SHEGUIANDAH—The historic alliance of the Three Fires Confederacy is celebrated and reinvigorated each year at a conference hosted by the Kenjegwin Teg Educational Institute. The Three Fires Confederacy is made up of the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatamie, three Anishinabe nations that share many language and cultural norms and formed a political and military alliance that helped sustain their communities through several major conflicts that shook their world both pre- and post contact.
With rotating locations, this year’s Three Fires Confederacy conference took place August 9 and 10 at the Sheguiandah Heritage Park (at the beach area and roundhouse) and attracted elders and speakers from across Mnidoo Mnising.
Elder Gordon Waindubence spoke on the teachings of the sweat lodge, a key binding tradition in which both healing and traditional knowledge have been passed on down through the generations.
This year, Wikwemikong elder Gerry Kaboni spoke on the tree teachings, relating the knowledge passed on to him by elders in his home community of Kaboni. Mr. Kaboni recalled coming across a strange tree in his youth and asking one of the local elders about it.
The tree was formed by the melding of three separate trees, twisted as young saplings around each other. The trees were planted in the centre of the settlement or village, symbolizing the unity of the Three Fires. As time went on and the trees grew up, they would fuse into one. The tree Mr. Kaboni had found was located some distance from the current settlements in Wikwemikong, but was at the site of one of the earlier settlements in the unceded territories now known as Wikwemikong.
On Thursday, August 11, following the conference, one of the triple-trunked bundle of saplings was planted at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation in M’Chigeeng.
The setting of Three Fires gathering on the picturesque shores of Sheguiandah Bay included the impressive roundhouse constructed of local timber and built with local labour. Speakers stood on a cedar (one of the sacred medicines of the Anishinaabe) strewn platform in the centre of the roundhouse, the sun streaming down from a central skylight to provide natural illumination. With doorways in the four directions open, the cool breezes from the bay kept the inside of the structure remarkably cool, despite the oppressive heat outside.
During the gathering, children and other community members took part in workshops on traditional artisan work and games, including Canada’s national sport (no not hockey, lacrosse, a part of our national heritage that has languished too much from neglect in recent years).
During the second day of the conference, an historic announcement of a unique partnership between Canadore College and Kenjegewin Teg Educational Institute (KTEI) to deliver an early childhood educator program that will take place completely in the language illustrated the efforts being made to strengthen and enhance Anishinabemowin.
Elder-in-residence Josh Eshkawkogan spoke on the teaching lodge concepts that are being explored by KTEI and which infuse the learning that takes place in that institution. Too often, he said, people wait until the bureaucracy allows something to go ahead, but when it comes to passing on the culture and knowledge of the Anishinaabe, something that is so important to building the pride and confidence that young people need to succeed in the modern world, to understand their place in the world, there is no time to wait upon the whims of the provincial and federal governments.
“This is for the benefit of our children,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to go ahead and do it.”
“Sometimes you have to stop looking back and look at where you are going,” said Mr. Eshkawkogan.
The key element, the number one teaching, he noted, is “respect.” From that teaching, the other six Grandfather Teachings will inevitably flow. “That is the protocol for our lodge,” he said. “The only one you need is respect. You have to respect everyone who comes into the circle.”
Nature has many lessons from which we can learn, he noted, and that learning is something that remains very relevant in the modern age.
Sitting still outside, “I can identify 10 different types of birds, just by listening,” he said. The skill of actually listening to the world around us is one that is practiced far too little in this day and age and yet is probably more vital today than it has ever been in human history.
Elder Waindubence has a simple approach when it comes to getting things done that need doing to build First Nations communities—his motto? “Just do it.”