Migiziwi-giizis (Bald Eagle Moon) - March 6, 2025
Boozhoo, aaniin, biindigen miinawaa nindaadizooke wigamigong; enji-zaagi'iding miinawaa gikendaasong.
Hello! Welcome back to my Storytelling Lodge where there is love and learning.
Today's narrative I dedicate to my friend, Mushkego Inino (Swampy Cree) elder Michel Sutherland from Ft. Albany, Ontario, who shared with me a legend about the origin of language. My story revolves around an ancient Anishinaabe ritual known as madweyaashi manidookewin – “sound of the air medicine,”– essentially a healing ceremony where a nanaandawi’iwed (healer) calls upon the wind spirits to cure a patient’s illness or alleviate their sorrow. ¹
Nahaaw, ninga aadizooke – Alright then, let’s share a sacred tale.
Many lifetimes ago, an elderly woman named Medweyaashid (“Sounds the Air”) resided at Kikonaang, on the southern shore of the Great Rattlesnake Lake, now known as Lake Huron. She was a nanaandawi’ikwe (healer) descending from a long line of noodin mashkiki nanaandawi'iwedjig (wind medicine healers) in a region famed for its vast forests and stunning beaches, with coastal rock formations resembling spherical statues. ² For Medweyaashid's People, these round stones, believed to be the petrified eggs of the Thunderbirds that once rested there in ancient times, were thought to possess immensely powerful energy…
During a blazing summer day in the blueberry moon, Medweyaashid sat atop a high bluff overlooking Wiikwedong, the bay of Thunderbird Eggs. ³ As the sun reached its peak, she witnessed a mewizha izhinamowin (vision into the distant past)!
In this mewizha izhinamowin, she envisioned her ancestors residing throughout the stunning land of lakes, rapids, and waterfalls. These ancestors all spoke a common language and could see their forebears, the anangowininiwag (star people), in the far-off night sky. All beings of Turtle Island could communicate and understand one another. Humans, stars, plant people, stone people, four-legged creatures, winged beings, and every living entity shared the same language.
However, on an ill-fated day, the Turtle Island people lost their balance. They forgot how to communicate this universal language! Once they had been neighbors living peacefully alongside one another. But, having forgotten how to speak this universal language, and failing to master the art of speech, they ceased to listen to each other. They ignored one another and their relatives—the plants, the animals, and the spirits. All of Creation became entangled in mistrust, anger, and violence. The people turned into each other's adversaries for reasons long forgotten. Warrior societies thrived, and around the village campfires, the conversation revolved solely around war. The villages became devoid of men; the women mourned and spent their days burying their husbands and sons. Soon, only women and small children remained in the camps, as the men and available youth were off to war. War became such an integral part of their existence that most people forgot how the conflict had begun and what they were fighting over! Their lives were caught in a relentless cycle of ego and revenge; their destructive behavior, sapping their strength and depleting their power, undermined everything they once stood for and believed in.
In Medweyaashid’s vision, as her spirit soared high in the sky, she realized that the near-destruction of her People’s way of life seemed unavoidable. Unfortunately, Medweyaashid observed that the men had strayed from the Elders' teachings because they were constantly involved in raiding other tribes' villages, trapped in an endless cycle of attack and retaliation. The women attempted to reason with the leaders, but since they were all men, they ignored their pleas. The virtues of neighborship and common sense were completely lost in the mire of the men's grudges and hatred.
Still circling high, Medweyaashid observed that the manidoog (Spirits) inhabiting all four corners of the Earth were alarmed, and as they moved across the Earth, they called upon the warriors and chiefs, but there was no response. The sacred water drum had ceased to sound its powerful voice across the lakes, hills, and river valleys, and even its echo had vanished from the Spirits’ hearing. The People had turned away from the ways of their Medicine Lodges, forgetting the teachings about bimaadiziwin (how to live a good life). Geget, Medweyaashid’s People had completely lost sight of mino-misko-manidoo miikana, the good red spirit road!
In her vision, deeply concerned by what she observed below, Medweyaashid noticed that the manidoog decided to convene a meeting. They discussed for four days, and during their conversation, everything in Creation came to a halt. Every living Being, including those residing beneath the Earth, in the lakes, and the rivers — enh, even the jiibayag, the Spirits of the Ancestors dwelling among the stars — pondered what was happening.
On the fifth day, the manidoog reached a decision: they granted an oshki-kwe (young woman) four days to use her noodin mashkiki (wind medicine) to find a solution. This woman, also a wind medicine person, was evidently an ancestor of Medweyaashid, as she appeared to be a younger version of her – in fact, they resembled each other like two drops of water!
