Kinship Terms in Golden Lake Algonquin

GEORGE F. AUBIN
Assumption College

This paper is a preliminary discussion of the kinship terms of Golden

Lake Algonquin, a dialect of Ojibwa-Algonquin spoken until fairly recently
on the Golden Lake Reserve in Golden Lake, Ontario, a reserve settled
around 1870 by speakers from Oka.' I did fieldwork at Golden Lake from
1978 until 1989, working with six consultants over the course of m y
research. M y principal consultant, Mrs. Sarah Lavalley, died in 1992 at
about 97 years of age. All of m y other consultants, elderly at the time of
m y work, are also n o w deceased; to the best of m y knowledge, there are
no speakers of this dialect left. O n e m a y still hear Algonquin spoken on
the Golden Lake Reserve from time to time, but, given the fairly close ties
between the Golden Lake and Maniwaki reserves, it is n o w almost sure to
be someone using the Maniwaki dialect, which, of course, is still spoken.
S o m e of the terms presented herein were elicited in the normal course
of m y fieldwork. There were, however, numerous lacunae, and in 1985,1
attempted tofillout the picture by using the Cuoq materials (Cuoq 1891,
§150-187) to elicit in a more systematic manner as m a n y Golden Lake
kinship terms as possible from Mrs. Lavalley. A careful reading of Cuoq
supports the inference that the dialect or dialects he describes are closely
related to the Golden Lake dialect, although they m a y not be identical with
it. Cuoq lists and discusses over 40 kinship terms, most still in use at the
time he wrote. Perhaps not surprisingly, he does not usually indicate vowel
length, and m y attempts to provide it m a y have sometimes been unduly
confusing. Perhaps because of this, I was unable to elicit several forms,
although they m a y well have been k n o w n by m y consultant. A s a result,
the 26 terms which make up the Golden Lake kinship system presented
herein are almost certainly incomplete, representing a "worst case"
scenario. Cuoq begins his discussion of each of the various terms with an
1
My fieldwork on Golden Lake Algonquin was funded in large part by National
Museums of Canada Urgent Ethnology contracts 1630-8-236,1630-8-987, and 1630-
5M-010, support which I most gratefully acknowledge. I would also like to thank
Christian Artuso, David Costa, Ives Goddard, and David Pentland for their comments
on an earlier version of this paper; I alone a m responsible, of course for anv
y
shortcomings that persist. '
 KINSHIP T E R M S IN G O L D E N L A K E A L G O N Q U I N 19

"abstract" uninflected form, then lists several examples, usually nouns,

verbs, and occasionally sentences, all typically inflected and derived from
or related to the uninflected form. In the following discussion, for each
entry Ifirstgive the uninflected form and one or m o r e representative
examples of inflected forms from C u o q with his French translation, all in
roman type, then the Golden Lake forms, if any, in italics, along with
pertinent c o m m e n t s where appropriate.

1. father
os pere
n'os 'monpere'
nindaadaa 'my father'
nindaadaagoban 'my late father'
gidaadaa 'your father'
odaadaan 'his father'
daadaa 'father'
odaadaawaan 'their father'

2. mother
'mere'
ninga 'ma mere'
a. niinga (?) 'my mother'
giga 'your mother'
ninge 'my mother'
ningiban 'my dead mother'
ningenaan 'our (excl.) mother'
b. ogiin 'he has a mother, his mother'
c. ninjoojoo 'my mother'
gijoojoo 'your mother'
ojoojoon 'his mother'
ojoojoonin 'the other's mother'
gijoojoonaan 'our (incl.) mother'
ojoojoowaan 'their mother'

Thefirstvowel in thefirstGolden Lake form in 2a m a y well be i rather

than ii, as in the other examples in 2a. T h e third and fifth forms in 2a
appear to be examples of the vocative, something I have very few instances
of from Golden Lake.
Concerning the terms for 'father' and 'mother', C u o q (1892:117)
m a k e s the following c o m m e n t :
20 G E O R G E F. A U B I N

