"Dawn of the Three Fires"
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"Our
forefathers, many strings of lives ago, lived on the shores of the Great Salt
Water in the east (Waabanakiing, the Dawn Land). Here it was, that while
congregated in a great town, and while they were suffering the ravages of
sickness and death, the Great Mystery (Gichi-manidoo), at the intercession of
Wenabozho, the Elder Brother and great common uncle of the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg, granted them
this rite wherewith life is restored and prolonged. This rite would become
known as Midewiwin. Our forefathers moved from the shores of the great water,
and (as they followed a prophecy called Seven Fires) proceeded westward (this
would become known as the Seven Fires migration journey). The Midewiwin lodge
was pulled down and it was not again erected, till our forefathers again took a
stand on the shores of the great river near where Mooniyaang (Montreal) now
stands. In the course of time, this town was again deserted, and our
forefathers still proceeding westward, lit not their fires till they reached
the shores of Naadowewi-gichigami (Lake Huron), where again the rites of the
Midewiwin were practiced. Again these rites were forgotten, and the
Midewiwin lodge was not built till the Ojibweg found themselves congregated at
Baawiting, an outlet of Ojibwewi-gichigami (Lake Superior), where they remained
for many winters. Still the Ojibweg moved westward, and for the last time the
Midewiwin lodge was erected on Mooningwanekaaning (Madeline
Island), and here, long before the pale face appeared among them, it was
practiced in its purest and most original form. Many of our fathers lived the
full term of life granted to mankind by the Great Mystery, and the forms of
many old people were mingled with each rising generation. This, my grandson, is
the meaning of the words you did not understand; they have been repeated to us
by our fathers for many generations.”
- A free rendering of the original text by William W. Warren, History of the Ojibways, 185
The History and Spirituality of My People
Boozhoo, aaniin,
hello,
I am Zhaawano Giizhik, Marten
Clan, a writer and a non-commercial jeweler and graphic artist. My writinngs and art are inspired by the oral and
pictographic narratives and lessons of my Anishinaabe ancestors - and, by
extension, by the works of Anishinaabe en Ininiw (Cree) artists who paint in the
contemporary tradition of the Native Woodland School of Art. This blog story is
the fourteenth already in a series titled
Teachings of The Eagle Feather, featuring my art (jewelry, illustrations) along with
works of art by kindred artists. Both my
stories and the jewelry/artworks displayed seek to provide an insight into the
old and venerable worldview of the Anishinaabe Peoples.
Today's story introduces a gold eagle feather necklace and a bolo tie designed and handcrafted by me. Also, three line-drawing illustrations serve as illustration for the story.
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An Origin Story of the Midewiwin
"In the beginning, GICHI-MANIDOO made the MIDE MANIDOOG (Mide Spirits). He first created two men, and two women; but they had no power of thought or reason. Then GICHI-MANIDOO made them rational beings. He took them in his hands so that they should multiply; he paired them, and from this sprung the ANISHINAABEG. When there were people he placed them upon the earth, but he soon observed that they were subject to sickness, misery, and death, and that unless he provided them with the Sacred Medicine they would soon become extinct.
Between the position occupied
by GICHI-MANIDOO and the earth were four lesser manidoog with
whom GICHI-MANIDOO decided to commune, and to impart to them the mysteries
by which the Anishinaabeg could be benefited. So he first spoke to
a manidoo and told him all he had to say, who in turn communicated
the same information to the next, and he in turn to next, who also communed
with the next. They all met in council and determined to call in the four
wind manidoog. After consulting as to what would be best for the comfort
and welfare of the Anishinaabeg, these manidoog agreed to
ask GICHI-MANIDOO to communicate the Mystery of the Sacred Medicine to the
people.
GICHI-MANIDOO then went to
GIIZIS the Sun Spirit and asked him to go to the earth and instruct the people
as had been decided upon by the council. GIIZIS, in the form of a gwiiwizensish (little boy), went to the earth and lived with a woman who had a little boy of
her own. This family went away in the autumn to hunt, and during the winter
this woman’s son died. The parents were so much distressed that they decided to
return to the village and bury the body there; so they made preparations to
return, and as they traveled along, they would each evening erect several poles
upon which the body was placed to prevent the wild beasts from devouring it.
