art by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik

ANISHINAABEWAKI (THE UNIVERSE OF THE ANISHINAABE PEOPLES)

An illustrated glossary showing a cross section of Anishinaabe Izhinamowin: the traditional worldview of the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg, who for the past 1000 years inhabit the North American Great Lakes area.

Animikii Binesi is one of the aadizookanag, his power prevented me to depict him though. You popped up even before I could tag the turtle by the way.  He is not depicted in the drawing but his spirit lives in the stories. The marks on the birch trees are his talon marks.


http://www.fisherstarcreations.com/data/docs/The-Traditional-Anishinaabe-World-View_0.pdf





MISHI MIKINAAKOMINIS NIIGIWIN (Birth Of The Great Turtle Island)

This pen and ink drawing tells the OJIBWE CREATION STORY of the world as we know it.

  

A spiritual society

Jiisakiiwin

Another well-known society among the Anishinaabeg is the Jiisakiiwin, also known as the Shaking Tent or the Juggler's Tent. Among the Anishinaabeg, a particularly powerful and well-respected spiritual leader who had trained from childhood is called a Jaasakiid or Jiisakiiwinini, also known as a "Juggler" or "Shaking-tent Seer." In the past they were hunted down and murdered by both Canadian and United States officials as being "individuals who endanger society". - Mereana Taki

Ojibwa woman

REAL TALK

Chris Long Haired Wolf

Trace your walk...feel satisfaction in knowing
the end of the rainbow you have looked for can
be found at the toe of your moccasin after
realizing who we are...and what we have."
~John "Eagle Spirit" Campbell, Chief

"With a large bird above me, I am walking
around the sky. I entrust myself to the wind."
~Anishinaabeg dream song

Three Worlds - Chumash

There is this world in which we live, but there is also one above us and one
below us. There are two serpents that hold our world up from below. When
they are tired they move, and that causes earthquakes. The World above is
sustained by the great eagle. He never moves, he is always in the same spot.
When he gets tired of sustaining the upper world, he stretches his wings a
little, and this causes the phases of the moon. When there is an eclipse of
the moon it is because his wings cover it completely. And the water in the
springs and streams of this earth is the urine of the many frogs who live in
it.

From the Archives of Blue Panther

Here I am, Dawn Wolf on a porch in Anacostia Washington DC
across from the Anacostia museum.

I have always been Crow. My grandfather taught me the first six years of my life. It was a deep merging of a grandfather's life teaching and way into his grandson. It defined me. It set me apart from Black Americans during the height of the Civil Rights movement and brought me closer to the essence of the movement. Living in Africa was not what I expected. I was more Indian than African, less American and better at becoming myself. Returning to the US left more of the African in me.

As the years of growing continued my energies have become matter. My grandfather released me, years after his death, to talk about my life. I can now share what the Crow and the African have become within my essence, my manhood, my work. Being African and Indian in these times and this country requires thought and deep introspection. It is a bold act of power to be Indian in the context of Black life in American for obvious and not so obvious reasons.

I have long resented being defined by government. I never got close to getting a card. It is bad enough having a social security number. If I am going to be a part of a corporation, the USA, I want control of my definition, my perception and interpretation of who I am. ~ Gregory E. Woods (2007)

Great Walker and the Anishinabe Witches - Winnebago

There was a man of the Anishinabeg nation and he was a seer. He was very

holy and had great powers of witchcraft. When he visited people at night, he
would do so by flying through the air. He had three friends, and they too
were witches with the same ability to fly through the air. People greatly
feared them because of their powers. One night the four of them agreed that
they would have a contest to see who could fly best at night.

Among the Hotcâgara there was also a great seer. His name was Mânîxedega
("Great Walker"). He had gained knowledge of what these men were going to
do. On the night of the contest, Mânîxedega used his own night powers to get
there and there he waited for them with great patience. Finally, the four
Anishinabeg arrived at their rendezvous point. Each took off into the night
in turn, and of the first three, Mânîxedega used his powers to ensure they
would be lost. The fourth witch dove down from high in the air and landed on
a strip of land. As he stood there, unexpectedly, he had deer horns on
his head. These Mânîxedega seized and held onto tightly.