Plusieurs adultes continuent jusqu'a l'age de 20 ans et au-dela, a se

servir des mots enfantins TATA et DJODJO soit en s'adressant a leurs
parents soit en parlant d'eux. Sortis de la premiere enfance, ceux des
enfants algonquins qui vont aux ecoles, laissent quelquefois leurs
mots TATA et D J O D J O et les remplacent par leurs correspondants
francais PAPA et M A M A N , mais alors le plus souvent, ils les abregent
en disant simplementpa, mam...
Contrary to this assertion, the Golden Lake evidence shows that the
ordinary forms for 'father' are based virtually exclusively on daadaa, and,
of the two basic terms for 'mother', ga ~ ge ~ gi is decidedly rare, with
forms far and away most commonly based on joojoo. A s a consequence,
neither daadaa nor joojoo seems to be associated solely with child
language any longer. I have no evidence at all for the presence in Golden
Lake of either the full or the shortened French terms Cuoq mentions.

son
kwisis 'fils'
ningwisisak 'mes fils'
a. ningwisis 'my son'
ningwisisag 'my sons'
gigwisis 'your son'
ogwisisan 'his son'
ningwisisinaan 'our (excl.) son'
gigwisisinaan 'our (incl.) son'
gigwisisewaa (?) 'your (pi.) son'
ogwisisiwaan 'their son(s)'
b. ogwisis 'son'
ogwisisag 'sons'
daughter
anis 'fille'
nind anisinan 'notre fille'
nindaanis 'my daughter'
nindaanisag 'my daughters'
gidaanis 'your daughter'
odaanisan 'his daughter'
nindaanisinaan 'our (excl.) daughter
gidaanisiwaa 'your (pi.) daughter'
odaanisiwaan 'their daughter'
 KINSHIP TERMS IN GOLDEN LAKE ALGONQUIN 21

5. grandfather
micomis 'grand-pere'
ni micomis 'mon ai'eul'
ni gitci ni micomis 'mon bisai'eul'
a. nimishoomis 'my grandfather'
nimishoomisag 'my grandfathers'
omishoomisan 'his grandfather'
nimishoomisinaan 'our (excl.) grandfather'
b. nigichi-mishoomis 'my great-grandfather'

It should b e noted that in the Golden L a k e form in 5b, the first person
possessor prefix ni- occurs only once, whereas it occurs twice in the form
given b y C u o q .

6. grandmother
okomis 'grand'mere'
ni gitci n'okomis 'ma bisai'eule'
a. nookomis 'my grandmother'
b. ninookomis 'my grandmother'
ninookomisag 'my grandmothers'
c. ningookomis 'my grandmother'
gigookomis 'your grandmother'
ogookomisan 'his grandmother'
d. gookomis 'grandmother'
e. nigichi-gookomis 'my great-grandmother'

There has been a g o o d deal of restructuring here, with the forms in 6b

reshaped with thefirstperson singular possessor prefix (cf. the form in 6a),
and those in 6c and 6 d reshaped with the second person singular possessor
prefix. It should also be noted that ni- occurs only once in the Golden Lake
form in 6e, whereas it occurs twice in the form given b y C u o q .

7. grandchild
ocis 'petit-fils : petite-fille'
n'ocisinanik 'mes petits-enfants'
a. nooshis 'my grandson'
b. ninoonshis 'my grandchild'
ninooshisag 'my grandchildren'
ginooshisag 'your grandchildren'
ginooshisinaanig 'our (incl.) grandchildren'

All of the G o l d e n Lake forms in 7 b are innovations restructured with first

22 G E O R G E F. AUBIN

person singular possessor n- (cf. the form in 7a), with thefirstof these
forms also showing an unexplained added nasal.

sibling
awema 'frere, sosur'
nindawema 'ma sceur, m o n frere'
a. nindawemaa 'my brother'
gidawemaa 'your sister, your brother'
odawemaan 'his brother'
b. zaziikizij nindawemaa 'my oldest sister'
zaziikizij gidawemaa 'your oldest sister'

In the two forms in 8b, zaziikizij should perhaps be zeziikizij, the changed
form, which is m o r e c o m m o n in Golden Lake subordinate clauses without
overt complementizers

9. brother (man speaking)

kanis 'frere du frere'
ni kanis 'mon frere'
a. nikaanis 'my brother'
gikaanis 'your brother'
okaanisan 'his brother'
b. niwiikaanis 'my brother'
niwiikaanisag 'my brothers'
owiikaanisan 'his brother'
c. wiikaanisan 'brother'
wiikaanisiwaan 'their brother'
d. zaziikizij nikaanis 'my oldest brother'

T h e forms in 9a have all been reshaped with a short vowel in the first
syllable rather than the expected long vowel, 2 and those in 9b are innova-
tions restructured with third person singular w- (cf. the forms in 9c).
Again, in 9d, zaziikizij should perhaps be zeziikizij (see the c o m m e n t s on
8b).

