Seven fires prophecy is an

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...

prophecy that marks phases, or epochs, in the life of the people on Turtle Island, the original name given by the indigenous peoples of the now

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n continent. The seven fires of the prophecy represent key spiritual teachings for North America, and suggest that the different colors and traditions of the human beings can come together on a basis of respect. It contains information for the future lives of the Anishinaabe which are still in the process of being fulfilled. In 1988, Edward Benton-Banai documented the prophecy in ''The Mishomis Book''.

Overview

Originally, the prophecy and the

Ojibwa The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and thro ...

migration story were closely linked. However, the last half of the prophecy appears to apply to all peoples in contact with the Anishinaabeg. Consequently, with the growth of the Pan-Indian Movement in the 1960s and the 1970s, concepts of the Seven fires prophecy merged with other similar prophetical teaching found among

Indigenous peoples of North America In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

forming a unified environmental, political, and socio-economic voice towards

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The Seven fires prophecy was originally taught among the practitioners of

Midewiwin The Midewiwin (in Ojibwe syllabics, syllabics: , also spelled ''Midewin'' and ''Medewiwin'') or the Grand Medicine Society is a religious society of some of the Indigenous peoples of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North A ...

. William Commanda, an Algonquin elder and former chief of the Kitigàn-zìbì Anishinàbeg First Nation, was the

wampum Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of Native Americans. It includes white shell beads hand-fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and white and purple beads made from the quahog or Western ...

belt keeper for the seven fires prophecy. He died on August 3, 2011.Toensing, Gale Courey
"Political Party! Celebrating UNDRIP and Indigenous Culture in Montreal".
''Indian Country Today.'' 13 Sept 2011 (retrieved 27 Sept 2011)

Seven fires

Originally, the prophecies were given by eight prophets in seven different time periods. According to oral tradition, the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

Nation heard the first Prophet. The remaining seven prophets appeared before and were recorded by the

g. A prophecy of each of these seven periods were then called a "fire". The teachings of the Seven fires prophecy also state that when the world has been befouled and the waters turned bitter by disrespect, human beings will have two options to choose from,

materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

. If they choose spirituality, they will survive, but if they choose materialism, it will be the end of it.

First

In heeding this prophecy, the

peoples, after receiving guarantees of the safety of their "Fathers" (the

Abenaki people The Abenaki (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian languages, Algonquian-speaki ...

s) and their "allied brothers" (

) of having the Anishinaabeg move inland, away from the Atlantic coast, mass migration of the Anishinaabeg took place, proceeding to the "First Stopping Place" known as ''Mooniyaang'', known today as

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. There, the Nation found a "turtle-shaped island" marked by ''miigis'' (

cowrie Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails in the family Cypraeidae. Cowrie shells have held cultural, economic, and ornamental significance in various cultures. The cowrie was the shell most widely used wo ...

) shells. The Nation grew to a large number and spread up both

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

and the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

. The second of the "turtle-shaped island" marked by ''miigis'' shells was at

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

Second

The oral traditions of the members of

Council of Three Fires The Council of Three Fires (in , also known as the People of the Three Fires; the Three Fires Confederacy; or the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi Indians) is a long-standing Anishinaabe alliance of the Ojibwe (or Chippewa), O ...

say that the realization of the Second fire came about the "Third Stopping Place" located somewhere near what now is

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The Anishinaabeg had divided between those who went up

and those that went up the

. After leaving the area about Niagara Falls, this group proceeded to the "Round Lake" (

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair () is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day they first saw the lake. ...

) and found the third "turtle-shaped island" marked by ''miigis'' shells. They continued westward until arriving along the southern shores of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

but by this time, the evidence of the ''miigis'' shells were lost, and the southern Anishinaabeg became "lost" both physically in their journey as well as spiritually in their journey. The southern group of Anishinaabeg disintegrated into what today are the

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ) are an Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long prec ...

and the

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

. The northern group along the Ottawa River divided into Algonquin, Nipissing and the

Mississaugas The Mississaugas are a group of First Nations peoples located in southern Ontario, Canada. They are a sub-group of the Ojibwe Nation. Etymology The name "Mississauga" comes from the Anishinaabe word ''Misi-zaagiing'', meaning " hose at theGr ...

