In 2025, Birgit Däwes, Karsten Fitz, and Sabine N. Meyer dedicated an issue of Amerikastudien/American Studies to the impact writer Diane Glancy has had on the global literary landscape. Her work spans all forms and has shared with the world a way to write about North America with love and honesty.

As a fellow poet who has often taught her work, Margaret Noodin was asked to write a poem about Diane. Diane spent many years in Minnesota and once spent an afternoon with Diane long ago in Gichi-Onigaming. The poem “Maamidonendamowakikwe” describes the way Diane’s work reminds readers to walk the land, absorb it, and come to know it as a part of who we all are.

The entire issue can be found here: https://amst.winter-verlag.de/article/amst/2025/1/6/display/html

Play audio: Maamidonendamowakikwe

by Margaret Noodin

Walk the land. Describe it.
Own it with your words.
What is land? It is thought. It is language.
(Diane Glancy, “Use of Ownership” 9)

Maamidonendaagwad giiwedinong
It was seen in the north how

ingoding gii-ezhi-dagoshing wesabiked
a spinner once arrived

bwaawaakizod ji-dibaajimod
bearing the embers of many stories

giinaamakakong biitoogwaadenoon
in sharp-edged boxes lined with

waate-adaawaaganan anaamay’ii niimidiwag.
fur electrified by the path of souls.

Maamidonendaagozi geyabi Zhaawanikwe
The Southern Woman may recall still

gii-endazhi-ziiga’andaaged ge azhashki miijid
the way the earth offered a taste of renewal

gii-ezhi-nagamtawaawaad anangoog dibaganeg
the way the stars sang of time

mii ge bekaadendaagozid biniskwaabiiginang
as she patiently unfolded

gegoo akiing gikino’aamawiyangidwaa.
what the land was able to teach.

Mayaaamidonendang bashagiishkaanakwad
She is the one who considers the scattered clouds

ezhi-dibendaagwadoon basadinaa,
the way they belong to the settled valleys,

onji-dibendaagoziyang ezhi-ineweyang
the way we all belong to the sounds we make,

ezhi-zaagi’idiyang gaye zhiingenimidiyang
how in our histories of love and hate

apiichi-banaaji’idiyang zazagwanaa.
we devour one another again and again.

Maamidonenimishikangen, Maamidonendamowakikwe,
Watch us, Earth Watching Woman,

ge agindaasomang gaa-ozhibii’aman
as we absorb what you have written

ge naanaagadawendaamang asinii-oboodashkoonishiinhningwiiganan,
as we study dragonfly wings in stone,

makwa-bimosed miinawaa gimoodikanan
bear-walkers and stolen paths

mii dash debinigaadeyang asabiing debweyendamowin.
to be caught in the web of believing.

Nanaboozhoo Babaamosed: Nanaboozhoo Went Walking and Other Stories from Grand Portage is a special project that brings together several traditional Ojibwe stories from Grand Portage first published in several volumes in the late 1970s under the directorship of Billy Blackwell. Grand Portage elders Liza Thibault, Ogimabinaysik, Dakos, Alec Bushman, Amelia Legarde and Billy Blackwell contributed to the bi-lingual texts.

For this second edition the original Ojibwe texts have been re-transcribed into the double vowel system used now by many speakers and teachers.

The book includes original artwork created for the first publication as well as an epilogue offering the reader more about the context and methodology.

The collection is a gift to students and teachers of Ojibwe who can study the words and language anytime and save most of the stories for reading in the winter when snow is on the ground. However, readers are encouraged to enjoy “Nishiime, the Lost Boy” and “The Boy Who Turned Into a Robin,” anytime of the year!

Nanaboozhoo Nishiime Story Click play to hear Davin Sherer (Maang) from Gichi-Onigaming Grand Portage, give a reading of “Nishiime, the Lost Boy” completely uninterrupted.

Goodnight Moon is an enduring bedtime story written by American author, Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was first published in 1947 and was one few books with no plot, no action, and no adventure. It is simply a lullaby in prose and images. In it we see everything has a place and is changing ever so slowly, which is an important lesson for anyone on their way to falling asleep.

To learn more about the book you may want to listen to the wonderful podcast “In the Great Green Room,” by the folks at This is Love.

Mino-dibikad

Mino-dibikad Dibiki-giizis
Goodnight Moon

Biinjiya’iing gichi-ozhaawashko-abiwan
In the great green room

Gaagiigido-biiwaabikoons gii-ate
There was a telephone

Miinawaa misko-ombaasijigan
And a red balloon

Miinawaa maazinibii’igan . . .
And a picture of . . .

