Artist inspirations, part 5

September 11, 2013, 1:18 pm

≫ Next: Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 1

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"Spirits Of The Mountains"

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Boozhoo, 

Today's blog post pays tribute to the mountains, the earth, the moon, the stars, and the People who for countless generations live on the land that they still call Anishinaabe Aki: land of the Anishinaabe Peoples.

No artist is more indelibly tied and synonymous to, and adept of making us see, the spirit of asiniiwajiw mishoomishag, the majestic Rocky Mountains of Alberta, than Ojibwe/Cree painter and poet Simone McLeod - or, as her traditional name is, Aki-egwaniizid (Earth Blanket). Born in the Name doodem (sturgeon clan) in Manitoba where her mother's People the Nakawē Ojibweg come from, and having lived for the bigger part of her life in Saskatchewan where her father's People the Cree live, Simone frequently visits the Rockies in Alberta. Surrounded by the Mountain Grandfathers who sit there patiently, their remote and towering cliffs and ragged ridges and snow-capped peaks reaching into the vast skies, illuminated at night by Grandmother Moon and her favorite star constellation, the Fisher Star (Big dipper), Simone finds inspiration and peace of mind.

Simone once described to me the magnetic relationship she has with the mountais and the vast earth and the starry skies as if it were synonymous with a love affair:  

"No one sees the Mountains like I do.

I see Mother Earth stretched all over here. She is free to be herself. Her essence is everywhere.

The sky is her lover. He lingers about her every crevice. Dipping in and out wantonly. He is not shy here where a love so strong can blossom like the budding trees, to be spread throughout this planet.

It is a wondrous union inspiring artists from near and far. It causes longing and need in me that I do not see in people around me. I will forever hold the sight of this love-making in my heart."

When a friend on Facebook asked Simone about the symbolism of the painting, suggesting that the female spirit in the center of the canvas dressed in brown is a beautiful young spirit, being admired by older spirits yet timidly concealing her beauty, Simone responded as follows:

"I have lived around the mountains since I decided to become me instead of we. I found that when I stayed at the Mountain Hotel in Alberta I would wake at five or six a.m. and head out to the field to pray waiting for the morning sun to bring his kisses of great warmth on a confused and lonely heart. I think that as artists it is our plight to be always searching, and to never find that which we are looking for. I laid down the canvas and gently unrolled it. I saw grays first thing when I touched it. I could see the grays and knew that this was going to a very dismal job. I mean that when I saw them, I wondered how I would make them more vibrant but I trust my instincts all the time. I find that it is easy to bring the grayest canvas to life by adding whites for it is like adding light to the darkest of rooms and your eyes get to enjoy the life slowly coming when this process is done. I painted one mountain and added another until I could see the peaks that called to me each morning. I knew the Grandmother moon had to be there. She is the light in the Grandfather Rock's eyes and she is his light. I painted the Elders to honor the spirits of the mountains. When I first saw them many many, many, many, moons ago, I stopped the car and cried by the beauty of finding the greatest rocks from the greatest sweats I had been to and I knew that they were indeed full of life. As I finished the Elders I could not help but notice the empty space under the moon and it was then that I could see her hiding there. My name is Earth Blanket and I am of the Sturgeon Clan and I could see a woman lying there naked covered only in lakes and trees and "all that covers the earth" She is not even aware of her beauty. The hills done in the brown are like a blanket trailing from her and rolling onto the earth like a gift to us. The lakes pour from a glacier depicted by her head, a life source, a place where clarity is born and shared. She is the life blood of our Mother the Earth. The fisher star is a gift to me to teach me about real love and caring, understanding, respect and growth of self. When I finished this piece I sat there and could see it in my head and to this day I can still feel it under my fingertips..."

Gender

So, when Simone showed me the newly-finished painting named "Spirits Of the Mountains" I had to think of these words, and I was immediately struck by the harmonious composition of the painting, the contrasting colors she used and the dramatic movement of the mountains in the background. What equally struck me was her choice of depicting the spirits of the mountain grandfathers as mirror images in the foreground. What really amazed me, though, was that she did not provide these six mishoomisag (grandfather images) with male characteristics, as one would expect; instead, she depicted these mountain spirits as ookomisan: grandmothers. 

Although initially I did not ask her why she painted women instead of men, I suspected she did it intuitively because, after all, women, like the earth itself, possess the gift of life. Is it not true that our women form the backbone of society, possessing the key to wisdom and survival of our communities? Is it not true that, like Omizakamigokwe (Mother Earth) herself, her elemental substance being asin (rock), women are able to conceive and give birth to oshki-bimaadiziwin (new life)? Have women not always been regarded and cherished and honored by the People as they sustain their society with beauty and nourishment, in the same way the earth does with nature? 

I had no doubt that Simone, who comes from a long line of Mide (Medicine) People, being an artist working in the tradition of the ancient Anishinaabe rock painters - and uses a paint brush to honor life in the same way her ancestors did through prayer, chant, dance, and ceremony -, understands and acknowledges this principle, this ancient understanding. She knows that even the mountains are nourished from the earth; I suspect that by depicting the spirits of the grandfather mountains as women, she honors and celebrates all motherhood - and therefore life itself -  in a special, sacred way.

But when asked about the gender of the spirits in the foreground, she answered this: 

"When I did this piece I did it with the understanding that when these spirits so ancient and pure became those who reside there, they have reached a realm where the gender is not important. They are male and female and they are so divine that they are equal. To be equal with a man or a woman one will not look at the physical traits of the other. You will sit together and know and feel this equality. A true teacher will never put his or herself above anyone else promoting their best qualities. To be worthy to sit in this position, one's humility is what does NOT set them apart from others and that is what makes them special."

Symbolism

When I asked Simone about the symbolism in the painting, the female elders sitting on the earth, the mountains in the background beneath the night sky, she said this:

“The mountain people are like us

Living in the strength of shadows observing and loving.

Embracing. Depending on each other and loving each other.

They are seen only by the light of the moon as observed when I drove through the Ice Fields of Alberta this summer.

They are strong and uncomplicated. Pure... in feeling and being...

One of the mountain spirits, the one whose left foot resembles a catfish tail, cries silently for the people.

The women are depicted as elders to show how ancient they are.

Their poses show how I felt when I made the painting.

Tenderly cared for, depending and safe. The poses bring all that out.

It is beautiful.

I feel special and sacred...

Mother Earth, the woman in the center, is the only one with color.

She lies there unaware of prying eyes who view her as sacred beauty.

She does not know of the life she gives.

Her blood is the rivers stemming from her hair which is a lake.

Her body with its gentle curves is the earth.

The Fisher Star in the night sky is there for those who see it.... as always.” 


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A dangerous place

The story that Simone relates through her painting elegantly dramatizes the dependence her People used to have on aki (the earth) and the mountains and the spirits that live in, under, and above them. The ancestors knew that the mountains like Omizaka-migokwe (Mother Earth) herself, could never be trusted or taken for granted, no matter how   breathtakingly beautiful they often appeared to be. 

Sure, the sight of the jagged ridges and rocky pinnacles and snow-capped peaks stirred in their souls pure joy and humble reverence - and sometimes melancholy and depression -, but they also knew that the mountains could be an extremely treacherous and life-threatening place and that no one was granted a safe shelter, or any kind of dominion over them. For this reason the ancestors ritualized their dependence on the Mountain Grandfathers with offerings of asemaa, the sacred tobacco, each time they went into the mountains, often leaving behind brilliantly colored ribbons to flutter freely in the wind. 

A spiritual presence 

What Simone's painting clearly shows is that besides beauty, the mountains also have manidoowiwin, a spiritual presence (see the female figures in the foreground). This aura of mystery, often called manidoowad or a sacrosanct atmosphere, bestows a sacred quality on certain remote places...As a rule these places were left undisturbed by the ancestors out of respect for the privacy of the manidoog and perhaps out of fear of offending them. The only reason to enter the homes of the manidoog would be to look for visions and dreams, to talk to the supernatural beings directly. Look at the remote places in the barren mountains, solid, severe, and strong, and it is not hard to imagine that for the ancestors, no place was more fitting to address the manidoog, to gain entry in their world and have them enter into their dreams. Look at a deep crevice of a hidden rock site and you can imagine that no place was more suitable for visions. Look at the unique formations and remote places near or in caves and waterfalls and towering cliffs and round boulders and craters with gently sloping walls, and it is not hard to believe that many generations of youngsters used to come there, looking for spiritual guidelines, and gaining special instructions in bimaadiziwin, the ways of life. Nor is it hard to believe that even still today these rocks are a place of pilgrimage for local members of the Anishinaabeg and Nēhilawē and Denésoliné Nations. 

Simone's thoughts on this matter are as follows:

"This whole last year since I made the decision to answer a calling that went deeper than the usual realities of our existence like love, money, and health and decided to leave the norm, I had the opportunity to spend much time in the mountains. 

I knew that they had spirits and that I could almost see them sitting there smiling at me. I knew that they were the keepers of prayers. Whenever one of us held tobacco in their hands and said a prayer, those prayers went to the mountain spirits. They would then send out the knowledge that is there for the asking to those who asked..." 

Teachers of Mankind

The longer I looked at the painting, and having mused Simone's words for a while, it suddenly dawned on me that to us, the mountains are not just a place of beauty and a place to dream, a place to seek and fulfill personal visions; they are gekinoo'amaagedjig, teachers as well. It is very imaginable that it was through the mountains or the vicinity of the mountains, through their often savage, inhospitable, and mysterious character but also the breathtaking, panoramic beauty they hold and display, that the Anishinaabeg discovered and acknowledged – and learned to appreciate and cherish - the existence of GICHI-MANIDOO, the sum of all Mystery, the original source of all Life. No other place, no landform, no physical feature of Mother Earth could do that better than the mountains. There were no other places on Earth that filled the Anishinaabe people with more humbleness and gratitude than the mountains, or the proximity of the mountains. No other place moved them to such awe or so led their minds tothoughts of GICH-MANIDOO and GAAGIGEKAMIG (infinity) as did the mountains. And no force on earth allowed the Anishinaabe people to understand moreprofoundly their unique place in relation to all other living beings, yes to their unique place in the whole of cosmos, as did asiniiwajiw mishoomishag,the mountain grandfathers in the West…

This knowledge, this understanding, is something we owe to the creator of this magnificent painting. It is a gift to be grateful for, because through her work, this gift to us, it was she who has brought the grandfathers back to life, for all of us to see.

Giiwenh: this is how far the story goes. 
Miigwech for reading and listening and giga-waabamin: see you later!

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About the artist and the author:

Simone (her traditional name is Aki-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba.  Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.


My name is Zhaawano Giizhik. I am an American currently living in the Netherlands. I was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. I have Anishinaabe blood running through my veins, the doodem of my ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist and a writer and a jewelry designer I draw on the oral and pictorial traditions that my ancestors left me. In doing so I sometimes work together with kindred artists. Simone and I have done several art projects together in the past and will hopefully create many in the future.

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Painting "Spirits Of The Mountains" 28 x 58 ' (71 x 147 cm) acrylic on canvas, 2013 posted with permission of Simone McLeod/Aki-egwaniizid. Copyright Simone Mcleod, Fisher Star Creations. Click here to go to our website.

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Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 1

September 18, 2013, 4:41 am

≫ Next: Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 2

≪ Previous: Artist inspirations, part 5

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"Waabizheshi and the Mermaid"

A new story told and illustrated by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik

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Aaniin. Biindigen!Hello, welcome to this blog!

Today's blog story is the first in a new series named "Love Stories From the Land of Many Lakes". 

It is a collection of love stories written and illustrated by myself and Simone McLeod. The stories are based on aadizookaanan (traditional stories) of our People, the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg from Gaa-zaaga'eganigak, the land of many lakes - the Great Lakes area of North America.

The stories are of a sacred, healing nature and told within a romantic context, their allegorical themes often provided with a personal touch.

Today, we tell the zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan (sacred lovestory) of Waabizheshi and the Mermaid.* 
To our ancestors, Mermaids were metaphorical interpretations of fish, symbolizing temptation, their nature combining the qualities of beauty and treachery. Like Mermen, they belong to the world of the fish spirits. They are one of the giigoonhyag (fish clans), known for long life and baldness in old age. 

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Ahaw, 'ngad aadzooke, “Now, I will tell a traditional story.”

Once upon a time two young men of the Ojibwe nation, named Name and Waabizheshi, were out fishing when a ferocious storm arose forcing them to take refuge on the shores of the bay. As the evening fell and they were lying comfortably underneath a shelter they had constructed of giizhikaandagoog (cedar branches) and watching the camp fire they heard above the thunder of the waves the melancholic, even mournful voice of a woman coming from the shore.

Then, above the thunder of waves and the lamenting woman’s voice, they heard another, even stranger voice, singing:

“Her head hangs low

as the days go on

nights are so lonely

she thought she had won

a heart that never knew

where true love hid

look up sweet mermaid

see what you did

shadows dancing past

in the moonlight glow

the scent of his skin

is one that you know

one up so high

he can only be the sky

dare you venture forth

never asking why?

oh but his world is not

where you belong

hold onto your gifts

learn how to be strong

sitting on a rock

when sun is reaching out

does he even hear you

when you're too shy to shout

lay your sleepy head

on the floor of the sea

hair so beautiful

a sight as black as night can be

curls that can rival

ocean’s strongest waves

a smile destined to make

any men her slaves

but sweet mermaid

your dilemma I do see

you only love the unknown one

the man you will never see...”

Waabizheshi rushed down to the beach. In doing this, he ignored the warnings of his wise friend who understood that the deep melancholy of the strange song was extremely dangerous because it was capable of drowning out a man’s own voice of reason and sense of self. Waabizheshi, however, was sure that the woman the strange voice sang about was in distress and, as he saw no one on the beach, he jumped into the rolling waves of the bay.

Waabizheshi thought he saw sitting on a rock in the water a beautiful woman with long pitch-black hair, thick and curly. But as soon as he reached the rock he was immediately pulled under! He passed out and when he regained consciousness, tayaa! he found himself amid aadizokanaa giigoonhyag (Fish-beings) who were part human and part fish and who, as he would find out later on, were able to shapeshift in either a water being or a human being!

The Fish-beings told Waabizheshi that after drowning he had travelled through four levels of life and death before arriving in this strange land on the bottom of the lake.

Upon hearing this Waabizheshi shouted that he wanted to return to his people in the Land of the Living, but alas, the giigoo ogimaa (spokesman of the Fish-beings) shook his silver-gray head, telling him that this was not possible. Waabizheshi was told that the beautiful curly-headed woman who had lured him into the waters of the bay and into the Land of the Fish-beings had fallen in love with him. Waabizheshi was to marry her and they would have many children together and he would help the other Fish-beings to bring as many as possible of the Ojibweg to this new underwater land.

Understanding that he had no choice, Waabizheshi accepted his faith, knowing that there was no way he could ignore the love that the beautiful Nibiinaabekwe, whose name means Sleep Being Woman, held for him. At first, Waabizheshi felt no love for her, but one evening he heard her sing in a low and quiet voice:

“I close my eyes

attempt to sleep

upon my lids

what is this I see

his crooked smile

lines of his face

how he puts me

in a happy place

first thing I see

at morning’s light

last thing I say

at dark of night

a man whose skin

I have never touched

how can it be

I love him so much…”

Upon hearing Nibiinaabekwe sing her quiet love song, Waabizheshi fell in love with her and he finally consented to marry her. As predicted by the giigoo-ogimaa, they had many curly-headed children together. Waabizheshi was happy and content in his new land and his new family on the bottom on the lake. But since he was a curious person he asked Giigoo ogimaa if he could return to the Land of the Living to visit his parents. Gigoo ogimaa, knowing he could trust Waabizheshi, granted him and his children permission to visit the Land of the Living, but since he was a very wise fish person, he warned Waabizheshi that his visit might cause sorrow for him and his children, and also among his people, the Ojibweg. Waabizheshi, taking the ogimaa’s advise at heart, decided to go without his children.

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Short after Waabizheshi resurfaced he found himself on the very same beach he had left, and to his surprise the gale was still raging and his friend Name was still calling his name over the waters of the bay! 

Waabizheshi was struck dumb with astonishment and surprise. That he had gone to the land beneath the lake, married, and fathered children while the same storm was still beating the coastline and Name was shouting his name through the wind, was truly incomprehensible to him. Could his new life down there have happened in just the blink of an eye? Could it be that his descent to the lake’s underworld was measured by another time than the linear rule of time that governed the upper earth?

“Niijii! Maampii!”(Friend, I’m here!), Waabizheshi yelled out above the thundering waves and screaming gale, and he swam toward his friend who stood on the shore, transfixed to the earth and looking pale, his eyes showing anxiety and consternation.“Tayaa!” Name stammered. “You are nothing more than jiibay, a ghost! The treacherous Sleep-Being-Woman has seized you! How many times have you been warned that your curiosity would get you killed one day! What shall I tell your parents?”

Waabizheshi, smiling, placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Do not blame yourself niijii, what has happened was not your fault. And do not feel sorry for me, because I am perfectly happy with my new life. Do not bother, I will go to my parents myself.”

Waabizheshi left his friend on the shore and appeared to his parents in their dreams, recounting his adventures with the Fish People as if it happened years ago, although in their perception of time, it had happened last night.

Upon seeing their lost son his mother started to cry and his father lamented, “We warned you of Sleep-Being-Woman so many times but you didn’t listen. Now she has taken hold of you, my son. And we will never see you again in this life.” He too started to weep.

Waabizheshi, however, did his best to console his parents, telling them how happy he was among the Fish-beings and telling them about their grandchildren, and he tried to convince them to return with him to the Land of the Fish-beings so that they could live with his family. But alas, no matter what he said, they refused with a shudder.

Waabizheshi, saddened that his parents would never meet their grandchildren, returned to his adoptive people, the Fish-beings. And although his heart was heavy with grief, he longed to see his curly-haired wife and his curly-haired children and he was glad that he would never have to live in the upper world again.

Giiwenh. Miigwech gibizindaw noongom mii dash gidibaajimotoon wa’aw zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan. 

Bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga!

So the story goes. Thank you for listening to us today, to let us tell you about this sacred love story. Please come see us again!

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.


Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins, the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist and a writer and a jewelry designer, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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* The story `Waabizheshi and the Mermaid` is loosely based on the traditional story `Nebaunaubee`, related by Basil Johnston in his book Ojibway History. University of Nebraska press Lincoln and London, First Book printing 1990, p. 169 / 170. 

Illustration at top of page: "Anishinaabe Aki Gichigamiing", digipainting by Zhaawano Giizhik (2013).

Digi-painting "The Love Story Of Waabizheshi And The Mermaid " by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik (2013).

Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 2

October 10, 2013, 8:26 am

≫ Next: Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 3

≪ Previous: Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 1

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"Sleeping Bear And Her Children"

A love story told by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik

Spirit Of The She-Bear wedding ring set by ZhaawanArt. Clickherefor prices

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Aaniin. Biindigen! Hello, welcome to this blog!

Today's blog story is the second in a new series named "Love Stories From the Land of Many Lakes". 

It is a collection of love stories written and provided with jewelry images and illustrations of artwork by us as well as by kindred artists. The stories are based on aadizookaanan (traditional stories) of our People, the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg of Gaa-zaaga'eganigak, the land of many lakes - the Great Lakes area of North America.

These narratives are of a sacred, healing nature and told within a romantic context, their allegorical themes often provided with a personal touch.

The following tale is a zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan (sacred lovestory). It is narrated in the form of a frame story, in this case several metaphoric tales of a traditional, sacred nature placed within a larger story that has also embedded in it some autobiographical elements.

The story we will relate today is not about the love between a man and wife, but about a mother’s love for her children.

We are most grateful to our friend Charles J. Lippert who, in the course of writing this story, once again shared with us his incredible knowledge of the Anishinaabe language and culture.

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The Story Of Standing Firm

Once there lived a girl in an Ojibwe village who was named Ashkibag (monarch butterfly) by her parents at birth. Her doodem was Name, the clan of the Sturgeon People. When she turned 15 summers she had a dream of a bear and from then on her name was Mashkawigaabawiik (“Standing Firm”).

As Mashkawigaabawiik turned into a young woman she fell in love with a man from another Nation, which dwelled to the north from where the Ojibweg lived. His village was located across the same lake on whose borders her parent's wiigiwaam (lodge) stood. The man from this other nation wasnamed Mishtahi Ochichaak (“Big Sandhill Crane”). He was known wide and far for his leadership skills and the Elders of his Nation whispered that he was predestined to be an okimaka, a spokesman and first in council.

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The love that Mashkawigaabawiik felt for Mishtahi Ochichaak was answered by him, enticed as he was by her pretty face surrounded by beautiful black curly locks. People had told him that besides her beauty, the Ojibwe girl that lived across the lake was known for her good nature and an extraordinarily artistic talent. However, Mashkawigaabawiik happened to be three winters younger than Ochichaak and since she, besides beautiful of appearance, was also shy of character, the thought of marriage with this Ginishtinoo man from the neighboring village made her insecure, and at night she could not sleep because of it. In fact, she was afraid she would never be able to live up to his expectations and those of his People…
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Marriage took place, and Mashkawigaabawiik lived in Ochichaak’s village for many years and from their union sprang niizhoodenhyag, a twin, a boy and a girl. But Ochichaak did not turn out to be the kind of man she first saw in him, nor was she happy with his family who did never show her much appreciation for who she was. Every day, all day long she sat in Ochichaak’s tipi cooking, sewing, and mending, but each day she became more sad because there was no time to create beautiful beadwork and colorful paintings on deer hides like she had done when she still lived on the other side of the lake. 

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One day Mashkawigaabawiik decided to leave her husband, and she secretly packed her needles and beads and art supplies and a few clothes, and she stole away from his side in the middle of the night. With a heavy heart because she had to leave her children, but determined to return to the village of her family where she once lived carelessly and free like a butterfly, she steered her canoe toward the shore of the other side, and she sang a last song for her husband.

“How much I craved freedom
You once owned me, I was
flying free in a closed world
you did not see I was sad.

This day through a smoke hole
I was called to come home
a smell oh so fragrant
false dreams are now gone.

Afraid to take steps
to freedom of flight
I looked for many hours
by day and cold nights.

Owner I see you
your vigil in the shadow
loyalty now questioned
And now I must go.

There are no butterfly nets
that can stop what's begun
for it is time for freedom
it is time for the sun.

Do not try to stop them
the beautiful sounds
of wings so softly beating
from sky to the grounds.

When we try to hang on
to something we own
turns out we then hurt them
the loves we have known.

Lost now are the colors
I brought into your life
find yourself a new one
and cause her no strife.

Trust, love, and respect
can go a long way, yet
your actions are your choice
by the end of the day...”

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Years went by and Mashkawigaabawiik took up her old life in the Ojibwe village at the lake, and she developed romantic feelings for another man, a man belonging to Waabizheshi doodem (the Marten clan) who possessed a strong but also kind-hearted nature. His name was Wenoondaagoziwid-webaashi ("He Whose Voice is Carried By The Winds"). It was not before long that Wenoondaagoziwid-webaashi asked Mashkawigaabawiik’s parents for her hand and this made Mashkawigaabawiik very happy, but in her heart she could not forget the niizhoodenhyag (her twin children) whom she had left behind in the village on the other side of the lake.

Mashkawigaabawiik’s mother, whose name was Aazhawash (“Wafted Across”), sensing her daughter’s feelings of guilt and her longing for her children, decided to offer her council by sharing her own outlook on life, after which she concluded her reflection in the form of an aadizookaan (metaphoric story of a sacred nature).

