Teachings from the Tree of Life, part 15: Spirit Bear and the Tree of Life
- zhaawano
- Jun 1, 2024
- 17 min read
Updated: Jun 9
Waawaaskone-giizis (Flower Moon) - June 1, 2024
Updated: June 9, 2025
Mashkiki naagdowendan maaba mkwaa. The bear takes care of the medicines.
Waamdawaan ezhikognaawsad minwaa ezhizaagad gewii makoonhsman. Niibna kinoomaagewinan maaba wesiinh gimiingonaa. Weweni ginowaabam mkwaa ezhibimaadizid miidash danigendiman geyaabi kinoomaadwinan.
Mewzhaa giigidwok anishinaabek gibeboon maaba nibaat mkwaa maamwesidoon bawaajigewinan miidash mshkikiiget.
Pii shkiminookmik bizaagewet mkwaa giikendaan danowa mshkiki genakaazwaat bemaadzijik. .
Mizhisha giinaagod maanda mishkiki, miigaazhi nisidwaamdamwaat anishinaabek waanakaazwaad.
Manj go pii waabmad maaba mkwa kamiigwechendamomi. Gchinookiitaagna maampii mkwaa pane.
"The bear shows us how he raises and loves her cubs. The bear gives us many teachings. If you watch how the bear lives its life, you will learn many more teachings.
Long ago, the people said the bear slept all winter, and during this time, the bear put many dreams together to create good medicine.
In the early spring when bear comes out, it already knows the kind of medicines that will help the people.
This medicine was noticeable, this is how the people recognize which medicines to use.
Whenever you see the bear, we should give thanks. The bear works hard for the people."
- An Odaawaa Anishinaabe bear teaching
BEAR AS A PROTECTOR AND BRINGER OF MEDICINE
To the Peoples of the Great Nation of Anishinaabeg, [1] Makwa the bear is their primary and most important teacher. For the Ojibweg, Odaawaag, Bodéwadmik, and other tribes, it is Makwa the bear who guards and protects the Midewigaan (Healing Lodge) as well as the Madoodiswan (sweat, or purification lodge) – where Midewiwin candidates purify their bodies and minds before participating in the healing ceremonies inside the midewigaan. A bear offered its hide when the very first madoodiswan was constructed; thus, symbolically, her hide came to cover the Anishinaabeg as a People.
For the Anishinaabeg Peoples, Makwa, which translates to “Born from Medicine,” represents the ultimate symbol of mashkiki, or medicine.
Traditionally, among all bagwaj-awensiinhyag (the wild land animals), Makwa the bear is regarded as the most spiritually powerful. The Woodland Peoples, including the Great Lakes Anishinaabeg, feel not only awe and fear towards makwag but also gratitude. To them, bears are gifts from Gichi-manidoo (the Great Mystery) because they have many uses; it can be said that bears hold as much importance to them as the buffalo do to their cousins, the Nakawē Anishinaabeg and Nêhiyawak Ininewuk (Cree) of the high plains in the Northwest.
When a young Ojibwe man loses consciousness after jumping off a cliff into a river, “four bears came and walked around his body, singing a song. When the young man regained consciousness, he heard the bears singing; when he opened his eyes, he noticed the bears walking around him, and when they had walked around him four times, he rose up strong and well. Then the bears began to walk up the cliff and the young man followed them. This young man became a teacher and leader in the Midewiwin. From that day on, the young man sang empowered bear songs..."
– Odenigan (Hip Bone), a 20th century Medicine Man from Gaa-waabaabiganikaag (White Earth, Minnesota) explains the origin of makwa nagamonan (bear songs)
SONG TO THE BEAR:
Heya~wya~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! Manidoo-makwa, gaa-bi-naagozid Manidoo-makwa, bi-gizhaawenimishinaan!
(Yes-sey, yes-sey, yes, yes, yes! Yes-sey, yes-sey, yes, yes, yes! Yes-yes-yes! Yes-yes-yes! Yes-yes-yes! Yes-yes-yes!
Spirit Bear appears here. Spirit Bear! Come, have zeal for us!)
