Thursday January 18, 2001
NANABUSH
A long time ago, there was a woman. Her name was 'Sky Woman'.
She lived around earth and she was pretty lonely.
She asked the Kitchi Manitou / Creator / Great Spirit for a companion.
She was on a cloud and she was very lonely.
The Creator soon answered her prayers and she conceived and had a baby.
He would be known to my people as 'Nanabush'.
Some of us call him Nanaboozhoo, Waynabush or Weesaykeechuk.
Some Anishinabe people remember this half man - half spirit by calling his name every day.
When you meet an Ojibway, Chippewa, Saulteaux, Odawa, Potowatomi, Mississauga, Ojicree, and some Cree
he will say 'Boo-zhoo' which is used to mean 'hello',
but some still remember that Boo-zhoo is a short form of Nanaboozhoo.
This way he will never be forgotten and some will teach that those that have forgotten.
Nanabush had special powers because he was half man and half spirit.
He belonged to neither side and would cause alot of trouble where ever he went.
He would always trick and fool people.
He is in most of Ojibway history and legends on how many of the animals were named.
Nanabush gave Ojibway medicine to heal themselves and others.
It was my understanding that Nanabush left the Ojibway people when the Europeans started coming to North America.
He is said to return 500 years later. 500 years has past so he is probably walking around today as we speak.
He is here to help the Ojibway, as promised 500 years ago.
I am so glad he is around because the Ojibway have suffered at the hands of American and Canadian Indian policy.
Our culture was almost wiped off the face of the earth. It is my belief that the Ojibway WILL survive.
500 years is along time destroy a people and a language and culture, but we made it.
It was a long time coming, and the journey was long, hard and treacherous. The Ojibway culture is still in tact today.
This is one of the prophecies of long ago.
Nanabush, he is alive and well in the minds of the Ojibway.
He is alive and well in the Ojibway who follow the old way of thinking.
It is these people who kept his stories alive that will be needed to TEACH the ones that will come to LEARN.
The Mediwin Society is an ancient medicine man and medicine woman society. It was the center of Ojibway culture in the past.
Ojibway would live and die by this ancient religion.
The movement of the Ojibway was and is strongly influenced by this society.
Nanabush was accredited to bring this sacred and old form of 'living' to the Ojibway. It is still alive today.
Many, many Ojibway, Odawa and Potowatomi practise this religion. Today this is also known as 'The Three Fires'.
Other North American Indian tribes have come to the Ojibway Mediwin to learn since their own cultures have been dessimated and disappeared.
It is EXTREMELY imperative that the Ojibway culture remain alive for the next few milleniums.
Nanabush was not alone.....
He vowed to find and destroy his father. Nanabush left and was told that his father lived in the west somewhere. So that is where he went. He headed in a westerly direction.
It is told that he passed the plains and the mountains and came to the ocean.
He waited for his father. He came like a big wind and already knew Nanabush was coming and knew what he was planning.
The Creator set out to fight his son, Nanabush.
The old people say that this fight lasted for along time. The sky lit up with lightening and shook the earth with the thunder. It rained and snowed and the wind blew ferociously.
They would take turns beating each other and then realized they could not destroy the other. They were immortals and they could not be destroyed, even by another immortal.
They grew tired of fighting and came to a truce.
It was when Nanabush headed to the west that the Europeans started coming across the ocean.
The Ojibway have been waiting for this Nanabush to return to his people.
He will come to help his people. The prophecies WILL be fulfilled.
The blood that flows through the bodies of Sky Woman and her four boys flow through most or all of the Ojibway today.
I leave you with a question...
DO YOU KNOW AN OJIBWAY TRICKSTER?
Miigwetch!..(Thank you!)
In modern times he is dubbed the 'Trickster'.
He has brought many things to the Anishinabe people from his father, the Great Spirit.
Nanabush gave the Ojibway many, many dreams and how to use them.
Nanabush gave the Ojibway visions and prophecies to follow.
Some of these prophecies I will speak about in later stories.
Nanabush also gave the Ojibway a prophet or two every now and then to guide the people.
The re-birth.
He had four brothers. It was said that these brothers live, married and bore children with Ojibway women.
Nanabush stayed by his mother and kept her from being lonely on that cloud in the sky above.
Nanabush grew older and wanted to know about his family, especially his father. He grew stronger with every passing day. A mortal could not be so strong.
His mother tried to calm him down when he found out that his father was the Creator. Nanabush was enraged and set out to find and destroy his father.
He was at an age where his mom could not control him any more. She could only do her best to guide his life.
Nanabush always plays tricks on people, that is how he teaches. Ojibway people have also learned to be tricksters.