[Music]
[Applause]
so let’s pretend this is a fire and
let’s think of this as a space that
we’ve all come together and regardless
of where you are right now wherever
you’re sitting look way up and imagine
something round above you maybe with a
hole in the ceiling
letting the smoke out letting the stars
shine in because it’s the season for
storytelling and we can think about what
we can learn in the place that we are
every place in the world has connections
to language this is the place that we
are now it’s a space in the heavens the
gauge ik where the Sun lives
the Jesus the language teaches us these
connections the water that you see is a
freshwater system not separate Lakes but
a freshwater system known as makigami
the space around it is a key the earth
and the Anishinabe people have known
this here for a long long time thousands
of years every place on earth has
languages layers of languages that teach
us about the place the Anishinabe people
are the people of the three fires the
Ojibwe Odawa Potawatomi people and their
space around the Great Lakes that has
been home for many years can be found in
their language right here as many people
know this is Nina walking the good land
up where the river spoons toward the
right that’s the M Kuan area and I would
tell you in English that I am one of the
descendants working to keep our language
alive to make sure that we’re using it
in the present and that we don’t forget
what these words mean in
anishinaabemowin I would say get way to
note in indigo Bob Shashi into Bendigo
Co Maga mean doncha ba and Akeno ma gay
Minna Joaquin dot nish nob M nish nob M
one is a language that is almost all
verbs everything about it is action its
energy it’s a reflection of
relationships and change creation begins
with combustion transforms and releases
energy the whole world everything around
us is described as a network of
relationships just for an example if we
all think of which direction is north in
this space North is this way
Givaudan is the word for north
it has embedded in it the word for going
home which if you think of how we get
home we look at that star that shows us
what direction to go and in this part of
the world the word for north and the
idea of going home are one in the same
the word for East is wabun not
coincidentally it has embedded right in
it the word for to see so when I say
niwap I see and I say Robin um I’m in
the east I’m conveying layers of science
I’m teaching lessons about the fact that
our eyes need light the kind of light
that comes with the day in order to see
the word for South is shall one it
invokes ideas of heat which again all of
us up here recognize as something that
comes from the south and Ning gabion is
a word that means melting that’s our
word for the west and you can imagine at
the end of the day as the day melts into
the night or in fact as we rotate and
the night melts into the morning that
idea of that gentle transition from one
point of time to another these are the
lessons that are embedded in the
language of this place where we are all
of these relationships are found in the
language as long as we listen as long as
we can recognize the others living
around us
for example the fish we might think
about the way that we share this place
with the fish model King we share this
space the way we survive
here mosh goes young we survive and we
are strong together so we might want to
sing for the fish wash Kenosha Kino
shake can a big Omega no motto Kinsey be
a shamash cosy a motto G I always like
to think that the sturgeons out there
heard me so we have to listen
AAB Dec vision Dodd is so young we have
to listen to each other
the Mamata tell the Menomonee they would
call this wish go SEC they know this is
a good place Wisconsin and the
Anishinabe and all of us here know this
is minnow walking a good land to remind
ourselves of this view of the place we
are is important the picture here is one
that’s been carved into stone many many
centuries ago it’s part of the images on
the sanno Lac petroglyphs in Michigan
and some people might look at this and
say well that’s a hungry hunter he’s out
looking for food but I’ve had elders
tell me that this is a much more
complicated image this is the production
of knowledge the transfer of ideas this
is a teacher using language as an arrow
into the future this is a reminder that
what we do now goes forward in ways we
can’t always predict but we have to know
that embedded in everything we do in the
way we live and the way we talk are our
beliefs and our understandings of
relationships in the words that surround
the idea about language we can learn
more about the philosophies of this
place the word for speech is gives away
relating to the idea of energy the word
for writing is izabe gay and has the
notion of continuity a little line going
forward in it the word for translation
is Onika not done
which literally means tying things
together connecting one form of thinking
to another form of thinking and
listening is biz endow the word for
