Ojibwa

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A distinct indigenous people primarily located in Canada and the U.S., celebrated for their traditional arts and social practices
2. A language used by a Native American group residing in North America, classified as part of the Algonquian languages
3. An indigenous group native to parts of the United States and Canada known for unique cultural traditions ; the language spoken by this group, part of the Algonquian family

Etymology: The name "Ojibwa" belongs first to a single band, not to a whole people. It was recorded in English around 1700, and French writers of the period rendered it as "Outchibouec." The name is generally traced to an Ojibwe word, "ojibwaakide," meaning "it shrivels, it puckers in the fire," which is usually taken to describe the puckered seams of moccasins held too close to a fire. That explanation is the most widely accepted, though it remains a theory. Other ideas have been proposed but do not hold up well. One links the name to the Ojibwe word for puckering the lips, but the form that means this is different, so the connection is weak. Two more theories connect the name to Ojibwe writing. One ties it to birch-bark writing and pictographs, and the other to a verb meaning "write someone's name down." Both remain possibilities rather than settled answers.