Ezhi naamjige’ing - How we observe our surroundings

Ezhi naamjige’ing or “how we observe our surroundings” is a primary method of learning and a means of recognizing harms as they arise. Ezhi naamjige’ing allows individuals and communities to prevent escalation or continuation of behaviours that may result in harm to children and families. In practice, this could include visiting by trusted family members and observation at community events and gatherings. Importantly, ezhi naamjige’ing should reflect aanjigone (non-interference), and respect for debendiziwin or individual freedom while remaining vigilant of the health and wellbeing of children.

The importance of ezhi naamjige’ing as a method for learning is demonstrated by the use of a tikinagan or a cradleboard. From infancy, children learned to listen and observe from their tikinagan, watching how everyone around them worked together to ensure the survival of all. From the tikinagan, children listened to the teachings of the Elders, the words of their mothers and grandparents. From this position, children were exposed to many abstract ideas. One participant in the Nogdawindamin Elders and Cultural Workers session explained the importance of the tikinagan for helping children to begin their learning journey:

…sometimes, babies, when you don’t wrap them, their hands are always in their face, so it blocks their vision of what’s going on. So, when you have them wrapped in that moss bag they have a better vision of what’s happening around them. And you’ll notice that babies, when they’re not wrapped, will jerk when they sleep, and it wakes them up. It is the work of each individual child to make sense of these teachings within the context of their own life.

In this way then, observation as a means of teaching and learning respects each individual’s debwewin or truth, enabling them to draw their own conclusions about the world around them.

Observation or paying attention to one’s surroundings enhances the protection that children and other individuals who are vulnerable may have within their community. As one Sagamok Elder explained, neighbourhood watch has been going on forever. Healthy communities take care of each other. Janice Gamble relates:

…community members would make a fire up on the big rock overlooking Cutler. Someone would bring a guitar and we would sing country and western songs, trying to read the words written on paper. Everyone knew where their kids were because you could see them up there or around the fire. She also describes how a respected Elder in Serpent River, “Waweotnook had very specific ideas about parenting. She believed in supervising children closely and would accompany the girls when they went to play ball with their friends after supper. This approach reflects traditional Anishinaabe ideas around parenting that include close observation to ensure safety and protection of children and youth.

Many Anishinaabe stories reflect the ability of animals to pay attention and observe when something is wrong. This observation allows them to intervene and prevent harm before it occurs. There are Manidoog that particularly have compassion for our Anishinaabe children. These Manidoog come to play with our children – also known as Memengwesiwag, or Manidoo-gwiiwizens. In the story of The Birth of Nenaboozhoo, Nenaboozhoo’s Nokomis falls from the moon and is watched over and protected by the bear who sees her fall:

Somebody watched her fall from the moon down into the lake and was watching as she sat on the bottom pouting. It was a big old Bear. The Bear was sitting on a rock, and he saw everything. But you know how bears are, they are quiet, they just sit there and watch. After that bear had sat there for many days, eating his berries and thinking about that beautiful woman at the bottom of the lake, he swam into the lake, putting his head down looking for that woman. Bears are excellent swimmers. Finally, he spotted her in the deepest part of the lake and he asked Nokomis, “Why don’t you come up here?”

“Oh, I’m not going up there,” she said. “When I hit the water, my medicine bag opened, and all my medicine is at the bottom of the lake. I’m not going up there without my medicine.”

Well of course that bear felt sorry for her, so he kept bugging her, every day he would go back. “Why don’t you come up here with me? It’s nice and warm here. It’s sunny. It’s so dark down here. There’s a lot of bad spirits down there that will get you. You should come up here with me.” And after a while that must have sounded inviting, because they say she swam to the top of the lake and crawled on that Bear’s back. The Bear told her, “Don’t worry, maybe one day you will get your medicine back, don’t worry about it.”

Bear’s observation and persistent care helps Nokomis to build a new life after a great loss.

For extended family and community members to observe the wellbeing of children and youth, they must be able to visit. Nogdawindamin began in 1987 with a group of North Shore grandmothers who wanted to see their grandchildren but couldn’t. The children had been taken into child protective services and the grandmothers could not visit. The grandmothers went to their chief and council and then to the North Shore Tribal Council. They fought for the right to visit their grandchildren - and won. Working together to address their lack of access to their grandchildren enabled the grandmothers to connect to their grandchildren and to monitor their wellbeing on a more regular basis.

Visiting can be understood as a culturally appropriate form of assessment. The provincial assessment model is heavily criticized by community members who have interacted with the child welfare system. The observation and knowledge that is gained through visiting could provide a basis for a culturally informed assessment model. As Ardith Walkem stated, where possible, Indigenous communities could consider preparing their own parenting assessments in ways that reflect a trauma-informed approach, knowledge of Indigenous culture and the child and family’s particular Indigenous cultural background and parenting traditions.

Similarly, Mississauga First Nation’s Draft Family Unity Declaration states that:

Assessment models not based on our traditional values have been used as a weapon to separate our families and children. In recognition that culturally unresponsive tools are detrimental to family unity, all service providers must;

utilize culturally competent standards for the evaluation of safety, risk, and alternative care homes.

All assessments tools used to evaluate Misswezahging children or families will require prior approval of Chief and Council.

This is a clear call for a return to forms of observation that are less invasive and harmful to children and families who find themselves in vulnerable situations.