“Someday”, Aazhawash told her daughter, “when you will walk happily with this man named Wenoondaagoziwid-webaashi, you will find the strength in your heart needed to return to the Ginishtinoo village on the other side of the lake and visit your children. One day, they will have children too. You must tell them the sacred story that I will tell you today. Tell them to love their children unconditionally and always to remember to love their children like you have always loved yours. And tell them the importance of determination and faith in everything they do, no matter the curves they encounter on the road of their journeys. Tell them to pursue their dreams and never give up, no matter what others might say about the choices they make in life.”

“One thing I have learned on this life’s journey, indaan (my daughter), is not to pray for strength for oneself or for those we love. To pray for strength is to ask that the road ahead be hard. It is only through rough roads and hard lessons that we gain strength.

Once we are standing outside under the stars not praying for strength, it is then that we are at a loss for words.

We find that we really must find out more about ourselves. That the Great Mystery placed us on the earth as individuals and that we are on our own paths, responsible solely for ourselves and our children and not for how or what others think, or the path of life that is theirs to walk.

We cannot live to appease those around us for it is then that we get lost in someone else’s path and that small empty place inside ourselves begins to grow."

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After a short pause Aazhawash continued:

"You must always remember to walk your own road and follow your own dreams indaan; walk someone else’s road and follow someone else’s dreams and it will lead you nowhere. Fly like the butterfly; stand firm like the bear.”


“Many summers ago, before you left us to live in the nisawa`igan (tipi) of the man who lives across the lake, you undertook a makadekewin (vision quest). You fasted in solitude in a glade in the middle of the forest. Surrounded by tall cedar trees you fasted until after four days and three nights you received your first waaseyaabindamowin(life-guiding dream). In this dream, a bear rested his paw on your leg and told you that you are destined to walk the spiritual road as a mazinibii`igekwe, someone who has received the gift of creating images, whose able hands makes visible to others the world of the ancestors, thus reflecting  the manidoo-minjimandamowin, or Spirit Memory, the collective knowledge of the People."


“It is important that you always remember it was the bear, a mystic dream visitor and respected teacher of mankind, who gave you spiritual and artistic powers and the higher mental capacities needed for judgment and decision-making in your later life.”

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The Sacred Tale Of Sleeping Bear

Aazhawash looked at her daughter who was listening silently and after a long pause she spoke again.

“Ahaw indaan, 'ngad aadzooke." (Now my daughter, I will tell a sacred story.) 

“Many strings of life ago a Makade Noozhek (female black bear) named Mishi-makwa (Great Bear),fleeing from a raging forest fire,urged her two makade-makwaansag,or black bear cubs into the watery shelter of a vast body of water. Mishi-makwa knew that her children would be safe as long as they managed to swim across to the opposite shore. With calls of encouragement and steadfast love, Mishi-makwa  guided her cubs across Mishigami (the great lake; Lake Michigan). But ni`aanh!it was a longjourney and the makwaansag became so tired that they fell behind. 

When Mishi-makwa reached the opposite shore, she climbed up on a giishkaadaawanga (where there is a steep hill in the water that reaches to where the sand meets the sky) to watch for her children. But the poor makwaansag could not make it to the shore! Mishi-makwa stayed and waited in hopes that her cubs would finally appear. She waited there for many suns and moons. Now, a great many seasons have come to pass since she last saw her children and shestill waits today...

Impressed by the mother bear's determination and faith, GICHI-MANIDOO decided to honor the makade-makwaansag, and from the deep bottom of the big lake two islands came roaring out right where the bear cubs had drowned, and then the winds respectfully buried the sleeping bear mother under a blanket of fine white sand. Here she waits to this day, as an everlasting symbol of encouragement and steadfast love.

And to this day, our People call the sleeping bear covered with sand nibegomowini-negaawajiw, "fine-white sand hill where one waits in the night in the water for game". Also, our People named the two bear cub islands manidoo-minis(spirit island) and manidoo-minisens(small spirit island) and the bay that harbors the drowned bear cubs nibegomowini-wiikwed, "bay where one waits in the night in the water for game". 

Giiwenh, so the story goes.”

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Spirit Of The She-Bear wedding ring set by ZhaawanArt. Click here for prices

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Dream Of The Bear

Mashkawigaabawiik, after hearing the story of the black bear and her two children, thanked her mother for the counsel and she went outside her parent’s wiigiwaam to prepare for her marriage with Wenoondaagoziwid-webaashi. After the marriage ceremony there was a feast and the playing of games. Mashkawigaabawiik and Wenoondaagoziwid-webaashi lived happily together as man and wife, but vague, undefined feelings of sadness over having had to leave behind her children still lingered in Mashkawigaabawiik’s heart. Then, one night, a bear appeared to her in a dream. The bear spoke to her the following words:

"Gego gashkendigen

Gego mawiken

Minode`e giniijaanisiwag

G’ga noondaagoog giniijaanisag

Zhayiigwa g’ga bizaanide’e

Zhayiigwa g’ga bizaanendam.”

(“Do not be sad

Do not cry

Be kind to your children

Your children will hear you

Soon your heart will be at peace

Soon your mind will be at peace.”)

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The Reunion 

Just before daybreak, Mashkawigaabawiik, after she had sung her morning prayers, rushed down to the water of the great lake, jumped into her husband’s wiigwaasi-jimaan(birchbark canoe) and started paddling across the lake on whose opposite shore her children lived.

Her heart was filled with butterflies of anticipation of seeing her children again after such a long period of time. All across the lake she sang in a quiet voice a song that nevertheless was heard by all creatures living along, and on and beneath, the water:

“No one ever does
travel truly alone
gone on their wings
never known at the time
feelings of great loss
no longer are mine
Smiles are inside me
to see plain as the day
as those butterflies took
the bad dreams away
Little child wanders now
in the rays of the sun
with love deep inside
and so happy to run
in new fields of flowers
so big and so bright
I see the monarchs
what a beautiful sight
No one ever does
travel truly alone.”

After seventeen hours of travelling, Mashkawigaabawiik paddled her canoe close to the opposite shore of the big lake. Then, inaa! she could not believe her eyes. Standing on the sandy banks of the lake lit by the soft blue light of daybreak stood her niizhoodenhyag who had grown into two young and handsome adolescents. At first, Mashkawigaabawiik trembled with excitement, but shortly after she had drawn the canoe on the beach and held her children in her arms a feeling of tranquility filled her heart and mind. She remembered the words of the bear that had visited her in the dream and finally understood the lessons of her mother.

As Mashkawigaabawiik and her two children sat down she told them of her dream about the bear. And just as her mother had done with her, she told her children this:

“One day, you will have children too. You must tell them the sacred story that I will tell you today.

Tell them to love their children unconditionally and always to remember to love their children like I - although I could not always be there for you -  have always loved you.

.

And tell them the importance of determination and faith in everything they do, no matter the curves they encounter on the road of their life’s journeys. 

Tell them to pursue their dreams and never give up, no matter what others might say about the choices they make in life.

One thing I have learned on this life’s journey, niniijaanisag (my children), is not to pray for strength for oneself or for those we love. To pray for strength is to ask that the road ahead be hard. It is only through rough roads and hard lessons that we gain strength.

Once we are standing outside under the stars not praying for strength, it is then that we are at a loss for words.

It is then that we find that we really must find out more about ourselves. That GICHI-MANIDOO placed us on the earth as individuals and that we are on our own paths, responsible solely for ourselves and our children and not for how or what others think, or the path of life that is theirs to walk.

We learn that we cannot live to appease those around us for it is then that we get lost in someone else’s path and that small empty place inside ourselves begins to grow.

Remember to walk your own road and follow your own dreams niniijaanisag; walk someone else’s road and follow someone else’s dreams and it will lead you nowhere.

You must always fly like the butterfly and stand firm like the bear.

Ahaw niniijaanidog, 'ngad aadzooke (Now my children, I will tell a sacred story….) ”

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Spirit Of The She-Bear wedding ring set by ZhaawanArt. Click here to see more wedding bands by ZhaawanArt

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Giiwenh. Miigwech gibizindaw noongom mii dash gidibaajimotoon wa’aw zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan. 

Bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga.

So the story goes. Thank you for listening to us today, to let us tell you about this sacred love story. Please come see us again!

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.


Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins, the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist and a writer and a jewelry designer, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Jewelry and jewelry photography by Zhaawano Giizhik.

• Wedding ring set"Noozhekwa-manidoo" ("Spirit Of The She-Bear"), overlay 14K yellow and red gold on 14K warm yellow gold and 14K palladium white gold and red gold on 14K warm yellow gold. 

Pencil drawings by Zhaawano Giizhik and Simone McLeod, copyright ZhaawanArt Fisher star Creations.

• Black-and-white pencil drawing by Zhaawano Giizhik: detail of Wiidigemaaganag (Niizhomaangwag) ("Life Partners/ Two Loons") (2003).

• Crayon drawing by Simone McLeod: detail of "Twins in Sweat Lodge Womb" (2013).

Painting, acrylic on canvas by Miskwaabik Aninmikii (Norval Morrisseau): "We Are One In Spirit".

Painting, acrylic on canvas by Simone McLeod: detail of "Journey To The Dawn Land" (2012).

"Healing Journey" ("Bear Paws Hidden In The Base Of Mother") acrylic on canvas by Simone McLeod "(2012)

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Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 3

November 28, 2013, 4:28 am

≫ Next: Teaching Stories, part 14

≪ Previous: Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 2

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Does a canoe have dreams?

I know this much:
A jimaan is made of birch bark.
Birches are spirits capable of dreaming
Therefore I believe my jimaan can dream.

Perhaps one day, soon

my jimaan will dream a dream as fluid
as the rivers and streams crossing Nimaamaa-aki
and as strong as the roots of the cedar trees 
standing tall on the rocky banks of Gichi-gami.

As if powered by a mysterious force beyond, 
this dream steers my jimaan along scarlike slopes
and enchanted beaches of the finest multi-colored sand
along places filled with mysteries and lessons and songs.

Through the roar of rushing waves that sing rhythmic songs 
of magic tales washing ashore since the dawn of times
Haw sa, my jimaan will take me to that hidden place
That special cove I can finally call my home.

-Zhaawano Giizhik

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About me and my sources of inspiration:

My name is Zhaawano Giizhik. I am an American currently living in the Netherlands. As an artist and jewelry designer, I like to draw on the oral and pictorial traditions of my Ojibwe Anishinaabe ancestors from the American Great Lakes area. For this I call on my manidoo-minjimandamowin, or 'Spirit Memory'; which means I try to remember the knowledge and the lessons of my ancestors.

The MAZINAAJIMOWIN or ‘pictorial spirit writings’ - which are rich with symbolism and have been painted throughout history on rocks and etched on other sacred items such as copper and slate, birch bark and animal hide - were a form of spiritual as well as educational communication that gave structure and meaning to the cosmos. 

Many of these sacred pictographs or petroforms – some of which are many, many generations old - hide in sacred locations where the manidoog (spirits) reside, particularly in those mystic places near the coastline where the sky, the earth, the water, the underground and the underwater meet.

Teaching Stories, part 14

December 28, 2013, 12:38 pm

≫ Next: Teaching Stories, part 15

≪ Previous: Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 3

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"Giigoonh, Silent Being Of Lakes And Streams"

A new story told by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik

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"We are but canoes
Passing in the night
Glimpses of each other

Sometimes through waves

our journey impossible 
as we leave our mother

Is it safety that we stay
inside our canoe our life
not ever making a choice

I strain my ear
to listen carefully
to just hear your voice

When calm is the sea

I hear you going by
rustling of memory true

Calm waters eager heart
she feels my longing
moon she looks at you

Fog was designed 
for lovers arms
reaching out in vain

I will wait once more
for cloudy nights
to bring you again

We all must fall
sometimes in life
to rise up strong

Learn to walk again
learn to smile again
learn right from wrong

Our journey our life
is our story our own
sit down my friend

For we can share
our words our dreams
Why must it end..."*

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Aaniin!

Our names are Simone McLeod/Aki-egwanizid and Zhaawanogiizhik. We are, respectively, a painter and a poet, and a jewelry designer, a penciller, and a writer. We consider ourselves part of the Native Woodland Art movement, and it is our goal to find the core of Anishinaabe art forms and, at the same time, (re)tell engaging teaching stories through our works of art. In the process of doing this, we find much inspiration in tracing back the footsteps of our Anishinaabe ancestors and drawing on their pictorial and oral traditions that spring from pre-dawn time. 

We are modern storytellers (re)creating, through dreams and visions as well as guidance of the sacred records and teachings of theMIDEWIWIN, the ancient symbols and visual language of the ancient pictographs; respectfully we render these traditional elements into paintings and graphic design, or into contemporary pieces of precious metals and stone. This requires continuous learning from and studying – and sometimes even dreaming about – the ancestral teachings. It also means we enter a different world where we ‘see’ and ‘hear’ things we would never experience in this reality.

However, as we are limited in what we know  - or can reveal - about the ancient ceremonies and teachings, the challenge for us lies in creating images and designs that are often abstract or contemporary; at the same time our art works on a mysterious level and approach, representing the sacred in a most respectful way. The countless inspiring examples provided by our fellow artists from Canada who paint in the great northerly tradition of the New Woodland School are crucial in helping us in the process.

We are most grateful to our friend Charles J. Lippert who, in the course of writing this story, once again shared with us his knowledge of Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language.

Gidoodeminaanig, our clans

Since time immemorial, the Anishinaabeg have a system of government called GIDOODEMINAANIG, meaning 'Our blood relations', or 'clans'.

The five original doodemag, or clans, of the Anishinaabe ancestors who - at least - 700 summers ago gathered at Baawitigong, the rapids and waterfalls of Michigan´s upper peninsula -, hold a set of traditional responsibilities for the People. Each member regards himself or herself as member of a clan first, then a community. Traditionally, clan membership includes certain colors, songs, and ceremonies, along with responsibilities that belong to the doodem in question.

Although it is believed that farther back in history the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg were matrilineal – which means that doodem identity was passed through the mother – , nowadays the children usually become automatically members of the father's clan. Members of the same matrilineal or patrilineal clan, no matter how many miles apart, are kin and forbidden to marry, and are expected always to extend hospitality, food and lodging to each other. That tradition is carried on today. Tradition dictates that when members are buried, their doodem symbols appear on their graves to mark their lineage. Also, clan symbols appear in birch bark scrolls of the Midewiwin and and in the old treaty documents.

The Fish Clans

Aayaanikaaj mishoomisag, the Anishinaabe fathers of olden times, who loved the sight of the flashing of silvered tails in shiny lakes and rushing streams, chose the silent spirit of GIIGOONH (fish) to be emblematic of teaching. Particularly awaazisii (bullhead), name (sturgeon), and maanameg (catfish) represented the noble arts of knowledge and science. Fish clan members, known for long life and baldness in old age, claim that in the old days, when their ancestors still livedtoward the rising sun, their clan had been the first of the original doodemag to appear out of the Atlantic ocean. From of old, Giigoonh doodem members are responsible for mediating between the chief clans (Crane and Loon) in the case there needs to be a settlement of a dispute and/or a deciding vote. 

Traditionally, Giigoonh doodem members help children to develop skills and healthy spirits; they are the teachers, scholars, and the intellectuals of the Anishinaabe peoples. It is especially the Elders' task to teach about life through storytelling, chants, and dances, and to prepare the young for a vision quest.

About the painting

To Simone, this acrylic on canvas titled "Growth Within" touches the core of what true Woodland Art represents: using colors and form to create art that reflects a unique way of looking at the world. This is what Simone said about the painting:

"I am Sturgeon Clan and I grew up facing things alone, set apart from the other women in my family, I depend on nature to see me through many things. 

This painting is a self portrait; 

I know who I am and I like what I see!"

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A Good Way of Life

The teachings of MIDEWIWIN, the Lodge of Medicine and Ethics of the Anishinaabe People, tell us that each person has a path to follow, called The True Path of Life, a capricious trail with many digressions (dangers and temptations) traveling over four “hills”: infancy, youth, adulthood, old age. He or she who managed to live out life in all its stages was to receive and possess nature’s greatest gift: MINO BIMAADIZIWIN. Traditionally, MINO-BIMAADIZIWIN, ‘to live a good way of life’, has always been the central goal for the Anishinaabeg.

 

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KNOWLEDGE ON THE ROAD OF LIFE /DOODEM OF LEARNING - white & yellow gold, silver, turquoise and red coral set of collar necklace and ear jewelry (sold). For prices see our website FisherStarCreations.com.   ________________________________________________________________________________ About the necklace Divided over five elegantly curved white gold wires, Zhaawano fastened four moveable ornaments of precious metals and stones – to be placed in any desired position along the wires. The wires symbolize the five main GIDOODEMINAANIG (our blood relations; animal totems) of the Anishinaabe Peoples: Ajiijaak (Crane), Makwa (bear), Waabizheshi (Marten), Maanameg (Catfish), and Mikinaak (Snapping Turtle). These (archaic) totems denote the five needs of the People and the five elementary functions of society: respectively LEADERSHIP, DEFENSE, SUSTENANCE, MEDICINE, LEARNING, and MEDICINE. The four moveable elements of the necklace, a gold eagle feather, a stylized fish head and tail of white gold and silver and a turquoise stone set in gold, pertain to the central concept of the design: the stages of life that we humans must pass through from birth to death. The elements also relate to the various phases of LEARNING: the human cognitive process and the transfer of knowledge and know-how. In honor of the concept of learning and knowledge, Zhaawano adorned the fish head ornament of the necklace with an eye of turquoise; the two post-back earrings – which he placed on the wires of the necklace when he took the photo – are watching the world through eyes of red coral. The concept of MINO BIMAADIZIWIN Zhaawano depicted by means of the asymmetrically cut turquoise stone, accentuated by a setting of 14K yellow and red gold and sterling silver. The rough surface and the black-veined matrix of the turquoise, along with the sharp and irregular corners of the setting symbolize the many dangers, disasters, and perils along life’s path. Finally, the stylized 14K gold eagle feather fastened at one side of the collar necklace, refers to ojichaag bimisewin or ‘Spirit Flight’: the spiritual journeys the human mind is capable of - a special and often elusive dimension in our existence. A state of wisdom and knowledge can only be reached by inner spiritual growth and enhancement of consciousness. According to the lessons of aayaanikaaj mishoomisag, the Anishinaabe forefathers, no man begins to be until he has received his vision… ________________________________________________________________________________ Fish manidoog The Anishinaabe forefathers distinguished a variety of Giigoonhyag Manidoog (fish spirits) of at least three types, the first being Mishiibizhiwag, the Underwater Cats, and the others being Mishiginebig, the Sea Serpent who provides Knowledge of Medicinal herb and Makadeshigan or Black Bass, the spirit of the Underworld, who presented the People Medicine and rituals.  Underwater manidoog were not perse considered evil, and not always dangerous. They were supposed to possess powers that assist other water beings as well. Other metaphorical interpretations of fish include the Merman/Mermaid, who symbolize temptation. A safe passage The giigoonhyag manidoog have always been associated with the water realm, and revered by the Anishinaabeg and their neighbours the Cree as spirits who control the moods of the Lake and potentially dangerous guards of rapids and swift or troubled waters. Particularly Mishibizhiw, the Great Underwater Lynx, has the power to shapeshift into various animal forms.  He is said to aid those who seek to cross dangerous water, provided that a suitable offer is made.   To this day, some folks, particularly medicine people who seek  to be granted the power to enter the sacred rocks, still leave offerings like asemaa (tobacco), clothing, and bundles of colored sticks.

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Carl Ray (1942-1978): Spirit Fish, 24x30 inch, 1975

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MASHKIKI MIIGIWEWIN (GIFT OF MEDICINE): sterling silver bolo tie with braided leather lanyard and sterling silver tips.

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Makadeshigan and the gift of ceremony and health

According to Anishinaabe tradition, Makadeshigan, the Black Bass who became known as the Spirit of the Underworld, was the patron of the deep night and bad dreams. Although many people feared him during the night, he motivated humankind to live an honest life and strive for noble ideals so that they would have good dreams. 

Makadeshigan was said to have offered himself in the form of a medicine from the depths of the Underworld that would protect the Anishinaabeg against sickness and also bring them game animals for their sustenance. But mostly important, Makadeshigan presented the People with the gift of ceremony and ritual, thus laying the foundation for the MIDEWIWIN, the Grand Medicine Society of the Anishinaabe People.

About the bolo tie

The subject matter and graphic design of this overlay bolo tie of sterling silver breathe the spiritual knowledge and sacred visual language of Simone's and my ancestors; at the same time they are exemplary of the minimalistic graphic style and ‘linear determinatives’ of the Medicine Painters of the Woodland Art that we are part of. The design of the fish relates to giigoonh doodem or the Ojibwe Fish Clan, whose members are known as ‘teachers’ responsible for pursuing and conveying knowledge and passing on healing stories of the MIDEWIWIN. In a deeper sense, however, the image of the fish also refers to the Spirit of the Underworld, whom our ancestors associated with makadeshiganag (black basses), strong fighters that swam abundantly in the freshwater lakes and rivers of their homelands.

The figure of the diving fish in this silver bolo tie represents Makadeshigan the black bass; the oxidized parts of the overlay fish design refer to the underworld and the deep night. The somewhat enigmatic design elements that I placed inside the fish and the two dangle tips are abstract upside-down images of a sitting pregnant woman with two seeds inside her womb, symbolizing Makadeshigan’s gift of medicine and ritual to the People. The stylized image of the fish and the ‘seeds of medicine’ that Zhaawano depicted inside the woman’s womb are contemporary depictions of great spiritual power, distantly resonating with the sacred Anishinaabe art forms of the ancient past.

Giiwenh: this is how far the story goes. 
Miigwech for reading and listening and giga-waabamin: see you later!

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.


Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist and a writer and a jewelry designer, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

* Poem The Journey by Simone McLeod, July 16 2013

Teaching Stories, part 15

January 11, 2014, 8:14 am

≫ Next: Spirit Of The Seasons, part 1

≪ Previous: Teaching Stories, part 14

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"The Spirit Of The Trees"

 

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THE SPIRIT OF THE TREES IN MY LIFE


A tree in all its beauty grows strong roots

Safe, deep within mother earth

What happens around it
 
may leave gnarly scars on the outside.

But still the tree grows tall and strong

performing insurmountable tasks in its lifetime.

Today I give thanks to the spirit of the trees

in my life.

Simone McLeod, 1-11-2014

Image: Leland Bell: "Gift of Healing"

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Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. 

Simone belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. 

Simone's artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

To view Simone's work, please go to our website. 






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Spirit Of The Seasons, part 1

January 12, 2014, 8:07 am

≫ Next: Saying hello

≪ Previous: Teaching Stories, part 15

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"Middle Of The Summer Moon"

A new story told by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik (Updated on March 4, 2015)

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Aaniin!

We consider it an honor to share with you this blog story, the first in a new series called Spirit Of The Seasons. Today's post features two works of art done by us: a silver-and-turquoise ringhandcrafted by Zhaawano and three canvases painted by Simone, and one as yet unindentified canvas - possibly painted by Joyce Kakegamic.

To describe our art, as we see it, is to reflect back to our ancestors, the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg and Cree from the northwoods and plains of the Turtle Island areas nowadays called Michigan, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. 

