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TEXTS
Gichigamiiwashkoon
Miinawaa mewinzha gichigamiiwashkoon mamood zaaga'íganiing, miish iniw. “Ode'imini-glizis,”
gli-ikido ko, “jibwaa-aabita-niibing.”
Mii asemaan ezhi-bagidanaad, azhigwa wii-mamood
iniw ayi'iin gichigamiiwashkoon. “Gaawiin giiwenh
awiiya odaa-izhi-mamoosiinan,” gii-ikido ko.
Apane ingii-naanaagadawaabamaa gaa-izhichiged.
Miish i'iw jiimaaning-sh, boozi wiigwaasi-jiimaaning gaye. Mii ezhi-bakwajibidood, mii iniw gichigamiiwashkoon, ikidowag, izhinikaadenig.
Mii azhigwa niibowa ezhi-bakwajibidood, mii
ezhi-ayaad ezhi-agwaasidood, mii
ezhimaawandoopidood. Mii ingojii go nisimidana,
ingojii go odizhi-maawandoopidoonan. Mii
ezhi-giishkizhang iwidi ojiibikaawaninig.
Mii dash imaa namadabiyaan iko maamiijiyaan mii
iniw. Ingii-kina'amaag-sh wiin. “gego miijiken
niibowa!” ingii-ig. Enda-minopogwadoon
ojiibikaawang iniw gichigamiiwashkoon.
Jimaan
Mewinzha agaawaa ingezikwendaan–amanj iidog
gaa-iniginiwaanen–madaabiiyaan. Jimaan imaa
gii-ate. Miish gaa-izhi-booziyaan. Maagizhaa gaye
iwidi ishkwe-ay'ii gaa-inaandawewaanen. Gaawiin
imaa ingikendanziin minik.
Imaa inaabiyaan igo, waasa azhigwa aya anagad i'iw niiwin, nookomis miinawaa go ninoshenyag niizh, biijiba'idiwaad, aanind biidaadagaaziiba'idiwaad,
gaa-izhi-zegiziyaan.
Ingikendaan wiin igo zegizayaan. Maagizhaa gaye
gaa-kwaashkwaniwaanen. Baanimaa dash igo
miinawaa gikendamaan iwidi ganawaabamagwaa
ingiw giigoonyag, eniwek igo naa anooj ezhi-naagoziwaad. Agwadaashiinsag ingiw. Aangodinong
gaye enda-besho inganawaabamigoog. Mi eta go
imaa minik gaa-gikendamaan. Maagizhaa gaye
gaa-agwaabiiginigoowaanen.
Bimo Gaabiboonoke
Miinawaa gaa-inaajimotawid a'aw mindimooyenh.
Akina gegoo ingiiwaawiindamaag. Mii giiwenh
mewinzha anishinaabeg giikajiwaad, onzaam
ginwenzh biboonig. Mii giiwenh mitigwaabikawaawaad iniw abinoojiinyan.
Miish ezhi-inaawad:
“Ishpiming iwidi o-ina'en. Bimo gaabiboonoke.”
Miish giiwenh ingiw gwiiwizensag zaagiziba'idiwaad,
mii iwidi ishpimig ina'ewaad. Mii iidog bimwaawaad
iniw gaabiboonoken. Miish giiwenh geget
ezhi-aabawaag.
Imbagida'waamin
Minawaa ko mewinzha gezikwendamaan
obagida'waad, mii ezhi-wiijiwag. Mi iwidi
Gabekanaansing, awas idash igo iwidi
ani-aanikegamaag i'iw zaaga´'gan. Mii iwidi ena'oyaang. Mitigo-jiimaan-sh indaabajitoomin. Azheboye dash . . .
. . . Enagoojininid iniw anangoon, mii go
gaa-izhi-waawiinamawid. Mii iidog iko ezhi-nibayaan
megwaa dibaajimod, miinawaa gichi-gigzheb
azhigwa amadinid, wiikobinaad iniw odasabiin,
miinawaa giiwe'oyaang.
Maude Kegg (b.1904)
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Bulrushes
Long ago she got bulrushes from the lake. “In June,” she used to say, “before the middle of
the summer.”
She put the tobacco out when she wanted to get bulrushes. “No one is supposed to take
them otherwise,” she used to say.
I always watched what she did with great interest. She got in the canoe, a birch bark canoe. Then
she pulled up the gichigamiiwashkoon, as they
are called.
She pulled up a lot of them, took what she got to shore, and tied them up. She tied them in
bundles of about thirty. Then she cut them off at the roots.
I used to sit there eating them. But she forbid
me to do that. “Don't eat much!” she said to
me. Bulrush roots taste real good.
Canoe
I can barely remember long ago—I don't know
how big I was—going down to the shore. There was a canoe there so I got in it. I must have climbed down to the far end. I don't remember much.
When I took a look, the boat was far out and I heard some ladies, maybe three or four of them, my grandmother and my aunt, two of my aunts, running towards me, crying as they came, some of them running right into the water, and so I got scared. I remember that I was scared.
I must have jumped. Then I remember looking at fish of all different colors. They were sunfish.
Sometimes they came real close and looked at me. That´s all I have remembered. I must have
been picked up out of the water.
Shoot the Wintermaker
Again what the old lady told me. She talked about everything with me. It´s long ago and the
Indians are cold because the winter is too long.
They make bows for the children. They tell them:
“Go and shoot up in the sky. Shoot the Wintermaker.”
The children go outside and aim skywards. They shoot the Wintermaker. And sure enough it
warms up.
We Set a Net
And I remember that long ago when my grandmother would go to set the net, I'd go with her. It
was there at Portage Lake, on the other side, where another lake joins it. That's where we went.
We used a wooden boat. She rowed . . .
. . . And so she told me about how the stars hang in constellations. Maybe I fell asleep while she
talked, and early in the morning she woke me up, pulled in her net, and we rowed home.
trans. John Nichols
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