**

Bizhiiki baazhijigwaashkwanid dibiki-giizisong
The cow jumping over the moon

Miinawaa niswi makoonsag namadabiwaad apabiwining
And there were three little bears sitting on chairs

**

Miinawaa niizh gaazhagensag
And two little kittens

Miinawaa ingodwewaanagiziwag minjikaawanag
And a pair of mittens

Miinawaa odaminowaagani-waakaa’iganens
And a little toy house

Miinawaa oshki-waawaabiganoojiinh
And a young mouse

**

Miinawaa binaakwaan miinawaa binaawe’igan miinawaa anoominaaboo ateg boozikinaaganing
And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush

Miinawaa bizaan-ayaad mindimooyenh gaaskanazod “shhh.”
And a quiet old lady who was whispering “hush.”

**

Mino-dibikad abiwan
Goodnight room

**

Mino-dibikad dibiki-giizis
Good night moon

Mino-dibikad bizhiiki baazhijigwaashkwanid dibiki-giizisong
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon

**

Mino-dibikad waazakonenjigan
Goodnight light

Miinawaa misko-ombaasijigan
And the red balloon

Mino-dibikad makoonsag
Goodnight bears

Mino-dibikad apabiwinan
Goodnight chairs

**

Mino-dibikad gaazhagensag
Goodnight kittens

Miinawaa mino-dibikad minjikaawanag
And goodnight mittens

**

Mino-dibikad diba’igiiziswaanag
Goodnight clocks

Miinawaa mino-dibikad azhiganan
And goodnight socks

**

Mino-dibikad waakaa’iganens
Goodnight little house

Miinawaa mino-dibikad waawaabiganoojiinh
And goodnight mouse

**

Mino-dibikad binaakwaan miinawaa mino-dibikad binaawe’igan
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush

**

Mino-dibikad gaawiin awiiya
Goodnight nobody

Miinawaa mino-dibikad anoominaaboo
And goodnight mush

**

Miinawaa mindimooyenh gaaskanazod “shhh”
And goodnight to the old lady whispering “hush”

**

Mino-dibikad anangoog
Goodnight stars

Mino-dibikad inanaamowin
Goodnight air

**

Mino-dibikad gakina gaa-noondamaan miziwekamig.
Goodnight noises everywhere.

Jason Adair has drawn beautiful images of some of the animals important in Ojibwe culture. Children and adults can study the pages, learn what each animal does and have conversations about how we all have images, ideas and stories inside of us – some we let out and some we hold inside for a while. We encourage you to learn the verbs associated with our animal relatives and study Adair’s inspiring Woodland style. Gimiigwechiwigoo Jason, gaa-giizhenindaman! We thank you Jason, for what you have created!

Ojibway Animals-1
1. Migiziiwag ishpaashiwag wanakong.
Eagles fly high above the trees.

Ojibway Animals-2
2. Ma’iinganag okwiinowag.
Wolves travel in packs.

Ojibway Animals-3
3. Waawaashkeshkiiwag babaagwashkwaniwag gitigaaning.
Deer leap through grassy fields.

Ojibway Animals-4
4. Makwag omashkawiziwag gaye giigookewaad.
Bears are strong and like to fish.

Ojibway Animals-5
5. Amikoog ozaagitoonaawaa zinigwamaawaad wanagekwan.
Beavers love to chew on bark.

Ojibway Animals-6
6. Omakakiig de-babaagwashkwaniwag waasa.
Frogs can hop far.

Ojibway Animals-7
7. Maangwag inawewag dibishkoo nagamowaad.
Loons make a sound like singing.

Ojibway Animals-8
8. Mikinaakoog daawag akiing gaye nibing.
Turtles live on land and in water.

Ojibway Animals-9
9. Moozoog emikwaaniwanewag.
Moose grow giant antlers.

Ojibway Animals-10
10 Nenookasiwag ominikwaadaanaawaa waabigwaniiwaaboo.
Hummingbirds drink nectar.

Ojibway Animals-11
11 Memengwaag memewaangeniwag.
Butterflies flutter.

Ojibway Animals-12
12 Animikiig manidoowiziwag.
Thunderbirds are supernatural.

