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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

mamadwetoo vai s/he is heard moving or doing something repeatedly or here and there

mamadweyaashkaa vii it (waves) can be heard

mamadwezige vai s/he is heard firing repeatedly

mamagoniishkwe vai s/he has the mumps

mamagozo vai it is bumpy, is bubbling as it cooks

mamakadewiganzhii vai s/he has black nails or claws

mamakadewishkiinzhigwe vai

mamakadewitawage vai s/he has black ears

mamakadewizide vai s/he has black feet or paws

mamakizi vai s/he has smallpox

(derived noun) mamakiziwin ni smallpox
mamakiziwin ni smallpox

mamakii' vta allot h/ land

(reciprocal) mamakii'idiwag vai they are allotted land (reciprocal) mamakii'idim vai there is an allotment of land
mamakii'idim vai there is an allotment of land

mamakii'idiwag vai they are allotted land

mamaw vta take (it) from, pick it up from h/

mamawadisidiwag vai they visit each other back and forth

mamawadishiwe vai s/he visits back and forth

mamawin vta

mamayaawii vai s/he starts moving around and getting up

mamazinaada'e vai s/he is figure-skating

mamazinaande vii it has a multicolored design, has a colorful pattern

mamazinigwaade vii it is sewn with designs, is embroidered

Paired with: mamazinigwaazo vai

mamazinigwaazo vai it (animate) is sewn with designs, is embroidered

Paired with: mamazinigwaade vii

mamaachaawan vii they are big

mamaadaandagaasin vii the boughs move in the wind

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.