Bozho and Greetings, Dreamers and Vision Questers,
In four days one's life can be changed through a personal, dedicated Vision Quest Ceremony.
Water was one of the first elements that the Creator 'breathed life' into what would become the first, most beautiful and enduring of Mother Earth's gifts, followed by light and fire. These gifts became the cultural foundations of many creation stories and the framework of the medicine wheel. Earth, air, fire and water emanating from an enduringly vital center point ... with which we are all invited to discover and perhaps to occupy ... a point which some would view as a 'sacred flowering tree'.
As in so many internal 'creation stories', there may be an unpredictable combination of past, present and future ... gently known as the 'eternal present'. These elements may appear in the personal gardens we then plant, tend, water, weed and harvest as 'farmers of our lives'. A good vision quest can have a long life. Perhaps as long as the four seasons it takes our mother earth to cycle through ... then again as short as 24 hours or ... four days.
We are the 'vision quest farmers' of our lives. We water the inner gardens and fields with our sacred blood, sweat and tears. Ahh.
Harvest is both a new beginning and renewal. This or any season's seed harvest carries both an ancient provenance and an unpredictable performance for which we must be prepared, for the vision quest is a mystery tour with we see or must be prepared to see 'something that is not yet known'. The Seeds of new life for the plant beings also follow their original instructions and move with 'choice as a sacred choice'.
We pray for our walks to be fused with bravery, courage, forgiveness, loyalty, love and endurance ... for these walks and powers to be with us ... on each, every and all of these, our most sacred and precious life journeys ... nourished by these teachings of the Seven Grandfathers which have guided, encouraged and taught us the 'good ways' to live, from a long time back ... now and forever more, all ways, all days ... Creator, Grandmother, Grandfather and all of the others, named and unnamed, known and unknown ... we offer gratitude for all of the gifts. Chi migwech, wewene chi migwech. Thank you.
AHO! Bama mine, Dawn Woman Citizen Potawatomi Nation
This season, being one of balance between the solstices, brings us the opportunity to gather in social ceremony to honor our root chakra and internal balances, and to invite in its companion energy of harmony. Our internal balances mirror the external balances in many of the things we say, think, do and feel. Honoring the Medicine Wheel Teachings allows us to remember this ancient WAY by which we may continue to move in conscious fine attunement, discover new aspects and restore balances when and where needed, forged or requested from Spirit, Sekmekwe Mine Gizes ... our Mother Earth and our Father Sky-Sun ...
This is a balance time. A time to move in beauty from our focused center in a physical way, that our teachings may be unique, dynamic and personal ... beginning in the center, moving out and back into an evolved center. The great mystery will unfold for each of us in a way that is compatible with our personal frequencies. Drum a little if you get the chance and have a light feasting meal with water for a conclusion.
I look forward to hearing from many of you. We need one another more than ever, at this time. Let us gather and move on our beauty path together.
Bama mine,
Dawn Woman
Above is an example of a small, single wall honeysuckle basket from a Brittany Cuevas workshop at the Longhouse. The basket (gokbenagen) was later decorated with red and white buffalo hair yarn.
Excerpts from 'Spirit Talk': The animals often associated with [the West direction] are the bear and the deer. However, many people find that personal affinities with each of the directions may reveal themselves differently in time … Personal colors and animals may be added alongside the universal [Medicine Wheel] motifs, as contacts, experience, familiarity, and intuition accrues with the seasons … [West] is a direction of deep return and recognition. The west receives us in our mysterious entirety … links the physical plane—west, with the mental plane—east … With the arrival of Autumn, we reach a culmination of medicines and seasons. Our harvests, the time of gathering and picking is among the most mysterious, gathering these secretive and familial beings, the beings of seed. We can join our essences with theirs—our dualities, singularities, multiplicities, and universalities, unique and connected upon all directions of the Medicine Wheel, but especially the direction of the west in the autumn, twilight of the year.
This season, being one of balance between the solstices, brings us the opportunity to gather in social ceremony to honor our root chakra and internal balances, and to invite in its companion energy of harmony. Our internal balances mirror the external balances in many of the things we say, think, do and feel. Honoring the Medicine Wheel Teachings allows us to remember this ancient WAY by which we may continue to move in conscious fine attunement, discover new aspects and restore balances when and where needed, forged or requested from Spirit, Sekmekwe Mine Gizes ... our Mother Earth and our Father Sky-Sun ...
This is a balance time. A time to move in beauty from our focused center in a physical way, that our teachings may be unique, dynamic and personal ... beginning in the center, moving out and back into an evolved center. The great mystery will unfold for each of us in a way that is compatible with our personal frequencies. Drum a little if you get the chance and have a light feasting meal with water for a conclusion.
I look forward to hearing from many of you. We need one another more than ever, at this time. Let us gather and move on our beauty path together.
