Anishinabe Bimadisiwin
Indian way of life, or “the
good life”
Through our teachings, our ancestors, elders and those of the midewewin
have taught us that there is a land of souls. In that land there is no hunger,
no sickness, no sorrow and there is no anger or envy.
It is a land of peace; inhabited by people of peace. For them
there is plenty, there is only comfort and joy. Our teachings tell us that only
people of peace may enter there. Others will suffer hardship, misfortune and
sickness in this life, or they will be caught in the river that divides the
land of the living and the land of souls.
Our teachings of the midewewin, tell us that we must lead good
lives and this way of living will give us good health, good fortune and peace
of heart in this world and give us admission to the land of souls. Our teachers of the midewewin have taught us
what is expected of us in order to truly live the good life.
First we must always honor kitchi manitou and thank him for this
good life, for the winds, sun, waters and to muzzu kummik quae(earth woman) for
it is upon her that we live and depend.
We must honor our elders, for it is them who are the wise and hold
the knowledge. It is them who have received from kitchi manitou the greatest
gift, the gift of long life. If they are slow, feeble and sometimes infirm, we
must feed them, help and listen to them. We must be patient of them. For that
to maybe our destiny, we to will some day be old. We must honor our women. Our grandmothers, mothers, wives,
sisters and all others. Treat your wife with kindness,comfort her,cheer
her,look after her and she will look after you, for it is her who is your
companion and friend in this life. Speak well of her and all her sisters.
We must love and cherish our abiinooji (children).It them who are
the future and it is them whom we have borrowed this land, it is them who will
be the next teachers, hopefully we have taught them well. We must be kind to everyone. A child
listening to it’s parents, that is kindness. Parents teaching their children,
that is kindness. A hunter giving meat to the elderly, sick and the widowed, that
is kindness. A medicine person healing
the sick, that is kindness. To feed or shelter the unfortunate, that is
kindness. Do something for your people. Use your gifts and dreams for good. We
must keep our promises and uphold our pledges. If we undertake to do something
for another, we must full fill our word by deed, otherwise we are false. If we
receive a vision, we must live out that vision, otherwise we are untrue.
without truth to self and others there can not be trust.
We are to be peaceful. Dark dreams beget dark dreams, and cause
clouded and troubled thoughts. Twisted thoughts spawn violent passions, which
give rise to burning words and fiery speech breeds hurt and bad deeds. Temper
your thoughts, passions and words. All this may be hard to achieve. But we must
strive for peace of heart in this life and peace of soul in the next. We must
honor our elder relations; Bear, Wolf, Eagle, Snake, snail and butterfly.
Turtle, whitefish and Trout. We must honor the three sisters, Beans, Corn and
squash. It is on all of them that we depend for our clothing and food. Treat
them with respect and when you are in need, they will give of themselves.
We are to be courageous. The more we know the more we trust and
the less we fear. If you are at peace and remember your totem and spirit
helpers watch over you, you will be courageous. Lastly we are to be moderate in
our dreams, thoughts and our words. We are never to indulge at the expense of
another. Do not play to much, sleep to long, eat to much or talk to often.
Listen and watch and someday you will be wise.
My Grandfather always talked about the teachings of a story. Some
Virtues shown here are; peacefulness, honor / respect, gratefulness,
generosity, patience, kindness / compassion, love, teaching, honesty, truth,
courage, moderation, wisdom and knowledge. Now with this teaching, we can use
our common sense to apply these virtues to our daily lives. Thankyou, eggy