In Cook County Schools and Great Expectations Charter School in Grand Marais, Minnesota, students have been reading Gidagindaasomin! We All Count! by Jason Adair. Jason is Ojibwe from Etobicoke, Ontario and explains he was inspired by the art of Norval Morrisseau. The book offers an introduction to numbers, beings of the northland, Woodland art, and how to say something is a particular color.

Because the word for counting and reading is the same in Ojibwe, Jason’s book teaches important lessons about the three ways to say this word:

agindaaso – to count or read
agindan – to count or read something (in the inanimate category)
agim – to count or read someone (or something in the animate category)

We All Count Statements

Gidagindaasomin miinawaa apiitenindizoyang.
We all count and take pride in who we are.

Gidagimaanaanig giijinaanig miinawaa gidinewemaaganinaanig.
We all count all our friends and all our relatives.

Gidagindanaawaa gakina gegoo waabandamang.
We all count everything we see.

Apii nanda-gikendamang mii dash waabamigooyang miinawaa noondamigooyang.
When we learn to count we are seen and we are heard.

We encourage everyone to find the book at NativeNorthwest.com, or wherever you buy your books and try reading it in Ojibwe with the text below! Play or download the audio as the Ojibwe sentences are read.

We All Count-1
1
Bezhig maamakaadendaagozi oginiiwaa-animikii bapawaangenid.
One magical pink thunderbird flapping its wings.

We All Count-2
2
Niizh migiziwag namadabiwag ozaawaa-mitigong.
Two bald eagles sitting in brown trees.

We All Count-3
3
Niswi ashagewag owaabandaanaawaan zhiibingo-wajiwan.
Three herons looking at the grey mountains.

We All Count-4
4
Niiwin maangoonsag babaamaa’ogowag gichi-waanzhibiing.
Four little loons floating in a big pond.

We All Count-5
5
Naanan misko-nenookaasiwag giiwitaasewag besho misko-waabigwanan ateg.
Five red hummingbirds fly around near red flowers.

We All Count-6
6
Ningodwaaswi bemaadizijig ayaawag ozaawaamiin-jiimaan.
Six people in an orange canoe.

We All Count-7
7
Niizhwaaswi miiniwaa-giigoonhyag bagizowag zaaga’iganing.
Seven purple fish swimming in a lake.

We All Count-8
8
Nishwaaswi bagwaji-ma’iinganag waawoono’aawaan ozhaawaashko-dibiki-giizisoon.
Eight wild wolves howl at the blue moon.

We All Count-9
9
Zhaangaswi nikaag o’ozhimaawaan ozaawaa-giizisoon.
Nine geese flying past a yellow sun.

We All Count-10
10
Midaaswi ozhaawaashko-omagakiig zhoomiwaadiziwag gwaashkwaniwaad.
Ten green joyous frogs jumping.

A poem by Margaret Noodin from the book, What the Chickadee Knows

This poem is a prayer for the shortest days of the year, when we look for the brightest light in the sky for spiritual strength and hold one another close. It includes the Ojibwe word for Christmas which is Nibaa-anama’aa, literally the prayers said when the world is asleep. Most likely, this is a reference to midnight masses, but if we imagine a world where people pray together with mutual respect it could also be a reference to the importance of traditional ceremonies held over multiple days where songs and prayers are said through the long night.

New Christmas in the Old World

Aambe miskobineshiinh
ogiji-ayaayang bimaagonagaag biboong
anami’aadaa epiichi boonaanimag.

Gaaskanazodaa
ishpaa-ayaayang gaawaandagoog
ishpaandaweyang giizhigong.

Bagosendandaa gakina
awiiya gashki-noondaadiwaad
bakaani’anama’aa-nagamowaad.

Maajaadaa omaa ingoding
maada’azhang naasaab anang
jiibay-miikanang waabamang.

Come along cardinal
over winter’s wing
let’s pray while the world is still.

Let’s whisper
above the evergreens
climb high in the heavens.

Let’s hope all
souls are able to hear
different hymns.

Let’s leave here eventually
following the same star
we all see in the milky way.

A poem by Margaret Noodin from the book, What the Chickadee Knows

As a representation of alliterative formalism in Ojibwe poetry this poem appeared in the Forgotten Ground Regained issue number five in the winter of 2025.

The poem is about agoozimakakiig (spring peepers) who grow cold with their surroundings because some of their body fluids can freeze and then thaw again in spring. They are a traditional signal of seasonal change as they begin to call out to each other.

