The University of Winnipeg has welcomed its first cohort of students into its new Anishinaabemowin Language Program (ALP). “This is what this program is for us, for adults who, maybe they already know a little bit of it, but it’s to build up their fluency in the language,” said Aandeg Muldrew, a coordinator for the Anishinaabemowin Language Program. The program is supported by a $2.3 million grant from the province announced last October, to create new Indigenous teaching degree programs and help fill immersion teaching positions across Manitoba. It is also the first program of its kind in the province to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in Indigenous Language Immersion in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe). “They’ll be going through a three-year program of classes in immersion in classroom and land-based learning as well,” explained Muldrew. According to Muldrew, the curriculum can help people reconnect with their culture. “(For) a lot of our people, my family as well, the language got cut off, so my dad didn’t learn it. And, you know, every family has that similar history of where it got cut off somewhere, maybe because of residential schools, or maybe they had to move to get a job somewhere else. So that’s what we’re healing. We’re bridging that gap that was caused by residential school or other things. So, it’s part of reconciliation, and healing, and relearning where we come from,” said Muldrew. Given that the cohort is starting in the winter, organizers say they are impressed by the interest in it. “Normally we start off in the fall. So, we’re excited that we have and get to see a big group of students who very quickly expressed interest and were able to make that change to sign up for this program.” Muldrew said he hopes the program will continue growing and potentially expand to other Indigenous languages in the future. “We (hope) to have people continuing to come through, to be the new language speakers of the new generation, new language teachers. And it’s also what we need for our other Indigenous languages too…but we’re starting with the Anishinaabemowin one, building that up, and hopefully we keep getting cohorts coming through every year,” Muldrew said.
