Pimachiowin Aki

World Heritage Site

Indigenous Traditional Knowledge

10 Traditional Plants to Spot this Summer

Anishinaabeg hold a wealth of knowledge about plants. Plants are a significant source of food, medicine, and building and craft materials. We have long used them to sustain our communities and way of life while safeguarding the health of the boreal forest.

This season, colourful plants, flowers and vegetation are rising from the earth all over Pimachiowin Aki. Roughly 700 plant species live in Pimachiowin Aki’s lands, wetlands and waters, including trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, mosses and lichens. You have probably walked past many of these plants on your walks and hikes across Canada, or paddled by them while kayaking or canoeing.

Here are 10 plants to keep an eye out for this summer!

Edible Plants

1. Miskomin (Raspberry)

Miskomin is a traditional source of food and medicine in Pimachiowin Aki.

What it Looks Like
Due to its distinct shape and vibrant colour, a raspberry plant is easy to identify, especially once berries have begun to bud. Raspberries are a type of compound berry, which means they’re made up of a tight cluster of smaller sacs of juice. They have tiny hairs in between each juice sac. Still unsure? Look beyond the bright fruit and check the entire plant. Raspberry bushes may have prickles or bristles.

Where it Grows
Raspberries usually grow near water, in woods or clearings. Check riverbanks where there is a lot of grass.

When to Harvest
Picking season begins in July and ends in late August.

Uses

  • The wild brambles of the raspberry bush provide shelter for birds, squirrels, skunks and other small wildlife in Pimachiowin Aki
  • Humans and animals eat raspberries, providing us with antioxidants and a great source of fibre
  • Raspberries are good to eat fresh or use in jams. Freeze the berries to preserve them.

2. Ososoweminaatig (Chokecherry)

What it Looks Like
The chokecherry tree rarely grows taller than 30 feet, and the top of the tree can stretch from 10 to 20 feet wide. The colour of its bark indicates the plant’s age — grey or reddish-brown for young trees and brownish-black for older trees. Another way to identify young chokecherries is through the horizontal rows of raised pores on their bark. Their serrated leaves are a dark glossy green on top, and the underside is light. Chokecherries begin with fragrant, white blossoms before budding into dark berries. The colour of the berries ranges from white, deep red to black. They often look like blueberries or saskatoon berries when they’re ripe.

Ososoweminaatig is abundant in Pimachiowin Aki.

Where it Grows
Look for chokecherries in open areas of plains, forests and foothills; in patches in the bush; and near water. They like sunny or partially shaded areas in thickets.

When to Harvest
Chokecherries are ready for picking in August and September.

Uses
Chokecherries are used in:

  • Soups and stews
  • Jellies, syrups, sauces, juices and jams

Note
Chokecherries are delicious but the hard seeds can cause stomach upset if you eat too many.

3. Miishiijiimin (Red Currant)

Miishiijiimin decorates the landscape in Pimachiowin Aki.

What it Looks Like
Red currants are tiny, bright translucent red berries that grow in clusters. The shrub plant grows about three feet high or at waist height for the average person.

Where it Grows
The red currant shrub grows in swamps, moist open forests and on the banks of streams.

When to Harvest
Red currants are ready for harvesting in summer to early fall, in the months of July, August and September.

Uses

  • Use the sour-tasting red berries in salads or pair them with other fruits
  • Drink red currant juice or tea to reduce fever and induce sweating
  • Harvest the leaves in the spring and summer before the plant goes into berry, for use as a compress or poultice for slow-healing wounds
  • Use the leaves fresh or dried in teas to ease symptoms of gout and rheumatism
  • Gargle the tea for mouth infections

4. Ozhaashaagobag (Bunchberry)

Ozhaashaagobag is used as food and medicine in Pimachiowin Aki. 

What it Looks Like
Bunchberries look different throughout the seasons. Look for white flowers in late spring, red-orange berries sprouting from the centre in summer, and a red leaf colour in the fall.

Where it Grows
The Bunchberry plant can be found growing close to the ground under the shade of trees, often where moss grows.

When to Harvest
Bunchberries ripen and are ready for picking in July or August.

Uses

  • The berries are a food source for black bears, martens, snowshoe hares and other small mammals, as well as many migratory birds. Bunchberry is a winter forage plant for caribou and moose
  • People can eat the berries raw or boiled. They preserve well and can be added to jams, puddings, other baked treats and teas
  • They contain high levels of pectin making them a great addition to low pectin fruits when making jams
  • The berries have a high concentration of vitamin C

5. Ozigwaakomin (Saskatoon Berry Bush)

Ozigwaakomin is a traditional food in Pimachiowin Aki.

