Wednesday March 10, 2010
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The Camp of the Ottertail Ojibwe Language Immersion Training  
(C. O. O. L. I.T)

BAGAKENDAMOWINIKAANING 
(The place where dreams and visions become clearer)

1. What is the History of the Camp?
The Ojibwe language immersion camp has been inexistence and operating since 1995 on the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation. The first immersion camp originally began in the summer of 1988 as part of the Ojibwe Specialist Program at Rainy River Community College. It started as a summer language program and the site was located on an island on Rainy Lake called Olberholzter’s island. The camp ran at that site for three summers and then expanded to reservations in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In 1995, the immersion camp found a permanent home on the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation where it currently resides.

2. Who attends camp?
The camp is intended for students of the Ojibwe language that would like to compliment their learning through the immersion experience. Ideally schools that teach the Ojibwe language is where the camp recruits from. Students from the Ojibwe language program at the University of Minnesota attend camp on a regular basis. It is part of their language learning to attend and the immersion experience provides the opportunity for an in-depth study of the language.      

3. When do camps run? 
There are four cultural camps throughout the year leading into a summer long immersion camp. The spring begins with a fasting retreat camp where individuals are taught the basics of going on a vision quest. The summer camp runs through the duration of the summer and these camps are a week long. The fall begins with a wild rice harvest camp and these usually run as long as the rice is harvestable. In the winter there is a storytelling camp and a trapping camp.
 
4.What is the Mission of the Camp?
The goal is to revitalize the Ojibwe language and culture through immersion. We are trying to create a camp that is in a natural setting away from the distractions of modern day living. Purposely there is no running water or electricity except solar energy, at the camp. Ojibwe language immersion education is most effective when there are no distractions from computers, phones or video games. The natural setting is conducive for quite reflection and looking inward to where the spirit of the language resides in all of us. It is in the genetic memory of the Anishinaabe that this camp hopes to regenerate in individuals; in essence to awaken the Anishinaabe within.  

5. Who are the contacts for information?
The main contact person is Pebaamibines, Dennis Jones who is the Camp Director. His e-mail address is jones112@umn.edu In the summer he resides on the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation and can be reached at 807 481-9925. During the school year he teaches at the University of Minnesota and his office number is 612 624-5738. 

6. Where is the camp located?
The camp is located at the mouth of the Little Ottertail river in the Red Gut Bay part of Rainy Lake. It is on the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation which is one of the twenty five bands of the Treaty Three territory that expands over 55,000 square miles. Geographically, it is situated in North Western Ontario adjacent to the province of Manitoba. Rainy Lake is a large lake that has the Canada and United States border running through the middle of the lake.  

7. What partnerships exist with the camp?
There is a three way partnership with the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation, Seven Generation Education Institute and the University of Minnesota. Seven Generation Education Institute is the fiscal agent for the camp,  Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation provides the location for the site and the University of Minnesota provides and implements the planning of the program.

8. Do you have a website that I can visit?

The Seven Generation Education Institute and the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation have a link to the camp on their main web page. Their address is 7generations.org and nigigoonsiminikaaning.ca

Below are a compilation of various videos that have been taken at the C.O.O.L.I.T Camp.