“The meaning of Anishnaabeg is ‘First’ or ‘Original
Peoples’. Another definition – possibly reflecting a traditionalist’s viewpoint
with a certain moral dimension – refers to “the good humans”, or good
people, meaning those who are on the right
road/path given to them by the Creator or Gichi-Manidoo (Great Spirit). The
Ojibwe scholar, linguist and author Basil Johnston, who explains the name in a
creationist context, states that its literal translation is “Beings Made
Out of Nothing”, or “Spontaneous Beings”, since they had been
created by divine breath and were made up of flesh and blood and a soul or
spirit – instead of rock, or fire, or water, or wind.”- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anishinaabe
The Sacred Four Direction Teachings – OJIBWE/
POWAWATOMI (ANISHINABE) TEACHING
ELDER: LILLIAN PITAWANAKWAT
Boozhoo. Welcome to this sacred knowledge that’s
been gifted to us, to all the two-legged that walk on Mother Earth.
These teachings that are being shared are sacred
teachings. From tribe to tribe, the details may differ but the basic teachings
are the same. They have been followed and shared for many, many years. So we
honour the ancestors, the ones that have walked before us, because they’re the
ones that sat in circles many times before, and prayed that their children and
their grandchildren would follow in their path. When we honour the ancestors,
we honour ourselves.
There are Seven Sacred Directions.
The Four Cardinal points on the Medicine Wheel are
the Four Sacred Directions, represented among the Ojibwe by the colours yellow,
red, black and white. Blue represents Father Sky in the upper realm, Green
represents Mother Earth below, and purple represents the self, that spirit that
journeys in this physical world, at the centre of the wheel.
The Seven Stages of Life are also found on this
Medicine Wheel. They begin in the east and move across the Wheel to the West.
The Seven Stages of Life are: The Good Life, The Fast Life, The Wandering Life,
the stages of Truth, Planning, and Doing, and The Elder Life.
The Seven Grandfather Teachings are also located on
this Medicine Wheel. They begin in the Northern direction and move down to the
centre of the Wheel. These gifts are the teachings of Honesty, Humility,
Courage, Wisdom, Respect, Generosity and Love.
The Teachings of the Medicine Wheel are vast. There
are seven teachings within each direction on the Ojibwe wheel, and all these
have sub-teachings to them, such as where all the medicines like sweetgrass
came from, and what they mean.
The four directions of the Medicine Wheel remind us
of many things, such as the need for balance in the world, and the balance we
must strive for everyday within ourselves. Here you will begin to get an idea
of a few of those many teachings and connections that are in the circle.
Everything comes in fours, so it’s easier to digest, easier to learn. The four
direction teachings go clockwise, beginning in the east. But before we travel
around the wheel, let’s look at the Centre.
Ojibwe – Medicine Wheel in the Universe, white,
blue, red, and yellow.
Ojibwe – Medicine Wheel 7 sacred teachings located
along the axis of the Medicine Wheel
CENTRE
Each of us carries a fire within. Whether it’s
through the knowledge we have, or through our experiences and associations, we
are responsible for maintaining that fire. And so as a child, when my mother
and father would say, at the end of the day – My daughter, how is your fire
burning?” It would make me think of what I’ve gone through that day — If I’d
been offensive to anyone, or if they have offended me. I would reflect on that
because it has a lot to do with nurturing the fire within. And so we were
taught at a very early age to let go of any distractions of the day by making
peace within ourselves, so that we can nurture and maintain our fire.
We have many teachings on the value of nurturance.
When I was a child my father told us about the Rose Story. He said the Creator
asked the flower people, “Who among you will bring a reminder to the two-legged
about the essence of life?” The buttercup answered, “I will, Creator, I will.”
And the Creator said, “No, you can’t, because you’re too bright.” All of the
flowers offered their help. At the very end the rose said, “Let me remind them
with my essence, so that in times of sadness, and in times of joy, they will
remember how to be kind to themselves.”
So the Creator, the Master Gardener, took a seed of
the rose and planted it in Mother Earth. The winds tilled the soil and the warm
rains gave it water until a very small sprout came through the ground. Day
after day it grew. The stem sprouted little thorns that were very, very sharp.
After the thorns came the little leaves. As time went on, a little bud formed.
After much care this little bud bloomed into a full rose.
And so life is like a rose. The thorns are our
life’s journey; without them we would lack the hard won teachings that we need
to in order to grow. Life’s experiences make us who we are. And like the rose,
we too decay and die many times in a life time only to come back to fruition
again and again, after reflection, meditation, awareness, acceptance and
surrender.
My father told us the rose is both life and it’s
gifts. So when I am making my own Medicine Wheel, I put the rose here in the
centre as a reminder of my own life’s journey and it’s gifts.
For this, I say “migwetch.”
Ojibwe – Fire Shown Each of us carries a fire
within
Ojibwe – The Rose Story: Let me remind them with my
essence, so that in times of sadness, and in times of joy, they will remember
how to be kind to themselves.
THE EAST – WABNONG
The east is where we come from. It represents the
springtime, and the spring of life. It is where we begin our journey as human
beings coming from the spirit world into the physical world. This is Mother in
here, the one that brings life.
We are born when, as a spirit, we ask the Creator
to go on this physical journey. The Creator grants us this request with four
gifts: the gifts of picking our mother and father, so that they will help us
come to an agreement, a balance, within ourselves, and the gift of picking and
choosing how we are going to be born and how we are going to die.
