“Thank you for helping to save the world.”
That’s how Ojibwe language teacher Dan Jones greeted his beginners class after explaining that some believe an end to the language means the end of all things. By learning Ojibwemowin and keeping it alive, the Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College instructor said, his students could take credit for helping to save the Earth.
In this regard, the mission of Wiigwaas Press and the Birchbark House Fund is a big one.
In 2008, Heid and Louise Erdrich, both authors and sisters from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, founded the Birchbark House Fund “to support the work of indigenous language scholars and authors,” Heid Erdrich told Indian Country Today Media Network. In 2010 the two created Wiigwaas Press to publish books solely in the Ojibwe language. Heid oversees the day-to-day operations.Wiigwaas, or birch bark, seemed an appropriate name; the durable bark once served as the medium for delivering messages.