Menominee Nation chairman works to keep language alive

Monday, April 18, 2011  

John Teller, the chairman of the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin, says only 12 people are fluent in the tribe's language.

Another 100 are near-fluent thanks to language revitalization efforts, he said. But the language runs the risk of disappearing without more speakers.

“It is a very sad occasion to realise that the last of the native speakers will all be gone in ten years or so," Teller told The Royal Gazette. "But I think we have done a good enough job that the language will go on. Older people come in and act as a resource.

Teller is in Bermuda this week to talk about indigenous issues.

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Menominee spoken here (The Royal Gazette 4/18)