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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

abwewasige vai s/he cures things over a fire

abwewaswi vta [NI]

► abwewas vta

abwewin ni a frying pan

abwewinaabik ni a frying pan

abweyiingwe vai s/he has a sweaty face

abwezide vai s/he has a sweaty foot

abwezo vai s/he sweats

abwi ni a paddle

(verb of making) abwiike vai s/he makes paddles
(benefactive) abwiikaw vta make a paddle or paddles for h/
(verb of possession) odabwii vai s/he has a paddle or paddles (derived noun) abwiikaan na [BL] a propeller
abwiikaanens na a boat propeller or outboard motor propeller
abwiikaw vta make a paddle or paddles for h/

abwiikaan na [BL] a propeller

abwiikaanens na a boat propeller or outboard motor propeller

abwiike vai s/he makes paddles

achaab ni a bowstring

(verb of making) achaabike vai s/he makes a bowstring (verb of possession) odachaabii vai s/he has a bowstring
achaabike vai s/he makes a bowstring

achaawise vai s/he limps

achigaadan vti bet, wager it

Paired with: achigaazh vta

achigaade vii it is put in a certain place (by someone), "they" put it in a certain place

achigaazh vta bet, wager h/

Paired with: achigaadan vti

achigaazo vai s/he is put in a certain place (by someone), "they" put h/ in a certain place

achige vai
  1. s/he puts things in a certain place
  2. s/he bets, places a bet

achikinaakobijigan ni [BL] a fence, a corral

adaam vta buy (it) from h/

(reciprocal) adaandiwag vai they buy (it) from each other
adaandiwag vai they buy (it) from each other

adaawam vta borrow (it) from, rent (it) from h/

(detransitive) adaawange vai borrow it , rent it from someone
(verb of addiction) adaawangeshki vai s/he always borrows
(detransitive) adaawangen vai + o borrow, rent it from people
adaawange vai borrow it , rent it from someone

(verb of addiction) adaawangeshki vai s/he always borrows

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.