And so in the spirit world, we find our spirit
mother and our spirit father, and we ask them, “will you be my vehicle to go to
this physical world?” When they agree, Creator brings them together. A spirit
is then born at the physical level, and is carried by the woman for nine months
until the water breaks. We then enter into the physical world.
Our journey begins here, when Creator breathes the
spirit of life into us. And the spirit is the one that motivates all that life
in this great circle. We are a spirit on a physical journey, until our last
breath.
Life is a gift. To honour that gift we have been
given tobacco.
All life is spirit. It is the wind, the earth, the
fire, the water, all of those things that are alive with energy and movement.
When we talk about life we are talking about spirit, and so we give thanks
every day to those things that we cannot exist without, because we need them on
our journey.
That is why we begin our day with the act of
thanksgiving, by taking a little bit of tobacco and gently placing it in a
clean place outside: in a garden, at the base of a tree, or on the shore of a
lake; a place where Mother Nature is unencumbered. When we do this we are
giving thanks. We are humbling ourselves to creation and being grateful for the
breath of life once more.
Boozhoo Creator, Thank you. Thank you for giving me
the breath of life. Thank you for the world, for the life-giving Earth and for
Grandfather Fire that warms me when I am cold. Thank you for the birds, and the
crawlers, the swimmers, and the trees. Thank you for the cycles of time: the
fall, the winter, the spring and summer. For all these things affect my being
with their gift of Creation.
And so, we correlate Spirit with all that is called
Nature, because it is life itself. When we follow natural law, it never lets us
down, because natural law was the only law that existed before man put himself
on the road to progress.
We have the gift of tobacco here in the eastern
direction because it reminds us to be grateful for all life – grateful in the
way of being humble in knowing that we will always require guidance and
protection, and cannot exist without the gifts of the natural world around us.
There are many teachings that come from this
eastern direction. I have shared a small part of these with you, but in doing
so I have accepted tobacco to honor the request to share these teachings.
I’ve been told ever since I was a young girl by my
parents that when we hold our tobacco in hand, when we ask the Creator for what
we need, all our intentions are answered. Not the way that we want them
sometimes, but the way the Creator wants them.
And so I honor this tobacco as I prepare myself to
go on this journey with you.
Ojibwe – The baby in the womb, the new life.
Ojibwe – Our tobacco growing from the Soil of the
Earth!
THE SOUTH – ZHAWNONG
Here in the southern direction of the Medicine
Wheel, everything is thriving. The trees have come awake, producing their
leaves. Life itself is awake and dancing, because the summer stage is here, a
time of continued nurturance for all of Creation, when everything is new and
growing fast.
Youth resides here in this direction. Youth are in
the quandary stage – not old enough to be an adult but no longer a child, when
they are either searching for what they have left behind in their child stage,
or losing that essence that is present within them, because of a lack of
nurturance.
The youth is searching for something and never
finding it: searching for something that they used to have. “Who am I? Where do
I come from?” As a youth, we look to remember our humble beginnings as the
child; we search for that.
The southern direction reminds us to look after our
spirits. When you are in balance within yourself, spirit will warn you of
danger, will tell you, “No, don’t go there. Go this way instead.” So no matter
what happens, when you listen to that spirit, to that intuition, it never
deceives you. It’s always right, because that’s your guide. When that is
disrupted, kids grow up without any direction, without any spirit nurturance.
And they grow up to be teenagers, and they’re into all kinds of dangers and
distractions. Why? It’s because there’s no spirit foundation. Their spirits
have not been nurtured. And their youth, their wandering stage, becomes very
distant.
They have a long way to go before they catch up
with themselves again, and the truth about who they are. As a youth, I have to
find people to help me in that time of continued growth, so I hook up with
like-minded people to give me that nurturance that I think I need. And when our
elders come in and say: “We have something for you; this is a gift I have for
you; take a look at it; see what you think of it” – they’re not saying, “I want
you to follow these teachings.” No. The elders are inviting them; as an elder,
I invite the youth to be a part of my journey. And with that invitation, most
of the time, they join me, just to hear out what has life, what has meaning,
what has purpose. And their lives begin to change. They begin to take
accountability, to form a life style. They’re planning now to be a better
parent, to have a career, all of that. That becomes their truth.
And so, looking at this life’s journey, how it used
to be, and how it is today, where do we find the balance? We need to go back to
our humble beginnings. We need to make contact with our ancestors, and say,
“Please, have pity on me; pray that I will find my journey.”
And so the youth reminds us to be mindful in our
struggles, to remember our humble beginnings as the child, and to nurture the
youth themselves, who are searching, because they are still growing and in need
of our guidance and protection.
That is why summer is the time of continued
nurturance, where we learn to cultivate our spirits.
The gift of cedar was given to help us in this
direction.
The Cedar Grandmother was asked by Creator, “Will
you walk with these two-leggeds? Will you provide them with your medicine when
they are hurting and when they are ill?”
Our Grandmother agreed, and so to this day we
honour that cedar tree, because she is the Grandmother who comes to us free of
charge to administer that medicine when we ingest her and drink of her sacred
teas.
And so we are reminded that spirit lives inside of
us, and that to nurture spirit means we must be mindful of it, lest it should
run away.
Grandmother Cedar helps us; with her medicine she
takes from us all those things that we don’t need on our journey. Once we’re
ready to give them up, she takes them from us and makes us anew. That is why
cedar is considered a cleansing medicine for body and soul.
