I am relaying this article to both NATIVE-L and NATCHAT: to NATIVE-L
so that it may be entered into the LISTSERV's archives, and to NATCHAT
so that it might become the subject of discussion. However, in future,
I will try to only relay informational articles to NATIVE-L, and I ask
that NATCHAT be used primarily for discussion. In fact, I hope that
subscribers of NATCHAT who are not also on the NATIVE-L list will
consider subscribing to NATIVE-L, since the two lists really go
together. I hope we can have more discussions of some of the
excellent articles that appear on NATIVE-L by means of NATCHAT.
To introduce this article, I submit the following copy of Mike's
earlier article, posted to NATCHAT this past Saturday:
| From: freenet.carleton.ca!aj096 (Michael Patterson)
| Date: Sat, 5 Feb 1994 03:27:19 -0500
| Subject: seventh fire
|
| we are writing on the seventh fire, and wish to talk to people who
| know of this anishnabe prophecy, or the fifth generation prophecies
| of the kanienkehaka and the cree...
|
| we are also researching medicine bundles held at the museum of
| civilization, ottawa. many of these are from minnesota. Can anyone
| help us find the rightful owners of these bundles?
|
| nya weh,
| mike patterson and sherry barnett
Thanks for your replies, and interest in our efforts.
To answer your questions, Sherry and I are friends, both of us students
at Carleton University in Ottawa. I am finishing a Master's Degree in
Contemporary Native Music, and Sherry is involved in a self-directed
program in Native studies and women's issues. For now, I will speak for
myself, and Sherry may contact you later...
I asked two questions, and I'm glad to see that people are interested.
On the first, the 7TH Fire, I include here some preliminary remarks from
my thesis:
---------------------------------
Chapter 3 - Musics of the Seventh Fire (Perspectives on
The Seventh Fire Prophecies of the Anishnabe
Midewiwin Society).
Introduction
David DeLeary is the musical creator for the
Ottawa band 7TH Fire. With his brother Alan, the lyricist
and political writer, he has formed a musical expression
based on the Seventh Fire prophecy of the Anishnabe.
He explains that in this prophecy, the Anishnabe have lit
seven fires, each representing an era in human history.
This is the time of the Seventh Fire - when confusion
threatens to lead to catastrophe. The task of the people
of this age, including the Anishnabe and other Red
people, the Yellow (Asian) people, the Black and the
White, is to come together and choose the road of
cooperation. Without this, there will be no Eighth Fire, a
golden age.
The prophecy of the Seventh Fire is interpeted
differently by various Elders today, but the broadest,
most inclusive interpetation is held by Anishnabe such as
the DeLearys and by Elders of other groups, such as the
Metis. Before examining the musical implications of the
prophecy, I will present what I have taken to be closest
to the original text. It is from the Ojibway Cultural Centr
on Manitoulin Island, which is the spiritual heartland of
the Anishnabe:
THE LAW OF THE SEVEN FIRES
In a time long, long ago, seven prophecies came to the
Anishnawbe.
Each prophecy or fire came from a different prophet who
foretold of events that would shape the future of the
Anishnawbe. Each of these fires referred to a particular period
of time.
The first fire tells us that the Anishnawbe would rise and follow
the ways of the sacred shell or Midewiwin. The Midewin
religion, to the Anishnawbe, would be the focal point for clean
living and a source of strength for all Anishnawbe.
The second fire tells that the nation would be camped by a
large body of water. In this time, the direction of the sacred
shell would be lost and the ways of the Midewiwin would
become weak. It was prophesized that a small boy would
return and point the way back to the traditional ways. The boy
pointed to the sacred island of Manitoulin as the way to
revitalize the ways of the Midewiwin.
The third fire tells that the Anishnawbe would find the path to
the chosen land of Manitoulin. This was the place where the
Anishnawbe must move their families.
The fourth fire tells of the coming of the light skinned race.
The fifth fire tells of a great struggle to come.
The sixth fire prophesized that during the time of the great
struggle grandsons and granddaughters would turn against
their elders and that the spiritual ways of the Midewiwin would
almost disappear.
