An illustrated glossary by Zhaawano Giizhik*

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The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014 “Earth Mother” by Norval Morrisseau/Miskwaabik Animikii (Acrylic on kraft board) The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014 20
The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014 Above illustration: In this beautiful and powerful painting, depicting Manidookwe or Mother Earth, the Earth has the qualities of a woman who is giving and nurturing, her breasts heavy with milk, her pelvis and fertile vagina opening stylistically echoing the (possible) contours of a Miigis cowry shell. Since cowry shells are thought to possess life-giving and healing powers and held responsible for the origin of the Midewiwin, the artist possibly suggests that Aki (Earth) and Miigis (Shell) are passageways through which life emerges. See also: MIDE-MIIGIS. ANANGOOG: the stars. From of old, the constellations and star knowledge of the Anishinaabe Peoples relate to aandakiiwinan (seasonal changes), nandawenjige (hunting and fishing) and gathering activities such as: bakibajige or picking fruit, bawa’am or harvesting wild rice, onjigawibii or tapping tree sap, manidookewinan (ceremonies), and aadizookewin (storytelling). In Anishinaabe cosmology, the celestial bodies of the upper sky are sometimes regarded as the thoughts of GICHI-MANIDOO, the Great Mystery of the Universe. Stars are associated with physical and symbolic light, and with enlightenment and wisdom. It is in the upper sky vault, too, that the Land of Peace is situated. It is a land of happiness reached within four days by the spirits of the deceased that travel jiibay-miikana, the trail of souls, the Milky Way. A dazzling blue light in the northern skies the Anishinaabeg sometimes see at night illuminates this trail: the waasnode, or northern lights. Also known as: naanaate, and niimidiwag. Since they are the spirits of the ancestors gone by, one is supposed never to whistle at them. Abe Kakepetum: ‘The Sign” Left: “Ancestral Shaman In The Portals Of Time” by the late Ojibwe Medicine Art Painter Norval Morrisseau. Right: Print by the late Oji-Cree Medicine Art painter Jackson Beardy, of Ojiig the Fisher storming the Sky. The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014 21
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An illustrated glossary by Zhaawano Giizhik*

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