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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

great spirit
n
great spirit
gichi-manidoo na great spirit, god, the creator

spirit
n
spirit
manidoo na a manitou, a spirit, god

manidoowi vai s/he is or becomes a manitou, a spirit, god; s/he acquires spirit power

aadizookaan na
  1. a sacred story (a legend, a myth)
  2. a spirit

See also: aadisookaan na

aadisookaan na a spirit

See also: aadizookaan na

jiibay na a spirit; a ghost

great spirit
gichi-manidoo na great spirit, god, the creator

spirit within (soul)
ninjichaag nad my soul (the spirit within)

gijichaag nad your soul (the spirit within)

ojichaagwan nad h/ soul (the spirit within)

spirit dish
n
spirit dish
wiikondiwin ni a feast; a spirit dish: an offering of food at the start of a meal

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.