersion school follows the Michigan early childhood development guidelines.
Angela Peters, Director of Language Revitalization of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, is trying to create programs for the language to be in the public school – more specifically with their after school programs.
“It’s who we are as a people,” Peters continued. “Language is our identity.”
The children have a high retention rate, if they stick with it. The youngest children at the school don’t speak English, they learn smudging, drumming, eating customs and discipline in their native culture. After only a few months, the children catch on.
Peters said, “The kids at this age are very perceptible to language and learning.”
The school has 25 staff members in total, and two fluent speakers are assigned to each classroom. They also have apprentices – the youngest being 22 and the oldest being 35 – that work in each classroom and they too learn the language by being in the class. Some are parents or grandparents of the children. Some of them also have children of their own that went through the program.
Isabelle Osawamick, the Outreach Language Specialist, works with the community and parents. She offers classes, outreach programs and she goes around as a guest to other schools in the area.
“The language is very descriptive and we use our hands a lot,” Osawamick said. “The language depends on the situation. The same word can mean a different thing, depending on usage. Words are dependent on each other to convey a feeling.”
The tribe also conducts adult language classes, and language classes are offered to older students as part of the curriculum in the tribal school. Adult helpers in the preschool also are learning the language themselves.
“9-18 months is the perfect time to learn the language,” said Osawamick.
The once vanishing language will be around for generations to come if Peters and Osawamick continue put forth effort into educating their community.
The Saginaw Chippewa tribe has about 3,700 members today and their language is an important factor to keeping their traditions alive.
