Dancing on Our Turtle's Back
Page 17
Because dreams and visions for Nishnaabeg people are spiritual in nature, if one is living in a good way then one becomes open to receiving Pauwauwaewin. But once one has received an important dream, he or she has a responsibility to act on that vision. That responsibility is in essence a treaty we make with the spiritual world when we place our tobacco down and ask for help. Pauwauwaein is an awakening, a vision that gives understanding to matters.[15] Sometimes, the vision is clear and complete, in the case of Pauwauwaewin. Other times, it is incomplete and is a process—an individual might have to speak with an Elder or several Elders in order to understand what that vision means or more ceremonies might be required. More dreams may even be required to understand the meaning. It may take months, years or even decades of searching and learning to fully understand the meaning of one’s visions and to chart a course of action. It is the responsibility of the person who had the dream to ensure that the full meaning comes to fruition.
In terms of resurgence, vision alone isn’t enough. Vision must be coupled with intent: intent for transformation, intent for re-creation, intent for resurgence. One must have the intention of Biskaabiiyang in order to be effective and to mobilize help from the spirit world. Being ethical about our responsibilities for resurgence within a Nishnaabeg ontology means that we cannot be haphazard about it. Intent matters, and intent is communicated by placing an offering down and asking the implicate order for help.
Naakgonige once again becomes an important process in resurgence as a way of collectivizing, strategizing and making the best decisions possible in any given context. Aanjigone is also important because it ensures that we tread very carefully, to be deliberate to the best of our abilities and that we act out of a tremendous love for our lands, our peoples and our culture. We should do this rather acting than out of responsive anger and criticism, which in themselves are not bad things, but can cloud strategic responses designed to promote more life.
Finally, Skodewin means the art of setting a fire.[16] If you bring Biskaabiiyang, Naakgonige, Aanjigone and Debwewin with intent, vision, motion, emergence, the mobilization of the spiritual world and committed action, one sets a fire. It is a fire that needs to be collectively fed and maintained, grown when it needs to be grown, and reduced to embers at certain times as well, until it is no longer needed for heat, warmth and resilience, and the coals are saved for the next time. To build our fire we need vision, intent, collectivization and action. To promote life, we need the fire within to propel us through the hoops and challenges of resurgence.
Grounding Resurgence in Our Hearts
The volume of teachings, sacred stories, personal narratives and theoretical conceptualizations of “resurgence” within Indigenous thought is tremendous. This book neither represents a comprehensive investigation of these even within one nation, nor does it offer a clear map for Indigenous mobilization. It is a call for Indigenous Peoples to delve into their own culture’s stories, philosophies, theories and concepts to align themselves with the processes and forces of regeneration, revitalization, remembering, and visioning. It is a call for Indigenous Peoples to live these teachings and stories in the diversity of their contemporary lives, because that act in and of itself is the precursor to generating more stories, processes, visions and forces of regeneration, propelling us into new social spaces based on justice and peace. Our social movements, organizing, and mobilizations are stuck in the cognitive box of imperialism and we need to step out of the box, remove our colonial blinders and at least see the potential for radically different ways of existence. This book is a first step out of that box. Neal McLeod talks about this in terms of tapping into the life force—something that has been present in Cree leaders who move beyond the ordinary:
Cree narrative imagination can be best articulated by the Cree term mamâhtâwisiwin, which could perhaps be best translated as “tapping into the Great Mystery,” or “tapping into the Life Force.” The term used to describe the elder Brother wîsahkêcâhk, ê-mamâhtâwisit, was also used to describe mistahi-maskwa. All these beings struggled to move beyond the ordinary, and to rethink the space and the world around them.[17]
Regenerating Kina Gchi Nishnaabeg-ogaming requires us to move beyond the ordinary and re-vision the world we currently live in. It requires sacrifice, commitment and countless selfless acts. It requires strategy, commitment and a “one mindedness,” built from the diversity of our perspectives and understandings. Our Mothers have always known that our rebirth, like any birth, is a powerful but painful process—a pain that fades into the background as the birthing ceremony comes to an end. Bringing the old into the new is our way forward. This becomes clear when, like Zhaashkoonh, we place our piece on the back of our turtle and dance a new world into existence.
