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