Ojibwe – our Youth are fragile and being an
adolescent is hard
Ojibwe- Masks are adorned in this stage of life,
but eventually discarded
THE WEST – EPINGESHMOK
The western direction is the adult stage, the berry
stage. It is here that the growth from summer has come to ripen. It is the time
of harvest, and so for much of creation the physical journey is over, and that
life crosses back into the spirit world.
The sun setting in the west signifies the death of
a day. And so we die many deaths in a lifetime. And just as an old thought or
feeling dies, and a new one emerges, we die many deaths in a single day. So
there is constant change within us. We dance around that western doorway many
times in a day to honour the death spirit.
As we move through adulthood, death and loss become
more and more visible. In the light of death, it is important that we accept
that constant change is here with us.
The west also represents the heart, the evaluator
of what’s going on in my life. As adults, we need to be in touch with this
evaluator, because it helps us to see the cycle of life, to appreciate and
enjoy the fruits of life, and to accept aging and change, making peace with our
lives and deaths. We are given the responsibility to nurture our hearts, so
that we may be in balance, and see the Medicine Wheel for what it is.
And so to help us we have been gifted the medicine
of sage. When we smudge ourselves, burn the sage and bring the smoke over our
bodies, we are given the gift of clearing our minds and hearts, so that we may prepare
well for the rest of our journey.
The Strawberry Teaching comes to mind here in the
west, because it teaches forgiveness and peace. The Strawberry is shaped like a
heart, and strawberries are known to our people as heart berries. We were
taught stories like these from a very early age.
A long time ago, there was a family that chose to
no longer live in their village because of community feuding and ill will. This
young family took their two little boys and said, “Let us go back into the
forest, and we’ll let the trees nurture our children; we’ll let the birds sing
songs to remind them of their own songs. And we’ll let the animals become their
friends.” And so they packed up their little boys and went deep into the
forest.
The father offered his tobacco, and asked the tree
nation to give him a home. He was granted that gift and so he cut down the
trees. He made a home for his family and they moved in. The boys grew tall and
strong, and yet year after year they continued to play fight and wrestle. Finally
when they were in their teens, their mother said to them, “It’s time for you to
give up your childish ways.” And they said, “Okay mom, we won’t wrestle
anymore.” But as soon as they were out of earshot from their mother, they said,
“Let’s go deeper into the forest and we’ll build a wrestling ring for
ourselves, so we can go out there any time we feel like it.” And so they did.
They cleared some land and went there secretly, without their mother’s
knowledge.
And then one fateful day the time came when the
boys were wrestling and the older brother knocked his younger brother to the
ground, where he hit his head on a rock and died instantly. The oldest brother
was beside himself. He said, “Please, please wake up… Mom and Dad are going to
kill me. Please, please answer me.” The only answer was silence. He cried and
begged his brother: “Please, please.” Finally after a couple of hours, a voice
told him: “Bury your brother.” And so he dug into the ground and put his
brother there. He covered him up and ran home.
Out of breath, he ran to his parents: “Mom, Dad,
I’ve lost my brother in the forest – I can’t find him.” And so the parents went
out with him and they looked. They couldn’t find him anywhere. The father said,
“I will go into the community, and seek out our relatives to come and help us
form a search party so we can find him.” So they searched for ten days, and ten
nights, and then they went into mourning after they couldn’t find their son.
But every day the brother would go to his little
brother’s grave, and he would say, “Please, please tell me that you’re okay!
Please!” And he would cry as he walked away, because he had no answer. And
years went by. He carried this sadness into his manhood because only he knew
where his brother’s body lay.
After many years and visits to his grave, the elder
brother saw a tiny plant. He watched it grow into a little strawberry vine on
top of his brother’s grave. Each day he watched the leaves grow and the berries
come into fruition.
White heart-shaped berries appeared first. Then,
over days, they transformed into big red delicious berries, luscious and sweet.
As he contemplated them, a voice from inside him said, “Take a berry and eat
it.” So he picked a berry and he put it in his mouth.
As he ate it, he became aware, for the first time
in his life, that he could taste the sweetness of life again. No more did he
blame himself for his brother’s death, and no more did he blame his brother for
not answering him. He no more blamed his parents for their strict upbringing.
And most of all, he no more blamed the Creator for taking his brother’s life.
He was free. After all of these long years, he was finally free.
And so here in the western direction we have
learned something about death and about the power of change and healing, and
that finding peace doesn’t necessarily come from the head – it comes from the
heart. Death can be a place of freedom: freedom to go on, freedom to be. It’s
very important to remember that, because only then can we go on to enjoy the
northern direction after we have given careful consideration to these teachings
in the west.
Ojibwe – The Strawberry Teaching
Ojibwe – a Giant Strawberry located in the soil of
the earh
THE NORTH – KIWEDNONG
Now it’s time to slow down from the business of
birth and death, the continuum of death and rebirth. Here in the Northern
direction is the rest period. Some call it the remembrance period, because
after death, you rest, and you contemplate what has happened. But rest is also
used here to be mindful of the physical body, to remember to care for and
nurture our physical bodies: when they are tired, rest them, just as in the
winter the Earth rests from her labours. When they are hungry, feed them. And
know what you are ingesting, what is good food for the body.
This is a time of reflection on being a child, a
youth and an adult. And so it is here that we honor our Elders. This is where
they reside, along with the pipe carriers and the lodge keepers, because their
ceremonies provide us with teachings of the whole Medicine Wheel, in all the
directions. They also help us make peace through embracing all those aspects of
ourselves – the child, the youth, and the adult – so that we may be able to
feel and experience the fullness of self.