What it looks like
Saskatoon berry bush is a shrub or small tree that can grow to 16 feet tall. Mature bushes produce clusters of white flowers in the spring. The leaves are oval-shaped with jagged edges along the tops, and the dark grey to reddish brown branches are smooth in texture. Saskatoon berries range in colour from light purple to almost black.

Where it grows
Saskatoon berry bushes are found in rocky, grassy clearings, thickets, and open hillsides.

When to harvest
Berries are ready for picking in July. Saskatoons continue to ripen after they are picked. Fully mature berries are sweeter and have a fuller fruit flavor, but are softer and more easily damaged.

Uses

  • Saskatoons are consumed fresh, or preserved by freezing or drying
  • The berries are an excellent source of fibre, protein and antioxidants

Try this recipe for Saskatoon Pie.

Note
Saskatoon berry pits contain a poisonous cyanide-like substance, just like apple seeds. The toxin may be destroyed by cooking or drying the berries

6. Makominan (Bearberry)

Makominan is a source of food for bears in Pimachiowin Aki.

What it Looks Like
Bearberry shrubs consist of smooth, oval-shaped leaves, pinkish-white bell-shaped flowers and dull red berries. The shrub typically grows 1/2 foot tall and slowly spreads horizontally to form mats. The thick, leathery leaves are rolled under at the edges. They are yellow green in spring, dark green in summer, and reddish-purple in fall.

Where it Grows
Bearberries grow by the river, in dry open woods and in gravelly or sandy soils. The low-growing shrub is tolerant of cold weather.

When to Harvest
Blooms can appear any time from April to July, depending on where you live. Bright red fruit is formed by the end of the summer and typically remains on the bush throughout winter.

Uses

  • Bearberry is an appropriate name as these mealy edible fruits are a favourite of bears
  • Birds, deer and small mammals also eat the berries
  • Dry the berries to store them
  • Grind dried berries and cook them into a porridge
  • Use dried leaves for tea to help with kidney and bladder infections
  • Tan hides with the tannin in bearberry leaves
  • Add dried leaves to tobacco or use as a substitute

Note

  • Eating too many bearberries may cause nausea or constipation
  • Eating bearberries for a prolonged time can cause stomach and liver problems. Children and pregnant or breast-feeding women should avoid the berries

7. Gaa-minomaagobagak (Wild Mint)

Find gaa-minomaagobagak along shorelines of lakes and rivers in Pimachiowin Aki.

What it Looks Like
Look for bright, serrated leaves and tiny purple, pink or white flowers. Typically this plant grows 1-2 feet tall.

Where it Grows
Wild mint can be found in moist areas such as along shorelines of rivers or lakes. You will smell it before you see it!

When to Harvest
You can pick mint anytime during summer.

Uses

  • Mint is an important medicine and food plant
  • All parts of the plant (flowers, leaves, and stem) may be used, although usually the root is not used
  • The plant is edible raw
  • Make a simple beverage by pouring hot water over the plant
  • Make an insect repellent by sprinkling powdered leaves on berries and drying meat

Medicine Plants

Many plants have medicinal properties. Some medicines are crushed up while others are boiled into a tea. Medicines may be harmful if not prepared properly. Information provided here is only intended to give an idea of the importance of these plants to Anishinaabeg. This is not a guide to plant use. Readers are cautioned to treat medicine plants with respect, and consult Elders and others knowledgeable about plants within Pimachiowin Aki to learn more before considering using any part of a plant for any reason.

The bush is our drugstore, and we are grateful for all the plants that give up their lives to keep us alive and help cure sickness. We need to honour those plants and to make sure they are looked after.

Elders Abel Bruce and Albert Bittern

8. Wiikenzh (Sweet flag)

Wiikenzh is an important medicine in Pimachiowin Aki.

What it Looks Like
Sweet flag has thin, grass-like, greenish-yellow leaves that tend to grow in pairs. At first glance, a colony of sweet flag resembles bull-rushes but upon closer look, you’ll notice that the spike rising from the sweet flag leaves is covered in tiny yellow flowers (unlike the brown spike of a cattail).

Where it Grows
Sweet flag grows in wet, marshy areas.