- Ojibwe Anishinaabe Ogichidaa (Warrior) Sundance song to the spirit of the BearBEAR AS A HEALER
For the Anishinaabeg, makwag (black bears) symbolize ziigwan, the spring season. The Anishinaabeg have long seen themselves reflected in the bear's annual cycle of hibernation, solitude, and reemergence with new life after winter ends. Consequently, even today, certain initiation rituals, puberty rites, and ceremonies of the Midewiwin – one of the two Medicine Societies of the Anishinaabeg Peoples [2] – emulate this cycle and call upon the bear's power of renewal. We believe that anishinaabeg (humans) and makwag are almost identical.
Numerous stories, rituals, songs, and illustrations on birchbark and other items portray bears as "contraries," symbolizing the paradoxical nature of life. Bears are viewed as bush doctors and healers who revitalize and transform life, frequently shifting between bear and human forms. Often, the bear is referred to as "Anishinaabe": A human being.
In one Ojibwe aadizookaan (sacred tale), Wenabozho's sisters, Ziigwan (Spring) and Biidaaban (Break of Dawn), fell ill and remained bedridden for several days. Mornings ceased to exist, and winter extended unusually long since spring failed to arrive that year. Wenabozho, the kind spirit and benefactor of the People, pondered on what he could do to help. He cared for his sisters but was unable to assist them. Then his uncle, Makwa the black bear, entered his wiigiwaam and laid out his medicines before Wenabozho. He then sat down and invited the very agitated Wenabozho to join him.
Makwa picked up ozhiizhiigwan (his ceremonial rattle) and danced around the sisters, who were lying down and barely breathing. As he chanted, he shook his zhiishiigwan frantically, moving rhythmically to the imagined beat of a drum.
Suddenly, the wind began to blow from all four directions. A manidoo (spirit) emerged from Makwa’s voice, and more spirits arrived, carried by the winds into the wiigiwaam. From every direction, the manidoog (spirits) gathered around the sisters and the dancing bear. Then, Makwa took a wolverine leg bone from his throat—it was indeed a wolverine leg bone—and pointed it into the air, then toward Wenabozho's sisters, initiating the healing process. In short, after Makwa’s treatment, the sisters opened their eyes and began to breathe again! Wenabozho was overjoyed and thankful to his uncle for bringing his sisters back to life. Moments later, the sun rose once more, painting the eastern sky crimson red, and the cold weather transformed into a beautiful warm spring. This is how Makwa the black bear helped his nephew Wenabozho revive his sisters and restore the morning and spring to the land and its People. Thus, the bear became the first in a long line of nenaandawi’iwed, or sucking bone doctors, who heal people by gwiingwa'aagewin: using wolverine bones to extract disease and relieve pain from wounds...
The gwiingwan in the term gwiingwa'aagewin (which literally translates to "making a thing shake with something") describes the phenomenon of a meteorite rumbling through the air and causing the ground to shake upon impact. Because of this, earthquakes were perceived as additional meteor strikes. According to oral tradition, wolverines appeared after such meteor strikes, which is why their name (gwiingwa'aage) became associated with these events. Furthermore, the sucking bone of a Letting Medicine Man was crafted from a wolverine's leg bone, as it could be easily hollowed out when snapped, forming a sharp and smooth point suitable for piercing the skin to drain infections and other ailments...
THE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BEARS AND MIDEWIWIN
Until now, the bear holds a crucial role both within and outside the Anishinaabe Medicine Lodges. Makwa has long been the central figure in the Midewiwin ceremonies and rituals, actively participating at all levels of this ancient society.
Bears hold important roles not only in aadizookewin (storytelling) and Midewiwin ceremonies; along with Nigig the otter,[3] they represent the "essence" of Midewiwin and the Anishinaabeg as a whole.
According to the ancient Teachings passed down from our ancestors to the current generations, Makwa embodies the principles of Truth and Bravery. Among the seven Sacred Teachings, the virtue of aakode’ewin (bravery) holds particular significance. Our ancestors taught us that true bravery is not about being bold or acting daringly; it involves having the courage to embrace the other six teachings in one’s life, even if it means standing alone in the community. This is why the Midewiwin selected Makwag to symbolize their Lodge and why they represent the Anishinaabe Warrior odoodem (clan), responsible for defense. As the bear governs the medicinal plants and safeguards the healing ceremonies and sacred rituals conducted within the Midewigaan, the ceremonial lodge of the Midewiwin, it was designated to protect the Lodge’s eastern door.