The other Anishinabeg materialized, and asked Mânîxedega to pay them a
visit. This he agreed to do. Finally, Mânîxedega came to where the witches
lived. They tried to persuade him to let them give him their powers, but he
refused, asking instead that they might give him the plants and potions that
they used to gain these powers. But they pretended that they did not know
anything about these matters. Finally, he asked them for their
life-engendering greeting and the all power inherent within it. This they
granted him, and it is this greeting that is used to this day in the
Medicine Rite. It is spoken in the language in which it was given.

Paul Radin, The Road of Life and Death: A Ritual Drama of the American
Indians. Bollingen Series V (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973
[1945]) 138-139.

Anishinabe history lesson

WHO ARE THE ANISHINABEG?


The common religion of the Ojibway was “Medawewin” [pronounced Me-Day-Wee-Win]. The Medawe even had their own written language, as evidenced by preserved birch bark scrolls and rock formations. The Medawewin religion consisted of four degrees or levels wherein initiates learned to use their spiritual abilities for spiritual healing. Herbalists and surgeons also belonged to the Medawewin. This may have been the origin of the term “medicine man”, since “Medawewin” sounds very similar to the English words “medicine man”.

The “Megis” was one of the primary symbols that represents the Medawewin religion. The Megis is a little shell called a cowry shell. The word “cowry” was derived from a Hindu word and is defined as “Any of various tropical marine mollusks of the family Cypraeidae, having glossy, often brightly marked shells, some of which are used as money in the South Pacific and Africa.”

* What is not mentioned in the foregoing megis definition is that megis shells were also used as money, or “wampum,” in North America before the European invasion of this continent.

What is most intriguing about the cowry shells used by the Anishinabeg is that these particular shells were not indigenous to America. “The money-cowry (Cypraea moneta) is, and has been for centuries, a sacred object among the Ojibwa and Menomini Indians of North America, and is employed in initiation ceremonies of the Grand Medicine Society [Medawewin]. The use of this particular cowry by these Indians is of peculiar interest; in the first place; owing to it being alien to the American continent, and in the second place, in view of its intimate association with so many remarkable and fantastic beliefs and practices in different parts of the Old World.”

* Cypraea moneta shells come from the South Pacific. Other shells which are native only to Asian and South Pacific seas have been found in pre-Columbian North American aboriginal sites, indicating that trans-oceanic trade was occurring prior to the European invasion.

http://www.healthfreedom.info/who_are_the_anishinabeg.htm

Anishinaabek Medicine Wheel

Anishinaabek Medicine Wheel

http://www.anishinaabemdaa.com/medicinewheel.htm  

Medicine Wheel of the Anishinaabemowin

Anishinabe story

Legend of the Woodpecker


This is a story that was told to me a few years ago. This happened to a few men when they were out tree planting in Northern Ontario.

Mii saa giiyenh aanin ninwok maanda gaazhiwebiziwat paaktigewat gwating. Mii dash gwa nidibikaaminaagwak wiigwaaming yaawat. Kaawiin ge kego waasmowin. Niizh dash gwa gwanda ninwok noonch gwa pane mizhishkchigewok. Mii dash maaba Jim giignoonaat Jo’an. “Hey Joe” dinaan saa giiyenh Joe dash giinkwetwaan “Waa” dinaan “Giikendaan naa kego”.


“Wegnesh” kida saa giiyenh Joe.


“Gwanda binenhshiinhak enchiwat, maaba dash baapaasenh, mii maaba memaanji jinaa bemaadizit”.


“Oonh mii naa gegeti” kida saa giiyenh maaba Joe.