When to Harvest
This plant is harvested in late summer or early fall.

Uses

  • Sweet flag is very fragrant and when burned, the smoke is used in smudging to purify an area and remove negative energy or thoughts
  • The dried root of sweet flag is used to treat high cholesterol and diabetes

My dad would harvest plants when we were on the trapline. There was a preparation process, and when somebody got sick, there would be medicine ready to use. He made an offering and placed the plant close to the fire and dried it.

Joe Owen, Pauingassi First Nation

9. Aamoo-waabigwan (Fireweed)

Aamoo-waabigwan is used as medicine and tea in Pimachiowin Aki.

What it Looks Like
Fireweed is easily identified by its bright pink or purple flowers throughout summer. The plant grows in a spike shape with clumps of four-petalled flowers at the tips of the stems. Fireweed fluff appears in fall when the plant releases hundreds of cottony seeds. The seeds have tufts of silky hairs, so they are easily spread by wind.  

Where it Grows
Fireweed is a medicine plant that grows in abundance following a forest fire. It grows where soil is relatively dry.

When to Harvest
Fireweed roots can be harvested year-round while its leaves are typically picked in summer.

Uses

  • Fireweed has anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce redness associated with skin irritations
  • The leaves are used to make a tea
  • The seeds are used as a fire-starter
  • Years ago, fireweed was used as a tobacco substitute and also cooked and eaten like a vegetable

The pure medicine on the land is similar to medicine in the pharmacy. I learned that from my grandparents.

Melba Green, Bloodvein River First Nation

Important Plant for the Ecosystem

10. Meskwaanagak (Joe Pye Weed)

Meskwaanagak provides shelter and protection for songbirds in Pimachiowin Aki.

What it Looks Like
Joe pye weed is a late-blooming plant that can grow up to seven feet tall. In midsummer you will recognize it by its tiny mauve flowers, which bloom in large clusters atop the stems.

Where it Grows
Joe pye weed grows naturally at the edges of woodlands and wet meadows.

Blooming Season
Look for flowers in August.

Uses

  • These flowers have a sweet vanilla scent that attracts butterflies and other pollinators
  • Hummingbirds and other birds are also attracted to this plant
  • Due to its height, joe pye weed provides shelter and protection for songbirds

Watch Five Gifts from the Creator to learn more about plants and their uses in Pimachiowin Aki.

Photos: Hidehiro Otake, Jane Driedger, wild raspberry photo was was originally posted to Flickr by mwri at https://www.flickr.com/photos/75897997@N00/194675157

The Lunar Calendar, Explained

Full Moon

For millennia, Indigenous Peoples have used the moon to plan for life on the land. For example, Anishinaabeg in Pimachiowin Aki track the movement of the moon to determine when to plant wild rice, hunt animals, and harvest medicines. The schedule, mapped out on a turtle’s shell, is known as the lunar calendar.

The stars are used for directions. The moon tells you what month you’re in. The sun is used to tell time.

Melba Green, Pimachiowin Aki Guardian, Bloodvein River First Nation

Why don’t the solar calendar and lunar calendar match up?

The solar calendar is based on the sun’s movement. The lunar calendar is based on the movement of the moon. We ask Pimachiowin Aki Guardian Melba Green of Bloodvein River First Nation to explain. “The lunar calendar makes sense to people who are one with the land,” says Melba. “The moon goes around the earth in about 28 days. So in one year, the moon goes around 13 times. This gives us 13 lunar months with 28 days each.”

Why is the lunar calendar on the turtle’s shell?

The turtle shell is a visual match for the days and moons in a lunar year. If you look at a turtle’s shell, you will see an outer ring of small scales. These represent the 28 days in a lunar month. You will also see larger scales inside the centre of the shell. These large scales represent the 13 moons that occur each lunar year.

Explore the Pimachiowin Aki interactive lunar calendar.

Download the lunar calendar here:Download

The lunar calendar has 364 days. The solar calendar has 365 days.

What are the moon names for each month?

Each moon has a name that reflects a natural event that happens on the land during that month. The name of each moon differs from First Nation to First Nation. “It’s because we have different dialects or we named the moons after different things,” says Melba. For example, Anishinaabeg say Binak wiiwik giizis in Bloodvein River First Nation but Little Grand Rapids First Nation calls it Binaakwe giizis.

Melba’s Memories and Stories

We asked Melba to tell us more about the lunar calendar and share some memories and stories of life on the land.

