“Nishnaabe-Tisgan: Anishinaabe Dye”

Debaajmod: Elizabeth Panamick

Gaa-nishnaabebii’ged (Ojibwe Transcription): Evelyn Roy

Gaa-aankinootmaaged (English Translation): Albertine Migwans and Evelyn Roy

Evelyn: Gegoo na kii-kendaan e-bgojging maajing?
Prompter: Do you know any wild edibles?

Mii go eta genii niwi ni’ii…mii go eta genii niwi…maanda go naa waashkbang, naa?
I just, um…I just…all I know is sweet stuff, eh?

Miinan, mshiimnag, you know, gegoo go naa maanda.
Blueberries, apples, you know, things like that.

Enh, kina go naa niwi.
Yes, all those things.

Ngoding sa oodi nihiing, ngii-yaam…ngii-yaamnaaba Meldrum Bay nikeyaa.
Well, one time there, um, we were…we were out towards Meldrum Bay.

Aa’sh, mbibaambatoomi’sh naa geniinwi ngii-nii…binoojiinshiwyaang.
And so, we’re running around, we…us who are kids.

Aapji’sh go naa zhiwi nawaj ndan’kamgizmi zhiwi.
So we were playing all kinds of games there.

Wiigwaamens ndazhtoonaa;
We’d make a little house;

zhn..zhng..zhngob, zhngob ndin’kaaznaa; ndadminmi.
Ce..ce..cedar, we’re using cedar; we’re playing.

Bmiwaa…bmiwaawaan’kewag’sh go gonda gwiiwzhenshag zhiwi.
And they’re…so these boys are digging around there.

Aapji’sh go…jiisensing zhinaagwod wi gaa-moon’kaadkaadang wa bezhig.
And so…it looked like a carrot, what one of those boys dug up.

“Wenesh wi, jiisens?” kidwag sa.
“What’s that, a carrot?” they say.

“Jiisenhsan iidig zhonda zyaagkiig,” ndikdami.
“Carrots must grow here,” we say.

Aa’sh, mii sa gii-maajiibtwaadmaang.
So, off we ran with it.

Ngii-giiwe-btwaadaanaa wi; nmamaa oodi. 
We ran home with that; my mother’s there.

 “Yaa!” kida sa. “Nihii maanda aawan…,” kida sa,
“Oh, my goodness!” she says. “This is whachmacall…,” she says,

…etek iidig zhonda maanda,” kida sa, “nishnaabe-tisgan.”
…this must be here,” she says, “Anishinaabe dye.”

Prompter: Nishnaabe-tisgan

Enh, nanda go naa tisganan go naa daawegamgoong edaadngin,
Yes, these dyes, you know, that are sold in stores,

gegoo noonj wii-bmi-naazman, you know.
for you to dye various things, you know.

“Msko-jiibig” gii-zhin’kaadaan’sh wi…“msko-jiibig” gii-zhin’kaadaan wi nmamaa wi.
And she called that “red root”…my mother called that “red root,” that thing.

Mii ..mii dash niwi kikshan gii-bmi-ndowaabmaad.
So, she looked around for an old pot.

Wgii-wzaan’sh wi, naa?
So she boiled that, eh?

Mii-sh miinwaa waabshki-gdagiigaanh gii-pagdood.
And then she threw in a white rag.

Mii sa go gaa-bi-naandeg wi; orange gii-naande.
And that’s the colour it turned; it turned orange in colour.

Ezaawmin’gaanh e-naandeg, mii gaa-bi-naandeg wi.
The colour of an orange, that’s the color it turned.

Kiin’sh go naa mnik waa-toowin wi, naa, waa-piitaandeg wi…nihii…
And however much of that you want to put there, eh, how deep in colour, um…

gnamaa go, aapji go wii-boozaandeg, aa’sh, niibna go gdaa-toon wi, naa?
Say maybe it’s going to be really dark, well, you’d put a lot of that, eh?

Dbishkoo go naa mnik ziisbaakwod e-toowiin, ziizbaakdogeyin,
Just like how much sugar you put when you sweeten something,

aanii waa-piitaagmig wi, you know, mii go naa dbishkoo wi.
how sweet that’s [supposed] to be, you know, it’s just like that.

Nishnaabe tisgan’sh giiyenh aawan wi.
So that’s Anishinaabe dye, they say.

Aa’iish, kina gegoo wda-aan wa Nishnaabe, you know.
Well, the Anishinaabe has everything, you know.

Kina go gegoo gda..gdaa’aanaa gegoo.
Everything, we…we have everything.

M'Chigeeng First Nation
53 Hwy 551, P.O. Box 333
M'Chigeeng ON
P0P 1GO
phone:(705) 377-5362
fax:(705) 377-4980