NISHNAABE-LANGUAGE IMMERSION BY BARBARA NOLAN
Gkinoowmaawso Waaseyaa
“Waaseyaa Guides By Example”
22 min.

Miigwech to Margaret Hele, Barbara Burns and Roseanna McCoy for their camerawork and kind assistance in helping us to record this video.

In “Gkinoowmaawso Waaseyaa,” Barbara Nolan shares with us a story of a bright, young, five-year-old girl named Waaseyaa. Waaseyaa’s father, Bgonehaankwad, and Waaseyaa’s mother, Waaskonens, have become frustrated with Bgonehaankwad’s elderly and increasingly accident-prone father, Mmaangzid, who lives with all of them in the same house.

Bgonehaankwad and Waaskonens have nearly given up on the clumsy old man, Mmaangzid, and are no longer wanting the Elder to be included as a full member of the extended family. However, the five-year-old Waaseyaa, understanding the importance of loyalty to extended family, has other ideas.


By Barbara Nolan

Barbara Nolan is a first-speaker of Nishnaabemwin who has spent several decades working with a variety of organizations to revitalize the Nishnaabe language. Most recently, her dream of passing her language on has come true: Barbara has successfully passed her language on to John Paul Montano. This website, barbaranolan.com, is one part of their continuing efforts to help other Nishnaabe people acquire the language.