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Scott Lyons, X Marks: Native Signatures of Assent, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2010, 84–85. ←
Winona LaDuke, “Minobimaatisiiwin: The Good Life,” Cultural Survival Quarterly, 16(4): 69–72; and All Our Relations: Struggles for Land and Life, South End Press, Cambridge, MA, 1994, 4, 132. ←
I think the process Lyons is going through here is important and similar to the processes that I go through with Elder Doug Williams. Breaking down words reveals deeper conceptual meanings. Observing how these “little” words are used to signify certain attributes in other words shows the expression of that concept through the language. Lyons’ interpretations are consistent with John D. Nichols and Earl Nyholm, A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1995. Scott Lyons, X Marks: Native Signatures of Assent, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2010, 84–85. ←
Scott Lyons, X Marks: Native Signatures of Assent, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2010, 85–86. ←
According to John D. Nichols and Earl Nyholm, inaadiziwin means “way of life.” A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1995. ←
Scott Lyons, X Marks: Native Signatures of Assent, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2010, 86. ←
Scott Lyons, X Marks: Native Signatures of Assent, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2010, 86. ←
Scott Lyons, X Marks: Native Signatures of Assent, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2010, 86. ←
According to Nishnaabe language expert Shirley Williams, bimaadiziwin means “the art of life,” where as bimaadizi is a verb meaning he/she is alive. Lyons writes that he is concerned that making bimaadizi into a noun, as in bimaadiziwin, is problematic because Nishnaabemowin is a verb-based language and he worries that non fluent speakers are making nouns out of verbs in order to conform to English (see page 88). Shirley Williams explained to me that bimaadiziwin as a modified noun was consistent with the traditions and usage of Nishnaabemowin and reflected the correct grammatical usage of the word. She also felt that it still had movement in it. Scott Lyons, X Marks: Native Signatures of Assent, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2010, 87–88; Shirley Williams, Peterborough, ON, September 12, 2010. ←
Patricia Monture-Angus, Journeying Forward: Dreaming First Nations Independence, Fernwood Books, Halifax, NS, 1999, 8. ←
I learned this word from Nishnaabemowin language expert Isadore Toulouse during his online Ojibwe language classes, September 15, 2010. ←
Métis Elder Maria Campbell relayed this to me at Trent University at the book launch for Lightening the Eighth Fire, Indigenous Women’s Symposium, March 2009. I also used this metaphor in “Niimkiig,” Leanne Simpson and Kiera Ladner, eds., This Is an Honour Song: Twenty Years Since the Blockades, Arbeiter Ring Publishing, Winnipeg, MB, 2010, 15–23. ←
Basil Johnston, Anishinaubaue Thesaurus, Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI, 2007, 19. ←
Neal McLeod, Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times, Purich Press, Saskatoon, SK, 2007, 99. ←
John Borrows, Drawing Out Law: A Spirit’s Guide, Universi
ty of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON, 2010, 240, note 1. ←
Basil Johnston states, “Iskugaewinmeans to kindle, rekindle, to set afire.” Anishinaubaue Thesaurus, Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI, 2007, 103. Shirley Williams would use “Skodewin” to mean “the art of setting a fire” or Skage, “to set a fire,” Peterborough, ON, September 12, 2010. Anishinaabe legal scholar John Borrows uses Johnston’s translation in Drawing Out Law: A Spirit’s Guide, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON, 2010, 167. ←
Neal McLeod, Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times, Purich, Press, Saskatoon, SK, 2007, 100. ←
About the Author
Leanne Simpson
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a writer, activist, and scholar of Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg ancestry, with roots in Alderville First Nation. She holds a PhD from the University of Manitoba, is an Adjunct Professor in Indigenous Studies at Trent University and an instructor at the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge, Athabasca University. She has recently published two edited books, Lighting the Eighth Fire: The Liberation, Resurgence and Protection of Indigenous Nations (Arbeiter Ring, 2008), and This is An Honour Song: Twenty Years Since the Barricades (with Kiera Ladner, Arbeiter Ring, 2010). Leanne lives in Nogojiwanong with her partner, where she home schools her two children, Nishna and Minowewebeneshiinh. Leanne is currently the co-director of Wii-Kendimiing Nishnaabemowin Saswaansing, a language nest for Nishnaabeg families.