Creator's Calling

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW

CREATOR’S CALLING LESSONS SHARED BY CHIEF OGIMAA, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

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WHAT FOLLOWS IS A COLLECTION OF LESSONS SHARED BY CHIEF OGIMAA, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND. ‘CREATOR’S CALLING’ IS A COLUMN PUBLISHED IN AWARENOW MAGAZINE THAT WORKS TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CAUSES ONE STORY AT A TIME. CHIEF OGIMAA IS NOT ONLY A COLUMNIST BUT ALSO THE OFFICIAL AMBASSADOR FOR ‘THE HUMAN CAUSE’, REPRESENTING THAT WHICH TIES US ALL TOGETHER - THE UNIVERSAL THREAD TO WHICH WE’RE ALL BEAUTIFULLY TETHERED BY THE BALANCE OF LOVE AND LIGHT BESTOWED BY CREATOR. RECOGNIZING OUR EQUALITY IN THE ENERGY WE SHARE AND THE UNITY WE SEEK TO PRESERVE AND PERPETUATE, AWARENOW IS PROUD TO PUBLISH THE FOLLOWING TEACHINGS OF CHIEF OGIMAA. THE EXCERPTS THAT FOLLOW ARE (AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE) PULLED FROM THE PAGES OF AWARENOW MAGAZINE. WITH EACH NEW ISSUE A NEW VERSION OF THIS PUBLICATION WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE.

ALLIÉ MCGUIRE CO-FOUNDER OF AWARENESS TIES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF AWARENOW MAGAZINE WWW.IAMAWARWENOW.COM

There are no borders.

There was no division. It is all one world.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 4

AWARENOW / THE THANKS EDITION

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

CREATOR’S CALLING FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 1

Can’t miss this in 2020… It is a planet in reset.

Ancient wisdom and world views can shape our future by just understanding and believing. The way you see the world changes the way the world sees you. This is a gift for all. We are all connected… ‘All’ includes everything…everything. You are a piece of an intricate and beautiful design that is intended to last forever… but will it? Attention to spirit, soul and deep awareness of energies can let us save our planet and participate in a rich and rewarding mindfulness.

Flip the script. Ancient wisdom isn’t about understanding the past… It helps us live fully in the present and step, with wisdom into a positive collective future.

“The world is part of who we are, even though we’re in different parts of this world.”

I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), Jim, Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper from Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island.

I begin with words from my own language to say ‘hi’ to everybody. I’m introducing myself from here. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name. That means “leader” for people and environment here. So, I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island, but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive. (Note: includes North America) In this part of the world, Turtle Island, which is where I am today, in our language, is called ‘Kânata’, which became Canada. It is only part of the Turtle.

People used to live freely with their own governance, making nation to nation agreements. We recognize the spirit of the world and of the land. There are no borders. There was no division. It is all one world. This is how we believe today. The world is part of who we are, even though we’re in different parts of this world. The Great Spirit decides.

We are to depend on the Turtle to take care of us. The area that we are in matters because when it came to visitors from some other island we followed the Creator’s instructions. The Creator told our people, “When they come, you must be kind. You must be honest. You must look after each other; work together with one another, with respect to Spirit, and respect to the environment. This is part of the design of the world. So when they come, some other parts of my creation… to visit… treat them the same way - with respect. You must share with them .”

So, the visitors came from different parts of this world. We were already trading with each other nation to nation.

Names of places in our language became known as Mississippi, Michigan, Chicago.

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AWARENOW / THE THANKS EDITION

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We maintain the instructions from the Great Spirit. Some call him God. Some call him Creator. Whatever his name is, he gave us natural order of instructions. The Turtle is part of this world. There are different areas, different places, that people have to survive and maintain that connection to be part of this all. They have their own ways of worshiping the world and worshiping God. These are all connected to God himself.

All of Turtle Island was “Kânata”, clean land, no borders.

So, we were helping people that came, including Columbus. Back at 1492 and 93 we were recognized as Indians, because Columbus was lost. He was looking for a different Island. But things went wrong and things started happening to us. So, we were taking our beliefs, our instructions from God, the same God as in all different parts of the world… that was what we had. We wanted to protect those… so we ran.

I wasn’t there but my ancestors were.

We have our own way of archiving and our own archive… So then we kept running - running all over this Turtle to save the way we believed before anyone came to visit us… before we were in contact, before Columbus or anybody else.

We know we are part of it all. We still know that today. We respect the spirit of the land, the spirit of the people all over the world. We still respect the environment and the way our people receive instructions from God. So, we continue today. We maintain our culture.

We kept running - running with our beliefs… our spiritual ways. It is tied to the environment… tied to the water….water in the air… SPIRIT.

