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  Authors Note on The Ojibwe Language

  AUTHOR’S NOTE ON THE OJIBWE LANGUAGE

  Obijwemowin was originally a spoken, not written, language, and for that reason spellings are often idiosyncratic. There are also many, many dialects in use. To make the Obijwemowin in the text easier to read, I have often used phonetic spellings. I apologize to the reader for any mistakes and refer those who would like to encounter the language in depth to A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, edited by John D. Nichols and Earl Nyholm; to the Oshkaabewis Native Journal, edited by Anton Treurer; and to the curriculum developed by Dennis Jones at the University of Minnesota.

  GLOSSARY AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE OF OJIBWE TERMS

  aadizookaan (ahd-zoh-kahn): a traditional story that often helps explain how to live as an Ojibwe

  aadizookaanag (ahd-zoh-kahn-ahg): the plural form of aadizookaan

  abwi (ab-wih): paddleahneen (ah-NEEN): a greeting, sometimes in the form of a question

  akik (ah-keik): kettle

  aneendi g’deydey (ah-NEEN-dih gih-day-day): where is your father?

  Anishinabe (AH-nish-in-AH-bay): the original name for the Ojibwe or Chippewa people, a Native American group who originated in and live mainly in the northern North American woodlands. There are currently Ojibwe reservations in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ontario, Manitoba, Montana, and Saskatchewan.

  Anishinabeg (AH-nish-in-AH-bayg): the plural form of Anishinabe

  asin (ah-sin): stone

  asiniig (ah-sin-ig): the plural form of asin

  awakaanag (ah-wah-kahn-ahg): domestic animals

  ayah (ah-YAH): yes

  bawa’iganakoog (bah-wah’ih-gahn-a-koog): rice knockers

  biboon (bih-BOON): winter

  binesi (bin-AY-sih): thunderbird

  binesiwag (bin-AY-sih-wug): the plural form of binesi

  booni’aa (BOO-nee-ah): leave it alone

  Bwaanag (BWAHN-ug): the Dakota and Lakota people, another Native tribe, whose reservations spread across the Great Plains

  chimookoman (chi-MOOK-oh-man): word meaning “big knife,” used to describe white people or non-Indians

  chimookomanag (chi-MOOK-oh-man-ug): the plural form of chimookoman

  daga (dah-gah): please

  dagwaging (dah-GWAG-ing): fall

  Deydey (DAY-day): Daddy

  eya’ (ey-ah): yes

  ezhichigeyan (ey-zhi-chi-GAY-an): to be doing something

  ganabaj (gah-nah-BUTCH): maybe

  gaween (gah-WEEN): no

  geegoonyag (ghee-goon-yag): fish

  geewen (gee-WEH): go home

  geget (GEH-geht): surely, or for emphasis, truly or really

  geget sa (GEH-geht sah): surely, with more emphasis

  gego (GAY-go): exclamation meaning “stop that”

  gichi-oodenan (gih-chi-oo-day-nahn): cities

  gigawaabamin (gih-gah-WAH-bah-min): I will see you

  ginebig (gih-NAY-big): snake

  ginebigoog (gih-NAY-big-ook): the plural form of ginebig

  gisina (gih-sin-ah): to be cold

  gizhawenimin (gih-zha-WAY-nih-min): I love you

  Gizhe Manidoo (Gih-zhay Man-ih-do): the great, kind spirit

  gookoosh (goo-KOOSH): pig

  gookooshag (goo-KOOSH-ug): the plural form of gookoosh

  hiyn (high-n): exclamation of sympathy or chagrin, meaning “that’s too bad”

  howah (HOW-ah): a sound of approval

  ishkodewaaboo (ish-KODAY-wah-boo): alcohol

  ishtay (ISH-tay): exclamation meaning how good, nice, pleasant

  izhadah (iz-yah-dah): let’s go

  jeemaan (jee-mahn): canoe

  jeemaanan (jee-MAHN-an): the plural form of jeemaan

  majigoode (mah-ji-GOO-day): dress

  makakoon (mah-kah-koon): the plural form of makuk

  makazin (MAH-kah-zin): footwear usually made of tanned moose hide or deerskin, often trimmed with beads and/or fur

  makazinan (MAH-kah-zin-ahn): plural form of makazin

  makuk (mah-KUK): a container of birchbark folded and often stitched together with basswood fiber. Ojibwe people use these containers today, especially for traditional feasts

