Ojibwe Literacy Syllabus
I'm back, with another reading list, surprise surprise.
This substack might literally just become me dropping in once every six months with whatever syllabus concept I have currently stuck in my brain.
Right now it’s the idea of an “Ojibwe literacy syllabus.” The concept behind it is, there is an abundance of transcribed or written Ojibwe-language storytelling that has been published in the past 50 years. However, almost no one except language learners seems to have read much of it. The remaining few who read seem to be historians looking to pluck out “historical truths” about Ojibwe culture. What I want to see is people engaging with this literature as literature. Really immersing themselves in it, ideally in the original language but if not, then via the English translations. Appreciating the beauty of the language and stories, and dwelling with the deeper meanings in them.
So I made a list of some notable publications, the full list which can be found at the bottom of this post (though even that is not exhaustive). For those who don’t have unlimited time, or perhaps imagining a world where I could teach a class or hold a reading group around this topic, I’ve created some short pathways that give you a taste of various genres of published Ojibwe literature and orature.
The first list is the “choose your own adventure list”: if you’re not concerned with dialect or geography, take a look at each of these options and see what calls to you. I do recommend following the numerical order (i.e. starting with dibaajimowin/memoir and then proceeding to aadizookaanag/sacred stories, etc.) because I did give some thought to the progression of style and content. On all the subsequent lists, numbers 3 (gagiikimaawasowin/educational speech), 5 (Sounding Thunder) and 6 (Aanjibimaadizing’s monolingual fiction) are the same, to provide some consistency and also because I think it’s important to be exposed to different dialects.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Dibaajimowinan / memoir: Portage Lake OR Shoolee
Aadizookaanag / sacred stories: Ottawa Stories From the Springs OR Nēnapohš Legends
Gagiikimaawasowin / educational speech: one of Lee Obizaan Staples’ books (recommended: Gaa-izhi-miinigoowizid A’aw Anishinaabe)
Gete-dibaajimowinan / histories: The Dog’s Children OR Weshki-bmaadzijig ji-noondmowaad OR Ninoontaan
Contextualized historical recordings: Sounding Thunder
Fiction: Ge-ni-aabadak Giniigaaniiminaang OR Nishiimeyinaanig OR Anooj Inaajimod
Because many Ojibwe language learners are learning a specific dialect, I’ve also split this list into western and eastern dialect lists. Obviously, that’s an oversimplification of the dialects, but basically, if your dialect drops half the vowels, use the Eastern Ojibwe list, and if you have all the extra vowels left in, use the Western Ojibwe list.
Western Ojibwe
Portage Lake
Nēnapohš Legends
One of Lee Obizaan Staples’ books (recommended: Gaa-izhi-miinigoowizid A’aw Anishinaabe)
Ninoontaan
Sounding Thunder
Ge-ni-aabadak Giniigaaniiminaang OR Nishiimeyinaanig OR Anooj Inaajimod
Eastern Ojibwe
Shoolee
Ottawa Stories From the Springs
One of Lee Obizaan Staples’ books (recommended: Gaa-izhi-miinigoowizid A’aw Anishinaabe)
Weshki-bmaadzijig ji-noondmowaad
Sounding Thunder
Ge-ni-aabadak Giniigaaniiminaang OR Nishiimeyinaanig OR Anooj Inaajimod
Finally, I gave some thought to the fact that some people might want to read content specifically relevant to their geopolitical context. While I personally feel that since Ojibwe people on both sides of the medicine line, it is important to learn about both Canadian and US contexts, I recognize the potential desire to focus on one or the other.
Canada-based Ojibwe
Shoolee
Nēnapohš Legends
One of Lee Obizaan Staples’ books (recommended: Gaa-izhi-miinigoowizid A’aw Anishinaabe)
Ninoontaan
Sounding Thunder
Ge-ni-aabadak Giniigaaniiminaang OR Nishiimeyinaanig OR Anooj Inaajimod
US-based Ojibwe
Western Ojibwe
Portage Lake
Ottawa Stories From the Springs
One of Lee Obizaan Staples’ books (recommended: Gaa-izhi-miinigoowizid A’aw Anishinaabe)
The Dog’s Children
Sounding Thunder
Ge-ni-aabadak Giniigaaniiminaang OR Nishiimeyinaanig OR Anooj Inaajimod
Finally, here is the full list of resources that I have found particularly engaging for reading in Ojibwe. I believe all of these are bilingual with the exception of the Aanjibimaadizing books, which are entirely in Ojibwe with no English translation. Many, but not all, of the books also contain glossaries where you can look up vocabulary.
Full List
Portage Lake and Nookomis Gaa-Inaajimotawid by Maude Kegg (ed. John Nichols)
Shoolee: The Early Years by Shirley Ida Williams-Pheasant
Dibaajimowin edited by GLIFWC
Gii-nitaa-aadisooke by Pat Ningewance
Ottawa Stories From the Springs edited by Howard Webkamigad
The Anishinaubaemowin series by Basil Johnston
Chi-Mewinzha by Dorothy Dora Whipple (eds. Brendan Kishketon and Wendy Makoons Geniusz)
Living Our Language edited by Anton Treuer
Ninoontaan by Cecilia Sugarhead
The Dog’s Children by Angeline Williams (eds. Leonard Bloomfield and John Nichols)
Nēnapohš Legends by Margaret Cote
Weshki-bmaadzijig ji-noondmowaad by Andrew Medler (eds. Leonard Bloomfield and Rand Valentine)
Bkejwanong Dbaajmowinan edited by Monty McGahey II
Aanjikiing, Anishinaabe Niimi’iding, and Gaa-izhi-miinigoowizid A’aw Anishinaabe by Lee Obizaan Staples and Chato Ombishkebines Gonzalez
Nishiimeyinaanig, Akawe Niwii-tibaajim, Anooj Inaajimod, Gaa-pi-izhiwebak, and Ge-ni-aabadak Giniigaaniiminaang edited by Aanjibimaadizing (monolingual Ojibwe)