Niigaan
Oshki-anishinabeg
(The New Indians)
“Our Grandmother is not doing so well these days. As members of the ‘Human Tribe’, we are all responsible.”
Ojibwe Winter Games 2024
The Winter Games are on in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin from Feb 5-8th.
Games include the ‘Snow Snake’, the ‘Atle Atle Throw’, ‘Snowshoe Races’, ‘Hoop and Spear’, ‘Target Range’ and ‘Bow and Arrow’.
Students and others learned how to fling a snow snake (gooniikaa-ginebig) and other traditional Ojibwe hunting skills at the Ojibwe Winter Games.
The games, founded in 2012 in Lac du Flambeau, are designed to inspire young and old alike to get out and exercise, enjoy the winter, and engage with Ojibwe culture in a meaningful and positive way.
In Ojibwe culture the winter games taught children necessary hunting skills at a very young age.
History
The Lac Du Flambeau Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has inhabited the Lac du Flambeau area since 1745 when Chief Keeshkemun led the Band to the area. The Band acquired the name Lac du Flambeau from its gathering practice of harvesting fish at night by torchlight. The name Lac du Flambeau, or Lake of the Torches, refers to this practice and was given to the Band by the French traders and trappers who visited the area.
The Lac du Flambeau Reservation was officially established by the Treaty of 1854. The area was continually logged in the following years and became a tourist destination for families from southern Wisconsin and Illinois around the turn of the century.
To increase economic activity and foster self-reliance among the various Native American communities, the Tribe began bingo and casino operations. Revenues generated by the casino operations go to the Tribe and directly benefit the economic and social development of the community. The Lake of the Torches Resort Casino has enhanced both the economy of the Lakeland area and provides public services to residents in Lac du Flambeau. Learn more on the Band’s website.
About Our Foundation
The Industrial Year
Throughout all seasons, the Anishinaabe actively hunt, gather, and build dwellings in the ways taught long ago.
Clean Air
Essential to quality of life, Grandmother is not happy about what has occurred as a result of progress. Progress for who?
Clean Water
We live in harmony with our Creator, who provides the water we need to live. We are responsible to safeguard this resource.
Origins
In Anishinaabe cultural tradition it is believed that human beings were created on the earth in four distinct places, in their own way. This is what Gizhe Mnidoo or The Creator intended. There are many versions and parts to the Creation story that tell about the creation of the cosmos, the earth, the plants, the animals and human beings. To Anishinaabe all life contains the sacred breath of life that was given by Gizhe Mnidoo and all things are animated through this sacred breath. The Anishinaabe give thanks for this gift of Creation through the burning or offering of Semaa or Tobacco.
Anishinaabe oral tradition and records of wiigwaasabak (birch bark scrolls) are still carried on today. This oral and written records contain the Anishinaabe creation stories as well as histories of migration that closely match other Indigenous groups of North America, such as the Hopi.
Before the Anishinaabe became Anishinaabe the people migrated from Waubanaukee an island of the East Coast, which may have been what is now called New England, as the great ice sheet receded at the end of the last ice age. This migrating group split in many different directions as they headed towards the land of the rising sun and became the many Indigenous populations that now exist on North America.
After reaching the East Coast seven prophets came to the people. Each prophet delivered a specific prophecy to the people that are known as the Seven Fires Prophecies. After the prophets delivered their messages groups of people began to migrate westward to find the land where food grows on the water. The fulfilment of this prophecy is understood as when the Anishinaabe found the Mnoomin or Wild Rice that grew on the lakes in the Great Lakes region. This is where the Anishinaabe became Anishinaabe. To the Anishinaabeg the land they encompass is still recognized as Gitchi Mikinaak or Turtle Island.
The Anishinaabeg communities are recognized as First Nations in Canada.
(Wikipedia)
We Have the Power to Impact Our Future, and We’re Doing Something About It
The message we have is WAKE UP HUMAN TRIBE. Grandmother needs you.” Wayne Valliere November 2021