Gidinwewininaan App & Website

Anishinaabe People consist of the Ojibwe, Odawaa and Potawatomi People as well as others. They are originally from the East Coast of the United States. Throughout the colonization of North America, the Anishinaabe settled in the Great Lakes Region. From Northern Minnesota to Michigan and on into Canada, this area is known as Anishinaabe Country. As the United States was being established, the Anishinaabe were stripped of their land base through Treaties. The Anishinaabe were eventually placed onto reservations and even then their reservation lands were diminished through congressional acts. Then came the Boarding School era with the Relocation era following closely behind in the late 1800 and early 1900’s. The Anishinaabe are Spiritual people with distinct languages and custom that provide a world view the represents their connection to their spirit world. All Anishinaabe communities are now in a cultural revitalization era. They are trying to reconnect to their cultural practices all while the world is quickly changing to digital. Teachers are having to create resources on the fly with most, if not all, of the programs are doing their work without any collaboration. They have a lack of resources that are centralized in a way that the world is evolving to. Lesson plans, curriculum and worksheets are locally contained and in some instances, as programs adapt, the resources are stored and then remade again the following year. What we are trying to develop is the digital resource for Anishinaabe Tribes, we hope to help other tribes with our model, to have access to resources that will aid in the revitalization efforts that are being administered in each anishinaabe community. Revitalization includes language, history, customs, culture, art and traditional practices. We do not seek to replace the natural world. We seek to provide the info necessary to learn more about and be reconnected to the natural world activities that supports Mino-bimaadiziwin (the good life). With Anishinaabe identity quickly declining with each elder dying, and the world around us turning to online platforms for connectivity to others, access to info and education, there is limited time to harness technology to adapt a way of life that is rapidly fading from our world. 

Our solution is to create an App and Website that has standard and custom digital resources for Anishinaabe tribes to revitalize their languages and customs. We aim to provide fast, efficient and effective resources for the earliest language learner to the most experienced language immersion teacher in order to further advance the revitalization efforts of their communities. Having a centralized database that tribes and tribal organizations to have access to will greatly increase collaboration and knowledge sharing throughout Anishinaabe Country. We aim to provide videos, games and live lessons that provide an array of learning activities to fulfill different learning and teaching methods. We look to Khan Academy for inspiration to create learning modules that introduce, quiz, review and test learners on acquisition of knowledge. Eventually, we look to explore augmented/virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Using different digital reality backdrops would allow introduction to different areas of the environment and physical spaces such as stores, schools and community events. Artificial intelligence will provide opportunities to practice language usage to build muscle memory and build pronunciation.

Our app serves anishinaabe and non-tribal people that are seeking to learn and teach Anishinaabemowin and Anishinaabe customs. When our earliest learner wants to seek out foundational knowledge that would help them understand why, what and how we do things, they would have a single place the expresses the multiple perspectives of their way of life. This would give them early knowledge to grow on. Working through the foundational work will help them bring stability to their knowledge as they seek more out in certain areas of language, harvest, ceremony among others. Current language and customs learners with some foundational work will be able to expand on certain ideas and have access to language grammar resources on the fly as they go about life. The immersion teachers will have digital resources available should they work on lessons and worksheets available for dispersal to their students. These resources not only provide mental knowledge, it provides a spiritual connection to culture that helps those seeking regain their identity. The loss of identity has contributed so much to the demise or the Anishinaabe people that knowing who they are is a common contributor to violence, addictions and incarceration. Regaining the culture, identity and language would re-establish a spiritual connection that aids with mental, emotional and physical ailments such as diabetes, depression and self-confidence.

The main indigenous communities would be those of Anishinaabe descent- Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Odawa and others. There are many communities across the Great Lakes Region of U.S. and into Canada that would benefit from this resource. There are also pocket communities in large cities surrounding the Great Lakes that have large Anishinaabe populations. Most colleges and universities within Anishinaabe Country have Ojibwe Language programming where students and professors would have benefits from this app. Within these communities there are addiction, lack of identity and disconnect to from their ancestors. We have been working in language revitalization for many years and a technological resource is common topic of discussion. There have been some websites made but they were created during a grad project by a linguist that use the academic terms and lingo. Very good resources but lack effectiveness with early language learners that don’t know academic or linguistic lingo. As these communities are reconnected to the identity, language and culture through digital resources, it would increase the use of nature, ceremonies and customs in the communities themselves. It was prophesied that we would adapt to the world around us and save our future ancestors from being disconnected to our ancestors.