Today's blog story breathes the spirit of the months of June and July, respectively ode`imini-giizis and aabita-niibinogiizis in the Ojibwe language of the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg who live south of Gichigami (Lake Superior). These names mean literally, "heart berry moon" and  "middle of the summer moon".

Niibinishiwin

Our ancestors have always lived according the cyclical rhythm set by, as they called it, aandakiiwinan, the seasonal changes.

In the old days, during the warm moons in the period called niibinishiwin (summer camping), the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg of the northwoods, as soon as the ice on the lakes and rivers melted, left their winter camps and headed for the shores of gichigamiin, the Great Lakes. Here they stayed during the summer moons near the river mouths, where the men fished for namebinag (sucker) and namewag (sturgeon) that were entering the rivers and streams to spawn.

Others set up summer camps near the shores of the zaaga’iganan (inland lakes) and fished, hunted, and gathered plant foods and medicinal herbs. These temporary summer villages were usually composed of  single-family waaginogaananand asawa'ogaanan (respectively circular or domed and conical wigwams made of bent-over saplings and covered with birch bark sheets) that generally housed populations of 50 to 70 persons.

 

 

Meanwhile the many small Anishinaabe clan groups that lived south of gichigamiin, who, unlike their Ojibwe relatives from Canada were semi-agricultural people, organized themselves into band units of (sometimes up to) 300 to 400 people as soon as the ice thawed and camped in regions with fertile soil and plenty of fish and game and other food sources. These southern Ojibweg hunted, fished, tapped sugar from ininaatigoog (sugar maple trees) and wiigwaasag (birch trees) and collected other plant foods and berries, and tended gardens of mandaamin (maize), anijiiminan (beans), and nabagokwisimaan (squash). Their summer villages were usually made up of small, round wiigiwaaman (wigwams) made of sapling frames and covered with cattail leaf mats and tree bark. 

Niibinishiwin was not only a time of labor but also of social activities and weddings and ceremonies. At the end of the season called dagwaagin (fall), some of these summer camps served as a base for productive fish expeditions to the tempestuous gichigamiin where the men netted adikamegwag and  maazhamegosag (whitefsh and trout) that spawned in gigantic numbers. After the abundant catch the fish was cleaned, smoked, and freezed for the wintermoons. While the men took care of fishing, these kinds of activities would put a heavy demand on the collective labor of the women. 

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Detail of NANAANDAWI’IWE MANIDOO (“Spirit Of Healing”) by Simone McLeod Acrylic on canvas, year and size of painting unknown. "When I paint blueberries it is because they are offered in healing sweats where I come from. It is the same reason why I paint bear tracks on my canvases and face."

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Blueberry moon

Since time immemorial, the moons of June, July, and August have been associated with wild berries, which are ready for picking in early summer and midsummer, and some even in late summer and fall. So, in many parts of Turtle Island in what is now Canada and the United States, the moon of June is named after the strawberry ("heart berry"); July, depending on the area and community, is often called miskomini-giizis (red raspberry moon) by the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg in Canada, or miin(ikaa)-giizis (blueberry moon, called so by those who belong to the southeastern and nothwestern branches of the Ojibwe Anishinaabe Nation. August, a time when blueberries and blackberries are still harvestable, is also called miin-giizis in some parts of Canada.

Winter nutrition

The Anishinaabe and Cree ancestors have always been very fond of berries. Berries, cherries, and acorns were traditionally compounded with other herbs in making medicine. Dried berries, sometimes combined with dear tallow and moose fat, provided nutrition for in the winter moons. When boiled, berries were often seasoned with ziinzibaakwad (maple sugar) or combined with other foods. Strawbwerries and bunchberries were eaten raw. Cranberries - harvested in the fall when the fruit takes on its distinctive deep red color - were cooked using sugar. Blackberries, cherries, chokecherries, red raspberries, and currants, after being cooked (usually without sugar), were traditionally spread on slates of wiigwaas (birch bark) and then stored in makakoon (birch bark baskets and boxes) for winter use.*

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AABITA-NIIBINO-GIIZIS

(“Middle Of The Summer Moon”)

Sterling silver ladies' ringdesigned and handcrafted by Zhaawano Giizhik. The ring has a two-prong ring shank and is mounted with a 1.97 x 1.18 inch (15 x 30 mm) high-grade blue turquoise.

The moon called “month of July” in dominant society is called “middle of the summer moon” or "berry moon" by the Anishinaabe First Nations throughout Canada and the USA. During this moon the berries are ready for picking.

The solid blue color of the high-grade oval turquoise stone symbolizes zhaawano-giizhig (the Southern Sky), the warm land were zhaawani-noondin (the South wind) rules. Subtle white strokes of clouds upon the blue sky stone complete the ring design.

The blue color of the stone also represents the smoke of giizhik (the northern white cedar, the tree of life). Giizhik aniibiish (the cedar leaf) is a sacred, medicinal plant among the Algonquian speaking peoples of the northwoods and a harmonizing spirit that represents the southern direction.

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A long and healthy life 

It is the teaching of the Midewiwin, the age-old Anishinaabe society of the Good Hearted Ones, that every tree, bush, plant, and fruit has a use. Bimaadiziwin, health and long life, represented to our ancestors a central guideline in life and a code for upright living, and those who had knowledge of plants and fruits and their medicinal and ceremonial use were most highly esteemed among their community. This knowledge often came directly from manidoog (the spirits), particularly from bawaaganag, spirits in animal form visiting the healer in a dream or vision. But not all herb specialists received their knowledge directly from the spirit world. Many medicine persons who had an encyclopedic knowledge of the mysterious properties of plants, herbs, roots, and berries, used to be women, often referred to as mashkikiikewikwewag (medicine woman).

Look, there goes a bear

Some of the fruits and berries that grow abundantly in summer, such as miinagaawanzhig (blueberries) and bagwaji-ode’iminan (wild strawberries, literally: wild heart berries) are traditionally not only used for food and medicine, but also have a ceremonial function. Berries are often associated with makwa the bear. In the old days, when a person was fond of, let’s say, cherries, the people would say: "Look, there goes a bear".

  

Bear dreamers

Since time immemorial bears are dreamed of as offering to give medicines for the healing of man. With regard to herb medicine, Makwa is considered by the herb specialists of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, and their neighbours the Dakota, as ogimaa (leader) of all animals, which means that if someone dreams of a bear he or she was chosen by the bear to be expert in the use of medicine made from plants and berries for curing illness. And it is Makwa who guards the eastern door of the midewigaan, the ceremonial lodge of the MIDEWIWIN, as he protects the healing ceremonies and sacred rituals that are being performed inside the lodge. 

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GEGET GI DEBWE ("You Really Speak The Truth"), acrylic on canvas by Simone McLeod _______________________________________________________________________________

DREAM BEAR

I remember you
in dreams long past
feelings of peace
that seem to last

You brought me hope

when all seemed lost
made life worth living
melting all the frost

That grew so vast

within my own heart

When I followed you
it was just the start

Of a journey made
for my small feet

So many others

I do now greet

I give thanks now
each new day
to you my friend, miigwech
for showing me the way...

Poem by Simone McLeod, March 3, 2014

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Story of Ode'imin, the heart-shaped berry

The story of the heart-shaped berry, as is the Anishinaabe name for the strawberry, is forever linked to Midewiwin, Society of Good Hearted Ones, a prestigious and important association of male and female healers and thinkers that is said to have been founded many strings of life (literally thousands of years) ago. 

According to one tradition, the Midewiwin was founded  by the first herbalist/medicine man of his People, who went by the legendary name of Ode'imin (Heart Berry or strawberry). When a plague struck the Anishinaabeg, this 15-year old boy was one of many who died, and as he entered the Land of Souls he pleaded with GICHI-MANIDOO to save his people from this destructive epidemic. GICHI-MANIDOO was so impressed by the admirable altruism of the young fellow that he brought him back to life and sent him back to earth on a mission of revival and hope.  

Under the skillful tutelage of his supernatural teacher Wiinabozho, who taught him to study the nature of plants from the conduct of animals, Ode'imin hereupon brought his People the Midewiwin, the grand Medicine Society that forever institutionalized the knowledge of curing, and he taught them about mino-bimaadiziwin. This Good Code for Long Life and Upright Living led to the physical and moral healing of the Anishinaabe Peoples. 

Ode'imin taught the People the properties and the curative powers of all beings of the plant world and conferred to them the philosophy of mino-bimaadiziwin, which would forever be propagated through the ceremonies of the Midewiwin. Ode'imin explained to the ancestors that a healer could only reach the highest possible order of healing powers through a high ethical standard, and not by knowledge alone. What counted were not only knowledge of plant and self, but also the ability to bring together the healing capacities of both plant and self. Only a herbalist gifted with and keeping up a high standard of inner power could expect the plant being to reveal his own healing power; only then the plant would allow the herbalist to confer his or her inner curative power upon the plant itself. And to this day, whenever or wherever they establish their villages and homes, the Anishinaabeg never neglect their duty to annually honor, celebrate, and carry on the gift of knowledge that was handed down to their ancestors by Ode'imin, the Heart Shaped Berry. And into this day, each spring and each summer Ode'imin is remembered and celebrated by the People, for the blosom of the strawberry symbolizes Ode'imin's first life and the berry itself his second.**

Giiwenh: this is how far the story goes. 

Miigwech gii bizindawiyeg, thank you for listening to us and bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga: please come see us again!

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* Source: Frances Densmore, How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine & Crafts, Dover Publications, Inc. New York, pp. 321-322.
** Source: Przybilla and Councillor, Ojibwe Tales, 21-2.

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Detail of acrylic "Prayers For Humanity" by Sinome McLeod/Aki-egwaniid

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List of common summer berries, their use, and their harvest season:

Azasawemin, wiisagipogozimin (chokecherry): food, medicine (digestive troubles); August to September in Canada;

Ikwemish, azasawemin (wild cherry ): food, medicine (digestive troubles); June;

Miin (blueberry): food, medicine (mental problems); ceremonial; July, August;

Miskomin (red raspberry): Medicine (dysentry, diseases of eye, diseases of women); July; throughout summer;

Odatagaagomin, odatagaagominagaawanzh, waaboozomin (blackberry): Food, medicine (lung trouble); July, August;

Odatagaagomin (black raspberry); medicine (diseases of women); throughout summer;

Ode'imin (heart berry; strawbwerry): food; sacred stories; June & July;

Ode'iminijiibik (heart berry root; wild strawberry): medicine (intestinal disturbance of infants); May;

Zhaaboomin (gooseberry); medicine (diseases of women); July, August;

Zhaashaagomin (bunchberry): food; summer to fall.

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist and a writer and a jewelry designer, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Saying hello

February 1, 2014, 3:05 pm

≫ Next: Artist Inspirations, part 6

≪ Previous: Spirit Of The Seasons, part 1

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Just saying "Hello" and I am looking forward to adding stories and paintings to this wonderful blog created by my good friend Zhaawano Giizhik.

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Artist Inspirations, part 6

March 10, 2014, 7:57 am

≫ Next: Teachings of the Eagle Feather, part 9

≪ Previous: Saying hello

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Why I Started To Paint 

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Aaniin,

I think that it is important to explain why this artist has such an interest in subjects that others may find too serious or even heart-wrenching. 

I have always been drawing my whole life, I remember as far back as kindergarten when I began to see the beauty in color. In the beginning I painted portraits for I was very intrigued by the eyes of my subjects. The eyes is where the soul lives and for me to challenge myself to capture a person's essence in the eyes gave me a great sense of accomplishment. 

As I got older and issues from my past began to come into focus with the announcement of the Residential School Issues, it was then that I found myself on an island of despair. It was then that I started painting eyeless faces. I also started to paint people in situations that I longed for as a child. I found solace in painting children interacting with adults, parents, grandparents, and members of whole communities healing together. 

This has been the main focus of my work ever since and it is with heavy responsibility and courage that I keep painting like this. I think that it is important to understand where my inspiration comes from and that is in the form of prayers for the People. For the men woman and children who make up our communities. I love my people and I believe that trough love is where we will find our footing and our strengths once again.

Miigwech.

Simone/Aki-egwaniizid

Above illustration: "Medicine Faces", acrylic on canvas, 2014. These tattood faces are a record of my dreams. My journey. Another Self Portrait done in a style unlike other self portraits.

To view some of my work please visit my website.

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist and a writer and a jewelry designer, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Teachings of the Eagle Feather, part 9

March 17, 2014, 1:23 pm

≫ Next: Reawakening of the Medicine People, part 1

≪ Previous: Artist Inspirations, part 6

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"Both Sides Of The Sky"

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Boozhoo,


Today's blog story features a sterling silver men's ring that I crafted a long time ago. It is mounted with two hand-cut, bezel-set freeform Kingman turquoise stones and a pear-shaped red coral cabochon.

It is my personal ring and I titled it EDAWIGIIZHIG (" BOTH SIDES OF THE SKY").

The design of the ring is inspired on a dream I had years ago, I must have been in my twenties. I was up in the dazzling blue sky when I became aware of a sky region behind it which seemed an even more dazzling blue. 

The black tipped silver eagle feather dividing the two turquoise stones symbolizes the dream. The eagle feathers adorning the ring's sides represent a revolving sky; the circular motion with which I seemed to move around the dream sky. The red coral cabochon placed beneath the eagle feather and the flowers that I stamped on the sides of the ring shank curvature stand for the earth that moved beneath me during the dream.

Since the design relates to this dream I decided to wear the ring myself; I've been wearing it for the last 23 years or so.

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"A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky". 

—Tȟašúŋke Witkó (His Horse Is Crazy, Oglala Lakota War Leader, ca. 1840-1877)

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OJIBWE MORNING PRAYER

I can feel it now

deep in my heart

winter camps stirring
for it is the start

The birth of dreams

beginning to bloom

time to wake up
from winter’s gloom

Spreading wide wings

we can all now fly

with an eagle's heart
into clear blue sky

Taking our place

on distant shores

to pray for our mother
as she shares more

Giving thanks for life

from earth and sky

honoring our helpers
never asking why

To know too much
is too heavy a load
just trust yourself
as you walk the road...

- Simone McLeod, March 8, 2014

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Jewelry photography by ZhaawanArt Fisher Star Creations. 

Poem by Simone McLeod.

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry andwedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Reawakening of the Medicine People, part 1

April 4, 2014, 3:30 am

≫ Next: Teaching Stories, part 16

≪ Previous: Teachings of the Eagle Feather, part 9

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The Amazing Story Of The Sleeping Medicine People (part 1)

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Boozhoo,

Today's blog story features two new paintings done by Simone, the first in a series of canvases that she titled "Reawakening Of The Medicine People".

The theme of the series is based on a vision that Simone has carried with her through most of her adult life. Gradually, as she was finding her way along her life's path, an image started to form in her mind, of four mysterious people with tattood faces, wrapped in blankets of fog, sitting silently in the dim dawn light of a perfectly soundless Universe. As she watched these blanket people she began to notice that their closed eyes gradually opened, looking around them intelligently, and their eyes curious and alert seemed to perceive and admire a brilliant yellowish-white light that surrounded them. 

What Simone witnessed was the reawakening of, what she would soon call, "the Medicine People". Her vision, and the series of "dream carriers" (paintings based on dreams and visions) that springs from it, evoke memories of the Seventh Fire Prophecy that was given to our ancestors many hundreds of generations ago; this was when the Anishinaabe Peoples still lived in the Land of Dawn on the northern Atlantic coasts of Turtle Island (North America).
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This prophecy, which had been delivered by a Miigis (Shell) Being that emerged from the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, revealed that in the time of the Seventh Fire the People would live in a world dominated by a white-skinned race. Then a New People would emerge, who would decide to retrace their steps to the Teachings of the Dawn Land and ask their Elders to guide them into finding back mino misko-miikana, the good red road.

 “If the New People will remain strong in their quest the Water Drum of the Midewiwin Lodge will again sound its voice. There will be a rebirth of the Anishinabe Nation and a rekindling of old flames. The Sacred Fire will again be lit…”*

Today, according to some Elders, Anishinaabe people are in the Seventh Fire and major changes on the Earth are to occur soon. Other Elders tell us that the era of the Seventh Fire has already come to pass and another Fire arising from the techings of the Seven Fires prophecy has been lit. This Eight Fire Teaching is said to apply to all Peoples in contact with the Anishinaabeg, and it suggests that if enough people — of all colors and faiths — turn from materialism and instead choose a path of respect, wisdom and spirituality, environmental and social catastrophe can be avoided, and an era of spiritual illumination will dawn.*

As Simone moved forward on her life's path she gradually realized that there are Sleeping Medicine People in each of our Native communities - of all different Nations, all over Turtle Island - who just need to reawaken what they have always had inside them. Her vision taught her that although the People are losing many of their elders, they are not being left alone. The old ways have not died.

"We are living in a time when many of our 'Medicine People' are sleeping and now reawakening" she says...

"The old ways live inside of us deeply rooted and will never be forgotten. We just need to go and find our ceremonies again. We must respond to the yearnings in our hearts to seek out that part of us. It is like the the prophecies of the Seven Fires I have heard of, reminding us that the only way humankind can survive and save the planet is by choosing a straight and truly spiritual path."

This concept Simone expressed in the painting in the form of four figures, wrapped in storytelling blankets that show X-ray vision - which are stylistic representations of spiritual realities that live inside beings and persons. The faces of these Medicine People she depicted in her personal Midewiwin colors, the painted patterns being records of her personal journey, her dreams, and her visions. This is what Simone says about the eyes that she painted in the Medicine Faces: 

"The eyes of the Medicine People in this first painting are invisible, still closed, as they have barely woken up, and I pictured them shedding tears - representing the tears of my ancestors who have endured many hardships under the hands of the Europeans, of the Midewiwin Lodge that has been prosecuted for many generations and had to go underground to survive and be able to conduct their ceremonies, and of today's generation that is under great social strain. In the second painting, which I titled 'Medicine Faces: Sleeping Medicine People Part# 2' (see the image at the top of the page), their eyes are already slightly open, reflecting the first light of dawn." 

"The painting titled 'Sleeping Medicine People Part# 1' depicts Aki, our world, consisting of an underworld, a middle world, and the sky world", she continues. "Four arms – whose hands I modelled after my own hands - reach out from the underworld to the earth of the middle world, through their veins runs the smoke from the four sweat lodges as if it were cosmic lifeblood, transfusing ancient spirit power and energy and memories into the rocks of mother earth. The rocks are Mother Earth’s backbone, this strong foundation left for us by our ancestors to build on."

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"The circular unity symbol I painted in the sky, connected with the images of the praying men by two rays (lines of communication), is a symbol of hope, of a rekindling of the old ways. The divided circle shows the day-sun and the night-sun holding clan symbols and clan colors." 

"The red and yellow colors in the day-sun (the right half of the celestial body) reflect the glow of the same fire that we see springing from the purification lodges that I painted hidden deeply beneath the earth's surface." 

"Inside the womb of the underworld I depicted four bear sweats; the insides of these purification lodges show fires inducing upwellings of red-hot lava from the deep earth - the same colors I used in the orbicular celestial body that I placed high up in the sky."

“The praying men on either side of the canvas connected through the rays of the sun/moon high up in the sky are giizisoniimig, or sundancers, they stand with arms held high. They carry up prayers and petitions to the grandfathers of the spirit world. They stand tall and strong like the Sundance cottonwood tree around which I will soon dance and sing and sacrifice to be reborn again and for the sake of all those out there who need healing, mentally and spiritually as well as physically. 

Sometimes we have to dance and sacrifice and die a little inside in order to be reborn and rise again as a stronger and wiser version of ourselves...These two giizisoniimig with their arms held high have facial painting inspired on a digital drawing done by my friend Zhaawano, a revised version of an ink pencil drawing he originally made in his early teens. This particular digital version (see below image) depicts an Anishinaabe man performing his morning prayer, watched by two figures in the foreground - possibly prayer helpers, or guardian spirits -, standing in the shadows of a distant past; the mysterious facial paintings of these ancestral beings I decided to use for my painting." 

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"The red and black flowers that I painted on the blanket of the first medicine person - the one whom I placed on the left - are not only a reference to my traditional name which is Earth Blanket, but they also remind us that we must cry and let go of the hurt of the past. The flowers are symbolic of the death of our people’s hearts, yet they also stand for healing, and tell us to never forget." 

"The second medicine person has designs inside of him that I have not been able to fully understand so far. These designs I modelled after a sketch I made in the month of May in 2013, based on a dream I had during that moon. I am still unsure where the designs come from or what they signify. Around the same time I dreamt about these designs my friend Zhaawano dreamt of Norval Morrisseau– or a man who looked like him – painting the same kind of design on a steep cliff wall. Zhaawano seems to believe that the lizard-like designs appearing in my dream might represent Midewiwin Sky persons whom our Anishinaabe ancestors used to paint on rock, or perhaps they represent the Medicine People that I see my vision; they might even be a reference to a star constellation I have been fascinated with since childhood: Orion, or Gaa biboonikaan, the Bringer of Winter, whose presence in the night sky since time immemorial heralds the cold weather. But the fact is I don't know for sure, perhaps, one day, it will become clear to me what the designs mean and why I had to paint them."

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"The third medicine person in the painting carries, also in the form of X-ray vision, the clan symbols of Name doodem, which is my clan, and that of Zhaawano, which is Waabizheshi doodem, the Marten. The design that I placed inside this medicine person relates to a painting I did back in 2013, telling a story about learning, teaching, and reaching out from different worlds. The trees, whose branches represent the realm of air and sky which is marten’s habitat, yet their roots dipping somewhat into sturgeon’s habitat in the deep lake, symbolize a strong and everlasting connection between these two different worlds."

"The figure on the far right, representing the fourth Medicine Person that I see in my vision, shows X-ray vision of the paws of Makwa the bear, as well as footsteps that resemble those of human beings. Bear medicine is powerful medicine, bringing – often in the form of dreams - healing, renewal, and rebirth. The human footsteps relate to a dream I had in July 2013, about Zhaawano and I running together in a forest, helping each other, keeping pace with each other, but we were not alone. We were running with a giant. I had not dreamt of gichi-misaabe since I was a small child. I was always alone and hiding from him as a child. To dream of him now as an adult and to be running with a friend side by side laughing and happy and feeling safe.... running with the giant as opposed to running from gichi-misaabe...now I know that I will never have to be afraid of him because he is my spirit helper since childhood. This is why I painted his footprints inside the fourth medicine person, together with the bear’s symbol of healing strength.

"The Sun/Moon in the blue sky", Simone concludes, "was painted first, the foundation of bear sweats was painted second. The image of praying Sundancers, connecting the Medicine People and the Earth that they sit on with the sky world, was incorporated into this piece as well. The Medicine People with their painted faces, wrapped in their storytelling blankets, came last. This painting took me almost five moons to complete…"

Giiwenh. That´s how far this blog story goes. Miigwech for reading and listening!

Bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga: please come see us again!

Clickhere to read part 2 of the series "Reawakening Of The Medicine People".

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Sources:

*Wikipedia

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If you are interested in purchasing a reproduction of this painting, please fill in the contact form of ourwebsite.

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry and wedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Teaching Stories, part 16

April 5, 2014, 3:47 pm

≫ Next: Teaching Stories, part 17

≪ Previous: Reawakening of the Medicine People, part 1

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"The Good Way Of The Warrior"

Updated on August 8, 2014

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Aaniin,

Today's blog story features an old Anishinaabe song, a beautiful poem by Simone McLeod, a powerful painting by the late Carl Ray, and a sterling silver belt buckle and bolo tie by my own making, all connected by a shared theme: ogichidaa mino-bimaadiziwin, the good way of the warrior.

