Nourish the Word

A few months ago, I came across some interesting things in Edward Benton-Banai's The Mishomis Book that would stand out, I think, to any current or formerly endowed LDS Mormon. I showed these things (one was an illustration of a man in a particular pose, the other a passage that I will include below) to someone I know with an LDS background (a temple worker) and Ojibwe ancestry. These things also stood out to him as being familiar. The context of the passage I mentioned has the culture hero, Waynaboozhoo (aka Nanaboozoo, Nanabush), coming home after an epic battle with his father. This battle is reminiscent of the Old Testament Jacob's wrestle with "a man." It should be noted, the manitou father acknowledges his son as his equal at the end of this battle, and gives him a symbol and tool for peace (the peace pipe). And Jacob was left alone. And there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touch...

The Medicine Wheel A year or more ago, I was having a conversation with a Lakota man. He asked me whether I knew the cardinal directions. I was confused by the question, thinking, everyone knows those.  But the way he asked me, convinced me he wasn't talking about just East, South, West, and North. I explained that I didn't know what he meant, and he proceeded to teach me there are actually no fewer than 7 cardinal directions. In addition to the four main directions indicated in a compass rose and the Native American medicine wheel, there is also the directions of the sky above, the earth beneath, and at the center of them all, the self. My brain imploded for a moment, before it clicked into place. Of course there must be seven directions. How did I not know this before? It makes perfect sense. Here is a link to a website that explains a perspective of the different parts of the medicine wheel. I've been learning lately some things about the four main parts of the med...

Today is a venture into the territory of a different tribe, the Seneca. I have been studying  The Code of Handsome Lake . As a brief summary: Handsome Lake is the name of a man belonging to the Seneca tribe, who became known to them as a prophet during the last stage of his life. He was in his sixties when he experienced a long period of sickness attributed to his alcoholism . During his bout with ill health, he experienced a mighty change of heart that cumulated in what he claimed was a visitation of three messengers from the Creator. At the time of this initial vision, he collapsed and appeared as if he was dead to his family . He arose to begin teaching the message that the three messengers taught him (the Gaiwiio), continuing for approximately 15 years until his death on August 10, 1815. His teachings were unique at the time because they honored many things about Christianity without abandoning Seneca wisdom and tradition. As If He Were Dead The first striking thing ...

I saw an eagle flying overhead as I was driving the other day. This is not so unusual in some parts of the country. But it stood out from the birds of prey that frequent the skies over me this time of year: hawks, ravens, kestrels usually, and the occasional vulture. It reminded me of the symbolism of the eagle I am overdue in examining. So let's examine it... Last post, I shared a link to  this Potawatomi site with their tribes cultural teachings . Today I'm going to direct attention to  another one of their videos.  The specific part relevant to this post begins as the 12:13 min mark of the video. I'll also be referencing The Mishomis Book , by Edward Benton-Benai again. (Edit: When first sharing this, one of my initial resources for this had disappeared from the internet, and I made do with what resources I had left. I have since rediscovered it on the internet archive:  The Eagle Feather ) The Eagle as Intercessor By Carly Lesser & Art Drauglis fro...

Someone recently brought this video to my attention, and I believe it is worth sharing here. It is one of many such videos on the cultural teachings of the Potawatomi that can be found here . Watching the video will be helpful in understanding the familiar attributes I'm about to point out. The Number 7 In both Christianity and at least a few American tribes, the number 7 is highly symbolic of sacred things. For example, this description of the symbolic meaning of the number 7 concerning Christ can be found the Teaching and Commandments : He bears seven wounds on His person: two in His wrists, two in His palms, two in His feet, and one in His side. Seven is the symbolic number of completion or perfection. Seven wounds reflect the completion of His sacrifice and of that sacrifice’s complete perfection. If a similar symbolism can be understood in this Anishinaabe tradition, than the seven grandfathers would also represent completion and perfection. Likewise, the number o...

Continuing with the Anishinaabe tradition of a global flood , there are some versions that tell of Sky Woman, and others that replace the role of Sky Woman with Nanabush. In Basil Johnston's The Manitous , he combines the two different tellings by linking them together. In his telling, the Sky Woman's flood occured first. Later on, culture hero Nana'b'oozoo (also Nanabush) experiences his own catastrophic flood and remembers what Geezhigo-Quae (or Sky Woman ) did to re-create the Earth. This he repeats, and again it is the muskrat who succeeds where all others fail in bringing a bit of earth to the surface through which life can begin again. This bears similarity to different scriptural books, where a people have forgotten their way, and stand in need of a reminder. Each divine teacher or prophet who provides that way for others shares a similar role as Nana'b'oozoo's in his version of the flood. A good scriptural comparison can be made to John the Bapti...

One thing I have noticed and love about Native American culture is that a lot more about female divinity has been preserved than in European and Middle Eastern religions. There is more to this than I currently understand, but look forward to knowing more over time. The significance of woman has almost been eradicated from modern Christianity. So this is a great pleasure to explore. I know I won't do justice to this subject, but I'm going to try anyway. If you missed part 1 of this series, I suggest you read it , because the Recreation tale I am addressing is contained there, and I won't be repeating it in this post. One thing I noticed is that the nature of the story is of a secondary creation. I will soon go over the primary creation story that involves Gitchi Manitou (the Great Mystery). The initial creation ended in failure, and only with the participation of Sky Woman in this tale and this secondary creation is the vision of Gitchi Manitou realized. Basil Johnst...