“Recently, we stopped running.”

THE MIND HAS A SPIRIT ENVIRONMENT AND ECOSYSTEM HAS SPIRIT, JUST LIKE ANYBODY. AS HUMANS, WE HAVE A SOUL. WE HAVE A SPIRIT. We are all part of creation with the sun. Despite day and night, we are not going to know what to change.

Every one of us has spirit and soul. That’s what we wanted to maintain… that education that comes with survival and how to respect the environment, because environment has soul. That is why we look after the water and the spirit in the land. We call it ‘Mother’, because we are part of the land and all of the environment. (Note: every ecosystem ) So our people ran and ran with Creator’s instructions and education… knowing everything is spirit in our beliefs. It is already connected with science because the spirit is part of science.

We are here in this part of the world.

They call myself … ‘the Runner.’

Recently, we stopped running. The visitors here said we were not civilized, but that is why they were able to survive.

When they first came, we saved that connection. Running and protecting runners meant not to be part of residential schools (Note: Imposition of European Culture). Many things happened to us. I do not want to go into details of what has happened.

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“Each has a special and interconnected role. If we do not, there will not be survival.”

I’m pretty sure this happened in different parts of this world. So there were runners and we maintained our education.

We followed Creator’s instructions. We welcomed our brothers and sisters. We gave them clothing and the natural medicines that we have here.

Like I said, we were civilized. We were able to survive this.

Later on we made Treaties. In 1613 with the Dutch, and more with the British in the 1700’s which has became the Royal Proclamation of 1763-64.

God has said, “ You respect creation. You must treat each other with respect. You must talk to each other. You must learn from each other. Everything I have created… you are part of that creation. So you must treat each other the same. Share that. Everybody is environment.”

God is patient, so in this part of the world we shared with our brothers and sisters from different parts of the world. We are all still part of environment. We want all our children, our future generations, our grandchildren and great grandchildren to be able to see things that we enjoy ourselves… like the butterflies, the birds, the water and the glaciers we see now. The environment has Spirit, this Spirit of this world, and we are part of environment. Air, water, mind, spirit. They have to be taken care of with the education we saved… We call this land based education, here today.

We must take care of the spirits of the world. God’s creation was intended to be here forever. We must look after the spirits of the environment, every ecosystem, the people and the world or it will not survive. We need to be aware and take care of the spirit of the glaciers, water, air and natural helpers (Note: all animals and plants). Each has a special and interconnected role. If we do not, there will not be survival.

Thank you. ∎

Edited by: Shenna Frencheater Recorded and Submitted by: K. Kiss Notes have been inserted to provide context and are bracketed. Every effort has been made to transcribe precisely the teaching of this ‘knowledge keeper’. This is based on ancient and protected knowledge. There are knowledge keepers who preserve the knowledge of the first people, however, this knowledge keeper has the designation as ‘leader’. He is from a linage of runners whose purpose is to preserve and teach ancient understandings without European influence in the formative years. His education is only through the ways of the first people’s education structure. “Madawin” (the teaching lodges): His education could only be achieved, after first contact, by shielding the child from other world views and education delivered in only traditional ways. His knowledge can be seen as critical to life on this planet.

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AWARENOW / THE THANKS EDITION

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We don't just take and walk away. We need to put things back to heal themselves.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 8

AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

CREATOR’S CALLING FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 2

What follows are words as recorded and told to Kathy Kiss and edited by Sheena Frencheater.

I'm honored and happy to share a view of our connection… and our relationship to the world (Maa-moo-nii-kaanan).

Wherever we are in this world, land is soil. There are trees, and the sun, moon, and stars. Sometimes they are hard to see. This means that we are terribly exhausting the land. It is very sad that pollution is going up to the sky, into the air.

It is hurting the environment, the ozone layer. The land is starting to heat up. Each year of heating up it melts the glaciers.

Forever we have had glaciers in this part of the world, but we're sending things into the air that shouldn't be up there.

The ozone layer has a spirit, and a purpose, to take care of the world. If we destroy the ozone layer, all the glaciers will melt. Imagine if we don't have any ice or glaciers anymore.

The North is not too far from where I am on this part of the Turtle Island, in this part of the world. It is one of the places that have ice and glaciers. These are part of spirit, of God, of life. We call him Creator ourselves. He has put the glaciers there. The glaciers have a responsibility in this world, not only here but also for other islands. They are for every part of the world. The Glaciers here are the northern part of the world like the Amazon is in a different part.

Amazon has purpose. Amazon has life and not just part of spirit life. We all need spirit life. We all need these values, regardless of how we believe.

