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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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