The first step in
Biskaabiiyang [biskaabii = to return to oneself, also used in reference to
decolonization] is to return to our teachings.
Names for plants and
trees that end in -min [in Anishinaabemowin] are referring not to the whole
plant, but just to a part of the plant or tree, such as a nut or berry.
These notebooks are
personal mnemonic devices for the people who create them, not a means of
leaving a written record for future generations. Keewaydinoquay, for example, instructed her
oshkaabewisag to bury her with her notebook.
[Mary] Geniusz says that a mashkikiiwikwe or mashkikiiwinini will not
leave his or her oshkaabewisag with information that they have not studied in
the proper manner. It would be very
dangerous for someone without enough training to try out a medicine just from
reading about it in a notebook.
Within izhitwaawin
[Anishinaabe culture, teachings, etc], plants and trees traverse physical and
spiritual worlds.
Another result of
this "fragmentation" of indigenous knowledge is that pieces of
indigenous knowledge are separated into categories that follow non-native
constructs rather than the constructs out of which they originally came.
"Biskaabiiyang"
means to return to ourselves, to decolonize ourselves. Biskaabiiyang research begins with the
Anishinaabe researcher, who must look at the baggage that he or she carries as
a result of colonization. That
researcher must then rid him or herself of that baggage in order to return to
inaadiziwin [Anishinaabe way of being, behavior, psychology].
Part of this
decolonization is discovering or accepting that the Gete-anishinaabeg knew a
great deal about the world and had the technology to survive in it.
Within izhitwaawin
[Anishinaabe culture, teachings, etc] plants and trees have spiritual
properties, songs, stories, and talents to share with us.
In the madoodiswan
(sweatlodge), Keewaydinoquay says, a person should cover his or her entire
body, from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet, with cedar oil. She explains that practice gives a person "wonderful
vibrations and many blessings".
A person should use
cedar oil on a daily basis by putting a drop of cedar oil on his or her finger
and touching the center of his or her forehead and "life spot" with
that oil. The life spot is the fleshy part
on the base of the neck. While doing
this the person says, "I give thanks for the gift of life, and I unite
myself with the ongoing of my the people".
"It is through
cedar that you call for help…. You can just put your hand on the tree itself
and say "Grandmother help me" and it will go straight into the spirit
world because that is what cedar does." Mary Geniusz
A bowstring made of
cedar would only last for a few pulls, but if one knows how to hunt with a bow,
this would be enough to kill a deer.
Being able to make a
mat out of the bark of cedar is an important part of izhitwaawin, but if we do
not know how to properly address the cedar to ask for her physical and
spiritual assistance, then we will be missing a key component of inaadiziwin.
