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Instructor Agnes Catcheway prepares a piece of hide that students were using to make baby drums. The task was an exercise in patience. (ADRIAN ALLEYNE)

Ron Jubinville recently decided to return to the classroom to help improve the lines of communication between him and some of his friends.

Jubinville, an East Kildonan resident, is one of 13 students enrolled in an Ojibwe language course currently being offered by the River East Transcona School Division.

"A lot of my friends are Ojibwe, and I’ve always wanted to take a course so I can have a conversation with my friends," explained Jubinville, shortly before class last week.

The 13-week Ojibwe language course has been offered at Salisbury Morse Place School since Feb. 2.

Mary Courchene, the school division’s elder-in-residence, said that the course is an important first step in preserving the language for future generations.

"This is a step in the right direction, if we are going to resurrect or revitalize our languages," she said.

"That’s what we need to do because our languages are dying at a phenomenal rate."

The division offered Cree and Ojibwe language courses in the past, and felt it was time to reach out to the community in a similar fashion, according to an aboriginal community networker.

"We had requests from both students and family members for learning an indigenous language," said Lisa Aymont Hunter, an aboriginal community networker for RETSD.

According to division officials, 15% of students in the RETSD catchment area identify themselves as being of aboriginal descent.

Aymont Hunter said that the aim of the language program is to provide students with a basic understanding of conversational Ojibwe.

"It’s mostly our elders who are fluent in it, so it’s extremely important that we teach our young people because they are the future," she said. "If they have the language, then our languages will be preserved."

Agnes Catcheway is the instructor for the course and has been teaching Ojibwe for 14 years.

A residential school survivor, Catcheway said she knows all too well the importance of preserving aboriginal languages.

"I came close to having my language deprived. (But) I kept my language in my heart," she said.

"Our culture and background is important to us. We’re at that critical time where our languages are on the cusp of dying if we don’t do anything now."

Jubinville said his experience with the program has been a positive one so far.

"I love it. I hope whatever I get out of it, I’ll know a little bit more than I knew before," he said.

adrian.alleyne@canstarnews.com