Teachings Of The Ancestors
Ahneen! Waabijayaa-myeengun Ginagappi-omashkooz nindishnakaz, Anishnabe Animkee-wiikwegema noondenjiba, Wuzhusk dodaom.
Greetings I am called Greywolf Laughingelk I am an Anishnabe (Ojibway) from Thunder Bay, Ontario Muskrat Clan. I wish to share some of the teachings (insights) I have received. I hope that you will find these teachings helpful in your walk in life. Meegwetch! (Thank you!)
The Anishnabe people call the Creator Kitche-Manitou, which translates to the Great Mystery. We do not have the need to try to find out what it is or why it is there, it is enough to know that it is everyone and everything. It will always remain a mystery to us.
A common thought is that native culture is a religion. The truth is that native culture is a way of life and not a religion. Like the three principles; Mind, Consciousness and Thought, native culture is a way to walk in life. Another term for this is the Red Road, the road to finding and walking in truth. The truth is in my culture and it is also in every other culture. It is only hidden by words.
Kitche-Manitou (The Great Mystery) woke up one morning and felt alone. Kitche-Manitou decided to do something about this. The Creator decided to fast and to seek a vision as to what to do. The Creator received a vision. In this vision the Creator saw a beautiful Universe with stars and planets. The vision unfolded and became what we call Muzzu-Kummik-Quae (Mother Earth). On mother earth mountains grew and lakes filled up the land. Trees grew up from her and plants flourished everywhere.
As human beings we also have the power of creation. We have the gift of vision and the means to make it real. We create how we see our world in every moment. We also create how we react to situations in every moment. The teaching of the Anishnabe story of creation, is that as human beings we create our world or vision and what we want to see just like the Creator created a world and what the Great Mystery wanted to see. We are the Creator, the Creator is not up in the sky or down below the Creator is in everyone and everything.
Anishnabe people and many other First Nations people have a teaching that is called All My Relations. This teaching is a fundamental part of our way of life. It is said that the first beings that were created were the Plant people. The plant beings are our eldest brothers and sisters. The next created were the animals, winged, the swimmers and the two legged. Last in creation were the human beings.
When the first Anishnabe were born to Geezhigo-Quae (Sky woman). They were born on what Anishnabe people and many other tribes call Michilimackinack (Turtle Island). The first Anishnabe had the animals and the plant beings to thank for their survival. Later the Anishnabe would become lazy and have animals, who at first sacrificed themselves so the Anishnabe could live, turn against each other. They would have the eagle hunt the fish or the wolf hunt the deer. Soon the animal beings became sick of this and held a secret meeting. They decided that they would not serve the Anishnabe anymore and they would each go their own way and speak different languages.
The teaching of this is that we are all related we are made from the same energy and should respect each and every one of the Creators creations. This includes mountains, lakes, trees and father sun and Grandmother moon. Since we are all made from the same energy All My Relations includes every human being on Mother Earth. This means that we are all related no matter what race or color we are. Without our eldest brothers and sisters the plant beings and the animal beings we could not survive. The plant beings and the animals could survive without us. So it is imperative that we respect and honor all of Creation and be grateful for what it gives us. If you happen to look up in the sky and see an Eagle or look on the ground and see an animal. Pay attention because they are trying to tell you something. They may not serve us anymore but they are our older brothers and sisters and still look after us to this day.
There was this young man, he had a question on his mind. The young man wished the advice of an elder. The young man asked his question. The elder sat quietly for a moment and then started to speak. The elder had only got out a few words when suddenly the young man spoke out and said, "is this what you mean?" The elder paused and said, "no please listen". The elder continued answering the question and was interrupted once more by the young man. The young man said, "is this what you mean?" The elder shook his head and said, "please listen". The elder continued and was interrupted yet again. This time the elder stopped and said, "You are not listening to me". The young man said "yes I am" and the elder said, " you cannot be listening to me if you are asking a question". The teaching of this is that it is impossible to listen when you are thinking of what to answer before the speaker is finished. If you are listening without having any thoughts you will be able to fully understand what the speaker is saying. Doing this will give you the best answer and also bring about a beautiful feeling of communication.
