Miin-giizis (Blueberry Moon)/Aabita-niibino-giizis / (Midsummer Moon), July 29, 2024
In Ojibwe communities throughout Anishinaabe Aki, [1] the households were typically multi-generational, with children and grandchildren living with elders. Ginoozhishinaan, our grandchildren, were important since they represented the continuity of the family and guaranteed the future of our People as a whole.
Traditionally, being a gikaawin or grandparent is an important social role for Anishinaabe older adults. The gikaawinag have always been important role models in their grandchildren's lives. As caretakers of their community, they were an important link to heritage through language and customs and stories orally passed down to their grandchildren. Many stories were deemed sacred and considered to be manidoog (‘spirits’) in themselves, filled with mystery and healing powers. Storytelling by the gikaawinag usually took place on winter evenings and were often told in a strict ritual context. Storytelling typically took place during the long winter evenings. Since the night skies shine the brightest in the winter moons, the patterns of the aadizookaanag ("protagonists of sacred stories") were plenty and clearly visible with the naked eye. The metaphors in the aadizookaanan ("sacred stories") were powerful tools, valuable lessons containing a vast wealth of knowledge and wisdom. An aadizookaan told by elders not only contained important life lessons for their grandchildren to learn but also served as a mirror, reflecting the cultural and spiritual beliefs their forebears had passed on to them. The passing down of customs and knowledge through songs and tales by gikaawinag were meant to offer their grandchildren support throughout their lives as it strengthened their place and purpose within their kin and community. Grandmothers, since they had earned the connection and the ways and the ceremonies to bless and purify nibi, the water, had a special role to fulfill when it came to teaching their granddaughters about this sacred spirit. Having girls undergo initiation rituals, puberty rites, and a special women's ceremony called manidoo makwakwewowin miikana or "spirit bear path" – which followed the cyclic moon patterns and invoked grandmother bear's power of renewal – was the exclusive domain of gookominaanag (grandmothers).
Since time immemorial storytelling has been the task of gikaawinag and other elderly relatives; particularly of either old, learned men, gichi akiwenziiag, or old, learned women, mindimooyensag – or gichi-ikwewag ("great women") or gookominaanag ("grandmothers") as they are sometimes called. Especially star stories (along with teachings about odoodem responsibilities ) [2] and tales about the trickster-creator Wenabozho have always been an important part of the education of the young.
To read the story of a grandmother ayaadizooked (storyteller) sharing star teachings with her grandchildren, visit: The Great Sky Bear That Lives Among the Stars.
In conclusion, a word about the Ojibwe word for "grandchild."
In Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language, there is no simple independent word for grandchild. A personal prefix goes with the dependent noun stem ("oozish" or "oozhisheny") to make a full word:
noozis [noo-ZIS]- my grandchild, or:
noozhis [noo-ZHIS]- my grandchild, or:
noozhishenh [noo-zhis-sheñ]- my grandchild *
noozis! [noo-ZIS] - my grandchild! (vocative)
goozhishenh [goo-zhis-sheñ] - your grandchild *
oozhishenyan [oo-zhis-shi-eñ] - her/his grandchild/grandchildren **
oozhishenya’ [oo-zhis-shi-ah] - her/his grandchildren
noozhishenyag [noo-zhis-shih-eñ-yug] - my grandchildren *
ginoozhishinaan [gih-noo-zhis-shih-naan] - our grandchildren (inclusive) [3]
noozhisinaan [noo-zhis-shih-naan] - our grandchildren (exclusive) [4]
OR: noozhisheninaan [noo-zhis-sheh-ni-naan] - our grandchildren (exclusive)
*Please note that the "ñ" in "eñ" is pronounced with a nasal sound, like the "n" in the French word "pain" (bread).
**"Sheñ" is pronounced like the French word "chien" (dog).
Now, let's take a closer look at the Ojibwe word for "our grandchildren" (exclusive).
Is it really noozhisinaan, as I stated in the above? Shouldn't that be ninoozhishinaan? After all, isn't it the prefix "ni-" (short for the personal pronoun "niinawind") that indicates the first person plural pronoun ("our") form?
That depends on which part of Anishinaabe Aki you live in.
Now, here it gets a bit more complex.
In general, nooz(h)is(henh) means my grandchild, which means that niin(awind), our exclusive, is already incorporated in the "n" of nooz(h)is(hen)(-inaan).
Nevertheless, the Western Ojibweg (in Manitoba, Saskatchwan, and Alberta) tend to add the prefix ni, anyway. So what you get is "Ninoozisinaan."
But then, the South-shore Ojibweg, those who live in Lower Peninsula Michigan and Wisconsin, use ninoozhisheninaan, or nooseyensinaan (without the prefix ni-). The suffix -inaan signifies the possessive form.
Pretty complicated, ina?
Geget sa go, sure enough. Anishinaabe Aki is a vast territory with a wide variety of dialects, which means there is always more than one way to say a word...
NOTES:
[1] Anishinaabe Aki: Land of the Anishinaabeg Peoples; Ojibwe territory. ^
[2] Odoodem: clan. Each child was born into the clan of their father, which determined their place and role and responsibilities in life and within the community. Children were, through aadizookewin (storytelling), made aware that their odoodem had a counterpart in the star world. There used to be a widespread notion among Anishinaabeg Peoples that our clans came from, and were reflected by, the star constellations in Jiibay-miikana (the Milky Way) – this "Trail of Souls" where our ancestors had returned to after they had walked on to the other side. Through the aadizookanan, or traditional stories, children were made aware that the mortal world was invariably intersected with the spiritual realm, and therefore basically a reflection of the star world. Since it was understood that souls of the deceased transmigrated between the earth and the sky world, clans were, before anything else, associated with the spiritual realm that exists in the night sky. ^
[3] Inclusive: including the person or persons spoken to with the speaker. ^
[4] Exclusive: not including the person or persons spoken to. ^
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