Some people don't believe there's God. Some people live their lives, just to be alive. But there's a lot of people all over the world who know there’s something up there.

I, myself, don't know what God is. Nobody has seen God. God could be a tree. God could be an animal. God could be water. God gave us everything that we need. He is everywhere. God gave us all a responsibility… and a right. I guess that's what we call ‘God given right’. A right to be, to survive, to bring children up and a responsibility to them.

All over the world, I think almost every minute, or every second, a child is born into this world. God has intended it to be like that. God has created a way that we are given the rights to our children, and a responsibility to take care of those children, not only the right to create them. God gave us everything that we need. God gave us the water that is life. Everyone needs water to come into this world, to grow in the mother and then to survive in the physical world.

Everything that we see here on earth, we inherited. We inherited the air - our daily breath. That’s why we must respect His creation. He gave us the ability to function. You just cannot turn it on, like an oxygen tank and turn it off whenever you please. He gave you the function and right for however long you are here on earth.

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“There is not only a physical side but also there's a spiritual side for everything.”

We are part of the creation. How can God deny us when we work with him? He already gave us the natural instructions, in the structure of the world. Right now I'm talking to you from this part of the world where it is 6:45 in the evening from Canada. It is 6:45 in the morning with the sun in some part of this world. That is the same sun that will set there and come up here tomorrow at 6:45 in the morning.

The same air, the same sun and the same water gives us life and a food source today. If we don't look after the world, these might be very scarce for the future generations. God has shown us a spiritual value structure. Whenever we take from the land, we must respect this.

Just like the wild flowers, they grow by themselves year after year with the soil, the water and the sun… this means the world is alive. The soil has a spirit. God created animals to look after the environment. The natural medicines, the natural plants, the flowers you see are medicines.

We still depend on those natural medicines. Before European contact that's all we had in this part of the world. I'm pretty sure it's also been part of this world in Africa and in the Amazon to use those natural medicines. That is what God has provided. So in this part of the world, here in Canada we maintain that and we still use the natural medicines.

It is not only us, but animals depend on those medicines too. We have bears, mountain sheep, caribou, and even mountain goats. They cannot go to a vet, when they're sick so they depend on those medicines, and these are all those natural workers that God has created. They all have a responsibility, like us.

In every part of the world, we must maintain the land. We don't just take and walk away. We need to put things back to heal themselves.

There is not only a physical side but also there's a spiritual side for everything. And we cannot change that, because that's God's creation. So we have a responsibility. We have a right. We have a right to listen to the natural order of instructions that God gave us. It was told to us as a structure. We always have a structure. This world is a puzzle.

There's a structure and everything is put together.

We live amongst others in different parts of this world. They have a responsibility too. They have a reason to live in a domain and that's why there are natural birthplaces. That's why there's migration areas.

We like to have our children know, or everybody's children to know where we fish or what we have in our farming areas. We like to pass that on to the next generation. We like to tell them where these spots are. We like to leave the legacy of things that we do… the things that are part of the world… It’s up to us to be caretakers of this world, but we cannot do it without the spirit.

We already see different parts of this world where things are happening. Things that never occur, are occurring, because there is no recognition of spirit. Spirit of the soil. Spirit of the trees. Spirits of the plants. Spirits of the animals.

Spirit of the whole ecosystem.

10 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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We look around and the buffalo and the thousand year old trees are gone. They had a responsibility. We have started taking out the natural workers that God intended to have here. As a consequence, other things start to occur in the environment. You're going to be sick a lot. It is going to be so that you cannot even drink that water. This means the water, and the plants and the animals are without the minerals of the water. Everything is going to be sick.

Today, we wonder why in different parts of this world, we're facing natural disasters. It is because we're not doing that spiritual work we are supposed to be doing because we do not recognize the spirit of this world, in the land, everything. We must come together and recognize to help Mother Earth to heal. Because we are part of the physical AND spirit world. We are human, we are part of everything that is here in this world and we rely on it. We are all spiritual beings created by Creator himself.

All things come together like a puzzle. It is Creator’s law. We cannot go around that law. So many people pass to the spirit world. Some of us call it heaven. We have people who have physical and spiritual lives. That is why we have people to pray for us.

So, thank you for listening to me. And I hope we can come together to heal the Earth, wherever we may be because our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren and yet to be born need to know the best things of this world.

We need to think about their future. Not just think about ourselves today and tomorrow or into 10 years from now, but into the seven generations future. Thank you.

I hope that people who are reading this have an open mind, because it is about Creator, spirit, and the environment… all the environment - including the human beings.

Thank you.

