Namebini-giizis/Makwa-giizis (Suckerfish Moon/Bear Moon )- February 9, 2023
Boozhoo!
Let's talk clans today.
Some Ojibwe Midewiwin traditionalists say that the clans emerged from the ocean. That makes a great story and I love it. It makes sense to believe that life starts in the water.
However, I hold the belief—rooted in an ancient method of knowledge transmission that I refer to as miskwi-minjimendamowin (blood memory)—that prior to encountering the Bwaanag/Dakota and, subsequently, the Agaamakiiwininiwag/Europeans, the Anishinaabeg understood that our clans originated from the stars, not the ocean, and that our spirits, upon death, journey not from east to west but from south to north, following the migrating birds along the Thunderbird Path in the sky.
Upon death, individuals journey to the star constellation associated with their clan animal. Those belonging to the water clan also make their way back to the Thunderbird Path (Milky Way) in the realm of stars. The clan animal was regarded as the person's progenitor; meaning, when someone was born into a specific clan, such as the Snapping Turtle clan, they descended from the Mikinaak Anangoog/Turtle Stars constellation and returned to it upon death.
I also believe—based on miskwi-minjimendamowin—that the Jiisakaan/Shaking Tent ceremony, as we understand it today, originated in the star world. This painting I created several years ago illustrates the vision of an Anishinaabe Waabanoowiwin Medicine Woman who, through a spiritual journey, travels along the Thunderbird Path/River of Souls towards the Bison/Perseus constellation, which the Elders recognized as the birthplace of the Shaking Tent...
But that's a - fascinating - topic for yet another story!
If you like to find out more about the Jiisakaan/Shaking Tent, read Turtle and Bear, guardians of the Shaking Tent.
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