By Justin Neely, CPN Language Department Director
Ni je na ginwa (How are you all)?
We had an awesome turnout for our annual Winter Storytelling event. We had 70 people come to the Cultural Heritage Center to listen in person and another 100 or so join us online. Folks seemed to have a good time. Migwetch (thank you) to my staff, Shelly Watson and Josey Wood, who helped make the event a success. Online we had folks join us from all over the country and several from Canada. At least 17 states and three provinces in Canada joined us to listen to winter stories. All seemed to have a good time. Some comments we received were “Great visiting on Zoom — best CPN Winter Stories yet! It was very enjoyable! Great turnout with some good food! Migwetch ode mawjeshnowen (thank you for this gathering).”
We are in our second semester of high school courses. This semester we have students at Shawnee High School, North Rock Creek High School and Tecumseh High School. It’s awesome we are able to make the language available for students who would rather learn Potawatomi than Spanish or another language.
We are going to be starting a new six-week beginner class April 3-May 8 every Thursday. Shelly Watson, the newest member of our language team, will be teaching this class. This is Shelly’s third class. She has taught a beginner class on-site before, but this time she will be adding the online option so our people who live far away can join in. She also teaches a class every Wednesday for our elders at the Elders Center. We are proud of her accomplishments with the language and look forward to what the future holds. It will be from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Cultural Heritage Center and online. For more information email [email protected].
I will be teaching an online six-week conversational course. This will be Feb. 12-March 19 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Central Time. We have come to a point where many people are getting good at reading and writing our language. This class will be about getting used to hearing the language and then being able to reply back. We will start with basic everyday statements, but the goal is to get folks to start feeling comfortable enough to start talking. Being able to read and write is one thing, but we want people to feel comfortable talking and to get used to hearing the language. These are different skill sets.
Josey Wood is also working on a traditional story about Rabbit being arrogant. It’s a story which was first recorded in the 1940s by linguist Charles Hocket working with Jim and Alice Spear.
Remember learning the language doesn’t happen overnight; it may take a lifetime, each day working a little more. You can learn our language if you want to make it a priority. We have created a number of tools, such as our online dictionary at potawatomidictionary.com and online self-paced classes as well as real-time classes. When you are ready, we stand ready to help you connect more with your people through learning your language.