Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

gitwen adv man gh
Listen

do something against one's will or better judgement



gitwen ; gitwen igo ;

gitwen lw
Listen

gh
Listen

gitwen igo nj
Listen

lw
Listen

gh
Listen

Gitwen igo odawi'aan zhooniyaan.

She lent him money even though she didn't want to.
 nj
Listen

Gitwen igo gaa-o-izhi-anokiiyaan miziwe wiisagendamaan.

I went to work even though I was sore all over.
 lw
Listen

Gitwen igo gaa-izhi-izhaayaan.

I went anyway.
 gh
Listen

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.

  • Audio recordings
  • Images
  • Video
  • Documents

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.