Bama mine,
Dawn Woman
Above is an example of a small, single wall honeysuckle basket from a Brittany Cuevas workshop at the Longhouse. The basket (gokbenagen) was later decorated with red and white buffalo hair yarn.
Excerpts from 'Spirit Talk': The animals often associated with [the West direction] are the bear and the deer. However, many people find that personal affinities with each of the directions may reveal themselves differently in time … Personal colors and animals may be added alongside the universal [Medicine Wheel] motifs, as contacts, experience, familiarity, and intuition accrues with the seasons … [West] is a direction of deep return and recognition. The west receives us in our mysterious entirety … links the physical plane—west, with the mental plane—east … With the arrival of Autumn, we reach a culmination of medicines and seasons. Our harvests, the time of gathering and picking is among the most mysterious, gathering these secretive and familial beings, the beings of seed. We can join our essences with theirs—our dualities, singularities, multiplicities, and universalities, unique and connected upon all directions of the Medicine Wheel, but especially the direction of the west in the autumn, twilight of the year.
Let us sit beside our inner fires, warm ourselves and listen to the heartbeat
and song of Sekmekwe - Heart Beat of the Mother Earth.
-- Dawn Woman
Meaningful Teachings of the Drum
As First Nation’s People, we have always been told that the first drum beat we hear, is when we are inside our mother. That drumbeat we hear is known as the heart of our mom. In cultures all over the world, there is known to be a drum that is significant to them.
Drums have always been a part of human life since the beginning and have great importance in First Nation culture. There are many stories as to how the drum came to be but for now, we will focus on just a few for today.
Bozho and Greetings, Dreamers and Vision Questers,
In four days one's life can be changed through a personal, dedicated Vision Quest Ceremony.
Water was one of the first elements that the Creator 'breathed life' into what would become the first, most beautiful and enduring of Mother Earth's gifts, followed by light and fire. These gifts became the cultural foundations of many creation stories and the framework of the medicine wheel. Earth, air, fire and water emanating from an enduringly vital center point ... with which we are all invited to discover and perhaps to occupy ... a point which some would view as a 'sacred flowering tree'.
As in so many internal 'creation stories', there may be an unpredictable combination of past, present and future ... gently known as the 'eternal present'. These elements may appear in the personal gardens we then plant, tend, water, weed and harvest as 'farmers of our lives'. A good vision quest can have a long life. Perhaps as long as the four seasons it takes our mother earth to cycle through ... then again as short as 24 hours or ... four days.
We are the 'vision quest farmers' of our lives. We water the inner gardens and fields with our sacred blood, sweat and tears. Ahh.
Harvest is both a new beginning and renewal. This or any season's seed harvest carries both an ancient provenance and an unpredictable performance for which we must be prepared, for the vision quest is a mystery tour with we see or must be prepared to see 'something that is not yet known'. The Seeds of new life for the plant beings also follow their original instructions and move with 'choice as a sacred choice'.
We pray for our walks to be fused with bravery, courage, forgiveness, loyalty, love and endurance ... for these walks and powers to be with us ... on each, every and all of these, our most sacred and precious life journeys ... nourished by these teachings of the Seven Grandfathers which have guided, encouraged and taught us the 'good ways' to live, from a long time back ... now and forever more, all ways, all days ... Creator, Grandmother, Grandfather and all of the others, named and unnamed, known and unknown ... we offer gratitude for all of the gifts. Chi migwech, wewene chi migwech. Thank you.
AHO! Bama mine, Dawn Woman Citizen Potawatomi Nation
This season, being one of balance between the solstices, brings us the opportunity to gather in social ceremony to honor our root chakra and internal balances, and to invite in its companion energy of harmony. Our internal balances mirror the external balances in many of the things we say, think, do and feel. Honoring the Medicine Wheel Teachings allows us to remember this ancient WAY by which we may continue to move in conscious fine attunement, discover new aspects and restore balances when and where needed, forged or requested from Spirit, Sekmekwe Mine Gizes ... our Mother Earth and our Father Sky-Sun ...
This is a balance time. A time to move in beauty from our focused center in a physical way, that our teachings may be unique, dynamic and personal ... beginning in the center, moving out and back into an evolved center. The great mystery will unfold for each of us in a way that is compatible with our personal frequencies. Drum a little if you get the chance and have a light feasting meal with water for a conclusion.
I look forward to hearing from many of you. We need one another more than ever, at this time. Let us gather and move on our beauty path together.
Bama mine,
Dawn Woman
Above is an example of a small, single wall honeysuckle basket from a Brittany Cuevas workshop at the Longhouse. The basket (gokbenagen) was later decorated with red and white buffalo hair yarn.
Potawatomi artist Minisa Crumbo Halsey leaned into her creative side by painting and writing during the 2020 pandemic and lockdown. One of her paintings explores traditional star knowledge. It is a subject she shared with the community during an April 3, 2024, presentation at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center.