“Enhk” kida saa giiyenh maaba Jim.


“Aasanaa iidik gekendaasyin” dinaan saa giiyenh Joe Jiman.


“Enhk ngikendaas saa gwa” kida saa giiyenh maaba Jim.


Mii dash giiyenh giinibizaantek jinaa, mii dash giiyenh maaba bezhik kiwenhziinh giidebwe’aangidoong enjipshigiizhbikak. “Giikendaanaawaa naa kego, kaa gwa genii gibeyiing ndamaadizisii giishpin etaa ginii papakweshmitziiyaanh aasmimtigong gibegiizhik”. Giikchibashkaapiwok saa giiyenh kina Anishinaabek gaayaajik.

A group of men were in their cabin. It was getting dark and there was no electricity. A couple of these men were always telling jokes and funny stories or playing pranks on people. Jim spoke out in the dark room and said, “Hey Joe. You know what?”


“What?” Joe replied.
Jim said, “Of all the birds in the bird kingdom, the woodpecker has the shortest life span.”
“Really?” said Joe.
“Yep,” said Jim.
“Boy you must be a very smart man to know this,” said Joe.
“Yep!” said Jim, “I am a smart man.”


After a few moments of silence, an elderly man spoke out from a dark corner on the other side of the room and said, “You know, I would not live long either if all I did was beat my head upside of a tree all day long.” Everyone in the room burst out laughing. http://www.anishinaabemdaa.com/legend-3.htm

English translation...

4th Sacred Medicine tobacco teaching by Snowbird Black Feather

Proper Uses

Sacred herbs are powerful, but when misused or disrespected, their power consume us. Tobacco can be a healer or a destroyer. It depends on how and how often it is used. When used in a sacred way, it can promote good health and assist with spiritual guidance and growth. When tobacco is used in a protocol way it becomes sacred. In the old days, tobacco was the most holy of plants and the most sacred of ceremonial objects. The Creator's spirit is in tobacco. When used in this sacred manner with the sacred pipe, the spirit as smoke enters the man, refreshes him, and then travels to the sky laden with thanksgiving. For hundreds of years, the people were taught this holy and powerful way to communicate with their Creator. If used correctly, tobacco can improve your spiritual, mental and physical well-being. Many Elders feel that any use of tobacco that occurs outside of ceremony is an affront to the Creator. Think about it! Nothing commercially marketed, chemically laced and mass marketed can be sacred.

Real Tobacco

It is important to remember that Native Tobacco is a different species that is indigenous to the Americas. Real tobacco is not the tobacco you find in smoke shops and stores. When we say tobacco in English we are not talking about a sacred plant. There are over 60 species of this plant. It grows wild in most sections of North America. However, it is no way related to tobacco and does not contain nicotine or other poisonous properties. The Great Lakes Ojibwe, and the neighboring Iroquois used it for a number of medicinal purposes, including as a remedy for stomach aches and fever. It tends to remove obstructions from every part of the system and is even felt to the ends of the toes. Indian Tobacco not only cleanses the stomach but exercises a beneficial influence over every part of the body. Our own native languages have a word for tobacco that is to be used in offerings. We need to address the energy within that plant by its native name so that we can understand the plant as it understands us. It is important to know the name of the plant in your native language. 

-Snowbird Black Feather

3th Sacred Medicine tobacco teaching by Snowbird Black Feather

Purification and working with a clear mind and heart are essential in asking the land to provide for people. This is keeping with the Native belief that if you do things in a good way, good things will follow. If careful attention is not established, the result will not be as good. Sometimes elders place tobacco on the water. This shows our thanks to the Creator, for the lifeblood of our Mother the earth that is provided to us. At this time we also acknowledge the moon who in her 28-day cycle cleanses the water by filtering it through the sands.

