Dakota, Ojibwe speakers gather to strengthen Indigenous language efforts
More than 100 people attended the fifth annual Dakota and Ojibwe Language Symposium Feb 25-27 in Morton, Minnesota, to support language preservation efforts
More than 100 people gathered Feb. 25-27 at the fifth annual Dakota and Ojibwe Language Symposium in Morton, Minnesota, to discuss efforts to preserve and revive Indigenous languages, according to MPR News. The event was hosted by the Lower Sioux Indian Community at Jackpot Junction Casino and held in partnership with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council’s Language Revitalization Working Group and the Minnesota Humanities Center, MPR News reported.
MPR reported that Skyler Kuczaboski, grants administrative specialist for the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, said there are four first-language Dakota speakers left in Minnesota, all over age 68, and fewer than 1,000 first-language Ojibwe speakers statewide. “Language is a need. It is the central part of all of our community,” Vanessa Good Thunder of the Lower Sioux Indian Community was quoted as saying. Gimiwan Dustin Burnette of the Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network said preservation efforts require collective responsibility across communities.
- 1.Hannah Yang. MPR News. https://www.mprnews.org, .
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