1. Do you or your family members use the lunar calendar?

I use both. My grandmother followed the lunar calendar. It was knowledge that was passed down to her when she was a little girl. She never liked [12-month] calendars in the house. She’d rip them off the wall. ‘We don’t need that,’ she used to say.

2. What happens on the land during some of the moons?

Budding moon: Everything is all new and growing with new beginnings. We go walking around out on the land to show the young ones which plants are budding. Leaves for pussy willows begin to bud. Everything comes out of its shell. We start picking medicines in the forest and firewood. Birchbark wood is picked for beading and woodworking. We also begin commercial fishing and give fish that we harvest to Elders in our community.

Show respect to the forest and it will respect you. Before picking medicines or any plants, put tobacco down and say a prayer, and then you can begin walking in that area.

Melba Green, Pimachiowin Aki Guardian, Bloodvein River First Nation

Blueberry moon: This is when berries finish budding and it’s berry-picking time. You can harvest blue berries to make jam, or my granny used them for medicine. If we didn’t like the taste of the medicine, she would give us the sweet taste first followed by the bitter-tasting medicine.

Falling leaves moon: When I was a child, we would leave for the trapline during the falling leaves moon. We would go with my grandparents, great grandparents and cousins.

When we first would arrive at the trapline, we would have to be quiet so the spirit beings could get used to us being there. After a few days, we were allowed to play. We were there for fall, winter and spring. My mom would be really busy, and my dad would be out hunting or trapping. The school would give us homework to do at the trapline.

Freezing moon: Men hunt geese and small birds during this moon. They also start moose harvesting. When hunters go out and kill one or two moose, they cut them up and take the hide, too. They give meat to Elders or women with children. When they trap beavers, they give the meat to Elders because Elders like beaver tails. It is like medicine to them. They eat every part of the body. Anything that is left over, like bones, are returned to the bush. It’s like putting things back where they came from.

Want to learn more about activities on the land? Download the Pimachiowin Aki Seasonal Calendar.

Feature photo (full moon), budding moon and Falling leaves moon: Hidehiro Otake

Dog Sledding for Land-Based Learning

Surrounded by the expansive boreal forest and the soft sounds of canine paws on snow, Sidney Klassen glides through Bloodvein River First Nation behind his team of dogs. Mr. K, as he’s known to students at Miskooseepi School, is providing a “hands-on experience for the kids to be out in nature.“ Dog sledding is part of the school’s newly-formed Land-Based Learning program.

“We take the dogs out and I show students how to handle them, how to bring them to the truck and bring them to the staging area where we launch,” Sidney explains. Students practise getting the sled ready and hooking up the team. They also learn parts of the sled, like rigging and lines. But their learning runs deeper than physical skills.

“The kids learn about the connection between the dogs and humans when they take care of the dogs,” says Sidney. “They develop responsibility. The implications for learning are endless.”

Who is Sidney Klassen?

Sidney is a former physical education teacher. He has grown to love his new role as Land-Based Instructor but he’s not comfortable with the title. “I’d change Instructor to Coordinator or Facilitator,” he says. ‘Instructor’ is more suitable for a local, not a former Winnipegger like him, he explains.

Sidney with the dogs and a student

“I’m not from Bloodvein River First Nation and I don’t know the land like the locals do.”

Sidney works closely with teachers and residents of the Manitoba First Nation community to connect traditional knowledge to classroom learning.   

“The goal is to get the kids outside on the land, in the bush behind the school, out on the river in canoes, or on hiking field trips,” he says. It’s all part of learning science, social studies and mathematics in new ways. 

From the Circus to Teaching

Sidney became a teacher at age 39, after an unusual career route.

His inspiration to teach started when he “ran away with the circus.”  

Years ago, Sidney worked as the crew chef with the Caravan Stage Company, a traveling circus on a tall ship sailing boat. “The pirate ship theatre was started by two old, card-carrying hippies and it led me to look at my life and chase my dreams. I thought that if they can build a hippy pirate ship, I can do what I want to do.”

What he wanted to do was teach.

How Sidney Started Dog Sledding

He left the traveling circus with a plan to go to university. But first, he took a trip to the Yukon. The trip sparked a new passion. “I took up dog sledding and fell in love with it. I was working for an esteemed champion dog musher and he taught me about dog mushing. I loved being able to see beautiful territory, and I loved the interaction between the humans and dogs.”