, but they maintained cohesion that was not maintained by the southern group. Eventually, a

girl had a dream and pointed the southern group back towards and past the "Round Lake". The southern group rejoined not as a single Anishinaabe peoplehood but rather as a unified alliance called

. Travelling east and north, and then west, the Council crossed a series of small islands known as "the stepping stones" until they arrived onto

Manitoulin island Manitoulin Island ( ) is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia (bioregion), Laurentia. With an area of , it is the Lake ...

, described as the "Fourth Stopping Place" of the "turtle-shaped island" marked by ''miigis'' shell. There on the island, the Council met up with the

, who then spiritually fully re-aligned the formerly lost southern group with the northern group who were never lost. The

facilitated the "healing" and the island became synonymous as the "Odawa's Island" in the Anishinaabe language.

Third

From the cultural center on Manitoulin Island, the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

moved to the area about Sault Ste. Marie, where there was the next "turtle-shaped island" marked by ''miigis'' shell. ''Baawating'' or "The Rapids" of the Saint Marys River became the "Fifth Stopping Place" of the Ojibwe. From this spot, the Ojibwe and the rapids became synonymous with each other, with the Ojibwe known by the Dakota peoples as ''Iyo-ḣaḣatoŋwaŋ'' ("cascading-waterfalls people") and later by the French as ''Saulteurs'' ("cascaders") and

Saulteaux The Saulteaux (pronounced , or in imitation of the French pronunciation , also written Salteaux, Saulteau and Ojibwa ethnonyms, other variants), otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band governm ...

("cascades"). From here, the Ojibwe moved west, dividing into two groups, each travelling along the shores of

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

, searching for the "land where food grows upon the waters".

Fourth

The Fourth fire prophecy was delivered two prophets who came as one. Some speculate that his prophet was a Two-Spirit person but it is not known for certain. The first prophet said, The other prophet said, While at the "Fifth Stopping Place", the light-skinned people in big wooden boats, known as the French arrived. Consequently, the French were called ''Wemitigoozhii'' ("wooden-boat people"). Though the French Crown was interested in colonialism, as far as the Anishinaabeg were concerned, the French appeared only interested in commerce and trade through

mercantilism Mercantilism is a economic nationalism, nationalist economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports of an economy. It seeks to maximize the accumulation of resources within the country and use those resources ...

. Together with the French, the Anishinaabeg formed trade alliances, which not only extended French colonial powers into the heart of North America, but strengthened the political and military might of the Anishinaabeg. After the French came the ''Zhaaganaash'' ("Off-shore ones") of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. But out of the ''Zhaaganaash'' came the ''Gichi-mookomaan'' ("Big-knives")—the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

ns (i.e.

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

Fifth

Sixth

Seventh

The Seventh Prophet that came to the people long ago was said to be different from the other prophets. This prophet was described as "young and had a strange light in his eyes" and said:

Notes

References

* Benton-Banai, Edward, ''The Mishomis Book - The Voice of the Ojibway'' (St. Paul: Red School House Publishers, 1988). * Buffalohead, Roger and Priscilla Buffalohead, ''Against the Tide of American History: The Story of Mille Lacs Anishinabe''. Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (Cass Lake, MN: 1985). * Warren, William W. (1851), ''History of the Ojibway People.'' * McFadden, Steven (1991), ''Profiles in Wisdom: Native Elders Speak About the Earth'', Harlem Writers Guild Press. * Christmas, Kevin (2011)
"Aboriginal Consultation"
''MAWQATMUTI’KW'', Winter/Spring Issue. * Robin Wall Kimmerer (2013), "Braiding Sweetgrass - Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants", www.milkweed.org.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Fires Prophecy Anishinaabe mythology Native American culture Native American religion Prophecy