When the dead boy was thus hanging upon the poles, the adopted child—who was
the Sun Spirit—would play about the camp and amuse himself, and finally told
his adopted father he pitied him, and his mother, for their sorrow. The adopted
son said he could bring his dead brother to life, whereupon the parents
expressed great surprise and desired to know how that could be accomplished.
The adopted boy then had the
party hasten to the village, when he said, “Get the women to make a wiigiwaam (lodge)
of bark, put the dead boy in a covering of wiigwaas (birch bark) and place
the body on the ground in the middle of the wiigiwaam.”
On the next morning after this
had been done, the family and friends went into this lodge and seated
themselves around the corpse. When they had all been sitting quietly for some
time, they saw through the doorway the approach of a bear, which gradually came
towards the wiigiwaam, entered it, and placed itself before the dead body
and said, “ho, ho, ho, ho,” when he passed around it towards the left side,
with a trembling motion, and as he did so, the body began quivering, and the
quivering increased as the bear continued until he had passed around four
times, when the body came to life again and stood up. Then the bear called to
the father, who was sitting in the distant right-hand corner of the wiigiwaam,
and addressed to him the following words:
Noos gaawiin
anishinaabewisii, ayaawiyaan manidoo ningwizis.
Bi-mayaa-miniik niiji-manidoo mayaa zhigwa ji-gi-aawiyan.
Noose, zhigwa asemaa ji-atooyeg. E-mikondem mii eta
aabiding ji-gashkitood wenji-bimaadizid omaa agaawaa
bimaadizid mii omaa; niijii-manidoo mayaa zhigwa ji-giiweyaan.
(“My father
is not a human. I, a son, am a Spirit.
Just as - my fellow Spirit - you now are.
Father! Now, you shall put out tobacco. Recalling that he could do this
only once in order to barely live here, thus he lived here;
my fellow Spirit, so now, I must go home.”)
The little bear boy was the
one who did this. He then remained among the Anishinaabeg and taught them the mysteries
of the Midewiwin; and, after he had finished, he told his adopted father that
as his mission had been fulfilled, he was to return to his kindred manidoog,
for the Anishinaabeg would have no need to fear sickness as they now possessed
the Midewiwin which would enable them to live. He also said that his spirit
could bring a body to life but once, and he would now return to Giizis (the
sun) from which they would feel his influence.”
The THREE FIRES CONFEDERACY, also known as the THREE FIRES COUNCIL, is a longstanding political and military alliance of the Anishinaabe peoples. As recorded in the sacred birch bark scrolls of the Midewiwin, approximately 1200 summers ago, after reaching the southern shores of Miishii'iganiing (the Michigan lakes) and Mishigamiing (Lake Michigan) during their westward migration from the shores of the Great Salt Water in the east (Waabanakiing, the Dawn Land), the Waabanakiig Nation—or, as they began to call themselves, Anishinaabeg or Spontaneous People—became disoriented, and their once strong sense of unity fragmented, leading to a division into northern and southern branches. The core Anishinaabe peoples, part of the southern branch, migrated from their "Third Stopping Place" near what is now Detroit to their "Fourth Stopping Place" on Manitoulin Island, along the eastern shores of Georgian Bay.
The Sacred Scrolls of the Midewiwin identify Michilimackinac (Mackinac Island; Place of the Big Snapping Turtle) as the revered site where, around 800 CE, the Niswii-mishkodewin Confederacy (Council of Three Fires) was established and where the Three Brothers pledged to collaborate, each assuming a specific role. The Ojibweg, known as the Faith Keepers, collected wild rice and heavy winter furs; the Odaawaag, known as the Trader People, transported these to the Bodwewaadamiig, the Hearth Tenders in the south, in exchange for corn, beans, and squash, which they then brought back north. Occasionally, a fourth group, the Misi-zaagiwininiwag or Mississauga, is recognized but they are typically included with the Ojibweg. All three/four Nations settled in various regions around the Great Lakes, in what is now Michigan State and Ontario. It is said that for a millennium, the Three/Four Brothers collaborated and celebrated during the annual fish harvest at Baawitigong, now known as the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, located at the border between Michigan and Ontario.
