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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

attention
n
attention
ambe pc interj attention!; come on!; let's go!

pay attention
babaamendam vai2 s/he pays attention, worries

babaamendan vti pay attention to, be preoccupied with, worry about, bother it

Paired with: babaamenim vta

babaamenim vta pay attention to, worry about, be preoccupied with, bother h/

Paired with: babaamendan vti

attract
vt
attract
zhoobi' vta attract, please h/

auction
n
sell at auction
biibaagadaawaage vai s/he sells at a public sale or auction

audible
adj
audible
madwe- pv lex audible; being heard; making noise

auger
n
ice auger
bagonezigwa'igan ni an ice auger

August
n
August
manoominike-giizis na the moon of ricing occuring in August or September

See also: manoominikewi-giizis na [BL]

manoominikewi-giizis na [BL] the moon of ricing occuring in August or September

See also: manoominike-giizis na

miini-giizis na July; August

aunt
n
There are two kinds of aunts: one is a father's sister (sometimes called a cross-aunt) whose children are called with special cousin terms. The other is a mother's sister (sometimes called a parallel aunt) whose children are called siblings (brothers and sisters).
cross-aunt
nizigos nad my aunt (cross-aunt: father's sister)

inzigos nad my aunt (cross-aunt: father's sister)

gizigos nad your aunt (cross-aunt: father's sister)

ozigosan nad h/ aunt (cross-aunt: father's sister)

parallel aunt
ninoshenh nad my stepmother; my aunt (parallel aunt: mother's sister)

ginoshenh nad your aunt (parallel aunt: mother's sister); your stepmother

onoshenyan nad h/ aunt (parallel aunt: mother's sister); h/ stepmother

aurora borealis
n
aurora borealis
waawaate vii there is a display of the northern lights (aurora borealis)

authority
n
authority
ogimaawiwin ni government; authority; leadership

automobile
n
automobile
odaabaan na [LL] [ML]
  1. something pulled or dragged as a means of conveyance: a sled, a sleigh, a wagon
  2. a car, an automobile, a vehicle

See also: odaabaan ni [N]

odaabaan ni [N]
  1. something dragged or pulled as a means of conveyance: a wagon
  2. a car, an automobile, a vehicle

See also: odaabaan na [LL] [ML]

waasamoowidaabaan na a car, an automobile

See also: waasamoowidaabaan ni

waasamoowidaabaan ni a car, an automobile

See also: waasamoowidaabaan na

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.

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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.