When he returned to Winnipeg for university, Sidney formed a dog sled team of his own. With his two dogs, and sometimes a friend’s dog, he traveled the city’s river trails. He had no idea that his love of dog sledding would one day carry into his classroom in Bloodvein River First Nation.

“When I got to Bloodvein, I wanted to start a dog team,” he says. “I put together a fundraiser to raise funds for equipment and got started.”

The team began with six dogs donated by Kevin Lewis who runs the Cree cultural immersion camp in Saskatchewan called kâniyâsihk Culture Camps.

Showing Students the Ropes

The dogs live with Sidney. He has a kennel with doghouses behind his home. “I take students on a tour of the kennel to meet the dogs. I show them how the kennel is set up, and how to care for them.”

Sidney also takes students dog sledding along Indigenous travel routes. The trip includes Ojibwe teachings from an Elder and local trapper.

“Gabriel Green, drives ahead with his snowmobile and takes us down his trapline,” Sidney shares. “He pulls a cargo toboggan behind his snowmobile. The students take turns driving the dog sled or riding in the sled or the toboggan.”

Stopping at designated spots, Gabriel shows his traps and tells stories about the dog team that he had years ago. “Having that platform for Gabriel to share his knowledge and stories is really great,” says Sidney. “We tie-in classroom learning and we’re getting the kids out into nature, over the river and on the trail.”

Students enjoy the adventure. “Just being out on the sled with the kids, even though they might be acting cool at the time, I know they’re excited,” says Sidney. “It’s a beautiful, sunshine-y day, running through a beautiful trail…one of the best feelings ever for me.”

“Word gets around that Mr. K has a dog sled team and takes kids out sledding,” says Sidney. Students like to share stories about their experience of driving the dog sled on their own, he adds.

Each trip includes eight to 10 students from grades four to nine. “Last winter we were out with the kids about five or six times,” Sidney says. The most recent trip was in March, before COVID-19 school closures.

Other Land-Based Learning Activities

The Land-Based Learning program involves more than dog sled education.

“One of my highlights every year is the overnight trip to the Manitoba Museum,” Sidney reflects. The Miskooseepi students spend an overnight inside the museum. It includes a behind-the-scenes tour of the curator’s room to view artifacts from Pauingassi First Nation. Students learn about the importance of protecting their cultural heritage.

“These are items from their culture. They learn that their culture is significant and valued by the world.”

Knowledge keepers like Culture and Language teacher Yvonne Young take students out on the land where they learn to identify plants and pick medicine. They also learn how to use plants, like offering tobacco.

Last winter, a few students took an ice fishing day trip. “We’re fortunate to have William Young be a part of the program. He had ice fishing equipment donated and took us to Round Lake to go ice fishing,” Sidney says.

“The kids have their Anishinaabe culture in their blood,” he says. He notes that many students can teach him about hunting, fishing and living off the land. “They go out with their fathers, uncles, grandfathers or aunts, and they have a lot of knowledge.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors and students are now doing remote learning. Sidney is running logistics, getting homework packages delivered and monitoring social media. He plans to set up a spot this winter so that students can get out onto the land. “We’ll have the ice fishing shacks, cross-country skis and snowshoes, and let the kids use them.”

A Little Paper Creates a Big Problem

At eight years old, Michael Zelniker had no problem admonishing adults to stop littering in the streets of Montréal. Today, his dedication to protecting the environment has grown into a quest to protect the boreal forest for future generations.

The Issue with Tissue

“Tissue companies are flushing away our forests and our future,” warns the filmmaker from his Los Angeles home. 

‘The Issue with Tissue’ is the title of his latest project—a film to let the world know that “the boreal forest is being clear cut so we can wipe our bums with softer, more plush toilet paper.”

Michael was shocked when he first learned that one of the most ecologically important forests in the world—Canada’s boreal forest—is being destroyed to make toilet paper.

“What we do to each other, we do to ourselves; what we do to the land, we do to ourselves,” he says. 

Who is Affected?

There’s more to the boreal forest than just trees. The boreal forest plays an important role in slowing the effects of climate change. It stores almost twice as much carbon as tropical forests and has more surface freshwater than any other ecosystem on the planet. 

“I discovered that more than 600 First Nations call the boreal forest home and have for thousands of years; that the boreal is home to caribou and other wildlife. It is the nesting ground for the songbirds we hear in our parks and our backyards.” Michael’s backyard is in California but as a child growing up in Montréal, he went to summer camp 100 miles north at the southern edge of the boreal forest.

