Neshnabek Inendaget

Inéndagzewat wa je mendokaswat

What they permit as they worship…

Inéndagwet – what is permitted

Inéndagwzet – he/she who permits it

We are going to take a look at some of the

dispensations that effected the Neshnabék

throughout the years they have been

around. (dispensations of time)

How they walked from mercy to mercy,

and are still walking hand in hand with the

mercies that have been extended to them

throughout their sojourn here on earth.

We say, walking from sacred to sacred….

In the beginning, we came through portals

in time and of time…….our people came

through portals/doorways in the Universe

Of Universes, appearing here on this Earth

in different places, to spread out among the

Peoples that were here. Our nations are a

myriad of stars with a history all their own,

so unlike the history told about us here on

this Earth. Before Earth was, we were!

Dispensations of time

Peace,love,unity, guidance: ga she wébek ibe pi

Mno wi pi

7 G.F.’s: 250+ BC until present

Dispensations

Éshkewébsek nish wabdek nsech nyanno

Pon

1st 25 years

Énishwék nish wabdek nsech nyanno pon

2nd 25 years

Énswések nish wabdek nsech nyanno pon

3rd 25 years

Énéwsek nish wabdek nyanno pon

4th 25 years

Wabseni white stone man

Skebgya seni blue stone man

Mskwéwa seni red stone man

Wizawa seni yellow stone man

Kche wabe windigo great white giant

Pondese old man winter/great white giant

Pi’éjkena wild man of the woods

Nyéwo mina’éwen the four gifts

Dokmezwen peace

Égwamzewen go in peace

Dabanawen love

Widoktadwen unity

Géknomaktadwen guidance

Mshkekiw détpesé zhechkéwen

Medicine wheel concept

Shkwéyak bnewi historical

Ngom today

Wabek tomorrow

Nigan wa zhewébek future

Gekéndeman what I know

Nsedwadsewen awareness

Ngom wa zhe wébek what’s going on

now/today

Wawabmowen éwabdesyan ézhechkéyan

Mirroring of what I am doing

Wa gekéndeman what I need to

know

Niyaw éwi gwi kwimgek self and cultural

Change

Majishkawen on going change

and adjustment

Nedwabdeman what I envision

Some further terms:

Nyéwak nsech nyannen wabesen nenwik

405 white stone men

Jayék wdo wjit mowan node

All are helpers of…

Mesho grandfather

Mnedo spirit

Shkwedénsi fire spirit

Geshémnedo great spirit

Wiské ngot o makjewit 1st worker

Jak gégo ga gishtot creator

Besakwnesénjayék spark of all

Shkwedé fire

Wabno morning star

Gishgeni Morning Star’s name

Mdewadsewen way of invisible walking

Mdewadsejé one who walks invisibly

Anwe she nagansejek anet yawik

Some are princes though

Winwa wbitoshka nawa ode sen mnedo

mishkoswen

They symbolize the various powers of the

stone god

Épij ébim skwébek bmadsewen

The never ending cycle(s) of life

Wéj byamgek jayék mishkoswen

All power emanates from this (these) cycle(s)

Meshomsen grandfather stone or

ancient stone of beginnings

Some terms:

Jak shna gégo types

Kejgakwéwen shadows

Gédaswen figures

Yajmowen metaphors

Yajmowen allegories

Gnemadwen dark sayings

Yajmowen parables

Madgomgek symbols

Gigdowen badwéwéwdon sounds, etc.

