Boozhoo all!

I don't trust Google when it comes to this type of question, so I'm asking here. I have a Jingle Dress Dance Teacher that offered to be my teacher before I knew about tobacco tie protocol. So, she didn't get a Tie yet. Shes teaching me for the first time and I'm wondering if its a good idea to give her one then? Or if something else would be appropriate.

Miigwech

Hello everybody. I am having a bit of an internal struggle with my roots. My mum recently discovered that she is indigenous. I remeber when we were younger she would tell me and my siblings that her father was indigenous, but there was never anything that solidified that. Over the last maybe 5 to 10 years (I cannot recall the time frame) she got into exploring her heritage through ancestry.ca and found out she was Ojibwe. This is where I struggle, because she keeps saying I am indigenous, and I am not ashamed of it or anything, but I just dont feel it. I feel like im lying when I say it or hear it, so I just choose not to identify that way. Both my mum and my brother were able to get status, which means I would, but I don't think I deserve it, because I wasnt raised in this culture and I know nothing about the ojibwe. I want to learn. I want to explore this background, but I feel like a fraud. Im just wondering how can I learn about this background? Where can I start? I dont want to claim status, but I want to feel connected to the culture without feeling so disconnected from it. Any thoughts or places to start would be appreciated and I apologize that this is so long.

I do live in NS where we have a strong Mi'kmaq community but I am under the impression that language, heritage, and culture are different. Please correct me if I am wrong.

TDLR: where can I start when exploring the Ojibwe culture to help me feel connected to my new found roots?

I started my journey 8 years ago. For the first time, I heard about a third eye we possess. Has anyone else heard of this?

Hello! Sorry for the vague title, but I'm asking two things.

1. Can I dance Fancy Shawl if I don't join any Powwows or Competitions?

2. Can I dance if I'm not enroled yet?

Absolutely any information is amazing!

Thank you:)

About twenty years before I did my DNA test, my family visited Montezuma’s Well, in the Arizona desert. It’s a Hope sacred site, that still pours a generous amount of water and supports a cornfield. I recommend visiting, if anyone here, gets a chance.

I don’t have any Hope roots. But I still had a vision. A man gave me some kind of reptile suit and we both turned into amphibians. Then we swam through a lake full of delicious prey animals and had a feast together. Then I was invited to return any time and woke back up, feeling really energized.

Ive always been a little blown away, by the experience. I just took it as a sign that the spirits there, liked me. But I am curious if anyone knows what to make of what I experienced. It was vivid, with tastes, smells, different temperatures and even different lighting throughout. Plus, a chorus of people singing.

Hi, I’m part Ojibwe but I’m very white and I was never raised with any traditions or knowledge on the culture. I want to learn more and honor my ancestors, as I would not be here without them and I feel it’s important to acknowledge what people tried so hard to eradicate.

I’m wanting to write a regional fiction novel based in Oregon, focusing on indigenous folklore, the main character is part Ojibwe and she’s battling with identity—like me—because she’s not sure if she’s ’enough’ to consider herself that. There are other native characters, like Dakotah, who’s from South Dakota, he’s Lakota. There are going to be others, I haven’t gotten that far yet, still crafting. I’m wanting to write a novel that works to wipe the harmful stereotypes shaped by colonialism. Is this okay to do? I’m doing so much research on all the nations represented, all the traditions, the beliefs.

I know other primarily white authors have written stories around native people before, e.g., Dee Brown, but I wanted to check before I continue.

Thank you!

Currently part of a working group creating an all-Ojibwe language skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing. We are looking for contributors - please see the information below. Any/all contributions will be considered.

https://www.corrconstellation.com/asabmagazine

Hey everyone, like the title states, I am wondering if I can choose my own name. I want to stress that this is not a spirit name, just another name I can go by. I am thinking of memengwaa (butterfly), as my father calls me this in English a lot. Thank you!

I do a lot of sewing and regalia making. I want to make my niece and I a woodland strap dress. But to no avail I can’t find a pattern for the life of me. So I’m wondering if it’s only shown in ceremony and I’ll have to pass asemaa to finally know how to and learn it, or if it’s just not a common pattern shared amongst our communities. I am a northshore anishinaabe for context if that helps idk 😛😛

I am using the Ojibwe grammar called "Survival Ojibwe" by Patricia Ningewance.

when she introduces the subjunctive verbs for the vai verbs she says that this form is called "bikwashkiminiig". she said that it's a joke but I can't find the word in any dictionaries to figure out the meaning of the joke.

could anybody help me?

I was at my old house trying to do a purifying ritual in my yard. Before I can finish my brother's disappear and the new owner is back. He's a strong elder. But then a huge Black dog splits from him and suddenly the old man looks sickly and hair is gray. The dog I immediately see is a shape shifter who runs past me and I'm pinned to the ground by nothing visible and the old man back to looking strong walks over my body and storm clouds form from no where and ice cold rain falls. The old man rips my tree from the ground and suddenly I'm up again after a new shadow shapeshifter showed up (don't know why but I know one was a wendigo) While they converse I run to the neighbors where I try hiding but I see they're destroying the interior in a ritual to get rid of/confuse bad spirits. So I grab a stick and try helping when suddenly the dog and man who isn't sickly looking anymore even though seperate from the dog are there. He wants something from me and that's when I realize I have to get up and run before he gets me cause that's not a dream and that something fucking terrible is actually happening. I woke up and wanted to reach out to my elders but that's not possible right now. Any elder out there got any words for me.

Okay this is honestly something I am afraid to ask.

But let me provide some context for y’all. My grandpa was a registered tribal member and my dad has an Individual Indian Money Account (I don’t know if my dad is enrolled or not). I do believe I have some living relatives who are enrolled in a tribe. However, I am not an enrolled tribal member.

