Our Language
LANGUAGE RESURGENCE with JESSICA SHONIAS By Jolene Recollet
Jessica Shonias doesn’t like to call herself a fluent Anishinaabemowin speaker. However, when asked, she will tell you that she is a learner with a responsibility to share. Jessica Shonias is a member of Rama First Nation but grew up in Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and has familial ties to Serpent River First Nation and Curve Lave First Nation. Currently, Jessica is the language teacher for Niigaaniin Services and has been tasked with improving fluency amongst staff and promoting Anishinaabemowin. Jessica did not grow up in a fluent household as a child, and her parents didn’t regularly speak Anishnabemowin to her. She thinks her dad was a fluent speaker, but didn’t speak to her growing up. When she asked her mom, she indicated that her first Anishnabemowin class was when she was in daycare in Rama and that she regularly attended ‘Ojibway’ classes throughout her schooling. She always wanted to learn the language and, as a young speaker, recognized that she was able to name objects but couldn’t speak in complete sentences. She was first introduced to a fluent lifestyle after attending an immersion camp in Minnesota called Ojibwem Otaadidaa Gidakiiminaang in 2014. She says that she had learned more in those three weeks of immersion camp than ever had before. By the second immersion camp that she attended, she was starting to learn how to speak fluently. After that, she became a physical education teacher at M’Chigeeng’s immersion program, Mnidoo Mnising Anishinaabe Kinoomaage-Gamik. It was during these times that Jessica felt most over her head, and she felt like it humbled her and pushed her to learn more.
66
| E-Wiindamaagejig: The Robinson Huron Treaty Times
“IT WASN’T UNTIL I LEARNED MY LANGUAGE THAT I BEGAN TO KNOW HOW AMAZING WE ARE AS A PEOPLE. NOW YOU COULD SAY ANYTHING ABOUT US, AND IT ROLLS OFF ME LIKE WATER OFF A DUCK’S BACK BECAUSE I KNOW THE TRUTH AND AM PROUD TO BE ANISHINA ABE.”
She has returned to her community of Rama First Nation after living down south with few speakers to learn from. Jessica currently teaches Anishinaabemowin at Northshore Tribal Council and has been tasked with promoting the language and teaching staff. Staff have an opportunity to participate in one class per week and several language ‘drop-ins’ during the week. In addition, this past summer staff were given an opportunity to participate in a two-week immersion program facilitated by Jessica and supported by Niigaaniin and North Shore Tribal Council.
