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.

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.

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.

A poem by Margaret Noodin and a print by Myrna Keliher

In 2023, Myrna Keliher of Expedition Press, created a lovely echo of a poem from What the Chickadee Knows. The original letterpress print was made to fit into a postcard size envelope and was done with archival ink on renewable paper using a 1901 Golding Jobber press from handset metal type. Maamakaadendaagwad! (Amazing!) Expedition Press is known for “damn fine words and exacting type.” A poetry-focused letterpress printshop, their mission is to deepen regard for language and connect people with poetry.

Myrna prints words to share with others! Myrna omazinaakizaanan ikidowinan ji-maada’oozhaawaad!

Prints of the poem can be ordered here: “Apenimonodan” by Margaret Noodin | Expedition Press

Apenimonodan

Apenimonodan gikendaman
aanind bemaadizijig
waa-goshko’iwaad
bamendamowaad akiing
bamenimaawaad asabikeshiinan
bamenimiwaad ge-giin
bakiseyan mii gibaakwa’igeyan
miidash bakiseyan miinawaa.
Waasikwa’agwaa ezhi-waaseziwaad.
Nisidawinaadiyeg ojichaagobiishin.

Trust that you know
some people
who will surprise you
with the way they care for the world
and every small spider
the way they care for you
as you open and shut
then open again.
Polish the way they shine.
Recognize yourselves in shared water.

“Gaa-ondinang dakawaanowed Makwa” or “How the Bear Got A Short Tail,” is a story about gifts from the Creator and a lesson in humility. This is a teaching tale best heard during the winter and recalls a time when animals had not all changed into the forms they have now. The version here was told by Anna Gibbs-ba and transcribed by Anton Treuer for Oshkaabewis Native Journal in Spring of 2010 (Vol. 7, No. 9). This fully animated version with subtitles was created for Wiigwaas Press in 2015 and is narrated in Ojibwe by Anna Gibbs-ba, directed by Elizabeth Day, produced by Heid E. Erdrich, and animated by Jonathan Thunder in 2015.

Nimbagosendaamin waa-minwenimeg wa’aw aadizookaan.  / We hope you all will like this story.