(Miigwetch.) ∎

Notes: The whole of creation is seen as an interconnected structure or interlocking puzzle. Every piece is of equal importance… having the right to exist and the responsibility to hold its place as a worker in this physically and spiritually living creation. It is beautifully ordered and perfectly interdependent.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

11 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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Without the spirit, nothing will grow.

Nothing will ever heal.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 12 AWARENOW / THE HUMAN EDITION

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

CREATOR’S CALLING FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 3

Once again, I'm talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America). The Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay) which means leader of the sky. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit. That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island. We had everything that’s part of the Spirit.

Sometimes we need to help ourselves with that spirit. We are not only physical. When we take something from the land, like food, we need to acknowledge the spirit. That's why we used to have pot-latches or call feasts (an invitation open for all on the physical or spiritual side to be together), for all the spirits including who people call Creator or some people call God. He provided everything that we need here… just like in other parts of this world, there is a food source.

Everything that we take from the land grows from the land because we need it. Everything that God has provided for us is what we need. It wasn't created by a machine. It's created by God Himself. In order for us to have that well being, we need to take care of the Spirit. Some people call it a soul. But everything out there has a soul, has a spirit, like us. We need to acknowledge that spirit. Anything that's moving, everything that's growing, everything that’s alive has to be respected because life has spirit, not only the physical.

There is spirit to grow food. I need that. I need soil. But I'm going to acknowledge that soil, because soil has spirit.

Some people might call it a soul.

Sometimes we need to fall back to that soul. Sometimes we need to fall back to that spirit, because the physical cannot provide everything that we need. I guess that's what they call ‘well being’ which is a good life, because everything is good in it. It needs spirit. It needs to be physical. It needs a soul and human… two together.

We cannot go wrong because God has given us everything that we need. Sometimes when we take something for granted by not giving back, by not respecting the spirit, it could be a soul - somebody's soul. Sometimes we cannot help ourselves, but we need that spirit and the physical to guide us so our own source comes from life and provides energy… spirit energy.

Without the spirit, nothing will grow. Nothing will ever heal.

Spirit will take care of you. Spirit will guide you. Spirit will protect you. Spirit will prevent things that may come at you.

Spirit will get you to succeed with well being and there is a physical side.

13 AWARENOW / THE HUMAN EDITION

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“While we are here physically, why not respect the spirit?”

We are people. We are a part of the creation. It is up to us to decide what we're going to believe. This is why God gave us free will. We decide. He provides everything that we need. What if that’s water? We need that water. Water gives you life. Water grows things.

We are all here in this world, wherever we are, because of spirit and God himself has provided everything that we need… the physical side and the spiritual side. Everything that we need that comes from spirit. So if you look at the soil, some people might just see dirt or soil, but we all come from that creation. We all come from that soil, whether physical or spirit. That's why things grow.

14 AWARENOW / THE HUMAN EDITION

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If you plant corn, or strawberries, or maybe a cherry tree… or maybe potatoes… Spirit will do what Creator has intended to do because he created it for us.

Sometimes we need to think about the physical and the spiritual side of things, because everything has maintained itself on its own for thousands of years. It was for us because God has provided that spirit for everything that we need.

I think that’s well being. The physical and the spiritual together. It is part of the environment, the air, the water, the sun, the energy. We are part of that!

We need to respect and acknowledge that spirit when some are using too much without acknowledging the spirit. This can get us sick because we don’t maintain the spirit. We take, which is the physical side, but we don’t acknowledge spirit… This is why pot-latch happened for sharing the food and eating with spirit. Some of us might not believe the spirit never dies, but the spirit continues to live, which is afterlife.

While we are here physically, why not respect the spirit? It is part of the foods we eat and how I maintain my life, respecting the spirit. What I mean by that is not only at the table, but when I take something from the land I respect the spirit. I share with the spirit and if we do that we are not only healing ourselves but the world, the land.

We call this Mother Earth because she is alive. She can grow things like humans grow people - children. She is no different. She is our mother. She grows different things in different parts of the world…

Everything I just talked about… is Gods creation. There is God. There is Creator. He created everything that we need, and I think that is well being. If we take care of everything, we are given what is needed. It’s always going to be there, not for us to take for granted but to live a good life and have well being and for our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren and yet to be born.

I think we must take care of the spirit, so those people can maintain the connection. Those children that come to be born are part of our spiritual ways. We need them to know to respect spirit and the physical. We need to look at that part of spirit life. Humans and Spirit and Soul.

Mii’gwetch (“Thank you” in my language.) ∎

Respectfully recorded and submitted by Kathy Kiss

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

15 AWARENOW / THE HUMAN EDITION

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Our soul is connected within our bodies, but it is part of everything in this world. It's part of the environment.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 16 AWARENOW / THE HEART EDITION

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

CREATOR’S CALLING FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 4

Once again, I'm talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America). The Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), which means leader of the sky. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit. That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world - Turtle Island. We had everything that’s part of the Spirit.

