Cultural Heritage

6 Days of Cultural Experiences with Pauingassi First Nation Guardian Colin Owens

December 18, 2023

Notes & photos from nature photographer Ōtake Hidehiro

1. Thursday | Net Fishing, Sacred Rock & Plant Medicine

Colin and his wife Cora took me to set a fishing net. We boated for 4.5km to get to the netting point and put the net into water. The net was 40-50m long or so.

Colin took me to a sacred rock. He put tobacco under the rock. It should avoid the direct sunlight and wind so that it won’t blow away, he said. It is also a good hunting spot for geese. He showed me the blind made by rocks to hide the hunter from geese.

Along the shore Cora was collecting medicine plants. She took just the tip of the twig of the shrubs to get buds. “It is good for your heart,” Colin said. It has a minty, herby, refreshing taste!

Colin also tried to get a root of sweetflag from the muddy ground for medicine.

2. Friday | The Catch

Surprisingly, we caught many fish just for overnight! We kept 32 walleyes, two big northern pike and 14 whitefish. We put a net into water again. Colin and Cora were busy cutting fish even after dark! We went to get the net out from the water in the evening. We caught a few more fish to cut!

3. Saturday | Smoke House

Colin built a smoke house for whitefish with fresh green birch trees for poles. He carefully selected the right size of tree, which would easily bend and be strong enough at the same time.

Cora cooked fried bannock and fish (northern pike) for dinner.

4. Sunday | Smoking Fish

Colin started smoking whitefish around 11am. He needs old aspen trees for the smoke. He prefers almost-rotten logs, which produce a lot of smoke. He kept feeding the fire and checking the condition of the frame and temperature. It took 6-7 hours to finish. He was checking the colour of the fish meat to know if it is done or not.

Cora cooked moose stew for dinner! It was so tasty!

5. Tuesday | Moose Call

Today Colin showed me how to make a moose call out of birch bark. Colin looked for the right size tree around town but most of the trees were too old or too small. The moose call we made became a bit shorter than usual. After we made the moose call, we drove Colin’s truck to the edge of the town and tested it on a hill. “It should work. We will try it in the bush tomorrow,” he said.

Pauingassi First Nation Guardian Colin Owens tests a moose call that he made of birch bark.

6. Wednesday | Boat Ride, Pictograph & Moose Call

Colin took me on a boat ride! We visited a pictograph. It was very interesting to see. Colin told me that looks like three turtles and some kind of animal below it.

He brought a shotgun and rifle in case we could see any ducks, geese or moose.

We tried to call a moose in two different locations and waited for quite a long time. Unfortunately no moose came out, but it was wonderful to learn the Anishinaabe way of life on the land.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with me, Colin!

Photos: Ōtake Hidehiro

Lessons in Ojibwe – Language That Comes From the Land (Part I)

June 13, 2023

This is part one of a two-part interview with educator Jason Jones. Watch for more from Jason in our upcoming newsletter.

1. Jason, we want to introduce you to readers. How do you describe yourself?
I’m from Nigigoonsiminikaaning (Red Gut) First Nation in Ontario. I think the best way to describe me is an Ojibwe language nerd. I like thinking about how words are created and where they come from. I’m constantly in awe that, at one point in time, the language had to start from scratch. To see it evolve to where it is right now just amazes me.

2. How and when did you learn Ojibwe?
I’m a second language learner, and I’m still learning. I’m learning Ojibwe by putting magnets on my fridge and sliding words around with prefixes and suffixes. I find that once I learn the structure of the language, I’m able to convey what I mean in Ojibwe.

3. Ojibwe and Anishinaabemowin are often used interchangeably. Can you please explain the difference between them?

In my opinion, I think Anishinaabemowin is the general word for Indigenous language, that’s what the “mo” ending means: language or speaks. The “win” ending turns it into a noun. But overall I think Anishinaabe means Indigenous person and Ojibwe identifies the type of Indigenous person.