Mshkeke détpesé weye omamo wishgeset

éyo jgaset

Seni shkwedé mnedo fire stone god

Nsedwadsewen awareness/alertness

Éwetodének wisdom

Nsetadwen understanding

Géno nsedwadsewen exaltation

Édbeséndowen humility

Édbesénjegéwen humiliation

Édbesénjegé humbles oneself

Éga waskonénjegét jayék gode bmadzewat

The light of every living being

Nizho gadéjek two leggeds

Nyéwo gadéjek four leggeds

Bébamodéjek CCT’s

Bébamashiwat winged creatures

Peace Dokmezwen

Love Ndebanawen

Unity Widoktadwen

Guidance Nizhokmagéwen

Inéndagwet What one permits

Inéndagzewen What is permitted

Tétbeséwen Way of the Wheel

Wawyéyanon The Circle

Neshnabé Zhechkéwen Ceremonies

Noég Meshomsek Seven Grandfather’s

Nyéwo Weji’igwanen four directions

Wéjksenyak/kiwednon North

Wéjmokék/wéjbsegwit East

Wéjgshaték/wéjnawkwék South

Wéjbgeshmok/ébgeshnot West

Énazwenen colors

Wabshkyak/wabshkya/wabshkyamget

Skebgyak/skebgya/skebgyamget

Mskwéwak/mskwéwa/mskwéwamget

Wizawak/wizawa/wizawamget

Some Terms

Gishki cedar

Ézheshkméyagwek sweetgrass

Séma tobacco

Mshkwedéwabek sage

Skwedé fire

Sen stone

Nibi water

Éskebgyag the green

There is much more to the Neshnabé cultural ways than this little short 1.5 hour presentation can accomplish. All we can do is point to certain facts about a way of belief and life that was embraced by our people for so many years before us. This way worked for them and they came to express themselves through their language and believed in the efficacy of their tribal ways as taught them by their elders through spiritual visions and the many revelation knowledge experiences their people had while seeking the God of their belief.

I cannot believe for you. That is something you have to do if you are Neshnabé. I cannot act upon these ceremonies for you and if they are not being performed by your community elders, then that means they are not known to them, thus you must learn them through participation with those communities still practicing them, or journey among those communities that practice their Neshnabé ways so you can participate and learn for your children and people.

I hesitate to go deeper because we have rules about revealing the deeper things of our cultural ways to those who are not of our persuasion. Perhaps the answers lie within holding closed sessions that take on the Immersion mode of teaching these things in our language. That being said, I must await further interest from you, the listeners, and if there is none forthcoming, then I have done all I can do. A further interest means a request, generally by those people who desire learning the deeper things and perhaps even joining a traditionally organized group, but that must be restricted to Neshnabék people only.

Ahau, iw énajmoyan ngom…..

Neshnabek Edebwetagwzewat

Native American Spirituality

E’gi zhechke’wat mno wi pi gode Neshnabe’k ga je bmadzewat.

What is spirituality? (E’yawyan/Ndaw/E’yaw)

Sensitivity or attachment to religious values.

The quality or state of being spiritual.

There existed no words for religion/religious in the old language. I know of none at present. Even the word Spirituality is a new one which came about recently. Spirituality is part of Culture, and there is not a word for Culture, either.

Ritual could be another word: Mendokas, mendoke, mnedoke…

What Culture is: Ritual.

Dynamic, neither fixed nor static.

A continuous and cumulative process.

Learned and shared by a people.

Behavior and values exhibited by a people.

Creative and meaningful to our lives.

Symbolically represented through language and people interacting.

That which guides people in their thinking.

Feeling and acting.

What Culture is not:

Mere artifacts or material used by a people.

A laundry list of traits and facts.

Biological traits such as race.

The ideal and romantic heritage of a people as seen through music, dance, holidays, etc.

Higher class status derived from a knowledge of the arts, manners, literature, etc.

Something to be bought, sold or passed out.

Questions for the Listener…

What do you think this country looked like before the coming of the Europeans and others who settled here?

Have you ever thought about what languages were spoken here to greet these folks?

What of the various religious beliefs of the people who once inhabited this great land?

What of the philosophy of those original folk who were already here?

What is spirituality?

Questions for the Listener…

What is culture?

Surface Culture:

Surface culture includes the products of artistic endeavor, achievements of intellectual and artistic genius, deeds of heroic valor and concepts of lofty spirit, and various modes of significant thought, genteel living, and racial vigor.

Deep Culture:

Deep culture involves the thoughts and beliefs and actions, the concerns and hopes, worries, the personal values, the minor vanities and the half serious superstitions, the subtle gradations of interpersonal relationships as expressed in actions and words, the day by day details of life as it is lived.

Elements of Surface Culture:

Food (Food and culinary contributions)

Holidays (patriotic holidays, religious observances, and personal rites and celebrations)

Arts (traditional and contemporary music, visual and performing arts and drama)

Folklore (folk tales, legends, and oral history)

History (historical and humanitarian contributions, social and political movements)

Personalities (historical, contemporary, and local figures)

Elements of Deep Culture:

The Universe,

Time and Space,

Community and Self,

Language and Thought!!