The team here at Wenji-bimaadizing media have been working on sharing the idea of digital resources and gaining a buzz around our work. There have been advancements as anishinaabe -people have gained higher-ed degrees in education, linguistics and videography which now provide a team with diverse strengths in order to accomplish a complex project such as an app and a website. I have been working in cultural revitalization for the last decade and learned about using tech resources from other language efforts in other cultures. I have earned a Bush Fellowship from the Bush Foundation to help build my language fluency, learn more history and gain education in Structural Leadrshiop as well as UI/UX development. I have been able to create the vision and start the process in a website and know that an app is what would be preferred as more and more people seek the use of apps over websites. I have held local demonstrations of what an app for tribal nations may look like to gain feedback from those that would be using the resources. We targeted teachers, students, business staff and tribal leadership to gain insights on usage and features that would be beneficial for communities to use. Also, we are members of various Anishinaabe Communities and enrolled members of Anishinaabe Tribes in Minnesota and Wisconsin. My name is Bradley Harrington. I am the team lead.  I have lived a life of crime and addiction for a good portion of my life. I decided to change my life while serving my 2nd prison sentence only to be released right back into my community where I continued my seeking of my tribe's language and culture.  I found it and met many great people. My partner is Chato Gonzalez. Him and I have a dream for our people to have access to resources in order to learn our language and way of life. He also has been to prison. He now has obtained a Master's Degree in Education. Him and I pair our work together in order to share our knowledge. We also build the Gidinwewininaan website and moving to build the app. Not only are we the leaders of the operation, we also know the importance of learning our ways and customs, and have first hand knowledge of the lack of resources available. Chato and I now perform the ceremonies we sought and teach the language we gathered to change our lives around. We have built ourselves up to be community assets and are now prepared to take the next step of our journey which is to adapt our methods to allow mainstream access in a manner that is recognizable to our target audience of tribal members that are less than 25 years old. There are a few more passive contributors that advise and with this opportunity we can pull together in a more deliberate manner.  

I am applying to gain more assistance in accomplishing my vision to have an effective and efficient digital resource for my people to use in order to increase our base knowledge around language and customs. I believe that this app would revolutionize the way tribes approach cultural and language revitalization in a way that our future generations would be grateful for our efforts. With the help of Solve, I would be able to build myself up more in order to serve my people better as a leader and as a visionary that can lead a team to produce a product that would greatly benefit my people. I need to learn more about tech, access to tech and providing access to tech. My people are pretty far behind when it comes to technical advancement but are gaining in other area. I also seek to gain access to funding as an underserved community member in order to create a resource that can be available to many whom seek the language and customs of the Anishinaabe People. Also, with MIT being added to the makeup of our team, we build the sort of relevancy that helps with trust. Tribes have been oppressed so long that trust is tough to come by. My team and I also need to be able to know the Tech Industry. I am trained in Ojibwe Immersion, Federal Indian Law and Policy, Tribal Governance. I am currently seeking knowledge in Organizational Leadership and in UI/UX Development. My team members are trained in Education, Curriculum Development and Assessment. We are missing the bridge that will allow our current knowledge, teachings and language fluency to cross into the fast paced, unknown world to tribes of the Tech industry. We hope to have access to all that MIT has to offer to help a couple tribal community members with dreams of carrying on the life and spirit of our people in order to strive not only as anishinaabe but as human beings. 

I am connected as a Tribal Member of an Anishinaabe Community, I am recovering from the genocidal and oppressive tactics used on my people, I used my people's language and way of life to become a contributing member to our society, I have also worked in language revitalization and know the struggle at hand, I am also a life long resident and raise my kids within the same community I was raised. I am considered a leader in government and ceremonial pathways. 

Currently the list for digital resources that focus in on Ojibwe Language and Culture is short. The resources out there may be part of a single project that may have received a single financial contribution and/or part of a project for a linguist's educational work. Useful and informative. The resource is usually in a focused area of the language where there is limited examples of practical application of the language. Also, it may be written in an academic sense with linguistical terms that require additional knowledge to understand the resource. Gidinwewininaan App and Website aims to deliver a practical approach to the language and language learning. We use our experience as Ojibwe language learners to apply an educational approach that is understandable and applicable for the every day person looking to seek the language. Also, this would be the first time where there is a dedicated digital space for Ojibwe Language learning and teaching. There are some higher ed institutions that may have online courses but none you can take on your own time. Right now there is a Rosetta Stone being developed for Ojibwe Language. We don't intend to compete with but view as an additional ally as a resource that our product can be accented with. We seek to create a digital space where language learners can share, meet and experience the language being used in a digital space. A first of its kind. Although there may be similar experiences that you can find on Facebook or other platforms, they don't offer the lessons, resources and support that our app would supply. 