Respect

Respecting our tobacco should be taken seriously. Sacred tobacco is used for prayers of gratitude to thank the Creator of Mother Earth for our many blessings, such as good health, great fishing, and good crops. When any plant is picked or any animal is taken, Tobacco and Prayer must be given to show respect. By honouring all our relations we demonstrate that we have not forgotten our place within the web of life. To offer someone tobacco is to ask that you and the person receiving the tobacco be of one heart, one mind and one spirit. Tobacco is offered when you ask someone to do a ceremony for you, such as a name-giving, drumming or singing for someone, to do a smudging ceremony, a sweat lodge or sacred pipe ceremony; any ceremony. This signifies that you and the one doing the ceremony are of one heart, one mind and one spirit, that you have the same purpose.

Another way that is used to bring people together in unity is that it is used to heal rifts between people. If you have a disagreement that causes ill feelings or someone has treated you badly, or if you have treated someone badly, you can bring tobacco and ask to speak to the person. Then of course, you would do your best to heal the rift, not to make things worse, so tobacco assists us in making amends, getting over resentments, healing emotional wounds and in forgiving people. Even a little tobacco can be given if you do not have money for a pouch. It is the sacredness that counts, not the amount. The person can decide to accept your tobacco or reject it.

Some of our Elders still offer tobacco to everyone who visits them. Tobacco is given to elders when one is seeking advice. It is always good to offer tobacco when seeking knowledge or advice from an Elder or when a Pipe is present. It shows gratitude and respect for the elder whose advice you are seeking. Tobacco is given when you appreciate a teaching from an elder or even a younger person if you value what that person has told you. It is a way of showing respect and gratitude. -Snowbird Black Feather

2nd Sacred Medicine tobacco teaching shared by Snowbird Black Feather

Prayer

When we put sacred tobacco into our Sacred Pipes, we are also using that tobacco as a communicator to the sky world where all of our ancestors have gone on before us. We do not inhale the sacred smoke that comes from the pipe. When the smoke rises, it is taking our prayers with it up to the Creator and all of our relatives who have gone on before us. Our elders show us that when we finish with prayers, we sprinkle a small amount of tobacco on the drum. This is a way of giving back to and thanking the Creator for all he has given to us. Tobacco can be used on a daily basis as each new day is greeted with prayers of thankfulness. Many elders say to hold it in your prayers of thankfulness. They also add that you are to hold it in your left hand, as this is the hand closer to your heart.

Offerings

Traditionals burn tobacco before storms. It is used to pray that powerful storms won’t hurt our families. To pray with tobacco in your Native language is very powerful. It can make a difference in the physical world.

Purification

Tobacco is used in the offering of prayer to the Creator, acting as a medium for communication. It is either offered to the fire, so the smoke can lift the prayers to the Creator, or it is set on the ground in a nice, clean place. It means we come humbly to our creator. We proclaim our innocence. When you want to speak to the Creator, we are told to make an offering of the tobacco plant. An Elder will take tobacco ties and offer them to the fire or offer it back to Mother Earth on behalf of the Sacred Circle. Anishinabe people live life in a very sacred manner. When taking something from the Earth, they always explain to the spirit of the plant why it is being done and offer some tobacco in return for the generosity and help of the plant, which shared itself so freely.

Snowbird Black Feather

1st Sacred Medicine Tobacco teaching shared by Snowbird Black Feather

Tobacco (Semah)

"Semah, or tobacco, is one of the four sacred plants. It represents the Eastern Direction and the mind. The Anishinabe use a form of tobacco known as kinikinik, or a red willow mix. Because it opens the door to the Creator. When tobacco is used to make smoke, it is one of the most sacred of plants for Native people. Some elders say that tobacco is used to connect the worlds since the plant’s roots go deep into the earth, and its smoke rises high into the sky. This plant is highly respected and highly honored. Giving tobacco is a beautiful way of our people. Ceremonies using tobacco invoke a relationship with the energies of the universe, and ultimately the Creator, and the bond made between earthly and spiritual realms is not to be broken. There are four traditional Tobacco uses. None of them will harm you." -Snowbird Black Feather