4. Languages often borrow from other languages, but Ojibwe does not do this. What is the language based on?

The language comes from the land. The land teaches us how things function, the actions they take, and what we see. We can almost visualize what’s happening when we’re speaking. It comes back to our teachings. We talk about energy — everything is just energy in motion. We see things as movement or constantly changing, as is life. That’s the way the language works; it’s a verb-based language and allows us to see what is being said, almost like we’re there and it triggers our memories to see it.

Dakaanimad (the cool wind blows)

5. So Ojibwe words express a state of being?

Yes, something is always doing something or being in a still state. For example, jaagide means it burns. The word parts are:

jaag – use up, exhaust, deplete
ide – it is heated, affected by fire (it burns)

6. Can you give us another example of a state of being, using the word sewing? Please break it down for us and explain how the word comes from the land.

Gashkigwaaso – s/he is sewing

gashk – to enclose
gwaaso – through sewing

You can visualize the word ‘sewing.’ Other words have this word part “gashk,” which means to enclose something. Everything is energy in motion. In another word with gashk, we have gashkii dibikad and it describes, night is enclosing the sky. The sky is becoming dark.

gashk – enclose
ii – state/condition
dibikad – it is being night

We visualize the sky being enclosed with darkness. We’ve all seen this before. The language brings us there, like we’re experiencing that feeling again of seeing the sun go down and the sky getting darker and darker.

7. Ojibwe is a highly active language compared to English. Does this make it difficult to translate?

Yes. Ojibwe is 80% verbs. English is 60% nouns. When you think in Anishinaabemowin, you think in verbs. When you think in English you think in nouns. So, one of the struggles when translating is that you want to ‘verbify’ nouns. It’s also hard to translate into English because there are three translations that happen when we go from Ojibwe to English:

Literal translation
Implied translation
Cultural translation

Often, when we translate from Ojibwe to English, we go right to the implied translation. We need to remember that there is a literal translation, and that’s where the word parts come in. That’s why we break down words. It helps us visualize the language.

8. Can you give us an example of the three translations?

We can see the three translations when we look at the names of months, like Waatebagaawigiizis (Leaves changing colour moon):

waate – bright, through light
bag – leaf
aa – state or condition
wi – being
giizis – moon, month, sun

There are many cultural teachings in the language, and many come from Nenaboozhoo (Nanabush). He was always observing everything around him. I think that’s what we do when we talk about the months in Ojibwe, we’re following his lead and observing everything around us, and these month names reinforce those teachings.

This is what I mean when I say the culture is built inside the language.

I think we need to recognize that the months in Ojibwe don’t match up with the 12-month calendar that we see, because ours has 13 months/13 full moons in the year. So, September is what we call Waatebagaawigiizis but that doesn’t really start until middle or later part of September. We’re still in Wild ricing month when September begins.

Learn more and download the Pimachiowin Aki lunar calendar: https://pimaki.ca/the-lunar-calendar-explained/

9. Dewe’iganaatig (drumstick) is a noun in English. In Ojibwe, it’s a verb. Can you explain how the word is translated?

I guess in this form it is a noun but here are word parts in it that are verbs:

de – heart
we – sound, sounding, perform useful action
igan – turns verb to noun
aatig – organic solid wood

Its literal translation is ‘heart sounding object’ that does an action to something that’s made out of wood. When we see the word parts (above), we visualize the actions that it does, and that’s the verb part of it.

10. Ojibwe is translated by the overall meaning, not individual words.

Yes, and the cool thing about the language is that a single word can be a whole sentence. You start with a single word and add on to it and it becomes longer and more meaningful.

Example:

Manoonin (wild rice)
Manooninikewin (wild ricing activity, noun form)

11. So a single Ojibwe word can express a whole sentence, idea or phrase?

Yes, that’s why we have all of these First Nation signs with long words on them. I know exactly what happens in an area because of its name. Milwaukee is an example – it comes from the word ‘mino-akiing’ and somewhere through translation it got mixed up to Milwaukee, but I can hear the word parts in there:

mino – good, well
akiing – earth, soil

I golfed there before and this one time, and only time I hit the sand trap and the soil looked so clean. Cleanest dirt I’ve ever seen. From most of these place names, and names of communities, we can get a pretty good idea of what’s there.

