Stories and Teachings From the Earth, part 17: What Is My Real Body?
- zhaawano
- Jun 15, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Aug 5
Zaagibagaa-giizis (Budding Moon)/Namebine-giizis (Suckerfish Moon)- June 15, 2024
EUROPEAN CULTURE AND INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS: CONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES ON NATURE
The Western belief system, or Euro-centric perspective, developed through Judeo-Christian traditions and Aristotelian - Cartesian philosophical thought, led to the peculiar conclusion that the human and natural worlds are distinct. This dualistic perspective fostered a deeply rooted notion in Western thought that humans are independent, self-reliant entities, separate from the natural world they inhabit. Both Aristoteles' teleology and the Second Biblical Testament encouraged the view of a hierarchically structured world, arranged into lower and higher forms, with humans positioned at the top of an imaginary pyramid, and the natural world, including animals, existing for their benefit.
To us, Indigenous Peoples, however, humans are not separate from nature. They are not above this extended family of living, ensouled beings called "nature." They don't need to go to the forest to look at "nature." There are no "surroundings"; just patterns. When you look at the patterns that surround us you will realize that a land-dwelling animal, a tree, a plant, or the earth herself are bemaadizid: a living being that has organs just like we have. Human beings closely resemble in anatomy and physiology other forms of life. Consider, for example, the branches of a tree: It is no coincidence they resemble the veins and arteries of the human body.
For us, Indigenous Peoples, humans are not separate from nature. They are not above the extended family of living, ensouled beings known as "nature." There is no need to go to the forest to observe "nature." There are no "surroundings"; only patterns. When you observe the patterns around us, you will see that a land-dwelling animal, a tree, a plant, or the earth herself are bemaadizid: living beings with organs, just like ours. Human beings are anatomically and physiologically similar to other forms of life. Take, for instance, the branches of a tree: it is no coincidence that they resemble the veins and arteries of the human body.
There are no "surroundings"; only patterns. When you observe the patterns around us, you will realize that a land animal, a tree, a plant, or the earth herself are bemaadizid: living beings with organs, just like ours.
Ancient Chinese and Japanese physicians were also aware of this. They recognized the similarity between the human body and nature. According to the 4,000-year-old concept of qi (pronounced "chi"), which models the human organ systems, the human body's energy clock is based on the cyclical ebb and flow of energy throughout the body. Ancient Taoist practitioners discovered specific energy pathways or meridians in the body through which qi (a universal life force; literally air, water, vapor, or breath) flowed. Four "Earth organs" were identified in the human body, all of which played a role in creating and maintaining boundaries—a key characteristic of Earth. [1]
The late Jack Forbes (an author of Powhatan-Renapé/Lenápe heritage) once wrote: [2]
"I can lose my hands and still live. I can lose my legs and still live. I can lose my eyes and still live…But if I lose the air I die. If I lose the sun I die. If I lose the earth I die. If I lose the water I die. If I lose the plants and animals I die. All these things are more a part of me, more essential to my every breath, than is my so-called body. What is my real body? We are rooted just like the trees. But our roots come out of our nose and mouth, like an umbilical cord, forever connected to the rest of the world..."
The painting above is titled "Jiisakiikwe" (Female Shaking Tent Healer). The jiisakiikwe communicates with the spirits of the Thunderbird, the Turtle, the Bear, and numerous other beings inhabiting the Universe. When they arrive at her jiisakaan (tent), she traces them back to their origins. Some jesakidjig (healers) utilize the forces present near the jiisakaan, especially the spirits that people (clients) bring with them to the tent. This is typically where their answers originate.
Translucent domes descending from the sky are also shown around the tent area. Effigies of Thunderbirds are positioned on either side of the tent. Typically, around eight trees are situated near the jiisakaan. These trees communicate with each other and the spirits of the Universe through the vibration (shaking) of their leaves. When the leaves begin to move and shake, bells attached to the branches ring, signaling to the shaking tent seer that the spirits are present. The jesakidjig, being highly attuned to the happenings of the Universe, can see the spirits, experience weather changes, and perceive the electromagnetic field around the shaking tent area when they hear the bells and observe the trees shaking...
THE ANIMISTIC WORLDVIEW OF THE SHAKING TENT HEALER
No one embodies the principle of mankind-nature interconnectedness more than a specific type of nenaandawi'iwed (traditional healer) known as a jesakiid or jaasakiid ("shaking tent conductor"). These jaasakijig ("shaking tent conductors") utilize a jiisakaan, also referred to as gozaabachigan, a Shaking Tent, to predict the future and heal the ill.
Jaasakiijig are present among the Anishinaabeg (Ojibweg), Ininewak (Cree), Innu (Montagnais-Naskapi), Abenaki, and Penobscot. In Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language, the terms for this type of nenaandawi'iwed are jiisakiikwe for females and jiisakiwinini for males. The subject of jiisakaan is regarded as sacred, and specific details cannot be disclosed publicly, so I will only discuss it here in general terms.
" What is my real body? We are rooted just like the trees. But our roots come out of our nose and mouth, like an umbilical cord, forever connected to the rest of the world..."
