by Jessie Williams
During our time at the Biostation, we have worked to orient ourselves within the land on which we study, in order to understand both it and ourselves better. This cannot be done without acknowledging the presence and continued involvement of the original inhabitants of the Biostation land, the Cheboiganing or Burt Lake Band of Native Americans.
The Cheboiganing Band was originally promised 1,000 acres of reservation land by an 1836 treaty with the federal government. When the government did not deliver the land promised, the Cheboiganing Band purchased land on Burt Lake at what is now known as Indian Point or Colonial Point; the GLACE community refers to it as neyaashi, as this is the language the Cheboiganing people would have used for it. The land was stolen from them by a real estate developer in 1900, who collaborated with the local sheriff to burn down the village. The Burt Lake Band is currently trying to obtain federal tribal recognition status, which they have been denied in the past due to their lack of land ownership.
Through the assistance of Professor Margaret Noodin, we have developed an extremely basic understanding of Anishinaabemowin, the language spoken by the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. We were fortunate enough to have Margaret teach us how to introduce ourselves in Anishinaabemowin, which we then taught to other Biostation campers.
Here is the template for introductions that we followed when introducing ourselves.
For help with word pronunciations, please visit: http://ojibwe.net/lessons/beginner/the-sound-of-our-language/
Note: Spelling is variant in Anishinaabemowin, as can be pronunciation. The spellings and pronunciations given in this document are not necessarily “right;” however native people speak their own language is correct, and GLACE would never want this document to be used to correct Anishinaabemowin speakers.
To introduce yourself in Anishinaabemowin, begin with a greeting. You have two main options:
- Aanii, which translates closest to “hi”
- Boozhoo is an expression of commonality; it is said to those with whom you may share a cultural background and know the same stories. Boozhoo does not come from the French “bonjour,” contrary to assumptions. It comes from a character named Wena Boozhoo, a spirit of bad weather.
Then speak to your audience:
- Maamwinokiijig is a broad term for colleagues. We use this at the Biostation most often.
- Nindenewemeganag means relatives or family
- Niijiiyag means friends
Next, explain where you are from and what body of water or land you are connected to most closely:
- (your hometown) ind-onjiba besho (name of water/land) (kind of water/land).
- Ind-onjiba means “I originate,” and “besho” means “near.” You are literally saying, “I originate from (town), which is near (body of water/land).”
- You have many different options for expressing the body or land you are connected to:
- Ziibi: river
- Zaga’igan: lake
- Chigaming: sea
- Aki: a land mass
- For example, Ann Arbor ind-onjiba besho Huron Ziibi.
Repeat this last sentence, but explaining where you live now and the connected body of water/land.
- (town) in-daa besho (name of water/land) (kind of water/land)
- For example, if you were at the Biostation, Pellston in-daa besho Douglas zaga’igan.
Now, say your name:
- (your name) ind-izhinikaaz.
Lastly, introduce a group to which you belong. This can be a clan (as the Anishinaabeg introduce themselves with), a family name, college major, or community/identity:
- (your group) in-dibendaagoz.
To signify you’re finished talking:
Mii i’iw: that’s it / the end
Example:
- Aanii maamwinokijig. (Hi, friends.)
- Detroit ind-onjiba besho Clair Zaga’igan. (I originate from Detroit, near Lake St. Clair.)
- Pellston in-daa besho Douglas Zaga’igan. (I now live in Pellston, near Douglas Lake.)
- Jane Doe ind-izhinikaaz. (My name is Jane Doe.)
- GLACE in-dibendaagoz. (I belong to GLACE.)
- Mii i’iw. (That’s it.)
About Anishinaabemowin:
English is an extremely noun-based language, whereas Anishinaabemowin is verb-based. This relates to the concept in Anishinaabe culture of everything having agency, animate or inanimate. For example, one could not say “There is rain on your jacket” in Anishinaabemowin; it would translate closer to “It is rainy; you are wet.”
Verbs are modified in order to obtain different meanings. For example, from “debwe,” which relates to truth, here are a few different meanings just obtained from the conjugation:
- Debwemigad: “something is true”
- (Person) debwe: “(Person) is honest/truthful”
- Indebwetaan: “I believe a statement”
- Indebwemaa: “I believe (Person)”
Anishinaabemowin is an agglutinative language, meaning pieces of language are added onto words in order to describe them better. Therefore, words in Anishinaabemowin can be conglomerates of their attributes, as with the word for coffee, maakedemaashkikiwabo. Within this word, “maakede” means “black,” “maashkiki” means “medicine” (which further breaks down to “strength from the earth”), and “wabo” means “liquid.” To modify “coffee” to “espresso,” add the prefix that means “short” to get tkozimaakedemaashkikiwabo.
Though there are relatively few fluent speakers of Anishinaabemowin, many who do so are tribal elders. Bill Dunlop’s memoir The Indians of Hungry Hollow recounts how many were barred from speaking their language when they attended boarding schools. In talking with us, Margaret said that she disagreed with the usage of “colonization” to refer to what had been done by white people to suppress Native American culture and language. She says that as long as people still speak and teach the language, Native Americans were never fully colonized.
In terms of tribal power structure, Anishinaabe tribes were run through a form of collectivism, where giving had the most economic power and sway. The more someone gave, the more they were respected, and typically the chief or leader of a tribe was the one who lived by the humblest of means. The giving that was so paramount to their everyday lives was not limited to humans, as the Anishinaabeg thanked plants and animals for their use when they harvested them.
The Anishinaabeg also saw everything as something with wisdom to give, that could teach humans a lesson. Our most example of this was the back of a turtle, which had thirteen sections. These were used to denote the cycles of the moon, which were then used to teach about seasons, menstrual cycles, and farming. Farmers relied on this wisdom in order to harvest their crops, and had a division of labor for particular people watching particular crops.
Having grown up in Northern Michigan, we were never taught the cultural precepts of the Anishinaabeg people. We learned the names of tribes, some basic traditions, and visited a museum run by the Grand Traverse Band. I realize that though these attempts to acknowledge Native history were well-intentioned, they stopped at “history” and never went farther into “what can we learn.”
Our professor, Ingrid, said that “the best way to get away with murder is to convince people they were dead when you found them.” For too long, the attempted colonization of Native peoples has relied on the idea that tribes are a thing of the past (only “history”) and that Native American culture does not exist today. Those who write history have justified this imperialism by demoting rich cultures to primitivism in the common mind, and have ignored centuries of Native scientific practice.
After my time at the Biological Station, it could not be more apparent to me that Native American culture is alive and well; it is not only history, but should be modern-day practice. Through learning about the Burt Lake Band’s fight for tribehood, plus Anishinaabe scientific and moral teachings, I have come to realize that so many of the problems our culture faces today were once solved by Native American people. These solutions were only dismissed by imperialists aiming to destroy a culture, and actively including Anishinaabeg people in conversations would benefit every facet of life: conflict resolution, income inequality, access to healthcare, and countless others.