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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

o- pv dir go somewhere to do something, go over there to...

See also: awi- pv dir

obabigomi vai s/he has a flea or fleas

obabiinzikawaagani vai s/he has a coat or jacket

obashkiigaa vii it is a swampy channel or narrows, is a channel or narrows through muskeg

obashkiigaang name place at the swampy narrows

obashkweginwekizinensi vai s/he has small hide moccasins

obawa'iganaako vai s/he has a rice knocker or rice knockers

obaabaayan nad h/ father

See also: odedeyan nad

obaabaayi vai s/he has a father

See also: odedeyi vai

obaabaayim vta have h/ as a father

See also: odedeyim vta

obaabikaa vii it is a rocky narrows

obaakweyaa vii it is a wooded narrows

obaashiiwan vii it is a narrows

obaashkizigani vai s/he has a gun or guns

obigamaa vii there is a channel between lakes; there is a narrows

See also: wabigamaa vii

obikwako vai s/he has an arrow or arrows

obizhikiimi vai s/he has a cow, has cattle

obizhiinsimi vai [BL] s/he has a cat or cats

obiigomakakii na a toad

obiimiskodisii na a snail

obiiwayaa vai s/he (animal) has hair, has fur

obiiwidemi vai s/he has a visitor or visitors, has a guest or guests

oboodashkwaanishiinh na a dragonfly

obwayawe na a medium beaver

obwaam nid h/ (an animal's) hindquarter; h/ thigh (back of thigh)

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.