10. sister (woman speaking)

tikik 'sceur de la sceur'
ni tikik 'ma sceur'

2
In an intervention, David Pentland pointed out that, whatever the basis for this
reshaping, the vowel here must be long, as the original forms in 9c demonstrate, so
that ni- should be nii-, for example.
 KINSHIP T E R M S IN G O L D E N L A K E A L G O N Q U I N 23

11. older brother

saiens 'frere aine'
ni saiensak 'mes freres plus ages que moi'
nisayens 'my older brother'
nisayensag 'my older brothers'
12. older sister
misens 'sceur ainee'
Pon o misensan Ta sceur ainee de Paul'
nimisens 'my older sister'

13. younger sibling

cimenj 'frere cadet, sceur cadette'
ki newiwak ni cimenjak... 'j'ai eu quatre cadets...'
nishiimenzh 'my younger sister'
nishiimenzhag 'my younger siblings'

14. sibling
tcijan 'co-enfant'
nitcijan 'mon frere ou m a sceur'

15. uncle, father-in-law

micomenj 'oncle paternel, beau-pere'
cicenj 'oncle maternel'
ni micomenj ak 'les freres de m o n pere'
ocicenj,i 'avoir un oncle maternel'
nikosag 'my uncles'

The Golden Lake form given here appears to be an unusual one; its origin
is obscure. For ' m y father's brother', m y consultant w a s quick to suggest
nindaadaa wiikaanisan.

16. aunt, mother-in-law

sikos 'tante paternelle'
nocenj 'tante maternelle, belle-mere'
ni sikosak 'les sceurs de m o n pere'
ni nocenjak 'les sceurs de m a mere'
a. ninzigos 'my aunt'
gizigos 'your aunt'
b. ninoonzhens 'my aunt'
ninoonzhensag 'my aunts'

The two Golden Lake forms in 16b s h o w three differences from the
24 G E O R G E F. AUBIN

comparable form given by Cuoq: they have -oon- where Cuoq's form
s h o w s the vowel without a nasal; they have a voiced fronto-palatal
fricative where Cuoq's is voiceless; and they have a voiceless dental/
alveolarfricativewhere Cuoq's form has a voiced fronto-palatal fricative.

17. paternal nephew or niece, son-in-law, daughter-in-law

ojim 'neveu de 1'oncle paternel, beau-fils'
ojimikwe 'niece de l'oncle paternel, belle-fille'
ot ojiman Tefilsde son frere'
ot ojimikweman Tafillede son frere'

18. maternal nephew or niece

ojimis 'neveu de la tante maternelle, niece de la tante
maternelle'
kitci manek nind ojimisak... 'j'ai beaucoup de neveux et de nieces...'

19. cross nephew

ningwanis 'neveu de l'oncle maternel, neveu de la tante
paternelle'
ninda oningwanis kicpin okwisitc nind a w e m a 'j 'aurais un ningwanis, (moi
h o m m e ) , si m a sceur a unfils;j'aurais un ningwanis (moi femme), si m o n
frere a un fils'
ningwaanis 'my sister-in-law'

The meaning of the Golden Lake form in 19 clearly appears to be different

from that given by Cuoq, yet exactly h o w it differs from the 'sister-in-law'
forms in 32 is unclear.

20. cross niece

cimis 'niece de l'oncle maternel, niece de la tante
paternelle'
wecimisidjik Tes oncles maternels qui ont des nieces; les
tantes paternelles qui ont des nieces'
21. parallel cousin (man speaking)
tawis 'cousin d'homme'
Jakwitawisan Te cousin de Jacques'
22. parallel cousin (woman speaking)
angocenj 'cousine de femme'
Anjen ot angocenjan Ta cousine d'Angele'
agoshens ' small boy or girl'
 KINSHIP TERMS IN GOLDEN LAKE ALGONQUIN 25

If the Golden Lake form in 22 is indeed the correct one to compare to the
forms given by Cuoq, then, in addition to a change in meaning, there are
two other differences between the Golden Lake forms and Cuoq's: the
initial vowel in the Golden Lake form is not followed by a nasal; and Cuoq
has a stem-final fronto-palatal voiced fricative, whereas the Golden Lake
form has afinalvoiceless dental/alveolar fricative (see the comments on
16b).