This is a place of wisdom.
And so it is here during the winter months that the
elders share their stories and teachings. In honour of this storytelling time,
I too will share a story.
Years ago we were prohibited from visiting
Dreamer’s Rock. It is a sacred place in our territory where our people would go
for vision quests. In 1968, that ban was lifted and we were able to go back and
do our ceremonies. At this time I became involved with the community because I
believed in the value of our teachings and ceremonies. But I had to first regain
that fire.
I will never forget it. In the first sweat lodge
ceremony, the elder told us that the spirits that came into the lodge were
hungry. He said, “I asked them what they needed and they said, “Bakademe –
zhamzhenung.” This Elder was not of the same dialect as me, but he brought
those words from the sweat lodge. He said it means, “We are hungry; feed us.”
Something inside of me stirred. I remembered as a
child, my grandmother used to say, “We will feed them, those that went ahead,
our grandmothers, our grandfathers, all our relations.”
She would then prepare food and burn it on the
stove, until the smoke from it permeated the whole house. It was like the
essence of their lives filled our home and reminded us of how they contributed
to our life’s journey. And that was a good feeling.
I knew then, deep inside – Spirit spoke to me – I
knew what I had to do.
And so I went back home and called every household
I knew. I said, “We’re having a celebration. Can you donate some food?” “Yes –
yes, yes,” – everyone agreed. People were awakening to something that they knew
existed before.
So we prepared the spirit plate. Every spoonful of
food that was donated was put on that plate. And it was a heaping plate because
there was so much food. We took that plate along with our tobacco to the fire
and prayed: “Please hear us,” we said.
“Grandfathers, grandmothers, ancestors, all our
relations: please hear us. We are here now, have pity on us. We had forgotten
to feed you. You have lived a long time without food, and now we are here to
honour you. Please come and feast with us.”
As we put the food down, I could actually see those
spirit hands grasping for that food because they were starving. It was at that
moment that I began to cry because I could feel my reconnection to this circle.
And so as I share this story with you, I am sharing
how I became reconnected with my ancestors. It is through them that we learn
the sacred teachings that they carried. I cherish this story because it is not
only about an awakening inside of me, but an awakening of a community that came
together to celebrate a way of being and spiritual nourishment. We still go
back to our original teachings, because that’s where our food for life comes
from, to nurture that spirit that is forever searching in life’s journey.
And so I am grateful to all of my teachers and all
of life’s teachings.
This is what we learn from the four stages of the
Medicine Wheel: that all of life’s cycle is beautiful – the sadness and the
joy, life and death; and that they are all one, and there is life in death,
death in life – and that beauty itself resides within the balance of the whole
circle.
And so now we have come full circle, and I give
thanks. To the Eastern Doorway I say Meegwetch, to the Southern doorway, I say
Meegwetch, to the Western Doorway, Meegwetch, and to the Northern doorway,
Meegwetch.
Ojibwe – Groups of figures standing on the lines of
our lifes. Youth is shown as Floating Flowers
Ojibwe – the Family shown over a bed of Roses on
the winter background
THE SEVEN STAGES OF LIFE
The Good Life
After birth, the first seven years of our lives is
the good life. I’m going to present the ideal first, the way it used to be. And
so the first seven years of a child’s life, there were elders, grandmothers,
grandfathers that provide for all the needs of that child, unconditional love
for that child, and discipline, and the child came to know what life was all
about, confident in who they were. And so the teachings began very early in
life. The support family was there – the mothers, the fathers, being supported
by their mothers, their fathers, and the child became strong.
And by the time they were seven years old, they
were put out on their first day fast to make them realize that these are all
their relations that we walk with. So the child goes out to fast for a day, for
a night, with all the support people.
The Fast Life
After that, the child was prepared for the next leg
of the journey, and that was called the fast life. This was when the child was
being prepared for their four-day vision quest at the time of puberty. And men
were designated to look after the boys, women designated to look after the
girls, to train them. So that after their fasts they would be inducted into the
men’s circle for the boys, and the women’s circle for the girls, so that there
was always space for every individual. No outcasts in the circle. Everybody was
included.
The Wandering Life
The next part was the wandering stage, where I go
and wander about from place to place to find my teachers, to find other
experiences. The wandering phase. It’s also to wonder about life: “I wonder, if
I did this, what would happen?” So there’s two wanders in there: w. a. n., and
w. o.n. – the two wonders of life.
Truth
And so when we finish going through the wandering
life, our elders, or our teachers, our mentors that we picked out, are the ones
that guided us to the next phase, which was the Truth Stage – the truth being,
taking a look at myself, that I can see my mirror. These are my gifts. This is
what I’ve learned from, and being able to speak out of that truth of self.
Planning
And then comes the planning stage. “What am I going
to do with all of this information that I have? How will I accomplish it?”
Doing
And then after the planning stage comes the actual
living out of it; practicing all those things that I have learned on this life’s
journey, to exactly where I’m at, there.
Elder
And then to be inducted into the elder’s circle.
And all of those intervals, every seven years, they would fast for direction
and guidance. So then when they become elders, they come back and they teach the
young ones. So there was always that circle of teaching. There were always
professors there. Always teaching, always sharing.
