Our life goal can be
described as follows: we did not inherit a legacy from our ancestors. We hold in trust for our future
generations. Dean M Jacobs (Chapter:
"We have but our hearts and the traditions of our old men":
Understanding the Traditions and History of Bkejwanong)
At the time of first
European contact in the 17th century, there were at least 34 First Nations
settled around the Great Lakes. Bark
canoes, some measuring over 30 feet, capable of carrying up to 18 people, and
powered by paddles and sails traversed these water highways. Victor P Lytwyn (Chapter: Waterworld: The
Aquatic Territory of the Great Lakes First Nations)
There is evidence to
show that First Nations exacted tolls from Europeans who wished to travel
across certain waterways. For example,
the Kichesipirini Algonquin who lived along the Ottawa river routinely obtained
gifts form missionaries and fur traders who used that river. The Rainy River Ojibway also forced fur
traders to pay them tolls for using the river as a trade route. Victor P Lytwyn (Chapter: Waterworld: The
Aquatic Territory of the Great Lakes First Nations)
The mind is still
the most sophisticated recording and preserving device that humans have found.
It's storage capabilities have not been fully tested. It is portable, does not need much
temperature and humidity control, and is capable of complex storage, retrieval
and correlation tasks. Knowledge stored
in the mid can be transmitted or transferred to other minds, and that knowledge
invests those other minds with abilities to use and understand the
information. Most important, a matter
that is kept in the mind is also kept in mind.
Matters kept on paper are more easily stored and forgotten. Paul Williams
(Chapter: Oral Tradition on Trial)
Of nearly three
hundred Ojibway warriors who went to Niagara to fight for the British in the
War of 1812, only six came back. Paul Williams (Chapter: Oral Tradition on
Trial)