23. cross-cousin
nimocenj 'cousine d'homme, cousin de femme'
Jan o nimocenj an3 Te cousin de Jeanne'
24. spouse
witikemagan 'epoux, epouse'
Tenez o witikemaganan Te mari de Therese'
wican4 'son mari'
onabeman 'son mari'
wiwan 'sa femme'
a. niwiidigemaagan 'my spouse'
niwiidigemaaganag 'my spouses'
owiidigemaaganan 'her husband, his wife'
b. wiidigemaaganan 'her husband, his wife'
wiidigemaaganan 'husband'
c. naabe 'male'
naabeg 'males'
d. noonzhe 'female'
noonzhewag 'females'
e. nindikwem 'my wife'
nindikwemag 'my wives'

The forms in 24a are innovations incorporating the third person possessor
prefix w- (cf. the forms in 24b). T h e two Golden Lake forms in 24e for
'wife' are based on ikwe 'woman', with indication of the possessor and the

3
Ives Goddard (personal communication, 1997) has pointed out to me that the
expected form here is (wi nimocenjan), with the form given by Cuoq most likely just
a slip based on the citation form (nimocenj). Goddard leaves open the possibility,
however, that, given Cuoq's consistency, the form given is the correct one and shows
reshaping in this dialect.
4
Both Ives Goddard and David Pentland (personal communications, 1997) have
pointed out to m e that the expected form here is (oshan) and that the long vowel
suggested by Cuoq's spelling is spurious; compare Cuoq's derivative form (oc,i>
'avoir son mari', with a short vowel (see Pentland 1995:20 for a fuller discussion).
26 G E O R G E F. AUBIN

possessed theme sign -m, unlike the forms in 24c and 24d, which seem
never to occur with a possessor or the possessed theme sign and never to
have the meaning 'husband' or 'wife'.

25. father-in-law
cinis 'beau-pere'
ni cinis Te pere de m a femme, le pere de m o n mari'

26. mother-in-law
sikosis 'belle-mere'
anin ejinikazotc ki sikosis 'comment s'appelle ta belle-mere?'

27. son-in-law
ningwan 'gendre'
nisiwak ni ningwanak... 'j'ai trois gendres...'
niniingwan 'my son-in-law'
niniingwanag 'my sons-in-law'

28. daughter-in-law
sim 'bru'
ni siminan 'notre bru'

29. parent of in-law

indawa 'pere ou mere du gendre ou de la bru'
nind indawak 'les parents de m o n gendre, de m a bru'
nindindaawaag 'the parents of m y son-in-law'
nindindaawaag 'the parents of m y daughter-in-law'
gidindaawaag 'the parents of your son-in-law'

The ending in these Golden Lake forms appears to be -aawaag rather than
the -awaag one finds in several other dialects.
30. parallel in-law
ta 'beau-frere d'homme'
Piien witabanen Te defunt beau-frere de Pierre (le frere de sa
femme ou le mari de sa sceur)'
31. cross in-law
nim 'belle-sceur d'homme, beau-frere de femme'
ni nimok Tes sceurs de m a femme; les femmes de mes
freres; les sceurs de m o n mari; les maris de
mes sceurs'
 KINSHIP T E R M S IN G O L D E N L A K E A L G O N Q U I N 27

32. sister-in-law (woman speaking)

ang 'belle-sceur de femme'
nind ang 'ma belle-sceur (dicit mulier)'
nindang 'my sister-in-law'
gidangwaag 'your (pi.) sisters-in-law'

33. friend, sister-in-law (woman speaking)

angweh 'camarade de femme, belle-sceur'
angweh, pindiken, namatapin 'ma belle-sceur, m a camarade, entre,
assieds-toi'
nindaangwe 'my female friend (woman speaking)'
nindaangweyag 'my female friends (woman speaking)'
gidaangwe ' your female friend (of a woman)'

34.friend(man speaking)
tckiwe 'compagnon, camarade d'homme'
nitckiwe 'mon camarade'
a. niijkiiwe 'my friend'
niijkiiweyag 'my friends'
b. niwiichkiwi 'my male friend (of a man)'
c. niwiij(i)kiwe 'my friend'

In 34a, the Golden Lake forms have a voiced affricate where C u o q shows
a voiceless affricate (cf. 38), and, although there are s o m e minor differ-
ences between them, the forms in 34b and 34c have been restructured with
third person w-.

