Ojibwe Sugaring Vocabulary

agoodakikwaan (B, Bl 12.57, D, N) (agoode ‘hang’)

kettle-hanging hook (forked branch)

akik (B, D, N)

kettle

aninaatig (B, N)

maple tree (see ininaatig)

asanjigoowigamig (D, N) (‘storage lodge’, from asanjigo ‘stores, hides’)

cache for sugar-making utensils

atoobaan (B, D, N)

trough (originally of birchbark) in which collected sap is held before boiling; tank

aawazibii (B) (aawad- ‘haul’ [in assibilated form] + AI final ‑bii ‘liquid’ JN))

gathers sap

bigiwizigan (B, D, N) (‘pitch-like substance’)

taffy-like sugar, gum sugar (Fr. sucre en gomme)

bigiwizige (N)

taffy-like sugar,, makes

biskitenaagan (B, D, N) (‘bent dish’, cf. biskaa ‘be bent over’ N; biskisin ‘it is folded’ B)

sap bucket of folded birch bark

gaashkakokwe’igan (B, D, N)

paddle (spattle) with which sap is stirred while boiling

gizhiigaa (B, N) (gizh- ‘fast’)

sap drips fast

ininaatig (N) (‘ordinary tree’; pl. ininaatigoog, loc. ininaatigong)

maple tree

ishkwaaga (B, N) (ishkwaa- ‘after, last’)

sap stops running, is the last run of sap

ishkwaagamizige (N)

finishes boiling sap

ishkwaagabogwad ziizibaakwad (B) (‑bogwat ‘be tasted’ Bl 13.52-3)

sugar tastes of last (bad) run of sap

ishkwaaga-ziinzibaakwad (B, D)

sugar made of last (bad) run of sap

iskigamizigan (B, N)

sugar camp

iskigamiziganaak (N)

sap-boiling frame (for holding kettles)

iskigamiziganaatig (N) (‘sugar-making stick’)

sap-boiling pole (for holding kettles)

iskigamizige (B, N) (cf. iskigamite ‘it is reduced, drying up, by boiling’, iskaabii ‘the water dried up’ B; iskate ‘go down, dry up [of body of water]’ N)

boils sap down to make sugar (originally using hot rocks in trough of wood, bark, or skin)

iskigamizige-giizis (D, N) (‘sugaring month’)

April (in Lower Michigan, March is ‘sugaring month’ [Bl])

iskigamizigekwe (B)

sugar-making woman

iskigamizigewigamig (D, N)

sugar-making lodge

iskigamizigewin (B)

sugar-making, work of sugar-makers

jiibaakwanaatig (D) (‘cooking stick’)

sap-boiling pole (from which kettles are hung)

maajigaa (B, N) (maaj- ‘begins’)

sap begins to drip/run

maanakiki (B) (not in Minnesota, JN)

maple forest

makak (B, Bl, D, N)

container (of birch-bark) for sugar

mitigwemikwaan (B, D, N) (mitigw- wood’ + emikkwaan ‘ladle, spoon’)

ladle (wooden) for dipping sap

naadoobii (B, N) (naad- ‘fetch’)

gathers sap

nadoobaan (B, D), nadoobaagan (B)

gathering bucket

nase’an (N) (see nis-)

stir (something) to form sugar (TI)

nase’ige (N)

stirs, in sugar-making (AI)

nase’inaagan (D), naseyaawangwaan (N) (onaagan ‘bowl’)

trough in which thickened sap is granulated after boiling, using the gaashkakokwe’igan or one’s hands

naseyaawangwe (N)

granulates sugar

negwaakwaan (B, D, N)

spile (wooden, driven into hole at bottom of tapping incision)

negwaakwaanibiiwaabik (B)

tapping chisel (hollow)

niibaagaa (B)

sap drips/runs at night (JN)

nise’an (B) (see nas-)

stir (TI)

nise’igan (B)

sugar (loose, not in cakes; Fr. cassonade)

nise’ige (B)

stir (AI)

ombigamizigan (N)

boiling (sap) to sugar

ombigamizige (N) (ombi- ‘rising’)

boils (sap) to sugar, sugars off

onzibaan (B) (from onzibii with assibilated form of root ond- ‘from’ JN; cf. onda’ibii ‘get water from a certain place’, onda’ibaan ‘water well’ N)

sap

ozhiga’igan (B, D)

tapping incision (sloping)

ozhiga’ige (B, N)

taps trees

waakwaagami nibi (B) (‘the water is cloudy, as with fish spawn’? cf. waakwaagamiingwe ‘he has gray eyes’ < waakw- ‘fish eggs’ + -aagamiingwe ‘pupil of eye’ Bl 12.59. There is a Wakwagami Creek in Manitoulin District.)

