Kinship Terms

Anishinaabemowin Kinship Terms

General Terms for Relatives
inawemaagan -ag	relative, kinsman
(n)indinawemaagan -ag	my relative
(n)indoodem -ag odoodeman ‘ANsg's clan’	my clan

+3 Generations (Great-Grandparents’ Generation)
(n)indaanikobijigan -ag	my great-grandparent, my great-grandchild

+2 Generations (one’s Grandparents’ Generation)
nimishoomis -ag also (n)indedeyinaan, (n)imbaabaayinaan	my grandfather
nookomis -ag ookomisan, ‘ANsg's grandmother’	my grandmother
+1 Generation (one’s Parents’ Generation)
(n)ingitiziim -ag	my parent (one who raised me)
niniigi’ig -oog	my parent
(n)imbaabaa -yag also noos (archaic), (n)indede	my father
nimaamaa -yag also ninga (archaic) ogiin, ‘her\|his mother’	my mother
nimishoomenh -ag	my parallel uncle (father’s brother)
ninoshenh -yag	my parallel aunt (mother’s sister)
(n)inzhishenh -ag	my cross-uncle (mother’s brother)
nizigos -ag	my cross-aunt (father’s sister)
nizinis -ag	my father-in-law
nizigozis -ag	my mother-in-law
0 Generation (One’s Own Generation)
nisayenh -ag	my older brother, my older male parallel cousin
nimisenh -ag	my older sister, my older female parallel cousin
nishiime -yag	my younger sibling my younger parallel cousin
(n)indawemaa -g	my sibling of opposite sex; my parallel cousin of opposite sex; (if I am female) my brother; (if I am male) my sister
niijikiwenh -ag	(if I am male) my brother, my male friend
niijikwe -ag	(if I am female) my female friend
niikaanis -ag also niikaan	(if I am male) my brother; my friend

niitaa -g	(if I am male) my brother-in-law
niitaawis -ag	(if I am male) my cross-cousin of the same sex; my father’s sister’s son; my mother’s brother’s son
(n)indaangoshenh -ag	(if I am female) my cross-cousin of the same sex; my father’s sister’s daughter; my mother’s brother’s daughter
niinim -ag	my sibling-in-law of the opposite sex; (if I am female) my brother-in-law; (if I am male) my sister-in-law
niinimoshenh -ag	my sweetheart; my cross-cousin of the opposite sex; (if I am female) my mother’s brother’s son, my father’s sister’s son; (if I am male) my mother’s brother’s daughter, my father’s sister’s daughter
niwiidigemaagan -ag	my spouse
niwiiw wiiwan, ‘his wife’	my wife
niwiiwish -ag wiiwishan, ‘his old wife’ (insult)	my old wife (affectionate)
nindikwem -ag	my wife, lit. ‘my woman’
nimindimooyenyim	my wife, lit. ‘my old lady’
nindininiim -ag	my husband, lit. ‘my man’
ninaabem -ag	my husband
nindakiwenziiyim -ag	my husband, lit. ‘my old man’
-1 Generation (One’s Children’s Generation)
ningozis -ag also ningos	my son
nindaanis -ag also nindaan	my daughter
niniijaanis -ag	my child
niningwanis -ag	my cross-nephew; (if I am male) my sister’s son; (if I am female) my brother’s son
nishimis -ag	my cross-niece; (if I am male) my sister’s daughter; (if I am female) my brother’s daughter
nindoozhim -ag	my parallel nephew; (if I am male) my brother’s son; (if I am female) my sister’s son; my step-son
nindoozhimis -ag	my parallel niece; (if I am male) my brother’s daughter; (if I am female) my sister’s daughter
nindoozhimikwem -ag	my stepdaughter
na’aangish NA -ag nina’aangishiim -ag	son-in-law my son-in-law
na’aanganikwe NA -g nina’aanganikwem -ag	daughter-in-law my daughter-in-law
-2 Generations (One’s Grandchildren’s Generation)
noozhishenh -yag	my grandchild
-3 Generations (One’s Great-Grandchildren’s Generation)
nindaanikobijigan -ag	my great-grandchild

Some Clans[1]

awaazisii	bullhead
maang	loon
ajijaak	sandhill crane
waabizheshi	marten
migizi	eagle
mikinaak	turtle
ma’iingan	wolf
nigig	otter
zhaangwesi	mink
zhingos	weasel/ermine
wazhashk	muskrat
ginebig	snake
bizhiw	lynx
omakakii	frog
adik	caribou
omashkooz	elk
esiban	raccoon
ginoozhe	pike
ogaa	walleye (pickerel)
maashkinoozhe	muskellunge (musky)
namebin	sucker
name	sturgeon
gekek	hawk

‘The word totem is irregularly derived from the term ototeman (odoodeman) of the Chippewa and cognate Algonquian dialects. The stem of this word is ote (-oode), signifying a consanguine kinship, and the suffix -m indicates a possessive relationship. Groups of persons having a blood relationship where designated by the name of an animal which in common usage, came to be called their “dodem animal.”

‘Warren states, “the Algics as a body are divided into several grand families or clans, each of which is known and perpetuated by a symbol of some bird, animal, fish, or reptile which they denominate the Totem or Do-daim (as the Ojibways pronounce it…) The totem descends invariably in the male line, and intermarriages never take place between persons of the same symbol or family, even should they belong to different and distinct tribes, as they consider one another related by the closest ties of blood and call one another by the nearest terms of consanguinity.” The same authority states that “the Ojibways acknowledge in their secret beliefs, and teach to each successive generation, five original Totems. The tradition in which this belief is embodied, is known only to their chief Medas or priests.”… The entire list of 21 clans given by Warren are the crane, catfish, loon, bear, marten, reindeer, wolf, merman, pike, lynx, eagle, moose, rattlesnake, black duck or cormorant, goose, sucker, sturgeon, whitefish, beaver, gull, and hawk. He states further that “the crane, catfish, bear, marten, wolf, and loon are the principal families, not only in a civil point of view, but in numbers, as they comprise eight-tenths of the whole tribe.”

‘Personal informants stated that the bear and marten were the “most aristocratic” of the animal clans, and the crane and eagle among the bird clans. There were only a few of the sturgeon clan among the Mississippi Chippewa, but members of the catfish clan were very numerous.’

From: Densmore, Frances. 1929. Chippewa customs. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 86. Washington: Government Printing Office.

[1] This list is from: Jackson, Dana. 1994. Learning the Bad River Ojibwe dialect as a second language, Intermediate lessons 1-81. Bad River Education Department.