I like to introduce myself, addressing myself, in the language that I was given, in this part of the world called Turtle Island. There is no English word to what I was saying about my clan, about myself being part of this world, or saying what I get from this great land and the world. I'm introducing myself as a leader and my governance at this time, that's part of this world, I call Turtle Island.

Creator, God, created everything that we enjoy today.

I follow the structure, natural order of everything, as the way it was meant to be. Today, I will talk about what I said in my language. I want to talk about what we are given. Because the creator knew what we were going to need and everything about us. Everything that we need is provided for us. We need to be on this land. We need to be in this world.

Everybody's part of this in the world. There are other islands like the Turtle Island and this place is known now all over the world as Canada. But the word is Kânata in our language meaning ‘clean land’.

Today I want to talk a little bit about how we're connected to everything, and the value for everyone.

We must all value water.

In this part of the Turtle, there’s mountains, and those mountains have symbols. God wrote those symbols himself, because of the first people of this land. They’re part of who we are. It is part of our own identity. Imagine if you understand that and your connection to that land. You will know the spirit of that land, and of those places… the things that were put there... that have life and also spirit. Spirit in order for things to grow… in order for things to live.

It all has to have a spirit, like us as a human... a physical human being. We have a physical life. We also have a spirit life, what we call our soul. Our soul is connected within our bodies, but it is part of everything in this world. It's part of the environment.

One of the spiritual connections is to the land and to the water that comes from the mountains, the mountains that I talk about. Those mountains have symbols looking like a human being because it is about life… Because it is about us - spirit.

When you go to the mountains… there is snow and it doesn't matter how late in the summertime. There's snow up there in the mountains. Glaciers are in the mountains. There's one part here we call Columbia Icefields. There are so many other glaciers that are in the mountains here and in other parts of the world.

17 AWARENOW / THE HEART EDITION

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“We must be kind to that spirit in those mountains that the good water is coming from.”

Water comes from those glaciers, because mountains have a spiritual responsibility to look after the water and look after the ice migration. At the same time to cool this beautiful earth of ours and keep it cooling down. Then there are the four elements of seasons, that all have a purpose. This is natural and the way God intended it to be, so that water is part of it.

Water has a purpose. It has the spirit. It has life. It is needed for everything to grow and regenerate life. You are given everything that you need through water. Creator, God, made sure to take care of us. We must take care of the spirit at the same time.

The glaciers that are in the mountains are not just ice but there is a purpose for it. Those symbols that are there because there are spirits that take care of that part of responsibility for us. It is our responsibility to respect. We must be kind to those mountains. We must be respectful to those mountains. We must be respectful to that spirit that looks after that water in those glaciers and takes care of the water that flows from a mountain… ice cold water… that goes all over the world. There’s way more than that… that's one part of this world.

There's mountains as symbols of faces and Creator put those things there for a purpose. Creator has put spirits there for a purpose. God himself put those there and there are different parts of this, or they're in different places.

However, you need that water. The plants need that water. Animals need that water. Human beings need that water.

Future generation, they're going to need food. Our food source needs that water. Potatoes, corn, barley and anything we plan on growing. The spirit is needed to grow. We’re a part of that. It’s very important that we respect that. That's why we must think of the spirits. Everything that we rely on God has given us… to rely on today and tomorrow, and for every future generation. And that's a long time… into the future. We must respect that spirit at the same time.

We must be kind to that spirit in those mountains that the good water is coming from.

What if we destroy that spirit… or if we destroy the heart of those rivers, the glaciers, where they come out from those places? That's the heart of the spirit… that's the heart of that water, we enjoy today. They are there for a purpose, to take care of us and to take care of that water.

Like I said, nothing is going to grow without that water. I don't know how many percent of water in our bodies.

We look at the trees. The roots of those trees are rooted to the ground, and those trees need that water. That water goes into the air, to clean air. When you go to the mountains you feel the fresh air. Coming up on the mountains, coming out from the glaciers and coming out on the snow. It melts and it comes down this way. Those headwaters come from those mountains too and many humongous trees. They have a responsibility to the oxygen….as part of the water.

A tree doesn't grow or know life if it doesn't have a spirit. Everything that's alive has Spirit. We cannot grow anything without the water because they need it, like the animals that are out there, a deer, caribou, everything. That includes all plants that also have spirit and for some animals those are the only medicines that they have to function.

