Ottawa dialect

|colspan="2" class="infobox-above above" style="font-size:125%; color: black; background-color: lightskyblue;"|Ottawa|
| --- | --- |
|colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader" style="font-size:110%; color: black; background-color: lightskyblue;"|<span title="Ottawa-language romanization">_Nishnaabemwin_</span>, <span title="Ottawa-language romanization">_Daawaamwin_</span>|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|Canada, United States|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|Ontario, Michigan, Oklahoma|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|60,000 Odawa|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|Total: 1,135 US: 965 (2009-2013 language survey) Canada: 220 (2021 census)|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|<div style="text-align:left;">Algic *Algonquian ** Ojibwe-Potawatomi *** Ojibwe **** **Ottawa** </div>|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|`otw`|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|`otta1242`|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|Ottawa|
|class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|`(Odawa) 62-ADA-dd (Odawa)`|
|colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|<div style="text-align:left;">Places with Ottawa people in Ontario, Michigan and Oklahoma. Reserves/Reservations and communities are red.</div>|
|colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"|<div style="text-align:left;"><div class="center" style="width:auto; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Ottawa is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO _Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger_</span></div></div>|
|colspan="2" class="infobox-below noprint selfref" style="background-color:#E7E7FF;color:inherit;padding:0.3em 0.5em;text-align:left;line-height:1.3;"|**This article contains IPA phonetic symbols.** Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.|
**Ottawa** or **Odawa** is a dialect of the Ojibwe language spoken by the Odawa people in southern Ontario in Canada, and northern Michigan in the United States. The first recorded meeting of Ottawa speakers and Europeans occurred in 1615 when a party of Ottawas met explorer Samuel de Champlain on the north shore of Georgian Bay.

Ottawa is written in Latin letters. The dialect is known to its speakers as  "speaking the native language" or  "speaking Ottawa".

People who speak Ottawa are concerned that their language is endangered because the use of English increases and the number of speakers declines.

## Usage

Most Ottawa speaking groups are in Ontario. Places in Ontario where Ottawa is spoken include Walpole Island near Detroit, and Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.

Places in Michigan where Ottawa is spoken are Peshawbestown, Harbor Springs, Grand Rapids, Mount Pleasant, Bay City, and Cross Village. Some children of Ottawas who moved to Kansas and Oklahoma speak Ottawa. Only three older people spoke Ottawa in Oklahoma in 2006.

One study said that there are about 8,000 speakers of Ottawa in the northern United States and southern Ontario.

## Related pages

- Ojibwe language
- Algonquian languages

## Further reading

- Cappel, Constance. 2007, The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: The History of a Native American People, Edwin Mellen Press.
- Norris, Mary Jane. 1998. Canada's Aboriginal languages. _Canadian Social Trends_ (Winter): 8–16
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1979. "Some aspects of Ojibwa discourse." W. Cowan, ed., _Papers of the 10th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 102–117. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISBN 0-7709-0059-3
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1980. "On the semantics of the instrumental finals in Ojibwa." W. Cowan, ed., _Papers of the 11th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 183–197. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISBN 0-7709-0076-3
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1981. "On the Semantics of the Ojibwa Verbs of Breaking." W. Cowan, ed., _Papers of the 12th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 47–56. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISBN 0-7709-0116-6
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1982. "Algonquian Trade Languages." W. Cowan, ed., _Papers of the 13th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 1–10. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISBN 0-7709-0123-9
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1983. "Some Comments on Ojibwa Ethnobotany." W. Cowan, ed., _Actes du 14e Congrès des Algonquinistes,_ pp. 307–320. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISBN 0-7709-0126-3
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1984. "Baseball, Hotdogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolets." W. Cowan, ed., _Papers of the 15th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 373–388. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISBN 0-7709-0165-4
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1985. "Metaphor and Extension in Ojibwa." W. Cowan, ed., _Papers of the 16th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 161–169. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISSN 0831-5671
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1988. "Ojibwa Politeness and Social Structure." W. Cowan, ed., _Papers of the 19th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 165–174. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISSN 0831-5671
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1991. "On the Passive in Ojibwa." W. Cowan, ed., _Papers of the 22nd Algonquian Conference_, pp. 307–319. Ottawa: Carleton University. ISSN 0831-5671
- Rhodes, Richard A. 1998. "The Syntax and Pragmatics of Ojibwe Mii." D. H. Pentland, ed., _Papers of the 29th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 286–294. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba. ISSN 0831-5671
- Rhodes, Richard. 2002. "Multiple Assertions, Grammatical Constructions, Lexical Pragmatics, and the Eastern Ojibwe-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary."  William Frawley, Kenneth C. Hill, & Pamela Munro, eds., _Making Dictionaries: Preserving Indigenous Languages of the Americas,_ pp. 108–124. Berkeley: University of California Press. 108-124. ISBN 978-0-520-22996-9
- Rhodes, Richard A. 2004. "Alexander Francis Chamberlain and the language of the Mississaga Indians of Skugog." H.C. Wolfart, ed., _Papers of the 35th Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 363–372. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba. ISSN 0831-5671
- Rhodes, Richard. 2005. "Directional pre-verbs in Ojibwe and the registration of path." H.C. Wolfart, ed., _Papers of the Thirty-sixth Algonquian Conference,_ pp. 371–382. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba. 371-382. ISSN 0831-5671
- Toulouse, Isadore. 2008. _Kidwenan: An Ojibwe language book. Third Edition._ Southampton, ON: Ningwakwe Press. ISBN 978-1-896832-96-8
- Williams, Shirley I. 2002. _Gdi-nweninaa: Our sound, our voice._ Peterborough, ON: Neganigwane. ISBN 0-9731442-1-1

## Other websites

- Anishnaabemdaa, made by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
- The revitalization of the Nishnaabemwin (Ottawa) Language project at Trent University
- Parts of the Book of Common Prayer in Ottawa
- OLAC information about the Ottawa language
- An online Nishnaabemwin (Ottawa) Dictionary