Ojibwe storyteller shares stories of humor and mischief

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Stories of humor, mischief, and misbehaving from Larry Amik Smallwood as told to Michael Migizi Sullivan, Sr. in “Plums or Nuts: Ojibwe Stories of Anishinaabe Humor.”

Well-known in the powwow circles throughout Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, Larry Amik Smallwood was also a renowned storyteller, expert on Anishinaabe culture and teacher of the Ojibwe language.

“I like to say he was a modern elder,” said Michael Migizi Sullivan Sr., Native American Studies Director at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College in Hayward, Wisconsin.

Sullivan worked with Smallwood on the book Plums or Nuts: Ojibwe Stories of Anishinaabe Humor. In a recent What We’re Reading interview, Sullivan noted how Smallwood stood out from other elders. “We have a lot of our elders that teach us about harvesting and spiritual practices and our more traditional way of life. Amik was really, really versed on the modern stuff and how we talk about that in a good way.”

Sullivan was in 6th grade when he first met Smallwood. “I had a real interest in language, and I think he sensed that about me. When I was older, he really took me under his wing with language stuff and helped whip me in the shape,” explained Sullivan.

The book came about as a result of Sullivan and Smallwood’s work on the Ojibwe People’s Dictionary, a collaboration between several Ojibwe language teachers and the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. Sullivan would record Smallwood providing Ojibwe pronunciations for the dictionary.

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