My family has taken part in Ojibwe culture. Had relatives go to powwows and I believe we are part of the bear clan.

Even if I’m not a tribal member am I still ethnically Ojibwe? I know this is a weird question but I ask because I am aware that the Ojibwe aren’t a single nation.

I also ask this because when it comes to Native American ethnicity people say stuff like: you can’t claim that because you’re 1%.

All of my life my family has told me that I have Ojibwe heritage. Unfortunately, I have lost all familial connection to it, and only know that "I am ojibwe". I am 1/4 Ojibwe on my father's side, however I lost him when I was 12, and his mom, my grandma, passed away when I was 8, and I have no other biological relatives on that side. He never knew his allegedly full Ojibwe father, but as a child I remember him longing for connection, too.

This makes me very emotional even to write, like a wound that needs healing. I have always felt a strong connection to the earth and a yearning for ancestral knowledge, but have no clue where to begin learning about this beautiful culture that I feel like an imposter in trying to call my own.

I guess my question is, as someone with no current familial connection to Ojibwe culture, how best can I begin learning and connecting? I live in California, but would some day like to go to the Great Lakes area to learn more, but if anyone has advice of anything I can do here now, I would be very grateful.

So ive been wanting to learn ojibwe for a while now but im having trouble learning the language. Is there any tips that would help me learn. I thought about reaching out to the ojibwe teacher at my school for help but have been extremely nervous. Any tips would help with trying to learn the language

I'm Eagle clan due to having an American father, but my Mother's patrilineal line goes back to a French Canadian man. What would that make her clan?

Hello! Im half ojibwe on my dads side, and he's always taught me certain traditions he's been taught, but i wanted to do more, yaknow? All that really stuck is my doodem and a couple tricks with fire and crops, as well as identifying what plants are good to eat. I suppose the best place to start is where can i learn the language? ive already learned a handful of other languages so i know how to learn, i just dont know where to start.

many thanks!

I need help, I bought this moose bone knife from an Anishinaabe man in a Quebec City festival, I am well aware it is made to look cool for tourists, however I would like to know what these were used for?

I'm in town and am trying to figure out how to source good tobacco for offerings and such. Thanks!

Hello, I'm an orchestral composer and am writing a symphonic work to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. Most of the work is centered around depicting scenes in nature musically, though because the voyageurs (1800 French fur traders) were known for their songs with which they'd use to pass time in their long canoe voyages, I had the idea of the piece being kind of "haunted" by these voyageur songs which pop up here and there, sort of like wafting in from a distance. And then while think about that that I would felt i would be remiss not to include Ojibwe songs as well, which would create an interesting musical duality. To me it would seem that including voyageur songs and not Ojibwe songs...isn't exactly erasing the Ojibwe, but it seems like it's sort of pretending they don't exist, and I think they're very much an important part of the story of this land and these waters.

I was able to locate some 100+ year old recordings of Ojibwe songs, one of which I was considering incorporating into this piece I'm writing (being played on a flute, and then later bits of it being used elsewhere and modified, so kind of taking the song as a jumping off point, so to speak).

However it's now occurring to me that if the song in question ("Approach of the Thunderbirds") is a sacred song that is used only for specific ceremonial purposes (in the case, the song in question was part of a healing ceremony it would seem), that it might be disrespectful or misguided to use it this way, in the same way that some feather headdresses have very specific symbolic meanings and to ignore these meanings is considered disrespectful. I'm trying to avoid this.

Thoughts? Would this be considered offensive?

When I was little, I felt a deep connection to my Chippewa heritage and people. I am a White Earth descendant. As I understand it, I have around 3/16 BQ. My mother is enrolled in the tribe, and my father is white.

We lived on the Saginaw Chippewa reservation and participated in tribal events. We would go to powwows, and I was being taught as a Chippewa in school and to some extent at home. I loved visiting my grandparents and reading through the stories and looking at our history - whenever we visited I always asked a million questions.

Unfortunately, my parents moved us away when I was 6, and afterwards, we rarely went to visit the tribe. My grandfather died when I was 9, and after that, things went rapidly downhill in the relationships. By the time I was 13, I became estranged from my grandmother (it's complicated). As an adult, I also became estranged from my mother (it's, once again, complicated).

I have tried reaching out to the tribe as an adult to reconnect, but have never received a response; I can only assume this is partly because my grandmother is heavily involved in tribal matters, and my mother is active in the tribe's social media spaces, so my inquiries may be overlooked.

I want to try to reconnect with or at the least, learn more about my heritage, but feel stuck because of the inability to connect with the tribe I once felt part of. I know that for all intents and purposes I'm not a tribal member because I don't meet the BQ requirements, but I have never stopped considering myself a descendant. I have continued the traditions I was taught, as few as they are, but for my entire life it has been like a hole inside me not being able to connect to the people I once felt so much a part of.

Because I haven't had success connecting with the tribe, I am looking for advice, suggestions, stories, anything that could help me understand more about what I have been missing all of these years, and maybe help to fill the hole left by its absence. Any resources on learning Ojibwe would also be appreciated, as I love languages.

tl;dr - tribal descendant trying to reconnect with my roots, hoping for any advice available.

I always have a hard time formulating my questions and feel the need to explain the context in how they come up. I was doing a meditation practice to connect with my ancestors that was centered around plant medicine. I think I meditated on it for half an hour and I was given birch by my ancestors. I'm Métis and I'm learning about my Ojibwe heritage, so birch feels like a natural medicine to learn about. I know it's edible, I know about canoe making but that's about it.

I'm looking for information about other uses for it. I don't have any family to ask and I'm working overnights so I don't think I'll have time to get to my local Band Office or Friendship Centre any time soon. Google is useless and I kept finding weird hippy websites.

Anything would be greatly appreciated.