Fond Du Lac Gathering Focused on Preserving Language

CLOQUET (AP) - Members of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are working to preserve the Ojibwe language through gatherings, books, movies and audio stories.

Ojibwe is the band's official language. Some members are concerned that because Ojibwe isn't used day to day as it once was, the language will be lost.

Janis Fairbanks organized a gathering over the weekend at the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School in Cloquet focused on practicing the language. Fairbanks is the new language coordinator on the reservation.

She says that it's more than a language that would be lost, it's culture and history that need to be preserved.