"Ma'iingan Is Just a Misspelling of the Word Wolf": A Case for Teaching Culture through Language

• Published in: Anthropology & education quarterly Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 43 - 56
• Main Author: HERMES, MARY
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2005; American Anthropological Association; University of California Press, Journals Division
• Subjects: Algonquian languages; American Indian Education; American Indian Languages; Anthropology; Comparative Education; Course Content; Criticism; Cultural anthropology; Cultural Education; Cultural instruction; Cultural studies; Culture; Curricula; Curriculum; Education; Educational research; English language; Fluency; Immersion Programs; Indigenous knowledge; Indigenous populations; Indigenous-language immersion; Language; Language culture relationship; Language Fluency; Language Maintenance; Language of Instruction; Language revitalization; Language teaching methods; Medium of instruction; Minnesota; Multicultural Education; Native American culture-based curriculum; Native Americans; Native education; Native North Americans; Nonnative languages; Ojibwe; Schools; Spelling errors; Teaching; Teaching Methods; tribal schools; Tribally controlled education; U.S.A; Wisconsin; New York; United States > US; Minnesota
• ISSN: 0161-7761; 1548-1492
• DOI: 10.1525/aeq.2005.36.1.043

Framed by the English language and positioned as a distinct subject, Ojibwe culture and language are often appreciated by students rather than taught for a deeper understanding or fluency, or used as the language of instruction in tribal schools. Ojibwe culture and language have been "added on" to existing school curriculum, an approach that changes the meaning of culture. In this article I critique the add-on approach and propose that teaching through the Indigenous language (immersion) supports cultural and language revitalization in a more fundamental way.