Onaabani-giizis/Onaabdin-giizis (Snowcrust Moon), March 14, 2022
Aaniin. Biindigen! Hello, welcome to my storytelling lodge, where there is love and learning!
Today's story is the second in a new series named "Love Stories From the Land of Many Lakes."
It's a collection of love stories written and provided with jewelry images and illustrations of artwork by myself and kindred artists. The stories are based on aadizookaanan (traditional stories) of our People, the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg of Gaa-zaaga'eganikaag, the land of many lakes - the Great Lakes area of North America. These narratives are of a sacred, healing nature and told within a romantic context, their allegorical themes often provided with a personal touch. The following tale, conceived in 2013, is a zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan (sacred love story); its original title is "Sleeping Bear and her Children." It is narrated in the form of a frame story, in this case several metaphoric tales of a traditional, sacred nature placed within a larger story that has also embedded in it some autobiographical elements. The characters that figure in the narrative of Standing Firm are actually based on real persons.
The story of Standing Firm is, however, not about the love between a man and wife, but about a mother’s love for her children...
Illustration: Song of the Great Sandhill Crane © Zhaawano Giizhik