U of M American Indian Studies Department Launches Groundbreaking Online Ojibwe Dictionary

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (03/14/2012) —The University of Minnesota's Department of American Indian Studies, in the College of Liberal Arts, has launched a ground-breaking online Ojibwe-English dictionary, the Ojibwe People's Dictionary, at http://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/ . The dictionary will be celebrated with a launch party on Monday, April 2, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the McNamara Alumni Center's Maroon & Gold Room. Ojibwe elders who contributed to the project will attend. A New Standard for Indigenous Languages - "This sets the standard for how indigenous languages will be learned and preserved into the future," said James A. Parente, Jr., dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The Ojibwe People's Dictionary was conceived as a logical expansion of "A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe," published by the University of Minnesota Press and co-written by John D. Nichols, professor in the American Indian studies department and one of the foremost Algonquian language experts. The printed dictionary contains 7,000 words, but the new website has 30,000 and is growing. More than just a translation tool or a dictionary, the Ojibwe People's Dictionary provides context.