35. fiance
nimocenj 'fiance ou fiancee'
Pon o nimocenj an Tafianceede Paul'
a. niwiinamoshensh (?) 'my friend'
b. niwiinimoshens 'my fiance'
owiinimoshenzan 'his fiance'

The final segment of the Golden Lake form in 35a shows a voicing
difference from the form given by Cuoq. Further, as in 16b, the forms in
35b provide additional examples in which Cuoq's -enzh is sometimes -ens
in Golden Lake. Finally, for reasons that are unclear to m e , the two Golden
Lake forms in 35b s h o w an unusual s ~ z alternation in the diminutive
rather than having the expected s everywhere.
28 GEORGE F. AUBIN

36. parents
nikihigok 'parents, c'est a dire pere et mere'
ni nikihigok 'mes parents'
niniigihigok 'my parents'

37. child
nidjanis 'filius, filia'
ni nidjanisinanik 'nos enfants'
a. niniijaanisan 'my children'
oniijaanisan 'her child'
niniijaanisinaanig 'our (excl.) children'
oniijaanisiwaan 'their child'
b. nindabinoojiinshim 'my child'
abinoojiinsh 'child'
abinoojiinshag 'children'
abinoojiinshishan 'child (obv.)'
c. nibebiinsim 'my baby'
bebiins 'baby'

In thefirstGolden Lake form in 36a, the -an ending is unexplained. The

two forms in 36c appear to be based on a borrowing from French (or
English?), which m a y explain w h y thefirstform was criticized by at least
one of m y consultants.
38. relative
tcinawendagan 'parent, parente'
ni tcinawendaganak 'ceux et celles qui m e sont unis par le sang'
ninjiinawendaagan 'my relative'
ninjiinawendaaganag 'my relatives'

A s in 34a, the affricate in the G o l d e n L a k e forms of 3 8 s h o w s a voicing

difference from that in the form given b y C u o q .

39. parents-in-law
ojinindagan 'beaux-parents'
nind oj inindaganak nind apitci sakihigok ' m o n beau-pere et m a belle-mere
(chez qui nous demeurons) m'aiment beaucoup'
40. resident son-in-law
naangic 'gendre (demeurant chez son beau-pere)'
ni naangicim 'mon gendre (demeurant chez nous)'
 KINSHIP TERMS IN GOLDEN LAKE ALGONQUIN 29

41. resident daughter-in-law

naanganikwe 'bru (demeurant chez les parents de son mari)'
kawin wi apisi endaiang ni naanganikweminan... 'elle ne veut pas rester
chez nous, notre bru...'
ninaanganikwe 'my daughter-in-law'
42. great-grandchild
anikobidjigan 'arriere petit-fils, petite-fille'
nind anikobidjigananik 'nos arriere-neveux, nos descendants'

CONCLUSION
The kinship terms presented above give us a picture of the Golden Lake
Algonquin kinship system, but, unfortunately, a picture which is incom-
plete and one which does not permit of facile generalizations. In spite of
problems of various types, there is good evidence for a number of terms
referring to blood relatives, including two terms for 'aunt' (16), yet some
are lacking, such as 'paternal nephew or niece' (17), 'maternal nephew or
niece' (18), 'cross niece' (20), and 'parallel cousin' (22 and 23). In the
same vein, although w e have terms for 'great-grandfather' (5) and 'great-
grandmother' (6), there is no term for 'great-grandchild' (42). Further, our
evidence points to the existence of several in-law terms, including 'son-in-
law' (27), 'sister-in-law' (32), 'daughter-in-law' (41), and even 'parent of
in-law' (29), yet w e have n o terms for 'father-in-law' (25) and 'mother-in-
law' (26), a m o n g others. Finally, while the semantic change from 'resident
daughter-in-law' (41) to 'daughter-in-law' is certainly plausible, and that
from 'parallel cousin, w o m a n speaking' (22) to 'small boy or girl' perhaps
conceivable, the change from 'cross nephew' (19) to 'sister-in-law' seems
decidedly unusual. It is to be hoped that further research on the Golden
Lake Algonquin materials will provide more information on the kinship
system and shed additional light on at least some of these issues. Toward
that end, the Golden Lake Algonquin database I a m currently compiling,
which will ultimately include not only m yfieldnotes,but also the data
gathered by other researchers w h o have worked on this dialect, should
prove particularly useful.

REFERENCES
Cuoq Jean-Andre. 1891-92. Grammaire de la langue algonquine. Memoires de la Societe
royale du Canada, ser. 1, 9.1:85-114 (1891), 10.1:41-119 (1892).
Pentland, David H. 1995. A n obsolete Ojibwe kinship term. Algonquian and Iroquoian
Linguistics 20:28-29.