12. What do the names of the four First Nations in Pimachiowin Aki tell you?

a) Mishi-baawitigong (Little Grand Rapids First Nation)

I think this means grand rapid in my dialect because the word mishi means grand/ giant. We hear it in Mississippi river – mishiziibi.

mishi – giant, grand
ziibi – river
baawitig means rapids
ong (the ending) means in/at/by something

b) Bawingaasi (Pauingassi First Nation)

To me, this sounds like baawigaas, meaning small/little rapids. The ending gaas means small.

c) Miskoziibi or Miskweyaabziibi (Bloodvein River First Nation)

I like these words.

Miskoziibi (Red River)

misko (preverb) means red
ziibi is river

Miskweyaabziibi (Bloodvein River)

miskwe – blood
yaab – string-like
ziibi – river

d) Asatiwisipe (Poplar River First Nation)

azaadi is ‘poplar’ in my area
wi turns the noun to a verb, so being a poplar
sipe is derived from ziibi

When I hear it the way it’s spelled, it sounds like Oji-cree or Cree influence on it. They tend to use the harder sounds of Ojibwe language a bit more than where I’m from, which is Rainy Lake.

13. Many place names in Pimachiowin Aki have similar endings: ing, ang, ong, tik or kak. Why is this?

Place names usually come from what the area is known for or events that happened there. When a place name ends in a vowel with N-G at the end, it indicates in, at, on or by something.

Examples:

Sheepawagananing (Going through the smaller straight at Poplar Point)
Mangonawacheewining (The long stretch of the Poplar River with no rapids named after a loon who was having a snack)

14. What about tik and kak?

Examples:

a) Kamitawakichiwungwipowitik (Rapids where sand washes up)

I think the ending tik is much longer than just tik. It could mean a few things, like aatik ending would mean “wood/organic solid” but in this case the ending is powitik and the word is powitik, means rapids in Oji-Cree, Cree.

b) Kamatapee’andakak (Trees grow out into the lake)

This end is similar because the ending is actually aandak when means “tree (especially fir), bough.

Source: https://pimaki.ca/wp-content/uploads/Poplar-River-First-Nation-Named-Places-Map.pdf

15. Where can people find your lessons to learn Ojibwe and connect to their cultural heritage?

Sayitfirst.ca has much of our books. Wakingupojibwe.ca is where I’ve been putting resources. Both of these will help with language.

Podcast – Paul Anishinaabemo (Speaks Ojibwe)
Explore more lessons in Anishinaabemowin with mother and son Sophia and Paul Rabliauskas, recorded in Poplar River First Nation:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5EQmK24mhQmQaGEzFU9H3U

Lessons in Ojibwe – Tips and Fast Facts

Read Part II of our interview with Jason.

5 Years, 5 Moments to Celebrate

June 13, 2023

Pimachiowin Aki was inscribed on the World Heritage List on July 1, 2018 during the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee in Manama, Bahrain.

It has been an exciting five years since Pimachiowin Aki became Canada’s first mixed UNESCO World Heritage site. With so many incredible moments to choose from, it was difficult to decide which ones to celebrate with you today. We are humbled and proud to share these highlights:

1. Guardians Network is established

When Pimachiowin Aki launched its Guardians Network in 2018, we had no idea how quickly the program and Guardians’ capacity would grow. In addition to monitoring the lands and waters of Pimachiowin Aki, Guardians have documented and shared customary laws, recorded place names, collaborated with researchers, operated drones, spoken at conferences, conducted bird surveys and recorded bird songs, harvested food for Elders, taken youth on land-based learning trips, and more. We thank you for your care of people and places, for connecting with the land and each other, and for sharing your knowledge and skills. You have strengthened our communities and are a gift to us all.

Pimachiowin Aki Corporation was one of 28 successful applicants in Canada for the early round of funding from the Environment and Climate Change Canada Indigenous Guardians Pilot Program in 2018. The program has since secured annual funding and established the Pimachiowin Aki Guardians Fund to carry it into the future.

