Aboriginal Accent internet radio show promotes the use of Nishnaabemwin, the language of the Anishnaabeg. Aboriginal Accent streams live Fridays at 10:00 am EST -5:00 GMT from Trent Radio 92.7 FM in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

This year on Aboriginal Accent, I am hosting an interrogative game show called Ezhi-kwedweng. Each week I will play a short prerecorded Nishnaabemwin voice clip of Professor Shirley Williams (Manitoulin Island Central Ojibwe/Odawa dialect). Shirley will describe something or someone using words that she teaches in class. The clues will be played at quarter to the hour, on the hour, and quarter past the hour. The caller who responds with the correct answer to the Ezhi-kwedweng question will have their name placed in a drawing for Shirley's newly published Lexicon, Gdi-nweninaa, Our Sound-Our Voice. The drawing will be held during the last week in March 2003 to celebrate Aboriginal Language Day!

There will be a new riddle each week. I will give the translation to the previous week's riddle at the beginning of the show before the new riddle is played. The purpose of the game is to have listeners call me and guess what Shirley is talking about. The studio line is (705) 748-4761.

The Aboriginal Accent Yahoo Group is used to promote oral and written language use. Members meet here to voice and text chat with each other in Nishnaabemwin and English. After the live broadcast, I will e-mail the riddle to the members of Aboriginal Accent Yahoo Group. I will collect the names of those people who reply to me with the correct answer for a separate drawing of the Gdi-nweninaa Lexicon. An English version of the riddle will be emailed to members to help them learning to read, write and speak Nishnaabemwin.

Good luck!

Tessa Reed