The seventh fire tells of the emergence of a new people, a
people who would retrace their history to find the sacred ways
that had been left behind. The waterdrum would once again
sound, its voice signalling the rebirth of the Anishnawbe and
a rekindling of life's fire.
During the time of the seventh fire, the light skinned race
would be given a choice. If they chose the right road, then the
seventh fire would light the eighth and final fire...a fire of
peace, love and brotherhood.
If the light skinned race made the wrong choice, then the
destruction which they brought with them to this great turtle
island would come back to them, causing much suffering,
death and destruction.
And that is how the story is told.
In the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, the
Seventh Fire prophecy is recognized as a "...migration
legend, a story which recounts the seven 'fires' or
stopping places of the people in their journey from the
East coast toward the West..." The prophecy and
migration story are in conflict with white historians, who
claim that the Anishnabe were always centered around
Lake Superior; but they are true in oral tradition and are
the source of inspiration to the Anishnabe.
The Midewiwin has been the subject of academic
study from the time of contact, and today is emerging as
a great teacher for Native peoples everywhere,
particularly here:
Among the Ojibwe of northwestern Ontario, the
Midewiwin is a fundamental religious institution... The 'fires'
constitute both a historical record and a set of
teachings.Traditional Anishnabe in adulthood in the 1980s saw
themselves as the generation of the seventh fire, and accept
a role in bringing back many of their traditions... (EMC 929
More than a migration legend, the version of the
prophecy quoted above relates to the present-day
struggle to strenghten traditional teachings and bring the
Anishnabe message of cooperation and healing to others
in the world. The Seventh Fire is not just a time of
reclaiming spiritual teachings; it is the time to use those
teachings to help correct the imbalance felt in the circle
that is the world.
The Anishnabe Medicine Wheel is used to teach a way of
life and understanding, emphasizing the need for balance and
harmony. If one of the four elements of the wheel is too
strong or weak, the wheel is thrown out of balance. In the
world today, technology and rampant consumerism are
destroying the environmental balance of the earth;
hierarchical organizations hold power by suppressing
awareness and consensus in society. Much of this imbalance
stems from the inability of the four colours or races of the
Medicine Wheel to recognize each other and cooperate in the
circle. The mainstream percieves that Natives have wisdom
when it comes to living with and preserving the land, which
is true; but the Medicine Wheel, in the age of the Seventh
Fire, shows that all peoples have their own wisdom, and that
the circle that is earth cannot survive unless each group
shares its knowledge with the others. These ideas have been
with the Anishnabe since long before the time of contact, but
they shared them with white visitors early on. One traveller
remarked, when visiting a Midewiwin lodge in 1854:
The four human figures at the sides of the sanctuary are
the four great spirits sitting to the north, south, east and west...
they (the Anishnabe) recognize four quarters of the world, and
place a great and powerful spirit in each of them. (Kohl: 152)
Mike Dashner is Anishnabe from Walpole Island,
Ontario and Bad River, Wisconsin. He is a traditional
powwow dancer and a drummer, who coordinates the
yearly Ann Arbor (University of Michigan) Powwow. In
Sound of the Drum, he talks about the surge of
traditionalism and traditional dancing in the mid-70s, a
result of Wounded Knee and a part of the growth of the
American Indian Movement (AIM). He also gives this
teaching of the Medicine Wheel:
The medicine wheel (represents) basically the message
that I try to get across when I do educational outreach
programs. There are 4 sacred colours of mankind on the
planet. And... the medicine wheel is out of balance, because
there's input from all 3 of the other races; and the Indians are
just now starting to come into their responsibility to get their
message out - about the environment, the greenhouse effect.
But also I think that a humane kind of life is missing (in the
non-Native world)... When you're there in full dance regalia,
you have all these young minds just locked into everything you
say - so I feel there's a real responsibility, you have to take
care in the message you get across. (Cronk: 21)
Closed Circle: The Earth in Distress
Concerns of the land and environment are foremost
on Natives' minds today. The industrialization of North
America has meant that most Native lands have been
lost to development, which makes it nearly impossible for
Natives to raise their children with traditional cultural
values - as those values are tied to the land. At recent
Royal Commission on Aboriginal People hearings in
Labrador, an Inuit spokesperson spoke of how the loss
of land and autonomy is affecting his people (and this
applies to Natives across Canada):
Traditionally, Inuit social organization was based on the
family unit. Assimilationist government policy taught children
to disown their language and culture. Television has increased
children's alienation from the family and from their culture.