2. The World Visits pimaki.ca

World Heritage status creates a tremendous opportunity to enhance understanding of Pimachiowin Aki’s cultural and natural values and share these values with the world. Since the launch of our newly designed and reprogrammed website, Pimachiowin Aki has been sharing information about The Land that Gives Life with people from around the globe. The new website has received many positive reviews, including praise for the amount and quality of information and how easy it is for people to find what they’re looking for.

The website even caught the eye of Dr. Gemma Faith, who, at the time, was a PhD researcher at Ulster University in Northern Ireland. Gemma made Pimachiowin Aki the focus of her research, which won an Outstanding PhD Thesis award. Gemma’s thesis explored how pimaki.ca communicates the unique bond that Anishinaabeg have with the land to people around the world.

3. The Pimachiowin Aki Endowment Fund Hit $5 Million

For the first time since it was established in 2010, the fund reached its highest-ever value of $5 million last year. Thank you to our generous donors who have helped us reach this milestone. Your donations help grow the fund, which is held at The Winnipeg Foundation. Annual revenue from the fund helps Pimachiowin Aki operate the Guardians Network, create and support cultural heritage education and Indigenous knowledge programs, provide training and capacity-building, and lead and support research to ensure that the world understands and respects this special place and all who live here.

Pimachiowin Aki is a small not-for-profit charitable organization with big ideas, and a mission to safeguard Pimachiowin Aki for the well-being of Anishinaabeg and the world, forever.

4. We Built a Digital Library

Along the journey to becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site, we acquired over 12 thousand photos of the people and places of Pimachiowin Aki. For over two decades, people involved in the project have been documenting their experiences and sharing photos – from large community gatherings to wildlife sightings to touring UNESCO representatives on evaluation missions across the waters of Pimachiowin Aki. Many of the photos you see in our communications date back to this time.

Today, these photos, along with a vast amount of information and data collected for First Nations’ land use planning and the World Heritage site nomination, are neatly accredited and organized into folders in the Pimachiowin Aki digital library. The library continually grows as Guardians, community members, professional photographers, researchers and visitors share photos and information with us.

The Pimachiowin Aki library is an important achievement as it provides a fuller picture of the World Heritage site and offers layers and layers of information. Each time Pimachiowin Aki creates a map, such as place names maps, more detail and meaning is added from our library.

The extensive library also provides local teachers with valuable information as they incorporate the cultural, natural and educational values of Pimachiowin Aki into their curricula.

5. We Published Bilingual Anishinaabemowin/English Books

In partnership with Manitoba Museum, we contributed research and expertise developed during First Nations’ land use planning and the World Heritage site bid to create resources for schools in the Pimachiowin Aki communities.

The project is coming to completion, and five books will soon be delivered to all schools in Pimachiowin Aki, and potentially to every school in Manitoba. The books will be also available for purchase at Manitoba Museum. The books are:

Omazinaakizonan Mishibaawitigong | Photos From Little Grand Rapids
Gikino’amaagedaa Anishinaabemowin | Let’s Teach the Ojibwe Language
Onji’aawasowinan | “do’s and don’ts“ Traditional Anishinaabe Teachings (colouring book)
Azauuwiziibing Gaa-nitaawigigin | Poplar River Anishinaabe Plant Guide
Obaawingaashiing Aabijichiganan | Pauingassi Collection

Thank you to our two special donors whose generosity helped to finish this project.

This is what the children should be taught. That they should never forget their Anishinaabe language, the way the language was spoken long ago.
OMISHOOSH (ELDER CHARLIE GEORGE OWEN), PAUINGASSI FIRST NATION

A Wiindigoo Story With a Meaningful Lesson

March 21, 2023

Thank you to Clinton Keeper (storyteller) and Emily Thomson (transcriber)

Clinton Keeper shares this story told to him by his grandmother, Maggie Duck (Nenawan), who was told this story by her father, John Duck (Mahkoocens)

Maggie Duck (Nenawan)
Photo: American Philosophical Society (Hallowell Collection)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is A182-crop-1024x1018.jpg — Maggie Duck (Nenawan)
Photo: American Philosophical Society (Hallowell Collection)

It was a long time ago. There was a village. In that village, there was an orphan boy who had lost his parents and siblings, and all he had was his grandmother. Back in that day, you’d say they were one the poorest in the village. They lived on the outskirts of the village. They called that boy Waakeygan.

