Description
The idea of this story came when Jason Jones, Ojibwe Language Coordinator in Rainy River (Fort Frances), asked a few elders about land acknowledgement in Rainy Lake Area, they may be done a bit differently in other areas. The elders seem to acknowledge a Spirit or a place that is nearby the place they’re doing an opening or land acknowledgement.
This ceremony will change as you go to different areas. This land/spirit acknowledgement happened with Nancy Jones at Fort Frances. She was told this story by her husband Johniban Jones, who was a medicine man. After Jason had gone through this lesson with Koko (Nancy Jones), she elaborated a bit to say those spirits face each other, sitting there smoking their pipes. These spirits want to protect people here because the rapids have currents that could pull them down and drown them. The spirits do not seem to protect people lately because hardly anyone has been giving food to them. This offering is more of an acknowledgement for the spirits and they would like to be appeased. The word Wemitigoozhi literally means ‘crossed stick people’. The French were the first people to bring Christianity to Rainy Lake. This is why the Anishinaabeg called them the ‘crossed stick people’. In this area, a non-native person is known as Wemitigoozhi.
Ojibwe translations from Jason Jones based on Elder teachings from Treaty 3 Territory.
Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley is an Ojibwe woodland artist/graphic designer from Barrie, ON. He is a member of Wasauksing First Nation.