Ahnee, Greetings:
I have been writing with gusto lately and that leads to a great deal of thinking and reflecting. I have been busy writing a book that was started by my aunt and left to me to finish. With each day going by I am excited because this process also includes preparing for the 12 Day Festivities.
My late teachers, elders, mentors, my aunt Nellie and my late mother Emma were women who were classic, Anishnaabekwe (Ojibway women). They consistently went over and demonstrated the very first circle of learning: kindness, honesty, sharing, and respect. This circle of learning is a life long circle. I have been doing my daily check-in, was I kind and honest with myself today? My aunt used to say honesty is a balance of kindness and truth. These are things that I have always found most challenging because my aunt used to say if you can not do these things for you then how are you able to be kind and honest with others? If you are not happy then be honest with yourself, and ask what makes you unhappy then make the choice to change it. Kindness, I think as women we are challenged by this one because we are so used to being caregivers. What did you do to be kind just to yourself? I like to think I shared in order to be kind to me, but this not really what this is about because we spend most of our days as women giving, sharing, and caring for others it is our motherly instinct. So, how was I kind to myself? Hmm, road my bike. I took time to care for myself. This is in part what respect and self-respect are about. It is not only about caring for my body but taking care of my body and allowing my spirit to just be.
My aunt who you will get to know was so cool because, we talked about so much and she loved to argue as much as I did! Yeah, we yelled and pounded our fist on the table but we then stopped and looked at each other and laughed. Then we still sat their and were able to sit and get down to what brought us to raising our voices. It was so amazing to sit and not be afraid of saying what I thought and if I didn't understand then I said so, a far cry from our beginnings. I forget from time to time that not everyone is comfortable arguing for sport and debate that a raised voice may scare someone! We had some good debates that used to last for days. No kidding and it was not going over the same thing but looking at an issue and asking why from different perspectives and positions.
She used to be this incredible force. When she walked in a room she lit it up. She was confident in who she was and she knew who she was. I always admired her confidence - not over bearing or in your face. She was intelligent and articulate. She may have spoke with an Ojibway accent but she took great care in speaking well. Mind you she was loon clan, a leadership clan. In our community the hereditary chiefs came from this clan before the intrusion of the Department of Indian Affairs. My clan or my dad's clan - Bald Eagle was often where the war chiefs came from. In time of war, this clan became the primary clan to govern during war. So I am cursed - I come from two leadership clans. My mom and dad expected a great deal from me and my sister! I often think this was why my mom and aunt were adamant that we took our core Anishnaabe values to heart as those guide and teach us. The circle of four also leads into our medicines: sweetgrass, sage, ceder, and tobacco and the circle of four also represents our cardinal points of east, south, west and north.
What I am going over may seem simple enough but these are the basics to ceremony. The 12 Day Festivities is a re-enactment of our creational view or Creation Story. I will discuss more of this ceremony as we go along. But I look back and remember how my mom and aunt gave us the foundation to do ceremony and conduct. One of my favourite ceremonies is the Feast for the Dead because alike most ceremonies the most interesting and challenging parts to this is the food! It is not just a question of preparing or finding our traditional foods come the day of the feast but cooking absolutely everything the day of the feast. All cooking being done, the day of the feast, is such a huge challenge this goes in sync with the spirits eat first. Usually no tasting of feast food is allowed or no advanced cooking. Why? I used to wonder then after cooking and learning with many of my aunts during feasts I learned we are observing the tradition that whatever food that is not eaten up then you have til the next sundown to eat it. Then if all the food is not eaten by the next sundown then it must either be burnt or buried with tobacco. Most feasts occurred at sundown, once the sun moves beneath the horizon, the door to the West is open and the spirits of our ancestors and family are able to venture from the spirit world to the Earth and join us for a meal together. It is a special moment in Creation we are recognizing, that "day" as our day to feast and gather with family, friends, and community. A day in this setting is recognized as that of our solar calendar, the time it takes from sunrise to sunrise in a 24 hour period. I may be boring you with what we already know, however our people followed and knew of many calenders besides the lunar and solar calenders that we commonly know. The Venus Calendar, the 100 Suns Ages, The Fifth Sun Stone, and many more calenders were others that we tracked and understood. This is in part why doing ceremony at certain times and for specific durations offers a doorway to greater levels of learning. I used thinking cooking was the only thing that a feast was about but cooking or eating is not what it is all about but the process. How we go about doing these things together. This art of feasting or doing feasts in some ways is being lost because it is so darn easy to stop and grab pre-made food or beverages. My aunt used to get me to clear my mind whether that was through smudging myself with sweetgrass or grounding myself with my thoughts. The point was to put good thought and good energy into what I was cooking, give it that little bit of extra handling and love. Another protocol was not cooking when I had my monthly cycle to recognize that time of the month to rest and rejuvenate. Most especially when it came to the Feast for the Dead remember the fun and good times of those who have passed and bring them in by cooking something just for them, either a fav food or something they may have liked to try but maybe they had an allergy too. She used to ask when we were cooking if my mind wondered away and used to say stay in the present with your thoughts and keep those good thoughts moving. Until recently, I did not realize how serious I take these things. I do because I am honouring what I know and learned from my teachers. Carrying on the traditions. There is so much more to our teachings than sitting in the ceremony but the work that leads up to it and the "why we do what we do" is neither random or arbitrary that's all for now, enjoy!
Miigwetch,
Robin
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