Bgosendmoowin/Gbosendmoowin - Ceremony/Asking for Help - 2
Shke biimesowin - Walking Out Ceremony
Shke biimesowin or the Walking Out Ceremony, celebrates a child’s growing independence, moving from infancy into the toddler years. This ceremony took place as soon as the baby took his or her first steps. This was a widespread practice at one time and underlines the importance of teaching children as soon as possible the importance of community responsibility. Shke biimesowin marks a child’s transition into different forms of learning about the world around them. As in infancy, children continue to learn by watching and listening but are now able to investigate using their hands and feet. Traditionally, a young child will now grab at things and try to put them into piles. They have learned about the tools and materials and actions around them from their observations. As toddlers they have ideas about how things and people around them work. Young children will validate their understanding by doing, thereby confirming their understanding of something or the act of doing something that leads them to further observation. This “scaffolding process” enables children to confirm their observations about how things work.
At a shke biimesowin, family and community members gather to celebrate. Participants in the ceremony bring gifts and wishes that pertain to the child’s future, as he or she “walks out” in that direction. These things are placed into a bundle that they carry as they walk around the circle of friends and family. They are therefore literally equipped to move into the life stages that are to come. This type of ceremony grounds a child in their family and community and provides them with the tools and support necessary to continue on their journey of growth and learning.
For some Indigenous nations, children do not set foot on the ground until they have conducted their Walking out ceremony. Children are constantly carried during the infancy stage or placed in a tikinaagan. In this version of shke biimesowin “a grandparent places the child’s feet on the ground outside and introduces them to Mother Earth. They take the child on a walk about so the toddler can feel Mother Earth on their feet for the first time. They are introduced to the plants, trees, and medicines during this walk so if the child needs help from medicines one day, they will recognize the child.
Mkadekewin (Fasting)
Kitche Manitou (The Great Spirit) beheld a vision. In this dream he saw a vast sky filled with stars, sun, moon, and earth. He saw an earth made of mountains and valleys, islands and lakes, plains and forests. He saw trees and flowers, grasses and vegetables. He saw walking, flying, swimming, and crawling beings. He witnessed the birth, growth, and the end of things. At the same time he saw other things live on. Amidst change there was constancy. Kitche Manitou heard songs, wailings, stories. He touched wind and rain. He felt love and hate, fear and courage, joy and sadness. Kitche Manitou meditated to understand his vision. In his wisdom Kitche Manitou understood that his vision had to be fulfilled. Kitche Manitou was to bring into being and existence what he had seen, heard, and felt - Basil Johnston, Ojibway Heritage
As in the story above, the act of creating the world begins with a vision, similar to the visions sought out by those who engage in Mdakewin or fasting.
Historically, all young people were put out to fast as they were near puberty. As an intense physical and spiritual exercise, fasting cultivated spiritual help towards food security by reinforcing relationships between the youth and the spirit world, while at the same time training the young to withstand periods of hunger. Puberty was considered a time for a child/youth to connect to his or her own source of power, and this was achieved through fasting.
Our traditional rites of passage for young girls and young boys were a sacred event in which the entire community participated in their transition from childhood to adulthood. Our grandmothers would prepare our girls for their first fast by helping them create their grandmother bags. The contents of which would contain all the ceremonial items that they eventually would earn throughout their lifetime. The fast of our young women would be monitored by our Elders and when she was finished the community would have prepared a feast for her. Our young women would begin their journey by learning their role through our grandmother’s teachings. Our young boys would also be put out on the land to Fast with grandfathers watching them closely to ensure their physical and spiritual safety. It was during this time that our young men would receive their spirit helpers. Once the fast was completed our young boys were now considered young men and entrusted with all the responsibilities of honourable men.
Mdakewin is an important way of instilling connection and purpose in youth and that it should be available to all Anishinaabe youth. Mdakewin helps a young person to feel connection and belonging and to find and pursue their purpose in life.
Shki ntaage (First Kill)
Ceremonies and celebrations surrounding Shki ntaage or the First Kill teach youth about the importance of providing for their communities and the need to share what they gain through the development of their skills with others. Shki ntaage also helps youth to recognize their own abilities and skills, building self-esteem and encouraging them to continue to contribute to their families and communities into the future. Often the role of celebrating these accomplishments falls to extended family members.
When a young man kills his first deer, a tobacco and food offering is also made. What some of our Anishinaabe do, they get the meat from the chest of the deer and that is the meat that is offered up in the feast. What some Anishinaabe do is also, is that the young man who just killed his first deer gives all the deer meat away to the elders.
What some of our Anishinaabe also do, is soon after a young man kills his first deer, a piece of the meat is cut from the heart of that deer and is given to the young man to eat. - Lee Obizaan Staples & Chato Ombishkebines Gonzalez
Although the particular approaches may vary from community to community, the themes of community celebration, skill-building and sharing are prominent in all of the descriptions of Shki ntaage. It is important to note that today, first kill ceremonies can be and are held for youth of all genders.
Healing
For Anishinaabe people, healing is a huge part of child wellbeing as it enables individuals to become healthier members of their families and communities and to contribute in better ways to their relations including younger relations who require care and support. Ceremonies play a major role in an individual’s healing journey. For Anishinaabe people, healing is about bringing the four components of one’s life back into balance. This type of healing is also personal and private but may be facilitated at times through ceremony. As another Sagamok Elder explains, “we all have stories where we went through our own private ceremonies. We didn’t have big ceremonies, they were individual, individual ways of carrying on our healing”.
Certain individuals hold particular responsibilities relating to healing. These individuals are known to hold skills and abilities, or relationships with the manidoog that enable them to facilitate healing for others. Other community members also play a role in requesting help or healing during times of need. Christopher Vecsey describes how in times of epidemic, communities would hand “cloth, beads, herbs and other offerings on trees”. These can be understood as offerings to the Manidoog, requests for wellbeing and support during times of need or vulnerability. This also speaks to the importance of ceremony in reconnecting individuals to their culture and community in ways that create pathways for healing them mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Sacred Fire
One ceremony that is seen as a means of legitimizing governance and decision-making is the Sacred Fire. The sacred fire provides an important pathway to engage the ancestors and those not-yet born in decision-making that is occurring today.
Pipe Ceremony
The Pipe Ceremony is one of the most commonly held ceremonies in Anishinaabe communities. It is used to open many other types of ceremonies or by itself. As Basil Johnston stated, other rituals embodied meanings and symbolized material, temporal and present relationships, but the pipe represented all relationships: man to Kitche Manitou, man to the cosmos, man to the plant world, man to the animal world, man to man, man to his state, and quality of life and being and existence. In the past, potential ogimaawag (leaders) signified acceptance of a position through the acceptance of a pipe.
Pipes also played a central role in dispute resolution. In a community-based dispute resolution process, the acceptance of the pipe signified acceptance of an individual’s innocence of a crime they were accused of and recognized the individual’s right to voice or their right to be heard by community members before being punished.
Pipe ceremonies also provide opportunities for teaching and learning. Pipe ceremonies and other types of ceremony provide opportunities for Anishinaabe families and communities to gather, share knowledge, and address challenges that are occurring in their communities.