March 27th, 2019

aanii, boozhoo - greetings from OIYPP’s new program coordinator 
when i began this new position as the program coordinator with the ontario indigenous youth partnership project or OIYPP as it’s commonly referred to; like a nickname! i was having a difficult time writing my bio for the website. questions began to pop into my head, what’s a bio, how do i write one, how long should it be, how much do i need to tell people, etc. i was stressing myself out in the first week of work. i wondered why it was so hard to get into and then realized, i was the one making it way harder than necessary. 
so i did some work and decided to write out all my relatives; parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, siblings, niece and nephews and all the cousins! knowing who my parents and grand parents are was the beginning. it also helped to name my great grand parents and even my great-great grandpa, ogaa. 
ngitziimak - my parents named me lyndsay danielle taibossigai; adik ndoodem; anongoonhs kwe noozwin; anishinaabe kwe ndaaw; zigos ndaaw; misenh ndaaw; shiimenh ndaaw; daanis ndaaw; ooshenh ndaaw; aan’kobjigan ndaaw. 
my parents named me lyndsay danielle taibossigai; i belong to the caribou family; i am called little star woman; i am a good human being woman; i’m an auntie, younger sister, older sister, daughter, grand-daughter and great grand-daughter… (this can continue on and on).
who knew the simple task of having to write an updated bio for the OIYPP website would reveal this complex personal understanding that, anishinaabek world view is the DNA of language and it makes me who i am. 
i’ll share a story with you…
late last week nishimis raeya zhinkaazo; and i were invited to my home community’s lakeview school to visit the SK/JK class and the ngwaaganak classroom; on the drive to the school, raeya says i can’t believe i’m ojicree! ngii-baap bangii - i laughed a little; i asked her what is it about it that you can’t believe? (or in 5 year old language = what is it about being ojicree that excites you?) raeya matter of factly says, actually i think i’m more cree than ojibway. shtatahaa ngii-nendam - wow i thought and then asked her, how are you more cree? raeya gii-kid, well i know more cree (language) than ojibway, so I’m more cree. (her dad and all her moose factory cree relatives would be so proud!) i smiled really big and my heart grew with love for her and this reciprocal learning + teaching moment. well, i said, rae you’ve lived in moose factory all your life and you’ve been around the cree language more than ojibway, so it makes sense that you know more cree. but it doesn’t make you more cree or more ojibwe, because you’re both and that’s magical. it was a great moment, one that has now illustrated to me, how language is our identity as peoples. i mean if a 5 year old ojicree girlie understands this, why can’t we? 
so, giintam, your turn - who are you? 
oh yeah and there are only three3 days left to apply for the #2019OIYPP grant; 

• so find a cousin or a friend
• visit with tea, bannock and fresh maple syrup
• hatch a plan = think of your dreams; project ideas or event you want your community to have
• visit OIYPP website at www.oiypp.weebly.com and answer questions on the online application *get stuck? *unsure how to answer something? *call us! *lyndsay cell is 249 777 1707 and thea cell is 613 714 9668 *we’d love to help
• send us your beautiful ideas, positive solutions to your community’s troubles or plans for a 1day event you want to host on your Rez… this is the magic of OIYPP… —> young people decide what they need/want and OIYPP is like your two older sisters, ready, available to help & cheer you on!
• if you know someone who could benefit from reading this, please share it, like it’s the first batch of your aunties fry bread!