Reclaiming Indigenous languages
By: Brian Murphy
Nataloy Jenson began learning Anishinaabemowin in highschool, and has learned around 50 words.
“I don’t want my language to die,” said Jenson, a 22-year-old student taking the 2000 level Anishinaabemowin language at RRC Polytech. “Most Indigenous people I know want to speak the language but they don’t have access to resources.”
They said they didn’t have the opportunity to learn the language properly. They knew key words but were never able to fully communicate with the elders who are fluent in Anishinaabemowin.
According to research done by Statistics Canada in 2021,12 per cent of Indigenous people that live in Winnipeg are able to speak an Indigenous language, and only 7,060 speak Anishinaabemowin.
Two universities will have an Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) language course in January 2026 for students interested in learning Indigenous speech.
“I want to transfer to the University of Winnipeg to get the degree,” said Jenson. “What I want to do with my life is teach the younger generation the language of our people.”
The University of Winnipeg is offering an immersion bachelor of arts degree on the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway) language; the University College of the North will provide a program to develop fluency in Ininimowin (Cree). The University of Winnipeg degree is designed for second-language learners and will be a documentation that verifies fluency in Anishinaabemowin.
“There’s little to no structure in the Anishinaabemowin language,” said Racheal Cameron, a former Anishinaabemowin language teacher at Evergreen public school in Kenora, Ontario. “This language can only really be taught by an Elder.”
She said the language is difficult because it needs to be taught verbally—even tone can change the meaning of words.
Aandeg Muldrew is an assistant professor who has been teaching since 2017, and will be one of the professors teaching the Anishinaabemowin program at the University of Winnipeg in 2026.
Muldrew said his grandmother, Patricia Ningewance-Nadeau, is one of the most fluent Anishinaabemowin speakers in the world.
According to a 2021 survey by Statistics Canada, of the 182.197 Indigenous people who live in Manitoba, around 97,251 live on a reserve—where only 39.1% of them know how to speak an Indigenous language.
“When you grow up in the city, you end up having a disconnect from your culture,“ said Victoria Nirlungayuk, 25. “I should be learning it from my family and community, but sometimes they don’t have the resources.”
RRC Polytech implemented their Anishinaabemowin language degree last year — and has roughly 15 to 17 students in the first level class each semester.
Corey Whitford, the Anishinaabemowin language instructor, fist bumps his students as he walks into the classroom.
“When we’re inclusive and act like a community, we really have the students engaged,” said Whitford.
Whitford did voiceover lines for the Anishinaabemowin dub of Star Wars: A New Hope.
“It made me feel popular, valued and eternal,” said Whitford.
The University of Winnipeg and University College of the North, collectively received over $4.5 million from the province, according to the Manitoba government’s news release.