Jaasakiijig are the highest-ranking medicine practitioners within the Midewiwin. These spirit-doctors heal the sick without physical means, such as herbs and medicinal plants, instead relying on ojichaag bimisewin (spirit-traveling), or giizhig-inaabandamowin ("sky dreaming"). They gain their knowledge through fasting. Some jaasakiijig receive their power from the Thunderbirds, while others claim to draw spirit power from water, wind, or the earth. A unique group of jaasakiijig has the ability to make a tent and its contents shake (hence the term, shaking tent) by summoning numerous beings from different spirit worlds, including the turtle, thunderbirds, and the bear. Some utilize whatever spirits and environmental forces are present in and around their tent. This occurs between sundown and sunrise. With the help of these spirit allies from the waters, winds, star world, and the earth (with mikinaak, the snapping turtle, as the most notable intermediary), jaasakiijig transfer their spiritual medicine power to their patients or apprentices. There is an ancient league of tent shakers; these jaasakiijig communicate directly with the turtle to access the underground realm of the earth...
Traditionally, the jiisakaan is represented as a bell. This bell is attached to several trees, typically ranging from 8 to 10. When it begins to shake, the jaasakiid can hear it, indicating the presence of spirits. They can sense or perceive the electromagnetic field surrounding the area.
Jaasakiijig recognize that aki, the earth, is a living entity: bemaadizid.
To them, mitigoog (the trees) are considered part of mother earth's hair. They recognize that mitigoog contribute to the consciousness of mother earth. The jaasakiijig acknowledge the trees' process of using light as their energy fields for communication with one another. As the trees depend on the vibration, or shaking, of their leaves to communicate globally, they generate power for the jaasakiid, who are highly attuned to the static charge the mitigoog emit. Their ability to harness this natural electrical energy of the universe makes the jaasakiijig exceptionally powerful healers.
Individuals who seek out a jaasakiid typically need substantial help. The tent conductor frequently communicates with the spirits that participants bring to the session. This is generally where their answers originate, all within the context of healing and foretelling their future. In addition to treating illnesses, the spirits invited to enter are sometimes consulted to predict the future or to seek spiritual protection against external harm. Those who seek guidance must speak truthfully within the jiisakaan, and those initiated through a jiisakaan ceremony pledge never to reveal anything that occurs inside and will face judgment if they break this vow.
Illustration: "Origin of the Shaking Tent." Ancient traditions suggest that the Shaking Tent originates from the black hole within the Mashkode Bizhiki (Bison). This constellation, known as Perseus in Western sky maps, is located in the northern sky. It lies away from the galaxy's center, extending into the outer reaches of the Bison Arm, the second major spiral arm that emerges from the core of the Path of Souls (Milky Way). The bison serves as the guardian of the jiisikaan/gozaabachigan. During winter, the Bison Constellation is easily visible, but in the summer, it is barely seen as it resides on Earth, nourishing and aiding the Anishinaabeg.
Some Ojibweg construct their jiisakaan/gozaabachigan, which is cylindrical, in the water to harness its power. They cut eight poles and arrange them in a circle, using two hoops inside the jiisakaan to maintain the poles' position. The cylindrical structure is covered with deer hide, birchbark, or canvas. Zhiishiigwanag (rattles) crafted from caribou hoof or tin are used to create a rattling sound while in the jaasakiid.
Miskwaabik Animikii, an Ojibwe artist who referred to himself as "The Grand Ojibway Shaman Artist" and gained fame under his European name Norval Morrisseau, was brought up by his maternal grandfather, a jaasakiid, on the Gull Bay shore of Lake Nipigon. Miskwaabik Animikii once remarked on the Shaking Tent practice:
"All the Ojibway would gather and sit in a circle facing the shaking tent. This took place at night. The conjurer would disrobe, have his hands tied up and crawl inside the wigwam (jiisakaan). He would not speak but would have one Indian, or all, start asking questions, whatever each one wished to know. As the conjurer crawled inside, the tent itself began to shake and the rattles were heard. The Ojibway believe a medicine wind blows from heaven in the tent and that is how it shakes. All the dogs tied close by began to yelp and were afraid but the people were not, for it does not affect human beings. What come into the wigwam to sing or talk are the water god Misshipeshu (Mishibizhiw) and other spirits of bears, serpents and animals, thunderbirds, the evil Windigo (Wiindigoo), the morning star, the sky, water, earth, sun and moon, also female and male sex organs. Each speaks in his own language but we have an interpreter whom we call Mikkinnuk (Mikinaak) (...) who interprets for all these beings. (...) A lot of people of the Ojibway tribe used this conjuring tent to conjure people but a lot also used it to cure people, to find lost things, to defend the people from evil sorcerers, or bad medicine-men, and to know about the future."
I believe Miskwaabik Animikii's depiction of a Shaking Tent ceremony exemplifies the traditional Indigenous perspective on nature: a large family of living, spirited, sentient beings that can be invited into the human realm at will through a variety of rich and vital complexes of rites and ceremonies, with the jiisakaan being just one example. This perspective is in stark contrast to Western tradition, which is characterized by alienation from the natural environment and unchecked material exploitation and abuse of the earth, waters, and sky...
Nahaaw. Weweni onjida gibizindaw noongom. Thank you for tuning in today. Giga-waabamin wayiiba, I look forward to seeing you again soon!
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