A doll that speaks Anishinaabemowin

The idea arrived twice on the same day. In a community thread about the future of the language, a commenter suggested putting fluent speakers' voices into a learning doll, with the recordings kept by the Nations themselves. Russell Jones had been carrying the same idea. When two people who have never met describe the same object, you build it.

OIATC has published the plan, from idea to a child holding one: a soft doll sewn in community with a fluent Elder's voice inside, Anishinaabemowin on the first squeeze and English on the second, no screen, no app, nothing online. The page carries the whole build, parts list and costs included, and the consent process that puts the Elder's agreement at the centre of every step. Read it at /anishinaabemowin/doll.