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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

mamaadin vta manipulate h/, move h/ back and forth

Paired with: mamaadinan vti

mamaadinan vti manipulate it, move it back and forth

Paired with: mamaadin vta

mamaadwe vai s/he groans

mamaajibide vii it shakes (in operation)

Paired with: mamaajibizo vai

mamaajibidoon vti2 pull or push it and start it moving

mamaajibizo vai s/he shakes (in operation, driving)

Paired with: mamaajibide vii

mamaajide'eshkaa vai s/he has heart palpitations, has a heart attack

mamaajigaabawi vai s/he moves around standing

mamaajigaaden vta move h/ legs

mamaajigaadeni vai s/he moves h/ (own) legs

mamaajinikeni vai s/he moves h/ arms

mamaajininjiibani'o vai

mamaajininjiini vai s/he moves h/ hands or fingers

mamaajise vii it moves

mamaajise vai s/he moves, is in motion, twitches

mamaajii vai s/he moves, is in motion, twitches

mamaajiimagad vii it moves

mamaanabi vai s/he keeps sitting uncomfortably

mamaanaabide vai s/he has crooked teeth

mamaandaagochige vai s/he performs tricks

(derived noun) mamaandaagochigewin ni a circus, a carnival
mamaandaagochigewin ni a circus, a carnival

mamaandaawaajimo vai s/he tells an amazing story of wonders

mamaandaawichigewinini na a magician

mamaandaawizi vai perform wonders; s/he performs wonders; s/he does magic

mamaandidowag vai they are big

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.