“I hated camp. I was a troubled kid and as a result, I was always in trouble,” he remembers. He discovered his love of nature during this otherwise unhappy camp experience.

“The breathtaking view of endless forest was the one thing that comforted me at camp.” It forged in him a deep lifelong connection to trees. “When I’m in a forest today, I feel like I’m with long-lost family.”

While researching the toilet paper issue, Michael spent dozens of hours on Zoom talking with scientists, activists, and First Nation leaders. “Everyone opened their hearts and shared their story with me,” he says. It was an incredible privilege, he adds.

Inspired by the conversations, Michael knew he had to share the untold story with the world.

Lessons from Indigenous Elders and Leaders

“I began to feel, ‘If not me, then who? If not now, then when?’”

Elder Leslie Orvis Sr. and William Young

Those two questions led to an inspiring filmmaking experience. Michael collected over 100 hours of footage as he traveled across Canada to interview First Nation Elders and leaders, including Bloodvein River First Nation Elder Leslie Orvis Sr. and Pimachiowin Aki Board Director William Young.

His journey began in BC with Canadian cameraperson Abanoub Andraous. The two of them drove, with multiple stops along the way, to Eastern Quebec where they flew north by bush plane to the George River. There, they met with Valérie Courtois, Director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, and Innu as they celebrated the migration of the caribou. “It was a profoundly moving experience,” Michael says enthusiastically.

He describes the entire filmmaking experience as “eye-opening and life-changing.” He hopes the film will have a strong impact on others, much like the journey has had on him.

“I had so many special moments filming,” Michael says. He was touched by the hospitality and generosity of the people that he got to visit and talk with. “I felt deeply honoured.”

“What has caused us to go so wrong as a species?” he asks. Learning from First Nation Elders and leaders, Michael says that we have lost connection to the land and with each other. “As a result, settler colonial types like me look at how to value land based on dollars and cents, and as a way to exploit rather than as a member of our family.”

Elder Dave Porter of Kaska First Nation in northern British Columbia shared his wisdom with Michael. “Mother Nature, since the beginning of time, takes care of us because Mother Earth has provided us this environment to live so well. If we don’t begin to take better care of Mother Nature, we’re going to destroy her ability to take care of us.”

Elder Porter also told Michael that “when you’re in a forest, you’re with family.” Michael heard similar themes from others across the country.  

Chief Darrell Bob of the Xaxli’p Community in Lillooet, BC invited Michael into his sweat lodge. “He pointed to the stones that warmed the sweat lodge and said, ‘These are our grandfathers.’”

The lessons continued as Michael met with Elder Dave Courchene from Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. He explained about natural law—to only take as much as you need.

“Give thanks to what you take with an eye for the seven generations in front of you,” explains Michael. He had never heard this lesson until he met with Indigenous people.

“In American white culture we believe that a lot is good, more is better, and too much is just right. And we see it even with the pandemic—what were people hoarding? Toilet paper.”

After his footage comes together and is shared with the world, Michael hopes that North Americans will make the connection between trees and paper products like toilet paper, and become “more mindful of how we’re using them.”

He recalls a memorable statement that Elder Courchene made to him, and it is a mighty ask: “If you can do one thing, get them to give us back the boreal and we can take care of the rest.”

Imagine the possibilities if that were the result.

Here are ways that Michael suggests for you to make a difference:

  • Buy recycled paper products made from post consumer content
  • Buy wood, pulp & paper products with the FSC certification seal
  • Whenever possible, stop using single use disposables—use reusables
  • Demand that governments fulfill their commitments to Indigenous Peoples to protect/conserve their ancestral home­—the land, air and water—the animals, plants and trees that inhabit these wild spaces
  • Support the establishment of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA)
  • Spend time in nature. Bring your child to wild spaces. Connect with the other creatures, the trees, plants, and animals that make up Mother Earth’s creation. They are all members of our wider family. Treat them as such
  • Support First Nation Guardian Programs

Michael Zelniker is a Canadian-born award-winning actor/director based in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Climate Reality Project Leadership Corps (led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore), serving as Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Chapter. His film, ‘The Issue with Tissue’, is set for release in 2021. We will keep you posted on its release date and how/where to watch it.