In traditional Anishinaabe society, a warrior status is something that a person should not lightly or vainly identify himself or herself with. Being an ogichidaa (literally: big- or brave-hearted person) is a status that must be earned and recognized.* It is not a badge of honor that one can give himself, but an honor that has to be bestowed by the People as a whole, by the gichi-aya`aa(Elders) and the spiritual men and woman of the Midewiwin Lodge. A person is always expected to learn and earn, and there is simply no valid way to become an ogichidaa other than by consciensciously and consistently, without pomp and proclamation, showing courage, integrity, modesty, humility, kindness, and utter selflessness throughout his or her entire life.

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Ma'iingan nindoodem, ma'iingan nindoodem

Naniizaanizi, naniizaanizi

"The wolf is my totem, the wolf is my totem

Dangerous is he, dangerous is he."

Nimashki-akiim, nimashki-akiim

Aapiji-manidoowan, aapiji-manidoowan

Giinawaa, giinawind
G’minisiinoowim, g’ minisiinoowim

"My medicine, my medicine,
Is very strong, is very strong.

You, we,
Warriors you, warriors we."

- Fragments of an old Anishinaabe warrior song**

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Giizisoniimii-bimisewin (Flight Of The Sundancer), bear paw and eagle feather bolo tie with a 2.75 x 1.9 inch sterling silver slide set with turquoise and red coral; a black braided leather cord decorated with 18 sterling silver eagle feathers; and sterling silver tips set with red coral, resembling the nails of an eagle claw. See our website for more details: www.fisherstarcreations.com

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Bear, acrylic painting by the late Medicine Painter Carl Ray

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How Majiigawiz stole the wampun from the warlike bear

Once upon a time there lived four brothers in the northern part of Gaa-zaaga'iganikaag, the Land of Many Lakes. They were born to E-bangishimog, the Ruler of the West, and a mortal woman named Wiininwaa, "To Nourish From The Breast". The names of these brothers were Maajiigawiz, Papiigawiz, Jiibayaabooz, and Wiinabozho. Here, not far from Gichigami, the Great Lake nowadays called Superior, they decided to hunt Gichi Makwa Ogimaa, the Great Magic Grizzly Bear Chief who lived in the Land Of The Setting Sun and who was widely known and feared for his aggressive nature. The eldest brother, whose name was Maajiigawiz which means "First-born Son", visited the Bear Nation and wrested from Gichi Makwa a necklace made of waa-miigisagoo (wampum), which he knew was an important object for war for it represented the belligerent nature of the huge bear creature. After Maajiigawiz had killed the bear ogimaa with one swing of his war club, he cut it into small pieces, scattered them to the four winds, and inaa! from Gichi Makwa's body parts emerged smaller makwag (bears), who were less war-like and menacing to the Anishinaabeg. Hereupon Maajiikawis divided the treasured waa-miigisagoo among all the ogimaag (leaders) and ogichidaag (warriors) of the Anishinaabe Peoples, and as he did so he spoke the following words: 

"Ambe! Behold the sacred Wampum that I wrested from the hands of the Chief of the Bear Nation! The shells of the pale hue of the Wampum are emblematic of Peace, while those of the darker hue will surely lead to Evil and to War. From now on, you as Anishinaabe ogimaag (leaders and speakers in council) will wear sashes of the holy waa-miigisagoo and use them as waabamaabeeyag, historical records whose symbols remind the speaker of everything that is important to the Anishinaabe Peoples: their stories, ideas, beliefs, codes, rituals and the succession of events in their history, and everything that relates to the People's existence on Aki. From now on, you as Anishinaabe warriors, will do Good to the inhabitants of Aki (the Earth) and give and share all things with a liberal hand and a generous heart!" 

Maajiigawiz, because of his courageous and wise achievement, was hereupon chosen by the Great Mystery to direct the west wind, and from then on he would be known by the name of Ningaabii`anong .***

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A code for upright living

Warriors can be found in countless different ways and circumstances. They can be found in all walks of life, not just in everyday places and daily stuff of life but also in unexpected or even remote places. In the old times, warriors were traditionally found in the rearguard as they were the defenders of the People. You don't have to be in the spotlights to be called a warrior. It is not just the exclusive preserve of those who stand in the front lines engaging themselves in armed or political combat. A warrior person does not per se spill the blood of other persons, but is rather someone who stands for an idea or principle or who defends the lives, values, and honor of his family or his community.

Doctors are warriors because they battle illness; teachers are warriors because they battle lack of knowledge. Treaty lawyers and political and environmental activists dedicated to the inherent land rights, sovereignty, and First Nations self-government are warriors. A single parent raising his or her child or children in difficult circumstances, instilling in them a code for upright living, is a warrior. A person who defeated alcohol and drugs and has returned to the read road, the spiritual ways of his People, is a warrior. A Sundancer who fasts and dances from dusk till dawn sacrificing for the sake of those who need mental, spiritual, and physical healing is a warrior. Nurses, midwives, and social workers who distinguish themselves by offering vital help in disadvantaged rural areas or on remore reservations, they, too, are warriors. Everyone can be a warrior, and all he or she has to do is protect, and stand up for, the community or individuals or ideals. 

In brief: one becomes a warrior by doing what must be done to protect the environment and society and advance their cause -  even if it's on a modest scale or in the smallest of ways.

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BEAUTY WITHIN

Sleep is the solace
we wrap ourselves in

so why then awaken

with such a sore grin

We look in the mirror
seldom like what we see
so stripped of the image
of what we could once be

Why be so forlorn though

try look a bit deeper
and see just what I see
the beautiful sleeper

If put down too much

at your time of growing
try then do what I do
and take comfort knowing

When born you are sweet

by the grandfathers you're loved
pay no more attention
to when you were shoved

Forced into those corners

that kept you at bay
so you would not fight back
at the end of each day

Stand tall now my dear

for all those to see
that you are a warrior
being all you can be...

- Simone McLeod, March 11, 2014

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Warriors and artists

Personally, to both Simone and me, being a warrior is about being modest, the willingness to fight uphill battles for the good of others, and, most of all, about knowing and understanding where we come from. This realization defines our role in society; on a more personal level it might even be integral to deciding where it is that we, as individuals, want to go in life.  

I myself am waabizheshi doodem, a Marten Clan person, and I have heard that in the old days Martin clan members served as pipe bearers and message carriers for the ogimaag (chiefs). I am also told that nowadays martens are looked upon as fierce defenders of mino-bimaadiziwin, the Good Way of the Heart (Midewiwin) and of Anishinaabemowin, the beautiful language of the Ojibwe people. Sure, the virtues that the ancestors accredited to martens (they jump fearlessly into the black of night to defend values, to fight for change, for what is right) are things that I can try to emulate in everyday life, but I am also fully aware that this still doesn't earn me warrior recognition status, or make me an ogichidaa in the eyes of my People, or society as a whole.

What Simone and I do know, however, is that we are artists, who passionately and whole-heartedly chose to tell inspiring stories through works of art. Artists is who we are, it is our calling and it defines our spiritual outlook and, at the same time, our unique yet humble place in society: Simone as a painter and a poet, myself as a gold and silversmith and graphic artist. Telling teaching stories is what we do, and if we are lucky our writings and creations in paint, ink, precious metal, and digital design touch and inspire in meaningful ways the hearts and minds of at least some of those who are out there. City people. Rural people. Reservation people. Those who follow the red road and those who do not, or not yet. The blessed and the drop-outs, the healthy and the disabled. Those who have houses and those who live on the streets. The fortunate and the not so fortunate, the young and the elderly, men, women and youngsters of every color and creed. The brave-hearted out there and, yes, even the not so brave-hearted...

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                Flight Of The Sundancer bolo tie, see our website for the symbolism and price details.

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A tribute in silver and stone

What is it that made me design the bear paw design buckle and bolo tie that you see on this page the way I did? As a jewelry maker I have always been intrigued with purity of design, always looking for unusual forms and artistic placement of stones - although I realize this sometimes challenges the old, traditional Native feeling of symmetry in design. The sleek, asymmetrically shaped and slightly curved silver surfaces of the belt buckle and bolo slide that you can see on this page, adorned with a hand-cut turquoise stone and pear-shaped cabochons of red coral, testify of my love of traditional elements combined with modern and minimalist design. Showing a stylized bear paw made with the aid of the shadowbox technique, these sterling silver pieces are my personal tribute to the ogichidaag, or minisiinoong as warriors are sometimes called, of yesterday and today. In southern Anishinaabe societies the claws of Makwa (bear), Bizhiw (Lynx) and Ma’iingan (wolf) stand for perseverance and guardianship, as well as for strength, stamina, and courage. They are warrior symbols of great magic that may apply to ininiwag (men) and ikwewag (women) alike, even in our day.

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Ogichidaa Gikinawaaji’owin (Mark of the Warrior), 2.36 x 3.15 inch domed overlay belt buckle with turquoise and red coral shadowbox settings.

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Go to our website to view more details of the above belt buckle. 

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The fabulous technique of overlay

Overlay type of jewelry, a fabulous technique originated around 1940 in Arizona by silversmiths of the Hopi nation, is produced by soldering two pieces of silver (or one piece of silver and one piece of gold) together. The top piece contains a design element (see the bear paw of the buckle and the bolo slide) which is cut out of the metal. The bottom piece of metal is then oxidized to produce a contrasting background. Stamping, engraving, or stone setting (sometimes in combination with the shadowbox technique) is sometimes done to finish the desired design. The near-finished product is then filed, buffed and polished to produce a fine finish.

Of course modern day Hopi silver and goldsmiths do not limit themselves to overlay (Charles Loloma for instance hardly used it) and it is done by many Native American artists other than the Hopi. With the aid of a small line embossing tool, most Hopi artists texture the silver bottom sheet of an overlay piece to produce an additional contrasting effect (but also to camouflage any solder that the jeweler might have spilled while soldering). In order to distinguish my overlay from that of the Hopi, I like to keep the underlying, blackened silver perfectly smooth. Personally, I believe this doesn’t diminish the three-dimensional quality of my overlay jewelry one bit. However, if I feel texturing could enhance an overlay piece I’m working on, I use the technique of rocker engraving, a once popular method of decorating silver used by Eastern and Great Plains Native silversmiths - such as the Mamaceqtaw, Kgoy-goo, and Neme-ne. Unlike the Hopi method of indenting a bottom sheet of overlay by means of a punch, the rocking-like motion of a graver, made to follow the shape of the design, cuts out tiny slivers of metal, producing a zig-zag line which can best be compared with herringbone prints left in the snow by a skier walking uphill.

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                          Flight Of The Sundancer bolo tie, see www.fisherstarcreations.com.

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Shadowbox

Shadowbox, introduced in the 1970’s byDine'and Pueblo silversmiths from the Southwest, is a technique I also like to include in my overlay jewelry. In both the bolo tie and belt buckle designs that you see in this blog post, the deep, blackened recesses that make up the contours of the stylized bear paw are highlighted by the bezels (stone settings) that I soldered in their interiors. These “shadow-boxes’’ create the illusion of “floating” bezels and at the same time accentuate the brilliantly blue color of the stones...

Giiwenh. That´s how far this blog story goes. Miigwech for reading and listening!

Bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga: please come see us again!

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Sources:
*Eddie Benton-Benaise, The Ogichidaw - warrior, Exploring the meaning of ogichidaw today, Masinaigan, Spring 1998.

** Basil Johnston, Ojibway Ceremonies, University of Nebraska Press, p, 71.
*** Story by Zhaawano loosely adapted from an aadizookaan (traditional story) told in the 19th century by Zhaawandazii and originally put in writing by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. Source: Mentor L. Williams, Schoolcraft's Indian Legends, East Lansing, Michigan State University Press, 1991, pages 46-55.

Jewelry and photography by ZhaawanArt Fisher Star Creations. 

Poem by Simone McLeod.
Painting by Carl Ray.

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry and wedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Teaching Stories, part 17

April 10, 2014, 3:24 am

≫ Next: The Way Of The Heartbeat, part 1

≪ Previous: Teaching Stories, part 16

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"Finding Back The Road To Wisdom"

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Aaniin,

Last week, my friend Simone wrote the following words on her Facebook wall and I thought I wanted to share them with you.

Simone said this:

“During a time when I was living under a cloud of confusion, I found that I walked around questioning every little thing in life. Why this? Why that? How this? How that? It is by always asking questions that we create confusion in our spirits. One night I had a dream in which I was given opportunity to ask a question. I know I thought about it for hours and hours and finally I said...

"I ask that I do not need to know the answers to all of the questions that I have"

New Age thinking

"To immerse oneself in our traditional spirituality", Simone continues, " is a beautiful thing. It is who we are. You cannot improve on this. For a "new age" thinker to feel the need to make this better and stronger and more spiritually uplifting is as insulting as if I walked into a church and told them what I really think of those bibles. I will be tolerant for only so long before I correct this situation. I do embrace all communities and people and I love it when others share their own traditions from other countries. I also commend the 98% of them who respectfully look at who I am with intrigue as opposed to 'fixing' who my People are. I now ask that you accept what I do and what I paint without being disrespectful for I can see it even when it is disguised as curiosity, besides you can learn more by sitting silent and learning than asking questions...”

A Good Way Of Living

As I was reading Simone’s words I realized that the message she wanted to get across is deeply rooted in the ways of our ancestors.

The Seven Teachings have long been part of our Native cultures and language. The Great Mystery gave us a behavioral system, called bimaadiziwin, A Good Way Of Living, with seven guidelines showing us how to think and live and seven digressions or lines leading from life’s main trail showing where we as human beings can go wrong (see the stylized Mide Path rings in the image to the left). 

The Elders tell us that everything in life is interconnected, interrelated and interdependent on one another. This is called inawendiwin. Orienting oneself to leading a long, productive, and healthy life in respectful coexistence and collaboration with all peoples, animals, plants, natural phenomena, ancestors, and the beings of the spirit world is called bimaadiziwin. It is important to understand that what we as individuals, in “real” life but also on social media like Facebook, say and do affects this interrelated system of inawendiwin and bimaadiziwin; the hurt of one is the hurt of all. As we learn of these things, we, like the Sleeping Medicine People in Simone’s paintings who wake up to voices from the past, must wake up to a new realization of inawendi/bimaadiziwin and learn to live again according to the responsibilities that the old ones instilled in us.

The value of observational learning

Sometimes we are on Facebook or another social medium and we hear or read something, and that something gives us a déjà vu, an “aha!” moment, and we tend to believe, in the blatant outward expression that characterizes our modern ways and time, that this something, this something that invokes vague echoes of truths that live deep inside of us, requires an instant explanation - in fact, we even believe we are ENTITLED to it. 

I full-heartedly agree with Simone that we should start realizing that all we know is that we don’t know, and that observational learning is a far better way to find answers than asking direct, or even impertinent, questions. It is today's structural lack of emotional sobriety, coupled with a tendency to always ask questions, that creates confusion in our spirits and minds. As soon as we stop automatically replying to, or resounding what's being said, but start listening instead, then, and only then, we begin to truly communicate...only then we can begin true understanding of the knowledge and wisdom that our ancestors passed on to us. 

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The road of life, an ancient Anishinaabe diagram of the Midewiwin depicting four hills (life stages from birth to old age); the  road has seven digressions leading from man's life trail symbolizing human vices like idleness, vanity, inmoderation and gluttony, dishonesty, and hysteric behavior.

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So, when we realize that all we know for sure is that we DON'T know, and that asking direct questions will not bring us closer to the answers we seek, we are saying in effect, 'I'm open to the message'. This is the road of Finding Wisdom Through Silent Learning that our ancestors walked. 

This road, like all of our traditions that patiently lay hidden in the very ground we walk on to be rediscovered, has not lost its merit or worth. 

Let us start walking this road from today and now.

Miigwech, thank you.
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Jewelry and photography by ZhaawanArt Fisher Star Creations. 

To view details of the wedding rings shown on this page, please go to our websiteFisher Star Creations. Or see the Dutch wedding rings webste: Unieke Trouwringen. 

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg ("#16" Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry and wedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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The Way Of The Heartbeat, part 1

May 2, 2014, 5:23 am

≫ Next: Doodem clan rings, jewelry, and paintings, part 1

≪ Previous: Teaching Stories, part 17

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"The Sound Of The Mide Drum"

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Boozhoo, aaniin!

Welcome to part 1 of our brand new blog series titled The Way Of The Heartbeat, in which we connect our storytelling art - and the work of other artists - with the ancient teachings of the Midewiwin Society of the Anishinaabe Peoples. The focus in this blog post will be on the origin of the Society and the building structure of their Lodge, on drums and how the first Dance Drum was presented to the Ojibwe Peoples, and, specifically, on the meaning and spirit powers of the Midewiwin drum - alternately called Mitigwakik, Midegawikik, and Midewewe'igan. Since time immemorial, the sound of the Mide drum has attunedthe heartbeat of the Ojibwe Anishinaabe peoples to the pulse of Aki, the land. Madwewe, or sound, as we will learn, is the core and essence of Midewiwin and its ceremonial and ritual practice - and, therefore, of Anishinaabe experience and their cosmic worldview.

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"Drums Of My Father"

A hundred thousand years have passed

Yet, I hear the distant beat of my father's drums

I hear his drums throughout the land

His beat I feel within my heart.

The drums shall beat, so my heart shall beat,

And I shall live a hundred thousand years.

- Shirley Daniels (Ojibwe author)

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Name and origin of Midewiwin

Alternately pronounced as muh-DAY-w'win and mi-DAY-win, its literal meaning being “Society of Those Who Are In A Mide State” (Mide meaning something like “Sacred And Unseen”), the Midewiwin is a thousands of years old lodge or association of male and female healers and thinkers and artists, respected keepers and protectors of the traditional Anishinaabe way of life and ceremonies. Midewiwin persons are generally called Mide, plural Mideg, participants of the ceremonies are referred to as Midew, plural Midewiig. Mideg themselves sometimes give the following, traditionalistic, explanation about the meaning of Midewiwin: “Society of the Good-hearted Ones” or “The Good Heart Sound Of Life”, or “The Way Of The Heartbeat”. The objective of Midewiwin is basically two-fold: one is to promote bimaadiziwin (la long and healthy life for individuals as well as for the community); the other is to receive from the Spirit World the power - in the form of Sacred Medicine - to achieve that goal. Midewiwin's Medicine and healing offer not only cures for diseases but also provide for preservative measures to ensure bimaadiziwin. The Mide practitioners are initiated and ranked by degrees: four to eight in total.

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A Midewewe’igan ( Mide hollow log water drum), a Mide rattle and seven Mide-wiigwaasag (birch bark scrolls) displayed in a Midewigaan, a Midewiwin lodge. According to Midewiwin belief, the sound of the Mide drum causes the sky to brighten up and the water to be calm for the person who carries the drum. Both Midedewe’igan and Baaga’akokwaan (the drum stick representing the Midedewe’igan) are considered to be gifts from GITCHI-MANIDOO; the drum stick is held even more powerful and sacred than the drum itself. Wiigwaasabakoon, or birch bark scrolls, are documents on which the Mide People wrote complex geometrical patterns and shapes. When used specifically for Midewiwin ritual purposes, these scrolls are called Mide-wiigwaas (plural: Mide-wiigwaasag). Scrolls were often hidden away in caves and underground man-made pits. The seven “ritual birch bark teaching scrolls” in the above image enable the memorization of complex ideas, passing along oral history, creation stories, songs, and details of Mide rituals, and many hundreds of years old Ojibwe migration records to succeeding generations.

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Midewiwin – some claim the word partially derives from the Anishinaabe word MINODE’ which means Good Heart, others suggest it derives from MADWEWE which means Sound Resonance, as in the echoing of the Mide water drum whose omnipresent sound represents the Earth’s heartbeat and that of the Great Mystery of Life – is said to have been founded many strings of life ago by the first herbalist/medicine man of his People, who went by the legendary name ofOde’imin(Heart-shaped Berry or strawberry). Under the skilful tutelage of his supernatural teacher Wiinabozho, who taught him to study the nature of plants from the conduct of animals, Ode’iminforever institutionalized the knowledge of curing and Mino-bimaadiziwin, or the Code for Long Life and Upright Living. He taught the People the properties and the curative powers of all beings of the plant world and conferred to them the philosophy of Mino-bimaadiziwin, which would forever be propagated through the ceremonies of the Midewiwin. Ode’iminexplained to the ancestors that the physical side of life and the physical strength of a human being and that of his community should alwas be in perfect balance with the spiritual side of life and being, and that a healer could only reach the highest possible order of healing powers through a high ethical standard, and not by knowledge alone. So, what counted for an herbalist was not only knowledge of plant and self, but also the ability to bring together the healing capacities of both plant and self. Only an herbalist gifted with and keeping up a high standard of inner power could expect the plant being to reveal his own healing power; only then the plant would allow the herbalist to confer his (or her) inner curative power upon the plant itself.

And to this day, whenever or wherever theyestablish their villages and homes, the Anishinaabeg never neglect their duty to annually honor, celebrate, and carry on the gift of knowledge that was handed down to their ancestors by Ode’imin, the Heart-shaped Berry.

The Mide Lodge 

The Midewigaan or Midewiwin Lodge, also known as Midewiig-iwaam (pural Midewiigiwaaman) when small or Midewigamig (plural Midewigamigoon) when large, is usually built in an open grove or clearing. The Midewigamig is modelled after the rectangular open-air lodge first built for Ode’imin by the benevolent manidoo (spirit) WIINABOZHO. Nowadays, Midewigaanan are domed oval structures sized to accommodate the number of invited participants. They are always oriented east to west, with an entrance at each end, and open at the top so as not to shut out the light and sounds of Aki (the universe). In the Midewigaan there is a symbiosis between humans and the guardian spirits of animals – some of which are represented by effigies -, who share the same space in near identity with one another. 

Each order of Midewiwin requires its own type of Midewigaan. One to four posts of giizhik, the northern white cedar, cut alive, and erected as Midewatigoog (Trees of Life), stand within the lodge; in some Midewigaanan, Adaazi, the poplar tree is placed in the center of the lodge. A Midewaatig symbolizes the primacy of the plant beings; the idea behind is that plants can exist alone, but neither animals nor men can survive without plants. The number of Midewatigoog corresponds with the order of the Midewiwin involved. Around the central post or posts is an enclosed space whose symbolic purpose is to keep inside the spirit of the ceremonies. 

The walls of the smaller Mide-wiigiwaam consist of poles and saplings wattled with short branches and twigs with leaves.

In communities with large amounts of mideg, the Midewigamig becomes a formal and permanent ceremonial building; some Midewigamigoon are domed structures, others have vaulted ceilings. The high-dome or vaulted ceilings of some Midewigamigoon allow for the rays of the sun and the spirits of the Universe to enter the building and permeate the ceremonial area with light, spirit, and sound. 

Midewiwin teaching lodges, oval domed structures made of bent saplings, are common today to teach the next generations about the language and ancient ways of the past. These living ceremonies reflect, practice, and preserve the traditional ways, ideas, and teachings of the ancient Midewiwin.

