Reimagining the Role of ‘Mental Health Counsellor’
Reimagined role-name in Biigtigong’s dialect of Nishnaabemwin:
- Gaa-nnaandwigiigdod Wii-mno-nendming
Gaa-nnaandwigiigdod Wii-mno-nendming ~ Mental Wellness Counsellor
Morphemes (building blocks of each word):
- Gaa-nnaandwigiigdod ~ “counsellor”
- Gaa-…d ~ “someone who…”
- nnaandwi ~ reduplicated “seeking”, “seeking-seeking”
- giigdo ~ “someone speaks”
- Wii-mno-nendming ~ “for mental wellness of people”
- Wii- ~ “so that…”
- mno- ~ “good”
- n ~ “thus, in a certain direction, in a certain manner”
- end ~ “act by thought on it”
- ming ~ “(abstract-)they…”, “‘ones’…”
A translation of the morphemes:
- someone-who-seeks-seeks-speaks so-that-people-will-be-of-good-thinking-beingness
A plainer, more free-form English translation:
- someone who counsels people so that people will be content
A formal-English translation:
- Mental Wellness Counsellor
Montano, J. P., & Michano, A. R. “Reimagining Health Centre Roles in Biigtigong Nishnaabemwin” biigtigong.com. Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, 14 Jul 2017. Web.