Over the next year we would like to continue getting our name and website out into the communities. With our website being in the development stage, we are currently gaining insights on the site's function and ease of use. The content is reviewed by Ojibwe Language consultants to ensure there is accurate data being available. We are also planning the initial video lessons to help our site users to navigate, understand and use the site. We aim to become the premier resource for Ojibwe Language learners at education institutions in order to continuously survey the sites capabilities and build the  community. In 5 years we aim to have 2 lesson modules with 5-9 lessons for each module. The modules will focus on different aspects and real life situations of the language. Our community will be growing regularly as our ability to deliver quality lessons and resources along with a safe digital space to practice the language. As classes and schools are being established, we look to partner with these groups in order to further serve language learners and teachers of the Ojibwe Language, History and Culture.

For the wellbeing of the anishinaabe people it has always been said that they would need to return to the language and culture. As native people in recovery that have achieved a level of success by means of our language and culture, we believe that our resources will aid those in recovery and provide essential prevention to becoming chemically dependent. We aim to provide quality education that raises awareness and understanding of History for the Anishinaabe People and delivers resources that helps to regain knowledge. We aim to revitalize traditional knowledge and customs through storytelling and encouraging the partaking of cultural events that support the spirit of the Anishinaabe People. By raising the awareness and understanding of Anishinaabe Culture, we will reduce the inequality for tribal membership. As our people seek to merely be acknowledged, we can better support one another as we will regain our collective conscience to better express who we are. In doing so, our Anishinaabe Heritage would be returned to a level that is beneficial to our tribal nations. We aim to serve the tribal membership that consists of these tribal nations in ways that would ensure our heritage is still active as opposed to topic of the past. As our languages are being used and our customs being practiced, our society will see a decline in violence, chemical addiction and an incline in communal integrity. We believe our culture, language and customs are so strong that the return of our way of life  is also the return of our strength. Our Anishinaabe Society will become a self sustaining world asset for the environment, community well-being and local economy. 

I believe the impacts our resource will have on the decline of the Anishinaabe Culture would be revolutionary. Right now there is a sharp increase in those seeking the Language and Culture. I have worked in this area for the last decade. I not only provide services to my own community but now must travel up to two states away to provide services. I am currently in a Potawatomi Community, 7 hours from home, to share ceremonies, language lessons and cultural teachings. Access to quality digital resources that I can use, even with my own resources, is limited. With a complete digital resource, I can share with them their own languages and customs. They would also be able to share with one another the information pertinent to their heritage. They would also be able to provide their own information onto the app making accessible to their membership. As we increase accessibility, those in recovery will be able to seek knowledge in one spot. Right now, most of us doing this work is in recovery. We know the outcomes should one be able to learn and be supported in acquiring anishinaabe knowledge. 

We are looking to use websites, apps, audio and video. With tribes being behind in the tech industry, some don't even have a functioning website, there is an obvious inequality. With us being able to provide this app and website for education institutions, tribes will be made aware that there is an opportunity for advancement that their own people are providing. With our language and knowledge documentation, we will seek to us AI as a form of knowledge sharing and language demonstration. AI will provide an opportunity for our users to practice in a safe space on their own time with an entity that can help correct pronunciation, deliver stories of history and provide procedural aspects of physical, cultural activities. 

My team is all anishinaabe individuals representing 3 federally recognized tribal communities in 2 US states. 

We provide resources for learning and teaching the Anishinaabe Language. We are developing our pay-for-service language lesson that will bring in the revenue in order generate more lessons. We also create merchandise that promotes the Anishinaabe Language. Right now, we are still running in the red as we develop our resources. 

Our plan to become sustainable is to provide pay-as-you-go learning modules. They will be tiered and mapped in a way where they will support one another and provide review and connection of the knowledge in language, history and culture. We also will offer custom language, culture and history resources in the forms of apps, websites, books, video and audio resources.  We are also providing a paid-service of Tutoring for those that need additional help. 

We only have started selling merchandise on our website. Our tutoring is being worked out. We do not have any lessons yet available. We have generated 1 contract in the amount of $139,000 to create 4 videos that we are currently working on.