Re: Anishinaabemowin language
Howard Webkamigad (webkamig@thunderbird.auc.laurentian.ca)
Thu, 4 May 1995 11:37:00 -0400
'anishinaabemowin' generally means "The voice, sound, language of the
anishinaabe." The 'anishinaabe' are generally considered to be those
groups who are related to what the linguists term as Algonquian. The
'anishinaabe' identify themselves as being so, by the language they
speak, whereas nowadays, many identify themselves as Cree, Chippewa,
Ojibwe or Ojibway, Menominee, Saulteaux, Abenaki, Ottawa or Odawa,
Potawatomi or just Indian or a member of a First Nation, because they no
longer have a tie to their ancestors via the language, so they do not
call themselves anishinaabe.
Meaning no disrespect to the other nations of Turtle Island who
are our relatives but who speak a different language, they are not
anishinaabe speakers so they are not anishinaabe, their language does not
fall under 'anishinaabemowin'. They have their own names with which they
identify themselves by and have their own words to identify their languages,
for example, Na-Dene or Dene.