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Cultural Heritage

5 Years, 5 Moments to Celebrate

June 13, 2023

Pimachiowin Aki was inscribed on the World Heritage List on July 1, 2018 during the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee in Manama, Bahrain. 

It has been an exciting five years since Pimachiowin Aki became Canada’s first mixed UNESCO World Heritage site. With so many incredible moments to choose from, it was difficult to decide which ones to celebrate with you today. We are humbled and proud to share these highlights:

1. Guardians Network is established

When Pimachiowin Aki launched its Guardians Network in 2018, we had no idea how quickly the program and Guardians’ capacity would grow. In addition to monitoring the lands and waters of Pimachiowin Aki, Guardians have documented and shared customary laws, recorded place names, collaborated with researchers, operated drones, spoken at conferences, conducted bird surveys and recorded bird songs, harvested food for Elders, taken youth on land-based learning trips, and more. We thank you for your care of people and places, for connecting with the land and each other, and for sharing your knowledge and skills. You have strengthened our communities and are a gift to us all.

Pimachiowin Aki Corporation was one of 28 successful applicants in Canada for the early round of funding from the Environment and Climate Change Canada Indigenous Guardians Pilot Program in 2018. The program has since secured annual funding and established the Pimachiowin Aki Guardians Fund to carry it into the future.

2. The World Visits pimaki.ca 

World Heritage status creates a tremendous opportunity to enhance understanding of Pimachiowin Aki’s cultural and natural values and share these values with the world. Since the launch of our newly designed and reprogrammed website, Pimachiowin Aki has been sharing information about The Land that Gives Life with people from around the globe. The new website has received many positive reviews, including praise for the amount and quality of information and how easy it is for people to find what they’re looking for.


The website even caught the eye of Dr. Gemma Faith, who, at the time, was a PhD researcher at Ulster University in Northern Ireland. Gemma made Pimachiowin Aki the focus of her research, which won an Outstanding PhD Thesis award. Gemma’s thesis explored how pimaki.ca communicates the unique bond that Anishinaabeg have with the land to people around the world.

3. The Pimachiowin Aki Endowment Fund Hit $5 Million

For the first time since it was established in 2010, the fund reached its highest-ever value of $5 million last year. Thank you to our generous donors who have helped us reach this milestone. Your donations help grow the fund, which is held at The Winnipeg Foundation. Annual revenue from the fund helps Pimachiowin Aki operate the Guardians Network, create and support cultural heritage education and Indigenous knowledge programs, provide training and capacity-building, and lead and support research to ensure that the world understands and respects this special place and all who live here.

Pimachiowin Aki is a small not-for-profit charitable organization with big ideas, and a mission to safeguard Pimachiowin Aki for the well-being of Anishinaabeg and the world, forever.

4. We Built a Digital Library

Along the journey to becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site, we acquired over 12 thousand photos of the people and places of Pimachiowin Aki. For over two decades, people involved in the project have been documenting their experiences and sharing photos – from large community gatherings to wildlife sightings to touring UNESCO representatives on evaluation missions across the waters of Pimachiowin Aki. Many of the photos you see in our communications date back to this time. 

Today, these photos, along with a vast amount of information and data collected for First Nations’ land use planning and the World Heritage site nomination, are neatly accredited and organized into folders in the Pimachiowin Aki digital library. The library continually grows as Guardians, community members, professional photographers, researchers and visitors share photos and information with us. 

The Pimachiowin Aki library is an important achievement as it provides a fuller picture of the World Heritage site and offers layers and layers of information. Each time Pimachiowin Aki creates a map, such as place names maps, more detail and meaning is added from our library.

The extensive library also provides local teachers with valuable information as they incorporate the cultural, natural and educational values of Pimachiowin Aki into their curricula. 

5. We Published Bilingual Anishinaabemowin/English Books

In partnership with Manitoba Museum, we contributed research and expertise developed during First Nations’ land use planning and the World Heritage site bid to create resources for schools in the Pimachiowin Aki communities. 