Pondésé Nëgos, or Winter Maker, focuses on the constellation known as Orion’s Belt. Pondésé Nëgos is most visible in the night sky during winter in the northern hemisphere, from January to April. The painting features a boy and girl in traditional clothing, standing by the Canadian River under the Tree of Life.
The constellation was named Orion’s Belt in the second century by astronomer Ptolemy, but its origins are even older to the Potawatomi. Unlike constellations named for Greek myths, Potawatomi constellations describe seasonal activities, such as the time when wild rice is harvested or the approach of spring.
As an artist, Crumbo Halsey hopes the painting will encourage Potawatomi to embrace the traditional star knowledge Nishnabé people have relied upon for hundreds of years.
Crumbo Halsey said as a child she observed the stars while her father pointed out the locations of the morning star, the evening star, the North Star and more.
“These are the first things that he began pointing out that I knew had importance, enough for him to point out and give me a teaching on,” she said. “That (taught me) I could follow my inner spirit of willingness and enthusiasm to learn and be connected with the mother earth and the father sky, sun and the Creator, which is the first, most beautiful and enduring gifts that the Creator gave us.”
Stars and origin stories
Stars represent the origins of the Potawatomi people.
“When we talk about the stars, we’re talking about origin,” Crumbo Halsey said. “We are people that are lowered down from the stars. The Seven Sisters, the stones that were lowered down from the sky people and the star people became the teachings for the stones that go into the sweat lodge ceremony. That’s one of the things that makes it so powerful is that they represent us and our star ascent or descent.”
Star stories may also answer questions about the afterlife.
“One of the reasons that we get a (Potawatomi) name, aside from it being our true identity that we live and work and grow in, is that when we walk on, the ancestors know how to call. They know what our name is, and they can call us on home. And we begin that journey to return to the stars,” she said.
“The star beings include not only where we came from, but the very, very deep and profoundly beautiful medicine of traditional teachings. Like, ‘Where do we go when we walk on?’ Well, we have a teaching on that.”
Crumbo Halsey said Indigenous societies all over the world have lived in regard to the stars, to know when to plant, when to harvest, when to prepare for seasonal changes and more. Constellation stories are tied to the Potawatomi way of life and relationships to nature.
“There are specific stars that will appear in the spring. One of them is the crane constellation that appears specifically between spring and fall,” she said. “The crane guides the geese going north, and they fly right under that constellation. And in the fall, when they migrate south, you can look up and they’ll be under the constellation of the crane.”
Potawatomi artist Minisa Crumbo Halsey gives a presentation on traditional star knowledge teachings at the CPN Cultural Heritage Center in April 2024.
The story of the sucker fish moon represents an important sacrifice.
“Up in the north country, sucker fish appeared in March. They have a moon named after them because at the end of the winter season, the game was scarce, and people were hungry. A fisherman went out and cut a hole in the ice. The sucker fish spoke and said some of us are going to sacrifice ourselves for you, because we know that you’re hungry. They allowed some of them to be caught and they lived. We always remember the sacrifice,” Crumbo Halsey said.
Stars also hold importance when it comes to the Seven Grandfather Teachings.
“The Seven Grandfather Teachings are love, respect, bravery, honesty, wisdom, truth and humility. It is from these things, the star story and these Seven Grandfather teachings, that we come to know more about ourselves and define ourselves and our connection and relationship to all living things in a good way.”
Resources
Crumbo Halsey said there are several books available that offer more information. She recommends the works of the late Jim Thunder, a well-known Forest County Potawatomi elder, Nishinawbe Aski First Nation author Joseph Ogimaawab Sutherland and more. Many titles are available on Amazon or through tribal retailers.
“Amazon has several titles that deal with star stories and ‘creation myths.’ I don’t like the word ‘myth’ because it indicates there are questions about the validity of the story. I prefer ‘creation stories,’ but it will be under ‘myths’ on Amazon,” she said.
Combined with a smartphone app called Star Guide, Crumbo Halsey said the knowledge can be shared all year long.
“With Sky Guide, you can take the cell phone up in the night sky and point it to any star in the night sky, and the message will come up about what constellation we’re looking at,” she said.
She recommends using the Star Guide app in conjunction with the Star Chart created by Kyle Malott of the Pokagon Band Potawatomi. Malott’s chart features traditional Anishnabé constellations and their names. Access the Star Chart online at cpn.news/starchart.
Reclaiming knowledge
Crumbo Halsey is eager to share what she has learned with the Potawatomi community. During the year, she will share her knowledge through a series of articles in the Hownikan.
She has an optimistic view of reclaiming traditional knowledge.
“Some of us have shame that we weren’t raised traditionally and don’t know these things. We feel like we can’t access it, or we won’t be able to understand it, or someone’s going to laugh at us, or we’re going to fail in our endeavor. But, if we go with the seven grandfather teachings, we are armed with a shield. We are armed with a shield of truth,” she said.
For more information about her art and books, visit Crumbo Halsey’s website.