Medweyaashid observed as the oshki-kwe, seated on the same elevated river bluff, retrieved a birch bark rattle from her bundle. The rhythmic sound of the sacred instrument soon resonated across the bay, continuing for four days and nights. Then, unexpectedly, Medweyaashid experienced another dream!
In the dream—or rather, a vision of the past—it was night, with countless stars filling the sky. Medweyaashid (or was it her ancestor?) stood on the beach, surrounded by Thunderbird eggs scattered across the land as far as she could see. A flash caught her eye, and when she looked up, she saw a large stone falling from the sky world. Its shape resembled the petrified eggs on the beach! With a great splash, the stone, trailing a fiery tail, struck the bay's surface and quickly sank to the bottom. Only a motionless dark shadow beneath the shimmering, moonlit water remained as a testament to the magical event that had just unfolded before her.
Medweyaashid, breathless, stepped back a few paces, her senses overwhelmed. However, as she strained her eyes to see beneath the water's surface, she observed the shadows of four slender creatures swiftly circling the stone. As she contemplated this, an otter emerged and swam toward the shore. Sitting in front of Medweyaashid, the otter spoke in a language unfamiliar to her people, yet she comprehended it — as a wind medicine woman, she had the gift of telepathy. “Aaniin indaan,” the otter spoke, “I see your light, my daughter. My three brothers and I were tasked with guarding the stone from the sky while it rests at the bottom of the lake. The Thunderbirds sent the stone, known as Manidoo Asin (Spirit Stone), to earth, and since you are renowned as a healer with the power to direct winds and summon thunderstorms, I was chosen to deliver a message to you.” After a brief pause, during which he glanced around and carefully observed the Thunderbird eggs on the shore, the otter continued: “The Anishinaabeg are in conflict because they speak different languages; their worlds are divided due to a lack of a common language. Just as these Thunderbird eggs on the shore offer your people protection in return for safeguarding their sacred places, it is your sacred duty to use your noodin mashkiki and perform a healing ceremony to end the conflict among the warring Anishinaabeg. Bringing the sky stone back to the lake's surface will achieve this.”
The otter remained silent for a moment, then looked directly into Medweyaashid's eyes and continued, “Aaniish, ambe, indaan, now, my daughter, listen carefully! After a period of dormancy as long as it takes for an oshki-kwe (young woman) to become a mindimooyenh (old woman), you will use your wind powers to awaken the spirit of Manidoo Asin from its slumber and release it once more to the four corners of the Universe. When that moment comes, my three brothers and I will inform you, and we will assist you in your sacred task.”
The sun shone brilliantly over Rattlesnake Lake. An eerie stillness enveloped the air, casting an unnatural silence over the bay and rocky landscape of Wiikwedong. ⁴ Medweyaashid, now a gray-haired mindimooyenh, climbed to the top of the high river bluff – the same bluff where she had the vision of the falling star. The conflicts among the Anishinaabeg had persisted throughout her lifetime, and her People were more divided and hostile toward each other than ever before. Not a day had passed without her watching the lake for a sign. But on that sunlit and windless day in the Raspberry-picking Moon (August), she noticed an unusual movement beneath the lake’s calm surface. Right at the spot where she remembered seeing the falling star from her dream land in the water, hoowah! four swift shadows circled around an object that her spirit eye identified as the outlines of the messenger stone from the skies. “Tayaa,” she said to herself, “it must be the sign I have been waiting for. It is time to awaken the spirit of Manidoo Asin and end the deep-seated hostility among my People. I will now use my wind powers and ask the Thunderbird spirits to blow away the poison of bitter animosity that has kept the Anishinaabeg at war with each other for so long!”
Recalling her responsibilities, Medweyaashid lit her opwaagan (pipe), directing smoke toward the Universe's corners, the sky, and the earth below. She offered asemaa (tobacco) to all the manidoog (spirits) present that day, calling them by name. Each spirit sat with their pipes, sending wind toward Medweyaashid's location. Then, Medweyaashid sang a sacred song in a language still unfamiliar to her—the same language the otter at the beach had spoken to her when she was a young woman:
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Bimaawadaaso wiijiiw Binesiwag,
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Giiwitaagiizhig, biidwewegiizhig
Megwaa onwaatin ge
Megwaa anwaatin ge.
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Nindasemaake, heya-wya-whe..
Asemaa bizaande-eshkaage.
Nagamowin nibi nagamon,
Wiikwedong nagamawin nagamon,
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Heya-wya-whe.
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! Heya-wya-whe.
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Gigiizhigoongimaani nindowedaan
Jiigaya'ii shkwaandeming, besha 77waawizhigaa-bowiyaan.