Drums, drumsticks, and rattles

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Left: an Ojibwe keg drum or "Dance Drum". Right: a small Mide kettle (water) Drum

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To the Ojibweg, drums are not just objects; they are manidoog, living, dynamic entities that require a respectful, ritual approach and ongoing practical and ceremonial care. As the principle of circularity is central to our Anishinaabe thinking and living, the drum, to us, its shape and the patterns that are sometimes painted on its body and membrane, are visual metaphors for other similarly shaped phenomena and beings that we can see and sense all around us in nature. The revitalizing sound the drum produces when first struck resembles the first sound of early spring morning when the seeds pop out of the ground, or it reminds us of our mother's heartbeat that surrounded us when we still lived inside her womb, or it imitates the soft and steady heartbeat of the earth or, when the drum membrane is struck real hard and allowed to vibrate freely throughout the Universe, it reminds us of the violent rumbling of a thunderstorm that comes from the mountain or sweeps in from across the big lake to cleanse the earth. 

A drum is nothing short of a Mystery; only the manidoog and aadizookanag (spirit grandfathers) that inhabit the four corners of the Universe are able to fully comprehend what the drum imparts once its membrane is struck. Drumming never goes without chanting, and is often accompanied by dancing; when they drum the drummers sing in unison sacred chants, their throaty and high-pitched voices carrying wordless prayers and petitions across the Universe and beyond. Thus the attention of the spirit beings that live above and below and beyond the earth is drawn, and the songs, accompanied and pushed on by the pulse of the drum, are sung in a language that can only be heard and understood by them...in dance, the bodies of the dancers move in deep rhythms that bind their world and those of the ancestors and the spirits beings...   

The form of a drum and those of other sound producers like drumsticks and disk rattles reflect the shape and the paths of the earth, sun, moon, and stars, or the shape of a reed stem or a seed that lives deep inside the soil of the earth, or that of the rings of a tree, or the circular imprint of a wiigiwaam frame in the grass...in other words, sound and shape of the drum represent the CIRCLE OF LIFE, and the wood and hide of which it is made symbolize the Sky and the Earth and all life that springs from it. Anishinaabeg know that the tree spirit that provides the wood for the drum body has been nourished by the soil and the water of the Earth, and as it grew tall and strong the tree pointed into the sky world, bringing it near to GICHI-MANIDOO, the Great Mystery. And because we know and understand that the pulsing sound of the drum reflects the sounds that can also be heard in nature and the cosmos, we are fully aware that sound is the core and essence of the ceremonial and ritual practice of our Medicine Lodges. Thus, a drum reminds us as People and as individuals of our dependence on nature and the spirit world and our oneness with the Great Mystery; consequently, it teaches us about important values like gwayako-bimaadiziwin (living an honest life) and mutual sharing with the natural world.

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In the Ojibwe culture, the double-headed drum is considered to be particularly sacred and powerful. This contemporary Ojibwe ceremonial drum was made by Rohahes Iain Phillips.

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When a drum is made, it is never done without seeking a retreat in a secluded place in nature and performing a number of ceremonies; asemaa (tobacco) and food and other things are offered and the spirits of an animal and a tree are very respectfully and patiently asked to donate their skin and wood for the use of the drum. Like pipes and feathers and various other sacred items, a drum is always kept in a special place, preferably encased in bearskin or buckskin or safely placed on a blanket near an asemaa-onaagan or tobacco box filled with fresh asemaa; the drum is often smudged with wiingashk (sweetgrass) and it is customary that during certain ceremonies and dances food and asemaa are offered to the spirit of the drum. By feasting and nourishing the drum the People are nourished in return, which keeps them balanced and healthy. 

Before a drum is taken out to make its voice sound at a spiritual or social gathering, it must be formally made ready by an Elder who ceremonially blesses the spirit of the drum. Because it must be taken special care of, a dewe'iganan debenimaad or Drum Keeper - a ceremonial leader and a spiritual person who follows mino-bimaadiziwin, the good way of life - is placed in charge of taking care of the drum; it is also he, or she, who does any repair work. Out of respect for the spirit of the drum, no one but the owner touches it and no object can ever be placed atop or across the drum head.

Common types of drum

Among several types of dewe’iganag or drums, the hand drum, the Mide drum, and the flat pow wow drum are prominent in many an Ojibwe Anishinaabe community. 

Hand drums are often called “moccasin game drums” as they are used during makizin-ataagewinan(moccasin games). Some have a piece of rawhide stretched over one side of a hoop and laced or tied together on the reversed side to form its handhold, others have two heads stretched over one hoop with the rawhide handhold stitched on the outer edge of the hoop. The heads of both types of hand-held drums are sometimes decorated with dream, or vision symbols (see illustrations above and to the left), but only if the owner has had a vision, or if he or she is directed by a spirit to decorate the drum with a certain symbol. Hand drums are used by both men and women.

Baaga'akokwaanan or drumsticks used for hand drums, often 5 inches long, sometimes made of bone or wood and hooked at the striking end, are said to be more important than the drum itself as they sometimes represent the head and eyes of Gookookoo’oo (the Owl). Traditionally, before striking the drum, the dayewe’iged (drummer) will raise the Baaga'akokwaan toward the west to give the signal that Gookookoo’oo should respond to the drum call. Some Baaga'akokwaanan have padded deer hide on the striking end (see the above black and white pen illustration).

The Mitigwakik (literally: wooden vessel), the Midewater drum, is a ceremonial drum. It is a wooden kettle drum, traditionally made by hollowing out a basswood log. Before each use, a few inches of water is poured into the drum and a wet heavily tanned deer hide is stretched over the drum; a willow hoop secures the hide. These Mide Drums, sometimes called Grandfather Drums and traditionally used by high ranking members of the Midewiwin and decorated by the owner depending upon his doodem/clan and/or rank within the Lodge, can be heard from long distances. Mitigwakikoon are regarded as living entities, aadizookaanag (grandfathers of the nonhuman class), and important messengers in the Mide hierarchy.

In recent years large flat drums or gichi-dewe'iganan (literally: big drums; Pow Wow or Dance drums) have become common in many Ojibwe communities, and they are either placed directly on the ground or suspended from curved stakes. This type of large bass drum, which is often 3 feet in diameter and can be made by stretching hide over a galvanized metal washtub, is usually decorated with beaded velvet an used during ceremonial events and/or for pow-wow dances. 

During jiingotamog and niimi'idimaag (respectively spiritual/ceremonial and social/secular pow-wows),the drum is surrounded by four or more singers and the drumbeat symbolizes a unified heartbeat and oneness with the Great Mystery.

Zhinawinigagan, or zhiishiigwanan orrattles, are used in rhythmic accompaniment to singing. Provided with a wooden handle and filled with small pebbles or shot, some zhinawinigagan are traditionally made of birch bark strips with a cover of hide shaped into cylinders (see above illustration), and others are simply fashioned from hide stretched over willow hoops. A flat hoop rattle is used like a tambourine by a Mide doctor during healing practice. Mideg also use these rattles to “shoot miigis power” into an initiate or patient during initiation or curing rituals. 

The Vision Drum Dance

The Gichi-dewe'igan-niimi'idiwin or Pow-wow Drum Dance (also known as the Dream, or Vision Dance Ceremony) is nowadays a very important symbol to the various Anishinaabe bands throughout Canada and the US. Each year in summer almost every community hosts some form of outdoor festival or ceremony throughout Anishinaabe Aki (Ojibwe Country), generally called pow-wows. A large, flat, elaborately decorated community drum performs a central role in these pow-wows; since the second half of the 19th century this Gichi-dewe'igan or  "Large Drum" is actually one of the centerpieces in our sacred Midewiwin ceremonies, which are always conducted on a specially prepared circular dance ground. 

Although the term Pow-wow - derived from an Algonquian word for "Curing Ceremony" - is not Ojibwe in origin, it is commonly used, not only in Anishinaabe Aki but all over Turtle Island (North America). The Ojibweg have basically two types of powwows: the traditional/spiritual/ceremonial
jiingotamog as well as the niimi'idimaa or social dance contest pow-wow - in which there is competition in dancing and drumming.

In the old days, when our warriors and hunters had returned to their homes, they told about their feats through dance and many gathered to take part in the celebrations. Movement, color, and sounds, rather than words served to tell the stories of their hearts. These gatherings were not only about dancing and singing, they also served to extend respect or give special thanks or bestow names, and so on. They were the forerunners of the contemporary pow-wows.

The Vision Drum 

Traditionally, small home meetings are being held throughout the year for a Dance, or Vision Drum, but the main ceremony is ideally a four-day event held twice a year. These gatherings are generally part of the Midewiwin culture. During these gatherings the drums in the community are assembled for the ceremony, which is held in a special lodge or in an outdoor area surrounded by benches or low fencing, with openings on two sides.

It is said that although our People know the drum within living memory, the gichi-dewe'igan or community dance drum (and the sacred drum presentation ceremony that comes with it) is not Anishinaabe in origin; it was our former, traditional enemies the Bwaanag (Dakota), neighbours to the west, who, after one of their women had received a vision, gave it to the Ojibweg of Minnesota in the form of a ceremony, called Dream or Vision Dance. Since that day, less than 150 summers ago (around the year of 1870), the Anishinaabeg attribute their community drums with special powers, and although a person would never hand over his or her drum during life, or even leave behind to another at death, occasionally a special community drum is presented as a gift to another Nation in an act of goodwill, as a symbol of peace and brotherhood. The Dakota woman whose Vision, in the form of the ceremony of presentation of the Big Drum, led to a peace offer to her People's most respected enemies the Ojibweg, has become a metaphor for seeking peace over war. That the story of the Drum Vision of the Dakota womanl is still being passed on to next generations and that the mighty voice of the big dance drum can still be heard far and loud at many pow-wows all over Anishinaabe Aki, shows not only our People's ability to recognize spiritual power in other Nations, but it also demonstrates the spiritual power of women to guide their life. So this is why nowadays drumming and singing at pow-wows are not just about pride in our own Anishinaabe culture and history, but also about breaking down barriers and unifying with other Nations and about pride in the strength and spirit powers of Anishinaabe women and Native women in general. But above all, pow-wow is of dancing and singing and letting the spirit fly with the shaking of rattles and the beating of the Sacred Vision Drum...


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The Thunderbird Drum

On Manitoulin Island, a common type of Grandfather Spirit, or Vision Drum is the Bineshii Dewe’igan or Thunderbird Drum; the design of this type of drum and certain songs and rituals that go with it are brought to its owner by a Thunderbird Spirit who shows him or her how to make and use it, and the design he or she must paint on it. The colors of the Thunderbird designs, which represent Manidoo Animikii Bineshi Miikana or Spirit Road of the Thunderbird, usually depict some of the revitalizing tasks that the Thunder Grandfathers fulfilled when they brought the rain to the earth so that life on earth would continue, like cleansing the earth, the lakes, and the rivers, and sustaining the plants and the trees by giving them water when they return each spring with the migrating birds…it is the sound of these drums, imitating the thunder rolling through the sky, that reminds the Anishinaabeg that the Thunder Grandfathers represent the linkage between the birds of the sky world and plants of the middle world and underwater creatures, as well as a spiritual connectedness of birds with the physical orders of the cosmos like sun, moon, earth, stars, thunders, lightning, rain, wind, fires, etcetera. This is why Thunderbird designs so often figure on drums, and since the power that they contain flows directly from these avian Grandfathers, both the drum and the Thunderbirds are regarded with awe and reverence. The design, colors, and sound of the drum remind us that as long as we don’t forget about the Thunder Grandfathers, they will always look after our People. Illustration: a hand-painted hand drum of wood and deer hide; collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

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Origin Story of the Dream Dance Ceremony

There are several stories about how the gichi-dewe'igan or "big drum" came to our People - along with the drum presentation ceremony called Dream, or Vision Dance.


The most prevalent story relates of a Dakota woman - her name was Tail Feather Woman - who, hiding in a lake under lily pads after fleeing U.S. soldiers, received  a vision over the course of four days instructing her to build a large drum and teaching her the songs that would restore the traditional world of her People. From the Dakota, the ceremony of the "bigdrum" spread throughout the Algonquian-speaking Nations to the Ojibweg and, as its message changed throughout the years into a  story about peace and harmony, cultural continuity, and solidarity with other Native Nations, the Drum Ceremony eventually became  the focal point of our ceremonies.


Another, more traditional, story tells about a woman, the wife of a Dakota chief, who, covered by a large lily pad, hid in a river  at the start of a fierce battle between her People and our People; after four days, a voice from the skies bade her to come out, and one night the voice she had heard before summoned her to the Skies. Here, a spirit addressed her, telling her that she must seek peace and everlasting friendship with the Ojibweg through a large drum. And that is how the Drum Ceremony began.

And then there is another,very beautiful story, which is told below.

"There once was a time when the Ojibweg and Bwaanag (Dakota) peoples were at constant war with each other. Ogichidaa (warrior) societies on both sides flourished and around the village camp fires the talk was always of war. The villages were becoming empty of men, and the women mourned and buried their husbands and sons. Soon, there were only women and small children left in the camps since the men and available youth were on the war path. War became such an inseparable part of their lives that most people forgot how the fighting had started and what it was they were fighting about."

"In one of the main villages of the Bwaanag, there lived a little girl, a little girl tired of war. She went into the lodges of the grandmothers and grandfathers and told them she was tired of all this talk of war, of burying her male relatives, and friends, she was tired of death and dying. She said to them:  "There must something that our People could do to stop the wars?”

“You!” cried the grandmothers and grandfathers, “You’re just a little girl!”

After such rude behavior from the grandmother and grandfathers the little girl decided she would go on a fast. She and her grandparents did all the preparations, she would begin her fast on the night of the full moon. She took nothing but a blanket and went out on the hill by herself determined not to come back down until she received an answer."

"For seven days, nothing happened. No visitors or visions came to her, and the little girl was getting hungrier and hungrier. With the moon full again, the little girl was close to death, and feeling abandoned and alone. As she lay on her blanket dying, the birch trees caught the moonlight and reflected it back to the earth around her. It was like daylight out on the hillside, so the little girl watched the moon and prayed to the Great Mystery. Through her tears, it seemed to her she saw seven figures surrounding the bright ball in the sky that she recognized as Grandmother moon. It looked as though the seven figures were gently carrying Grandmother from the sky toward Mother Earth. The little girl understood that  the seven figures were grandfathers. She reached her arms out to embrace the grandmother, with the final strength in her body she got up and took her blanket and spread it on the ground so that the seven grandfathers could rest Grandmother moon on it."

"The grandfathers sat with the little girl around her fire for four days and gave her the Niizhwaaswi Gagiikwewinan, or  "Seven Sacred Teachings". The Grandmother began to talk to the little girl telling her how to create a drum, the correct way to stretch the rawhide and lace it on. She told the little girl that the men were so busy waging war that they forgot how to connect with their hearts. If the little girl would give them the drum, they would once again connect with their hearts. She said that the drum is animate and has a spirit, when the little girl was finished making the drum she thought of how much it looked like Grandmother moon."

"The little girl took the finished drum to the Warriors lodge, were the men accepted the drum and began to use the drum and use their voices as medicine prayers. They started connecting with their hearts, and soon all thought of war left their minds. With her People still raiding the Ojibweg, the little girl decided to make another drum, but on the face of this drum the little girl painted one half red and the other half blue, and down the middle she painted a yellow strip. The little girl went and presented the Bwaanag ogichidaag (Dakota warriors) with the drum and demonstrated to them the proper custody of the drum and how they must bestow it upon their former enemies. Soon after the Bwaanag ogichidaag laid down their weapons and they too started to connect with their hearts. Peace came into the people's hearts...soon the people of both Nations hunted together, celebrated festivals together, derived their warmth from the same fire, and, in some cases, ate from the same bowl, yes even hung their garments together..."*

The Grandfather Spirit Drum of the Midewiwin

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Traditionally, a Midewigaan (Midewiwin Lodge) is presided over by the Spirit of the Midewiwin called MIDE-MANIDOO, in the form of the Mishoomisinaan Dewe'igan or GRANDFATHER SPIRIT WATER DRUM. It is believed that he sound of the drum, be it a personal or communal one, gives strength and unity and contacts the singers/drummers with GICHI-MANIDOO, the Great Mystery. Originally made of a body crafted of the wood of an Elder Tree (basswood), its rawhide skin stretched over the drum head provided by Otter or Deer, its base gifted by Turtle, its rag wrap coiled around the rim contributed by Snake, and the drum stick formed by the beak of Loon, Mide drums in general and the Grandfather Water Drum in particular are regarded as AADIZOOKAANAG: literally: Makers Of Stories; Spirit Grandfathers, or persons of the other-than-human-class. The Mide drum is a living entity given life through the spirits of the wood and the animals that fashioned it, and through the energy that the drum maker put in its construction. The drum, when played, communicates with the natural world and, through that, with the realms of the supernatural, and by beating its rawhide membrane and producing sound from it, the Mide invokes the presence of, and makes himself heard to, the MIDE-MANIDOOG, thus enabling him to actively promote bimaadiziwin (prolonging human life) through that communication. Zhaawano created this silver Mide drum bolo tie, a sterling silver slide attached to a silver snake chain lanyard, the 0.98 x 1.18 inch (25 x 30 mm) slide featuring the stylized image of the Sun, symbol of Great Mystery and representing the below-told story of the LITTLE BOY DRUM. The green of the large oval malachite stone cabochon adorning the drum head stands for Omizakamigokwe, the Eathmother, source of all life; the smaller malachite stone placed in the head of the drumstick denotes innocence in the heart of the People. A silver  rattle design  is attached to the side of the drum body and set with an oval red coral cabochon representing the element Fire and the campfires of the People as well as the Seven Prophecies that the Great Mystery bestowed long ago on the People, and the Migizi miigwan (eagle feather) hanging from the drumstick handle symbolizes the spiritual aspects of Midewiwin healing practices. The silver snake necklace that serves as the bolo cord refers to the resemblance between a Grandfather Drum and the snake and suggests shared characteristics. (The ability of a snake to change shape and to transform through the shedding of its skin is reflected in the circular form of a Grandfather Drum and the snake skin, which is coiled around its rim in order to hold the skin membrane tightly, can be removed or replaced at will.) Lastly, the silver bangle tips at the ends of the silver lanyard show a Thunderbird's zigzag lightning pattern (which in turn is a metaphorical interpretation of the extended power of the otter, symbol of Mide Medicine), and two stylized leaves representing the Plant and Tree world. In Midewiwin practice, the Grandfather is supported by OSHKAABEWIS, his ceremonial helper, called the LITTLE BOY WATER DRUM in reference to the below-told origin story of the Midewiwin, about a little bear boy who descended from the Sun and remained for some time among the Anishinaabeg to teach them the mysteries of the Midewiwin. It is said that the Little Boy points the way to the Grandfather, but when the Grandfather comes, darkness flees before him, and the whole world, the whole sky is enlightened...According to Midewiwin belief the sound of the Mide drum causes the sky to brighten up and the water to be calm for the person who carries the drum. Both midewe'igan and baagaakokwaan are considered to be gifts from GICHI-MANIDOO; the latter is held even more sacred than the drum itself. To view details of this bolo tie, go to our website.

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Miskwaabik Animikii (Copper Thunderbird/Norval Morrisseau) (1932-2007) sounding a contemporary Thunderbird hand drum hand-painted with Thunderbird and turtle designs.

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Two Midewiwin Origin Stories 

19th century Misi-zaaga'iganiing (Mille Lacs) ogimaa (chief) Bayezhig related the story of GWIIWIZENS WEDIZHICHIGEWINID: Deeds of a little boy, a traditional origin story of the Anishinaabeg and their Midewiwin Society. Below is given a free rendering in zhaaganaashiimowin (English):

"In the beginning, GICHI-MANIDOO made the MIDE MANIDOOG (Mide Spirits). It first created two men, and two women; but they had no power of thought or reason. Then GICHI-MANIDOOmade them rational beings. It took them in its hands so that they should multiply; it paired them, and from this sprung the ANISHINAABEG. When there were ANISHINAABEG (people) it placed them upon the earth, but it soon observed that they were subject to sickness, misery, and death, and that unless it provided them with the Sacred Medicine they would soon become extinct.”

“Between the position occupied by GICHI-MANIDOOand the earth were four lesser manidoog with whom GICHI-MANIDOOdecided to commune, and to impart to them the mysteries by which the Anishinaabeg could be benefited. So GICHI-MANIDOO first spoke to one manidoo and told him all it had to say, who in turn communicated the same information to the next, and he in turn to next, who also communed with the next. They all met in council, and determined to call in the wendaanimag noodinoon (four wind manidoog). After consulting as to what would be best for the comfort and welfare of the Anishinaabeg, the wendaanimag noodinoon agreed to ask GICHI-MANIDOOto communicate the Mystery of the Sacred Medicine to the people.”

“GICHI-MANIDOOthen went to GIIZIS the Sun Spirit and asked him to descend to the earth and instruct the people as had been decided upon by the council. GIIZIS, in the form of a gwiiwizens (little boy), went to the earth and lived with a woman who had a little boy of her own. This family went away in the autumn to hunt, and during the winter this woman’s son left for the Spirit World, or the Land of Souls. The parents were so much distressed that they decided to return to the village and bury the body there; so they made preparations to return, and as they traveled along, they would each evening erect several poles upon which the body was placed to prevent the wild beasts from devouring it. When the boy whose soul had crossed to the other side was thus hanging upon the poles, the adopted child—who was the Sun Spirit—would play about the camp and amuse himself, and finally told his adopted father he pitied him, and his mother, for their sorrow. The adopted son said he could make his brother return to the physical world, whereupon the parents expressed great surprise and desired to know how that could be accomplished."

“The adopted boy then had the party hasten to the village, when he said, “Get the women to make a wiigiwaam (lodge) of bark, put the boy in a covering of wiigwaas (birch bark) and place the body on the ground in the middle of the wiigiwaam.”

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“On the next morning after this had been done, the family and friends went into this lodge and seated themselves around the corpse. When they had all been sitting quietly for some time, they saw through the doorway the approach of a bear, which gradually came towards the wiigiwaam, entered it, and placed itself before the dead body and said, “ho, ho, ho, ho,” when he passed around it towards the left side, with a trembling motion, and as he did so, the body began quivering, and the quivering increased as the bear continued until he had passed around four times, when the body came to life again and stood up. Then the bear called to the father, who was sitting in the distant right-hand corner of the wiigiwaam, and addressed to him the following words:

Noos gaawiin anishinaabewisii, ayaawiyaan manidoo ningwizis.
Bi-mayaa-miniik niiji-manidoo mayaa zhigwa ji-gi-aawiyan.
Noose, zhigwa asemaa ji-atooyeg. E-mikondem mii eta
aabiding ji-gashkitood wenji-bimaadizid omaa agaawaa
bimaadizid mii omaa; niijii-manidoo mayaa zhigwa ji-giiweyaan.

(“My father is not a human. I, a son, am a Spirit.
Just as - my fellow Spirit - you now are.
Father! Now, you shall put out tobacco. Recalling that he could do this
only once in order to barely live here, thus he lived here;
my fellow Spirit, so now, I must go home.”)”**

“The little bear boy was the one who did this. He then remained among the Anishinaabeg and taught them the mysteries of the Midewiwin; and, after he had finished, he told his adopted father that as his mission had been fulfilled he was to return to his kindred manidoog, for the Anishinaabeg would have no need to fear sickness as they now possessed the Midewiwin which would enable them to live. He also said that his spirit could bring a body to life but once, and he would now return to GIIZIS (the sun) from which they would feel his influence.”***

Another aadizookaan (sacred story) about the origin of Midewiwin relates of Nigig the Otter and how he brought the Ojibweg Medicine and the Mide drum. Wiinabozho, the beloved, benevolent aadizookaan (Spirit Helper) of the Anishinaabe Peoples, noticed that the Ojibweg were vulnerable and helpless against famine, sickness, and death, and he decided to help save them from extinction.

