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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

makadewi' vta make h/ black

Paired with: makadewitoon vti2

makadewi'o vai s/he wears black

makadewijaane vai s/he (an animal) has a black nose

makadewijiishkiwagad vii it is black mud

makadewikonaye vai s/he dresses in black

makadewikonaye na a priest

See also: mekadewikonaye na

makadewikonayekwe na a nun

makadewikoozhe vai s/he has a black beak

makadewiminagad vii it (something small and round; grain, berry) is black

Paired with: makadewiminagizi vai

makadewiminagizi vai it (animate; something small and round; grain, berry) is black

Paired with: makadewiminagad vii

makadewinaagozi vai it (animate) looks dark or black, appears dark or black

Paired with: makadewinaagwad vii

makadewinaagwad vii it looks dark or black, appears dark or black

Paired with: makadewinaagozi vai

makadewindibe vai s/he has black hair

makadewiningwii vai s/he has black wings

makadewitawage vai s/he has a black ear or black ears

makadewitigwaane vai [BL] s/he has black hair; s/he (a bird, an animal) has a black head

makadewitoon vti2 make it black

Paired with: makadewi' vta

makadewizi vai s/he is black, is dark

Paired with: makadewaa vii

makadewizigwaa vii there is dark ice

makadewiingwe vai s/he has a dark face, a black face

makadewiiyaas na a Black person; a person of African descent

makadewiiyaasikwe na a Black woman; a woman of African descent

makadeyaanakwad vii it is a dark cloud

See also: makadewaanakwad vii

makadeyaanowe vai s/he (an animal) has a black tail

See also: makadewaanowe vai

makak ni a semi-rigid or rigid container: a basket (especially one of birch bark), a box

(verb of making) makakoke vai s/he makes a basket (especially one of brich bark), makes a box (verb of possession) omakakomi vai s/he has a basket or baskets, has a box or boxes

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.