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

The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014
Manoominikewin, the harvesting of the sacred grain called manoomin, has also a spiritual
meaning pertaining to the bond between man and woman. When they collect wild rice an
Anishnaabewinini and a Anishinaabekwe go out in their own canoe and they don’t take
anyone else with them; this will guarantee a good harvest and also that nothing bad will
happen when they are out on the lake.
To this day, manoominikewin is the activity that most enlivens Ojibwe Anishinaabe sense
of identity. It is simply a way of life, which, however, becomes more and more
threatened by changes in the water level and toxic waste and heavy metals from the
factories and mines that dot the Gichi-gamiing area and that gradually but dramatically
turn sacred Anishinaabe land into one big mining district.
According to Ojibwe Anishinaabe tradition, Wiinabozo, the beloved spirit grandfather
known as the first man who walked the earth, was introduced to manoomin by fortune,
and by a duck.
“One evening Wiinabozho returned from hunting, but he had no game…As he came
toward his fire, there was a duck sitting on the edge of his kettle of boiling water. After
the duck flew away, Wiinabozho looked into the kettle and found manoomin floating upon
the water, but he did not know what it was! He ate his supper from the kettle, and it was
the beat soup he ever tasted! Later, he followed in the direction the duck had taken, and
came to a lake full of manoomin: wild rice. He saw all kinds of ducks and geese and mud
hens, and all the other water birds eating the sacred grain. After that, when Wiinabozho
did not kill a deer, he knew where to find food to eat…”
Since the day Wiinabozho discovered manoomin, the Anishinaabeg regard zhiishiib and
the snipe – a wading bird they call manidoominikeshii, the ricing bird, as special
messengers, a sure sign of ripe grain. The stylized, sterling silver image of the startled
water bird flying over a golden rice bed that jeweler Zhaawano Giizhik placed inside the
silver and gold bracelet visualizes the relationship between the waterfowl and Manoomin
and the Ojibwe People who so heavily depend on both...
Click on image to read about the symbolism of the bracelet.
The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014
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