House will be called
Anamiewigummig or
A House of Prayer

Came across Anamiewigummig the other day in a story about an NHL player who was homeless, Joe Murphy, Red Wings’ No. 1 pick, is homeless again — and refusing help.

In the article, Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press writes, “Murphy, 51, walks into the Anamiewigummig Fellowship Centre, a drop-in center that provides clothing, food, coffee and a shower for free to homeless people in Kenora.”

I stopped and read Anamiewigummig again.

And again.

And I read it outloud.

Trying to sound it out the way the Grand Daughter does when she reads.

I had no clue.

How would you pronounce this word?

How could you pronounce this word?

Why in the world, if you were naming a fellowship center, would you use Anamiewigummig?

Okay, we are talking about Canada, but still.

Anamiewigummig?

I would not let it go, and a I googled it.

First thing I found out was that Google didn’t like the word at all.

Google asked, Did you mean: Anime Swimming?

Spell check also didn’t like it either which is always a plus in my book.

The second thing I found out is that most of the Google results were connected to the same place, The Kenora Fellowship Centre in Kenora, ON.

The place mentioned in the story about Joe Murphy.

According to the web, The Kenora Fellowship Centre is a ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Canada that provides sanctuary and hospitality, help and comfort to the vulnerable, the disadvantaged and displaced. The centre also caters for countless individuals who are marginalized and alienated because of poverty and addiction. It operates as a drop-in centre and works with legal services, detoxification programs, street patrol and other essential services in the community.

The third thing I found out is that anamiewigummig is an Ojibway word.

“Ojibwa, Ojibway, or Chippewa, and most commonly referred to in the language as Anishinaabemowin) varies from dialect to dialect, but all varieties share common features. Ojibwe is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family spoken in Canada and the United States in the areas surrounding the Great Lakes, and westward onto the northern plains in both countries, as well as in northeastern Ontario and northwestern Quebec.” from Wikipedia

It seems to be pronounced, AHN A Mie WIG a MIG.

Forgive my rudimentary phonetics.

I am guessing at this from listening to a YouTube video about Anamiewigummig.

The word means, House of Prayer.

And House of Prayer comes from, And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? Mark 11:17 (NIV).

Anamiewigummig.

Pretty cool use of a word.