Lots of exciting things are going on with the language department. On Wed., Feb. 24 we will be hosting our third annual Winter Storytelling Festival at the CPN Cultural Heritage Center from 6-8 p.m. We will have food and refreshments and all are welcome. We hope you will come out and listen to some of these traditional tales that our people believe should only be told in the winter time because during this time the earth and spirits are asleep.
Our new online course has had great success reaching tribal members across the country and even outside the U.S. We have over 280 registered users. During the winter months for those of you who can’t attend our Winter Storytelling Festival we have a number of stories online which can be accessed in a special section for Winter Story telling at http://language.potawatomi.org. This is the same address to join our online beginner classes. We have two courses currently available a ‘Beginner I’ and ‘Beginner II.’ We are also finalizing a children’s course which will be put online in the next couple of months.
If you haven’t had a chance to check the course out go to http://language.potawatomi.org create a login and get started. The course was designed specifically with our membership in mind. Many of our tribal members live away from Shawnee but have a desire to learn more of the language and culture. Another problem for many people is they can’t attend class at certain hours. That is why our course is self-paced, so that you can do the course when you have the time available. We have some members who work nights or who would rather work on the course in the few hours of the night. They have the ability to do this.
The online course allows students to learn vocabulary and truly begin speaking Potawatomi at a fast pace as well providing constant feedback with quizzes and tests. The course also gives student the opportunity to learn more about cultural teachings as a part of each chapter. We also have designed games and video spoofs to make
the learning process as fun as possible. We continue to make updates and changes so check back often.
If you have any questions, please email me at JNeely@potawatomi.org.
