Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

manidookaazo vai

s/he takes on spiritual power by h/ own authority



nimanidookaaz 1s ind; manidookaazo 3s ind; manidookaazod 3s conj; menidookaazod 3s ch-conj; Stem: /manidookaazo-/

manidookaazo /manidookaazo-/: /manidoow-/ stem of manidoo na ; /-ikaazo/
s/he pretends to be a kind of being or thing, pretends to do something

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

manidoo na a manitou, a spirit, god
(verb of pretending) manidookaazo vai s/he takes on spiritual power by h/ own authority (verb of making) manidooke vai s/he has spiritual power, conducts a ceremony
(derived noun) manidookewin ni a ceremony
(verb of being) manidoowi vai s/he is or becomes a manitou, a spirit, god; s/he acquires spirit power

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.