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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

odaabaani-maajiishkaachigan ni a car starter

odaabaanikana ni a highway; a wagon trail

odaabaanike vai s/he repairs, works on, or makes a means of conveyance or vehicle: car, automobile, wagon, sled. sleigh

odaabaanikewigamig ni a repair garage

odaabaanikewinini na an automobile mechanic

odaabaaniiwigamig ni a garage

odaabaazh vta drag, pull h/ as a load

Paired with: odaabaadan vti

odaabii vai s/he drags, pulls a load; pulls a sled

odaabaadan vti drag, pull it as a load
(verb of undergoing) odaabaajigaade vii it is dragged (by someone), "they" drag it (verb of undergoing) odaabaajigaazo vai s/he or it (animate) is dragged (by someone), "they" drag h/ or it (animate)
odaabaazh vta drag, pull h/ as a load
odaabii-mishtadim na [BL] a draft horse

odaabii' vta drive h/

(detransitive) odaabii'iwe vai s/he drives (derived noun) odaabii'aagan na a draft animal
odaabii'aagan na a draft animal

odaabii'iwe vai s/he drives

odaabii'iwe-mazina'igan ni a driver's license

See also: odaabii'iwe-mazina'igaans ni [ML]

odaabii'iwe-mazina'igaans ni [ML] a driver's license

See also: odaabii'iwe-mazina'igan ni

odaabii'iwewinini na a driver

odaabiisim na a sled dog

odaagimi vai s/he has a snowshoe or snowshoes

odaajinamaneshiinh na oriole

odaake vai
  1. s/he steers
  2. s/he governs, directs affairs

(derived noun) odaakewin ni government; management; law
odaake-ogimaa na a director; a governor

odaakewigimaa na a director

odaakewin ni government; management; law

odaamikan nid h/ chin; h/ jaw

odaanaang adv loc behind, at the back, in the rear

odaangoshenyan nad her cross-cousin: (a female cross-cousin: her mother's brother's daughter, her father's sister's daughter)

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.