Growing Tobacco

When we use tobacco properly, we must refer to it by its Native American Name. When tobacco is grown from the earth, you know it is clean. It is good for us to develop our knowledge about the use and growing of tobacco in the old way with guidance from our grandparents and other Native tobacco people. To grow tobacco in a sacred way, we must re-establish the bonds between oneself and the earth, sky, plants, and animals. Traditional, sacred methods should be utilized in preparing the earth and the seeds. We need to revive our planting ceremonies so that we can have access to tobacco that is grown and prepared in a good way for our ceremonies We need to be mindful of the reasons behind why we do things the way we do. Do everything by hand, in a good way. Proper preparation, use of sacred stones in the planting, acknowledge our directions so that we remain mindful our own state of being in creation. Using tobacco traditionally requires a whole different mind set. We need to realize that we are more whole than we give ourselves credit for. We must find the wisdom and the courage to revive our cultural ways.

Tobacco is part of our heritage. We need to better understand our traditions, so we can better understand who we are. Re-establish our belief in tobacco as a sacred plant for healing, ceremony and prayer.

Should We Use Cigarettes To Pray?

"Most Native people don’t have access to our real botanicals. We’ve been moved off the lands where these plants were grown. Reservation life encourages peer pressure to smoke commercial tobacco and to rely on products that can be obtained quickly and easily from local stores owned by non-Indians. If the plant is not prepared properly and mindfully, the power of the ceremony will be diluted. For our ceremonies to have their full power, we need to know how the tobacco was procured, grown and harvested to have a whole ceremony." -Snowbird Black Feather

Healing medicine of the Anishinabe People

7 Grandfathers Teachings

"We have to take care of the earth or we will not have a home. We all share in this responsibility. We need to make sure that the earth and everything the Creator put on this earth will always be here for future generation. Each morning let us remember to greet our grandmothers and grandfathers, whose spirits are in; the many glories that surround us. They taught us as they had been taught by the elders, how to take care of the earth. We are straying away from the teachings given to us. Our young people do not pray and give thanksgiving. Our priorities are all messed up. We need to know the teachings of our grandmothers and grandfathers to give us direction and balance. Our leaders are young; they also need to listen and learn. We need their participation...TO TAKE CARE OF THE EARTH AND LIFE. WE NEED TO REMEMBER THE TEACHINGS OF THE FIRST ELDER, WHO HAS HANDED ON THE GIFTS OF KNOWLEDGE THAT HE RECEIVED FROM: THE SEVEN GRANDFATHERS WHEN HE WAS A BOY. EACH GRANDFATHER GAVE HIM A GIFT."

WISDOM "BEAVER SPIRIT"

“NEB-WA- KAH-WIN"
And he learned to use that WISDOM for his people

RESPECT "BUFFALO SPIRIT"

“MA-NA-DENNA-MOOWIN”
So the first elder would RESPECT everybody, all human persons and all the things that are created

HONESTY "SABAY SPIRIT"

“GWAK-WAD-DI-ZI- WIN”
So that he would be HONEST in every action and provide good feelings in his heart

BRAVERY/COURAGE "BEAR SPIRIT"

“ACK-KO-DAY-A- WIN"
The next gift, BRAVERY to do things even in the most difficult times.

LOVE "EAGLE SPIRIT"

“ZAA-GI-DE-WIN”
So that he would LOVE his brothers, sisters and share with them

HUMILITY "WOLF SPIRIT"

“DUB-BA-SAY-NI-MOO-WIN”
Teach the youth to know that he is equal to everyone else. NO BETTER OR NO LESS, Just the same as anybody else.