peace is bazan it’s such an important
reminder that to listen you actually
have to be quiet when we’re quiet and we
listen to the relationships around us we
can hear all sorts of things we might
not remember for instance the chickadees
the little birds that don’t leave this
place
they tell us all sorts of lessons we
think about the ancestors who have
connected to us the sweetgrass
the bundles you might make the way that
that chickadee sits in the white pine
calls out and reminds us to make every
day a ceremony to celebrate the way that
we live and be alive and be active
Annika pitch of God
Hanako Bhutto wing gosh Windom our young
get off get gosh get bitch ok ok gosh
cooking get you get chicken is she here
you go Wanda new dog is it no no no
young dude walk money’d ok monitor we so
I hope that what you’re finding is that
this language that you may not have
heard as much as this before today is
something that is echoing familiar in
the town names in the street names in
the places that are familiar to you this
language is what all of us here inherit
mica waa dot Makana me Conan when we say
those three words together they sound a
little bit the same the idea of beauty
and erode and finding something when you
use a different language you find
another way of thinking for all of us
who ride down that road Kinnickinnic
whenever we do that we’re reminded that
we can find on that road the idea of
Guinea Gina gay of mixing something that
has happened here in this space for many
many many thousands of years people come
together they mix their language they
mix their culture they make
their ideas and as long as we remember
those layers and we benefit from all of
them we can live in this space together
here are just some examples of the towns
and the names that are familiar to
people around here not all of them are
ones that people would still associate
the meaning with everywhere across the
United States you will find the same
thing if you dig into it you will find
town names place names river names state
names that if you look back you find
that it tells you something about the
place for us Waukesha Waukesha Minnie
foxes Wauwatosa Wauwatosa fireflies
Mequon Emmett Quan where that river
spoons Ozaukee hose Augie opening soggy
incidentally is also the word for love
which really makes you think about what
love means
Kenosha Ginoza the pike wacka-wacka
the white metal and of course Michigan
makigami that great see that
interconnected source of fresh water
wasa is far away that one we still say
almost exactly right knowing these words
as part of an alternate system for
understanding the space that we’re in
can change the way that we view the
world can change the way that we come
together and I was reminded of this
recently because one of the things that
happens in the world is sometimes young
people have to face difficult issues
late last spring my daughter called me
up and she said mom I need to know that
word what’s the ending that we put on
someone’s name who passed away bun is it
fun he said yes it is thinking perhaps
she meant the elder that we both had
just lost someone our family had known
for many years but no she met her 15
year old friend miles who had chosen to
end his life
sometimes children leave the world
before we expect that to happen
they take that not hogging on on that
necklace of stars in English the Milky
Way and they leave us before we expect
it for me what I realized that I had
given my daughter’s was a different way
to think about that a different way to
understand changing worlds it’s
important to remember we should all
remember right near us here as again in
many places of the United States we have
a mound to remind us of people here long
long ago the mound closest to us here to
where we all are right now today is
about two thousand years old over in
Lake Park but all over the United States
you can find mounds you can find traces
you can find ancestors to remember and
all of us probably have people that we
might want to remember so you can see
the words in red here they’re not hard
I’ll say I’m slow and you can repeat
them if you want and then when we go
through this song I’ll sing the white
but you can join me for the red part
Mick when da goes it off try that one
Mick when go sudah that means we’ll all
remember let’s remember up honey
honey and go sha go sha that means
always in forever
so we’ll try it join in if you want I
know not everyone is someone that wants
to just sing good make wanna make oh
Jesus ashes are geass Ageha good make
when amigo thinking jesus baba Veolia
Nick when da goes it ah upon him
Gosha Mik Wendigos it out a Pawnee go
show could make when amigo ah Nicole
Bitchie gone oh good make one of it go
in a way ma gonna Nick when de goes it I
up on a go show Nick when da goes it out
up on a kosher so listen to the language
that’s around you and go out and keep
listening find the language of the place
that’s familiar to you and then hold it
close to your heart come and watch
caboose and dial yet
[Applause]
[Applause]