Native American Spirituality-E’gi zhechke’wat mno wi pi gode Neshnabe’k ga je bmadzewat.

Some things for consideration about language:

A language has power/is holy/is descriptive

Is fully capable of expressing all that is/was and is going to be…….

The word Mnedo means spirit.

Me’ndokaswen/Me’ndokaswenen/Ni me’ndokas

A man with the name Mendoke’ — Spirit Worshipper!

Talk about what the original inhabitants of this land did in seeking a GOD/the GOD or similar concept for whatever reason(s) they might have had………

GOD: Anything that causes movement

GOD: That which is preexistent

GOD: Omnipotent, omnipresent, omnicognizant, omniscient, thus what needs to be worshipped or considered for worship.

Let’s talk about the importance of tobacco/semau……..

Let’s talk about when putting that semau in the fire/on the earth and what that meant to the original man/woman and why……………………

The purity

The innocence

The state of grace

Following original instructions

The story of Semau as told by various elders:

Mediator with ability to hear and speak.

Some more things to consider:

Some names to consider:

The FIRE

The First Worker

All Eyes

The Fire Spirit

Father of all

Moves Walking

Invisible Walks

Ringing in the Water

Moves that Moves

That Which Moves, Moves

Carries the Bone

Eternal One

Wind Walker

He/She Made Everything

Fire within/Fire without

Fire behind the Fire

Tell a little about the ceremonies and how they came to be.

Where did they come from?

Who they are meant for?

Who owns them?

Who maintains them?

Who comes to them?

Who are they directed to?

On Neshnabe thought and belief…..

Neshnabe Philosophy:

Past – Present – Future:

The Fire, the Rock, the Water, the Green;

2 leggeds, 4 leggeds, winged ones, and creeping crawling ones.

All LIFE comes from Moves that Moves or That Which Moves, Moves. (Menedomajitowen)

Everything receives ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS upon inclusion into this sphere or experience. Man also received his/her instructions to care for this earth.

ANI INISH NABE

Why Let down Man

Nabe contained both the male and female essence.

Neshnabe – being with good intentions,

being with higher morals,

being from on high,

being with high ideals,

etc., etc., etc.

Anishinabe – Why let down man?

It poses a question to whom?

Not man/woman, although they were a small part of the plan.

No, this conversation/question was to the created beings, that we now call spirits.

Everything that was mentioned in the philosophy of the Neshnabe’k was given the same ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Tree(s) (can be reduced to this statement:

Animals(s) all life consists of: 2L, 4L, CCT, WT,

Insect(s) and the fire, rock, water and green.)

Fish(es)

Other mammals

Bird(s)

Everything! (all created life forms and other forms)

NAMING CEREMONY

LITTLE BOYS’/GIRLS’ FAST

VISION QUEST

SWEAT LODGE

SMUDGING CEREMONY

TOBACCO BURNING/OFFERING CEREMONY

ZHAWNOGE

DREAM DANCE/BIG DRUM

WABENO

MIDEWEN

SHAKER CEREMONY

MEDICINE FAST

HORSE AND BUFFALO CEREMONY

FOUR HOLE CEREMONY/FOOD

FOUR ARROW CEREMONY

WHITE FEATHER GRIEF CEREMONY

Hunting ceremony

Green corn ceremony

Thanksgiving ceremony

IW NE?

Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes Yajmowen

The Story of Little Red Coat Woman

Ngodek shena gi-yawe ode gigyagos.

Once there was a little girl.

Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes gi-zhenkazo.

Her name was Little Red Coat Woman.

Ngodek wgiyeyen gi-kedo, “Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes, majidon ode gokpenagen. Gokmes yaknoge.”

Once, her mother said, “Little Red Coat Woman, take this basket. Your grandmother is sick.”

Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes gi-kedo, “Ehe nwi-majidon i gokpenagen.”

Little Red Coat Woman said, “Okay, I’ll take the basket.”

Sesha, Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes gi-bmose.

And so, Little Red Coat Woman started walking.

Mtegwakik, O Kche–Mji–Moewe gi-kkezo mine neg-wabmiyen.

In the woods, the big wolf was hiding and looking sneaky.

Kche–Mji–Moewe gi-kedo, “Bosho gigyagos, weg ni je e-tek zhi gokpenagen?”

