Anishinaabe traditional beliefs cover the traditional belief system of the

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawato ...

g peoples, consisting of the

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

/ Nipissing, Ojibwa/Chippewa/

Saulteaux The Saulteaux (pronounced , or in imitation of the French pronunciation , also written Salteaux, Saulteau and other variants), otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations band government in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, A ...

Mississaugas The Mississauga are a subtribe of the Anishinaabe-speaking First Nations peoples located in southern Ontario, Canada. They are closely related to the Ojibwe. The name "Mississauga" comes from the Anishinaabe word ''Misi-zaagiing'', meaning " ho ...

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They h ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

and

Oji-Cree The Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a narrow band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west. The Oji-Cree people are d ...

, located primarily in the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canada, Canadian–United States, American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York (state), New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania ...

of North America.

Medicine Societies

The Anishinaabe have four different Medicine Societies.

Midewiwin

The ''Midewiwin'' (also spelled Midewin and Medewiwin) is the Grand Medicine Society of the indigenous groups of the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

and

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five la ...

regions in North America. Its practitioners are called ''Midew'' and the practices of ''Midewiwin'' referred to as the ''Mide''. The ''Midewiwin'' society is a secretive

animistic Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...

religion, requiring an initiation, and then progressing to four levels of practitioners, called "degrees". Occasionally, male ''Midew'' are called ''Midewinini'', which sometimes is very loosely translated into English as "

medicine man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and cerem ...

Waabanowin

The ''Waabanowin'' (also spelled Wabuowin, Wabunohwin and Wabunohiwin) is the Dawn Society, also sometime improperly called the "Magical Dawn Society". Its practitioners are called ''Waabanow'' and the practices of ''Waabanowin'' referred to as the ''Waabano''. The ''Wabanowin'' are distinct society of visionaries. Like the ''Midewiwin'', the ''Waabanowin'' is a secretive

religion, requiring an initiation. But unlike the ''Mide'', the ''Waabano'' have sometimes two levels and sometimes four. This variation being dependent on the particular lodge. They were systematically imprisoned in

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociati ...

s by the United States government in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Because of this persecution the ''Waabanowin'' went underground and have just begun to reemerge since the passage of the

American Indian Religious Freedom Act The American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Public Law No. 95–341, 92 Stat. 469 (Aug. 11, 1978) (commonly abbreviated to AIRFA), codified at , is a United States federal law, enacted by joint resolution of the Congress in 1978. Prior to the a ...

. The ceremonies and traditions are closely guarded.

Jiisakiiwin

The ''Jiisakiiwin'' are 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."

Migration story

According to the oral history of the Anishinaabeg, they originally lived on the shores of the "Great Salt Water" (presumably the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

near the Gulf of St. Lawrence). They were instructed by seven prophets to follow a sacred ''miigis'' shell (

whiteshell Whiteshells (also known as Cowrie shells or Sacred ''Miigis'' Shells) were used by aboriginal peoples around the world, but the words "whiteshell" and "''Miigis'' Shell" specifically refers to shells used by Ojibway peoples in their Midewiwin cerem ...

) toward the west, until they reached a place where food grew upon the water. They began their migration some time around 950,Benton-Banai (1988), pg. 102 stopping at various points several times along the way, most significantly at ''Baawitigong'',

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...

, where they stayed for a long time, and where two subgroups decided to stay (these became the

and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

). Eventually, after a trick by two of the clans, the other clans travelled West (see William Warren's account of this incident) and arrived at the wild ricing lands of Minnesota and Wisconsin (wild rice being the food that grew upon the water) and made ''Mooningwanekaaning minis'' (

Madeline Island ''Madeline'' is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian-American author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series a ...

: "Island of the

yellow-shafted flicker The northern flicker or common flicker (''Colaptes auratus'') is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker spec ...

") their new capital. In total, the migration took around five centuries. Following the migration there was a cultural divergence separating the Potawatomi from the Ojibwa and Ottawa. Particularly, the Potawatomi did not adopt the agricultural innovations discovered or adopted by the Ojibwa, such as the Three Sisters crop complex, copper tools, conjugal collaborative farming, and the use of canoes in rice harvest.