The project is coming to completion, and five books will soon be delivered to all schools in Pimachiowin Aki, and potentially to every school in Manitoba. The books will be also available for purchase at Manitoba Museum. The books are:

  • Omazinaakizonan Mishibaawitigong | Photos From Little Grand Rapids
  • Gikino’amaagedaa Anishinaabemowin | Let’s Teach the Ojibwe Language
  • Onji’aawasowinan | “do’s and don’ts“ Traditional Anishinaabe Teachings (colouring book)
  • Azauuwiziibing Gaa-nitaawigigin | Poplar River Anishinaabe Plant Guide
  • Obaawingaashiing Aabijichiganan | Pauingassi Collection

Thank you to our two special donors whose generosity helped to finish this project. 

This is what the children should be taught. That they should never forget their Anishinaabe language, the way the language was spoken long ago.

OMISHOOSH (ELDER CHARLIE GEORGE OWEN), PAUINGASSI FIRST NATION 

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Language, Uncategorised, UNESCO World Heritage Tagged With: Anishinaabemowin, guardians

A Wiindigoo Story With a Meaningful Lesson

March 21, 2023

Thank you to Clinton Keeper (storyteller) and Emily Thomson (transcriber)

Clinton Keeper shares this story told to him by his grandmother, Maggie Duck (Nenawan), who was told this story by her father, John Duck (Mahkoocens)

Maggie Duck (Nenawan)
Photo: American Philosophical Society (Hallowell Collection)
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is A182-crop-1024x1018.jpg
John Duck (Mahkoocens)
Photo: American Philosophical Society (Hallowell Collection)

It was a long time ago. There was a village. In that village, there was an orphan boy who had lost his parents and siblings, and all he had was his grandmother. Back in that day, you’d say they were one the poorest in the village. They lived on the outskirts of the village. They called that boy Waakeygan.

The kids would ask that boy if he wanted to play – he had no friends – but they just did that so they could pick on him. They would invite him to go play with them along the fire, but they would heat up these willow sticks, poke his legs, and hurt him. He was lonely and had nobody else to play with.

Later on, a Council of Elders and Medicine Men and Chief heard something was coming for them: it was Wiindigoo.

They heard through a ceremony that the Wiindigoo was going from village to village eating people. Wiindigoo is a spirit, a cannibal.

So those old people got together in the Chief’s lodge and wigwam, passing their pipe around… who’s going to challenge the Wiindigoo that’s coming? Every Shaman that sat around the fire didn’t have the gift to challenge the spirit, this being that was coming towards them. Finally, one of the old men said, “Somebody must know something. Somebody must have a gift. There has to be. We cannot just perish like that.”

As they were smoking there, one of the Elders spoke. “There’s a boy in this village, who is without parents and lives alone with his grandmother. Seek him out.”

So in the meantime, Waakeygan was with his grandmother in their wigwam and that old lady was working on tending to his wounds where those kids put those willow sticks on his legs. She was cleaning his wounds, and as that boy was sitting there, he told his grandma, “Hurry up. Wrap up my legs; they’re coming for me.”

He just knew something.

The old lady put medicine on his leg, wrapped it, and sure enough – the young braves opened the wigwam door and then they said, “You’re wanted. The Council of Elders wants to meet you, and the Chief.”

And he said, “I know.” The boy went with them; told his grandmother not to be scared.

So he went to go see them. And then, as soon as he walked in, before anyone could say anything, the young boy spoke. He says, “Move the village. You go down west. You will come across a lake and you’ll stay there. No matter what you hear, do not come to the east. Tell everybody I will come.”

Photo: Hidehiro Otkae

So that morning, they dismantled the whole camp and they all moved west. The boy took off in the opposite direction, to the east, to meet this spirit or entity. When he got there, he got to a big lake and he went to the centre of that lake and he stood right there, and he could feel the cold, cold breeze coming. It was bone-chilling cold there. And then when he looked across, he could see trees swaying in the distance – something big is in that forest.

He could see snow falling off the trees. Then all of a sudden, he sees something coming out of the bush and onto the lake. It was massive; it was as tall as those trees. So that boy, he stood there. He stood his ground on the ice facing that thing that’s coming.

And then that thing, Wiindigoo, yelled. He looked up at the sky, and he yelled a loud cry. Wiindigoo just got big.

Photo: Hidehiro Otkae

That boy yelled out a big war cry, and the little boy just got big; even bigger than Wiindigoo.

Then Wiindigoo did the same thing again; he just got bigger and bigger. Then the boy did the same. He got bigger and bigger. They did this a few times until they were really, really big.

