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

The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014
while used in daily living. When collecting the life giving plant beings and roots,
traditional people always explain to the odjiidjaagoma (spirit) of the plant why it is being
done and give offerings in return. Tobacco is offered to the four directions, to Father Sun,
and then placed in the bossom of Mother Earth.
Since GICHI-MANIDOO caused everything in the universe to be fourfold, it also inspireted
four plant beings that it meant to become the most venerated of all plants. To each it
gave a special spirit of fragrance and beauty; each it placed where it would be the most
useful to mankind, and provide Mother Earth the greatest beauty and harmony. These
spirit plants are: asemaa (tobacco, symbol of the East); giizhig (white cedar, symbol of
the South); mashkodewask (sage, symbol of the West); and wiingashk (sweetgrass,
symbol of Mother Earth; in some parts of Anishinaabe Aki, wiingashk denotes sage).
In the below drawing, the woman’s right arm is depicted as a braid of sweetgrass.
Like cedar and sage, sweetgrass is often used as a purifier, giving out a sweet, aromatic
scent, especially when burnt or when it rains. Mashkikiiwininiwag (herbalists) keep
sweetgrass in their bag with their medicinal roots and herbs, and young men used to
braid sweetgrass with their hair for the fragrance. They sometimes wore two braids of
sweetgrass around their necks, the braids joined in the back and falling on either side of
the neck like braids of hair.
Many things are made with sweetgrass such as fiber bundles for coiled baskets, and
when braided it signifies the hair of Omizakamigokwe (the Earthmother). Each of the
three sections that go into the braid has a specific meaning, being: mind, body, and
spirit.
The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014
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