James Simon Mishibinijima discusses different dialects of Anishinaabemowin spoken on Manitoulin Island
The artist has been speaking Anishinaabemowin his whole life
The renowned Wiikwemkoong artist, James Simon Mishibinijima, has been speaking Anishinaabemowin his whole life and is aware of the language's different dialects.
"If you go a little bit more north, let's say, even just past Manitoulin, you start noticing the dialect. As you go east or west it's the same thing," he said.
Mishibinijima gave the followiing example. "Let's say . . . if your brother asked to go and stay on an island here in the Great Lakes all by himself for one year, when he comes back, [he's] going to sound a little bit different," he said. "That's what a dialect is.
Mishibinijima chose the Anishinaabemowin word for listen as an example of his dialect spoken in Wiikwemkoong.
He explained that when you start adding words to it, the meaning can change to please listen or please listen right or closely.
But it can be hard work learning a new language.
"Sometimes, when I sit down with people who want to know Ojibwe and when we're done, let's say 30 or 45 minutes after, and I ask the question, 'So, what did you learn?' people say, 'I forgot.'
"Information overload," he laughs.
With files from Waubgeshig Rice