And then, they started fighting. All of a sudden, that boy grabbed Wiindigoo and threw him on the ice. Have you ever heard a rock being dropped on a fresh lake and dooo (reverb sound). That sound. You just hear that. Where that village was, where they were camping, where they moved, they could just hear the sound of the ice and they could hear that sound, like thunder.

They were saying, “Oh, my, they’re fighting already.” They could feel the ground vibrating off and on. They see light sparks in the east. Then all of a sudden, it went quiet.

So those old people, those Council of Elders were sitting around a fire in the Chief’s wigwam. They were smoking their pipe and then all of a sudden, they heard a big thump right outside the wigwam.

Photo: Hidehiro Otake

They opened the door and there was a big giant toe outside. That boy was standing right there beside that big giant toe. That was Wiindigoo’s toe.

He had natural gifts, that kid; spirits that watched over him. He become a great warrior for his people.

This is the story that was told to me by Maggie Duck. This is the way I tell it, how it was told to me. It is important to keep the story in its original form.

The lesson of the story

What I learned from there is to respect people no matter who they are, no matter how small they are. You know? We don’t know what watches over people. That’s why it’s always important to respect people when you meet them because you don’t know what carries them or what watches over them. It’s not the person that you offend. That person may forgive you but the one that’s watching over that person may not forgive you. That’s why it’s important that we always talk polite to people. Even when we travel, we always travel with tobacco and offerings out of respect.

Feature Photo: Hidehiro Otake

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Traditional Story, Uncategorised Tagged With: Legends, Lessons, Spirit, Wiindigo

How to Prepare Meat for Smoking

March 21, 2023

By Naomi Moar, Little Grand Rapids First Nation

Preparing meat for smoking takes days. After the quarters are prepared and cut up, and undesired pieces are cut off, the meat has lost approximately 1/4 of its weight. All the sinew and fat are cut away.

Cutting the Meat

Each chuck is cut down the middle and then along the ‘bottom’ to create a 1/8 inch thick slice. As you cut along the bottom, you are unfolding the meat to prepare a long piece for smoking.

Depending on how many sticks you have made for the smoke shack (I usually make five), you can smoke a whole hind quarter in about six hours depending on the thickness of your cut.

Naomi Moar, Little Grand Rapids First Nation

The smoke shack

This is where you will hang your meat. The smoke shack is made of red willow (after it turns white) for the frame and cooking rods.

The wood, fire and time

The wood to burn is poplar. The fire cannot be too high otherwise the meat will burn. Because we are removing the moisture from the meat, the session should take about six hours at a low burn.

Because of the cost of fire-retardant canvas, I have yet to procure one.

Everything I have learned, I learned from my grandmother.

Photos: Naomi Moar

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, First Nation Communities, Food, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Uncategorised Tagged With: harvesting, Little Grand Rapids First Nation, smoking meat, Traditional Foods

Return of Anishinaabe Artefacts

September 16, 2022

The ceremonial objects in the Pauingassi collection were photographed in use in 1932 by American anthropologist A. Irving Hallowell. In 1970, they were gathered up by another anthropologist, Dr. Jack Steinbring of the University of Winnipeg, who placed them in the University’s Anthropology Lab and promised to keep them safe.

(The late) Omishoosh said that objects in the Pauingassi collection should not be asked to do their former work—they should be used for teaching.

When it was discovered that artefacts were missing from Pauingassi, my husband, (the late) Nelson Owen spoke with his grandfather (the late) Omishoosh on a number of occasions and felt there was a great need to protect and recover what had been taken. We contacted the newspaper that ran the article about the disappearance of the artefacts and they put us in touch with Dr. Jennifer Brown and Dr. Maureen Matthews. Then we began our quest to retrieve the artefacts and get them under community control.

Nelson consulted with the heads of all 25 families in Pauingassi and with their agreement, requested that the collection be repatriated to the community with our family as guardians, not owners. It took many years to complete the repatriation after our initial request in 1998. The collection is now cared for at Manitoba Museum and we are confident that the artefacts are in a safe place, although a number are still missing. On this journey of recovery, we have taken up the mantle of guardians so that our children and all children of Pauingassi will have a chance to learn from these storied objects and understand the role they played as Omishoosh wished.

