Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales and Oral Histories

Collins Oakgrove

Collins Oakgrove 166 167 Collins Oakgrove (b. 1944), whose Indian name is Zhaawanoowinini (Man of the South), is one of Red Lake Reservation’s strongest Ojibwe language advocates. He was born in a house at the reservation community of Redby and spent most of his formative years in the RedbyPonemah area. Similar to the experience of most of his peers, Collins’s parents and grandparents spoke Ojibwe to him from birth, and that was his first language. In his teens, Collins went to school for a time in Santa Fe and in Minneapolis. His experiences in these locations gave him an early understanding of the special gifts he had received through his traditional upbringing at Red Lake. They also inspired him to spend most of his adult life involved in efforts to revitalize the Ojibwe language. Collins was drawn to Minneapolis in his early adulthood because he felt his best job prospects lay in the city. He knew that a significant percentage of the Red Lake Indian population lived there as well, and he had something to offer them and all Anishinaabe people. He worked for nearly fifteen years in the Minneapolis school districts, teaching Ojibwe language, culture, and history. Eventually, he was persuaded to accept a position at the University of Minnesota and to apply his talents and knowledge to the education of adults, which he did for another fifteen years. During those thirty years in Minneapolis, Collins acquired many friends and had hundreds of students pass through his classrooms. His reputation as a fine teacher and comedic storyteller strengthened with each successive wave of students. c o l l i n s o a kg rov e 168 Collins loved his work and his growing family in the city, but other passions attracted him as well. He longed for the woods of his childhood and the sense of cultural solidarity at Red Lake. He had given thirty years to Ojibwe language and community work for Indians in Minneapolis, and he realized that his knowledge could also be well applied at Red Lake. In 1996 he returned to the reservation and took a job at the neighboring town of Bemidji, again teaching Ojibwe language. In addition to teaching, he tutored and coached the American Indian Knowledge Bowl team. This recently developed competition has achieved great popularity among many Minnesotan schools with signi ficant native populations. Students compete in knowledge of Ojibwe language, American Indian history, and geography. Collins’s team won two consecutive Knowledge Bowls, in large part on the strength of their knowledge of Ojibwe words and phrases. Collins eventually left Bemidji to work more directly with reservation youth in the Red Lake School System. There, too, he has continued to promote Ojibwe language education and to stress the importance of bilingual learning and living. He has most recently been active in efforts to acquire funds for the construction and operation of a charter school on the reservation, a school that would function with a strong focus on bilingual education. Despite the many years Collins has devoted to Ojibwe language education efforts, he shows no signs of slowing down. According to Collins, “There is just too much work to be done.” c o l l i n s o a kg rov e 169 Zhaawanoowinini Indizhinikaaz [1] Zhaawanoowinini indizhinikaaz, miinawaa dash a’aw ogiishkimanisii indoodem. Imaa wenjibaayaan, imaa Miskwaagamiwi-zaaga’iganiing, mii wenjiiwaad ingitiziimag apane. Miinawaa dash a’aw nimaamaayiban, onow odoodeman migiziwan. Ganabaj a’aw nimishoomisiban Zhaaganaashiiwakiing gii-onjibaa. Gii-pi-izhaa omaa. Aabiding igo ogii-mawidisaan onow ikwewan imaa Obaashiing. Mii gaa-ikidowaad ingitiziimag apane. [2] Aan noongom niwii-aadizooke. Geyaabi biboonagad gomaa noongom. Mii dash noongom, mii wenji-izhichigewaad anishinaabegoban. Anishinaabeg aadizookewag megwaa biboonong, megwaa biboong. Bijiinag Anishinaabe Gaa-waabamaad Chimookomaanan [1] Aabiding giiwenh wayeshkad gii-pi-izhaawaad omaa chimookomaanag, imaa ingiwedog, gaawiin wiikaa ogiiwaabamaasiiwaawaan chimookomaanan, anishinaabeg gaa-ayaawaad omaa. [2] Mii dash aabiding a’aw inini ogii-inaan owiiwan, “Megwaa dagwaagig.” Ogii-inaan owiiwan, “Gizhenaab, niwii-kiiyose noongom. Mii imaa ningaabi’anong keyaa niwii-izhaa.” “Haaw,” ikido a’aw, “Aaniish apii waa-pi-azhegiiweyan?” “Ajina sa go inga-ayaa imaa megwekob.” [3] Gaa-izhi-maajaad a’aw inini babaa-giiyosed. Megwaa ayaad imaa ogii-noondawaan awiiya biidaasamosed. Mii dash, ogiipaabi ’aan ji-dagoshininid onow—maagizhaa gaye gii-inendam, waawaashkeshiwan. Wa, gaa-izhi-noogised ji-baabi’aad imaa, noomag igo...