Big Bad Wolf said, “Hello little girl, what’s in the basket?”

Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes gi-kedo, “Nde-ton pkweshgasen mine ti.”

Little Red Coat Woman said, “I have buiscuits and tea.”

Kche–Mji–Moewe gi-kedo, “Ohhh, ni pi je ezhyayen?”

Big Bad Wolf said, “Ohhh, where are you going?”

Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes gi-kedo, “Nokmes wigwamek nzhya.”

Little Red Coat Woman said, “I’m going to my Grandmother’s house.”

Kche–Mji–Moewe gi-kedo, “Ohhh, egach!”

Big Bad Wolf said, “Ohhh, be careful!”

Sesha, gi-bmose mtegwakik.

And so, she started walking in the woods.

Gekpi, gi-bidge Wokmesen i wigwamek.

Finally, she went in to her Grandmother’s house.

Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes gi-kedo, “Bosho Nokmes, ni pi je eje-yeyen?”

Little Red Coat Woman said, “Hello Grandmother, where are you?”

Kche–Mji–Moewe gi-kedo, “Bosho gigyago, byan zhode! Mbagenek nde-ye.”

The Big Wolf said, “Hello girl, come here! I’m in bed.”

Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes gi-kedo, “Wa, Nokmes, kche–togen gde-ton!”

Little Red Coat Woman said, “Wow, Grandmother, what big ears you have!”

Kche–Mji–Moewe gi-kedo, “Ehe, gigyago, nde-mnonodwa.”

The Big Wolf said, “Yes, the better I could hear.”

Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes gi-kedo, “Wa, Nokmes, kche–wibeden gde-ton!”

Little Red Coat Woman said, “Wow, Grandmother, what big teeth you have!”

Kche–Mji–Moewe gi-kedo, “Ehe! Nwi-mnowisen!”

The Big Wolf said, “Yes, the better I could eat.”

O Kche–Mji–Moewe, gi-mawan Mskwa Biskowagen Kwes mine Wokmesen.

The Big Bad Wolf, he ate Little Red Coat Woman and her Grandmother.

The End

Another of Don’s Bios

Donald A. Perrot was born in 1939 near Arpin, Wisconsin, at a place known to the native people at that time as Skunk Hill or Powers Bluff. It was a mixed community of Neshnabek peoples, so he learned to fluently speak Potawatomi and conversational Menominee. He then learned English upon entering grade school, at the age of six. In his community, everyone spoke each other’s languages, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Winnebago, and Menominee. At that time even the white shopkeepers in town could speak and count in Potawatomi.

Times have changed, and now the Potawatomi language has dwindled to less than 15 fluent speakers. Mr. Perrot is the founder of the Neshnabé Institute for Cultural Studies, which seeks to keep this endangered language going. He has been teaching this language for over 30 years, in informal group settings in Kansas and Oklahoma, in Michigan at the Hannahville Indian School, and for the 200 Words to a Community grant in Southwest Lower Michigan. He is currently retired, but consulting with the Citizen Potawatomi Language Department, and he continues to teach this language through online classes. Through technology, he has been able to teach this language literally worldwide, and has students in every time zone as well as active duty servicemen who log in from overseas.

Mr. Perrot is a US Navy Veteran and Intertribal Spiritual Leader who has traveled around the world and has had discussions with other international indigenous communities about language and culture preservation. He is an enrolled member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. He currently lives in Tecumseh, Oklahoma with his wife and three of his daughters.

Ibe pi égi penojéwiyan…

I was born in a place my people called pgwakik, The Bluff, Powers Bluff, near present day Arpin, Wisconsin. A farming community made up mostly of German immigrants working smaller farms near Wisconsin Rapids, WI, which was the county seat of Wood County in central Wisconsin. My birthing was one performed by a midwife with an attending doctor near by in the event of any problems, but the birth was a normal one.

I am proud of the way I was born, no chemical hospital birth, and the many other things they do to babies in hospitals these days. Then too, there were spiritual people attending my birth which were to figure throughout the course of my life, as a child, as a youth, and then as a young man. I was raised in the old fashioned ways of my people, having to fast immediately from the time I could barely walk, and my elders saw to it I was introduced into the proper ceremonies, being named within the first moon of my life.

Everything I experienced as a child was governed by those elders who also raised me while my parents worked, thus I was introduced to all the old ceremonies from the time I was a mere baby.