In the Ojibwe version of the poem below the last line repeats the verb “biibaagi” and changes at the end of each stanza using different verb endings to show the way the sound moves first from an exchange between all of us not including the listener, to all of us including the listener; then second a call from me to you; then third a call from you to me; and finally all of us calling out as individuals and then all of us calling together.

What the Peppers Say

Ishkwaa biboon bii’omigag
gaawiin geyabi aabita-
nibwaakaamashkawajisiiwaad
biibaagiyaang ani biibaagiyang.

Naami-zaasijiwanagek
agoozimakakiig gii ningiziyang
mii noopimidoodeyang mashkiigong
biibaagiyaan ani biibaagiyan.

Dibishkoo didibaashkaa
zhaabwibiisaag zoogipoog
ziigwang ziibiskaaj miidash
biibaagiyan ani biibaagiyaan.

Epichii maadaa’ogoyang basweweyang
beshoganawaabmigag aawiyang
waasaganawaabmigag aawiyang
biibaagiyang ani biibaaginidiyaang.

After the winter waiting
no longer half-
frozen by design
our calling becomes all calling.

Under the rippling bark
peepers have thawed
to crawl into the swamp where
my calling becomes your calling.

A seismic seiche
a synaptic snowstorm
of springtime repetition and
your calling becomes my calling.

As we drift away on our echoes
we are the details
we are the distance and
all calling becomes our calling.

“Naajimiijimedaa! Let’s Find Food! An introduction to foraging with bonus stories and recipes from the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians”
by Kathy Kae

The woods of Northern Michigan, the homeland of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians, has provided gifts from the land in the form of food for generations upon generations. This foraging book is an introduction to finding forty different foods such as berries, leeks, mushrooms and wild rice.

Kathy Kae explains how to harvest, process, prepare and store them as well as adding individual tribal citizens’ personal stories and recipes using these foods. In addition, the Ojibwe language is provided for each food and the online pronunciation guide below created by language instructor, Margaret Noodin.

If you are on a mobile device you may need to swipe to the right to see the definition of the word in english.

Note: One more important part of the language is the way a person who is no longer in this world is acknowledged with an extra sound at the end of their name. The little suffix added can be -ba, -ban, or -iban. All of these are equally correct and speakers should use the version familiar in their area. For example, this book could not have been made without the work of Lorettaba Parkey, Isabelba Scollon and Lulaba Mae Rood.

Lets Find Food-53
Gimiigwechiwigoom Lorettaba, Isabelba miinawaa Lulaba. We all thank all of you Loretta, Isabella and Lula as you are no longer here with us.

Warrior Girl Unearthed, the sequel to Angeline Boulley’s New York Times bestselling novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, follows Ojibwe teen Perry Firekeeper-Birch and her fight to protect her community and the rights of her ancestors.

While visiting a local university, Perry is introduced to the “Warrior Girl”, an Anishinaabe ancestor whose bones and belongings are stored in the museum archives. Unsettled, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items and ultimately realizes that the university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors’ remains. With the help of a ragtag group of friends (aptly named the “Misfits”), Perry takes matters into her own hands to protect her community and bring her ancestors home where they belong, all while facing challenges including generational grudges, bureaucratic subterfuge, unnerving stories of missing women, family secrets, and painful realities about the legacy of colonialism.

Perry and the Misfits’ solution–a thrilling heist–gives way to a complex and compelling mystery, ultimately exploring themes of identity, family, and reclamation in a Native community.

Here we share notes on the unique setting (Sugar Island), NAGPRA, and Anishinaabemowin Words & Phrases from the book.

With special thanks to Sault Ste. Marie tribal member, Jim Langdon, for contributing information about Sugar Island.

Sugar Island has been a place of abundance and spiritual connection for Ojibwe peoples for centuries. The Island lies in the St. Mary’s River just downstream from bawating, the rapids at Sault Ste. Marie, where Lake Superior’s waters tumble toward the lower lakes. The river slows to surround the island with its wealth of wildlife, fish, timber and maple trees for sugar making.

Sugar Island is part of the Sault Ste. Marie community, a transportation crossroads for indigenous and European travelers since the 1600s. Control of the area shifted from Ojibwe to French to British to American authorities by the 1840s. But through it all, Ojibwe people remained on the Island. Today many of its 600 residents are indigenous and most of them belong to either the local Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians or the Bay Mills Indian Community.

Despite 90,000 people living in nearby Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and dozens of lake freighters and ocean-going vessels passing along its western shore each week, Sugar Island remains largely undeveloped. The Island has no village and a few roads through its vast forests connect residents with a ferry that crosses the river to the mainland. Although it is surrounded by industry and development, the Island retains the same natural character that has sustained countless generations of Ojibwes.