And for every one of the Seven Stages of Life, it
took about seven years – seven years to accomplish all of that.
http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/transcripts/ojibwe.html
Month: February 2020
Semau atsokan
Séma/Semau/Semaw
Ngotek ga zhe wébek iw pi ga bmadsewat gi neshnabék. O ngot kcheni ga apwét wa je zhechkét o mnedo. Ibe étoyen i gtegankiwen wgi denat o nene omnedo, i yé wpi wa je byat o gteganéwen éminayen o mnedo, gi dena’at. Iw pi wa je kewabdemyen i gteganéwen émingoyen anjekét o mnedo.
Gégpi ga je byat o gteganéwen éwabdet o kcheni épich mamkazet, wégwén she éyowyan ode égi shedé’at.
Gi to i nikan abnaki[N1] gi yawe, iw se égi widmot ga je minangét o mnedo…Hau, i yé étoyak nasab i gteganéwen gé ninan éktot o wnikanéyen.
Ga je byat o wa je wabdet i gteganéwen, égi mamkazet gésena. I yé i étoyak éktot, semau éshnekadék i wgi dena o kcheni…
Wégni je ézhechkéyék ode gteganéwen énajdot o kcheni. Hau, wi dema’ayak se i pwagenen, mine ébgednoyak se i shkwedé wgi dena mine o kcheni.
Iw pi gézhanzet[YUN2] o semau, anaké éneshkat[YUN3] o, nwi bya mine ékenomagéyan mégwa wa zhechkéyen i semau wgi dena o kchniyen…
Iw pi ga je gézhanzet i semau manék gi neshnabék gi byéwat ibe énedwéndawat wa je wabdemwat i semau, mine ékéndemwat ézhewébek se ibe édat o kcheni.
Hau, bama shkejiméyek nda wikw’kémen[YUN4] ga ktot o kcheni. Iw pi nda yajmo jayék ga zhewébziyan ode napwéwen mine ga mingoyan ode semau éktot. Haw, wenet ga je kto o wgema égi naganit iw pi she.
Gégpi ga je byat i gishek iw pi o kcheni ga nibwet égi yajdot jayék zhewébzet i mine ga widmot jayék nijneshnabék wa je yowat i nensemau.
Gi mno zhe wébzewat wéji wpi jayék gé winwa neshnabék. Gi yowat i nensemau babkan she égiwséwat, mine émadmowat, mine énajdowat gi mnedok wégwéndek éndodaskéwat, mine éwnakwnegéwat[YUN5] wégwén she ézhechkéwat éneshnabémwat.
Cultural concepts
Cultural Concepts – notes from a culture teaching session.
Épich chiwénmoyak (very happy) – Happy with self, appreciates self, appreciates others, realizes each other’s worth, has to do with respect and humility, recognizes Spirit of all life and we are nothing without each other.
Inéndagwet (it is permitted) – Respect for ways and ideas that are different from our own.
Égwamzewen (peace) – Deep abiding respect
Ékwabdemyak (we watch) – Being vigilant and strong against those who would destroy creation. Many warriors fought before 1924 because of this. Strong against forces, defend the people and the earth. Take care of body and keep it ready with power, health, and peace.
Ébmadziyak (we live) – Respect our kékyajek, provide for them as they provided for us. Value them. Elders strengthen our nation. Neshnabék are supposed to keep them strong. Often we worry about our survival and forget to provide for others.
Émbwachewéyak (we visit) – Tell visitors migwech for coming. We prove our hospitality, kindness and generosity. Provide for visitors and those who need help.
Ézhewébek (as it is) – Practice equality! We are all the same height.
Widoktadwiyak (we interact) – We must live within the circle of life to be in harmony with the earth. Seek harmony and beauty in our lives.
Mkedekéyak (we blacken our faces) – Who we are and why we are here. Turn to the Spirit for guidance. Seek and value fresh vision.
Gdenwémagnenanek (all our relatives) – Remember our relatives
Nmezodanen (my family) – Recite family lineage, know your family tree. 19 generations back.
Mingaswenen (gifts) – Gshemnedo shares with all creation, thus we have the privilege of sharing with others.
Jitmowen (help) – We are placed here to help others. Neshnabék are strong when of one mind, heart, and body.
Mnobmadzewen (good life) – health and well being living in harmony, learning from all of creation. Animals and plants have wisdom. Learn from them. Maintain health by using plants and animals.
Mshkekiwen (medicine) – Stay health and strong. Strength of the Earth.
Mnomajishkawen (good growth) – Control excessive behaviors. Over indulgence in anything interrupts quality of life. Addictions prevent us from living. Moderation in everything.
Mbwakawen (wisdom) – seek knowledge. Do not measure a person by how much he or she knows, rather by how they use what they know. Guard your tongue in your youth. As you age, you may learn something.
Mendowen (spirit doings) – Spiritual activity, spiritual power. Cosmology. We cannot separate ourselves from all of creation. The rocks and waters have teachings. Harmony brings a long life that will make a difference. Have cultural role models. Maintain identity. Tradition, honor codes, gi yaw, respect, cooperation, bravery, caring for creation, mBwakawen, myelin mshkekiwen, emotions. Accept self, Turn self over to o Mnedo, accept it when he points out strengths and weaknesses. Deep hidden mysteries within ourselves can show us what we need and allow the Spirit in. It doesn’t make us Medicine people, it makes us People.
Enswé naskwenejek kche bmoséwat
Megwa ode Neshnabe ektot
A glossary of some more words.
Neshnabe kendaswen traditional neshnabe knowledge.
