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How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

ondamendi vai s/he is busy, engaged elsewhere

ondamenim vta be preoccupied with, worry about h/

ondamibii vai s/he is busy drinking

ondami' vta get in h/'s way; hinder h/; keep h/ busy or occupied

(reciprocal) ondami'idiwag vai they get in each other's way, keep each other busy
ondami'idiwag vai they get in each other's way, keep each other busy

ondamim vta keep h/ busy with speech

ondamingwaami vai s/he is fast asleep

ondamingwaamo vai [BL] s/he is fast asleep

See also: ondamingwaami vai

ondamishkaa vai s/he goes and does something, gets involved in something

ondamitam vai2 s/he is busy listening

ondamitaa vai s/he is kept busy in an activity

ondamiwidoon vti2 keep it too long, monopolize the use of it

Paired with: ondamiwizh vta

ondamiwizh vta keep h/ too long

Paired with: ondamiwidoon vti2

ondamizi vai s/he is busy

ondamiikan vti be busy at it, busy working on it

Paired with: ondamiikaw vta

ondamiikaw vta be busy working on h/

Paired with: ondamiikan vti

ondamon vii it (road or trail) comes from a certain place; it leads from there

ondamoonzhe vai s/he is occupied with, busy with children

ondanaandam vai2 s/he comes from a certain place hungry

ondandan vti eat it from a certain place

Paired with: ondam vta

(detransitive) ondanjige vai s/he eats from there, gets h/ food from there
ondanjige vai s/he eats from there, gets h/ food from there

ondanoozo vai s/he comes from a certain place smoking tobacco

ondaaban vii it is east

ondaabas vta smoke it (animate) for preservation

Paired with: ondaabasan vti

ondaabasan vti smoke it (for preservation)

Paired with: ondaabas vta ; ondaabaswi vta

ondaabaswi vta

► ondaabas vta

ondaabate vii it (smoke) comes from a certain place

ondaabiginasimwe vai s/he lead a horse or dog on a line or leash from a certain place

ondaabiigisin vii it (something string-like) lies running from a certain place

Paired with: ondaabiigishin vai

ondaabiigishin vai s/he (something string-like) lies running from a certain place

Paired with: ondaabiigisin vii

ondaabogo vai s/he comes from a certain place drifting on the current

ondaaboode vii it drifts, slides from a certain place on the current or other moving medium

Paired with: ondaaboozo vai

ondaaboozo vai s/he drifts, slides from a certain place on the current or other moving medium

Paired with: ondaaboode vii

ondaadad vii it comes from a certain place, originates in a certain place

ondaadagaa vai s/he swims from a certain place

See also: ondaadage vai [BL]

ondaadagaako vai s/he comes on the ice from a certain place

ondaadagaakobatoo vai s/he runs on the ice from a certain place

ondaadagaazii vai s/he wades from a certain place

ondaadage vai [BL] s/he swims from a certain place

See also: ondaadagaa vai

ondaada'e vai s/he skates from a certain place

ondaadizi vai s/he comes from a certain place; s/he is born

(verb of making) ondaadiziike vai s/he gives birth
ondaadiziike vai s/he gives birth

ondaagime vai [S] s/he snowshoes from a certain place

ondaagimose vai [BL] s/he snowshoes from a certain place

ondaagonagii vai s/he comes from a certain place in snow

ondaagone vai s/he comes from a certain place through the snow

ondaagonebizo vai s/he drives through the snow from a certain place

ondaa'ago vai s/he drifts on the waves from a certain place

Paired with: ondaa'an vti See also: ondaa'ogo vai

ondaa'an vti it drifts on the waves from a certain place

Paired with: ondaa'ago vai ; ondaa'ogo vai

ondaa'ogo vai s/he drifts on the waves from a certain place

Paired with: ondaa'an vti See also: ondaa'ago vai

ondaajimo vai s/he bring news from a certain place, tells of a certain place where s/he has been

ondaanagidoone vai s/he talks for a certain reason

ondaanakwad vii cloud comes from a certain place

ondaandawe vai s/he climbs from a certain place

ondaanimad vii the wind comes from a certain direction

ondaanimizi vai s/he comes from a certain place in fear

ondaapi vai s/he laughs for a certain reason; s/he comes from a certain place laughing

ondaas adv loc on this side; come here!

ondaasagaam adv loc on this side of the water

ondaasayi'ii adv loc on this side of it

ondaasikana adv loc on this side of the road or trail

ondaasin vii it is blown from a certain place (by the wind); sails, soars from a certain place

ondaasinake adv loc [BL] on the other side

ondaasishkode adv loc on this side of the fire

ondaashaan pc disc come here!

ondaashi vai s/he is blown from a certain place (by the wind); sails, soars from a certain place

ondaashkaa vii waves come from a certain place or direction

ondaawadaaso vai s/he hauls a load, hauls freight from a certain place

ondaawadoon vti2 haul it from a certain place

Paired with: ondaawazh vta

ondaawanidiwag vai they travel in a group from a certain place

ondaawazh vta haul h/ from a certain place

Paired with: ondaawadoon vti2

(reciprocal) ondaawanidiwag vai they travel in a group from a certain place
ondaazhagaame vai s/he comes from a certain place along the shore

ondaazhagaamebizo vai s/he drives from a certain place along the shore

ondaazakonenjige vai s/he comes from a certain place with a light

onde vii it boils

Paired with: onzo vai

ondendi vai s/he is gone from a certain place, absent from a certain place

ondenim vta envy h/

(reciprocal) ondenindiwag vai they are envious of each other
ondenindiwag vai they are envious of each other

ondin vii the wind comes from a certain direction

ondin vta get, obtain h/ from a certain place

Paired with: ondinan vti

ondinamaw vta get, obtain (it) for h/ from a certain place

ondinamaadizo vai s/he gets, obtains (it) for h/ self from a certain place

ondinamaazo vai s/he gets, obtains (it) for h/ self from a certain place

ondinan vti get, obtain it from a certain place

Paired with: ondin vta

ondinigaade vii it is obtained from a certain place (by someone); "they" get, obtain it from a certain place

ondinigaazo vai s/he is obtained from a certain place (by someone); "they" get, obtain h/ from a certain place

ondinige vai s/he gets, obtains things from a certain place

ondinise vai s/he gets fire wood from a certain place

ondisinii vai s/he gets h/ food from a certain place

ondizi vai s/he makes a living a certain way, earns or makes money, gets paid, benefits a certain way, inherits from a certain source

ondose vai s/he walks from a certain place

ondoode vai s/he crawls from a certain place

ondoom vta carry h/ on back from a certain place

Paired with: ondoondan vti

ondoomaawaso vai s/he carries baby from a certain place on h/ back

ondoomigo vai s/he rides from a certain place on horseback

ondoondan vti carry it on back from a certain place

Paired with: ondoom vta

ondweweba'idiwag vai they are heard running from a certain place together

ondwewebatoo vai s/he is heard running from a certain place

ondweweyaadagaa vai s/he is heard swimming from a certain place

ondweweyaadagaako vai heard coming from a certain place on the ice

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.