Ottawa Stories from the Springs: Anishinaabe dibaadjimowinan wodi gaa binjibaamigak wodi mookodjiwong e zhinikaadek

American Indian Studies (AIS)

by Howard Webkamigad (Editor)

Sometimes things come to people out of the blue and seemingly for a reason. The Anishinaabe word for this is nigika. The stories contained in this collection reached Howard Webkamigad nearly eighty years after they were recorded, after first being kept in their original copper wire format by the American Philosophical Society and later being converted onto cassettes and held by Dr. James McClurken of Michigan State University. These rich tales, recorded by Anishinaabe people in the Harbor Springs area of Michigan, draw on the legends, fables, trickster stories, parables, and humor of Anishinaabe culture. Reaching back to the distant past but also delving into more recent events, this book contains a broad swath of the history of the Ojibwe/Chippewa, Ottawa, Pottawatomi, Algonkian, Abenaki, Saulteau, Mashkiigowok/Cree, and other groups that make up the broad range of the Anishinaabe-speaking peoples. Provided here are original stories transcribed from Anishinaabe-language recordings alongside Howard Webkamigad’s English translations. These stories not only provide a textured portrait of a complex people but also will help Anishinaabe-language learners see patterns in the language and get a sense of how it flows. Featuring side-by-side Anishinaabe/English translations.

Genres: History

305 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2014

About the author

Howard Webkamigad was born and raised in wiikwemikooNsing, which is an area of the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve located on the eastern end of Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada. He teaches the Anishinaabe language at Algoma University.

Reviews

[Christopher Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something tells me that the story of how this book came together could be a story in itself, and quite literally the introductions to the stories drew me into the book in a way that introductions rarely do. The structure of the language (in English) takes a little getting used to, a fact that the translator previews, but the stories themselves are pretty interesting. I bet hearing the sounds in the original language is amazing!

From the introduction: “We do not have the luxury of denigrating an Anishinaabe speaker's dialect as slang, as the loss of our language is fast approaching. We as speakers have to understand that there are several dialects, and we have to acknowledge them as valid ways of speaking. We have to get our speakers to understand that they may be the Ishi of our language. All dialects are beautiful.”

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, important publication. For students of the language, Anishinaabemowin is printed on the facing pages across from the English translation. For students of the culture, these are old stories collected in 1946, transcribed verbatim just as the original narrators told them. For lovers of good stories, this collection, translated and edited by Howard Webkamigad, captures the spirit, suspense, and humour of the old tales we were told as children. Read them aloud to your children or yourself. Beautiful.

[Macomfort · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way these stories were recorded is fascinating. It's a bit hard to follow, given how different the narration style is from traditional english stories, bit it's a wonderful read, not just informative but genuinely fun, funny and moving.

[Cedric Richner · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fascinating to hear native people speaking in their language. It makes me want to hear and learn more about the dialects and the history of native peoples.