The artefacts range in age from 50-200 years old. They are unique and unusual in design and reveal important ideas about Anishinaabe culture. If I were to show the collection to someone and point out the two pieces that speak to me, it would be Omishoosh’s embroidered apishtaagan (chest protector) and the wawezhi’on (dance cape) that belonged to Koowin.

Learn more in Obaawingaashing Gichi-Aabijitaawinan | Pauingassi Collection, a book about the Anishinaabe ceremonial artefacts and community collections. You can donate to Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Fund to receive a copy. Visit the Shop page for details.

Dr. Matthews, Joshua, and I are planning to develop an exhibit with the existing artefacts as well as search for and bring home to the collection any pieces that were moved from Manitoba.

The most significant pieces I would say are the drums. They carry a great deal of knowledge and are highly respected for their role in the ceremonies of the people of Pauingassi First Nation. Fortunately, we have pictures of the owners, stories about their use, and the artefacts themselves, which is rare.

—Elaine and Joshua Owen, Guardians

Obaawingaashing Gichi-Aabijitaawinan | Pauingassi Collection

216 pages
Please donate to receive your copy

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Filed Under: Artefacts, Cultural Heritage, Uncategorised Tagged With: Pauingassi First Nation

21 Artefacts, Explained

September 16, 2022

Pauingassi First Nation is proud of its collection of over 200 artefacts, which is cared for by Manitoba Museum in its Sacred Storage area and viewed only on rare and special occasions.

Dr. Maureen Mathews worked with Elders in the community to understand the history of the artefacts and their relationship to each other. As Curator of Cultural Anthropology at the museum, she works with community Guardians to ensure the artefacts’ safe-keeping.

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, we asked special permission to share photographs of 21 artefacts. Some artefacts were used in two important ceremonies:

  • Waabano, an Anishinaabe social dance in the Pauingassi area
  • Boodaade, a dream dance which originated in Pauingassi
Waabanoowigamig, the ceremonial lodge in Pauingassi where Waabano ceremonies took place.
Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection
Naamiwan (Fair Wind) was a famous Ogichidaa, a widely respected healer and leader of ceremonies in Pauingassi.
Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

Learn more in Obaawingaashing Gichi-Aabijitaawinan | Pauingassi Collection, a book about the Anishinaabe ceremonial artefacts and community collections. You can donate to Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Fund to receive a copy. Visit the Shop page for details.

1. Naamiwan’s water drum

2. Naamiwan’s dewe’iganaatig (drumstick)

3. Naamiwan’s mitigwakik (metal rattle)

These powerful objects are Naamiwan’s personal water drum, drumstick, and metal rattle. He used this drum in his Midewiwin practice and played it during sweat lodges and Waabano ceremonies. Naamiwan was assisted in his practice by the drum and drumstick who also called upon his small drum-shaped rattles (below) for healing. As wiikaanag (ritual brothers) these ceremonial objects once helped save the life of Naamiwan’s grandson Omishoosh Owen.

Naamiwan sits in front of his waabanowigamig with his wife Koowin Owen. You can see his water drum, drumstick and metal rattle. Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

4. Naamiwan’s zhiishiigwanag (rattles)

Naamiwan used these rattles—one with a sucking tube and another with ribbon—to invoke a state of being called gwiingwa’age (a wolverine). He tapped the rattle on his chest while singing, and in the persona of a wolverine, was sometimes able to travel to the land of the dead to bring people back.

5. Naamiwan’s Boodaade (dream drum)

Naamiwan’s Boodaade (dream drum), 1932, with Naamiwan’s three nephews at Poplar Hill, Ontario. The drum, built in about 1915, was still in use in the 1940s. Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

This drum was named Gibaabaanaan and a brother drum made some years later was called Gaa-gizhewaadizid (the Gracious One). At a site near present-day Pauingassi First Nation, renowned medicine man Naamiwan (Fairwind) had a dream to make Gibaabaanaan, the drum that you see here. This healing drum cured many people. The drum was also used to communicate with the dead and guide souls safely along the flower-lined path to the land of the dead—the land of summer birds.  

6. Boodaade baagaamaaganan (drumsticks)

Angus Owen. Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

These drumsticks are made specifically for use with the Boodaade drum and are shaped to reflect the Anishinaaabe war club, hence the alternated name, bekwaag dewe’iganaatig.

