WIIKWEMKOONG—It was a bright day in every way as the sun shone down on the elders and young families gathered for the grand opening of Mooshkin Anishinaabemowin Gamig—a centre for full immersive language learning that has been in the making for nearly a year.
“This is a place for young families to bring back the Anishinaabe language,” said spokesperson Ngwaagan Eshkibok. She explains that the upstairs of the house, which is closely laid out like a home with kitchen and bedrooms for naptime, but also resembles a classroom with language aids posted on the walls, is an Anishinaabemowin-only site—no English. “Upstairs is Anishinaabemowin only, but downstairs is bilingual,” Ms. Eshkibok said. “A lot of the older children don’t understand the language well.”
“This is the beginning of the reclamation of our language,” said Wiikwemkoong Ogimaa Rachel Manitowabi, who was on hand to cut the ribbon and unveil the sign at the grand opening. “This represents our community coming together to preserve and enhance our language, culture and traditions.”
Ogimaa Manitowabi explained the wording on the sign. “Mooshkin means fully, Anishinaabemowin is the language and gamig means house,” she said. “We speak our language fully in this house.”
The upstairs contains a living room and kitchen, bedrooms for the children to have a nap and a couple of craft and meeting rooms. Downstairs the house takes on more of a classroom vibe, with plenty of language aids and a large screen television dominating one room.
The television, a smart TV connected to the internet, helps access language aids built by the dedicated language group.
The grand opening was only one part of a day filled with language opportunities and speakers that began at 10 am with a pipe ceremony by Stanley Peltier and Techio Mishibinijima at the Wiikwemkoong arena followed by opening remarks from Wiikwemkoong Anishinaabemowin Manager Andrew Manitowabi and Ms. Eshkibok and a history of the house.
A guided tour of the house located at 61 Amikook Street in Wiikwemkoong followed after a ribbon cutting and sign reveal at 1 pm.
Following the opening, participants returned to the arena for language games, drumming by Gordie Odjig and Henry Mandamin, storytelling by Steven George and others.
