New Language and Culture Division Director Focuses on Reconnection, Accssibility
The Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has launched its new Language and Culture Division, Gide’inaan, meaning “Our Heart,” with Migizi (Michael) Sullivan Sr., Ph.D., serving as division director.
Migizi said the division was created to make Anishinaabe language, culture, identity and spirituality more accessible to the community while helping LCO families reconnect with what was always intended for them.
“One of the main goals of what I want to do is make it so accessible to our people,” Migizi said. “I think it only takes one relative to change the trajectory for a whole family.”
The division’s work will focus on four goals: research and dissemination, enhanced accessibility, personal and professional development, and local and regional collaboration. Programming will be guided by community research, neighboring tribal efforts and Indigenous language revitalization work happening across the country and beyond.
The division is assembling an Elder Advisory Board and plans to host a community feast to introduce its goals and invite community members into the work. A full calendar of programming is expected later this year, with programming planned to begin in September.
For Migizi, success begins with helping people feel welcome, comfortable and confident in language and culture spaces, especially those who may have felt disconnected or left out over the years.
“Success in our community would look like bringing some comfort into those spaces,” Migizi said. “Once we get started and people see the programming, they will see how fun it is and how good it is for the soul.”
Migizi’s own path to language work was shaped by the loss of Harold Frogg, who he described as one of the last people he had close access to who carried deep language, cultural, and spiritual knowledge. At the time, Migizi was in college and preparing for the LSAT with plans to become a lawyer.
“Losing Harold woke something up in me,” Migizi said. “It lit my fire.”
That loss changed the direction of his life and eventually led him toward linguistics, advanced study, and language revitalization. Now, as director, Migizi said he is grateful to remain at home and serve LCO through work that strengthens the tribe’s language and cultural future.
The division’s headquarters will be in the former Elder Center in Reserve, a space Migizi said carries meaning and history for the community. As the division begins, he said the goal is to move forward with care, research, collaboration and a welcoming approach that brings people back to the heart of who they are.
They will be setting up the new division this summer so stay tuned for flyers and information on social media about upcoming offerings and opportunities.
Migizi said, “We look forward to serving the community as we start together on the very heart of our way of life, our language, and our identity as a people. Just by engaging in this effort, we begin to rebuild healthy lifeways framed in an Anishinaabe worldview.”
Ambe bi-wiidookaazog biminizha’amang gaa-ina’oonigooyang anishinaabewiyang!
Please join us in welcoming Migizi (Michael) Sullivan, Sr., Ph.D. to his new role with Lac Courte Oreilles.