so let’s pretend this is a fire and
let’s think of this as a space that
we’ve all come together and regardless
of where you are right now wherever
you’re sitting look way up and imagine
something round above you maybe with a
hole in the ceiling
letting the smoke out letting the stars
shine in because it’s the season for
storytelling and we can think about what
we can learn in the place that we are
every place in the world has connections
to language this is the place that we
are now it’s a space in the heavens the
gauge ik where the Sun lives
the Jesus the language teaches us these
connections the water that you see is a
freshwater system not separate Lakes but
a freshwater system known as makigami
the space around it is a key the earth
and the Anishinabe people have known
this here for a long long time thousands
of years every place on earth has
languages layers of languages that teach
us about the place the Anishinabe people
are the people of the three fires the
Ojibwe Odawa Potawatomi people and their
space around the Great Lakes that has
been home for many years can be found in
their language right here as many people
know this is Nina walking the good land
up where the river spoons toward the
right that’s the M Kuan area and I would
tell you in English that I am one of the
descendants working to keep our language
alive to make sure that we’re using it
in the present and that we don’t forget
what these words mean in
anishinaabemowin I would say get way to
note in indigo Bob Shashi into Bendigo
Co Maga mean doncha ba and Akeno ma gay
Minna Joaquin dot nish nob M nish nob M
one is a language that is almost all
verbs everything about it is action its
energy it’s a reflection of
relationships and change creation begins
with combustion transforms and releases
energy the whole world everything around
us is described as a network of
relationships just for an example if we
all think of which direction is north in
this space North is this way
Givaudan is the word for north
it has embedded in it the word for going
home which if you think of how we get
home we look at that star that shows us
what direction to go and in this part of
the world the word for north and the
idea of going home are one in the same
the word for East is wabun not
coincidentally it has embedded right in
it the word for to see so when I say
niwap I see and I say Robin um I’m in
the east I’m conveying layers of science
I’m teaching lessons about the fact that
our eyes need light the kind of light
that comes with the day in order to see
the word for South is shall one it
invokes ideas of heat which again all of
us up here recognize as something that
comes from the south and Ning gabion is
a word that means melting that’s our
word for the west and you can imagine at
the end of the day as the day melts into
the night or in fact as we rotate and
the night melts into the morning that
idea of that gentle transition from one
point of time to another these are the
lessons that are embedded in the
language of this place where we are all
of these relationships are found in the
language as long as we listen as long as
we can recognize the others living
around us
for example the fish we might think
about the way that we share this place
with the fish model King we share this
space the way we survive
here mosh goes young we survive and we
are strong together so we might want to
sing for the fish wash Kenosha Kino
shake can a big Omega no motto Kinsey be
a shamash cosy a motto G I always like
to think that the sturgeons out there
heard me so we have to listen
AAB Dec vision Dodd is so young we have
to listen to each other
the Mamata tell the Menomonee they would
call this wish go SEC they know this is
a good place Wisconsin and the
Anishinabe and all of us here know this
is minnow walking a good land to remind
ourselves of this view of the place we
are is important the picture here is one
that’s been carved into stone many many
centuries ago it’s part of the images on
the sanno Lac petroglyphs in Michigan
and some people might look at this and
say well that’s a hungry hunter he’s out
looking for food but I’ve had elders
tell me that this is a much more
complicated image this is the production
of knowledge the transfer of ideas this
is a teacher using language as an arrow
into the future this is a reminder that
what we do now goes forward in ways we
can’t always predict but we have to know
that embedded in everything we do in the
way we live and the way we talk are our
beliefs and our understandings of
relationships in the words that surround
the idea about language we can learn
more about the philosophies of this
place the word for speech is gives away
relating to the idea of energy the word
for writing is izabe gay and has the
notion of continuity a little line going
forward in it the word for translation
is Onika not done
which literally means tying things
together connecting one form of thinking
to another form of thinking and
listening is biz endow the word for
peace is bazan it’s such an important
