Celebrating Ojibwe Heritage through Words

Let’s learn about Storytelling!

The Ojibwe are a Native people of the northern United States and southern Canada. Their traditional land extends all the way from the northern Great Lakes to Montana. The Ojibwe also refer to themselves as Anishinaabe, which means “original people.” The Ojibwe have strong storytelling traditions in which history and spiritual traditions are passed from the memories of one generation to the next. This oral tradition connects past, present, and future and tightens tribal and familial bonds. These stories can provide moral lessons for children on how to behave; they can explain the mysteries of creation, or preserve the history and experiences of the tribe. Join author, storyteller, and UMS artist facilitator Stacie Sheldon as she shares with us the story of “How the Bear Got a Short Tail.”

To learn more about Ojibwe history, culture, and language, explore the accompanying slides and worksheets.

About the Artist

Stacie Sheldon is an enrolled member of the Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians. She is an author, human-centered design strategist and researcher, and language advocate. Stacie is passionate about preserving the Ojibwe language. She is a co-founder and manager of Ojibwe.net, an independently run website dedicated to learning and teaching Anishinaabemowin. Out of this work comes her dual-language (Anishinaabemowin and English) children’s book Bebikaan-Ezhiwebiziwinan Nimkii (The Adventures of Nimkii), starring her real-life dog companion Nimkii. She writes and speaks on topics such as language advocacy, indigenous mapping, and data bias and responsibility. Learn more at staciesheldon.com.