"Middle Of The Summer Moon"
A new story told by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik (Updated on March 4, 2015)
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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".
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.
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.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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.
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.*
![Turquoise ladies' ring by Fisher Star Creations]( "Two-prong ladies ring set with turquoise")
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.
________________________________________________________________________________
You brought me hope
________________________________________________________________________________
![Joyce Kakegamic]( "Unindentified canvas, possibly by Joyce Kakegamic")
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.**
_______________________________________________________________________________
* 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.
_______________________________________________________________________________
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.
![Zhaawanogiizhik Voice Carried By the Winds]( "Zhaawano Giizhik/Wenoondaagoziwid Webaashi")
![Aki-egwaniizid]( "Simone McLeod/Earth Blanket")
________________________________________________________________________________
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.
_______________________________________________________________________________
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.
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.
 |
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." |
________________________________________________________________________________
Blueberry moon
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.*
________________________________________________________________________________
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.
________________________________________________________________________________
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
 |
| 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
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
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
it was just the start
Of a journey made
for my small feet
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...
each new day
to you my friend, miigwech
for showing me the way...
Poem by Simone McLeod, March 3, 2014
Story of Ode'imin, the heart-shaped berry
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!_______________________________________________________________________________
** Source: Przybilla and Councillor, Ojibwe Tales, 21-2.
_______________________________________________________________________________
 |
| Detail of acrylic "Prayers For Humanity" by Sinome McLeod/Aki-egwaniid |
_________________________________________________________________
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;
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.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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.
_______________________________________________________________________________