Importance of Storytelling

Storytelling is one of the most important aspects of Anishinaabe life. Many Anishinaabe people believe that stories create worlds, are an essential part of generational connection by way of teaching and listening, and facilitate connection with the nonhuman, natural world. Oral storytelling is often considered unimportant in settler colonial society; however this form of communication, connection, and teaching has been used for centuries, and is still used to pass down Anishinaabe traditional beliefs through generations. Storytelling is often used to teach life lessons relating to traditional and current beliefs. In Anishinaabe traditional stories, Nanabush, Amik (beaver), and Nokomis (grandmother figure) are important characters. Anishinaabe stories feature activities and actions involving generation, an important concept among Anishinaabe peoples such as participating in ceremonies, experimenting with new ideas and people, and reflecting on the outcome of events. Nanabush stories carry the message to young Indigenous peoples that it is okay to make mistakes, and that things aren’t always black and white. This is different from many settler colonial narratives which usually clearly define story characters as good or bad. Amik (beaver) is a being in traditional Anishinaabe stories that creates shared worlds. The stories of Amik’s creations and how Amik teaches their child about the world serves to provide a greater understanding of relationships and what is important in life. Nokomis (grandmother) is another being from Anishinaabe folklore. Nokomis and Nanabush stories are usually utilized to teach about important life lessons. Generational storytelling creates a bond between tribal elders and younger Indigenous people. Elders are known as “Knowledge Keepers” and are highly respected for their knowledge about stories, language, and history. Teaching through storytelling and learning to listen and understand requires a strong connection between the storyteller and the ones hearing the story. In this way, storytelling connects generations of Anishinaabe people.

Nanabozho stories

Nanabozho In Anishinaabe ''aadizookaan'' (traditional storytelling), particularly among the Ojibwe, Nanabozho (in syllabics: , ), also known as Nanabush, is a spirit, and figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creat ...

(also known by a variety of other names and spellings, including ''Wenabozho'', ''Menabozho'', and ''Nanabush'') is a

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise ...

figure and

culture hero A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, most culture heroes are im ...

who features as the protagonist of a cycle of stories that serve as the

origin belief. The cycle, which varies somewhat from community to community, tells the story of Nanabozho's conception, birth, and his ensuing adventures, which involve interactions with

spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

and animal beings, the creation of the Earth, and the establishment of the

Midewiwin The Midewiwin (in syllabics: , also spelled ''Midewin'' and ''Medewiwin'') or the Grand Medicine Society is a secretive religion of some of the indigenous peoples of the Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a re ...

. The myth cycle explains the origin of several traditions, including

mourning Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...

customs, beliefs about the afterlife, and the creation of the sacred plant ''asemaa'' (

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...

)

Relationships to the Other-Than-Human

In Anishinaabe traditional belief, everything in the environment is interconnected and has important relationships with the things around it. Non-humans, and ecosystems are viewed as having great worth and importance, in addition to humans. One such relationship in Anishinaabe homeland (what is now known as the Great Lake region) is between nmé (lake sturgeon), manoomin (wild rice), nibi (water), and humans. Similar relationships are exemplified in stories. For example, in her book A Short History of the Blockade, Leanne B. Simpson tells a story about Amik (beaver), stating “They eaversare consenting to giving up their bodies to help the Nishnaabeg feed their families.” These relationships between humans and the other-than-human can continue to be used in current times with regard to conservation and the environment. According to Potawatomi scholar Kyle P. Whyte, “...indigenous conservationists and restorationists tend to focus on sustaining particular plants and animals whose lives are entangled locally—and often over many generations—in ecological, cultural and economic relationships with human societies and other nonhuman species.” Having an understanding of the relationships between humans and the other-than-human strengthens the desire to respect the environment and practice Nishnaabeg conservation.

The Seven Grandfather Teachings

The Seven Grandfather Teachings are traditional guiding principles for living a good life still in use by Anishnaabe peoples today. (They originate from the Potowatomi and Ojibwe tribes specifically.) These teachings include wisdom, respect, love, honesty, humility, bravery, and truth, and are supposed to be practiced towards humans, the earth, and everything in the environment. According to Leanne B. Simpson in A Short History of the Blockade, the Seven Grandfather Teachings were “...gifted to the Nishnaabeg by Seven Ancestors, a group of loving Elders and advisors that taught a young child these practices as recorded in one of our Sacred Stories.” Each of the teachings has an animal that represents it.

References

External links

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PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

documentary featuring the history and culture of the Anishinaabe-Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes (United States-focused). {{Anishinaabe Anishinaabe culture Great Lakes tribal culture Anishinaabe mythology Native American religion Ojibwe culture Potawatomi Odawa Native American history of Michigan Native American history of Minnesota Native American history of Wisconsin