Minnesota State Mankato students enrolled in joint Ojibwe language classes with students from Bemidji State University will meet their fellow students in a Dec. 9-10 field trip to Bemidji State lead by Chelsea Mead, Ph.D, associate professor of Anthropology and American Indigenous Studies.

The trip includes participation in a Dec. 10 program, Winter Ojibwe Stories, featuring Anton Treuer, Ph.D, among the presenters. Other presenters include Dennis Jones and Dustin Burnette. The event is free and open to the public but registration is required. Those interested can attend via Zoom or in person at BSU’s American Indian Resource Center.

Treuer, BSU professor of Languages and Indigenous Studies, has instructed the Ojibwe courses via telepresence through a partnership with Minnesota State Mankato as part of a 2019 multi-campus collaboration grant through Minnesota State for an Ojibwe Language Consortium.

BSU will also be flying in 4-5 students from Toronto and Boston to join. During the visit, students will meet with fluent Ojibwe elders and community members. This is the last event in the MinnState Collaboration Grant.

Bemidji State is home to the first collegiate Ojibwe language program in the United States. Starting with adjunct classes in 1969, Bemidji created a full three-year sequence of Ojibwe language courses in 1971.

More than 250 American Indian students attend BSU. Most are involved with the Ojibwe language program in some capacity.