For the third year in a row, the Potawatomi Language Department and our Monday adult class went Christmas caroling in Potawatomi. We do this every year and usually go to the Elders housing at Father Murphy and in Tecumseh. We always have a good time and also collect canned goods for those less fortunate. This year was the first that we had pretty good weather. We sang a collection of tunes including “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer”, “Let it snow”, “Silent Night”, “We wish you a Merry Christmas” and “Little Drummer Boy”. Migwetch to Randy and Sam and the class everyone sounded great.

On February 20 from 6-8 p.m. at the Cultural Heritage Center we will be hosting our annual Winter Story Telling event. Many of our traditional stories such as ones involving Wiske or Nanabozho the Trickster are only supposed to be told in the winter time. Some would even go as far as to say when snow is on the ground. But since we live in the South, it is often quite difficult to gauge when a snow will happen. This event is free and open to everyone. We will have refreshments and tell about 8-10 traditional stories. We hope you will come out and join us.

The Child Development Center again had their annual Christmas program. The kids in the daycare sang “Frosty the Snowman” in Potawatomi under the direction of Language instructor Randy Schlachtun. Every year the kids do a great job, and 2013 was no exception. We are very proud of the job Randy does with the kids in the Child Development Center. Migwetch Randy.

Very soon he will start getting the kids ready for the Native American Youth Language Fair at the University of Oklahoma. There are usually about 35 different tribes and languages represented here. Last year we took home a trophy and entered the kids in a couple different categories, the highlight being when our students acted out a video submission of the story “Turtle goes to War” in Potawatomi.

We just wrapped up our Beginner Classes and Conversational Potawatomi but will begin again in the New Year. We will start again on Monday, January 13 for the beginners from 5-6 p.m. and Thursday January 16 for the conversational class from 3:30-5 p.m. All take place at the CPN Cultural Heritage Center and there is no cost for the class, only a will to learn ones language.

We also are continuing on with our online classes which are currently on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. These classes are offered later so that folks who live outside of Oklahoma can join in. We hope those of you in the various districts will take advantage of this free opportunity to learn your language.

Anet Bodéwadmimwen

  • Wé ni je o kwe? Who is that woman? (Way knee juh oh kway)
  • Wé ni je o nene? Who is that man? (Way knee juh oh nuh nay)
  • Wé ni je o gigabe? Who is that boy? (Way knee juh oh geegahbay)
  • Wé ni je o gigyago? Who is that girl? (Way knee juh oh geeg yah go)
  • Ngwes yawe. He is my son.  ( ngwus yow way)
  • Ndanes yawe. She is my daughter. ( ndahn us yow way)
  • Nmeshomes yawe. He is my grandfather. (nmishoh mus yow way)
  • Nokmes yawe. She is my grandmother. (Noke mis yow way)