“On our way up north, I can remember the feeling of joy coming over me because I was going to see all my family again and the comfort within myself of hearing the big drum songs again and to hear my Ojibwe language spoken.”
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Details
Storyteller: Toni
Tribe: Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe
Created: 2018
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Transcript: The people who have most influenced me in my life are my Grandparents, nimishoomis and nookoomis, and my Great Grandparents, which my family refers to as pow-wow grandpa whose name is Mike Shabaiash. His name is "Kiwenz" and my pow-wow grandma Susan Blackhetter who was from the Leech Lake reservation. Without them I would not be here today.
When I was a little girl our family would travel up to our home on the Fond Du Lac reservation, in Sawyer, MN. This is where our people were forced to relocate to… My family knew when it was about time for the big drum ceremony, which was held at the Sawyer center.
On our way up north, I can remember the feeling of joy coming over me because I was going to see all my family again and the comfort within myself of hearing the big drum songs again and to hear my Ojibwe language spoken.
The other thing I would enjoy doing with my family was to go down the winding gravel road to the sugar bush where I was taught to tap and boil sap from the maple tree. My grandfather would tell me don’t talk just listen and watch and learn… Many hours there and a lot of hard work… But it was well worth it with the outcome of fresh maple sugar and maple syrup.
This gave me the sense of who I am as a Native American woman today and the teachings I was able to learn and ability to carry on our traditions so I can be a good influence on my young students in our world today. I'm proud of my identity and I'm so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to learn and be taught our traditional ways of life.