Waaskonens Daapnaan Binoojiinsan

By Barbara Nolan Aug 4, 2012

NISHNAABE-LANGUAGE IMMERSION BY BARBARA NOLAN

“Waaskonens Adopts a Baby”

16 min.

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

Waaskonens, a single thirty-something elementary school teacher, is quite content and happy with her life – with one exception. She feels a deep loneliness in her heart because she longs to be a mother. She wants to raise a child of her own without having a man.

An opportunity presents itself one day to Waaskonens to adopt a baby. Should I take this chance and risk rejection by the adoption agency? Will I be a good mother? These are just some of the questions concerning adoption that Barbara Nolan raises in “Waaskonens Daapnaan Binoojiinsan.”

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.