The kids would ask that boy if he wanted to play – he had no friends – but they just did that so they could pick on him. They would invite him to go play with them along the fire, but they would heat up these willow sticks, poke his legs, and hurt him. He was lonely and had nobody else to play with.

Later on, a Council of Elders and Medicine Men and Chief heard something was coming for them: it was Wiindigoo.

They heard through a ceremony that the Wiindigoo was going from village to village eating people. Wiindigoo is a spirit, a cannibal.

So those old people got together in the Chief’s lodge and wigwam, passing their pipe around… who’s going to challenge the Wiindigoo that’s coming? Every Shaman that sat around the fire didn’t have the gift to challenge the spirit, this being that was coming towards them. Finally, one of the old men said, “Somebody must know something. Somebody must have a gift. There has to be. We cannot just perish like that.”

As they were smoking there, one of the Elders spoke. “There’s a boy in this village, who is without parents and lives alone with his grandmother. Seek him out.”

So in the meantime, Waakeygan was with his grandmother in their wigwam and that old lady was working on tending to his wounds where those kids put those willow sticks on his legs. She was cleaning his wounds, and as that boy was sitting there, he told his grandma, “Hurry up. Wrap up my legs; they’re coming for me.”

He just knew something.

The old lady put medicine on his leg, wrapped it, and sure enough – the young braves opened the wigwam door and then they said, “You’re wanted. The Council of Elders wants to meet you, and the Chief.”

And he said, “I know.” The boy went with them; told his grandmother not to be scared.

So he went to go see them. And then, as soon as he walked in, before anyone could say anything, the young boy spoke. He says, “Move the village. You go down west. You will come across a lake and you’ll stay there. No matter what you hear, do not come to the east. Tell everybody I will come.”

So that morning, they dismantled the whole camp and they all moved west. The boy took off in the opposite direction, to the east, to meet this spirit or entity. When he got there, he got to a big lake and he went to the centre of that lake and he stood right there, and he could feel the cold, cold breeze coming. It was bone-chilling cold there. And then when he looked across, he could see trees swaying in the distance – something big is in that forest.

He could see snow falling off the trees. Then all of a sudden, he sees something coming out of the bush and onto the lake. It was massive; it was as tall as those trees. So that boy, he stood there. He stood his ground on the ice facing that thing that’s coming.

And then that thing, Wiindigoo, yelled. He looked up at the sky, and he yelled a loud cry. Wiindigoo just got big.

That boy yelled out a big war cry, and the little boy just got big; even bigger than Wiindigoo.

Then Wiindigoo did the same thing again; he just got bigger and bigger. Then the boy did the same. He got bigger and bigger. They did this a few times until they were really, really big.

And then, they started fighting. All of a sudden, that boy grabbed Wiindigoo and threw him on the ice. Have you ever heard a rock being dropped on a fresh lake and dooo (reverb sound). That sound. You just hear that. Where that village was, where they were camping, where they moved, they could just hear the sound of the ice and they could hear that sound, like thunder.

They were saying, “Oh, my, they’re fighting already.” They could feel the ground vibrating off and on. They see light sparks in the east. Then all of a sudden, it went quiet.

So those old people, those Council of Elders were sitting around a fire in the Chief’s wigwam. They were smoking their pipe and then all of a sudden, they heard a big thump right outside the wigwam.

They opened the door and there was a big giant toe outside. That boy was standing right there beside that big giant toe. That was Wiindigoo’s toe.

He had natural gifts, that kid; spirits that watched over him. He become a great warrior for his people.

