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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

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Showing Category: animals

esiban na a raccoon

[
Procyon lotor
]

gaag na a porcupine

[
Erethizon dorsatum
]

gidagaa-bizhiw na a bobcat

[
Lynx rufus
]

gwiingwa'aage na a wolverine

[
Gulo gulo
]

ma'iingan na a wolf

[
timberwolf / gray wolf
; 
Canis lupus
]

(verb of being) ma'iinganiwi vai s/he is a wolf
makwa na a bear

[
black bear
; 
Ursus americana
]

(verb of pretending) makokaazo vai s/he pretends to be a bear (verb of being) makowi vai
  1. s/he is a bear, becomes a bear
  2. she comes of age, has her first menses
manidoo-waabooz na a cottontail rabbit

[
eastern cottontail
; 
Sylvilagus floridanus
]

mashkode-bizhiki na a bison; a buffalo

[
American bison
; 
Bison bison
]

memookiwidoo na a pocket gopher

[
plains pocket gopher
; 
Geomys bursarius
]

misajidamoo na a grey squirrel; a fox squirrel

[
fox squirrel, grey squirrel
; 
Sciurus spp.
]

The Ojibwe People's Dictionary is developed and maintained by:
Nora Livesay, Editor
John D. Nichols, Founder and Linguistic Editor

with support and collaboration from the University of Minnesota's Department of American Indian Studies and University Libraries.

Additional Resources

Many of the words in the Ojibwe People's Dictionary have related resources. Click through to the full dictionary entry to hear audio recordings, see images, read documents and watch videos. Here's a key to resource icons.

  • Audio recordings
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  • Video
  • Documents

Speakers & Regions Key

Individual speakers and speakers from different regions use different words when speaking. Each audio recording is marked with the initials of the Ojibwe speaker. Click on a speaker's initials to go to the speaker's bio page. If an Ojibwe word is particular to a certain region, it will be marked with a region code. Click on the region code to go to the Regions page.