18 AWARENOW / THE HEART EDITION

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We need these plants too. They are symbols like the strawberry plant. If you look at it as a symbol of the heart, and it looks like a heart, you will know Creator put it there to connect our hearts to the environment, and it prepares us to stay connected. This has a big part in our lives and everything in the environment.

That water has a purpose all over the world. Everything needs water and it's heart is in those mountains.

Everything that we eat relies on the water. We must take care of it. Creator, gave us this responsibility to respect.

Respect the water. We don't go dump things into the ocean. We mustn't go dump anything into the rivers. I see if it's going to make the water stick. I see if it's going to destroy the Spirit. God put those things there for a purpose. Like the mountains. Why did he pile that rock, so high, that snow can always stay up there? It has a purpose for us. We must not go and destroy that spirit, that looks after the environment and looks after us.

Let's not think short term, and not think 5 to 10 years from now. Think longer... for our future generations so they can enjoy the things that we enjoy today. Because whatever happens to the water… whatever happens today, tomorrow… happens to man, to the food source, to everything. When the water is all contaminated… only then we’ll realize we're doing this to ourselves. We cannot blame anybody. We're doing it to ourselves, and we're doing it to our children, our future generation, our grandchildren... our great grandchildren... the ones that are not even born yet.

There are ways to work with and respect that spirit with protocol. Not only one side of protocol, there is our side of protocol which is the spirit side on the land we were put in. That is why there is one sun. One air. One human. We are all humans. We all have spirit. We all have soul. And we are all part of this world, part of this great land of ours, and Mother Earth. I’m at the Turtle Island, but these are things I think about. These are things we need to think about because whatever happens to the Anishinaabe, is going to happen to all of us. Everything we enjoy today is not going to be there if we don’t look after the water.

This is why it is important to understand the spiritual side of us, and the spiritual side of this world….the spirit of the mountains… the water… the foods we enjoy.

There are workers out there like farmers and fisherman that provide food for us. All crops, need water to grow the food to feed the people of the world. It has to have spirit to have life.

19 AWARENOW / THE HEART EDITION

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If we destroy a mountain, we destroy a spirit that is there to look after life, and the heart of the water. That’s a disaster. We already know Mother Earth needs us because she is alive. That is why things grow.

We have to think about that environment we are part of. We depend on the environment. We must take care of and respect the ecosystem… We must respect the spiritual gift we are given, and our own need to be human and spiritual people at the same time. That is why we have soul. That is the way God created everything and wrote those symbols.

Water… and life… and spirit are from those glaciers.

Thank you for listening.

Migwitch

Respectfully recorded by Kathy Kiss. Edited by Shenna Frencheater.

Notes: Creator is Calling. This is part of a series of lessons teaching ancient wisdom, preserved by a true knowledge keeper, who grew up and was educated only in the way of First People.

In this lesson, we are called to remember that we are physical and spiritual and interdependent with all of creation.

Consider mountains, trees, minerals, water and ice throughout the world. Water migrates… It moves without political boundaries. Consider the activities in mountains throughout the world… every extensive watershed and the interdependence needed for survival. It matters that we protect Mother Earth. ∎

Sleeping Indian Mountain near Jasper Alberta

Sleeping Indian Mountain near Jasper, Alberta Photo Credit: Shenna Frencheater

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

20 AWARENOW / THE HEART EDITION

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21 AWARENOW / THE INCLUSION EDITION

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As long as the sun rises...water flows and grass grows and there are people, we are together and so we must take care of each other.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 22 AWARENOW / THE INCLUSION EDITION

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGEKEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

CREATOR’S CALLING FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 5

Once again, I'm talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America). The Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay) …which means leader of the sky. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit.

That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island.

“We are all in one world together…when we were put in this world it does not matter who we are …or where we are… it is the same world, same water, same spirit, same environment...same people…put here by Creator.

It does not matter who you are or where you are, you are part of this one world and the world keeps us the same.”

Today I was thinking about how we are impacted by Covid but we are still here together. We are all as one, supporting each other, to be here, to be safe. All pulling together to get through these hard times.

I think Covid teaches us…it reminds us that we are all the same. It can happen anywhere in this world. It is not good but it is happening. It tells us we are all the same.

It reminds us.

“We are all spiritual people.”

Whether it is colored people, Asian people, white people, red or First Nation people…we were created by the Creator himself. It gives us that connection. We are all spiritual people, and we are all the physical people God or The Great Spirit has created, including everything else. It is all part of us. Everything is part of this Creation .

As long as the sun rises...water flows and grass grows and there are people, we are together and so we must take care of each other.

Respect one another...be a helping hand to another human being and the environment. She needs our help too.

Things that happen all over the world does impact us all…

What happens in this world, even if it is not in the island where you are, impacts the whole world in someway.