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Military and Political Goals of the Three Fires Council
While the Niswii-mishkodewin had multiple meeting locations, Michilimackinac (an island situated between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan) emerged as the favored site due to its central position. From this island, the Council convened for military and political reasons and sustained relations with fellow Anishinaabeg groups such as the Mamaceqtaw (Menominee), the Asakiwaki (Sac), and the Meskwakihaki (Fox), along with various other Nations including the Haudenosaunee, the Dakota, the Wyandot, the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), and later in history, the Wemitigoozhiwag (France), the Zhaaganaashiwag (England), and eventually the Gichi-mookomaanag (the United States).
While the Council aimed to maintain power balance within the Anishinaabe communities and ensure peaceful relations with neighboring Nations, unresolved conflicts often led to wars, especially with their fiercest adversaries, the Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) and Onyota’a:ka (Oneida) of the Haudenosaunee/Six Nations Confederacy, who persistently threatened them from the east, as well as the Dakota, the Ho-Chunk, and the Meskwakihaki, longstanding enemies from the south.
During the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War, the Council opposed the Zhaagaanaashiwag; and during the Northwest Indian War and the War of 1812, they fought against the Gichi-mookomaanag (in the latter conflict, they played a significant role in Tecumseh's Confederacy). Following the establishment of the United States of America in 1776, the Council became a central member of the Western Lakes Confederacy (also known as the "Great Lakes Confederacy"), joining forces with groups such as the Nii'inaawi-Naadaweg, the Omàmiwininiwak, the Odishkwaagamiig, the Ozaagiiwag, and the Meskwakihaki.
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An Ongoing Story of Brotherhood and Reawakening
The Three Fires Council remains vibrant today, both politically and spiritually. The Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge, a modern extension of the Midewiwin Society, draws inspiration from the historic Three Fires Confederacy. It serves as a movement focused on the spiritual revival, preservation, and enhancement of the original Teachings, Rituals, Ceremonies, and Prophecies of the Anishinaabeg, all rooted in the Midewiwin, the Original, Historic Anishinaabe Lodge of the Good Hearted Ones, which originated in the ancient Dawn Land. The ceremonies are held in a sacred place known as the Mide-wiigaan or Midewiwin Lodge (see the above illustration). The Mide-wiigaan, a gift from the kind spirit/human Wenabozho to the Anishinaabeg, is typically an elongated framed structure made of maple saplings with openings at the eastern and western ends.
> To read more about the origin of the Three Fires, see: Teachings of the Eagle Feather, part 24.
Paintings, top to bottom:
"Dawn of the Three Fires" NFT 2022 Zhaawano Giizhik
"Sky Healer" ©2022 Zhaawano Giizhik
"Living the Mashkikiikewin Life" ©2022 Zhaawano Giizhik
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About the author/artist and his inspiration
Zhaawano Giizhik , an American currently living in the Netherlands, was born in 1959 in North Carolina, USA. Zhaawano has Anishinaabe blood running through his veins; the doodem of his ancestors from Baawitigong (Sault Ste. Marie, Upper Michigan) is Waabizheshi, Marten. As a writer and a (non-commercial) artist and jewelry designer, Zhaawano draws on the oral and pictorial traditions of his ancestors. For this he calls on his manidoo-minjimandamowin, or 'Spirit Memory'; which means he tries to remember the knowledge and the lessons of his ancestors. In doing so he sometimes works together with kindred artists.
To Zhaawano's ancestors the MAZINAAJIMOWIN or ‘pictorial spirit writings’ - which are rich with symbolism and have been painted throughout history on rocks and etched on other sacred items such as copper and slate, birch bark and animal hide - were a form of spiritual as well as educational communication that gave structure and meaning to the cosmos that they felt they were an integral part of.
Many of these sacred pictographs or petroforms – some of which are many, many generations old - hide in sacred locations where the manidoog (spirits) reside, particularly in those mystic places near the lake's coastlines where the sky, the earth, the water, the underground and the underwater meet.
The way Zhaawano understands it, it is in these sacred places invisible to the ordinary, waking eye that his design and storyteller's inspiration originate from.
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