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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

biig na gh
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a spade suite card



biig sg; biigwag pl; Stem: /biigw-/

biig sg gh
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biigwag pl gh
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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.

Related Words

Playing Cards
bezhigoobii'igan na an ace
biig na a spade suite card
danens na a club suite card
gaanoo na a diamond suite card
giiyoon na a heart suite card
ikwe na
  1. a woman, a lady
  2. a queen (card)
midaasoobii'igan na a ten (card)
niizhoobii'igan na a deuce, a two (card)
nisoobii'igan na a three (card)
niiyoobii'igan na a four (card)
naanoobii'igan na a five (card)
ingodwaasoobii'igan na a six (card)
ningodwaasoobii'igan na a six (card)
nishwaasoobii'igan na an eight (card)
ishwaasoobii'igan na an eight (card)
niizhwaasoobii'igan na a seven (card)
ogimaa na
  1. a leader (male): a boss, a chief, a king
  2. a king (card)
zhaangasoobii'igan na a nine (card)
zhimaaganish na
  1. a soldier
  2. a jack (card)
Games of Chance
aazhigijiiginige vai s/he plays poker
badakijii'igewataadiwag vai [BL] they play cribbage
bagese vai s/he plays the dish game
makizinataage vai s/he plays the moccasin game
zhooniyaansiwataage vai s/he plays penny-ante poker
zhooniyaawataadiwag vai they play poker
zhooshkonige vai
  1. s/he slides things
  2. s/he plays a game (with a movable game piece), plays checkers, plays dominoes, plays bingo, plays shuffleboard, curls

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.

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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.