By: Easton Penner
An RRC Polytech alumni created a new Anishinaabemowin card game releasing in June that’s designed to make teaching the language more accessible and engaging.
Shyla Niemi, a digital media design graduate, said she’s creating the game for people who want an affordable way to learn the language at their own pace.
Learning the language programs cost from $300 for community classes up to $7,906 for RRC Polytech’s year-long Anishinaabemowin language class.
The number of Indigenous people who could speak their language has also declined in prairie provinces from 97,780 in 2016 to 93,030 in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.
Niemi hosted a card game night at The Forks with her students in May last year, and one of the rules was the students had to say the numbers on the cards in Anishinaabemowin. This is when she got the idea for Ataage Agindaasonan, the name of her card game.
“It’s hard to learn a new language because there’s a lot of stress of looking like a fool. No one likes to mess up or be wrong,” said Niemi, who’s now a language coordinator at the Winnipeg Trails Association. “But when you’re playing a card game, you’re more focused on winning than embarrassing yourself by talking.”
Ataage Agindaasonan is similar to a UNO card game deck, it has numbers, phrases, and action cards.
Niemi said it has everyday phrases on the cards so players have practical language they can use right away in conversation.
“For the skip card I knew I didn’t want to just call it a skip. I wanted a translation that might be a bit more useful,” said Niemi. “Our skip card is called gawiin giin which translates to ‘not you’ — something people would use more in real life than saying ‘skip.'”
Niemi was in RRC Polytech’s Mittohnee Pogo’ohtah program, a four-month entrepreneurship program for Indigenous people. It’s rooted in cultural values and community connection, and its programming provides mentorship, workshops and access to networks that help Indigenous entrepreneurs help build their business, according to RRC Polytech’s website.
Niemi credits the program as a stepping stone that helped her get the game in production. She said the program made her value community in business, and not be so profit-driven.
“We weren’t focused on profit, and it was more about social enterprise and how this can do good for our community,” said Niemi.
The project received $8,692 pledges since Mar. 11 on Kickstarter, an online fundraising platform where a creator needs to reach their goal to get the money.
Niemi said there’s been growing interest for Ataage Agindaasonan from schools across Manitoba.
“At the moment, a lot of my focus is on getting it in educational institutions because I know I’ve had some interest from schools and teachers,” said Niemi.
The Kickstarter funds will cover the cost of boxes, cards, and instructions for Ataage Agindaasonan, as well as shipping from the UK and payment for the translators who helped develop the game.
She also hopes to create versions of Ataage Agindaasonan in other Indigenous languages, such as Salish, Cree, and Mi’kmaq, depending on public interest.
