NANABOOZHOO TEACHINGS - MISHOOMIS WAAWAASHKESHI, MITIGOONZH GAYE DOODEMAG GAA-OZHI'AANG: Grandfather Deer, the Tree of Life, and the Establishing of the Clans

FROM THE

GREAT TEACHING

LODGE OF THE MIDEWIWIN   Midewiwin Gichi-Gikinoo'amaadiiwigamig

EXCERPT FROM THE

MAZINA'IGAN — NANABOOZHOO AADIZOOKAAN

The Record — The Sacred Stories of Nanaboozhoo

MAAWACH GEGO BIMAADIZIWIN — WHAT WAS ALREADY GIVEN

The Way of Life that existed before instruction

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MISHOOMIS WAAWAASHKESHI, MITIGOONZH GAYE DOODEMAG GAA-OZHI'AANG

Grandfather Deer, the Tree of Life, and the Establishing of the Clans

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Before the clans were established among the people, before councils gathered, before leadership was divided among the nations, there was already order upon the earth.

For the Creator had not made a world of confusion.

The stars followed their paths.

The rivers followed their banks.

The seasons followed their circles.

Even the winds remembered where they had come from and where they would return.

Only the future Anishinaabeg had not yet learned their place within this great harmony.

Nanaboozhoo saw this and wondered how the people would one day remember that all things belong to one another.

For he had traveled far.

He had learned from Ma'iingan.

He had spoken with the waters and the stones.

Yet he knew that future generations would sometimes forget.

Some would think themselves above others.

Some would place themselves before creation instead of within it.

Some would believe leadership meant ownership.

Some would believe strength meant domination.

Because of this, a teaching was needed.

A teaching so visible that every person could understand it.

A teaching written not on bark or stone, but upon the living earth itself.

As Nanaboozhoo pondered these things, he followed an ancient trail through the forests.

The trail was older than memory.

Older than the villages.

Older than the rivers that now crossed it.

Yet it remained.

Nanaboozhoo followed it until he entered a clearing unlike any he had ever seen.

In the center stood a magnificent Deer.

Greater than any deer that now walks the earth.

Its eyes reflected both sunlight and starlight.

Its coat shimmered with the colors of the seasons.

Upon its head rose antlers so vast that they appeared to touch the heavens.

Nanaboozhoo immediately recognized him.

Mishoomis Waawaashkeshi.

Grandfather Deer.

The First Walker.

The Elder Path Maker.

The Senior Keeper of Creation.

The Deer lowered his head in greeting.

As Nanaboozhoo looked upon the antlers, something remarkable occurred.

The antlers were not merely antlers.

Within them appeared the image of another form.

A great tree.

Its roots reached downward.

Its branches reached upward.

Its center stood between heaven and earth.

Nanaboozhoo recognized it immediately.

The Tree of Life.

But the tree itself was not resting upon the Deer's head.

Rather, the antlers reflected its pattern.

The branching pathways mirrored the branches of the Tree.

The roots mirrored the pathways below.

For what is above is reflected below.

And what grows outward remains connected to its source.

Nanaboozhoo asked:

"Mishoomis, why do you carry the reflection of the Tree of Life?"

The Deer answered:

"Because all living things must remember where they came from."

Then the Deer lifted his head and the antlers shone with light.

Nanaboozhoo saw countless paths extending from every branch.

Each path became another trail.

Each trail reached another being.

Each being reached another family.

Each family reached another people.

And all remained connected to the same source.

The Deer said:

"Look carefully."

Nanaboozhoo observed that no branch claimed ownership over another.

No branch declared itself greater.

The highest branch depended upon the trunk.

The trunk depended upon the roots.

The roots depended upon the earth.

The earth depended upon the waters.

The waters depended upon the sky.

The sky depended upon the Great Song that gave rise to all things.

Nothing existed alone.

The Deer then began to walk.

With every step a trail appeared.

The grasses parted.

The earth opened gently beneath his hooves.

The trail stretched across the world.

Nanaboozhoo followed.

As they traveled, animals emerged from every direction.

Bear followed the trail.

Wolf followed the trail.

Bird followed above it.

Fish followed the rivers crossing it.

Even the smallest insects crossed it.

None were forbidden.

None were excluded.

The trail belonged to all because the earth belonged to all.

The Deer stopped and spoke:

"A trail made by one being is quickly lost."

"But a trail walked by many becomes a way."

Nanaboozhoo considered this deeply.

The Deer continued:

"So too is wisdom."

"So too is governance."

"So too is life."

The two walked for many days.

Everywhere they traveled, creatures gathered.

Nanaboozhoo noticed something.

Certain beings possessed particular gifts.

The Crane could see far.

The Loon could speak clearly across great distances.

The Bear understood medicine.

The Marten possessed courage.

The Fish understood hidden movement.

The Bird Nations carried messages.

No one being possessed all gifts.

The Deer saw Nanaboozhoo's realization and nodded.

"If one creature attempted every responsibility, balance would fail."

"The Creator distributes gifts so that cooperation becomes necessary."

Then Nanaboozhoo understood.

The clans had always existed in creation long before they appeared among people.

The clans were not inventions.

They were reflections.

Just as matter reflects light.

Just as the earth reflects the heavens.

The clans would reflect the organization already present in creation.

The Deer then brought Nanaboozhoo to a high ridge.

From there they watched the countless trails crossing the earth.

The trails connected forests.

Lakes.

Mountains.

Rivers.

Plains.

Everything touched everything else.

Nothing stood apart.

The Deer said:

"When the people come together, they must remember this view."

"No clan exists for itself."

"No clan rules itself alone."

"No gift is complete without another gift to balance it."

"The Crane must hear the Fish."

"The Bear must hear the Loon."

"The Marten must hear the Bird."

"The Wolf must hear the Deer."

"And all must hear the people."

Nanaboozhoo listened carefully.

For he recognized that the Deer was not describing governance alone.

He was describing creation itself.

The Deer then lowered his head once more.

The reflection of the Tree of Life appeared within the antlers.

Nanaboozhoo saw that every branch reached outward, yet all remained part of one tree.

The Deer spoke:

"Remember this."

"Many branches."

"One tree."

"Many trails."

"One earth."

"Many clans."

"One people."

"Many songs."

"One Great Song."

As the sun began to set, the Deer turned toward the forest.

Before departing, he gave one final teaching.

"The people will sometimes forget."

"They will argue over trails."

"They will claim ownership of waters."

"They will compete for authority."

"When this happens, bring them back to the Deer Trail."

"For no being owns the path."

"All merely borrow it for a little while."

Then Mishoomis Waawaashkeshi walked into the forest.

Slowly his form disappeared among the trees.

Yet his trails remained.

Nanaboozhoo followed one of those trails back to the people.

There he taught what he had learned.

Thus the clans were established among the Anishinaabeg.

Not as ranks.

Not as classes.

Not as powers.

But as responsibilities.

Living reflections of the Tree of Life carried upon the antlers of Grandfather Deer.

And the people remembered that all trails are shared, all gifts are needed, and all life travels together beneath the same heavens until called onward by the same Voice.

Chi-Megwetch - Thank you from my heart spirit