I heard the language as a baby also, but also learned the older language of our people, which not many people speak any longer. My fondest memories are of those times when our elders spoke to us of our history, the memories they had as young children, the things they were told by their own parents and grandparents. I heard of the Removal Period, first hand, so to speak, or at least what my grandparents remembered as they were told.

I also had the opportunity to participate in the old ceremonies and listened with awe the old people speak about our ceremonial history, heard the old words some of my ancestors must have spoken and actually witnessed the opening of ancient medicine bundles, and listened with great interest, the old songs sung by many of the old people living back then.

Yes it was an exciting time to be sure, but the things that mattered most to me was my elders loving me and taking care of me, teaching me the things I needed to know about our old Potawatomi ways; Mshkoteniyek is what we were called back then…it was a blessed time to be alive back then and to speak only the old language. When I started school, I could not speak English, and it was awesome to me as a young boy, to see those white people and to communicate with them in the halting English I did know, which wasn’t much then.

I learned much from my white class mates and the white teachers. I quickly learned to speak the English language from several teachers who took a personal interest in my education, and learned to play the various sports the rest of the young boys played back then. I was strong and could outrun any of the other boys and even many of the older boys were hard put to compete with me. I was lean and hard from all the hard work we were so accustomed to doing. It was a wonderful time to be alive and I don’t think I would trade that time for anything in this world.

People living today have no idea what the old ceremonies and the old language was like. Many of our people alive today are spoiled from living like white people too long and can not perform any of the old fasts and early ceremonial life I had to go through.

Grandma and Grandpa used to make me fast from sunup to sundown often and they told me to work hard always, hauling water, splitting wood, sawing trees, and gathering in the garden, as well as picking the many wild fruits and nuts. We arose early in the morning and went to bed when the sun went down. It was a good life and I have many a wonderful memory of it.

I shall share more as my memory serves me…..

Nin se Neaseno.

Wenet shna emikwendemyan anet egi zhewebziyak ibe egi penojewiyan…

Eyawyan-

Éyawyan…

Your Mighty Hand is in the storm

But your eye is on the smallest of those whom you’ve created

The Splendor of Your Breath

Is upon the tree tops

While the hindmost parts of Your Glory

Rests upon the flowers and other little ones

The strength of Your Breath

Prevails upon me

While the softness of Your Touch caresses my cheek

I am reminded of how much I need you

And all you symbolize in this Earth Walk

To find my way back when this sojourn is over

Is the truest form of love you have extended

Thus the fierceness of the Storm

Reminds me of the frailty of Life

And where I need to focus my attention

For this is not my home

But there amidst the clouds and thunder

Hides the Mighty One I need to return to

When all is said and done

Oh Mamogosnan, may I always find you

Hidden in every walk of Life

I have been given

Nin se Neaseno…….

Days of Buffalo Grasses

Blue skies over waving prairies, tall Osage grasses

beckoning weary travelers to take comfort and shelter, seeming to say,

come and rest, feed yourselves, as they have for countless generations,

the bison herds and all who have been so nurtured.

White faces cannot comprehend this compassion and kindness, so they cut, slash and burn

their way through all the cursed growth, to remove it out of their way.

Make room for crops, homes and children to play

along with their small vain animals, they say—-

Relentless attack on grasses, trees and plants of all kinds,

they did not understand nor accept, thus creating massive hordes

of water spirits for

their off-spring to contend with and there was nothing left

to slow them down or deter them.

Noden (wind) comes calling blowing gusts of sand everywhere,

and the people still cannot grasp what has happened!

We must create, we must civilize,

sounds the cry of the conqueror And they don’t stop

with grasses and trees.

They continued with the children of the common people who greeted them

and nourished them, for a time.

Educate, civilize becomes synonymous with enslaving

the two-legged and their kind—

Cut, tear, slash, create civilized dwellings

for us to live and breathe, they say—-

And now the plantings they have done,

seem to cry in the night and beckon for attention in the day,

so that the conqueror

must start yet another process of clipping and shearing,

lest they grow and multiply beyond demand.

And what of those

who were educated and primed for becoming civilized?

Are they improved, or have they become

impoverished, bereft, stripped of everything they once were,

thus creating another dependency to be dealt with?

