James Kaagegaabaw Vukelich will present about the preserving power of language 5 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Glacier Room, Atwood Memorial Center.
Vukelich is an Ojibwe speaker and indigenous languages specialist for Minneapolis Public Schools.
He is enrolled at Turtle Mountain, a reservation near the Canadian border in North Dakota. He lives in south Minneapolis.
Vukelich’s presentation, “The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfathers,” discusses the strong ties between language and culture and how preserving one can help protect the other.
He draws inspiration from William Jones’ “Ojibwe Texts,” a collection of traditional stories gathered between 1903 and 1905 from western Ojibwe people at Bois Fort and Leech Lake, in Minnesota, and Fort William, in Ontario, Canada.
Vukelich is part of a 14-member Indian Education Team officed in the Davis Center on West Broadway, between the Near North and Jordan neighborhoods of Minneapolis.
Some Ojibwe identify themselves using other demonyms, including Anishnaabe, Chippewa, Ojibwa and Ojibway.
Vukelich’s remarks are part of the American Indian Speaker Series, sponsored by the American Indian Center.
