By Justin Neely, CPN Language Department Director
Bozho Jayek (Hello everyone),
We just wrapped up our six-week beginner course taught by Shelly Watson and our kids’ course at Citizen Place North taught by Josey Wood. We also taught a Lunch & Learn class for Tribal employees on Dec. 2 at the Cultural Heritage Center as well as an ongoing intermediate, on-site class we teach on Thursdays from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
I am extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of all my staff. When I think how little amount of time they have been with the department it’s kind of amazing and speaks volumes to their drive and desire to get better each day with the language. Josey Wood has been with the department almost two years, Cole Rattan a little over a year, Shelly not even a year.
On Wednesday Shelly, Cole and Josey all teach a class with the elders. This is an ongoing 52-week class, which pretty much just means we are there every Wednesday. The elders are a joy to work with. I believe my staff really enjoys the opportunity to share some of the language and culture with them. The elders are a very energetic and fun-loving group, so sometimes they will sing songs, tell stories or just teach them common phrases they can use with their families. They are a great model for our younger generations, and when families see their nokmes (grandmother) or mesho (grandfather) learning the language, I think it definitely lights a fire in that younger generation.
My staff truly amazes me. They are able to listen to me talk in Potawatomi and translate most of, if not everything, that I say. They are also getting really good at being able to answer me back when I ask any type of question. The one thing that I think really pushed their growth along fast was our eight-week summer immersion, which we plan on hosting again next year. Cole and Josey both participated in that program for two years and Shelly for one year. During that time, we work on the language for a total of 320 hours each summer. We have also had several Tribal members join us each year: some that just came the first year and then three who joined us for two summers. We anticipate having them join us again this summer. We are also expecting a few others to join us.
Another thing that has been very helpful is talking daily in the language. The more you use the language, the better you will get with it. One thing that students at home can try is recording themselves with their phones saying different phrases or words. This helps to get your mouth used to saying and vocalizing the language. Some of our words and combinations of consonants can be a little hard at first for those who speak English as their first language. You don’t have to share the recordings, but just forcing yourself daily or once a week to talk about what is going on in your life in the language will greatly help you.
Next month, we will be hosting our annual Winter Story Telling event from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Feb. 5 at the Cultural Heritage Center. During this event, we will share a number of winter stories that should only be told in the winter time.
We have lots of great tools available for you to access, including potawatomidictionary.com, our dictionary with almost 10,000 words with audio, and learning.potawatomi.org, our online self-paced course.
If you have any questions about upcoming community classes, email language@potawatomi.org.
Igwien (Thank you),
Justin