“When Nanabozho (as Wiinabozho was called by Nookomis, his grandmother) was pensively drifting across the center of Aki (the Earth), he heard laughter in the distance, and as he moved closer he perceived a dark, slender, fast-moving object on the surface of the Big Lake to the west, and then in all four directions; and then, within the blink of an eye, the directions were brought together in what appeared to be a madoodiswan (purification, or sweat lodge) in the center of Aki. It was in this sacred place, where sky, water, and land come together, that Nanabozho saw Nigig, the Otter. Nanabozho, understanding and appreciating the magic phenomenon he had witnessed before his very eyes, instructed the Otter in the mysteries of the Midewiwin and he gave him a Midewewe’igan (Ceremonial  Drum) and the Miigis (cowrie) shell, telling him how they should be used at sacred feasts and during the ceremonial of initiation; he also gave him a Zhiishiigwan (Ceremonial Rattle) to be used when curing the sick, and Asemaa (tobacco) to be utilized in invocations of the Spirits and in making peace with enemies.”

Nigig offered these sacred objects and instructions to the starving Anishinaabeg and thus saved them from extinction, and they gratefully chose him as symbol of Healing and elected him the patron of their Lodge. Nigig has various ceremonial roles in the Midewiwin Lodge, and it is said there are pictorial representations of him inscribed in several origin-migration birch-bark scrolls and in no fewer than seven scrolls containing mnemonics of Mide songs, and in at least two locations near a body of water sacred rock paintings of Otter can be seen with power lines emanating from his body. He gives his skin for the Midewayaan (Medicine Bag) that carries the medicinal herbs, charms, and miigisag (cowry shells) used for symbolically "shooting" novices during their initiation into the Mide Lodge, and in the old days his power was multiplied by the Anishinaabekweg (women) who portrayed his abstract, patterned image on various ornaments, costumes, utensils, weapons, and sacred objects…particularly that of the zigzag trail of the otter and its tail-swaying movements when pursued – as it tries to deceive the predator or hunter by changing its course. Often called a lightning pattern, this design element, traditionally occurring, often in doubled or even tripled form, in Anishinaabe quill and bead work, is said to represent not only Otter’s zigzag stride but also his extended power, reaching far into the sky, into the realms of the Thunderbirds who create thunder and lightning (see the zigzag outlines at the bottom of  the cylindrical bolo tie tips in the photo). 

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The people that belonged to Zhaawano’s doodem (clan), Waabizheshi or Marten, sometimes depicted Otter as a hunter and warrior/strategist, and to this day, his characteristics, like his playfulness, craftiness, adaptability, industriousness, and his adventurous and autonomous nature, are still core aspects of the teachings and the leadership of the Midewiwin Lodge. Otter symbolizes new life, and all of life is seen as an extension of Otter’s magical power. Just as the Anishinaabeg have drawn from time immemorial on the resources of both land and water to survive, so too the Otter, being one of their most important mediators between the physical world and the spirit world, lives in both environments, and the People have always tried to emulate his talent for moving through both worlds with ease, playfulness, and humor. 

But above allt, Nigig, who first and foremost discloses his power through sound, is respected and revered for having brought the Anishinaabeg the Gift of Medicine and the sacred drum whose pulsating sound reaches far and corresponds with the voices and the heartbeat of the cosmos...

Giiwenh. That´s how far this blog story goes. Miigwech for reading and listening!

The next blog story will be about the history and spirit powers of the Mide Miigis shell. 
Bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga: please come see us again! 

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Sources:

* Traditional story freely adopted from Young Otter woman Design.** Translation by Charles J. Lippert.

***Traditional storyfreely adapted from the Gutenberg files.

Jewelry and jewelry photography by ZhaawanArt Fisher Star Creations.
Acrylic painting of drummers by Cecil Youngfox.

Acrylic painting of Bear by Simone McLeod.
Acrylic painting of Otter by Bruce Morrisseau.  

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River "#16" First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry and wedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Doodem clan rings, jewelry, and paintings, part 1

August 17, 2014, 2:18 pm

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"What's your Doodem?"

Boozhoo, aaniin!

Welcome to part 1 of our brand new blog series titled "Doodem clan rings, jewelry, and paintings, part 1", in which we connect our storytelling art - in the form of rings, jewelry, and canvases - with the odoodeman (clans) of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Peoples of the northern regions of Turtle Island - nowadays called Canada and the United States. The focus in this blog post will be on the system of kinship and the origin of the clans of both Nations. We will learn that in Anishinaabe as well as in Haudenosaunee societies, the families, which have an extended nature, are organized into clans, or, in the case of the Anishinaabeg, into phratries (clan groups) that in turn are divided into clans and subclans; the purpose of these phratries and clans has always been to divide labor and spiritual-ceremonial tasks, provide general support, and to stress identity of self and the group.

Gidoodeminaanig, our blood relations

Since time immemorial, the Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee Peoples have a unique and powerful system of government, based on an intricate, very complex network of mutual kin rights and obligations. This web of kinship, which in the old days used to be the frame and fabric of their societies, is called gid-oodem-inaanig in the Ojibwe language. This roughly translates into "our blood relations", or "our clans". The literal meaning of the word (d)oodem could be: "breast from which I draw", in other words: "That from which I draw my purpose, meaning, and being."*

   

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Gakina-awiiya (We Are All Related), acrylic painting by Simone McLeod

Voices of the animals

The Native Peoples of Turtle Island have always paid attention to the voices of the supernatural powers that dwell the four corners of the Universe; they have always listened to the voices of the Sun, the Moon, the stars, the rivers and lakes, the trees, plants and rock formations, and, in particular, to the voices of the animals, which are looked upon as the older and wiser relatives of mankind. Animals have always inhabited the world of our Native Peoples, which they often shared with them, and from time immemorial, animals intersect the People's paths in many ways. Animals are regarded as mysterious, ambiguous even; they visit individuals in dreams and songs and chants for instructions and directions and they hold up a mirror to show them where their individual and collective vices and strength lie. This is why throughout the ages many generations of artists and craftsmen and craftswomen have inscribed and painted countless stylized images of their animal relatives on rocks and cliff walls, on their garments and medicine bags, on copper and led slates and on drums, and in sacred teaching devices such as birch bark scrolls. Our ancestors listened very carefully to the animal relatives and paid careful attention to their ways because they believed that animals disclose certain norms and principles that they, as humans, needed for living long and healthy lives; and because they understood that animals represent the basic needs of human society, they chose them as emblems for their phrarties and clans. Thus, trough the clanship system founded by our ancestors, animals, even in our modern day and age, instill in clan members certain virtues to emulate and provide them with a set of life-long responsibilities to live up to - both individually and communally.

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Origin of the Anishinaabe clan groups

An ancient oral tradition of the Ojibwe Peoples, depicted on birch bark scrolls and handed over by countless generations of MIDEWIWIN (Great Medicine Lodge) People, relates the origin of the clan groups of the Anishinaabe Peoples, to which belong, among others, the Niswii-mishkodewin or Confederation of Three Fires (consisting of the Ojibweg, the Odaawaag (Odawa), and the Bodéwadmik (Potawatomi); the Anishininiwag (Oji-Cree); Odishkwaagamiig (Nipissing); the Misizaagiwininiwag (Mississaugas); the Omàmiwininiwak (Algonquin); and the Mamaceqtaw (Menominee).

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NAME DOODEM (Sturgeon Clan) by Simone McLeod.

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The same Ojibwe tradition - which by the way is not taken for granted by other Anishinaabe Peoples such as the Mamaceqtaw, Anishininiwag, Odishkwaagamig, Misizaagiwininiwag, and Omàmiwininiwak, who maintain that they have been in their current location since time immemorial - relates that thousands of years ago when the Anishinaabeg were still living in Waabanaki or Dawn Land along the northern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, seven great beings emerged from the sea. These beings are called called Midemiigis-gaa-niigaani-gikendangig; prophets who had taken the form of Miigisag (Seashells). These prophets established a unique system of kinship based on five phratries or clan groups divided into several different odoodeman(clans or totems). Each Miigis Being represented an animal, a bird, a fish, a tree, or a Spirit Being. The Miigis Being who appeared first out of the sea was a fish called Wawaazisii (Bullhead); he would form the phratry whose clans would deliver the teachers, scholars, and healers of the Nation. 

Bullhead, along withAjijaak (Crane), Nooke (Bear), Moozwaanowe (Little moose-tail), and Aan’aawenh (Pintail Duck), created the original five clan groups. The sixth Being that came out of the sea, a Binesi-miigisag-ayaa or Thunderbird Seashell Being, is said to have sunk back into the sea after being exposed to the light and heat of the sun; others claim that he sank back into the sea to save the Peoples because he was so powerful that it was impossible to gaze at him without perishing...

Below is a list** of the odoodeman (clans and subclans) of the following Anishinaabe Nations: the Anishiniwag (Oji-Cree), the Ojibweg, the Odaawaag, the Bodéwadmik, the Odishkwaamagiig (Nipissing), the Misizaagiwininiwag (Mississaugas), and the Omàmiwininiwak (Algonquin). The clans and sub clans, some 65 in total, are classified under headings denoting the five basic needs of the Anishinaabe Nations in question and the five elementary functions of their societies. The known Anishininiwag clans are marked with (An), Ojibweg clans with (Oj), Odaawaag clans with (Od), Bodéwadmik clans with (Bd), Misizaagiwininiwag clans with (Ms), Omàmiwininiwak clans with (Om), and Odishkwaagamiig clans with (Ok). Note that usually only a few, often no more than four or five, of the odoodeman listed below are found in each of the Anishinaabe communities. Also, note that the list is not (yet) complete and (still) might contain inaccuracies! For an extensive list based on  a division of CLAN GROUPS (PHRATRIES) and their corresponding (sub)clans (partially) based on a classification by William W. Warren and in the process of being modified by Charles J. Lippert, see Wikipedia.      

N.B.: Some Ojibwe bands owe their name to the clan that used to play a significant role in their community. Throughout the ages, the Nation adopted and integrated several family groups or bands of related, Algonquin-speaking Peoples and their clan names with it. Some were captives and were forcibly folded into the Ojibwe identity; others would join out of free will, because they were being threatened or were seeking protection. Needless to say that this increase of population, which resulted into a considerable expansion of the original Ojibwe clan system, made the Nation stronger, economically, politically, and, in a way, spiritually…Well-known examples of culturally and linguistically related (historical) newcomers who are still verifiable by their doodem, are the Noquet (Nookezid or the Bearfoot Nation) who originally belonged to the Mamaquectaw (Menominee) People; the Nigigoueg (Nigigwag or the Otter Nation); the Amikwa (Amikwag or the Beaver Nation); the Marameg (Maanameg or Catfish Nation); and the Maanadwe (formerly a clan division of the Meshkwahkihaki). Over the years, many Odaawaa persons were adopted, and they, too, integrated their own odoodeman into the Ojibwe clan system. Among well-known Ojibwe clans that indicate non-Ojibwe origins are also: Ma'iingan-doodem (Wolf Clan), some of whose members are of Dakota descent, and Migizi-doodem (Bald Eagle Clan), which adopted many Anglo-Americans in the past. And as we saw earlier, among some Ojibwe communities, Waabizheshi (Marten clan) consists partly of descendants of the Maanadwe doodem (Fisher clan) of the Odagaamii Meshkwahkihaki, a sibling Anishinaabe Nation that once lived along the south shore of Gichigami (Lake Superior) in what is now Wisconsin and who were defeated in a fierce battle with the Ojibweg; throughout time, the Ojibwe Waabizheshi-doodem would also adapt many persons with a non-Native father and an Ojibwe mother. Also, Gichi-makwa (Grizzly bear) doodem contains adopted members of the Hohe Nakoda (Assiniboine) Nation, and the Gekek-doodem (Hawk Clan) consists of descendants of the Numakiki (Mandan). Finally, it should be noted that some odoodeman are considered rare today among the Ojibweg because they have in a certain point of history migrated into other Nations, such as the Nibiinaabe-doodem (Merman Clan), which shows up as the Water-spirits Clan of the Ho-Chungra (Ho-Chunk, Winnebago).

OGIMAAG (Leaders):

> Binesiwag (Large bird species: Leaders and communication with the outside world)

       ·    Ajijaak(we) (Crane or "Thunder"; sometimes decribed by its metaphorical name Baswenaazhi or "Echo Maker") (Oj, Od, Bd, Ms)

§  Nesawaakwaad ("Forked Tree") (Od)

      ·  Binesi (Oj) or Wamigo (Bo) (Thunderbird)

      ·  (O)migizi(we) (Bald Eagle) (Ms, Oj, Od, Bd)

§  Wiigwaas (Birch Bark) (Ms, Od)

§  Mitigomizh (White Oak) (Ms)

      ·     Giniw (Golden Eagle) (Bd)

      ·     Gekek (Hawk) (Oj, Od)

      ·     Bibiigiwizens (Sparrowhawk) (Od)

      ·     Makade-gekek(we) (Black Hawk) (Bd)

      ·     Ashagi (Heron) (Od)

> Bineshiinhyag (Small bird species: Internal affairs and communications; tending of Council Fires)

• Maang (Loon) (Oj, Od, Bd, Ok)
• Aan'aawenh (Pintail Duck) (Oj)
• Owewe (Snow Goose or "Swan") 
• Bine (Partridge or "Turkey") or Aagask (Grouse) (Oj, Bd)
• Nika (Goose) (Oj, Ms)
• Aandeg (Crow) (Bd)
• Gaagaagishiinh (Raven)
• Apishi-gaagaagi (Magpie) (Ms)
• (Makade)Zhiishiib ((Black)) Duck) (Oj)
• Gayaashk (Gull) (Oj ,Od)
• Jiwiiskwiiskiwe (Snipe) (Oj)
• Omooshka'oozi (Bittern) (Oj)
• Zhedeg (Pelicans) 
• Ogiishkimanisii (Kingfisher) (Oj, Ok)
• Omimii (Pigeon) (Ms)

MINISIINOOG (Defenders/Warriors): 

  ·  Nooke (Bear) (Oj, Od, Bd, Ms, Ok)

·         Makoshtigwaan (Bear-skull) (Oj) (Historical)

·         Nookezid (Tender-foot) (Oj) 

Historical)

·         Makokon (Bear's Liver) (Ms) 

Historical)

·         Miskwaa'aa (Blood) (Ok)Historical) 

·         Waabishki-makwa (White Black bear) (Oj) 

Historical)

·         Mishimakwa (Grizzly Bear) (Oj) 

Historical)

        ·  Ma'iingan (Oj) or Mawii'aa (Bd) (Wolf)

        ·  Bizhiw (Lynx) (Od)

>   Nooke, the Bear clan group, at one time used to be so numerousthat is was subdivided into body parts; nowadays these sub-clans are one single clan. Nooke doodem members, besides defenders who patrol the woods around the community to watch for danger, are also looked upon as medics and as respected guardians of Anishinaabe traditions; many decision makers and legal specialists have also emerged from the ranks of the Bear Clan.

     > Waabizheshi, the Marten, often regarded as provider, also represents the Warrior doodem in several Ojibwe communities. See also under Gaayodesiig/Providers
.

GAAYOSEDJIG (Providers: scouting, hunting and gathering):

• Moozwaanowe ("Little" Moose-tail) (Oj)
• Moozens or Moozoons or Moozonii (Little Moose) (Oj)
• Mooz (Moose) (Od)
• Adik (Caribou) (An, Oj, Od, Om, Ms)
• Waawaashkeshi (Deer) (Om, Ms)
• Mishewe (Elk) (Oj, Bd)
  • Omashkooz (Stag)
  • Eshkan (Antler)
• Waabizheshi (Marten) (Oj)
• Bizhiki (Bison) (Ms)
• Amik(waa) (Beaver) (Oj, Bd, Ms, Ok)
• Zhaangweshi (Mink)
• Wazhashk (Muskrat) (Oj)
• Gaag (Porcupine) 
• Waagoshiinh (Fox) (Bd)
• Asanagoo (Squirell) (Od, Ok)
• Zhihaag (Skunk) (Ms)
• Esiban (Raccoon) 
• Waabooz(oo) (Rabbit) (Oj, Bd)

>  Adik, the Caribou clan, is common among the Ojibweg and Anishininiwag (Oji-Cree) north of Gichigami (Lake Superior). A prominent family from this doodem from Gichi-onigamiing(the Grand Portage area, MN) relocated to Mooningwane-kaaning-minis (La Pointe, WI) and produced the chiefs Mamaangĕzide and Waabojiig. Later members of this branch became leaders at Baawitigong (Sault Ste. Marie, MI).

GEKINOO'AMAAGEDJIG (Teachers):

• Giigoonh or Namens (Fish)
  • Wawaazisii or Owaazisii (Bullhead) (Oj, Od)
  • Maanameg (Catfish) (Ms, Oj, Od)
  • Adikameg (Whitefish) (Od)
  • Namebin(aa) (Sucker) (Oj, Od, Bd)
  • Name or Maame (Sturgeon) (Oj, Bd)
  • Ginoozhe (Pike) Oj, Od, Ms)

NENAANDAWI'IWEDJIG (Healers):

• Mikinaak (Snapping Turtle) (Oj)
  • Mishiikenh (Mud Turtle) (Oj, Bd)
  • Miskwaadesi (Painted Turtle) (Oj)
• Ginebig (Snake) (Oj, Ms)
  • Omazaandamo (Black Snake) (Od)
  • Midewewe or Ozhiishiigwe (Rattle Snake), or Zhiishiigwaan (Rattle) (Od, Om)
• Omakakii (Frog) (Bd)
• Nigig (Otter) (Od, Ms)
• Nibiinaabe (Merman) (Oj) (Historical)
• Ashaageshiinh (Crab) (Bd)

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Below is a list** of the 34 clans of the Mamaceqtaw Anishinaabeg(Menominee), classified under four headings denoting the five needs of the Mamaceqtaw People and the five elementary functions of their society.

THE SPEAKERS/PEACEKEEPERS:

• Awaehsaeh (Bear)
  • Namaew (Sturgeon)
  • Mekēk (Otter)
  • Namaeh (Beaver)
  • Maehkaenāh (Mud Turtle)
  •  Ketaemīw (Porcupine)
  • Oqsas (Muskrat)
  •  Nakūtih (Sunfish)

THE DEFENDERS/WARRIORS: 

• Kiniw (Golden Eagle)
• Nāhtek (Crow)
• Saqnawananiw (Fork Tail Hawk)
•  Kākākew (Raven)
• Maeskwananiw (Red Tail Hawk)
•  Pakaestikaew (Swift-flying Hawk)
• Penaehsiw (Bald Eagle)
•  Pēnekekonaew (Fish Hawk)
• Kesēwatōhsaeh (Sparrow Hawk)
• Pepōneqnaew (Winter hawk)

THE PROVIDERS:

  > The hunters

• Mahwaew (Wolf)
• Anaem (Dog)
• Apaehsos (White Tail Deer)
•  Wākoh (Fox)
•  Onāwanik (Pine Squirrel)
• >The Harvesters

• Mōs (Moose)
•  Amāskos (Elk)
• Wāpaehsyah (Marten)
• Ocīk (Fisher)
•  Aehsepan (Raccoon)

THE BUILDERS/CRAFTSMEN:

• Otaeciah (Crane)
• Sāqsakaew (Great Blue Heron)
• Osēw (Long Tailed Duck)
• Kihkih (Coot)
•  Muak (Loon)
• Apaeskasiw (Turkey Buzzard)

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Matrilineal and patrilineal societies

As a rule, the members of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations are related through their mothers. Their clans are named after animals. Among the Anishinaabeg, clans consist of a group of people related through the father to a distant progenitor - an animal or a tree or Spirit Being from the lakes or the sky... all siblings belonging to the same family share with the father the rituals and social and ceremonial-spiritual duties of clanhood, as well as certain ritual objects such as medicine bundles, colors of facial paint, songs and chants, food taboos, and other devices that distinguish them from other clans. Patrilineal kinship among the Anishinaabeg was possibly based on the need for the close cooperation of males in hunting; one could also imagine that the aggressive patriarchal religious system of the European invaders had a certain influence on the Anishinaabe kinship system. It is therefore very plausible that in pre-contact times, the Anishinaabeg, like the Haudenosaunee Nations which used to live in the same area, had a matrilineal society - which means their doodem identity would have been passed through the mother.

Division of labor

In the old days, although nowadays of less importance and in many cases merely symbolical - but nevertheless remainig an imortant part of "tribal" identity -, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe clans used to be extremely instrumental in traditional occupations, inter-tribal relations, and marriages. They played an essential role in warfare, diplomacy, and in maintaining law and order. Doodem identity stood at the base of the division of labor, teaching, healing, defense, and leadership/communications. The clan to which an individual belonged determined his/her place and role within his/her community. Kinship, and the clansystem that reflected it, was at the heart of all social relationships. Literally all social - and, in some cases, political - interaction was conditioned by kinship. Clans used to be the number 1 binding factor; "tribal" labels held little or no meaning. Individuals regarded themselves as members of a doodem first, then a(n) (immediate) family, and then a community. This was especially true for the Anishinaabeg; it should be noted that between them and the Haudenosaunee, although both Nations were organized through clanship, existed different principles when it came to tracing descent and to organizing social/ceremonial and political life.

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MIKINAAKOMINIS (Turtle Island), sterling silver and gold hair buckle by Zhaawano. For details, see our Fisher Star Creations website.

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Needs, duties, and taboos

As we have seen above, the Anishinaabeg had originally five doodem groups, nowadays divided into at least sixty five different doodeman; Haudenosaunee society has nine clans in total. Traditionally each band or tribe or community, some of which comprised but a few families while others contained many hundreds of people, embodied and reflected (at least a few of) the social needs and public duties that gave each clan or clan group its unique identity and purpose. Sometimes - ideally - the clans of a community represented all five to nine basic needs; more often than not, however, this wasn't the case. It was, and still is, not allowed for clan members to marry someone berlonging to the same doodem. It is even forbidden to have a sexual relationship with someone who belongs to an entirely different Native Nation yet who is born into a clan of the same name! (For example: a relation between an Odaawaa Anishinaabe Bear Clan member and an Ahniyvwiya (Cherokee) Bear Clan member would be considered incestuous.)

Although nowadays many individuals have lost track of their doodem membership, we see lately a revival of the traditional knowledge, especially among the younger generations, as a way to honor one's ancestors and family and tribal identity, and to find a sense of purpose and direction in life and society - in their own communities as well as in American or Canadian society.

Origin of the Haudenosaunee clans

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Raymond R. Skye skyewampum@hotmail.com Iroquois Artist

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The clans of the Haudenosaunee Nation, or People of the Longhouse - which nowadays consists of the subnations of Onondowahgah (Seneca), Guyohkohnyoh (Cayuga), Onoñda'gega' (Onondaga), Onayotekaono (Oneida), Kanienkehaka (Mohawk), and Ska-Ruh-Reh (Tuscarora) -, were developed at a time in history when there were not as many people as there are today. It was a time when there was much uncertainty as to who was related to whom. The elders, who were worried about the harmful effects of sexual relations between closely related family members, began to hold meetings about this delicate subject and about how it was going to be addressed.

