Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

bawa'am vai2 gh
Listen

s/he knocks wild rice



imbawa'am 1s ind; nimbawa'am 1s ind; nibawa'am 1s ind; bawa'am 3s ind; bawa'ang 3s conj; bewa'ang 3s ch-conj; bawa'an 2s imp; gego bawa'angen 2s imp prohib; bawa'amookan 2s imp del; Stem: /bawa'+am-/

imbawa'am1s ind gh
Listen

nimbawa'am1s ind rg
Listen

nj
Listen

bawa'am3s ind gh
Listen

lw
Listen

nj
Listen

es
Listen

rg
Listen

bawa'ang3s conj gh
Listen

lw
Listen

es
Listen

nj
Listen

bewa'ang3s ch-conj gh
Listen

lw
Listen

nj
Listen

rg
Listen

bawa'an2s imp nj
Listen

lw
Listen

gego bawa'angen2s imp prohib nj
Listen

bawa'amookan2s imp del nj
Listen

gii-pawa'am3s ind pst rg
Listen

Manoominikewaad bezhig bawa'am miinawaa bezhig gaandakii'ige.

When they make rice, one knocks rice and one poles the boat.
 rg
Listen

bawa'am /bawa'+am-/: /baw-/
knock, shake
; /-a'/
act on it using a tool or medium; sing it

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.

Word Family

bawa'am vai2 s/he knocks wild rice
(derived noun) bawa'amowin ni a load of picked rice

Related Words

bawa'iganaak ni [NI] [RL] a knocker: a stick used to knock rice grains off the wild rice stalks
bawa'iganaak na [LL] [ML] a knocker: a stick used to knock rice grains off the wild rice stalks

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.