Where is the voice

of the grasses when

Noden (wind) called upon them for their songs?

Voices stilled forever

so the common people cannot

hear their sounds of joy and peace any longer.

The true education

must reign and be allowed

to share its wisdom for the children to be free, bright and true.

Where are the voices and songs of the people, as they rode and played

among the tall grasses and frolicked among the trees?

The original songs

and teachings are slowly coming back,

but through different voices,

echoing the injustices and the sufferings, the common people have endured.

This then could be the Indian Literature

the conqueror makes such big talk about—-

Ah, but he thought he had silenced all those voices,

and now wants them to be heard again, throughout

the hallowed halls of learning he has created

among the squares of stone and wood he has chosen to

place the voices of the common people within.

Can this be?

DaysNin se Neaseno…

Sharing a memory

April 25, 2015

It’s very easy to believe things that one WANTS to believe, in order to preserve one’s viewpoint, one’s way of life, one’s values and beliefs. The problem with that line of reasoning is that it goes against not one, but two of the seven grandfathers, Truth and Honesty.

During Mrs. Marian Perrote’s final illness, leading up to her death in Sept 2013, I had plenty of opportunity to sit and just listen to an old woman sharing her life. She spoke very clearly of her two oldest sons, Donald Jr. and Edward, the only two to be born on the Bluff (Skunk Hill, Pkwakik, etc). Of her 8 children, they were the only two to be raised by HER PARENTS. You see, at that time, early 1940s, parts of the Bluff were already being lost, and Mrs. Perrote had decided to accompany her husband Donald Perrote Sr to the lumber camps in the north, first as part of the WPA and CCC, but then as part of the war effort. She left her two young sons, Don Jr and Edward, in the care of her parents, Frank and Sarah Young, with assistance from Don Sr.’s parents, Star Amos and Susan Crow (Pidwawegishgokwe) Perrote. All four of these elders were completely fluent. Frank Young spoke Potawatomi and Ojibwe, Susan Crow Perrote spoke fluent Potawatomi, Winnebago, Menominee, and Ojibwe, Sarah Young spoke fluent Potawatomi and Winnebago, and Star Amos spoke fluent Potawatomi, Menominee, Ojibwe, and even French and some Polish. So Don Jr. was raised by these old people in his formative years, becoming fluent in Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Winnebago, Menominee, as well as being exposed to Odawa, English, French, German, and Polish, because of the area in which he lived, and the folks they did business with.

All four of these elders were also completely traditional in their beliefs, Frank Young being the grandson of John Young, who had gone to meet Wenankwe and was one of the group that brought the Big Drum to Wisconsin, and Star Amos Perrote being the grandson of Judge Jean St Baptiste Sabatis Perrote, who was one of the priests of the Menominee Mide lodge, widely and publicly documented by Alanson Skinner, anthropologist. Donald Perrot Jr. was raised completely traditionally until his mother converted to Christianity in the late 1950s, and even then, he continued to participate in the ceremonial ways of his people at his grandparents’ influence and sometimes insistence.

This is the story I learned from Mrs. Perrote, as she lay slowly dying at age 95, here in Waupun, WI, just a short year and a half ago, and it is corroborated by her other children, who all admit that eldest brother Don was the only one who was raised “that way,” as they put it, and who only know snippets of Potawatomi and ask Don to translate old notes and other findings in the family.

Dolores A. Perrot.

Potawatomi Aromatherapy

This is a small book we did on Potawatomi Aromatherapy which many of the Tribes practiced at one time. I still practice it and we share a bit on the origins and the many uses of aromatherapy.

Click on the link below and it shall take you to the article we drafted which is now a book.

https://designrr.s3.amazonaws.com/wedase_at_neaseno.org_73775/Potawatomi%20Aromatherapy_6890.pdf

Neshnabe Edebwetagwzet

SOME TEACHINGS

The White World knows little about the workings of the human mind and can only guess as to the true workings of the Neshnabe pysche. Occasionally they get lucky and someone will write a paper on his/her discovery to supposedly share with the rest of the world, but in reality, they publish for recognition. There is much in the White World that speaks of greed and they are always doing things for personal recognition.

