Jerry Hill: Menominee girl was brave to speak her language

Monday, February 13, 2012  

"On January 19 a Menominee 7th grader was benched and suspended from a Catholic School in Shawano, Wisconsin, for speaking Menominee with two other girls from the Menominee Indian Reservation. Shawano is a small town several miles south of the Reservation. Like many off-reservation communities, there is a history of racist attitudes against Indians, although we like to think that the relations have improved. This incident shows that racism is alive and well.

That this happened in a parochial religious school makes this a wake-up call for everyone who believed that America has moved beyond such displays of ignorance. Historical precedents are plentiful. Yet, the bad heartedness behind persists when a 12 year old child is subjected to such treatment in 2012."

Get the Story:
Jerry Hill: Indigenous Language Institute Response to the Miranda Washinawatok Suspension (Native News Network 2/11)

Related Stories:
Opinion: School wrong to bench student for Native language (2/10)
School apologizes to student for using Menominee in class (2/2)
Student reprimanded for using Menominee words at school (1/30)