The drumstick in the middle belonged to Naamiwan’s eldest son Angus Owen who was leading ceremonies in Pauingassi by the 1940s. Omishoosh remembers being present when Angus Owen made this drumstick.

Ogichidaag (warriors) and Ogichidaakweg (grand warrior women) who conducted Waabano, Boodade, and other ceremonies in Pauingassi.
Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

7. Wawezhi’onan (dance capes)

Circular red plaid dance cape with red wing blackbird wings and tinklers
Wawezhi’on worn by Naamiwan’s wife Koowin Owen, leader of the Ogichidaakweg in 1933.

Ogichidaakweg (grand warrior women) wore dance capes in the Boodade ceremony. The capes were part of Naamiwan’s dream and made by women in the community who participated in the ceremony. In this ceremony, Ogichidaakweg led the dance, coming first into the Boodaadewigamig (round ceremonial lodge).   

One of two Boodaadewigamig lodges where Naamiwan’s Boodade ceremonies took place. Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

8. Gijipizon (belt)

The bandolier-style belt with gaanda’igwaasonag (thimbles) tinkled as Oshkaabewisag (apprentices) danced in Waabano and Boodade ceremonies. This piece has beautiful silk button-hole stitch embroidery.

9. Apishtaagan (chest protector)

Worn under the shirt as a chest protector, this piece is part of the regalia Omishoosh wore in ceremonies. The embroidered design inside the circle is called Gaagige Anang (the Forever Star). It is a representation of the Star spirit, the one who visits you in dreams.

Oshkaabewisag (apprentices) and Oshkaabewisikweg (women apprentices) who assisted with the Waabano, Boodade, and other ceremonies in Pauingassi. 1933. You can see two men wearing the gijipizon (bandolier-style belt) and a woman with the Gaagige Anang (Forever Star) embroidered on her dance cape. Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

10. Zhiishiigwanag (rattles)

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These rattles were used in Boodade ceremonies. You can see them in the hands of apprentices in the photo above.

11. Odaminowinan (counting sticks)

These are used for scoring in the moccasin game makizinataagewin, a lively gambling game played by both Anishinaabe and Cree.

12. Odaminwaagan/Nabawaaganag (cup and pin game)

This hand-eye coordination game is made of hide, a piece of stiff metal wire and ankle bones of a caribou. The player swings the bones and leather tail and scores points when they catch particular bones or put the wire through holes in the leather tail. The game is played by children and adults. It is usually played only in winter. The game seen here was made by Miskwaa’o Owen for Omishoosh when he was a child in the 1920s or 30s.

13. Aagimag (snowshoes)

Anishinaabeg used snowshoes in winter to travel to hunting grounds and around traplines.  They carved and bent poplar or birch to make the frames. These snowshoes were made by Sugashki Strang of Pauingassi for his own use in the 1960s.

14. Aagim zhaaboniganan (snowshoe needles)

Anishinaabeg laced shoeshoes with rawhide using snowshoe needles. The top snowshoe needle was made by James Owen.

15. Netting shuttles  

These netting shuttles for making fishnets are made of poplar or birch and finely carved. Fish nets were made out of twisted fibre made with nettles or other fibrous plants. The size of the shuttle sets the size of the net. Anishinaabeg made fine-mesh seine nets, which were used in spring at a weir to scoop fish out of the river. In fall, they made gill nets, which catch fish in deeper water at the mouths of rivers as the fish prepare to spawn just before freeze-up. The smallest shuttles are about seven centimetres high and the biggest are about 30 centimetres high.

The netting shuttle on the left was made by Fred Owen in the 1950s.

16. Waaboose saykun (rabbit fur blanket)

This rabbit fur blanket is made up of about 300 rabbit pelts. It is about the size of an adult sleeping bag and incredibly warm. It is made using a netting technique on a portable loom. This blanket was made by Augusta Owen in the 1960s.

Zhoowaab Keeper in 1932, making a rabbit fur blanket on a loom. Blankets and garments, especially for children, were made using this technique. Photo: A-160, American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

17. Gwaaba’igan(ag) (ice scoop or dipper)

When you collect water in winter from a hole in the ice, this scoop is used to move pieces of ice out of the way so that your bucket will have water and not ice in it.