12 Named Places to Discover in Poplar River First Nation

Poplar River First Nation recently completed a Traditional Place Names map, which gives meaning to 149 places. The named places include rivers, lakes, creeks, rapids, points, and islands.

For several years, Elders in Poplar River have been sharing their knowledge to make this map possible. For instance, the Elders have walked the land with us and showed us places and things that are known only because Elders have been there and shared their knowledge. The Elders’ stories and memories are now printed on a huge, colourful map that will hang in community spaces and guide our journeys. The map is almost five feet wide!

When traveling the land, Anishinaabeg tell stories about the named places we encounter along the way. When we learn the names of places, we gain an intimate knowledge of the land. We need this knowledge for survival. Some places are named after plants or wildlife found in the area. Some names warn of dangers. Many reflect the histories of people who have traveled through and made use of the land. 

Named Places to Visit in Poplar River First Nation

Here are a dozen named places to visit using the Poplar River First Nation map:

  1. Nikaminikwaywining (The creek where geese drink)
  2. Pinanaywipowitik (Rapids where people can rest sore legs)
  3. Moozichisking (Big rock shaped like a moose’s rump)
  4. Wapiskapik (The rock island that was painted white so it could be seen)
  5. Kakinoosaysikak (Place where there are lots of minnows)
  6. Weeskwoywisaguygan (Marchand Lake—shaped like a balloon)
  7. Moondeewiminitik (Island named after the late Elder Mooni)
  8. Kaminotinak (Beautiful high ground along the Franklin River where small trees grow)
  9. Nayonanashing (Place to stop for lunch)
  10. Wapeegoozhesse’opimatagaywining (Where a mouse swam across the river)
  11. Paagitinigewening (Tobacco offering rock)
  12.  Kakpikichiwung (Water falls over a rock cliff)

Preserving Cultural Heritage

All 149 places on the Poplar River First Nation Place Names map are now officially recognized in provincial and national geographical names databases. In addition to helping us navigate the land and waters, the map preserves our cultural heritage. In other words, the map preserves Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language), history, teachings and beliefs. 

Listening to and talking about our place names is like reading a book…these named places ensure that the stories will carry on. When my father was describing where he had been, he would say, kee’yapay namaytoowag, which means he could still feel the presence of people who had been there before. The stories of our ancestors are connected to those places and to us by the place names.

– Sophia Rabliauskas

Meegwetch to the Poplar River First Nation Elders for their generosity, time, and patience in documenting the personal and collective histories of the people who have travelled through, observed and lived on Poplar River First Nation ancestral land, Asatiwisipe Aki.

Do you want to view the full Poplar River First Nation Place Names map on our website? Click on this link and scroll down toward the bottom of the page.

More Place Name Maps for Pimachiowin Aki

Pimachiowin Aki Corporation is working to protect cultural heritage for future generations in all four First Nation communities in Pimachiowin Aki. Cultural heritage expresses who we are and how we live. It consists of everything that we value and share through generations. Cultural heritage includes place names. It also includes travel routes, cabins, songs and traditional knowledge.

We are crossing land and water to inventory Pimachiowin Aki’s cultural sites. For example, we are documenting named places, pictographs, Thunderbird nests, cabins, campsites, and ceremonial sites. Bloodvein River First Nation, Pauingassi First Nation and Little Grand Rapids First Nation are each collecting this information to make their own place names maps.

This summer, eight young adults had a one-of-a-kind experience using the Poplar River First Nation Traditional Place Names map. Read about it here:
13 Rapids with a Traditional Place Names Map in Hand 

5 Spectacular Pictographs Explained

The Bloodvein River waterway in Pimachiowin Aki contains the largest collection of pictographs in Canada. Hundreds of millennia-old pictographs (rock art paintings) have been documented at over 30 locations, including this cliff face on Artery Lake, beautified with handprints, animals, canoes, snakes, and other symbols painted with a paste made of a red ochre and fish oil or bear fat.

Paddling up to one of these rare images is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Canadian author and pictograph-hunter Selwyn Dewdney called these particular sites along the Bloodvein River a “rare experience” and a “supreme reward.”

Elder Leslie Orvis of Bloodvein First Nation suggests making an offering each time you pass by a pictograph.

Here’s a close-up look at five spectacular pictographs in Pimachiowin Aki:

1. Moose

Recently, Pimachiowin Aki Board Co-Chair William Young took Elder Leslie Orvis to the site of this moose pictograph on the Bloodvein River. Leslie believes that the message behind this drawing is of respect. 

