The language of the Ojibway people of the Lake Superior region was recorded by Frederic Baraga (1797-1868), a missionary priest from Slovenia. This is a revised version of his original dictionary published in 1853 under the title A Dictionary of Otchipwe Language Explained in English.

Bishop Frederic Baraga was Chief among the Lake Superior area missionaries 1797-1868). Baraga, beginning in 1830, devoted thirty- six years of his life to the Ojibwa and Ottawa, chiefly at L'Anse (Michigan) on Keweenaw Bay. The narrative of his career is one long record of heroic sacrifice. His great grammar and dictionary is the accepted standard for the Ojibway language. The highly developed Ojibway language represents an organic understanding of nature. Many Ojibway words come from the natural sounds of the living forest. Frederick Baraga was the first linguist to study the Ojibway language.