18. Spoon (emikwan)

This hand-carved spoon is large, bigger than salad servers, and was used to stir and serve soup and stew. It may also have had a ceremonial role. Spoons tend to be owned and used exclusively by one person. The same is true of drinking cups.

19. Mikingan(an) (hide scrapers)

Moose hide scrapers are used to remove flesh and hair from moose hide. The ones on the left have a metal blade and the ones on the right are made of a sharpened moose or caribou shin bones.

Mikingan made by Jamie Crow (left) and St. John Owen.

20. Dikinaagan (cradle board)

Cradle boards were made by the family for the baby. The father usually made the wooden backboard and frame for the bumper and the mother made and decorated the mossbag into which the child was laced. Women in Pauingassi favour bright plaids for these mossbags and sometimes they are elaborately embroidered. The dikinaagan pictured here was made by William Baptiste in 1958.

Maadoz, (William Owen, grandson of Naamiwan), wife Aanang and their baby in a dikinaagan with a small drum and drumstick, 1933. Photo: American Philosophical Society, Hallowell Collection

21. Minjikaawanag (gauntlets)

These are children’s gauntlet mittens with beautiful beading. They are made of smoked, brain-tanned moosehide by Mary Crow of Pauingassi in 1970. 

Obaawingaashing Gichi-Aabijitaawinan | Pauingassi Collection

216 pages
Please donate to receive your copy

Shop

Filed Under: Artefacts, Cultural Heritage, Uncategorised Tagged With: cultural heritage, Pauingassi First Nation

How to Pronounce Common Anishinaabemowin Words

September 28, 2021

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

Gizhe Manidoo lowered nitam anishinaabe (first human) to Earth and gave him the responsibility to name everything in existence. This is how Anishinaabemowin was born.

Over 80 percent of people in Pimachiowin Aki speak the ancient Ojibwe language Anishinaabemowin. Each community has its own dialect. Pimachiowin Aki Guardian Melba Green helped us create this series of language videos so that you can hear how we say common Aninishinaabemowin words in Bloodvein River First Nation.

Anishinaabemowin is often the first language children learn to speak. 

Anishinaabemowin is the primary language we speak at home and work. Children and youth learn this vibrant language in school every day.

Learn how to say the days of the week 

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Hear words related to family

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The survival of Anishinaabemowin is directly related to the survival of Anishinaabe identity and culture.

We are tied to our language the same way we are tied to the land. Anishinaabemowin expresses our heritage, values and culture. We use it in traditional ceremonies, and in stories and songs passed down through generations. It is our unique way of understanding the world. 

Hear words related to our cultural heritage

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Anishinaabemowin reflects how land and animals are understood. 

For millennia, our ancestors have spoken Anishinaabemowin to pass down traditional knowledge such as when to plant and harvest, how to spot seasonal changes, and where to track migration of geese and woodland caribou. Our language holds our knowledge of the environment. Therefore, preserving our language means preserving the land.

The world’s languages and animal species have both declined by about 30% since 1970. Some conservationists and climate scientists believe the key to protecting endangered plants and animals may lie in efforts to preserve Indigenous languages.

cbc.ca, The Current

Learn how to say the four seasons

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Hear words related to plants that grow in Pimachiowin Aki

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Learn words for wildlife that lives in Pimachiowin Aki

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The hereditary transmission of culture is mediated not by passing DNA from parent to offspring, but by one individual learning something from another, and this transmission is greatly facilitated and accelerated by means of language.

Biocultural Diversity, Threatened species, endangered languages
Pimachiowin Aki Guardian Melba Green, Bloodvein River First Nation

Miigwech to Pimachiowin Aki Guardian Melba Green for providing the voice-overs.

From friendly insults to words spoken in spring…  

Listen to the mother and son language podcast exploring lessons in Anishinaabemowin, featuring Sophia and Paul Rabliauskas of Poplar River First Nation:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/paul-sophia-rabliauskas-anishinaabemowin-1.5919310

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 Sources
https://www.cbc.ca/originalvoices/language/anishinaabemowin/
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/back-to-the-land-preserving-indigenous-language-1.6152854
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/anishinaabemowin-ojibwe-language
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291352235_Biocultural_Diversity_threatened_species_endangered_languages

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, First Nation Communities, Indigenous Language Tagged With: Anishinaabemowin, Bloodvein River First Nation, guardians

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