Bkejwanong Dbaajmowinan/Stories of Where the Waters Divide

Bkejwanong means “where the waters part,” but the waters of St. Clair River are not a point of separation. The same waters that sustain life on and around Bkejwanong—formerly known as Walpole Island, Ontario—flow down into Chippewas of the Thames, the community to which author Monty McGahey II belongs. While there are no living fluent speakers of Anishinaabemowin in this community, McGahey has fostered relationships with fluent speakers from nearby Bkejwanong. Bkejwanong Dbaajmowinan is a collection of stories from these elders, who understand the vital importance of passing on the language to future generations in order to preserve the eloved language and legacy of the community. Like the waters of St. Clair River, the relationships between language speakers and learners have continued to nourish Anishinaabe communities in Bkejwanong and Chippewas of the Thames, particularly in language revitalization. With English translations, this resource is essential for Anishinaabemowin learners, teachers, linguists, and historians.

This book is a wonderful addition to the slowly expanding corpus of Anishinaabemowin literature. Moreover, it is absolutely vital at this time when our language is sliding ever closer toward extinction as a living language, as apparent from the editor’s comment that his community no longer has any fluent speakers and that in the community closest to his, the youngest speaker is around seventy years old. The quickly diminishing, long-term immersion opportunities this situation presents for learners make written resources that reflect the natural phrasing mother-tongue speakers employ indispensable.

—Mary Ann Naokwegijig-Corbiere (Wiikwemkoo-niniikwe / native of Wiikwemkoong, Ontario), associate professor, University of Sudbury, and coeditor of the Nishnaabemwin Web Dictionary