A springtime trip to a sugarbush camp is giving Minneapolis children a hands-on way to connect with Indigenous languages and traditions. Through Wicoie Nandagikendan, young students learn Ojibwe and Dakota not just in the classroom but also through cultural activities, family participation, and traditional food practices. The program is helping preserve languages with dwindling numbers of fluent speakers while giving children a meaningful connection to their heritage.
Wicoie Nandagikendan Immerses Young Children in Ojibwe and Dakota Languages
For children learning an Indigenous language, hearing it throughout the day can make a meaningful difference. Wicoie Nandagikendan is an early childhood immersion program in Minneapolis that teaches preschool lessons entirely in Ojibwe or Dakota, giving young students the chance to learn through conversation, classroom activities, and everyday interactions. The program’s name combines words from both languages: Wicoie means language in Dakota, while Nandagikendan means I seek to know it in Ojibwe. Teachers use the languages as the main way to communicate rather than treating them as occasional subjects. Ojibwe lead teacher Liz Zoongwegiizhigook Zinsli, for example, says she does not switch to English when speaking with her students, even when she encounters them outside school. This consistent exposure helps children become familiar with the sounds, words, and patterns of a language from an early age. The approach also supports regular preschool learning and development, while giving children a stronger connection to their families and communities. The need is significant: Minnesota has fewer than 1,000 fluent Ojibwe speakers, according to estimates cited by language advocates, and the number of Dakota first-language speakers is even smaller. The program hopes to help change that by giving the next generation a place to hear, understand, and use these languages naturally.
A Sugarbush Field Trip Turns Traditional Maple Syrup Making Into a Language Lesson
Some lessons become easier to understand when children can experience them with their own hands. That was the idea behind a March 18, 2026, field trip to Porky’s Sugarbush Camp in Maple Plain, west of Minneapolis. Students from Wicoie Nandagikendan and Bdote Learning Center joined their parents to learn about skigamizigan, the traditional springtime practice of gathering sap from maple trees and turning it into maple sugar. The children walked through the wooded area, where buckets hung from trees to collect sap, and learned about the different stages of the process. They also helped stir maple syrup that had already been boiled down, turning it into sugar and sugar cakes. The camp provided a setting where teachers could explain traditional practices while students encountered the vocabulary and activities connected to them. A student also took part in a ceremony by placing tobacco at the base of a tree, adding another cultural element to the experience. Rather than learning words from a worksheet, children could connect language to real objects, actions, and surroundings. The visit showed how a traditional food practice can become a practical classroom lesson, bringing together language, observation, participation, and cultural knowledge.
Cultural Activities Connect Students With Indigenous Food Traditions and Family Heritage
Food can carry knowledge that goes well beyond a recipe, and that is an important part of the program’s approach. Wicoie Nandagikendan includes cultural teachings alongside its early childhood curriculum, introducing students to traditional practices such as preparing rabbit and duck dishes and learning how wild rice is harvested. These activities help children understand the relationship between Indigenous communities, food, and the natural environment. The sugarbush visit offered another example, allowing students and families to take part in a seasonal tradition while learning how maple sap becomes a finished food. Family participation is also central to making these experiences meaningful. Parents who attend activities can learn alongside their children and become more comfortable hearing and using the languages themselves. One parent described how his adopted son, whose birth family is Ojibwe, was gaining a connection to the language of his heritage while the rest of the family learned with him. Another parent noticed that her child’s growing understanding and use of Ojibwe was encouraging her own language learning. These experiences show that immersion does not stop at the classroom door. When families take part, children have more opportunities to hear the language and connect it with everyday life. They also gain a stronger understanding of cultural practices that might otherwise remain unfamiliar to them.
The Program Is Growing a New Generation of Indigenous Speakers Despite Funding Challenges
Keeping an Indigenous language alive requires more than teaching children a few words. It takes consistent instruction, knowledgeable teachers, family involvement, and stable support over many years. Wicoie Nandagikendan faces that challenge at a time when fluent speakers of Ojibwe and Dakota are increasingly difficult to find. The decline of Indigenous languages has deep historical roots, particularly in the boarding school era, when Native children were often discouraged or punished for speaking their languages. Many remaining fluent speakers are now elders, making the transfer of knowledge to younger generations especially important. The program has also faced financial uncertainty because it relies entirely on grants, including federal funding. Earlier in 2026, funding freezes created serious pressure, and some staff members agreed to accept reduced pay or wait for their wages so the program could continue operating. Support from local philanthropic organizations, including the Minneapolis Foundation, helped keep its doors open and staff paid. Despite those difficulties, the school is moving ahead with plans to restart a Dakota immersion classroom in fall 2026 after several years on pause. Elder Carol Charging Thunder has been developing the curriculum, bringing her experience as a Lakota first-language speaker to the work. The renewed classroom is an important step toward expanding language learning and giving more young children the opportunity to grow up hearing Indigenous languages as a living part of their daily lives.
