The Universe Of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg, an illustrated glossary by Zhaawano Giizhik*

The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014
NINGO-GIKINOONOWIN: the seasonal
cycle. Ningo-gikinoonowin, or ningogikinoowin,
literally means “one year”;
gikinoonowin can also mean astrology, or
any other guidedness where the individual is
but a pawn in the grand scheme of things.
The Anishinaabeg have always lived
according the cyclical rhythm set by, as
they called it, aandakiiwinan, the seasonal
changes.
In the old days, during the warm moons in
the period called niibinisiwin (summer
camping), the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg of the
northwoods, as soon as the ice on the lakes
and rivers melted, left their winter camps
and headed for the shores of gichigamiin,
the Great Lakes. Here they stayed during
the summer moons near the river mouths,
where the men fished for namebinag
(sucker) and namewag (sturgeon) that were entering the rivers and streams to spawn.
Above illustration: Alex Janvier, The Four Seasons of ’76, 1977, acrylic on masonite, 91.4 x 81.3 cm
Others set up summer camps near the shores of the zaaga’iganan (inland lakes) and
fished, hunted, and gathered plant foods and medicinal herbs. These temporary summer
villages were usually composed of single family waaginogaanan and asawa’ogaanan
(respectively circular or domed and conical wigwams made of bent-over saplings and
covered with birch bark sheets) that generally housed populations of 50 to 70 persons.
Meanwhile the many small Anishinaabe clan groups that lived
south of gichigamiin, who, unlike their Ojibwe relatives from
Canada were semi-agricultural people, organized themselves
into band units of (sometimes up to) 300 to 400 people as
soon as the ice thawed and camped in regions with fertile soil
and plenty of fish and game and other food sources. These
southern Ojibweg hunted, fished, tapped sugar from ininaatoog
(sugar maple trees) and wiigwaasag (birch trees) and collected
other plant foods and berries, and tended gardens of
mandaamin (maize), anijiiminan (beans), and
nabagokwisimaan (squash). Their summer villages were usually made up of small,
round wiigiwaaman (wigwams) made of sapling frames and covered with cattail leaf mats
and tree bark.
Niibinishiwin was not only a time of labor but also of social activities and weddings and
ceremonies. At the end of the season called dagwaagin (fall), some of these summer
camps served as a base for productive fish expeditions to the
tempestuous gichigamiin where the men netted adikamegwag and maazhamegosag
(whitefish and trout) that spawned in gigantic numbers. After the abundant catch the fish
was cleaned, smoked, and freezed for the wintermoons. While the ininiwag (men) took
care of fishing, these kinds of activities would put a heavy demand on the collective labor
of the ikwewag (women).
Above illustration: “Sustenance” by Norval Morrisseau/Miskwaabik Animikii
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