Neshnabe the good being (male) created from nothing and lowered down to this earth. Name of all people who are descendants of the people who speak the various dialects of neshnabemwen
Mjina neshnabek there are those who think they are neshnabek and by all they try to do and act, they will become more neshnabe-like and/or spiritual. These tend to act as though they are more spiritual than others of their kind. Proud and haughty are they!
Neshnabemwen The Neshnabe language/The Three Fires language
Sema tobacco
Sen rock/stone
Atsokan traditional cultural story
Ezhikenimnonadzed bemadzet The study of the behavior of life
Bemadzet a human being
Bsendagmowen acquired knowledge, learning from listening
Bgosenjegewen things hoped for
Zhewenmeshen pity me/have mercy on me
Zhewenmeshnak have pity on us/also mercy
Zhawenmengomen they are jealous of us
Kcheneshnabe/kcheneshnabek The Ancient Ones
Epitsewat neshnabek The Ancient Ones
Gete Neshnabek The real ones
Wakendemwajek the wise ones
Debwewen truth
Gwekwadzewen honesty
Dewegen drum
Edneswen Natural Law, natural way of behavior
Segmekwe Mother Earth
Eyawyan identity, the way all is in me or every way I am
of my being
Kche mkede mko large black bear
Gichidakwe female ceremonial helper
Getesewen intuition, the navel way, mother connection to you
Gwabminjegewen knowledge from observation
Kshemenedo Great Spirit
Mamogosnan The Creator
Kendaswen knowledge
Kenjegadewen reality, a known truth
Kimingoa anwe kendaswen The original instructions given to the
Neshnabek by Kshemenedo
Mkedeke the act of fasting
Mkedeke’w’egan a fasting lodge
Mkedekewen fasting or vision quest, the way of the quest.
We say this because the spiritual people who put us in the ways of “extreme danger”, or “path of the fire”, literally place us in harms’ way when we go out to fast. That is why we place the smudges of black charcoal on each cheek and forhead of the “quester.
To go before the SPIRIT in such a manner with the imploring we do when we cry out for a vision, or a gift, in those lonely places is to be willing to die for the sake of the people. i.e., so the common people may live. So the “vision quest” has nothing to do with individual effort or EGO. In fact, the EGO of the quester must die out. It is the way of death to man’s spirit or control over his pitiful life, so the real spirit inside him can live and do the will of the SPIRIT for the common people. It is a way of self sacrifice to bring back the power of the SPIRIT for one’s people, so they can all live!
Mnedo wabewen Revealed Knowledge
Mnedo a spirit
Mnedoke conduct a ceremony
Mendokaswenen a ceremony
Mnedoskwim’mendamowen Spirit memory/blood memory
Stitched into your spirit
The knowledge that enters this world when one’s
spirit fuses with the physical body, spirit idenity
Menjemendamowen memory, hold and stitch together
Mnobmadzewen The Way of the Good Life, In order to have a good life one must have a goal. This goal is to be free from illness, to live to the fullest.
Bemadzewen is based on a concept of health and good living. One must work on prevention and not only healing. It is a Holy Life. One must eat well, act well, and live physically, mentally, emotionally well. Emotional well being is a key to Bemadzewen.
Mshekeke medicine that comes from the roots of Earth
Mshkekiwen the way of medicine
Meshomes Grandfather
Debwetawen belief, the truth that is evident in the way of action. One cannot know the truth unless one has seen or experienced it in a direct way (physically or spiritually).
Debwewen Faith, the heart that all relates to, truthfulness.
Nedendowen responsibility.
Nagdewendemwen A spiritual vision/or deeper level thoughts
Apwewen/nademowen Vivid dream/lucid
Nbwakawen wisdom, from the root-nebwa-in the kindness of putting yourself backwards but at the same time of bringing forward the wisdom one carries.
Thinking back, bringing forward and stitching all together; i.e., life knowledge (Elders).
Nendamowen forget, unstitched.
Nenmowen thought.
Nisawai’igwan at the center, Nawai: center.
Nswe shkode Midewigan The Three Fires Medicine Society
Noden wind, also the old term to describe the workings of the mind.
Nokmes My Grandmother
Nwendeman choice, browsing in one’s thoughts
Nwennamdanwen making a choice
De’h heart
Odewegen the way of the drum
Shkabewes the new one, male ceremonial helper
Gichidakwe female ceremonial helper
Wenizhejegeyan free will, the way I am going to do things
Wanen’enema will, has to do with the ability to think independently.
Wigiwamatek lodge pole
Zagidewen love/caring, all of something emanating out of you. Not the same as the English “make love”, sexual, but rather of caring. It is something based on mutual respect. You can feel it but you cannot touch it. It is all of you filling the heart of another, mnadenemwenen, feeding that heart with the thought of something. Out of
Zagidewen a human being is able to heal him/her self.
Zhishigwen shaker, rattle.
Shkebdagen shooter, as in medicine dance ceremony.
Some words to consider:
Inendeman what I think
Inendagwet what I permit
Inendagzewen what is permitted
Nagdewendemwen deeper level thoughts, often what one does not
share with others easily for whatever reason,
or reasons. These deeper level thoughts are
sometimes somewhat embarrassing to reveal for
the individual, but are known by the SPIRIT and
the Interpreters/Translators.
The stuff we keep inside is what makes up who we really are and what our true identity is. (Eyawyan)
Kchenendezwen proud, haughty thoughts of oneself!
