Margaret Noori

Margaret A. Noodin is an American poet and Anishinaabemowin language teacher. She is an Ojibwemowin instructor for the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and resides near the reservation along the shores of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota. She also serves on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she teaches Ojibwemowin, creative writing, and Irish literature.

She is the author of Bawaajimo: A Dialect of Dreams in Anishinaabe Language and Literature , as well as two poetry collections written in Anishinaabemowin and English: Weweni and What the Chickadee Knows.

Background and education Born Margaret A. O'Donell in 1965, she grew up in Chaska, Minnesota. She subsequently obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Poetry) in 1990, followed by a Ph.D. in Literature and Linguistics in 2001.

Her doctoral research, Native American Literature in Tribal Context: Anishinaabe Aadisokaanag, examined Indigenous literary traditions within cultural and linguistic frameworks.

Academic career Noodin has held a range of academic and administrative positions across several institutions. She joined the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee as a faculty member in 2013 and was promoted to professor in 2019. From 2020 to 2023, she served as Associate Dean of Humanities in the College of Letters and Science, overseeing academic programs, faculty affairs, and institutional initiatives across multiple departments. She also directed the Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education from 2014 to 2022, where she led program development, research initiatives, and community partnerships focused on Indigenous education.

Noodin has held additional academic affiliations, including adjunct and research appointments at institutions such as the University of Manitoba, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Michigan.

In 2023, she began working with the Gichi-Onigaming (Lake Superior Band of Chippewa), developing and teaching Ojibwe language and cultural curriculum for primary-level students.

Research and scholarly works Noodin’s research integrates Indigenous language revitalization, literary studies, and cultural knowledge systems, with a primary focus on Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe).

Noodin has contributed to interdisciplinary research on Indigenous environmental knowledge, ethnobotany, and water policy, including collaborations associated with freshwater sciences.

Her academic work also engages with comparative and global Indigenous philosophies, including studies that examine connections between Anishinaabe and Celtic linguistic and cultural traditions. She has participated in collaborative research initiatives on endangered Algonquian languages and projects addressing land-based knowledge, linguistic diversity, and cultural resilience, often employing community-based and participatory research methodologies.

Alongside her scholarly research, Noodin is an established poet and translator working in both English and Anishinaabemowin. , and What the Chickadee Knows, a bilingual poetry collection that reflects on language, landscape, and ecological awareness. In Weweni, she presents poetry rooted in Ojibwe language linguistic structures, foregrounding the interplay between language form and cultural meaning. Through these and other works, Noodin contributes to both literary scholarship and creative practice, bridging academic analysis with artistic expression.

Her publications also include literary criticism, translations of Indigenous texts, and contributions to edited volumes and journals in Native American and Indigenous studies. In 2018, she received the Faculty Distinguished University Service Award from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

Works

Dissertation

Articles and essays

Noodin, Margaret with James Price and Tracy Boyer (2020). "Challenges and Opportunities for Nonmarket Valuation of Water Among the Anishinaabe Nations of the Great Lakes Basin" with James Price and Tracy Boyer in The Solutions Journal, vol 11, issue 2, online.

Books

Gijigijigaaneshiinh Gikendaan: What the Chickadee Knows. Made in Michigan Writers Series. Wayne State University Press. 2020. ISBN 978-0814347508

In anthology

Erdrich, Heid, ed. (2018). New Poets of Native Nations. Graywolf Press. . LaPensee, Elizabeth, ed. (2019). Sovereign Traces. volume 2: Relational Constellation. Michigan State University Press. .

Poetry online

Bilingual children’s and young adult literature These include translations and adaptations) Noodin, M. (Trans.). (2026). Jejiibadakii / હાથીભાઈ. StoryWeaver, Pratham Books. Noodin, M. (Trans.). (2026). Nimaamaa, Biibaagim a’aw Bineshiinh! StoryWeaver, Pratham Books. Noodin, M., & Zimmerman, M. (2024). Nanaboozhoo babaamosed: Nanaboozhoo went walking & other stories from Grand Portage. Hidden Timber Press. Noodin, M., & Mesic, A. (2022). Ajijaak miinawaa bizhiw mazina’igan izhi-atisige. Waub Ajijaak Press. Noodin, M. (Trans.). (2021). Dakonaninjingwaan: To fall asleep holding hands. Waub Ajijaak Press.