Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

Ojibwa wood fish decoy on sinew line

Copyright Minnesota Historical Society Collections

Description:
A Fish-shaped decoy is carved of a single piece of light color wood with little detailing except the outlines of eyes and gills. The tail is made of a piece of birchbark inserted in a slot in the wood. It also has four short fins made of leather. Lead is inserted in a hole in the bottom. A line of twisted sinew is fastened to the top of the head and knotted at the tail. The decoy is from the Mille Lacs, Minn., area.
10192901

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
  • Images
  • 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.