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and comprehension of the stories presented here. The glossary, like the texts before it, employs the double vowel orthography, developed by C. E. Fiero in the 1950s, with additional writing conventions and refinements added by John Nichols and Earl Otchingwanigan (Nyholm) in the 1970s. Although some discussion of the format follows here, it is not comprehensive; students of the language are recommended to refer to a good double vowel Ojibwe dictionary for a more complete list of Ojibwe vocabulary and further discussion of the writing system. I recommend John D. Nichols and Earl Otchingwanigan (Nyholm), eds., A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995).

This glossary is alphabetized according to the Ojibwe double vowel alphabet:

Thus, abi comes before aanakwad because the double vowel aa is considered a single vowel, voiced by a single sound. Bear this in mind as you search for entries. The glossary follows the Ojibwe alphabet, not English. Also, many Ojibwe words take numerous conjugated forms, some of which differ significantly from the head word forms which are sequenced here. Therefore, it is necessary to uninflect the conjugated forms and use the word stems to look them up. This is a glossary, not a grammar book, and thus there is not sufficient space to provide a detailed grammatical analysis here. Students are recommended to refer to the Oshkaabewis Native Journal, Vol. 4.1, 121–38; Vol. 4.2, 61–108; and Our Ojibwe Grammar by Jim Clark and Rick Greszcyk for pedagogical double vowel grammar material.

The gloss format employed here follows the system devised by Nichols and Otchingwanigan (Nyholm). Entries begin with an Ojibwe head word. With the exception of preverbs and prenouns that attach to verbs, all head words are complete Ojibwe words. The head word is followed by a class code and abbreviation of the word class, identifying the type of word. The code is followed by the gloss that approximates as closely as possible the English equivalent of the head word. A basic entry looks like this:

Plural noun forms and alternate spellings of certain words are also provided with many of the entries. For example:

Some of the verb entries also include a word stem immediately after the head word. This is done for the relatively small number of verbs for which the word stem is not a complete sentence or command. For example:

The only head words presented here which are not complete words are preverbs and prenouns. Some vta entries use the n for certain conjugations and the letter zh for other inflections of that same word. Letters that fall in this pattern are written just how they are used in the texts (n or zh), but the glossary notes that letter in the word stem as N. For example:

All Ojibwe nouns and verbs are differentiated by gender as animate or inanimate. A list of class codes and Ojibwe word classes follows here:

Code Word Class Definition

na animate noun - animate gendered noun

nad dependent animate noun - animate gendered noun that must be possessed

na-pt animate participle - animate gendered noun-like verb

ni inanimate noun - inanimate gendered noun

ni inanimate noun - inanimate gendered noun

nid dependent inanimate noun - inanimate gendered noun that must be possessed

ni-pt inanimate participle - inanimate gendered noun-like verb

nm number - number

pc particle - particle (can function as adverb, exclamation, or conjunction)

pn prenoun - prefix attached to nouns (functions as adjective)

pr pronoun - pronoun

pv preverb - prefix attached to verbs (functions as adverb)

vai animate intransitive verb - verb with no object and a subject of the animate gender

vai+o animate intransitive verb plus object - verb with a subject of the animate gender and object (animate or inanimate) which inflects like a traditional vai

vii inanimate intransitive verb - verb with no object and subject of the inanimate gender

vta transitive animate verb - verb with a subject and object of the animate gender

vti transitive inanimate verb - verb with a subject of