The spiritual and healing powers of the bear are so profound that Mide healers traditionally follow makomiikana (the bear path) to advance from a lower to a higher degree within the Midewiwin society. This reminds us once again that Makwa symbolizes the Anishinaabeg: both bears and humans are known to "walk the bear path" both inside and outside the Lodge. Additionally, a special ikwe-manidookewin (women's ceremony) is held, called manidoo makwa ikwewowin miikana ("spirit bear grandmother path"). This ceremony, which continues to be performed today, connects ikwewag (women) with their spirit by allowing them to embody the strength of Grandmother Bear. Walking the Grandmother Bear Path provides women, in their roles as ikwe (woman) and weniijaanid (mother), and, for example, as odawemaan (sister), ozigosan (aunt), and odaangoshenyan (cousin), with support throughout their lives, enhancing their place and purpose within their family and community...
“Once Gichi Manidoo had created all the creatures on earth, it noticed they were dying and decided a message needed to be sent to them. Unsure of how to achieve this, it called a meeting of all the birds and creatures on earth to discuss it ‘somewhere across the Big Water, where this Manidoo was.’
The Manidoo needed someone to take its message to the people and asked who would do it. The Bear was there and said, ‘I’ll take it across to the people.’ The Bear went off with the message of Everlasting Life, but it was very heavy to carry, and he could hardly walk. When he came to a wall, he couldn’t get through it at first until he stuck his tongue out, which made a hole that he could get through. He did this each time he came to a wall, and the four wind manidoog stationed at each of the cardinal directions thanked him for the work he did. He came upon four walls before he finally got through to Midewigaan or Mide lodge.
The Bear had successfully carried the Pack of Life thus far when he met Miigis, the shell, who took over the trek down further east. Somewhere along this stretch of the journey the Miigis transferred the Pack of Life to the Otter, who carried it even further east until he reached the promised land on the west side of Gichigami (Lake Superior).”
~ Free after Eshkwaykeeshik (James Red Sky) 
BEAR AS BRINGER OF THE MIIGIS SHELLS, GIFTS OF LIFE FROM THE OCEANS
Bears have long been linked and allied with miigisag, often illustrated in line drawings adorned with shells. One origin story tells of Makwa the bear, who brought the Gift of Life, including the miigisag, to the Anishinaabeg. He did this by pushing a cedar tree through the four worlds and crossing a vast body of water to a large miigis-shaped island. As he emerged from the water, he was covered with miigisag. The ancestors understood that miigisag, native to the ocean's salt water, reside deep within the earth. To them, the shells, with their deep enamel coating that gives a brilliantly polished appearance, symbolized early human traits. This idea suggests that some believed the Anishinaabeg originated from the sea (the Atlantic Ocean), where they were still covered with scales. As they began to shed these scales, the Anishinaabeg lost the power and protection the scales initially provided…
Miigisag (sacred cowry shells) represent life-giving and healing powers. They symbolize the Sun, providing warmth and light to the People, and they metaphorically connect to the origins of the Anishinaabeg and their Mide beliefs, which were brought to them from Waabanakiing, the Dawn Land in the east, close to the Atlantic Ocean's shores.
BEAR AND THE TREE OF LIFE
Another aadizookaan, essentially an origin story, tells of a time long before Wenabozho was born. His uncle Makwa, the bear, a Naawakamig manidoo (spirit from the center of the earth), was born from medicine that originated from the fourth Layer of the Earth. This spirit bear rose to agidakamig, the middle world, the earth's surface known as Mikinaakominis (Turtle Island) and sat there, awaiting events to unfold. One day, a female spirit from the Moon assisted the first people, a pair of twins who were lowered from the hole in the sky. The spirit bear climbed a tall cedar tree, whose roots were deeply embedded in the earth and whose tip pierced the sky's layers, meeting the twins halfway. This same spirit bear was credited with building the first Lodge for a grandmother, where Wiininwaa, Wenabozho’s mother, was born. For this reason, the Mide people place a trunk of the giizhikaatig (northern white cedar), called midewaatig, at the center of the midewigaan – their ceremonial Lodge. To them, the cedar tree symbolizes the Tree of Life, connecting the People with the beings of the underworld and the ancestors and clans in the sky world…
RECONNECTING WITH THE SKY BEARS
Gete-ayaa, our ancestors, who considered themselves fortunate to reside each night beneath a canopy of innumerable ananoog (stars), understood that what existed above also existed below; what is in giizhigong – the Sky World – is reflected below, on agidakamig – the Earth. This insight demonstrated the ancestors’ profound connection with miziwekamig (everything that exists in the cosmos).
