They had set up a village on one of the high banks. No longer was there a need to remain in the caves. They had not gone back to the ocean. No one even suggested it. They had always used what the ocean offered them. They had found most of their food in the ocean. Now they hunted more. They ate other animals found in the forest. They ate food the women gathered from the forest. No one ate anything from the ocean. It was as if to do so was an insult to the spirits of the people lost to the ocean. Yet fish taken from small lakes nearby were eaten with relish. They seemed to taste extra good to these people. The hunters and warriors learned more about the forest. Learned more about the animals in it. The women already knew of the plants that were good to eat and which ones were for healing. Now all they had to learn was where they were to go next.
Newayee spoke to everyone at the evening fire. He told the people that Ozawahn Migizi had once said they were to go to the west and to the three fires. He told the people that all the chiefs, and shamans, and elders in the council had looked to the spirits for guidance. Each to their own spirit guide. Yet they all had the same answer. The tribe would move west.
They were to follow the golden eagle west. There would be two more tribes following eagles west. When they found Gechi Gumee, "Great Freshwater Seas", they were to stop and live in that place. They would be one of the three fires. They would grow strong and prosper. They would be a great nation.
So it was that the people that were left alive from this village, moved west. They found Gichi Gumee. They were joined by the Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes. They became a great nation. They were, after all, the Anishinaabe, "Original People", and were the start of the greatest nation in the land. A nation with many tribes. Yet they were all from one people. It all came to pass, after the great wave. |
