An illustrated glossary by Zhaawano Giizhik*

The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014
The Ojibweg, or Anishinaabeg - particularly those who were members of the Midewiwin
or Way Of The Heartbeat Society, and Waabanowin or Dawn Society - have always
enjoyed a big reputation - and inspired awe, even fear - among other Native Nations of
Turtle Island for how they were able to manipulate the spirit world and the plant world
for personal power or, sometimes, to cause evil to others. Be that as it may, it is true
that members of these medicinal societies had great knowledge of the relationships that
exist in nature, both ecologically as cosmologically. Their wide and varied knowledge and
use of plants, indicating the large extent to which they understood the mysterious
properties all things in nature and utilized the natural sources of their environment, made
them legendary among the neighboring Nations, who sometimes referred to them as
“Sorcerers of the Woods”. To the Ojibweg, the directions of the winds and the position of
the sun, the moon, and the planets were directly related to the rhythm of the seasons
and the cycle of hunting, fishing, and food gathering. It was a widely understood truth
that, of all Native peoples that inhabited the northwoods, it was the Ojibweg whom
GICHI-MANIDOO (The Great Mystery) gave the most profound knowledge of plants.
The age-old ceremonies and traditional knowledge and stories and songs that to this day
have been kept and guarded (and selectively handed over) by the Midewiwin still bear
witness of this old and honorable worldview. (See also: MIDEWIWIN, page 96.)
Ayaadizooked (“The Storyteller”) by Simone McLeod. Click on image to read about the symbolism of the painting.
AADIZOOKEWIN, or traditional storytelling, has always had a strong educative, even
didactic, purpose and function in Anishinaabe society. Children learned history, culture,
and values from their elders through respectful observation, encouragement, and
example. This is called GIKINAWAABI, literally: to learn by and from observation. So
The Universe of The Ojibwe Anishinaabeg by Zhaawano Giizhik - 2014
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