We have observed that bears and humans walk parallel paths on earth. Similarly, the Mide people and bears also follow parallel paths in a spiritual and ceremonial context. To complete all eight levels in their Lodge, Mideg, as they must overcome various obstacles and temptations, proceed ("walk") from the first four degrees of learning, known as earth levels, to the subsequent four degrees, called sky levels. Advancing through the earth levels teaches them everything about plants and medicinal practices. Upon reaching the sky levels, they can directly communicate with the spirits to seek assistance and mediation in healing the sick. They follow "the bear path," which is essentially a vertical journey.
Similarly, it's easy to envision the journey of the akiimakwa (terrestrial bear) as he ascends the tree of life to reach giizhigong, the sky land, where his counterparts, the sky bears, reside. As makwa climbs the tree, he is greeted by the joyful laughter of Nigig, the cunning and playful otter, who perches on a branch pointing toward medicine and healing. Other branches, leading in various directions, are home to numerous other spirits and spirit helpers, hosting various animals and creatures that hold a significant place and role in the cosmology of the Midewiwin. Eventually, as the bear reaches the top of the tree, piercing through the different layers of sky, it will meet the owl, [4] guardian of the Midewigaan, the Midewiwin Lodge, and the Midewaatig, the cedar tree symbolizing the importance of plant beings and the connection between all levels of earth and sky. Finally, through the Hole in the Sky, [5] the bear will enter the realm of his celestial relatives, who exist there as stars and star formations.
Following their path across the night sky, Makwa will enter the sweat lodge constellation, [6] emerging cleansed and as if reborn. He will then head towards his relatives, the sky bears. He will observe how they create a pattern in the night sky resembling the shaggy form of a Gichi Makwa (big bear) romping around in the Galaxy. This gichi-makwa has a very long tail of gleaming copper stars stretching as far as the eye can see...[7] Upon reaching the sky dens of his relatives, he will reunite with his family for the first time since their separation — and one terrestrial bear will finally have returned home.
== Birth of the Great and Little Bear ==
There are many traditional Anishinaabe and Ininew star stories about how the the Big and Little Bear came about. Below is a story that I love and treasure. I based it loosely on the traditional Ojibwe story “The Bear, Part of the Big Dipper,” Ojibway Sharing Circle.
“Many strings of lives ago, there were two dibiki-giizisoog (moons) in the sky but no anangoog (stars). With his bow and arrows, and guided by omishoomisan (his grandfather), an Anishinaabe boy named Makoons (Little Bear) sat in his canoe and shot at one of the dibiki-giizisoog, shattering her to form many anangoog (stars). Amid the glittering lights that lit up the night sky a very large wiigiwaam (lodge) magically emerged in the middle of the lake; a bright fire burned inside it. Suddenly, tayaa! a tall giizhikaatig (northern white cedar) grew out of the smoke hole of the wiigiwaam, and its top reached all the way into the sky! Marvelling at this mystic appearance, Makoons and his grandfather, whose name was Gichi-Makwa (Big Bear), steered their canoe toward the Lodge in the lake. At arrival they entered the big lodge and climbed the tree of life that was in there. Through the smoke hole, up, climbing the tree that went straight through the Hole in the Sky, they ascended into the sky to make a home among the newly formed anangoog. Thus, Makoons and omishoomisinan were responsible for the formation of the Big and Little Bear – nowadays called Ojiiganang and Ojiig-anangoons (Fisher Star and Little Fisher Star) by most Anishinaabeg.”