After a few meetings had been held and the Elders failed to come up with a workable solution, a young man who was usually very quiet and reserved stood up and asked if he could address the Elders and suggest a solution…He explained to the Elders that the relatives of the human beings, the animals and the birds and the fish and the trees, are the elder and wiser brothers of the humans and that they all have their own ways of doing things. He suggested that of nine families, each assigns an elder woman who, first thing each morning, pays attention to the first animal she sees. This particular species was to represent the clan for each of the women’s families, and a man and a woman belonging to the same clan were never to hang their garments together and share the same blanket at night. Thus it was decided and thus it was done; thus the clan system of the Five, later Six, Nations of the Haudenosaunee Peoples was born.***

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Origin of the clans of Michigan's Anishinaabeg

An old legacy of the Anishinaabeg of Upper Michigan tells of a prodigious tale of the legendary emergence, 700 summers ago, of five Mystery Beings from the waves of Mishigami, or Lake Michigan.

The teachings of these enigmatic newcomers resulted in a new doodem framework shaping Anishinaabe society in Michigan, and were ultimately (probably in 796 AD) followed by the historical alliance called Niswi-mishkodewin (Council of Three Fires), formed by three large southeastern bands that had emerged from the nation of the Anishinaabeg: the Ojibweg, the Odaawaag, and the Bodéwadmik.

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NAANO-DOODEMAG' ('Five Totems') - white gold, silver, turquoise, red coral bracelet by Anishinaabe Clan Rings design.

Legacy of the Five Mystery Beings

The Ojibwe legacy of the Five Mystery Beings was handed over as follows: a long time ago, after the five mysterious creatures had waded ashore, they taught the People of Michigan how they could formalize and extend a vast net of kinship.

Hereupon the Ojibweg began to form five groups of patrilineal kin whose members thought of themselves as descendants of an ancient animal ancestor. Although these members were scattered throughout the entire Great Lakes area and many would remain unknown to each other personally, they were all part of the same odoodem, or totemic clan. All five totems were represented by Awesiiyag (Animal Beings) ever since, because animals appeared to live in harmony with the laws of the world, and thus proved themselves the older, wiser brothers of the human beings.

Eventually, these original gidoodeminaaning, or our animal totems (Ajijaak the Crane; Makwa the Bear; Moozonii the Little Moose/Waabizheshi the Marten; Maanameg the Catfish; and Maang the Loon) gave rise to twenty or more totems; each associated with these original five.

The five principal clans of Baawitigong

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AJIJAAK BIMISEWIN (Flight of the Crane) overlay bolo tie by Anishinaabe Clan Rings design: oval 14K white gold slide backed by a sterling silver plate; sterling silver bolo clasp; turquoise stone in shadowbox setting, braided black leather bolo cord with 14k. white gold tips. The bolo slide measures 55 x 45 mm (2.17 x 1.77 inches).

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The stylized image of a flying crane on the above bolo tie allegorizes the origin of Baawiting (Boweting, Sault Ste. Marie), the legendary gathering place for the five major totemic clans of the southeastern Ojibwe Anishinaabeg. Being the descendants of Zhaawano's ancestors, these people – whose official name is now The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians – still live in the region of what is nowadays called Upper Michigan State.

"Many moons ago, GICHI-MANIDOO sent Ajijaak (a sandhill crane) to earth on a mission. While the spirit-bird was descending, he uttered loud and far sounding cries heard by ininiwag (humans) and manidoog (spirits) alike. Some say the cries must even have startled Makadeshigan, the spirit of the Underworld! Slowly circling down above Gichigamiin, the Great Fresh Water Lakes, sending forth his echoing cry, pleased with the numerous whitefish that glanced and swam in the clear waters and sparkling foam of the rapids, crane finally chose a resting place (known as the fifth stopping place) on a hill overlooking beautiful Baawiting. Again the crane sent forth his solitary cry and the clans of Maang (loon), Moozoonii-Waabizhesh (combined clans of little moose and marten), Awaazisii (catfish), and Makwa (bear) gathered at his call. They soon congregated a large town near the Rapids and a Ceremonial Lodge of the Midewiwin (Grand Medicine Society) was erected there, and for the second time since the People had left the Dawn Land the sound of the Midewiwin Grandfather Drum reverberated across the land and the waters. Since then the crane, who is sometimes called Baswenaazhi (the Echo Maker) and regarded as a symbol of eloquence and leadership, presides over all councils."

 - The above story is loosely based on a traditional tale related in the mid-1800's by Dagwaagaane, the gichi-ogimaa (head chief) of the Crane Clan.****

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MANIDOO-MINJIMEMENDAMOWIN ("Spirit Memory: remembering the Mide ways and the doodem relations of the Anishinaabe Peoples"), 26x66" acrylic by Simone Mcleod, July 2013.  Gathering of the five major clans of the Ojibwe People at the falls of Baawiting: from left to right: Bear, Loon, Crane, Catfish, Little Moose/Marten.

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The five original clans of the descendants of the Baawitigowinini Ojibweg - Zhaawano's Anishinaabe ancestors who gathered at the call of the Crane at baawiting, the rapids and waterfalls of Michigan's Upper Peninsula -, hold a set of traditional responsibilities for the People. As is the case among all other Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Peoples, each doodem member regards himself or herself as member of a clan first, then a community. As a rule,, doodem membership includes certain colors, songs, and ceremonies, along with responsibilities that belong to the doodem in question.

This doodem system represents five basic needs and duties, on an individual as well as social level. Below are listed the five phratries/clan groups named after animals that represent these basic elementary functions; also included are some corresponding doodem divisions:

• Binesi, the big Bird, headed by Ajijaak, the Crane, also called Baswenaazhi, the EchoMaker,is responsible for leadership and external communication because of his loud and clear voice. Members of the Crane clan are traditionally noted for giving direction and for their oratory skills. The Waabajijaak or White Crane clan provided for the traditional hereditary chiefs, and some of the more powerful chiefs of the Waabitigowininiwag met the first French explorers of Lake Superior.

       - Ajijaak (Crane)

       - Migizi (Bald eagle) 

• Bineshiinh, or Small Bird, headed by the Maang, or Loon, is a skillful fisher known for his loud, wild cry, and his habit of assuming his role of subchief, sometimes executive-chief-of-birds, with pomp and authority, definitely didn't make him very popular with the rest of the birds. Loon believes that, since nature placed a collar around his neck resembling the sacred miigis shells and also  provided him with an eye-dazzling miigisiyesimiigan (wampum breastplate), he is entitled to a leading place in council. However, this badge of honor is being openly denied by the Crane. Nevertheless, the forefathers of the present-day Anishinaabeg became very fond of him! Members of the Loon Clan are usually responsible for leadership and internal communications; in the past, loon clan members often acted as subchiefs, in conjunction with the ogimaag (chiefs) of the Crane clan. Loon clan members are often charged with the community's council fires and help facilitate dialogue on all internal and/or domestic issues. By working together and regularly checking on each other, Maang doodem and Ajijaak doodem gave the Ojibweg a balanced government.

      - Maang (Loon)

      - Nika (Goose)

      - Gaagaagishib (Cormorant)

• Onasidan (Hoofs) / Waanakozidensan (Little Paws). A prominent member is the Waabizheshi, the Marten, the progenitor of Zhaawano's ancestors. Marten clan members are looked upon as OGICHIDAAG: warrior clan people inclined to be great strategic logistic thinkers and defenders of MINO BIMAADIZiWIN, the Good Way of the Heart (Midewiwin) and of ANISHINAABEMOWIN, the beautiful language of the Ojibwe people. Their colors are yellow, light brown and gold. In the old days, members of the Marten clan were master strategists in planning the defense of their people and they often served as pipe bearers and message carriers for the ogimaag (leaders). Waabizheshi fights for change and today he defends those who commit themselves to the cultural and educative values and the survival of the language, science and art of the Anishinaabe People. On a personal level, a Marten helps others to reach their potential.

      - Waabizheshi (Marten)

      - Moozoonii (Little Moose)

      - Adik (Caribou)

• Giigoonh, or Fish, headed by the Awaazisii, the Bullhead, represents science and its members represent the duty of teaching and the virtues of patience and generosity. Maanameg or Catfish, representing one of the five odoodeman that gathered at Baawitigong, is known for producing the intellectuals of the People. Traditionally, Maanameg People are noted for their ability to combine two forms of training: imparting skills and knowledge, and passing on wisdom to the young. It was especially the Elders' task to teach about life through storytelling, chants, and dances, and to prepare the young for a vision quest. Fish clan members are also known to draw on their knowledge to solve disputes between the leaders of the Crane and Loon Clans. Traditionally fish clan people are known for long life and baldness in old age.

      - Maanameg (Catfish)

      - Awaasii (Bullhead)  

      - Adikameg (Whitefish) 

      - Namebin (Sucker) 

      - Name (Sturgeon) 
      - Ginoozhe (Pike)      

• Mang-waanakozidan, or Large Paws, was headed by the Makwa, the Bear, who was selected for his fierceness and bravery and is therefore in charge of defense. They are the police force and the medics of their Nation. Bear clan members have always served and protected their communities and since they traditionally spend much time outdoors they have great knowledge of medicinal plants and herbs used for treating minor diseases and infections. Traditionally, bear clan members are known for their thick black hair that never whitens even in old age.

     - Makwa (Bear)

      -Makade-makwa (Black bear)
      - Ozaawi-makwa (Brown bear)

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Apenimowin (Trust) - an acrylic painting by Simone Mcleod (2013), part of a Loon series belonging to a private collection. Copyright Simone McLleod Fisher Star Creations. View our website for details.

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Voice of the loon

"The Great Mystery once made a a bird, a great Sandhill Crane, and it sent the bird from the Skies to make its abode on Earth. After the spirit bird had shown the People where to establish a new settlement at the the rapids of Baawiting, he presided over the odoodeman (totemic clans) of loon, bear, catfish, and the marten and little-moose odoodem."

"Once again the bird took flight and it flew slowly over the waters of Gichigami. Pleased with the sand point of Zhaagawaamikong (Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin), it circled over it, and viewed the numerous fish as they swam about in the clear depths of the Great Lake."

"The great spirit bird then lit on Zhaagawaamikong, and from there again it uttered its solitary cry. A voice came from the calm bosom of the lake in answer. Baswenaazhi, pleased with the musical sound of of the voice, again sent forth its cry, and the answering bird made its appearance in the wampum-breasted Maang (loon). The bird spoke to it in a gentle tone, "Is it you who gives answer to my cry?" The loon answered "It is I". The crane then said to him, "Your voice is music. It is melody. It sounds sweet to my ear. From now on I appoint you to answer my voice in counsil".

"Thus Maang became the first in council, but he who made him ogimaa was Baswenaazhi, the Echo-maker. These are the words of my ancestors, who, from generation to generation, have repeated them into the ears of their children."****

(The above is a free rendering of the final words spoken in 1842 to Loon Clan chief Gichi-wiishkiin (Great Buffalo) by Dagwaagaane, the gichi-ogimaa (elder spokesman) of the Crane Clan. A disagreement had risen between members of both clans as to which would provide the heriditary ogimaa at Mooningwane-kaaning-minis (La Pointe on Madeline Island), and by making an argument using the aadizookaan (allegorical narrative) of the Crane and the Loon, gichi-ogimaa Dagwaagaane managed to settle the leadership dispute for once and for all.)*****

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What's your doodem?

Although, as we mentioned earlier, some traditional sources state that farther back in history the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg were matrilineal – which means that doodem identity was passed through the mother – , nowadays the children usually become automatically members of the father's clan. Members of the same matrilineal or patrilineal clan, no matter how many miles apart, are kin and forbidden to marry, and are expected always to extend hospitality, food and lodging to each other. That tradition is carried on today. Tradition dictates that when members are buried, their odoodemimazininii (clan symbols) appear on their graves to mark their lineage. Also, clan symbols appear in birch bark scrolls of the Midewiwin and in the old treaty documents.

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Wooden lineage (doodem) effigies at Baawitigong (Sault Ste. Marie, MI)

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In the age-old tradition, members of the same doodem respectfully acknowledged each other with the greeting Aaniin odoodemaayaan (or just: Aaniin?), meaning "What is your clan? " In Zhaawano's case the answer could be: 

Zhaawano Giizhik indanishinaabewinikaazowin. Waabizheshi niin indoodem. Niin indanishinaabe. Baawiting indoonjibaa miinawaa o'ow Netherlands. This means: Southern White Cedar is my Native name. Marten is my clan. I am Anishinaabe. I come from the Place of the Rapids and also from the Netherlands.”

When asked the “aaniin” question, Simone would answer as follows:  

Ahki-ekwanīsit nintanihšināpēwinihkās. Namē nīn nintōtēm. Nintanihšināpēhkwē. Asātiwi-sīpīnk nintōncipā mīnawā Nihtāwikihcikānīs. [Aki-egwaniizid nindanishinaabewinikaaz. Name niin nindoodem. Nindanishinaabekwe. Azaadiwi-ziibiing nindoonjibaa miinawaa Nitaawigitigaanens]. This means: "Earth Blanket is my traditional name. Sturgeon is my clan. I am an Anishinaabe woman, I come from the Poplar River (a Nakawē Anishinaabe First Nation) and also from the Place of Good Little Garden (James Smith Cree Nation)."

Giiwenh. That´s how far this blog story goes. Miigwech for reading and listening!

The next blog post in this series will be about the Bear Clan People... 

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*  Source: Basil Johnston, Ojibway Heritage Bison Book 1990, University of Nebraska Press, p. 61. 

**  Sources: Basil Johnston, Ojibway Heritage Bison Book 1990, University of Nebraska Press, p. 60, The Menominee Clan Story website, and Wikipedia.

*** Source:Haudenosauneenw.com

****Source: William Warren, History of the Ojibway People (1855).

*****Source:Charles E. Cleland, Rites Of Conquest the University of Michigan, 1992.  

         p. 5-6.

A big miigwech goes to Charles L. Lippert, whose opinions and advice have been of invaluable help in the process of writing this blog story. 

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River "#16" First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry and wedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Teaching Stories, part 18

August 26, 2014, 2:17 pm

≫ Next: Spirit Of The Seasons, part 2

≪ Previous: Doodem clan rings, jewelry, and paintings, part 1

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“That Which Is Given To Us”

(A Native perspective on the notion of wealth)

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CHI-MIIGWECH BIMAADIZIWIN (A PRAYER TO LIFE)

"Chi-miigwech for cleansing tears that can fall like the rain.

Miigwech for the beautiful sun that can really shine on your morning smiles.

Miigwech for the seasons who enter and leave your life like friends. Bringing rejuvenating temperatures at times when your soul feels cold.

Miigwech to the four legged who provide nourishment and protection. Blanketing us when we look at our naked loneliness.

Miigwech for the depth of our emotions that allow us to understand true joy by showing us pain.

Miigwech for another day that cannot be truly wasted if I choose to spend it curled up like a kitten reflecting on lifes mysteries.

Miigwech for allowing me to shed my raindrops as I water the flower that will bloom as new love within."

- Simone McLeod

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Offering a bowl of Giizhik (Cedar)

Offering a bowl of Asemaa (Tobacco)

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Gaa miinigooyaang

Offering a bowl of Mashkodewashk (Sage)

Gaa miinigooyaang [gauh-mee-nih-GO-youn-g], “That Which Is Given To Us,” is an expression that reflects an age-old Anishinaabe belief that says that everything we have is given to us by the Great Mystery as a gift that we must humbly give thanks for.

Aandakiiwinan

The Anishinaabeg have always lived according the cyclical rhythm set by, as they call it, aandakiiwinan [aun-dah-kee-win-un], the seasonal changes. Survival and economic well-being depended upon being in balance and harmony with the plant world, the animal world, and the world of the supernatural. The Great Mystery and the animals provided the gifts of food, shelter, clothing, medicine, and dreams and the people completed the circle of giving through ceremonies, offering asemaa [ah-say-mah] (tobacco) and a myriad of other gifts in gratitude, and by sharing with each other.*

Gakina gegoo

All life forms were considered animated and inter-related “persons” or “relatives” (called akina inawemaaganag: all my relations) ([uh-kin-uh-'n-nah-way-MAU-gun-ug])-possessing a consciousness, rationale, and a will of their own. This means that the world was seen as one gigantic web of social relations, an extended family where the relationship between humans and the nonhuman and spirit world is one of continuous interfusion and reciprocal exchange. All these inawemaaganag or “next of kin persons” were, and still are, described as gakina gegoo,  “everyone and everything” or “all living things” ([guh-kih-nuh-gay-goo]). The Anishinaabeg believe that gakina gegoo bimaadad idash gakina awiiya bimaadiziwag: “everything and everyone is alive”, and gakina gegoo gii ozhigigaade ge inaabadag: “everything is created for a purpose”.

Offering a bowl of Wiingashk (Sweetgrass)

Traditionally, this philosophy of gakina gegoo, or inter-dependency of all things, lay at the heart of the economic system of the Anishinaabe Peoples: the individual was dependent upon his community for survival, the community was dependent on nature for survival, and nature was dependent on the Spirit World for survival. 

The traditional definition of wealth has always been the ability to have enough to share with the community, and to give away what one does not strictly need in order to survive. 

Sharing with each other and giving away more than one receives were therefore the greatest of the virtues…

Cultural clash of worldviews

Needless to say that the aggressive Euro-American/ Canadian supply and demand market economy of today has a profound, if not (nearly) devastating, impact on the worldview and the economic survival of the First Peoples who have been inhabiting Turtle Island since the beginning of times.

To be continued...

Miigwech for reading and listening.

Miigwechiwendan akina gegoo na: Be Thankful For Everything!

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The four sacred plants of the Anishinaabe Peoples:*

• ASEMAA, tobacco, representing the Eastern direction. The oldtime Anishinaabeg also used giniginige (commonly written as “kinnikinnick”), a mixture of mishkoobimizh (red osier dogwood) and zaagaakominagaanzh (bearberry) and tobacco, or sometimes mishkwaabiimizh (red willow) with wiingashk (sweetgrass). Both asemaa and giniginige are still used in the offering of prayer to GICHI-MANIDOO, as a way of communication, their smoke lifting the prayers to the Great Mystery, or set on the ground in a clean place as an offering. Either offered through the fire (Zagaswaawin, smoking of tobacco) or just held in hand, using tobacco to extend prayers of thankfulness is something that is done on a daily basis as each new day is greeted. And to this day, Asemaakewin (tobacco offering) is customary when seeking knowledge or advice from an Elder or when a Pipe and/or a Drum is present.

• GIIZHIK, white cedar, representing the Southern direction. When burned, its snipped leaves act as a purifier, giving out a pleasant piny scent, cleansing the area as well as body and soul of any participant.

• MASHKODEWASHK, white sage, representing the Western direction. It is burned as a purifier, emitting a spicy scent.

• WIINGASHK, sweetgrass, representing the North. This too, is a purifier, replacing negative with positive. It gives out a sweet, aromatic scent, especially when burnt or when it rains. When it is harvested, it is cut, never pulled. Many things are made with it such as wiingashkoo`iinan (coiled baskets), and when braided it signifies the hair of Omizakamigokwe (Ogashinan), the Earthmother,

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* Source: Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa series
* Source: The Universe Of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg 

Images: Akina Inakaaneziwinan Wiikondiwin ("All Nations' Feast") acrylic painting by Simone McLeod (2014)
Four details of the acryliv painting Aki Omiigiwewinan ("Gifts From Mother Earth") by Simone McLeod (2014)

To see more artwork by Simone, please go to our website Fisher Star Creations. 

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River "#16" First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry and wedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Spirit Of The Seasons, part 2

September 22, 2014, 7:33 am

≫ Next: Teaching Stories, part 19

≪ Previous: Teaching Stories, part 18

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"Spirit of Autumn"

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Boozhoo, aaniin!

Welcome to part 2 of our blog series titled Spirit Of The Seasons, in which we connect our storytelling art - and the work of other artists - with the ancient teachings of the Anishinaabe Peoples. Today's blog post celebrates the first day of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Today, on the 22nd day of the Moon that our People call Waatebagaa-giizis or Leaves are Turning Color Moon, the Sun crosses the celestial equator, and today the spirits of the Summer's last heat and the Fall's first chill meet.


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"Autumn Lust"

Close your eyes 
lend your ears
your very heart
rustling colors
racing the winds
oranges yellows browns
vying for attention
from those who care
nature gets naked
look as I dare
the beauty
of gnarled limbs
longing to touch
flesh left too long
perhaps too new
to fathom even
oceans of emotions
swirling at cold feet
loving the dismal
such beauty gone awry
yes wind kiss me
know I am alive
I am thirsty
lying in wait
in each season
feel my autumn lust...

- Simone McLeod, October 2013

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Zhezhoobii'iged, the Spirit Painter

Ahaw 'ngad aadzooke (Now, we will tell you a sacred story).

"Zhezhoobii’iged, the Spirit Painter, works at night with his friend Ningiigwagi, the Frost. 

They splash color on the leaves preparing Ogashinan (Mother Earth) when she wears her finest most beautiful clothes. 

Ogashinan performs her annual dance for GICHI-MANIDOO the Great Mystery and all the children of the Earth. Everything is ripe at this time. Leaves reach their medicine time and are picked or dug up and stored for ceremonial use. 

Zhezhoobii’iged and Ningiigwagi work to bring color to the dried leaves and plants. The beautiful colors are taken from the juices of roots, plants, and fruits. Once the colors are mixed, Zhezhoobii’igedbrushes them onto the plants with corn tassels.

Their reward is the joy they bring to Creation and all people.

As the leaves began to turn, Zhezhoobii’iged, the Spirit Painter, is busy brushing these brilliant colors onto the plants. Ogashinan is getting ready for the final dance, which happens every year at Binaakwe Giizis, Leaves Falling Down Moon.

Wearing her finest and most colorful dress, Ogashinan dances until all the beautiful leaves have fallen. Ogashinan has then finished her sacred, annual work, and is now ready to rest, to sleep peacefully and quietly, with dignity, happiness and satisfaction; for she knows that she has fed, nourished, and provided the food for all her children. 

Such is the sacred story of Zhezhoobii’iged, the Spirit Painter."*

Giiwenh: that´s how far this blog story goes. Miigwech for reading and listening!

Bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga: please come see us again!

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*The above aadizookaan (traditional story) is loosely based on a story taken from the Anishinaabe Almanac by Edward Benton-Banai.

Illustration: Autumn Spirit Within by Maxine Noel/Ioyan Mani.

About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River "#16" First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry and wedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Teaching Stories, part 19

October 19, 2014, 4:05 am

≫ Next: Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes. part 4

≪ Previous: Spirit Of The Seasons, part 2

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"I AM AN INVISIBLE CHILD"


A personal account of the Canadian Residential School trauma

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Aaniin, boozhoo, hello!


My name is Simone McLeod, my traditional name is Aki-egwaniizid. It means "All that covers the earth". I am one of thousands of survivors of the Residential/Boarding School horror that has held Native Peoples in Canada and the United States in a devastating grip for almost 130 years. 

Some time ago I wrote a book about my life. I am not ashamed of the roads that I had to walk down. I am not ashamed of the ways in which people made me feel about myself. Or of how I often felt dirty and, sometimes, like nothing at all. 

The book came about after being asked by the Police to keep an account of memories I had as a child because I had a problem with my memory and timelines. Even such simple facts as recalling where certain walls and bedroom were because they were constantly changing. It is not that I was confused like they thought, it is simply because I lived in a house that was always morphing.

