For Joshua: An Ojibwe Father Teaches His Son by Richard Wagamese

Author:Richard Wagamese [Wagamese, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Cultural; Ethnic & Regional, Indigenous, Family & Relationships, Parenting, Fatherhood, Social Science, Indigenous Studies
ISBN: 9781571317339
Google: f3lGEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Milkweed+ORM
Published: 2020-04-14T23:44:10.180915+00:00

In the Long Ago Time there was great trouble among the People. The animals had not come and the People grew hungry. With their hunger came anger, jealousy, and bitterness. Those who were fortunate enough to snare a few rabbits or net some fish were reluctant to feed their neighbours and there was deep resentment all around.

This time of scarcity was hardest on the men. Ojibwe men are proud hunters and fishers and there is much honour in being able to provide for one’s family and village. Watching their families suffer brought many heavy feelings to the hearts of the men. It wasn’t long before shouts, arguments, challenges, and fights broke out amongst them. Even friendships of many years were threatened by the anxious feelings in their hearts, and the villages were tense and the women and children feared the anger they could feel in the men.

As time went by and the shortage of food grew more and more severe, things grew more desperate. What little game was available came to be seen as something to be hoarded rather than something to be shared. Some men stole food from other villages, others destroyed the traps and snares of their fellow hunters. Gill nets were slashed and no one was praying for the animals or offering tobacco gifts to Creation for a good hunt. With the loss of their spiritual way of hunting, greed became the biggest force amongst the men.

The greed spurred them to fighting. Soon village was setting out against village over some injustice imagined or genuine. Blood was spilled and it seemed that the great circle of the People would become torn apart from within.

One night, as a council of men was meeting to plan an attack on a distant village, a strange thing happened. Beyond the trees they heard a sound. It was a sound unlike any they had ever heard before but it was also very familiar. It grew louder and seemed to echo all around them until, at its loudest, the sound filled the entire night. The men were frightened. It sounded to them as if something very ancient and strong was coming their way.

Then a light was seen. A dim yellow light that shone against the tops of the trees. The men could see it moving from treetop to treetop as the sound grew louder and closer. And closer and closer. Despite themselves they shuffled together in fear. The light kept coming and the sound continued. Some of the men wanted to run but they were held in place by their pride. The light grew brighter.

Finally, they could see something walking within the light as it began to emerge from the forest. It was a woman. A very beautiful young woman in a dress of the purest white buckskin. Around her neck was an amulet of shells that hung in concentric rings so that it looked like the breastplate of a warrior. Braided into her long black hair were two eagle feathers, and on her feet she wore ankle-high moccasins beaded in a floral design of purple and orange.

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