“We have to live our language.”

That’s title of the Bodwéwadmimwen course now available in Transparent Language Online. It’s also a mission statement for the Potawatomi people, whose language has only a handful of first-language speakers remaining.

Thanks to the efforts of the Language Department at The Citizen Potawatomi Nation, library patrons can now learn Bodwéwadmimwen, the language of the Potawatomi people.

About the Bodwéwadmimwen Language

There are seven distinct Potawatomi tribes across the United States, located in Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.

Their language, known as Bodwéwadmimwen, is an Algonquian language closely related to Ojibwe and Odawa. The language has two dialects (northern and southern) which differ mainly in a few words and consonant preferences. For example, in the south, speakers favor k, p, d, s, and sh; in the north, g, b, t, z, and zh.

But the language is at a critical crossroads. Fewer than five first-language speakers remain.

About the Course

The “Abdek gde-bmadzemen gde-zheshmomenan: We have to live our language” course was developed by the Potawatomi community in Oklahoma to bring the language into more daily conversations.

The course includes 11 units built around everyday words and phrases, from common tasks at home to errands like grocery shopping:

• Kitchen
• Bathroom
• Bedroom
• Living Room
• Entryway
• Laundry Room
• School
• Eating Out
• Going on a Trip
• Grocery Shopping
• Doctor’s Visit

The philosophy is simple: if the language is going to survive, it needs to live where people live. As the course creators describe it:

“Our goal is to bring the language back into our homes and to make the language easier to use in everyday situations.”

While reading and writing skills have been growing among learners, the community identified listening and speaking as the next essential step to bring the language to life in daily interactions. So the course includes interactive activities that emphasis listening and speaking skills.

For example, the Pronunciation Practice activity gives learners a safe place to practice saying new words and phrases out loud. Then they can compare their recording to that of a native speaker and make improvements at their own pace.

About the Community Partnership

We believe every language deserves support, not just the ones with commercial value. So we donate our technology to 7000 Languages, a non-profit dedicated to helping endangered language advocates and Indigenous communities use technology to preserve and promote those languages.

So far, more than 40 Indigenous languages have been digitized in Transparent Language Online.

The addition of Bodwéwadmimwen is a direct result of that partnership and the tireless work of the Language Department at The Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma, who gave their time and expertise to create a course so their language can be passed on.

Language revitalization is about preserving identity, connection, and a way of seeing the world. When a community says abdek gde-bmadzemen gde-zheshmomenan (we have to live our language) they’re talking about something much deeper than vocabulary. They’re talking about continuity.

We’re honored to support that work.

Bodwéwadmimwen is now available to learn through Transparent Language Online for Libraries.