Ceremonies were given to First Nations people to remind us to walk in a good way. When people attend ceremonies today they experience a beautiful feeling. Unfortunately they do not take this feeling with them. Too many times people attend ceremonies and get a great feeling but as soon as they leave they go right back to their habitual thinking. The truth of our ceremonies is that they were given to us by the Creator to remind us to remember to keep the feeling of the ceremony for the rest of their lives. Ceremonies are tools in this reality to help us walk the Red Road.
First Nations people have ceremonies that are shared by many tribes. One of them is called the Smudge Ceremony. This ceremony is a sacred teaching. The ceremony is a cleansing ceremony. We use sacred medicines to cleanse our bodies of negative energies for preparation to pray. The truth is that we are using sacred medicines to cleanse our minds of negative thoughts and personal thought. Doing this gives us a quiet mind and then we are truly in touch with the Creator, Universal mind or God.
Another beautiful ceremony is the Sweat lodge ceremony. This is also a sacred ceremony. It is also used to purify and cleanse. The ceremony forces you to have a quiet mind. I will explain what I mean by forces you to quiet your mind. The Sweat lodge is a dome structure that is built with a hole in the center dug in the ground. Grandfathers (lava rocks) are heated and are placed in the hole in the ground. We sit in a circle around this hole. After a certain amount of Grandfathers are brought in the door is closed. It becomes pitch dark except for the glowing rocks. You cannot see anybody and it feels like you are all alone. Sacred water is poured on the Grandfathers and steam starts to fill the dome. This is when the forcing of the quiet mind happens. My first thoughts were that it is dark and I cannot see anybody. I then started to think that it was getting hard to breathe as soon as I thought that it became real. I was having trouble breathing. Then I started to panic, my heart started beating faster. I really wanted to leave. All of the sudden I realized the Teaching of the Sweat lodge. I was only creating those thoughts and was moving away from a quiet mind. All I had to do was see that I was creating all those thoughts and all of the sudden it turned into a beautiful feeling. The elders say that the Sweat lodge is a place to release your thoughts and memories. People of today go into the Sweat lodge and release pain and anger physically by screaming or crying. Once again the words were hiding the truth. The truth is that what the elders meant was to release those thoughts and see that that is all they are. Releasing the thoughts gives us a quiet mind.
A long time ago the drum was given to the people to help them communicate with the Creator. Songs were given to us to sing while we prayed to the Creator. An elder told me that when I sang I should pray to the Creator for things I want. The teaching is that when we sing and drum we are actually in a quiet mind. We have let go of personal thought. We enter a type of meditation, which is another way of quieting the mind.
Native people all over Turtle Island celebrate by going to pow-wows. These are dances where the people dress up in their traditional clothes and dance. I think that it is a celebration of the beautiful teaching of a quiet mind. Have you ever noticed that when you are dancing and you try to think of what step you want to do next you lose the rhythm. This is because dancing comes from a quiet mind and requires no thinking. So I received the teaching of the pow-wows and that they are celebrating the oneness and quiet mind, which is innate in every human being.
There is an old Anishnabe prayer that says I would like to find the lesson that is hidden under every rock and leaf. Life is a big teaching to achieve well-being and balance or reach higher levels of consciousness. The elders always tell us to find the teaching in everything. This is the truth we can learn from and grow from everything as long as we see it as a teaching. The teachings I have shared are also teachings that you have access to. This understanding applies to all cultures and races. Look inside, the teachings are inside you and are tailored for you to learn from and gain higher levels of consciousness. Akina Nindinawe! (All My Relations!) Meegwetch!
Greywolf Laughingelk
Desi Lindstrom (Shebobman)
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