sap is cloudy, spoiled (at the end of the run)

wiishkobaaboo (N) (‘sweet water’)

sap

zhaabobiiginigan (D, N) (zhaabw- ‘goes through’ + -ibiig ‘liquid’)

strainer for sap

zhiishiigwaans (N) (‘little rattle’, from its shape?)

sugar cone

zhiiwaagamizigan (B, N) (zhiiw- ‘sour’)

syrup

zhiiwaagamide, zhiiwaagamiziganike, zhiiwaagamizige (N)

syrup,, makes

ziiga’igan (B, D, N)

sugar cake, sugar cone, hard sugar, usu. made by pouring into molds (e.g., upper bill of a duck)

ziiga’iganaatig (B)

mold (wooden) for sugar cakes

ziiga’ige (B, N) (‘pours, molds’)

sugar cakes, sugar cones,, makes

ziinzibaakwad (D, N), ziizibaakwad (B, Bl)

sugar

ziinzibaakwadaaboo (B, D, N) (‘sugar water’)

sap

ziizibaakwadogan (B)

sugar camp

ziizibaakwadoke (B, Bl)

sugar,, makes

ziizibaakwadokewin (B)

sugar-making

Finals and Medials (AI = animate intransitive, II = inanimate intransitive, TA = transitive animate)

-(aa)gami

II final ‘liquid’ (medial -gam + II final -i [Bl 13.29])

-(i)de

II final ‘by heat’ (Bl 13.14, 17)

-aakw-

noun final ‘wood, solid’ (Bl 11.96); medial ‘wood, solid’ (Bl 4.13)

-aan

noun final (Bl 11.25)

-aatigw-

noun final ‘stick’ [‘tree’] (Bl 11.93)

-abii

II final ‘liquid’ (Bl 13.33)

-ad

II final ‘state, shape’ (Bl 13.44)

-ate

II final ‘be in place, be there’ (Bl 13.23, e.g., biinate ‘it lies clean’; biinate ‘it is clean, neat’ B)

-gaa

AI final ‘leak’ (Bl 12.4), ‘leak, drip’ (N)

-gamaa

II final ‘water’ (medial -gam + II final -aa [Bl 13.7])

-gamigw-

noun final ‘house’ (Bl 11.89)

-gan

noun final (AI -ge + -n) (Bl 11.27)

-ge

AI final forms verbs for action on indef. object from TI stems (Bl 12.16)

-ibii

AI final ‘liquid’ (Bl 12.103)

-ibiig

medial ‘liquid’ (Bl p. 118)

-ike

AI final ‘make, gather’ (Bl 12.20)

-izi

AI final ‘state, shape’ after root, root + medial (Bl 12.77)

Sources

B: Frederic Baraga, Dict. of the Otchipwe Language (1878-80). Bishop Baraga was most familiar with Ottawa, an eastern dialect of Ojibwe that was spoken as far west as northern Wisconsin.

Bl: Leonard Bloomfield, Eastern Ojibwa (1956)

D: Frances Densmore, Chippewa Customs (1929). Densmore worked mostly in northern Minnesota.

JN: John Nichols, pers. commun.

N: John D. Nichols & Earl Nyholm, A Concise Dict. of Minnesota Ojibwe (1995).

Spelling follows Nichols & Nyholm (as much as I’ve been able).

Pronunciation

a: uh (uh-oh!)

aa: ah (father)

e: ay (hay)

i: ih (bit)

ii: ee (beet)

o: o (obey), oo (book)

oo: o (boat), oo (boot)

‘: (glottal stop, as between the syllables in uh-oh)

The other consonants are roughly as in English.

Alan Hartley, April 2011