In the Anishinaabe culture, it is our custom to help one another. This is true not just of relations, but of anyone, maybe even somebody you don’t even know. Because we believe that when you do good for someone who needs help, some day you will be helped.What else does she say about people's relation to the community? How does it compare to our culture?
Another essay you should read is by Ken Weyaus Sr., another Mille Lacs Band elder, who writes about "Coming Home" ... he says he lived in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., but "got tired of the rat race" and moved back to the reservation.
Today, [tribal] museum visitors’ jaws drop when they realize how rough it was back then. The way some people look at it today, it was hard living.Be ready to blog on this question: How community-minded are the people of the Mille Lacs Band? What specific activities do you find that they engage in as a community -- for example powwows, "sugarbushing" for subsistance, spiritual practices and ceremonies? How important is it to them to feel like part of a community? Post your answers as comments to this post.
But that was just the life. You had to get the maple sap and let it boil down eight hours. You had to wash clothes by hand. When our grandparents lived here, everything they needed was here. They had sap, fish, deer, the wildlife, all the natural things they needed to live off the land.
A lot of stuff is easier today, but you still need eight hours to boil down the sap.
The reservation exists not just as a community but also as a part of history. When you read about how Indians were put on reservations, Indians did have a say. This is our land. We were put here, and that’s just like anybody coming from Europe or some other place and settling here.
3 comments:
The Mille Lac Band in Minnesota has an article on "sugarbushing" at
http://www.millelacsojibwe.org/cultureColumn.asp?id=200
quote from Ken Weyaus, Sr., Mille Lacs Band Elder: "Traditionally, about 50 to 100 people would go out to the sugarbush camps. These were groups of families, and all of the family members would help out."
How community-minded are the people of the Mille Lacs Band? What specific activities do you find that they engage in as a community -- for example powwows, "sugarbushing" for subsistance, spiritual practices and ceremonies? How important is it to them to feel like part of a community?
They played games like the Moccasin games. "which is played wherever there are a group of men gathered. Needed are four pads about the size of a kitchen pot holder, may be larger, four marbles, one distinctly marked. This is the one teams are hunting for as the opposing team hides in trying to win points from the other team". at http://www.millelacsojibwe.org/cultureColumn.asp?id=186
It is very important to feel like you are wanted and needed. I know what it is like to feel like an outsider and never have anyone care about you before. Even in todays culture the feeling that we belong somewhere is more emportant than ever. To many poeple are always doughting themselves and never try to achieve their dreams in life. it is very important to feel connected with your friends and familes.
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