Social disintegration has a profound effect on the learning of
children. Economic aid has fostered more dependency.
But more importantly now, the future of the planet
itself is in question. We are affected by disasters in the
Amazonian rainforests, by carbon-dioxide emmisions in
all the industrialized countries, by damage to the ocean
and depletion of fish stocks. Natives here have taken
responsibility for trying to control this damage.
World leaders, such as those at the Earth Summit in
Rio De Janiero recently, are asking for Native input. The
West is finally beginning to realize that traditional Native
teachings about respect for the land are valuable, and
that Natives must be consulted if global disintegration is
to stop. Canada's Maurice Strong was Chairman of the
Summit: He acknowledged the need for the West to
listen to all Aboriginal peoples, and stated that the first
world must transfer power to the third; "...(the resultant
changes in our lifestyles) represent an advance to what I
call sophisticated modesty... "We are on a pathway that
will certainly lead to disaster...we must start a new
track...I hope we will be here in 20 years to say that we
took that track..."
In Canada, our concerns are all now related to the
way of the world outside: Mordecai Richler points out that
the "wasting tribal quarrel between the English and the
French" will eventually be laid to rest, but perhaps not by
the parties involved: Within 20 or 30 years, the majority
of Canadians will be of neither extraction, and they are
getting tired of all the bickering. (101) The majority of
Canadians will represent the world; they have come here
as a last island of escape, but the Native peoples who
meet them here will remind them of their link to the world
and each other.
Western classical music in the 20th century has
largely been the music of distress: Atonalism,
discordance and angst seem to be the modern
soundscape, drawn from the clash of industrial cities and
people's alienation from the natural world and
themselves. In a 1990 article called "Rhythm, Myth And
Spirit" in the Canadian Folk Music Journal, David Pulak
wrote:
"The failure to reduce reason (physics) to the level of
aesthetics directly exemplifies the fragmentation that has
occured in the Western imagination. To be sure the
evolutionary split between object and subject carries survival
value, permitting manipulation of the environment. But there
are limits." At least since the Industrial Revolution, "the West
has been in perpetual crises." (34)
This is helps to explain the anger in contemporary
music, be it classical, pop or rock. Musics of the Seventh
Fire address this problem, through the Native worldview.
Paula Gunn Allen says that:
In English, one can divide the universe into two parts: the
natural and the supernatural. Humanity has no real part in
either, being neither animal nor spirit...This necessarily forces
English-speaking people into a position of alienation from the
world they live in. Such isolation is entirely foreign to American
Indian thought. At base, every story, every song, every
ceremony tells the Indian that each creature is part of a living
whole and that all parts of that whole are related to one
another by virtue of their participation in the whole of
being...The natural state of existence is whole. Thus healing
chants and ceremonies emphasize restoration of wholeness,
for disease is a condition of division and separation from the
harmony of the whole. (60)
-----------------------------------------
I know that this will bring both criticism and and added perspective.
My background is Irish/French/Mohawk, and I was raised as a white
person, so I don't claim to speak from traditional Native perspective. I
am just beginning to be exposed to the teachings of the Iroquois,
Anishnabe and others. I appreciate any comments...
I would like to add here that Sherry has undertaken her own research
of the 7TH Fire, under the direction of an Elder. My thesis is my own
statement... I hope that it can grow with help from others in the
circle.
The second question concerns some sacred bundles. I have a friend who
works at the Museum of Civilization here (our national museum), and she
came across a large list of bundles held in storage by the museum. There
are perhaps 100 sacred bundles described, some with pictures, but right
now all I have is hard copy (paper) documentation. I will try to get the
files downloaded from the museum on computer so I can get them to the
appropriate parties - I mean Elders who have responsibility for this...
many of these sacred bundles are from Minnesota. If you need more
information on these files, please contact me personally.
Nya weh,
Mike