Native traditions continue to thrive on the Island, such as the annual Sugar Island Pow Wow, Ziisbaakwad Minising Jiingtamok, held each summer and the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa’s fall Fasting Ceremony, Mukade Kewinan. Sugar Island remains a place of great importance to local Ojibwes who turn to its forests and shores for spiritual and cultural nourishment.

NAGPRA (Native American Graves and Repatriation Act) was signed into law in 1990 and is meant to protect and ensure the return of stolen Native remains and funerary objects to their original communities, ultimately recognizing that human remains–from any group–”must at all times be treated with dignity and respect.”

In her Author’s Notes, Angeline Boulley explains that Warrior Girl Unearthed is ultimately “about the need to control Indigenous bodies–both in the past and today.” Although NAGPRA was passed over 30 years ago, many universities and museums continue to maintain control of Native remains and funerary objects despite objections by Native communities. In Warrior Girl Unearthed, the story represents this ongoing debate about who has a right to control the Native bodies of the past while paralleling an ongoing threat to the Native bodies of today: the high numbers of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) in Canada and the United States. Both of these issues represent an existential threat to Natives’ bodily autonomy.

At the time of the book’s publication in September 2022, more ancestors remain in collections (52 percent) than have been returned (48 percent).

In 2014, the rate of homicide of Indigenous women in Canada (3.64 per 100,000) was almost six times higher than non-Indigenous women (0.65 per 100,000). (source)

A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in the United States found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime, including 56.1 percent who have experienced sexual violence. (source)

You can learn more about NAGPRA at the Department of the Interior’s NAGPRA website as well as with the many links to articles, films, and other resources in the Author’s Notes.

Below is a list of the words and phrases Angeline Boulley infused into her novel, Warrior Girl Unearthed. Over 130 times she paused as a storyteller and inserted Anishinaabemowin. This is what revitalization and respect for the language looks like. As her story unfolds, so does the language. Her characters work to repatriate ancestors and they model bringing the language back into Anishinaabe lives and communities.

The words and phrases are listed below as they appear in the book with an occasional alternate spelling so that speakers of the language across and far beyond the vast Anishinaabe diaspora can recognize the language they may encounter as they work with local elders and teachers. We are honored to support the work of Angeline and hope her novels invite you to learn more Anishinaabemowin. To use some of the words on the list:

Gego gotaajiken ji-gikinoo’amaageyan. – Don’t be afraid to learn.

Gimikwendaamin. We are remembering.

Bi-giiwen enji-zaagigooyan. – Come home where you are loved.

Recommended Resource: To understand how Anishinaabemowin is commonly written and the sounds you will hear, review our The Sound of Our Language lesson.

Warrior Girl-A

Warrior Girl-B

Warrior Girl-C

Warrior Girl-D

Warrior Girl-E

Warrior Girl-G

Warrior Girl-H-I

Warrior Girl-K

Warrior Girl-M

Warrior Girl-N

Warrior Girl-O-P-S

Warrior Girl-W

Warrior Girl-Z

Elise Mangan plays a buffalo drum Monday while Natalie Fields (center with mask) leads the Bel Canto choir in singing the world premiere of “Nimbawaadaan Akiing” by Noodin and Feay-Shaw at Beaver Dam High School. KELLY SIMON/Daily Citizen

This poem by Margaret Noodin was originally published in Poem-a-Day on March 20, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets. It appeared in American Poets Magazine vol. 61. It was also published on poets.org.

A choral arrangement of this song was made by Dr. Sheila Feay-Shaw and the song was performed by students at Beaver Dam High school in Wisconsin.

Listen to them sing: Nimbawaadaan Akiing-Choir Room

Nimbawaadaan akiing
I dream a world

atemagag biinaagami
of clean water

gete-mitigoog
ancient trees

gaye gwekaanimad
and changing winds.

Nimbawaadaan akiing
I dream a world

izhi-mikwendamang
of ones who remember

nandagikenindamang gaye
who seek the truth and

maamwidebwe’endamang waabang
believe in tomorrow together.

Nimbawaadaan akiing
I dream a world

izhi-biimiskobideg giizhigong
where our path in the sky

waabandamang naasaab
can be seen as clearly as

gaa-izhi-niibawid wiijibemaadizid
the place where our neighbor once stood.