"To learn our language from long ago Because my great grandma was told no"
Read Nescia Giangrosso's The Language Nest
Elginburg, ON
Anishinaabekwe
Age 8
I wrote a poem with words that rime. My poem is about my experiences trying to learn Ojibwe. My mom, brother and I go to the language nest. We play games and do crafts to learn Anishinaabemowin. It is fun and I wish we could learn Ojibwe at school so I wrote a poem so adults can hear that this is important to me.
Once upon a time before I was eight
My mom took me on a special date
She brought me to the language nest
Man! Ojibwe is hard but I try my best
To learn our language from long ago
Because my great grandma was told no
I am glad I didn’t quit because
Now I know words like ndishnikaas
I go to school all the time
To learn French but not mine
At Language Nest we planted beans from seed
And learned that love is all they need
Really we are all the same
No matter where from you came
Just be proud where you come from
Then the world can be more fun
One day I got to make a drum
With friends from school. It was fun.
We got a ring and stretched the hides
It was tricky but I really tried
Elders teach me things they know
To learn our culture as I grow
The Language Nest is really cool,
I wish I could learn Ojibwe in school.