Centre for Language Education Research   
School of SSESW, Queen’s University Belfast 

Plums or nuts: Ojibwe stories of Anishinaabe humour - a book talk by Larry Amik Smallwood and Dr Michael Migizi Sulliva

All welcome - no need to register!

A master Ojibwe storyteller shares twenty-five stories—often bawdy, full of mischief and misbehavior—in Ojibwe and English. Larry Amik Smallwood had the gift of making people laugh. Of all the teachings Amik strove to pass along to his students, he cherished most the humor of his Ojibwe people. In this bilingual collection, Amik tells of his many adventures and those of others he knew. This book also provides plentiful Ojibwe-language idioms, plays on words, and puns, showing that it really is funnier in Ojibwe. Michael Sullivan Sr, Amik’s language student and assistant, introduces the stories and presents them in Ojibwe and English with an Ojibwe-to-English glossary.

Michael Migizi Sullivan (PhD) is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) linguist from the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe reservation in northern Wisconsin. He is currently the Native American Studies Faculty Director at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University and previously served as the resident linguist for the Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Immersion School. Dr. Sullivan has travelled extensively across Ojibwe country exploring regional language variation and works closely with elders and tribes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Ontario. He is a firm believer in an Anishinaabe-centric self-determined pedagogy grounded in Anishinaabe language, worldview, and spiritual lifestyle. Sullivan currently resides with his family in the Skunawong community on the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation where he enjoys the outdoors. He and his children enjoy singing at powwows, round dances, and ceremonies throughout the year.