WHY THE TERRESTRIAL BEARS LOOK AFTER THE ANISHINAABEG
Traditionally, the Sky Bears are considered eternal, while the bears on Earth succumb to sickness, old age, or hunters, and then return as manidoog (spirits) to giizhigong, the Sky World, from where they descended when born in their giizhigomakwaanzhwan (sky dens). Thus, the life cycle of earthly bears mirrors the seasonal rotation of the great sky bear—represented by a cluster of seven stars—around Giiwedanang (the Returning Home Star, or Polaris/North Star). The sky bear watches over the earth from its giizhiig wiigiwaam (sky lodge), and the earthly bears mimic their celestial cousin's movements by digging for medicinal plants in the spring and summer, and by finding a place to hibernate in the earth when the time comes. Conversely, the Earth Bears also care for the sky! Since the first humans (a twin) came from the sky, earthly bears, by extension, continue to care for their descendants, the Anishinaabeg…
== Gichi-makwa and the birth of summer on earth ==
To our ancestors, it was Gichi-makwa (the Great Bear), and in particular the zenith of bear’s head, who heralded the end of winter. According to an old tale of the Gichi-namegosibininiwag (Big Trout Lake, an Anishinini, or Oji-Cree People in Northwestern Ontario), as soon as the Big Bear disappears on the horizon, the bears that live on Earth reappear from their winter dens. In this story, when gaa-biboonikaan (the Bringer of Winter) kept the Aki (Earth) in his icy grip all year round, a myriad of colorful birds flew all the way to the upper sky regions, thus creating a summer abode among the stars. Gichi-makwa, who ruled over the sky, opened his celestial wiigiwaam and let the birds in, thus making niibin (summer) on Earth possible…
NOTES:
[1]. Anishinaabe, plural Anishinaabeg: a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the northern part of present-day Unites States and in a great part of present-day Canada. They include the Ojibweg (including Nakawēk and Anishininwag ), Odaawaag, Bodéwadmik , Misi-zaagiwininiwag, Omàmiwininiwak, and Mamaceqtaw peoples. The Anishinaabeg speak Anishinaabemowin, or Anishinaabe languages that belong to the Algonquian language family. At the time of first contact with Europeans they lived in the Northeast Woodlands and Subarctic, and some have since spread to the Great Plains.
The word Anishinaabe translates to "Beings Made Out of Nothing" or "Spontaneous Beings". The Anishinaabeg believe that their people were created by the breath of a Great Mystery.
Although Anishinaabe refers to a much larger group of tribes and bands, the word Anishinaabe is often considered a synonym of Ojibwe. ^
[2]. The Anishinaabeg have, besides several minor or secondary Lodges, two principal Medicine Lodges: the Midewiwin and the Waabanoowiwin. In the old times the Midewiwin– which means "Society of Those Who Are in an Unseen, or Sacred State" – was the source of our governance, through the clan system of the Anishinaabeg. It was and still is there, in and around the Midewigaan, where our sick are being healed with the aid of medicine practice and where our children and our people are educated through traditional teachings, and it is still there where we are given our names and where we have our marriage ceremonies. Wabanoowiwin is the counterpart of the Midewiwin. As it means "Society of Dawn," Waabanoowiwin is a society of visionaries and astronomers who conduct their healing rituals under the cover of night and conclude them at dawn, when the morning star rises in the eastern sky. Their Lodge is circular as opposed to the Midewigaan, which has a rectangular shape. ^
[3]. One aadizookaan (sacred story) about the origin of Midewiwin relates of Nigig the Otter and how he brought the Ojibweg Medicine and the Midewaatik, or Midewewe’igan (Mide drum). Wenabozho, the beloved, benevolent aadizookaan (Spirit Helper) of the Anishinaabe Peoples, noticed that the Ojibweg were vulnerable and helpless against famine, sickness, and death, and he decided to help save them from extinction.