reminder that to listen you actually
have to be quiet when we’re quiet and we
listen to the relationships around us we
can hear all sorts of things we might
not remember for instance the chickadees
the little birds that don’t leave this
place
they tell us all sorts of lessons we
think about the ancestors who have
connected to us the sweetgrass
the bundles you might make the way that
that chickadee sits in the white pine
calls out and reminds us to make every
day a ceremony to celebrate the way that
we live and be alive and be active
Annika pitch of God
Hanako Bhutto wing gosh Windom our young
get off get gosh get bitch ok ok gosh
cooking get you get chicken is she here
you go Wanda new dog is it no no no
young dude walk money’d ok monitor we so
I hope that what you’re finding is that
this language that you may not have
heard as much as this before today is
something that is echoing familiar in
the town names in the street names in
the places that are familiar to you this
language is what all of us here inherit
mica waa dot Makana me Conan when we say
those three words together they sound a
little bit the same the idea of beauty
and erode and finding something when you
use a different language you find
another way of thinking for all of us
who ride down that road Kinnickinnic
whenever we do that we’re reminded that
we can find on that road the idea of
Guinea Gina gay of mixing something that
has happened here in this space for many
many many thousands of years people come
together they mix their language they
mix their culture they make
their ideas and as long as we remember
those layers and we benefit from all of
them we can live in this space together
here are just some examples of the towns
and the names that are familiar to
people around here not all of them are
ones that people would still associate
the meaning with everywhere across the
United States you will find the same
thing if you dig into it you will find
town names place names river names state
names that if you look back you find
that it tells you something about the
place for us Waukesha Waukesha Minnie
foxes Wauwatosa Wauwatosa fireflies
Mequon Emmett Quan where that river
spoons Ozaukee hose Augie opening soggy
incidentally is also the word for love
which really makes you think about what
love means
Kenosha Ginoza the pike wacka-wacka
the white metal and of course Michigan
makigami that great see that
interconnected source of fresh water
wasa is far away that one we still say
almost exactly right knowing these words
as part of an alternate system for
understanding the space that we’re in
can change the way that we view the
world can change the way that we come
together and I was reminded of this
recently because one of the things that
happens in the world is sometimes young
people have to face difficult issues
late last spring my daughter called me
up and she said mom I need to know that
word what’s the ending that we put on
someone’s name who passed away bun is it
fun he said yes it is thinking perhaps
she meant the elder that we both had
just lost someone our family had known
for many years but no she met her 15
year old friend miles who had chosen to
end his life
sometimes children leave the world
before we expect that to happen
they take that not hogging on on that
necklace of stars in English the Milky
Way and they leave us before we expect
it for me what I realized that I had
given my daughter’s was a different way
to think about that a different way to
understand changing worlds it’s
important to remember we should all
remember right near us here as again in
many places of the United States we have
a mound to remind us of people here long
long ago the mound closest to us here to
where we all are right now today is
about two thousand years old over in
Lake Park but all over the United States
you can find mounds you can find traces
you can find ancestors to remember and
all of us probably have people that we
might want to remember so you can see
the words in red here they’re not hard
I’ll say I’m slow and you can repeat
them if you want and then when we go
through this song I’ll sing the white
but you can join me for the red part
Mick when da goes it off try that one
Mick when go sudah that means we’ll all
remember let’s remember up honey
honey and go sha go sha that means
always in forever
so we’ll try it join in if you want I
know not everyone is someone that wants
to just sing good make wanna make oh
Jesus ashes are geass Ageha good make
when amigo thinking jesus baba Veolia
Nick when da goes it ah upon him
Gosha Mik Wendigos it out a Pawnee go
show could make when amigo ah Nicole
Bitchie gone oh good make one of it go
in a way ma gonna Nick when de goes it I
up on a go show Nick when da goes it out
up on a kosher so listen to the language
that’s around you and go out and keep
listening find the language of the place
that’s familiar to you and then hold it
close to your heart come and watch
caboose and dial yet
[Applause]
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