TRUTH "TURTLE SPIRIT"

“DAY- BWAY- WIN”
The grandfather told him “Be true in everything that you do” Be true to yourself and true to fellow man. Always speak the TRUTH.

http://ronniebeaver.myknet.org/
 
from: Pah Teen Owug Migisi Innini (ManyEagles Man) of Caribou Clan from the Ojibway Nation of TURTLE ISLAND.(Canada)
 

Anishinabe Elder, Harriet Prince, in ceremony with ANGAANGAQ in Greenland July 2009

 

RAINBOW EAGLE, PEACE SHIELD & PROPHECY

Hope Found in Teachings of an Ancient American Indian Peace Shield
by Rainbow Eagle, Seventh Fire Peace Shield Teacher

I am a native person of Okla-Choctaw heritage, who has been entrusted and honored, in this Seventh Fire, to offer the teachings of an ancient Anishinabe (Ojibwa) Peace Shield of Truth and instructions to the Human Family one last time. The ancient truths of this shield are older than many sources including the Dead Sea Scrolls. Gathering and increasing truth's power to restore and amplify peace upon Mother Earth is the ultimate purpose of the Peace Shield. A bundle was opened in early 1996 in a special ceremony to begin the sacred mission of the Peace Shield. Contained within the bundle is a sacred prayer pipe and large elk hide upon which the Peace Shield is drawn.


"The Seven Fire Prophecy" foretold of this time to the ancient people. Seven prophets spoke of a Fire or Spiritual chapter, which described things, which would happen to the people. The Seventh Prophet said that native ways would be honored and the Elders would again speak. Also shared was, the light skinned race would be given a choice between two roads: destruction or the lighting of the Eighth and final fire, an age of peace, love, joy and oneness. In addition, the Seventh Fire foretold of the signals, which would be given to Native People so they would know when to act for the good of "All Relations." The signals would include environmental concerns, risks to the destruction of humanity, high levels of technology, Earth Changes, and finally Freedom for Native people to participate in their beliefs.


The Peace Shield is a reminder to Native people that in the Seventh Fire it would be their responsibility to assist and help bring the Human Family back together again. "These original truths of the Peace Shield are to be given to the Human Race for the last time so that each person can have what they need to decide the future of our Mother Earth." The Peace Shield teaches the value, beauty, wisdom and wonder of walking into the future with great faith and absolutely no fear. In the past the Peace Shield provided community and personal stability, it now charters for human kind a journey into the blessed future. The Peace Shield brings this challenge to all Earth Walkers - become more aware of and develop respect for all religions and ways of reaching toward the Creator. The peace Shield has a specific circle that honors and holds the energy of those prophets, messengers and spiritual leaders who are the reflections or rays of light that emit the truths and glow of the Great Source/Creator. Unique to the Peace Shield is the bringing of a "sharing table" into the Lodge of the Creator.


At this table, the Human Family can become aware of our neighbors that share this earthly planet. As each person, group and community of believers’ talks with each other, the outcome promised in many prophecies comes nearer. I believe that spirituality lives first in one's personal expression of truth, second, in the choice to find companionship with others and third in the courage and self-discipline to walk one's talk in the next "fire" or dimension of existence. One reminder is presented here for all to consider.


Sacred scrolls and documents will be brought out of their concealment when the people return to spiritual ways, "By Faith Alone." We must take time to reflect upon our native warriors and aborigines who exhibited no fear in purer cultural times. A significant blessing, and gift, of the Peace Shield is its energy to balance oneself and groups. The task of spiritual beings in the Seventh Fire is the balancing or the strengthening of two aspects of our personal outlook on life. Having achieved this balancing of two truths, there develops within our spiritual being a totally new aspect within us. This new aspect, a third dimension of self, can assist and literally propel us into or towards a new reality of life, or step into the future. Many of us are standing at some sort of "Y" in the road. I believe the Peace Shield within us and the Peace Shield(s) by ancient ones can shed light upon our journey back to the side of the Creator and Community. The future will be created by each one of us. Let us all anticipate and prepare, even celebrate our Journey toward new realities of life.


http://www.rainboweagle.com/stmnt.html