“When Nanabozho (as Wenabozho was called by Nookomis, his grandmother) was pensively drifting across the center of Aki (the Earth), he heard laughter in the distance, and as he moved closer he perceived a dark, slender, fast-moving object on the surface of the Big Lake to the west, and then in all four directions; and then, within the blink of an eye, the directions were brought together in what appeared to be a madoodiswan (purification, or sweat lodge) in the center of Aki. It was in this sacred place, where sky, water, and land come together, that Nanabozho saw Nigig, the Otter. Nanabozho, understanding and appreciating the magic phenomenon he had witnessed before his very eyes, instructed the Otter in the mysteries of the Midewiwin and he gave him a Midewewe’igan (Ceremonial Drum) and the Miigis (cowrie) shell, telling him how they should be used at sacred feasts and during the ceremonial of initiation; he also gave him a Zhiishiigwan (Ceremonial Rattle) to be used when curing the sick, and Asemaa (tobacco) to be utilized in invocations of the Spirits and in making peace with enemies.”
Nigig offered these sacred objects and instructions to the starving Anishinaabeg and thus saved them from extinction, and they gratefully chose him as symbol of Healing and elected him the patron of their Lodge. Nigig has various ceremonial roles in the Midewiwin Lodge, and it is said there are pictorial representations of him inscribed in several origin-migration birch-bark scrolls and in no fewer than seven scrolls containing mnemonics of Mide songs, and in at least two locations near a body of water sacred rock paintings of Otter can be seen with power lines emanating from his body. He gives his skin for the Midewayaan (Medicine Bag) that carries the medicinal herbs, charms, and miigisag (cowry shells) used for symbolically "shooting" novices during their initiation into the Mide Lodge. ^
Source: Zhaawano Giizhik, The Sound of the Mide Drum
[4]. Gookookoo, or Gookookoo'oo, the owl, watches over the Midewigaan (Midewiwin Lodge). When Wenabozho founded the Midewiwin he called on Gookookoo as one of the spirit beings who should help the soon to be created anishinaabeg (humans) conduct Midewiwin ceremonies. Gookookoo is a symbol for the degrees degrees in the Midewiwin Lodge, and several mide-wiigwaasag (Midewiwin scrolls) depict the image of Gookookoo. ^
[5]. The Hole in the Sky. Bagonegiizhig, the Hole in the Sky star cluster named Pleiades by the ancient Greek and consisting of seven stars ("Seven Sisters"), is a celestial opening allowing spirits to travel. According to modern-traditional Anishinaabe tradition it was through Bagonegiizhig that Giizhigookwe (Sky Woman) descended to the Earth in order to lower the anishinaabeg (first humans) to the earth. Bagonegiizhig also serves as a gate to the Jiibay-miikana, the Path of Souls, meant for the jiibayag (soul-spirits) of the deceased to travel toward their final destination among the stars. ^
Source: Zhaawano Giizhik, Star Stories, part 9: Ojibwe Indigenous Star Map - An Artist's Rendition.
[6]. The Sweat Lodge constellation: Madoodiswan or "the Sweat Lodge" appears among the same stars as the Greek constellation of Corona Borealis. The Sweat Lodge (called ""Madoodison" by the Southeastern Anishinaabeg) plays a sacred role in many Native cultures throughout Turtle Island (North America). The basic design for a madoodiswan is a low canopy of wooden poles covered with animal skins or canvas cloth. Participants gather within the sweat lodge as heated stones -– madoodoowasiniig, sometimes addressed as nimishoomisaabikoon or Grandfathers – are brought in and placed in a depression in the center. Water is poured over the nimishoomisaabikoon to create steam. The sweat lodge, which was gifted to the Anishinaabeg when a great sickness fell upon them, is a place to cleanse and heal the spirit, mind, body, and emotions. ^
Source: Zhaawano Giizhik, Star Stories, part 9: Ojibwe Indigenous Star Map - An Artist's Rendition.
[7]. Thousands of years ago, when the the gichi-makwa (Big Dipper) was closer to the celestial pole than it is now, its tail extended all the way to the bright star called Gichi Miskwaabik Anang ("Great Copper Star") – named Arcturus ("Guardian of the Bear") on the Western star maps.
The Big Dipper's seven bright stars form a portion of the constellation called "Ursa Major" in Latin. The Ursa Major, or Greater Bear, contains 15 stars in total. ^
Source: Zhaawano Giizhik, Star Stories, part 9: Ojibwe Indigenous Star Map - An Artist's Rendition.
Episodes of "Teaching From the tree of Life" series published so far:
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