Boozhu, Aanii, Welcome to the Anishnabemowin Language Revitalization Committee (ALRC)
Anishnabemowin is the first language of the Anishinabe people. Anishnabemowin is revered as a sacred language as it is the transmitter of culture, customs, and traditions within the Anishinabe people. It is sacred because the Creator gave it especially to the Anishinabe people. Anishnabemowin is vital to tribal sovereignty and to the survival of the Anishinabe people.
Anishnabemowin is at a critical state of loss within the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. In an effort to stop and reverse this language loss, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe created the Anishinabe Language Revitalization Committee (ALRC), this is the foundational board for the Anishinabe Language Revitalization Department (ALRD).
The ALRC was established by Tribal Council Resolution NO. 08-103; this committee was charged to identify and implement ways to produce fluent Anishnabemowin speakers within the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe. As such, the ALRC implemented the Anishnabemowin Language Revitalization Department (ALRD).
The role of ALRC is to provide oversight to the Anishinabe Language Revitalization Department, which includes the Sasiwaans Early Childhood Center. Using specific guiding principles the ALRC provides program guidance and works on policies and procedures and staff issues, for the Sasiwaans and Language Outreach Programs.
Many studies have shown that the best way to become fluent is through immersion. Many people have taken Anishnabemowin classes but this technique has yet to produce a fluent speaker. The ALRC promotes the Anishinabe language within the immersion program at the Sasiwaans program. The students are taught entirely in Anishnabemowin. No English language is allowed. The Sasiwaans Program is the only total immersion pre school program on a Reservation in the state of Michigan.
It is the hope of the ALRC to create fluent Anishnabemowin speakers through immersion. A new grade level will be added to the Saginaw Chippewa Academy each year that feeds from the Sasiwaans Program, until the SCA is totally immersion. It is the hope of the revitalization efforts of the ALRC to see the growth in immersion accommodating the new and up-coming immersion students to further their language acquisition skills.
ALRC representatives come from Public Relations Department, the Tribal Education Department, Ziibiwing Center, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Council, and the Seventh Generation program, as well as an elder and a youth community member.
If you are interested in serving on the ALRC you will be in a pivotal position to make decisions regarding Anishnabemowin within your community. We need fresh ideas and dedicated individuals who believe in the language and the strength that the language brings to our people. Watch for flyers and/or emails about ALRC vacancies if you are interested. There is lots of work for volunteers, feel free to stop in and visit the Sasiwaans or the Anishnabemowin Language Revitalization Department to see for yourself what the language department is all about.