Play Audio: Graduation Song

Maamakaadendaagwad!
Congratulations!

Maamakaadendaagwad!
Congratulations!

Gigii-minochigem!
You have all done well!

Gidapiitenimigoom.
We are all proud of you all.

Gimaamakaadendaagozim!
You all are amazing!

Text here

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.

For groups who want to sing the whole song, here are the lyrics to download. For young students we recommend the short version with the nakwe’amaagewin (chorus or answering part) and just one nagamobiisaawin (part of the song or verse), but either way we hope you enjoy winter sledding and weweni, travel safe!

Godotaagaansan

Nakwe’amaagewin / Chorus:

Godotaagaansan, godotaagaansan madwewemagadoon
Jingle bells, Jingle bells, jingle all the way

Minwendaagwag wii-booziyang biboonodaabaaning
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh

Godotaagaansan, godotaagaansan madwewemagadoon
Jingle bells, Jingle bells, jingle all the way

Minwendaagwag wii-booziyang biboonodaabaaning
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh

Nagamobiisaawin Bezhig / Verse One:

Nizhiibaagonebiz biboonodaabaaning,
Dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh,

Zhiibaabizoyang gitigaaning, ge baashkaapiyang;
Over the fields we go, laughing all the way;

Madwewemagag, ge minawaanigoziyang;
Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits bright;

Aapiji minwendaagwag ji-zhiibaagonebizoyang!
What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight!

Nagamobiisaawin Niizh / Verse Two:

Mii iidog gaa-niizhogon, gii-babaamibizoyaan,
A day or two ago, I thought I’d take a ride,

Dash wayiiba Baanii Waasikwe gii-wiidabimid imaa;
And soon Miss Fanny Bright was seated by my side;

Bebezhigoogaanzhii bwaa-minwaabamewizid,
The horse was lean and lank, misfortune seemed his lot,

Gii-izhaayaang ishpaagoneyaasing, dash gwanabiseyaang.
We got into a drifted bank, and then we got upsot.

Nagamobiisaawin Niswi / Verse Three:

Mii iidog gaa-niizhogon, daa-dazhindamaan
A day or two ago, a story I must tell.

Gii-bimaagoneyaan, dash aatawaaseyaan.
I went out on the snow, and on my back I fell.

Awiiya nigii-gabikaag biboonodaabaaning,
A gent was riding by in a one horse open sleigh,

Gii-baapigooyaan apii animibizod ge-bimishinaan!
He laughed as there I sprawling lie but quickly drove away!

Nagamobiisaawin Niiwin / Verse Four:

Noongom gaa-gabezoogipon, bimaagonen noongom;
Now the ground is white, go it while you’re young;

Wiijiiwaag ikwezensag, dash o’ow nagamowin.
Take the girls tonight, and sing this sleighing song.

Gidaa-debinaa bebezhigoogaanzhii, ge gizhiibaatood;
Just get a bob tailed bay, two-forty as his speed;

Zagibizh biboonodaabaaning dash ogimaakandawad!
Hitch him to an open sleigh and crack! You’ll take the lead!