Shiwnendezwen mean, ugly, vicious thoughts culminating in that type of actions toward another or others. Generally a mean spirited and dishonest action.
Shiwnadzewen verb describing the above actions of a person like that. (Shiwze: mean, cruel, without mercy)
Gishkteg’gazwen Judgment! Any action(s) the Spirit/spirits take against a person who is bad or acting contrary to what is believed and embraced by a like- minded group. This is thought to include witchcraft of any kind and any mean actions that are thought out and carried out against another.
The old people used to tell us when a person
knowingly starts out on the wrong path and keeps
going down that way, it is like a person who grabs the top of a small sapling and bends it all the way to the ground, then lets it go,
whereupon it springs back at him/her slapping
with full fury at that person again and again.
From this story, they would tell us the Spirit’s
word or judgment is “springy”.
Gemazhechkewen Sovereignty! Usually refers to the sovereignty of the Spirit!
Yanshitmawat they became discouraged
Shiwze he/she is fierce/mean/cruel
Shiwzik they are fierce/mean/cruel
Gzhiptem you are hard headed
Gzhiptemwik they are hard headed
Gzhiptemwenen hard headedness/stubborn-ness,
usually referring to a state of being;
that of being stiff necked, beyond reasoning and usually of an impassable nature; very stubborn.
Gdemages you are poor
Gdemagzewen a state of being poor and not realizing how poor one can be. Said to be without mercy, thus without love, humility, truth, honesty, wisdom, bravery and respect; even self respect.
Widoktadwen that sense of community, togetherness, that innate sense of tribalism that permeates a group that one can sense long before they can verbalize on it. It has a sense of love and belonging that others who do not have it can feel with their spiritual centers; the soul, spirit, and body each have the (5) senses active within them;
touch, taste, smell, feel, hear and more.
Widoko to interact, commune with; usually on all levels when used in a spiritual context.
Gambojek those that passed away, that walked on, those that died.
Gambot he/she who died or walked on.
Nbowen to pass from the scene, to walk on, but in spiritual application, it has to do with dying out to the self, so the gete neyaw can live. i.e., the real man/woman self in all of us. It is said in the old days, this concept was taught to all young boys and girls who were going out to vision quest. (mkedekewen).
Young people were taught to allow old habits to die out so the real self could live and be invigorated with a new heart, soul, spirit so as to acquire new habits pursuant to the teachings of the early neshnabek.
Ode Pwagen
Being Carried by A Pipe
In these days, we often hear the term, Pipe Carrier, and assume some religious or mysterious quality about such people. There is none though, and all the mystery lies within the Pipe, and the Powers surrounding it. If the individual who is carrying or holding the pipe does nothing to effectuate a relationship with those Surround Powers, then it is all a moot point. One must have established a personal contact with the Other Side, the Surround Powers, so one can be a spiritual conduit or interpreter/translator of anything spiritually peculiar or incomprehensible. This is done through many seekings/fastings, i.e., vision quests where the person seeks to establish a relationship with the spiritual powers of the Other Side. Fasting is not a one time deal, it is a life time pursuit to keep abreast of the Spiritual Powers and the Spiritual News they hold. So the term Pipe Carrier is somewhat misleading, for it is the person who holds the Pipe who is carried by the Surround Powers.
I am going on 80 years and I am still fasting, perhaps not every year, as I used to, but often enough to maintain a fresh insight and gain new perspectives from the Other Side. That relationship is important to me and keeps me going, as I never know when I shall be called home. That contact through fasting, is important when one is working with the People also. The People whom one serves, deserve the truth and the very best the Interpreter/translator can give them, including when one doctors. One must have a close contact with the God when he/she doctors to assure the patient will have health/help. One does that through a consistent pattern of fasting and deep meditative introspection.
Iw enajmoyan
Nin se Neaseno.
All about faith
A Story On Faith
There came a time when three men of the cloth decided they would all go fishing together and become better friends to aid in their individual ministries. A Lutheran minister, A Presbyterian minister and a Baptist minister had all concluded they needed to demonstrate Christian Bother Hood for their congregations.
They struck out to a lake they all knew about and commenced fishing and visiting. After some time had passed and not much action on their lines, the Baptist minister suddenly arose, stepped out of the boat and walked across the water, to end up sitting on the bank of the lake.
The other two sat there for a short time, and then the Presbyterian fellow decided he would join the Baptist on the bank of the lake, whereupon he stepped out of the boat and strode across the water. They sat alongside each other visiting, watching the Lutheran fellow as he continued to fish.
The Lutheran man sat there thinking to himself all the while that if they had that kind of faith, then he should exercise his own and join them. He stood up in the boat, stepped out on the water and promptly sank. The other two looked at the scene and both said almost simultaneously, “Reckon we should have told him where the rocks were?”
I guess there should be a moral to such a tale.
Think before you step out on faith.
Eyawyan–what I am, who I am
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…….
Walking backwards into the future
Our story starts with several young people walking late at night in a forlorn spot, covered with tall marsh grasses just a few hundred yards from a lake, where some digging had taken place over the past few months. The year is 2234, it is early summer in the month of June with the blossoms of many flowers and trees wafting through the warm sultry air. The youth are decidely Native American, which they are called now. At one time, they were also known as Neshnabek but that was before the Great Cleansing which only some of the Older People knew anything about. They even spoke some different language dialects during that time which now seemed so far off. All of the youth seemed engrossed in observing the area
where anthropologists and archaelogists had been digging for something only days before. They had apparently been forced to give up when some old man had protested what they were doing.