  Manidoo (Mah-nih-do): god, spirit

  manoomin (mah-NOH-min): wild rice; the word means “the good seed”

  mashkiki (mahsh-kih-kih): medicine

  meegwech (mee-gwetch): thank you

  memegwesi (may-may-gway-see): little person

  memegwesiwag (may-may-gway-see-wug): the plural form of memegwesi

  Midewiwin (mih-DAY-wih-win): religious gatherings

  migiziins (mih-gih-zeens): eagle

  migiziwag (mih-GEE-zih-wag): the plural form of migiziins

  mi’iw minik (mih-IW min-ick): exclamation at the end of a story

  moningwanay (moh-ning-wah-nay): flicker

  Moningwanaykaning (moh-ning-wah-NAY-kan-ing): Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker, also known as Madeline Island, largest of the Apostle Islands in Southern Lake Superior, spiritual home of the Anishinabeg

  namadabin (nah-MAH-di-bin): sit down

  Nanabozho (nan-ah-boh-ZHO): the great teacher of the Ojibwe, who used his comical human side to teach lessons, often through hilarious mistakes

  n’dawnis (in-DAH-nis): my daughter

  neebin (nee-bin): summer

  neshkey (nesh-kay): look

  n’gaa (in-gah): old way of saying mother

  nimisay (NIH-MIH-say): younger sister

  Nokomis (no-KOH-mis): grandmother

  nookoo (noo-koo): shortened version of Nokomis

  Odaawa (oh-dah-wah): a tribe related to the Ojibwe

  ogimaa (oh-geh-ma): head person, chief, king or queen

  ogitchida (oh-GIT-chih-dah): male leader

  ogitchidaag (oh-GIT-chih-dahg): the plural form of ogitchida

  ogitchidakwe (oh-GIT-chih-dah-kway): female leader

  okij (oh-KIHJ): pipe stem

  ombay (OM-bay): come here; let’s go

  omooday (oh-moo-die): bottle

  owah (oh-WAH): exclamation of alarm or surprise, like “oh!”

  ozhibee’igay (oh-zhi-BEE-ih-gay): writing

  peendigen (peen-dig-eyn): come in

  pukwe (puck-way): reed used in making mats

  sa (sah): part of geget sa; a polite addition to speech

  sabeys (sah-bays): net

  tikinagun (tick-ih-NAH-gun): a cradle board made of lightweight wood, with a footrest on one end and a bow-shaped frame at the other. A baby is wrapped snugly into the tikinagun with cloth, blankets, and skins. The tikinagun can be carried on the mother’s back, leaned against a tree or a wall, or safely hung from a tree branch. Small toys, such as shells, dream catchers, or pieces of birchbark with bitten designs are often hung from the bow-shaped frame near the baby’s head to amuse him or her.

  waabooz (WAH-booz): rabbit

  waaboozoog (WAH-booz-oog): the plural form of waabooz

  weeji’ishin (wee-jih-ih-shin): help me do something

  weesinidah (wee-sin-ih-dah): let’s eat!

  wegonen (way-go-nayn): what?

  wesineeg (wee-sin-ig): all of you eat

  weweni gagigidoon (way-way-nih gah-gih-gi-doon): speak carefully

  weyass (wee-yass): meat

  wigwam (WIHG-wahm): a birchbark house

  wiindigoo (WIN-di-goo): a giant monster of Ojibwe teachings, often made of ice and associated with the starvation and danger of deep winter

  zeegwun (ZEEG-wun): spring

  zhaganashimowin (zha-gah-NAHSH-ih-moh-win): white man’s language

  zhooniyaa (shoo-nih-yah): money

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  LOUISE ERDRICH lives with her daughters in Minnesota. They have a very old dog, a very strange cat, and a garden devoted to rhubarb. Ms. Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe. She grew up in North Dakota and is of German-American and Chippewa descent. She is the author of many critically acclaimed and New York Times
best-selling novels for adults, including love medicine, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award, and, more recently, FOUR SOULS and THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB. She has also written the picture books GRANDMOTHER’S PIGEON and THE RANGE ETERNAL. THE GAME OF SILENCE continues the story begun in THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE, which was nominated for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and which was inspired when Ms. Erdrich and her mother, Rita Gourneau Erdrich, were researching their own family history.

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  ALSO BY LOUISE ERDRICH

  FOR CHILDREN

  The Birchbark House

  Grandmother’s Pigeon

  ILLUSTRATED BY JIM LAMARCHE

  The Range Eternal

  ILLUSTRATED BY STEVE JOHNSON AND LOU FANCHER

  NOVELS

  Love Medicine

  The Beet Queen

  Tracks

  The Bingo Palace

  Tales of Burning Love

  The Antelope Wife

  The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

  The Master Butchers Singing Club

  Four Souls

  WITH MICHAEL DORRIS

  The Crown of Columbus

  POETRY

  Jacklight

  Baptism of Desire

  Original Fire

  NONFICTION

  The Blue Jay’s Dance

  Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country

  CREDITS

  Jacket art © 2005 by Louise Erdrich

  Jacket design by Amy Ryan

  Jacket © 2005 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  Copyright

  THE GAME OF SILENCE. Copyright © 2005 by Louise Erdrich. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  ePub edition June 2005 ISBN 9780061756719

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Erdrich, Louise.

  The game of silence / Louise Erdrich.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Nine-year-old Omakayas, of the Ojibwa tribe, moves West with her family in 1849.

  ISBN 0-06-029789-1 — ISBN 0-06-029790-5 (lib. bdg.)

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