Okay, get our blood flowing.
Nekot...
>> Nekot.
>> Nis...
>> Nis.
>> David Turney
was not raised to do this.
>> Suasek...
>> Suasek.
>> Sakaew...
>> Sakaew.
>> Is that you?
>> Yep, that's me.
>> He was born in Keshena,
on the Menominee
Indian Reservation.
But as a child, he was not
taught how to count to ten
in his own language.
He wasn't taught any words
in Menominee.
Everything he learned was
from listening to the elders
that still knew the language.
>> I knew some words.
You know,
I knew some little phrases.
And sometimes I would, you know,
I would try to speak it
and some of my friends said,
"Oh, don't talk like that.
We don't need that."
>> A generation earlier,
the U.S. government
had forced Indian children
into boarding schools
where their native language
was forbidden.
>> So, you had them
boarding school people that were
scared to speak the language.
>> Even today,
during important public events,
like the opening of the
Menominee Cultural Museum,
the old language
is barely used.
>> Okay, I'd like to
get started.
[speaking Menominee]
A very historic day
for the Menominee people.
>> There's 9,000 Menominee.
There's probably seven
fluent speakers,
First Language speakers.
And they're in their late 70s.
[speaking Menominee]
>> That history makes this
summer school class
on the Menominee language
all the more remarkable.
David Turney is known
to these middle school students
as Napos, his Native name.
>> This grass, this reed grass,
a long time ago, was used a lot
by the Menominee people.
>> On this day, they've made
a field trip to the side of
a highway to pick reeds
for a class project.
>> Well, we use this
for many things.
One of them is for tying,
making ropes.
>> Napos was approached by the
Green Bay Public School District
a few years ago,
to work as part
of the cultural support staff.
The district wanted to do
a better job of engaging
their large population
of Native students.
>> One of the first things
I came across
was a misunderstanding
in ethics of Native culture.
Many of the teachers
told the kids, you know,
"Look at me
when I'm scolding you."
And in our culture,
that's a no-no.
You don't look at someone older
when they're talking to you.
You put your eardrum
and you look away.
And so, they think that
they're not paying attention,
but that's our culture.
>> Soon, Napos was teaching
a small language class.
[saying and repeating
words in Menominee]
>> That expanded
into this summer school class.
Napos says every student
of his has some Native blood,
but feels little connection
with their Menominee heritage.
>> And overwhelmingly,
it was language.
You know,
"I want to learn my language."
>> But language by itself
is not enough.
>> Culture and language
can't be separated.
>> Which is why this class
spent their time with Napos
building a wikeum,
known in English as a wigwam.
Napos knows what it's like
to grow up without a connection
to his heritage.
He went to high school
off reservation
and then joined the Navy.
>> There was always that thing
that, about being Indian.
'Cause back in them days,
it wasn't good.
>> By age 40,
he was back in Keshena.
That's when his mother's cousin
came into his life.
>> He came to me,
and he was looking for someone
to so-call "learn our ways."
He took me under his wing
and started teaching me,
formally adopted me
as his nephew.
>> It was this uncle
that gave him the name Napos,
which means First Rabbit.
>> He told me, "Now's the time
I'm gonna teach you
how to teach."
So really, his first lesson
was about listening.
[saying and repeating
words in Menominee]
>> Over the years Napos
had learned bits and pieces
of the language,
but his uncle
was expanding his mission.
>> I sat there for a long time
that day and just listened
to him talk about the culture,
the ways, the language,
how important it is
to take what you learn,
to share it.
He said, "It's not for you.
It's for everybody."
[teaching in Menominee language]
>> Napos knows
the Menominee language
will never be as widely used
as it once was.
[teaching in Menominee language]
But that won't stop him
from teaching those
who want to learn.
>> As for being too late, maybe,
but let's not focus on that.
Let's focus on what we can do.
You all learned something?
[teaching in Menominee language]