Citizen Potawatomi Nation expanding language services

Mar. 4—Citizen Potawatomi Nation is expanding its language revitalization program by adding new courses and learning materials, and it is applying for a nearly $1 million federal grant to support those efforts.

The nation is headquartered in Shawnee, but its reservation expands into Cleveland County on the east side of Lake Thunderbird.

According to Paige Willett, Citizen Potawatomi Nation spokesperson, 1,570 citizens live in Cleveland County and 665 live in Norman.

Currently, Potawatomi language is offered in Wanette, McComb, Seminole, Shawnee, and Tecumseh high schools, but the nation would like to move into Cleveland County to teach those enrolled in the Norman area.

"We are open to partnering with someone in Cleveland County," said Justin Neely, director of language, Citizen Potawatomi.

On Thursday night, the CPN legislature unanimously passed a resolution (15-0) approving the nation's application for funding under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance Program.

As part of the resolution, Citizen Potawatomi Nation will agree to match $225,000 of its resources, and it seeks $900,000, or $300,000 per year for a three-year period, not to exceed $375,000 per year.

Paul Wesslehöft, representative in the Citizen Potawatomi Legislature and a former member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, said preserving language is an important mission of the tribal government.

"There aren't a lot of fluent Potawatomi speakers today, so we know that was coming down the pike," he said. "We wanted to invest in it. We are talking around a million dollars to pump into our language program."

Neely said the nation currently has "a thousand irons in the fire" to revitalize its language.

"The real question is what are we not doing," he said.

The nation offers online language classes for high schoolers who don't attend one of the five high schools where in-person instruction it is offered.

"So a kid, instead of taking German or French, can take Potawatomi for their two-year requirement for language," Neely said.

Potawatomi is on Woolaroo, an app operated by Google that allows users to snap pictures of objects, then the app will use artificial intelligence to identify the objects and then translate into the language.

"You can take a picture of a door, for example, and it will translate it into Potowatomi and give you an audio file," Neely said. "It is smart enough, you can take a picture of a couple of different items, and you might see a window, a door, and a picture, and it will hit all those items."

Neely said he was approached by Google because a top executive on the project had read "Braiding Sweetgrass," a popular book written by Potawatomi author Robin Wall Kimmerer.

The nation recently received a grant to make a series of 12 children's books that are in Potawatomi and English.

"Some of them are part Potawatomi, part English," he said. "Some are in all Potawatomi. It just depends."

Users can scan QR codes located in the back of the book, and a smartphone will read the book out loud. The books are being sent around the U.S., including Norman.

"We've sent several to Norman for those interested in those children's books," Neely said. "Having the QR codes helps readers. You don't have to wonder if you are saying it right."

Neely has developed two YouTube channels for Potawatomi language learning, one for younger audiences and one for older audiences. His office has dubbed public domain films and shorts, such as "Popeye the Sailor Man," "Betty Boop," "Casper the Friendly Ghost," "Superman," and "Night of the Living Dead." (1968)

"'Night of the Living Dead' is actually a perfect movie for learning language because it's not filled with hard language," Neely said. "It's everyday type of language."

The nation has a course on memorize.com and a dictionary at potawatomidictionary.com, which contains audio and video files for 10,000 words.

"You can go to something about tobacco, and they'll tell you how we use it and pray with it," he said. "You can watch a video on how to grow it. It is a pretty good dictionary."

The nation is launching a summer master apprentice program with a grant through the Endangered Language Fund out of Yale University. Two students will receive paid internships to learn the language for eight weeks in Shawnee.

"It will be 40 hours a week for eight days. The goal is to get them conversationally fluent. It is a three year program, so they can come back each year," Neely said.

In eight weeks, students will have had 320 hours of exposure to the language. He said he hopes to add students in the future.

Those wanting to learn Potawatomi can also visit the Norman Public Library where it offers some language materials, including the Mango Languages app, which has a course on Potawatomi, as well as Cherokee.

"We try our best to support the indigenous people in our area," said LeAnne Cheek, reading service coordinator with Pioneer Library System.

In the summer, the library system will give free Ojibwe language books to readers near Citizen Potawatomi Nation as part of its summer reading program. Ojibwe language is closely related to Potawatomi.