This is the story that was told to me by Maggie Duck. This is the way I tell it, how it was told to me. It is important to keep the story in its original form.

The lesson of the story

What I learned from there is to respect people no matter who they are, no matter how small they are. You know? We don’t know what watches over people. That’s why it’s always important to respect people when you meet them because you don’t know what carries them or what watches over them. It’s not the person that you offend. That person may forgive you but the one that’s watching over that person may not forgive you. That’s why it’s important that we always talk polite to people. Even when we travel, we always travel with tobacco and offerings out of respect.

Feature Photo: Hidehiro Otake

How to Prepare Meat for Smoking

March 21, 2023

By Naomi Moar, Little Grand Rapids First Nation

Preparing meat for smoking takes days. After the quarters are prepared and cut up, and undesired pieces are cut off, the meat has lost approximately 1/4 of its weight. All the sinew and fat are cut away.

Cutting the Meat

Each chuck is cut down the middle and then along the ‘bottom’ to create a 1/8 inch thick slice. As you cut along the bottom, you are unfolding the meat to prepare a long piece for smoking.

Depending on how many sticks you have made for the smoke shack (I usually make five), you can smoke a whole hind quarter in about six hours depending on the thickness of your cut.
Naomi Moar, Little Grand Rapids First Nation

The smoke shack

This is where you will hang your meat. The smoke shack is made of red willow (after it turns white) for the frame and cooking rods.

The wood, fire and time

The wood to burn is poplar. The fire cannot be too high otherwise the meat will burn. Because we are removing the moisture from the meat, the session should take about six hours at a low burn.

Because of the cost of fire-retardant canvas, I have yet to procure one.

Everything I have learned, I learned from my grandmother.

Photos: Naomi Moar

Return of Anishinaabe Artefacts

September 16, 2022

The ceremonial objects in the Pauingassi collection were photographed in use in 1932 by American anthropologist A. Irving Hallowell. In 1970, they were gathered up by another anthropologist, Dr. Jack Steinbring of the University of Winnipeg, who placed them in the University’s Anthropology Lab and promised to keep them safe.

(The late) Omishoosh said that objects in the Pauingassi collection should not be asked to do their former work—they should be used for teaching.

When it was discovered that artefacts were missing from Pauingassi, my husband, (the late) Nelson Owen spoke with his grandfather (the late) Omishoosh on a number of occasions and felt there was a great need to protect and recover what had been taken. We contacted the newspaper that ran the article about the disappearance of the artefacts and they put us in touch with Dr. Jennifer Brown and Dr. Maureen Matthews. Then we began our quest to retrieve the artefacts and get them under community control.

Nelson consulted with the heads of all 25 families in Pauingassi and with their agreement, requested that the collection be repatriated to the community with our family as guardians, not owners. It took many years to complete the repatriation after our initial request in 1998. The collection is now cared for at Manitoba Museum and we are confident that the artefacts are in a safe place, although a number are still missing. On this journey of recovery, we have taken up the mantle of guardians so that our children and all children of Pauingassi will have a chance to learn from these storied objects and understand the role they played as Omishoosh wished.

The artefacts range in age from 50-200 years old. They are unique and unusual in design and reveal important ideas about Anishinaabe culture. If I were to show the collection to someone and point out the two pieces that speak to me, it would be Omishoosh’s embroidered apishtaagan (chest protector) and the wawezhi’on (dance cape) that belonged to Koowin.

Learn more in Obaawingaashing Gichi-Aabijitaawinan | Pauingassi Collection, a book about the Anishinaabe ceremonial artefacts and community collections. You can donate to Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Fund to receive a copy. Visit the Shop page for details.

Dr. Matthews, Joshua, and I are planning to develop an exhibit with the existing artefacts as well as search for and bring home to the collection any pieces that were moved from Manitoba.

The most significant pieces I would say are the drums. They carry a great deal of knowledge and are highly respected for their role in the ceremonies of the people of Pauingassi First Nation. Fortunately, we have pictures of the owners, stories about their use, and the artefacts themselves, which is rare.

—Elaine and Joshua Owen, Guardians