We hear about people getting sick…it makes us think. It makes us feel for other people, so it impacts us all.

I just want to say it is important to think about the spiritual connection to everything in this world…

23 AWARENOW / THE INCLUSION EDITION

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The butterflies appear in so many colors… They are part of us.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 24 AWARENOW / THE INCLUSION EDITION

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“…natural colors of the Creator.

They are part of us.”

Let’s not forget ‘future generations.’ They are part of us. They are spiritual children. They are spiritual human beings just as God intended us to be. We are always going to be connected. Let them enjoy the things we enjoy today.

The world is beautiful, and it has all that we need. It has a spirit, the future generation has a right to enjoy.

Imagine the environment...and the world for them.

The spring with the little tiny flowers and the cuteness of them when they come up. Even the tiny green grass and tiny trees start to grow. Green comes. Those babies start to grow. This is Creator’s creation. There is a spirit to that…as it was meant to be.

Then there is summer and trees are grown enough to be like teenagers. Lots of energy. It is very nice. Beautiful...tall grass and strong winds. There is-lots of energy...like teenage life. We get to live that life. We get to have the children...raise the children. (The young family time.)

In Turtle Island, the colors are changing and the children are grown up. It is adulthood...the beauty of nature changing into yellow, brown, red. What beautiful changes to go through as the colors change…. The butterflies appear in so many colors…some are yellow, green, spots, brown and white. Those are natural colors of the Creator. They are part of us.

We are spiritual beings. That spirit will always be there...we will always fall back to that spirit…We must care about each other as Creator intends.

God gave us these rights. They are God-given rights, to have, to raise and feed our children, and to decide how we are going to teach them. He has given all a right to be part of everything. He has given everything we need. We must remember that.

Do not treat anybody different. Do not leave anyone out, because we are the same. Do not keep anyone out because we must belong as God intended. Do not forget we are all the same. It doesn’t matter who you are. God gave us the right to be human beings. He gave different animals and birds the same right to be here. And the seeds I mentioned have a right to be here for the seasons.

So there’s those stages of life…in spring the babies…the little tiny things…everything is beautiful. Then we get into the teenage life. Then middle aged life. It is still beautiful. We have children and grandchildren. Then we start going into the winter, becoming elders, grandfathers, grandmothers. That is the natural order of everything and we are never going to go around that because this is from the Great Spirit that we are part of.

Today, when I think about the awakening we were given, like Covid, it makes us think about the people at all seasons because we are all human beings.

25 AWARENOW / THE INCLUSION EDITION

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Let's work together to teach our young people that because that’s important...that way we can respect each other… care about each other. That way they will know that what they need will always be there for them. The great spirit has put that there and we are part of it.

When we talk about flowers, grass and trees we are part of them; everything.

We still believe in that same spirit that people believe in all over the world. It is the same God, Creator, Great Spirit.

He made it so the land takes care of us. The things we need are still here today. We need to think about that…Those things are still here for us.

Think about the spirituality that is connected to all things.

He created us to be part of all things ……to be part of all those beautiful things. We are here to see that whatever happens…and however it happens…it impacts all of us…because we are all one!

“We are all in it…”

Whether it is colored people, Asian people, First Nations people wherever they are, and our white brothers and sisters; we are all together as creations of the spirit, Creator, God himself. He gave us one air, one sun, one moon, it is one day to be shared, one night to be shared. We are all in it. It doesn’t matter where you are, those values are there. We need to take care of the world, because we need the world to take care of us…

Everything we need is part of the spirit. It is part of the future generations, and it is very important to treat one another kindly because that is what God intended for us. We are to respect everything we were given in this world.

We are all human ……and the animals, the birds, the trees and everything is part of us.

It means a lot to me to think about the future generations. We have to think about them. We decide for them. Let’s enjoy the spiritual gifts we were given. Let’s appreciate them. Everything God has given us is a human right for us and for them…

Mii'gwetch This is ‘Thank you’ in my language. ∎ Respectfully recorded and submitted by Kathy Kiss OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledgekeeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

26 AWARENOW / THE INCLUSION EDITION

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27 AWARENOW / THE WORLD EDITION

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We are part of it.

We must look after it, because everything is alive.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 28 AWARENOW / THE WORLD EDITION

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ AN EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

CREATOR’S CALLING FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 6 Ahneen…

I just wanted to say in my language, “Hi! How are you ?”

Thank you for listening. Once again, I want to begin by thanking the Creator for what he has given us, in this world, and in this land. He has put us to be people of our own lands; wherever we may be. Wherever we may come from in this world, there is a place, a place that we all call our homeland. A place that He has connected us, to be comfortable; To feel that we belong with to. He has provided everything that we need by the energy, and the spirit of that energy. That is why we have a Spirit in our lives. Some people call it our soul. It is part of who we are as human beings.

