Learning Ojibwe with Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia
Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia provides new materials for learning Ojibwe
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Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia is a non-profit organization established for the purpose of collaborating to revitalize indigenous languages. To aid in the efforts of this movement, we create, produce, and distribute high quality indigenous language materials. Using cutting edge technologies, Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia aims to help close the gap between those
who are trying to learn and the speakers of our indigenous languages.
GIM's session at the 2016 Bush Foundation's bushCONNECT Conference, "Speak Local: Anti-Racism through Ojibwe Language Learning". Participants had to learn enough Ojibwe to ask Elders and Indigenous participants if they could "come in" to Turtle Island.
Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia started when two tribal school teachers got involved in language revitalization and saw a need for materials. Kevin Roach and Mary Hermes put their skills and ideas together and wrote a grant proposal for instructional materials design in 2000. After this grant was awarded, Mike Quinlan, CEO Transparent Language, suggested a partnership.The result was that we have been able to use a technology and software for language teaching and learning that has been 15 years in the making.
Building on our indigenous knowledge and language, and drawing community members together, we were able to produce Ojibwemodaa. We realized the potential of this software to help other indigenous languages and so set up this non-profit to distribute it widely. With the help of funders and the University of Minnesota - Duluth, we hope to start an organization that is not grant dependent but rather is self-sustaining through the continued support of people using and purchasing the software.
For more information: http://gim-ojibwe.org/
Note: this article was originally published in 2011 and updated in 2017