I grew up in a house run by first generation Indian Residential School Survivors. There was not one person who was in charge of me who did not attend these schools.

In the beginning of my book, you could see how much I hated my parents, yet at the same time, felt such a great love and loyalty. When the first of my siblings passed on, it ripped my heart out and all I had to wrap around my trembling empty shoulders was a blanket of flashbacks of people touching me and yelling at me. Flashbacks of small dirty faces of little kids trying to survive the best they could in a jungle where humans were worse predators than the mountain lions I heard in the valley or the bears who left scat on the paths I played on.

When I wrote the book the memories go as far back as to when I was still trying to crawl off of a bed and my feet could not reach the floor yet. I remember this because I would hang there so terrified thinking I was going to fall into a deep pit and disappear. Then when I go back further to when I was younger or around the same age it is my mother who filled in some of the blanks of my life. When she died shortly after my brother she gave me the greatest gift.

She talked to the authorities and confirmed my sexual abuse. I was at home with my husband and I cried for two weeks straight. I could finally look in the mirror and I could finally see me! I was here, then and now, I was not crazy!

I referred to myself, and to others like me, as "Invisible Children" because I do not have memories of being loved or being hugged ever. I had no one. I had my siblings but that is it. I had learned to be seen and not heard. I learned to go out when the sun came to give morning kisses and the birds called to me. I would head to the bushes or to the valley and I would be gone for hours and sometimes, most of the day. I remember times when I was tip toeing through seas of drunks passed out or being loud during parties. It was how sneaking around and not letting adults see me that caused me use the reference "Invisible Children".

I know that some who have only ever known love and gentleness their whole life might not have even the slightest clue about what I am talking about. I also realize that some might think that I was and am not living in a real world. To you I say "I forgive you". I forgive you for not "seeing" just what the Indian Residential Schools have done to my people. I am but one person in a pool of thousands. I am but one "Invisible Child" and even today, as I try and help others like me and the next generations, no matter how big I get or how well known I get, I will never stop being invisible. I will also never give up speaking even though it may hurt the ears of the gentle people. Perhaps it is time for them to show some great strength and try and right a wrong as opposed to reading our stories and being amused by our claw marks left on mother earth as we try and climb back to where we are supposed to be.

I no longer begrudge the people who gave me life. Instead I see their inner abused child. I love and respect them and someday, this era of recovery will be over. Not by forgiving, but by understanding.


I will never be quiet about my life and I will never feel shame at how my people choose to deal with this. We are someone's resilient child inside and we will come back strong wearing our scars like armour!

Miigwech for listening...

Illustration: Invisible Child, miniature deep edge textured canvas by Simone McLeod.

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg ("#16" Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.

Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist, a writer, and a designer of Native American jewelry and wedding rings, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes. part 4

November 15, 2014, 4:43 am

≫ Next: Reflections of the Great Lakes, part 6

≪ Previous: Teaching Stories, part 19

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"The Flower and the Star"

A story told and illustrated by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik

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Aaniin. Biindigen! Hello, welcome to our blog!

Today's story is the fourth in a new blog series named "Love Stories From the Land of Many Lakes". 

It is a collection of love stories written and provided with jewelry images and illustrations of paintings and drawings by our hands. The stories are based on aadizookaanan (traditional stories) of our People, the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg of Gaa-zaaga'iganikaag, the land of many lakes - the Great Lakes area of Mikinaakominis (Turtle Island; North America).

These narratives are of a sacred, healing nature and told within a romantic context, their allegorical themes often provided with a personal touch. The following tale is a zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan (sacred lovestory). It is narrated in the form of a frame story, in this case a metaphoric tale of a traditional, sacred nature placed within a larger story that has also embedded in it some autobiographical elements.

The story we will relate today is about the impossible friendship between a man and a woman that, however, is so strong that it grows and flourished against all odds and thus becomes a teaching story about following your dreams, a sacred tale of healing, of withstanding and conquering both distance and time...

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A metaphorical tale of lasting friendship

The story of the flower and the star…is about a friendship that is not allowed by the outside world. It is also a metaphorical tale about living and working with the options that are available to us. The trail of vine or climbing plant could be anything...it could be a way of reaching out to one another in the most difficult circumstances...or it could be the sharing of stories and artmaking through the Internet across vast distances and time zones. 

Like the flower and the star in the following story, soul mates communicate through the climbing plant. The girl in the story is able to communicate with the star by sitting as closely to the vine’s stem as possible. The story is about using the love and respect two people feel for each other as a means of expression in their art, about trying getting over feelings of loneliness and pain and bending their hurt and despair into something positive...something that might even inspire others too, something good and positive that will survive the tooth of time... 

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The Story Of Earth Flower

THE OFFERING

To stretch so freely 

In the morning rays

Happiness exuding 

The flower she plays

A deeper look inside

See hidden on her face

How tears take wetness

Down to a special place

Where in quiet solitude

Beauty takes shelter

Cloaked in hope's arms

Entwined they swelter

We are all but flowers

Needing hands that groom

Thirsting for the moisture

That will make us bloom...

Once, in the center of Anishinaabe Aki, the land of the Ojibwe People, in a village at the foot of the Falls, a beautiful young woman lived who went by the name of Aki-waabigwan (Earth Flower). She belonged to Name doodem, the clan of the Sturgeon People.

Aki-waabigwan was not so much occupied with the same things the other young women her age were interested in. She spent most of her time roaming the hills and playing with butterflies in the valleys. She kept herself very busy going on adventures and learning new things and making new friends. She was very curious about the world around her. This is what made her truly happy. However, she was not only known among her People for her playfulness and her good nature; she also possessed an extraordinarily artistic talent.

 

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A protosketch for Simone's painting The Flower And The Star, pen and ink drawing by Zhaawano Giizhik, 2013

One day Aki-waabigwan noticed a young man passing through her village and when she asked her parents who he was, they told her his name was Ojiig (Fisher Marten) and that he lived in a faraway village to the north of the Falls. From the moment they exchanged glances Aki-waabigwan and the handsome stranger fell in love with each other...But since he belonged to the same doodem as she, it was not allowed for them to join…after the young man had continued his journey, poor Aki-waabigwan stayed behind, knowing that she would never see the beautiful stranger again…so big was her sadness, so tormented were her dreams, that she decided to consult omishoomisan (her grandfather), a wise man who had much knowledge about dreams and the aches of the heart.

Grandfather invited Aki-waabigwan into his wiigiwaam (domed birkbarch lodge) to sit with him at the fire, and after she entered the lodge she offered him asemaa (tobacco) and respectfully adressed him as follows: Nimishoo! Grandfather! If you allow me I will tell you now about what lives in my heart...then, as she was looking into his smiling eyes, she commenced to tell him about the stranger whom she had fallen in love with and her fear of never seeing him again in this life. Then, she told him about a dream-vision she had the night before:

“I lied down against the black

waiting to drift into the light

of my deepest and sweetest dreams.

My eyes had barely closed

to welcome the bliss of night when

I could feel his hands take mine.

How this real world changed

as my lids fell so heavy against my cheeks

that I could hear them shut.

As I opened them on the other side

it was like stepping into the universe

being drawn up by star people.

I saw him once before when so small

that my feet could barely take me

more than a few paces at a time.

Always just above my real sight

until the darkness came this dream

before I awoke today.

We travelled through them so vast

the constellations of stories past

I had been here before?

As my feet walked into the lodge

I closed my eyes and left again

Into the universe not for the first flight.

That was taken when just a child

A hand taken to a place of freedom

Where no sounds or feelings could come.

Where will I go tonight

When he comes

To take my hands...”

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A Ladder to the Sky

Mishoomis, knowing that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation, and understanding the depth of the pain and grief that shone through the dream-vision his granddaughter had related to him, sat quiet for a while before he spoke. Finally, this is what he told Aki-waabigwan:

"Ahaw, 'ngad aadzooke (Now, I will tell a traditional story).”

“A long, long time ago, GICHI-MANIDOO (the Great Mystery) created only strong and healthy Anishinaabeg.

All were happy and prospered in Anishinaabe Aki, their turtle island home. Death was unknown to them. A huge biimaakwad(climbing plant or vineshoot) grew in the heart of Anishinaabe Aki.

It was a living ladder, connecting the Earthmother and her children with the realm of the Skyfather.

One day, because of the foolishness of an old woman who tried to climb him, the Trail of Vine collapsed under her weight. Disaster fell upon their happy homes, and the Anishinaabeg lost the gift of health and immortality.

Many, many left on Jibay-miikana, the path of souls...

Then GICHI-MANIDOO, feeling pity on the poor Ojibwe People, sent Wiinabozho with the Gift of Medicine. Called Wisakejakby our relatives to the north, Wiinabozho is a Spirit Messenger gifted with powers of transformation, the son of the West wind and a mortal woman, and very sympathetic toward our People...

So, Wiinabozho sought out a young man whom he called ODE’IMIN (Heart Berry or Strawberry), teaching him all there is to know about plants, roots, and herbs, and how to make the Standing People (the trees) lend their powers of healing and growing to the other beings.

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See our website for details of this wristwatch cuff bracelet.

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Ode’imin, who thus became the first of a long line of Mide (Medicine) men and women, passed on his newly acquired knowledge, and our People became a healthy and prosperous nation again!

In order to keep alive the knowledge of curing and the wisdom of ANISHINAABE BIMAADIZIWIN (how to live a good life), Ode’imin founded the MIDEWIWIN, the Society of Medicine Men And Women Who are In A Sacred And Unseen State - a very old association of medicine people and philosophers that still exists today. And to this day, noozis, the MIDEWIWIN and the special gift of medicine are celebrated by the various peoples of the Anishinaabeg!

  

Giiwenh. So the story goes.”

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"Be like the flower in the story, noozis"

After pausing a while, Grandfather continued:

“I know noozis (my grandchild), this is a sad tale because it speaks of suffering and disaster, but it is also a story of great beauty.

I have told you this tale because I know you are not like that poor old woman whose desperate dreams made her climb the living ladder, this trail of vine whose branches reached all the way into the sky. You will learn to understand the art of reaching out into the sky world by sitting like a flower in late summer, staying as close to the roots of the climbing plant as possible. Through the climbing plant, you will talk and reach out to the star high up in the sky. This way the star will hear you and he will use the climbing plant to send to her his dreams and thoughts and words, to return to her the love she sends up to him. The star will know that the flower, whose voice he hears from up there, deserves to have the love she sends to him returned to her tenfold.

Although it is sad that the flower cannot use the trail of vine to live in the sky world forever, and the lone star cannot descend to the home of the flower that lives on the earth, the star will see that the flower flourishes each day a little more, and it will make him happy. It will make him so happy that at clear nights, the Ojibwe People will notice that the star shines more brightly on their homes than before. And the faces of the Ojibwe People will forever reflect the deep, shining love that the star holds for the flower.”

Grandfather concluded  with the lesson learned:

“Inside the tale of the climbing plant and Ode’imin who restored the gift of health and long life to the People, lives another, hidden tale. It tells the story about the flower and the star. This story is also about you and the stranger from the north and the eternal love you hold for each other. Be wise noozis, be like the flower in the story for she teaches us that the power of love to create healing is unlimited. Try to understand the ways of the heart and the healing medicine it holds. Do not get caught up in your dreams of longing and hurt and despair, do not spend your life dwelling on sorrow and mourning a lost love.

Breathe through your heart instead.

Be like the flower in the story noozis, and you will live to be a happy and strong person who is a shining example to her People."

Aki-waabigwan thanked her grandfather for the story he had told and the wise counsel that he had given her and she went outside, determined to do as her grandfather had suggested. 

From that time on she passionately expressed her individual dreams and heartbreak, transforming it into works of incredible beauty and she gained wide and legendary recognition among her People and far beyond as one who creates healing art for the benefit of individuals as well as for the Nation - enh, for all Nations - as a whole. All of her works of art, initially inspired by the sad story of the Flower and the Star, became stories of hope, strength, and determination and until today her proud artistic legacy shines like the Fisher star above.   

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Giiwenh. Miigwech gibizindaw noongom mii dash gidibaajimotoon wa’aw zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan. 

Bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga.

So the story goes. Thank you for listening to us today, to relate to you this sacred love story. Please come see us again!

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.


Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins, the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist and a writer and a jewelry designer, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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Jewelry and jewelry photography by Zhaawano Giizhik.

• Bimaabiig Aadizookaan (Sacred Story Of The Climbing Vine). Massive sterling silver Ojibwe floral design clamp-on wrist-watch cuff band set with stone and red coral cabochons. For details, go to our website.  

Painting, acrylic on canvas by Simone McLeod: Waabigwan Miinawaa Anang (The Flower And The Star) 22"x60", 2014. For details, go to our website. 

Proto-sketch of the painting the Flower And The Star, pen and ink drawing by Zhaawano Giizhik (2013).

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Reflections of the Great Lakes, part 6

January 7, 2015, 7:25 am

≫ Next: Reawakening of the Medicine People, part 2

≪ Previous: Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes. part 4

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Mishi-ginebig, Patron of Healing and Wisdom

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Aaniin! Hello!

By way of a blog series called "REFLECTIONS OFTHE GREAT LAKES", accompanied by our own works of art and jewelry designs, as well as artworks by kindred artists, we seek to capture, and pay homage to, the spirit and fascinating beauty and majesty of GICHIGAMIIN, the Great Seas of the Anishinaabe People, and all the creatures that live near, on, or beneath them. 

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To the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg, the waters themselves and their undercurrents and beaches and islands covered with mists have always evoked a myriad of mysterious representations of manidoo. These spirit beings occasionally appear in natural guise with distinct human or animal personalities; these include the mischievous water dwarfs called memegwesiwag and the friendly bagwajininiwag, the little wild forest people, creators of mystic glades in the woods, who are known to sometimes inhabit the sandy beaches, emerging from their sanctuaries on moonlit nights to dance in the shadows, warning passers-by of the fearful Mermaid. And the shining lodges of the mishiinimakinagoog, the turtle spirits, can be seen in the summer evenings when the moon shines on their island habitat; Ojibwe and Odaawaa fishermen, who steer their canoes near certain steep cliffs and jagged pinnacles at night, occasionally hear their happy voices echo across the dark lake. Others, however, are more indefinite and potentially dangerous - such as nibiininaabewagand nibiinaabekwewag (mermen and mermaids), mishi-bizhiwag (great horned underwater cats), and mishi-ginebigag (great horned underwater snakes).

Throughout the ages many of these spirit beings have been perpetuated on the spot in stylized drawings or carvings in and on rocks in sacred locations, particularly in mystic places near the coastline where the sky, the earth, the water, the underground and the underwaters meet...

Today's blog story features a set of 14K gold wedding rings designed and handcrafted by Zhaawano, portraying a design of the Midewiwin Life Road combined with the stylized image of Mishi-ginebig, the Great mythical Snake of the Anishinaabe Peoples. A drawing by Zhaawano (see the picture below), and four images of powerful paintings by the late Miskwaabik Aninikii (Norval Morrisseau) have also been added serving as illustrations to the story. 

Noojimowin gaye Nibwaakaawin: “Healing And Wisdom”.  Such is the title of the bands, which zhaawano crafted with the aid of overlay. In overlay technique, a design is cut out of one piece of silver or gold, which is then laid over another piece of silver or gold; the two are then soldered together—thus the term “overlay”. These wedding rings are constructed of layers of several gold alloys of different colors: white gold over yellow gold (the ladies’ ring) and (more grayish) palladium gold over red gold (the men’s ring).

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Both the title of the ring set and the stylized depiction of head and body of Mishi-ginebig– which Zhaawano merged into the age-old design of the Midewiwin Life Road - symbolize the great healing powers that since time immemorial have been accredited to this Supernatural Spirit Grandfather that is said to dwell in the underworld of many rivers and lakes – with Gichigami (the Great Freshwater Lake, Lake Superior) predominating...

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THE GREAT SEA SERPENT

In Ojibwe thought, based on their understanding that existence is a dynamic and continuous interplay between all of creation, the great sea serpent, as one of many aadizokaanag(Spirit Grandfathers) that dwell in the Universe, is part of bigwaji-bimaadiziwn, the cycle of nature, and, despite its terrifying appearance, not necessarily considered evil. As they are known to secure successful hunts and an abundance of food, sometimes hunters call upon Mishi-ginebig's power to secure a good fish catch; so powerful is he deemed that some Medicine people address him to lend them his healing powers.

To our ancestors – that is, before they became influenced by the Europeans with their Christian dogmas - there was no sense of good and evil but only a natural balance of deeds; nature, however symbolized, qualified, or ritualized, simply existed. No matter how monstrous these and other underwater creatures appeared to be, our ancestors have always been attentive to their medicinal significance and grateful for their beneficial powers that helped sustain the balance between the underworlds, the middle world, and the sky world…

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Painting on a hand drum by Norval Morrisseau depicting a Thunderbird and an Underwater Snake. Animikii Binesi (Thunderbird) and Mishi-ginebig are seen as inveterate enemies; thunder and lightning are supposed to be caused by the Thunderbird who hunts the horned Underwater Snake. The scene illustrates the eternal tensions between, and the interdepence of, the creatures in the sky and those in the upper and lower waters of lakes and rivers.

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MIDEWIWIN

Many Ojibwe stories portray Mishi-ginebig, whose stylized representations are to be found on many rock paintings and petroglyphs in hidden places throughout the Great Lakes area, as a metaphorical interpretation of a giigoonh, or fish being – and as such closely related to trout and sturgeons -, as bawaagan (a spiritual helper appearing in dreams), and, by extension, as a prominent aadizookaan, or patron, of healing and knowledge of medicinal herbs. Not only are these horned Beings, which are associated with drowning and floods and evil medicine as well as with good medicine, healing, and protection of women, said to be directly associated with the fertility of Omizakamigokwe (the Earthmother); they alsoplay an important role in the Midewiwin (Grand Medicine Society) and its ceremonies.

This role has, of course, a dualistic nature; whereas in the second degree of the Midewiwin ceremony “evil” ginebig manidoog try to prevent a candidate member to reach the third degree, in the third degree the serpent manidoo“helps” the candidate by arching its body so he or she may pass beneath unharmed into the fourth degree of the Society. 

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Norval Morrisseau: Untitled Midewiwin Vision Quest 1969 Kenora tempera or acrylic on hide.

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A SAFE PASSAGE

Because mishi-ginebigag were regarded as guardians of the lakes and as such evoked reverance, awe, and sometimes fear, the old ones, in order to ensure safe water passage, never failed to offer tobacco (and perhaps other presents) at perilous places in the lakes and whirlpools and rapids of rivers. Because of the Underwater Snake’s sacred, seemingly dualistic nature and his ambivalent powers and because he was sometimes considered a bad omen in dreams and visions, our ancestors hardly ever uttered his name, except maybe for the winter time - as they probably figured that as long as the rivers and lakes were frozen mishi-ginebig was unable to exercise his formidable powers…

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The capricious Midewiwin Life Road design - consisting of four “hills” and seven “tangents” or side paths- that Zhaawano cut out from the white gold exteriors of these wedding rings symbolizes the life cycle of two individuals who share their joys and sorrows. Daily they face the challenge of struggling to stay on course when encountering sharp bends in the road of life and, in particular, of balancing the demands of their work and the demands of family life. Daily they face the challenge of solving problems and avoiding temptations (symbolized by the side paths of the design) leading them astray from the good path, with the prospect of living a long life together in harmony, wisdom, and good health. But a closer look at the rings reveals that the jeweler merged the essential “physical” features of the mysterious Mishi-ginebig into the design of the Midewiwin diagram, which since time immemorial has been passed on by the Medicine People of the Midewiwin – a society of seers and healers, respected guardians of the culture, history, and sciences of the Anishinaabe Peoples. This spirit grandfather from the depths of rivers and lakes, often depicted with the body of a snake and a head equipped with horns, is a metaphorical interpretation of a fish. To date, this supernatural reptile/fish is regarded as a powerful dream messenger and a prominent patron of Medicine and knowledge of medicinal plants. Go to our website to view details of this wedding ring set.

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THE SUN AND THE MOON

The cut-out images of the sun and the moon of the interiors of these layered wedding bands emphasize the virtue of wisdom and the dualistic nature of Traditional Healing - both in the physical/medicinal and the mental sense. After all, does the old Anishinaabe tradition not encourage the youth to seek wisdom, resilience, and (mental) healing in the vast blue of Father Sky and beyond, in the realms of the sun, the moon, and the stars? Did the Elders in the old days not teach the youth that wisdom and mental healing is primarily obtained by what they called, GIKINAWAABI, literally: to learn by, and from, observation? Did our children not learn history, culture, and values from their grandparents through respectful observation, encouragement, and example?

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Untitled paintings by Norval Morrisseau depictig Mishi-ginebig. The top image depicts Mishi-ginebig carrying a medicine pouch, which illustrates his role as bringer and keeper of Medicine.

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Listen and learn, do not mirror yourself to others, draw from your own "medicine" (strength). Such is the simple but essential message that Zhaawano sought to convey through the celestial bodies that he placed in the interiors of these wedding rings…

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Gigii-pima’adoon iwe mashkikiiwaatig. Inaabin, giizhigong ezhiozhaawashkwagoodeg, gimishoomisinaan onibwaakaawin. Ji-bimaadiziyan naagijitoon gimiinigoowiziwinan ji-mino bimaadiziwin. Gaawiin bezhigwan gidinaadizisii gaajiigidaamad. Weweni gigiiozhii’igoo. Giin wa’awe bezhig. Miigo awe gaajiigidaamad. Gaye mitigoog miinawaa waabigwan miinawaa waawaashkeshi miinawaa dibik-giizis miinawaa anang. Inashke naabiyan gigikendaan. Gegoo memwech michi-naanaagadawaabin. Gaye, bizindan. Naanaagijitoon ezhiseg gegooyan. Naanaagijitoon gibimaadiziwin gayeigiwedi aanind. Giishpin naanaagidawaabiyan miinawaa bizindaman mii’omaa ge-onjigikendaman gakina gegoo. Gikendamowin daagikendaagwad. Nibwaakaawin inaadizin. Inaadizin bagakendan.

(“To live wisely is to live according to your own, unique gifts…you are not the same as, and certainly no less unique than, the next person…just like a tree or a flower of a deer or the moon or a star in the sky were created special, were born as unique persons. All you have to do to understand this is  to look around you…ask no questions…just watch and listen…pay attention to what goes on around you…observe yourself and the lives of your relatives, the beings that surround you…all you need to know is out there…knowledge can be learned; wisdom must be lived. So, live. Live and learn!”)*

*A free adaptation from Seven Sacred Teachings by David Bouchard and Dr. Joseph Martin.

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 Jewelry photography by Zhaawano Giizhik.                                                 

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About the authors/artists:

Simone McLeod (her traditional name is Aki’-egwaniizid, which is an Ojibwe name meaning "Earth Blanket") is a Cree/Anishinaabe painter and poet, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962. She belongs to he Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of her mother's people, the Azaadiwi-ziibi Nitam-Anishinaabeg (Poplar River First Nation) of Manitoba. Simone descends from a long line of Midewiwin seers and healers and artists. Her artwork has been appreciated by several art collectors and educational and health care institutions from Canada, as well as by art lovers from all over the world.


Zhaawano Giizhik, an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins, the doodem of his ancestors from Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As an artist and a writer and a jewelry designer, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists. He has done several art projects with Simone and hopes to continue to do so in the future.

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