Giizhigoong wida debweweshin, nizhinawishimaa.
Nindanimikiimiinigowin,
Nigiiwitaakamigowiyaan,
Giginawaaji-bii’igaade.
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! Heya-wya-whe.
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
(“Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Traveling along with the Thunderbirds,
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Around the sky, as I come sounding
In calm winds too
In calm waters too.
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Offering tobacco, heya-wya-whe.
Tobacco brings peace.
Singing my Thunderbird song,
At the bay singing my song,
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
Heya-wya-whe.
I gaze at the skies and call out
I will soon be standing near your entrance.
My rattle will echo across the Universe.
My thunder gift,
Around the earth I shall carry it,
The spirits shall recognize it.
Heya-way-whe- H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! Heya-wya-whe.
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!
H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw! H’ya-whe-yawhe-yaw!”)
Meanwhile, Medweyaashid’s people, upon hearing her high-pitched voice, sung in a language they had never hears before and accompanied by the sound of her rattle resonating across the land and lake, sensed something extraordinary was about to occur. As the singing and rattling faded away, they noticed an unusual stillness in the air, which they perceived as an ominous silence. Everyone halted in their tracks! Even the clashing of the waagaakwadoon (war hatchets) and the zaasaakwewinan (war whoops) that had pierced the air ceased! Suddenly, tayaa! temperatures dropped, and the sun vanished. It began to rain. The sky darkened with storm. Massive Thunderbirds, disguised as dark shelf clouds, appeared on the western horizon, their flapping wings stirring the calm lake surface into chaos. A violent downdraft struck the shoreline, spreading out in all directions and creating a gust front. The world turned black. This awakened the stone spirit in the bay, along with the dreaded mishi-ginebigoog (serpents) dwelling at the bottom, who began to thrash their tails. The resulting flood hit the coast with such fierce anger and violence that the sky spirits responded with equal force! A terrible storm battered the land, causing the waters to recede and the horned mishi-ginebigoog to retreat back into their caves and crevices!
Medweyaashid, standing in the storm's center, realized that the unleashed spirit of the Spirit Stone was actually a messenger of powerful medicine. She understood that to activate this medicine, she needed to communicate with the Thunder Grandfathers, whom she knew controlled the Four Winds of the Universe. Holding asemaa and singing another ritual song, she witnessed four bald eagle feathers descend from the sky. Amid the deafening thunderclaps and blinding lightning flashes that scorched the earth like serpents—the Thunderbirds' food—she collected the feathers.
As she stood there, still chanting and holding the feathers high, she observed that the storm-surge from the lake stopped as abruptly as it had started, and the sky became calm once more…Looking down, she saw the swift-moving shadows of four otters using their noses to push the Manidoo Asin toward the lake’s surface. In the blink of an eye, the stone was launched into the blue sky! Then, the flapping wings of invisible Thunderbirds created breezes that rapidly turned into gusting winds, striking the stone from four directions as it hung motionless in the air. Silently, the stone shattered into numerous pieces, which scattered in all directions. “Ahaawa!” Medweyaashid thought to herself. “The Thunderbirds’ wings spread the Spirit Stone's medicine to the four directions, leading to the birth of a language that will soon be spoken and understood by everyone. Soon, the poison of bitter animosity that has long kept my people at war will vanish for good!”
Giiwenh – thus, it happened. With the help of Madwyaashi’s ancestor and the four lake otters, Aki, the earth, sent the Manidoo Asin from her core to the surface, passing through rock, water, and air to become the interpreter of her voice and to translate other languages as well! Then, the Thunderbirds spread the Manidoo Asin’s medicine, through the many pieces broken from its body, into the four directions of Turtle Island. This powerful medicine was called Aki Inwewin – literally, “Earth’s Language.”
As a result, the numerous fragments of the broken rock formed Aki Inwewin and its various dialects. Eventually, this new language, which was universally comprehensible and would help to bridge the gap that had caused division and conflict for many generations, came to be known as “Anooj Anishinaabemowinan”: the Algonkian language. ⁵
EPILOGUE
Medwayaashi ascended a hill slightly inland from the bay. From all directions, her people approached as she stood at the peak. A gentle tranquility enveloped the land and lakes, broken only by the melodic chirping of a bird in a nearby tree. As Medweyaashi moved toward the tree, she noticed a small yellow bird jumping from branch to branch. "This one is counting the leaves of the language tree," she mused. Then, turning to her gathered people, she proclaimed: "Andodamog Anishinaabedog! Listen, my People! As many leaves as this tree has, so many dialects will be spoken across Mikinaakominis (Turtle Island). This bird, named Aginjibagwesi (Leaf Counter), will henceforth symbolize the emergence of a universal language and its various dialects. From today, this little bird will help you and future generations to learn it. ⁶ Ishke naa! Observe! Notice how the hue of its feathers symbolizes not only giizis mooka'am, the sunrise in the east, but also, beginning today, aki inwewin, the language of the earth! From this moment, as I stand before you, the color yellow embodies the spirit that sustains our newly embraced language!"