That should not be so in the Neshnabe World, but it is our observation that many Natives are becoming much like their White counterparts. There was a time when everyone was motivated for the right reasons and for the right goals; that of making the nation strong and personal recognition did not matter all that much. Even on the path of battle (war), the warrior did not cast aside his ability to reason and his loyalty to the group he came from was never at issue in his thinking.

The people of yesteryear were a complete people and could have taught many cultures a thing or two about longevity in this world. This is a truth, for they are ever coming to us now and seeking the wisdom, knowledge, understanding that our teachings and teachers still possess. If they had only listened to some of our early Sages, things might have been different for all of us. For now, we struggle to get the few blessings which are entitlements for us in that they come from The God, not from Congress or the individual states we reside in.

Such is the Purification Lodge and all ceremonies that emanate from it.

So, it behooves us to protect and preserve the things we have shared with you, for they belong not only to you, but to all of your children and grandchildren and so on down the line of descendants we leave behind us. Long after we are dead there will be someone stirring the ashes of some ceremony looking for some wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Let us take good care of the teachings and ceremonies so there shall be something left for those who are walking along behind us.

Ahoh.

Nin se Neaseno.

ANISHINABE PHILOSOPHY

LIFE: The Fire, The Rock, The Water, The Green.

The Two-Leggeds, The Four-Leggeds.

The Creeping Crawling Things, The Winged Nation.

The Life Principle is found in The Liquid Life Of All Things.

The Blood = Liquid Life

The Four Basic Questions Known to Man:

Who Am I?

What Am I?

Where did I come from?

Where am I going again?

The Four Hills of Life:

Babes/Youth/Middle-Age/Old-Age.

Everything Has A Beginning and An End:

Only The Fire God, The God, or He Who Walks In The Fire, has no beginning and no endl

But we have Life in and through The Fire .

It is through The Fire that we have our movement, being: past, present, future. 98.6 Fahrenheit is our body temperature, proving the Fire lives within.

THE RITE OF PURIFICATION

Ancient Symbolism Attached To This Rite:

Eternity Past- Eternity Present- Eternity Future

The concept of Eternity in the Indian language has a present sense about it;

Antiquity,

From the most ancient times,

Eternity,

The distant future,

Duration,

Perpetual,

Without end,

Always,

Everlasting time,

Lifetime (s).

Some words that could be similar:

Time-always happening-time,

The beginning is like the end-the end is like the beginning.

Wheel without end or World without end!

All we can do is mark the circle of our lives with certain happenings as gradations of our lives, likewise the RITE OF PURITICATION or SWEAT RITUAL or any other type of wheel; medicine circle/wheel/ceremony.

THE FIRE – THE FIRE WITHOUT END OR BEGINNING

First, The Pipe carries:

Wisdom

Knowledge

Power

Gift

We must always pray for:

Bravery

Endurance

Alertness/Awareness

Patience

Tobacco is the sacrificial Offering that gives its life for us-

There is a great teaching on TOBACCO……

Fire is the “One” that activates,facilitates the life of the tobacco so it can then approach the (12) Grandfathers Council Fire (Altar) in its spirit state as smoke. (It’s original aura or state)

Fire Can Give Life or Take It!

As smoke, tobacco can thus rise upward to present the petitions it has heard within the Sacred Circle of Life!

The Fire and Tobacco work together to carry our prayers upward to the third plateau (spiritual mesa).

THE THREE PLATEAUS :

Third Plateau:

Grandfather

(12) Grandfathers

All Future Life

Second Plateau:

All spirits,

past and present.

First Plateau:

The Heavens-

The Two-Leggeds The Four-Leggeds

The Creeping Crawling Things The Winged Nation

The Fire, The Rock, The Water, The Green.

Mother Earth

Father Core “Fire”

Some Further Sacred Notes:

The Red Pipe Bowl represents the blood of The People. The Female is the ‘ one held responsible for the Nation’s welfare as it is through her the little ones are born, thus the Red Pipe Bowl is representative of her.

Grandfather Earth/Grandmother Earth/ Father Earth/ Mother Earth

Son Earth/ Daughter Earth

Father Fire Core

Perfect unity exists in the Universe of Universes!

Unity also speaks of Marriage Relationships and should tell us why The Marriage Rite is so sacred to our people.

There is marriage between two elements in the Pipe ceremony: Wood and Stone.

The Pipe Stem has the Male End The Pipe Bowl has the Female End The Tobacco is the Intercessor!