“Respect the land,” he says. He then echoes the words of Elder Kenneth Owen—“If you are looking for moose to hunt, you put down tobacco in order to have a successful hunt.” 

Leslie and other Elders in Bloodvein River First Nation aim to teach local students about Anishinaabe history, culture, and language. They are developing a program that will be a part of the curricula after the community’s new school is built.

2. Kingfishers

In some cases, scholars suggest that Anishinaabeg created pictographs to mark significant personal events or associations between certain clans and areas used for traditional land use and ceremony. This pictograph found at Sasaginnigak Lake shows two Kingfishers, one of the clan emblems of Anishinaabeg in Pimachiowin Aki.

This particular pictograph was probably painted in the early 1800s by members of the Kingfisher clan who wintered at Sasaginnigak Lake and used the lake as part of their family harvesting area (Petch 2010).

3. Bison

The bison in this pictograph is recognized for its circular hooves and the dark outline that appears to indicate its heart. 

In the 1950s, guided by Ojibwe elders, Selwyn Dewdney began his studies of pictographs on the Canadian Shield. His book titled Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes names this pictograph the Bloodvein Bison and describes it as “beautifully proportioned.” 

The book, co-authored by Kenneth E. Kidd, suggests that this pictograph is located a hundred miles north of where the bison herds once roamed, and the person responsible for the drawing was from that region or had traveled a far distance to hunt there.  

4. Shaman

Dewdney titled this pictograph the Bloodvein Shaman. The shaman is carrying a medicine bag. Dewdney notes that the zig-zag lines that appear above the shaman’s head are also seen in other pictographs, and are often interpreted as thoughts or magical powers. He adds that the “large canoe beneath and the porcupine to the left might represent the fighting prowess and clan of the shaman.”

5. Wigglers

Dewdney refers to these pictographs as the “two curious wigglers” but does not provide details on what they represent. In his Ramblin’ Boy blog, True_North suggests “they may be representations of the medicine serpent.”

Many of the drawings in Pimachiowin Aki include animals and people that one can assume were based on powerful spirit beings and first-hand experiences of the artists. Each pictograph has its own significance. Archaeologist Jack Steinbring writes, “The imagery may often be prompted by dreams, or visions sometimes induced by fasting or prolonged concentration.”  

How Pimachiowin Aki Guardians Help Preserve Pictographs
The spectacular pictographs in Pimachiowin Aki are well preserved. Guardians keep the sites clean of any litter, in addition to educating people about the importance of respecting the pictographs (i.e. leaving offerings, not touching or wetting them, etc.).

The rate at which the pictographs are deteriorating due to natural weathering is unknown. Lichen encroachment is probably the most serious threat.  

Locating Pictographs in Pimachiowin Aki
Pictographs are usually found on steep granite rock-faces overhanging the waterways of the boreal forest.

The drawings are typically found in places associated with powerful spirit beings, such as next to water, at the intersections of sky, earth and water, underground, and underwater. 

Not all pictograph locations are to be revealed. 

“There are rock paintings at Dog-skin that are sacred because the people of Little Grand Rapids believe that those paintings were made by the little rock people (memegwesiwag). The rock people were part of creation and were here from the beginning.” 

—Joseph Levesque, Sr. (in translation, 2014)

Anishinaabeg communicate with memegwesiwag at particular pictograph sites by presenting offerings to demonstrate respect and request assistance in travel or hunting.

“There is a cliff-rock-painting of a snapping turtle [on a certain river]. When someone travels along over there, they’d cut some tobacco. They would say, ‘I will kill a moose’ as they placed tobacco in their pipe. Sure enough, that was exactly what would happen. That person would get the blessing to kill a moose.” 

—Elder Kenneth Owen of Pauingassi First Nation (in translation, 2007) explains the importance of a particular pictograph in communicating with the memegwesiwag responsible for the painting

For more images of pictographs, including a link to the digital version of Dewdney and Kidd’s book, click here: 

https://archive.org/details/indianrockpainti00dewd/page/n1/mode/2up

Anishinaabe Pictographs On The Bloodvein: The Artery Lake Site

Sources

Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes by Selwyn Dewdney and Kenneth E. Kidd
Discussion paper: Rock Paintings in the Eastern Lake Winnipeg Watershed by Jack Steinbring 
Cultural Landscape: Macro Scale Document. Virginia Petch, August 2010