Zaagibagaa-giizis (Budding Moon)/Namebine-giizis (Suckerfish Moon), May 11, 2022
Boozhoo, aaniin!
Today, let's discuss "decolonization" – for want of a better term.
The notion of "decolonizing" is a big thing nowadays.
This is why some individuals, primarily of Anishinaabe and Ininew heritage, disapprove of my use of precious metals in my jewelry and wedding rings–which, incidentally, are storytelling tools and not for sale. They question whether gold and silver are settlers' metals. They express disapproval, suggesting that these metals symbolize the status sought by settlers. They argue that it's not traditional for Natives to use such materials and that I should instead utilize wood, stone, shells, bark, and other gifts from mother earth.
Sure, I could respond by saying something like "Hoowah! It's not 'natural' for us to purchase our food instead of hunting and gathering it. It's not 'natural' for us to use plastic beads in place of porcupine quills in our art. It's not 'natural' for us to reside in massive concrete buildings instead of homes made from natural materials, and it's not 'natural' to drive large metal vehicles instead of paddling birchbark canoes." However, I choose to share a story instead.
This tale involves Wenabozho, the Great Underwater Lynx, and the Sleeping Giant of Thunder Bay. It resides deeply within our hearts and our shared ancestral memory. All I need to do is bring it to mind once more...
Many people have forgotten that silver and copper have historical and spiritual connections to the Gichigami Anishinaabeg and Ininewak (Anishinaabeg and Cree from the Lake Superior region). For centuries, the Indigenous peoples of that area mined and fashioned these metals into jewelry, long before the arrival of European settlers. Indeed, our ancestors regarded both metals as highly sacred.
"People often ask, 'If silver and copper are native metals, why not use copper or brass (yellow copper) instead of gold?' My response is that copper or brass aren't ideal for jewelry (unless you want your skin to turn green). I use gold to represent the sacred copper. I primarily work with 14K gold, an alloy of gold and silver, which is nearly half composed of silver and/or copper."
GIFTS OF THE UNDERWATER SPIRITS
Silver and copper have been extracted for thousands of years from deposits in the Thunder Bay area and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, utilized and traded by many generations of Indigenous Peoples, likely even before the Anishinaabe settlers arrived from the east. These metals held significant spiritual and economic value for the Gichi Gami-Ojibwe Anishinaabeg, deeply influencing their cultural identity. Copper and silver, along with other revered entities like fish and underwater serpents, were always considered extremely sacred, carrying various spiritual and symbolic meanings. Our ancestors viewed copper and silver as gifts from the water spirits inhabiting the lakes' underworld; the natural shine of the metals was believed to reflect light against the darkness where many spirits, potentially malevolent at times, were thought to dwell. Due to their sacred nature, the Anishinaabeg who mined these metals often kept the mine locations secret, as these sites were considered manidoowid (possessing sacred, spiritual powers). It is likely the elders saw them as ideal places for dreaming and possibly vision-seeking.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SILVER
During the latter half of the 18th century, silver, alongside furs, emerged as the most significant trade commodity in the Great Lakes region, surpassing copper, miigisag (wampum), and glass beads in importance. Various silver jewelry pieces such as arm bands, bracelets, rings, brooches, earrings, gorgets, and hair plates were crafted and exchanged during this period. However, the ancestors always remembered the sacred essence of silver, which imbued their sacred items with great spiritual blessings and power—like ogimaa dewe'iganag (big dance drums) that were occasionally adorned with silver plates or disks. Silver was held in such reverence that when an Anishinaabe killed a bear, he sometimes decorated its head with wampum belts and pure silver arm bands and bracelets, after which the bear was placed on a scaffold inside a lodge with a large amount of asemaa (tobacco) near its nostrils...
Sterling silver rings with red gold inlay and oxidized outlines. The rings serve as storyteller tools and not available for purchase.
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