The Spiritual Marriage between Eternity past and Eternity Present is consummated when the Bowl/Stem are joined together.

That is why this ceremony; The Pipe Ceremony and any time the Sacred Pipe is used, is so important to our people.

We are actually re-creating something from Eternity Past and asking for a joining together of our wills (desires) and thus, requesting the power to carry out only good actions, speak good words, think good thoughts among the Life we are a part of on this altar: Mother Earth

This Life that we embrace is not really the Life we are after.

It is called Gagi Bmadzewen in our language; Forever Life or Eternal Life

All life comes to a predicted end; death-

All tribes have teachings and ceremonies governing this phenomenon: To take care of the grief and other feelings connecting with it when we, the living must say Bama pi mine to a friend or relative.

The real Life is hidden in The Fire and it is not until death that we shall really know what we are and where we are going again:

Going Home Ceremony!

Thus the four basic questions will ultimately be answered in Eternity Future, but do not forget it is all part of -the present to our people. How we should walk ever so humbly and carefully and not tread on anyone else or on anything else that is living or has Life!

We need to remember how frail we arel

SOME NOTES ON GI-BAH-MAHN

GI Grandfather Soul-

Rationale intellect, thinking, choosing, reasoning.

Bah Grandfather Core-

Celestial, light, fire of our being, Fire of the Spirit.

MUHN Grandfather Spirit (Body)-

Terrestrial, takes care of body, feels grief, joy, sorrow, Strong feeling part of our being.

MUHN (Body) is for feeling

and that is why a lot of sicknesses come from guilt.

Guilt lives in the belly region, loins, operates from there out the blood. Life is in the blood!

The Muhn (Soul) (Body) is an unusally sensitive part of all human things.

It will do exactly what one tells it to do.

Hence, if you keep telling someone or yourself a negative thing about themselves (yourself) he/she begins to believe it and will ultimately act upon it. The Liquid Life within us begins to accept whatever it is that it is being told and it then becomes a part of us.

When we begin to believe something ourselves or someone else does, it becomes a part of our rational intellect or thinking, thus a part of our complete selves:

Aura. Chee Jauk.

(Gi Bah Mahn)

Those of us who have children should long remember the words of the elders on these few simple things. If you are married, never tell your mate she is useless. Always hold one another in high regard and prefer each other before the other. Practice this simple act of humility in all aspects of traditional life.

A simple prayer

Yo Ho Mamogosnan

Oh you creator

Mine jayek gi mnedok ejabdebwat shpemek ge ninan

And all of you spirits who sit above us

Mine ode Meneto ednezet ezhi wechbkeshmok

And this spirit who abides to the west

Mine ode ednezet ezhi wechksenyak

And this one who abides to the north

Mine ode ednezet ezhi wechmokek

And this one who abides to the east

Mine ode ednezet ezhi wechnawkwek

And this one who abides to the south

Mine ode ednezet bid she nokmes kignan

And this one who lives within grandmother earth

Mine she ibe mesho gishek ednezwat gi mnedok

And those spirits who live in the heavens

Ngom she ewi ndodaskeygo

Today we pray earnestly

Eje kewabmegomen ode Shkwede nsi

That we are watched over by this fire spirit

Mine ewi madmomen megwa

And that we pray still

mine enozho et etso nangotoygo

and that we are blessed each and every one of us

Ode Keshe Mneto

By This great spirit

Mine Jayek gode bemadzejek

And All these who live

Mine gode penojeyek

And these children

Mine ge ninan jayek

And all of us

Ewi nozhoyak jayek she ode keshemeneto

That we may all be blessed by this great spirit

Ewi bgednegeyak ode yajdonen

That we may all put down our prayers

Epich chiwenmegomen jayek ode

That we are very grateful for all this

Wisnewen, mine ode mno zhe webzewen

Food, and this good health

mine ode wjitmowen, mine ode bmadzewen

and this help, and this life

Mine migwech jayek ekedyak

And all say thank you

Epich chiwenmoyak odo pi ge ninan

To show how grateful we all are at this time

Mine gode gé winwa égi mawjeshnowat shote

And for these who have gathered here

Iw se ode enajmoyan ngom

That is all I have to say today

Mine ik she gwien nda ked odo pi ge nin

And I am grateful at this time also

IW.

amen