The goal of the tribe’s language department seems simple enough; to create more fluent speakers, reinforce what’s already there and try to bring conversation back.

In an effort to meet that objective, the department has developed a bingolike game and has been taking it to all the reservations. The game is played in Elaponke, except in Brighton where it is done in Creek and in Lakeland where it is done in Elaponke and Creek.

“We are trying to have the language grow,” said language department director Francine Osceola. “Our grandparents planted the seed and we just have to water it to bring it back.”

The program, which began in October 2023, holds two games every Wednesday on the Hollywood reservation, one for kids at the Boys & Girls Club at 4 p.m. and one for adults at noon. Recently, Osceola has brought it to every other reservation and hopes to make it a monthly event. In its inaugural year, the language department has held 75 events.

“In Hollywood we usually get more than 40 people,” Osceola said. “In Tampa we recently had more than 30. We enjoy it and tribal members have been really receptive.”

The program came to Immokalee Nov. 14 where about a dozen folks tried their hand at the game. They had a bingo-like card with English words in front of them. First, they practiced how to say the items on the card in Elaponke. Then Brian Billie called out words in Elaponke as the players tried to match the words correctly. The first one to get a bingo, won a prize from the table loaded with them.

The department works with the preschools to create activity books, nursery rhymes and coloring books to help reinforce the language with pictures and words together.

Osceola would like to have the events more often on all the reservations, but she doesn’t have enough staff to make that happen.

“If we can get a local person on each reservation to lead it, we can send supplies and they can do it without us,” she said.