A great back-to-school project for kids and teens (and it’s not all online!)
Please help us honor the true native languages of this land by learning and sharing nature words of local Native American Chicagoans. Here’s how!
- Watch this short video about why language preservation is important: https://theways.org/story/living-language
- Visit the St. John’s garden (next to 3857 N Kostner Ave). Write down the words for the things you see that you want to learn the names of i.e. dirt, grass, rabbit, tree, robin, flower, worm etc.
- Choose a language you wish to learn. We recommend the starred * languages because you can look up the word and hear how it is pronounced. You may want to choose a language that is your own heritage or a neighbor’s. For instance, the Ho-Chunk nation has an office near St. John’s on Milwaukee Avenue. Here is a list of the 15 largest groups of Native American people living in the Chicagoland area:
| Language | Link | Color of ribbon |
| * Potawatomi | https://potawatomidictionary.com/Dictionary | white |
| Odawa/Ottawa | https://dictionary.nishnaabemwin.atlas-ling.ca/#/help | dark yellow |
| Ho Chunk | https://glosbe.com/en/win | light green |
| Menominee | http://www.menomineelanguage.com/dictionaries-word-lists | pink |
| Oneida | https://www.uwgb.edu/dictionary/EnglishToOneida.aspx | light brown |
| Blackfoot | https://dictionary.blackfoot.atlas-ling.ca/#/help | medium blue |
| * Ojibwe | https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/browse/english | light yellow |
| Cree | https://dictionary.plainscree.atlas-ling.ca/#/help | grey |
| Lakota | https://lakhota.org/teach-lakota/classroom-materials/dictionary/ | red |
| Dakota | https://glosbe.com/en/dak | light blue |
| Navajo | https://glosbe.com/en/nv | tan |
| Choctaw | https://glosbe.com/en/cho | light purple |
| Cherokee | https://www.manataka.org/page122.html | orange |
| Choose your own! | http://www.native-languages.org/ |
- Write the Native word you learned in permanent marker on the colored ribbon indicated. If the word is something that moves (like a rabbit), tie the ribbon to a picture of it (which you draw or photograph or print). If you are a St. John’s member there is roll of ribbon in your Sunday School in a bag. If you need ribbon please email parishoffice@stjohnschicago.com and we will deliver some to you!
- Go back to the garden and tie the ribbon to the thing (tree, flower, wood etc) and bring some sticks to tie on the ribbons and put in the ground (rabbit, butterfly, wind).
- Practice saying the words!
