Fond du Lac College receives $9.2M for Ojibwe language revitalization initiative

The Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, Minnesota, has received $9.2 million from the Bush Foundation to launch an eight-year Ojibwe language revitalization initiative. The funding will expand immersive, community-based language learning opportunities for adult learners, preserve recordings of first-language speakers, and strengthen long-term language infrastructure. The effort includes creation of an Ojibwe language documentation and preservation research center and viability study for a bachelor’s degree program in Ojibwemowin. The award will also expand the college’s Ojibwemotaadidaa Omaa Gidakiiminaang immersion camps. The investment positions the institution as a regional hub for Indigenous language preservation and intergenerational cultural learning.