Anisininemowin

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Anisininemowin is a distinct language spoken in Northern Manitoba, specifically the Island Lake Area. There are 4 Ojibwe-Cree speaking communities within Manitoba, Garden Hill First Nation, Red Sucker Lake First Nation, St. Theresa Point First Nations and Wasagamack First Nation. Anisininemowin is a dialect of Anishinaabemowin, with influences from the Ininew or Cree language. Most of the language's structure comes from Ojibwe, but the literary tradition comes from Cree.

At Indigenous Languages of Manitoba, we are committed and dedicated to the revitalization and preservation of Indigenous Languages and want to shed light on the dire situations that our languages are in;

Anisininemowin has 15 585 speakers in Canada (0.04% of the total population) (Statistics Canada, 2017), with 6 505 of those being in Manitoba (0.48% of the provincial population) (Statistics Canada, 2017). The language has a vitality rating of endangered (Ethnologue, n.d), as it is no longer the primary language that children use. Anisininemowin is considered a dying language (Ethnologue, n.d) because the only fluent speakers are above the childbearing age. Therefore, “natural intergenerational transmission” is no longer achievable and outside resources must be created for the language to survive.

References:

Statistics Canada. (October 25, 2017). Census in Brief: The Aboriginal languages of First 

Nations people, Métis, and Inuit. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016022/98-200-x2016022-eng.cfm. 

Statistics Canada. (2017). Census Profile, 2016 Census. 

https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=46&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&SearchText=Manitoba&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Language&TABID=1&type=0. 

Ethnologue. (n.d) Oji-Cree. https://www-ethnologue-com.uwinnipeg.idm.oclc.org/language/ojs.