Many people do not know why a lot of Anishinaabe people can’t speak their own language. We the Anishinaabe people went through an era in history both in Canada and the United States that is known as the Indian Residential School era. It is a part of history that isn’t talked about a lot. The Federal government created a system where Indian children were put in schools to live. Children did not get to go home at 3:00 or weekends most lived in these schools till they were 16 years old. The very sad thing was they were not allowed to speak the only language that they knew Anishinaabemowin. If you were caught speaking your language, you were punished. You did not have a choice of what to wear, eat, your hair was cut the same as everyone, girls and boys were separated.
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