It all started when one of the young men among them had overheard talk of bones that were discovered along with some artifacts which attracted the attention of the scientists. Several of the local Elders had talked of this being a sacrilege and had decided to protest with one old man who appeared to be a leader among those Elders who sat around the Seniors’
Housing area. The young people had readily agreed among themselves to go
and examine whatever the whites had been digging into. Now they looked around carefully for anything that might be visible and wondered among
themselves why the whites had left everything unearthed, concluding they must have been driven off rather hurriedly to do so.
“The Old Ones said it is wrong to walk among the dead and disturb their sleep,” said one of the young women. There were seven youth in all; three young men and four women. “Do you think it was right of the whites to do what they did,” asked one of the young men? “I think we have more right to be here than they do,” said one of the more outspoken young women.
“I think as long as we have good thoughts while we are here nothing bad shall happen to us, ” she said. “I also think the Old Ones tell us those things about the dead to discourage us from doing what the whites did here,” she further stated.
As they spoke thusly, one of the braver young men leaned down to peer at something in the dark which appeared to be eerily lit up in the half-
dark of the starlight and the still summer night sky. It appeared to be part of a human hand clutching at something. When he cautioned his peers to be quiet, that he had spotted something, they all turned their attention to what he was pointing at. “Look at what I’ve found here,” he said.
“Look at that,” they all said in unision.
It was a human hand holding what appeared to be a stone pipe bowl and remnants of a wooden stem piece, though none of them knew anything about these things then. “What is it,” asked one of the other young men? “I’m not sure,” answered the one who had discovered the find. “It looks like a hand,” he said.
As they all started digging carefully around the hand they slowly unearthed what was a human skeleton in a partially sitting position. “So this is what attracted those white people here,” said the outspoken girl. “What do you guys think this means,” asked another? “The only way we will be able to find anything out about this stuff is to go ask old Peter, the defiant one,” said the one who had found the bones. “This stuff could have greater meaning than any of us know about,” he said. “Old Peter says, when
one looks at any of these old things it is kind of like walking backwards into the future,” he said.
“We must be careful
not to disturb any of this
stuff for the Old Ones will all want to look at these things to see what these whites were after,” said another youth. “If old Peter is right, this stuff could mean our entire future and perhaps a return to the old ways some of the Elders are always talking about,” he further stated.
“In a way, that is kind of like walking backwards
into the future,” they all said.
Respect
Respect.
To give respect to another, one must first have respect, for oneself, for Spirit/spirits and Man, and above all a firm understanding that all things are interconnected throughout this vast universe, of which we are a miniscule part. If one does not have respect for any of those basic things, then one must needs go to the Spirit of all Life and ask to be given that staple of all gifts, respect. Sometimes it takes a search of one’s soul and spirit, an examination of one’s soul, so to speak, and upon discerning that something is amiss, then an acknowledgement of that, and a simple asking for forgiveness, thus a restoration of what one needs to see clearly. It is easy in this busy world to lose that element of respect one needs in their daily lives.
To understand that we are all connected, the two legged, four legged, creeping crawling kind, and the winged, and that we share this space, thus these elements, of fire, rock, water and the green, is to gain wisdom. Wisdom is one of the gifts the Spirit gave to mankind, along with love, bravery, truth, honesty, and humility. All of these gifts are interconnected as well, thus when seeking forgiveness when losing any one of them, they all are restored, which is the true fellowship of the Spirit.
It is the responsibility of Man to maintain what he has been given since he was also blessed with a free moral will, of which he utilizes in making the choices he needs to make. All other Life is given a set of original instructions along with the Life Principle, but Man was also given the additional responsibility of free will, thus putting the onus of making the right and moral choices in this life squarely upon his shoulders. All other life merely performs according to the set of instructions they were given upon creative inclusion.
Jayek ga shetot o Mnedo
Ga she webek ngodek—-an outline.
Eshe de’awat gi Neshnabek
Chronological History…..se gode netum Neshnabék.
Only the Spirit Mteno o Mnedo
Before Time Began Bwamshe éshetot weye o Mnedo
Creation of the Universe Éshetot jayék shpemek
Creation of the lesser spirits Éshetot éshkam mnedok
*Creation of the present heaven Éshetot shpemek
*Creation of the Earth Éshetot Aki
Creation of First Life Éshetot netem bmadezewen
Shkwedé
Sen
Nibi
Skebgyawen (creation of air to naturally follow)
The Creation of Oxygen (air) Bgednenamowen (anemo’wat jayek ni bmadsewnen wa je nagdot o bemadset)
Creation of all Plant Life Éshetot jayék gteganéwen (skebgyawen)
Creation of lesser Life Éshetot éshkam Méjbyéyek
Nyéwokadék
Bébamodojek
Benéshiyek
Original Man Wiské (Wenebozho, Nanabush, Nenebozho, Manabush, etc.)
Creation of Man O Neshnabé
Creation of other beings Éshetot jak gode bkan neshnabék
Appearance of other people Babkan gode bémadsejek
Manek ni atsokanen egi wtowat gode neshnabek
Netum atsokanen ga zhechkewat gi gete nenwek
Anet node gwi yajdoyak ngom se ode shkwaj nemegishek
Mine ngom eyawik gode neshnabek
Enetowat epa ndewebnowat i neshnabe zhechkewnen
Neaseno 