By: Jacob Kuiper
Staff Writer
Author Stacie Sheldon reads her new book, Bebikaan-ezhiwebiziwinan Nimkii, to a group alongside her dog Nimkii. Jacob Kuiper | Washtenaw Voice.
In 1892, Richard H. Pratt, founder and superintendent of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, said in a speech maybe the most illuminating description of the purpose of American Indian boarding schools: “…that all the Indians there are in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”
This line perfectly captures the assimilation policies of the U.S. from the mid-17th to the early 20th centuries. Native American children were forced to relocate to government-run boarding schools, often thousands of miles from their homes, in an attempt to remove any ties to their native culture. Neglect and abuse often accompanied this.
Today, many attribute this history to a form of generational trauma that still plagues native peoples. “Native people…rank the worst in every socioeconomic category that you can think of. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for native people ages 10-34,” laments language advocate and author Stacie Sheldon.
Sheldon, a northern Michigan native and Ojibwe herself, is in Ann Arbor this October and November to speak about projects associated with her American Indian advocacy.
She attributes much of this trauma to the forced divorce of native peoples and their culture, “When I was growing up no one was speaking the language of Michigan…. [Our kids] need to love themselves, so they need to love their culture. [They need to] see the beauty in what they have and not feel that it’s an ugly thing.”
Her advocacy work began in 2006 when she co-founded Ojibwe.net alongside Margaret Noodin, who is currently a professor at the University of Wisconsin. Sheldon explains the drive behind the website is to provide Anishinaabemowin (pronounced a-nish-naa-be-mow-in, the language spoken by Ojibwe people) resources, “I’m pretty aware how hard it is to find resources to learn, and I’m also aware how hard it is to learn the language as an adult.” Ojibwe.net offers language lessons, songs, cultural projects, and a map of the various tribes and bands of the overarching Anishinaabe cultural nation. “This site represents many things, most of all, it is evidence that Anishinaabemowin is alive and well” explains the website creators.
Sheldon’s next project came from an unusual source: her dog Nimkii (meaning “thunder” in Ojibwe). “My friends would joke: ‘What’s Nimkii’s latest adventure?’” she laughs as she explains the origins of her new book. “A friend recommended that I should write about Nimkii’s adventures.”
Cover art for Bebikaan-ezhiwebiziwinan Nimkii.
Sheldon, however, saw a chance to do more than just write about her dog; she saw a chance to advance her language. Anishinaabemowin is considered endangered because it does not have children learning the language and it is losing older speakers. She saw this as an opportunity to create a new resource for young learners and Nimkii was the perfect facilitator, “There are a lot of Ojibwe books that [talk about] the old days, but we’re here today. So I thought, ‘Well my story of Nimkii would be a way of’ [connecting with a younger audience]…. Nimkii is a dog that you might have. She’s a dog that’ll roll in the leaves…and that’s a kind of shared experience that we could talk about.”
This idea materialized in 2021 with the creation of Bebikaan-ezhiwebiziwinan Nimkii (The Adventures of Nimkii), a dual-language English and Anishinaabemowin illustrated children’s book that shows young readers the changing of the seasons through Nimkii’s eyes.
When asked what she wants next for her language and culture, Sheldon replied simply, “I want it all.” The Ojibwe language is currently in danger of going extinct. Stacie Sheldon is determined to not let that happen.
