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[10] Mii sa ganabaj i’iw.

Aabadak Waaboozoo-nagwaaganeyaab

[1] Mii o’owe ayi’ii wii-agoodooyan, miinawaa akina gegoo ge-aabajitooyan—babiinzikawaagan, gimakizinan, giminjikaawanag, miinawaa ginagwaaganeyaab, mashkimod miinawaa aagimag. Mii imaa onow gaye ge-ozhiitaayan wii-agoodooyan. Miish imaa akina onow gaa-aabajitooyan.

[2] Miinawaa imaa azhigwa maajaayan, noopiming ezhaayan, nandawaabandaman iniw waaboozoo-miikanan, mii imaa ji-agoodooyan miikaman i’iw waaboozoo-miikanens. Miish imaa azhigwa gii-maamawising ginagwaaganeyaab. Mii imaa mitigoons ezhi-atooyan miikanens ayaamagak. Mii imaa ge-izhi-agoodooyan ginagwaagan. Miinawaa gii-kiizhiikaman imaa iye ginagwaagan gii-agoodeman imaa, maajaayan miinawaa geyaabi indawaaj nandawaabandaman.

[3] Gaye a’aw gookooko’oo imaa nemadabid, mii a’aw waa-kimoodimik iniw giwaabooziman imaa nagwaanad. Waaboozoo-gimoodishki a’aw gookooko’oo.

[4] Miinawaa dash maajaayan imaa nawaj nandawaabandaman iniw miikanensan, iniw ajina waa-agoodooyan. Mii go minik ge-miikaman miikanensan.

[5] Mii miinawaa gii-nagwaanadwaa ingiw waaboozoog, mii ge-izhi-dazhiikawadwaa. Gii-kiizhiikawadwaa ingiw waaboozoog, miish imaa azhigwa ji-giizizwadwaa, da-atooyan nibi, imaa ji-atooyan miinawaa awegonen go imaa waa-tagonaman zhiiwitaagan, wiisagad igaye. Miish azhigwa ji-onji-giizizwad, mii imaa gii-kiizizwad dash a’aw waabooz miinawaa awegonen imaa waa-tagonaman, miinawaa go imaa ji-atooyan imaa nawaj wiisiniyeg imaa adoopowin. Onaaganan imaa atewan, emikwaanensan gaye badaka’igan. Mii imaa wii-wiisiniyeg. Mii azhigwa waabooz gii-amweg imaa awegonen imaa gaa-tagoziyeg, opiniig igaye.

[6] Mii dash gii-ishkwaa-wiisiniyan, mii i’iw ge-izhinaagwak o’ow gimisad onzaam niibowa wiisiniyan gaa-piikojiiyan. Mii i’iw ge-izhi-aanizhiitaman wii-wiisiniyan.

[7] Mii go gaye wii-kiiyoseyan gaye, mii go omaa gaye naasaab igo ge-biizikonayeyan gaa-piizikaman wii-kiiyoseyan wii-izhi-babaa-nandawaabamad a’aw waawaashkeshi. Mii mewinzha gaa-izhichiged anishinaabe gii-maajaad wii-wiisinid, giiyosed. Mii go gaye naasaab iniwe giigoonyan wii-amwaad; miish igo maajaad o-bagida’waad imaa, jiimaaning boozid. Mii imaa gaye gaa-ondinang mewinzha anishinaabe gii-wiisinid.

When I Think About Chi-achaabaan

[1] I was born in Inger, Chi-achaabaaning as it’s called. My mother and father were over there. That’s where they come from, where I got my knowledge of everything from, listening to my mother and grandmother and asking them what I wanted to know in what I did as I got bigger. That must be how I learned these things.

[2] And I must have been foolish when I was little. It was just like I didn’t pay attention to the things I wanted to know. Then maybe after I was seven years old, then I started to reflect on things like this to listen to them in the things they said and the things I was taught to know.

[3] I wasn’t just taught things to know them however, not everything. I helped my mother when she tanned hides. And there I would observe her as I helped her. That’s how I knew what I wanted to do. I helped my mother with everything. My mother never took any kind of job. She only cooked.

[4] It was always the three of us, my siblings, and my relatives. There was my one older sister and myself and my older brother. That was how many of them survived, just that many of us survived.

[5] And we helped my mother with everything. She didn’t work very hard. And we did everything. And my dad worked there, and we did everything [at home]. We sawed wood, chopping it into kindling as it was brought inside and everything; we hauled in everything. And my mother only hauled in wood and cooked everything. That’s how I helped my mom when she was alive. In all things, we never let her work too hard.

[6] My dad was the only one who worked. Now as my [older brother] grew up, then he accompanied my father when he worked. Then when they arrived, maybe sometime in the evening, then we did all the work. That’s how we helped my mother and my father.

[7] And then after my mother was gone, it was