A soft murmur spread among the audience gathered that day. After a brief silence, during which she took a yellow asemaa-mashkamod (tobacco tie) from her medicine pouch, Medweyaashi continued: "Andodamog Anishinaabedog! Listen, my People! Observe this pouch! Whenever you and your descendants seek Aginjibagwesi's help, you must first create a tobacco tie like the one I hold high. Each spring when the aginjibagwesiwag return and each fall when they depart, the ties should be placed on a tree in the bush, with a food offering at its base, and the words 'Indaga wiiji’ishin Aginjibagwesi. Niwii-anishinaabem' ('Help me Aginjibagwesi. I want to speak the People's language'). By doing this, an everlasting peace will be ensured through communication and the preservation of our language for generations to come!"
Ahaaw. So it came to pass. Such is the tale of how the Manidoo Asin, in addition to serving as a translation tool for our distant ancestors, brought about Aki Inwewin: the Algonkian language. By introducing this new universal language through sharing our pipes, drums, and rattles, along with our dreams, visions, and traditional storytelling, we, the Anishinaabeg and Ininewak Peoples, not only found common ground but also reconnected with the essence of true communication and the spirit that flows through all things we encounter on our daily journey with Earthmother…Yet occasionally, we need to recount the story of how Medweyaashid and her ancestor liberated the Spirit Rock from the depths of the earth. We must also always remember how, long ago, the earth's language was released. The song of aginjibagwesiwag, the small yellow-feathered songbirds living in the trees from spring to fall, reminds us of the beauty of our language and of the importance of sharing, meaningful communication, and living and working within the principles of an omnipresent, universal order that has shaped our language, stories, and lives since the dawn of time…
Giiwenh - the end.
NOTES:
¹ Madweyaashi, verb: beat the air and make noise (out of sight). More literal: heard blowing in the wind; heard soaring, sailing.
When you break down the verb you get: madwe = heard, audible; -aashi = s/he is blown by the wind or moving air; s/he flies, soars, sails. ^
² Kikonaang: “Place of Kettles,” situated near Wiikwedong, Ontario, nowadays called Kettle Point. ^
³ Western scientists believe that the stones, now referred to as kettles because of their shape and size, originated around 370 million years ago. Layers of muddy sediment built up at the bottom of a deep sea. Bacteria in the mud caused tiny concretions to form, which expanded outward in a radiating pattern. Over time, the mud solidified into sedimentary rock, with layers forming around the spherical concretions. ^
⁴ Wiikwedong, Ontario, literally: At the Bay; nowadays called Kettle Point. Kettle Point is unceded territory located in southwestern Ontario along the south shore of Lake Huron. The People that live there are officially known as the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point. See also the history of Aazhoodena (Stony Point). Or visit the website of Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation. ^
⁵ The story above is traditional, presented through a magical Indigenous perspective, and does not represent the evolution of the Algonkian language in a Western, "scientific" context. The tale, which I set in an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) environment, is fundamentally cross-cultural, inspired by a traditional Mushkegowuk (Swampy Cree) teaching from my friend, Michel Sutherland from Ft. Albany, Ontario. In this traditional narrative, Michel describes how the “mathou asini” (equivalent to “manidoo asin” in the Ojibwe language) created the Algonkian language. To read more about the origin and evolution of the Algonkian language, see: Stories and Teachings from the Earth: A Brief History of the Algonkian language. ^
⁶ Aginjibagwesi, which translates to Leaf Counter, is known as the American Goldfinch in English. This small songbird with its yellow plumage is considered to be the carrier of Anishinaabemowin (the Ojibwe language). ^
Previous episodes in the Stories and Teachings from the Earth series:
Stories and Teachings from the Earth: A Tribute to Our Medicine WomenStories and Teachings from the Earth: Akiwenzii's Teaching
Stories & Teachings from the Earth: Wenabozho and the Teaching of the Thunder Mountain LoonStories & Teachings from the Earth: We All Come From the Same Place
Stories and Teachings From the Earth: A Word About Grandparents and their GrandchildrenStories and Teachings From the Earth: Do Bears and Spiders Dream?Stories and Teachings From the Earth: Wenabozho and the Big White Orange Wind-maker Spirit
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