Ojibwa

The Ojibwa

// Reggie Burry and Zachary Goyda //


__Importance of Gods, origins, and ancestor__s - The Creator created all living things, his name is Gitche Manitou which loosely translated means “great spirit” or “great mystery” - The creation story says that The Creator created the Earth and created the creatures that inhabit the Earth to respect and interact with it - The Creator is used in many ceremonies to help guide the Ojibwa people’s decisions - Women are highly respected in Objiwa culture and are considered more powerful than men

__ Human Interaction with Natural World __ - Everything on Earth has a spirit (animism) - The Creator created humans to live in harmony with the world, thus the Ojibwa people’s great respect for the natural world - Tobacco is considered extremely sacred - They have pipe ceremonies where the prayers are sent up to the heavens by blowing the smoke upwards - Pipes are considered sacred as well, they are considered a marriage between the Earth and the creatures that inhabit it, wooden stem and a stone bo wl



__ Sacred times, practi ces, and space __ - Rock art is used to record many things like dreams, visions, mythical figures - There also used to be a form of writing called “muzzinabikon” which shamans used to record their visions - Boys of the Ojibwa tribe go on “vision quests” when they come of age and girls go on a fast when they have their first menstruation cycle - The boys go out in the forest and fast until their vision comes, then he can choose a life path, if he sees no vision he must go back the next year - Pipe ceremonies are performed where they smoke tobacco to contact the spirit world - The naming ceremony is when a shaman finds a name for a newborn child, the spirit world does not recognize the child as living until he or she is named

Bibliography

Callahan, Kevin L. "An Introduction to Ojibway Culture and History." //www.tc.unmn.edu//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2010. .

Molloy, Michael. "The Vision Quest." //Experiencing the World's Religions//. Ed. Ken King. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2002. 41. Print.

" Ojibwa Creation Story." //Native Art In Canada//. N.p., 2007-2010. Web. 20 Sept. 2010. .

" Ojibwe Tobacco and Pipes." //Real Dream Catchers//. N.p., 2007. Web. 20 Sept. 2010. 