Ojibwe Naming of Wild Plants Dwight A Gourneau

Ojibwe Naming of Wild Plants Dwight A. Gourneau Adapted from Michael Price’s TRIBES Presentation

Wild Plant Name Suffixes in Ojibwe Language § “-jiibik” – root § § § § § “-imin” – berry, fruit, seed “-bag” – leaf “-pin” – potato-like, tuber “-aatig” – trunk, stem “-waak” – tree “-ashk” – long grassy stem “-mizh” – small tree, shrub “-aandag” – bough “Mashkii-” – bog

Latin-Ojibwemowin Classification Round Leaf Sundew Waawiiye-niigeganzh (Drosera rotundifolia)

Mashkiig – Bog or Peatland Mashkikii – “medicine from the earth or bog”

Mashkiig – Bog or Peatland Mashkiigwaatig Tamarack (Larix laricina) Mashkiigomin Small Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos)

Mashkiig – Bog or Peatland Mashkiigobag Labrador Tea or Swamp Tea (Ledum groenlandicum) Mashkiigojiibik Marsh Five Finger (Potentilla palustris)

Waabashkikii - Swamp

Waabashkikii - Swamp Waabashkikiibag Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) Meadow Sweet (Spiraea alba) Labrador or Swamp Tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

Anungobikobiise “Star that lives on the water” White Water Lilly (Nymphaea odorata)

Ladyslippers Makizinan “Moccasins” Yellow Ladyslipper (Cypripedium caleolus) Agobizowin “A remedy tied on a wound” Showy Ladyslipper (Cypripedium reginae)

Naming Categorization § Descriptive § Utility § Medicinal Use § Food Source § Spirituality

Descriptive Omakikiiwidaasan “Frog Leggings” Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) Waabooyaabag “Blanket Leaf” Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

Utility Miskojiibik Bloodroot (Sanquinaria canadensis) - Used as a red dye Ozaawijiibik Goldenthread (Coptis trifolia) - Used as a yellow dye

Utility Anaakanashk “Anaakan – woven mat” Softstem Bulrush (Scirpus validus) Gichigamiwashk “Tall Grass of the Great Waters” Nabagashk “Tall Grass with Flat Leaf” Common Cattail (Typha latifolia)

Utility Wiigwaasaatig Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)

Utility Aagimaak “Snowshoe-making tree” § Aagim - snowshoe Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra) - Used to make snowshoes; - Inner bark strips - baskets

Medicinal Use Oshkinigiikwe Aniibiish Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) “Young Woman’s Tea” Zhaabozigan Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) “Laxative; used to produce post-birth milk flow”

Food Source Minoomin “the good seed” Wild Rice (Zizania palustris) Ode”imin “heart fruit” Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

Food Source Aninaatig Ziinzibaakwad Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) Apakweshkwe • Apakwe – “to put on roof” Nabagashk “Tall Grass with Flat Leaf” (Typha latifolia) - Edible bulbs and spring shoots

Spirituality Giizhig(aandag) White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) “Giizhig” – “sky or day” Wiingashk “aromatic herb” Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata)

Spirituality Nookwezigan White Sage (Artemisia ludoviciana) “soothing grandmother medicine” - spiritual purification Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron strigosus) - used for headaches

Other Ojibwe Plant Names Giiziso-Mashkikii “Sun Medicine” Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) Apaakozigan “smoking mixture” Bearberry (Arctostaphalos uva-ursi)

Other Ojibwe Plant Names Ajidamoowaanow “Squirrel’s Tail” Woolly Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) - flowers smoked ceremonially

Evergreens - Relationships “aandag” – “bough” Gaawaandag – White Spruce Zezegaandag – Black Spruce Giizhigaandag – White Cedar Okikaandag – Jack Pine “Zhin” – “to lie down” Zhingwaak – White Pine Zhingobii – Red or Norway Pine Zhingob – Balsam Fir Miskwaawaak – Red Cedar Miskwaawaakaandag – Red Cedar bough

Makwa – Black Bear

Zhigaagawanzh “Onions” Zhigaag “Skunk” Zhigaagong “Where skunk’s live”

Chi-Miigwech