In this world, wherever we may be….we are humans as God has given us that life. God, our Creator, created the world, and created everything that we're going to need, while we're here. In this part of the world, as I call it, Turtle Island, that's how I knew it was going to be before anybody came to visit me in my homeland.

What it is known now, later, way later, after people came to visit us in our homeland on Turtle Island, it came to be known as Canada and also the United States. There was no boundary when we knew it as Turtle Island, but today in 2021 there’s division… like a checker board. Before any of this happened, it was already known….. what this would look like.

We were put here to be humans with a responsibility to look after the land that Creator has provided for us…..to be here and be here as spiritual human beings. Because without the Spirit we won’t be able to function. We won’t be able to think. It is about the creation of the Creator, and what he did. He created “us”, in what he has created here.

We were included in that creation which is the world, which is the environment, and everything is alive.

Right about now in this part of the world, towards the end of this month we are going to see life come back. The human life, the animal life, the bird life, is always going to be moving. What I’m talking about is like the flowers, the bees that are coming to the green grass, which is part of the environment and part of the beautiful spiritual lifestyle we were given….. so the environment has a lot of connections to our well-being. We are part of it. We must look after it, because everything is alive.

Everything has spirit because that is how God intended it to be… as spirit….spirit of the land, spirit of the human being, spirit of the animals…..of the birds, of the fish. The spirit of the water because water gives life. Water creates spirit and growth, because it is part of spiritual life. She is alive. Mother Earth will make the flowers come to grow, green grass and your garden and all we need of the food source. They all have purpose in the environment, just like us….all of us.

Without the spirit, without the soil, without the air, without the sun, without the water, those things won’t grow.

So governance is in the spirit of the environment.

29 AWARENOW / THE WORLD EDITION

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All we have to do is follow the natural instructions.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 30 AWARENOW / THE WORLD EDITION

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Everything we see God gave us to see, to feel and to take care of each of us.

When I taste bad water I’m not going to want to drink it… but some of us and some of those animals have no choice if we destroy the water for them to drink. The animals like the moose, the deer and even the cattle drink it. The barley, the oats, even alfalfa needs water to grow. If water is destroyed, it is a big part of the environment. Nothing can survive if we destroy the water. The fish are not going to be there and those that are will have struggles because of contamination. Just like a fish tank if you don’t change the water right a way. If the waters get bad…what will it do to the land… If we don’t respect the spirit of everything that was given to us…so we have everything we need ….

We must not destroy the spirit because the spirit maintains the environment, and we are part of it.

We would not be able to walk…

We won’t be able to survive if these elements of the environment are destroyed. So we have to maintain that….to look after what was given to us to survive and to live in harmony with nature. We are part of creation; we are part of nature, we are part of the whole environment.

The spiritual connections…. the spiritual ties, like right now in 2021, there’s a lot to take care of….

There are water treatment plants out there. The plant cleans the water that might be contaminated. You can not go anywhere, or even to a well where you used to drink from today as the water may be contaminated. There are animals that don’t have a choice, like the cattle we raise, and the wildlife. They are going to get sick. All of us are a part of this.

Some of us still use spiritual beliefs that God gave us. He gave us free will. So it is my belief…it comes right from nature. I truly believe God’s instruction to worship him is according to how he created the world. Those instructions are directly from everything in the environment…from spirit, spirit of the water,…spirit of the sun. The sun has energy that’s why it gives life.

Everything we need is in the environment…the soil… the fish… the bees… the corn, the plants,…. All the food source.

Every living thing has spirit….and we are part of it!

So we must take care of the spirit, and the environment. The beautiful mountains are where the writings was put by the Creator - which is the structure of our education. It is a natural order of instructions of how to work with the Spirit, and how to work with everything put here with us. We need to step up and maintain that. We can not make something up because he already created things. All we have to do is follow the natural instructions, the way everything was already put together, and structured. All we have to do is work with it. We must be caretakers of the environment, of the land. It is up to us. It’s about the future generations so they can enjoy the beautiful natural colours and benefits of the environment that we are part of…

It is about us…we are part of everything..we must recognize the Spirit …the human spirit …the spirit of the land…the spirit of life…..so there is good life for the future generations.

Whatever we take from the land we must respect it and give proper protocol to Creator…about his creation…the environment, it is about ‘us’.

It is about the responsibility he gave to people…to women…to men…to everyone of us. We were created to be part of this. This includes the sun, the water , the air, the earth even the organs that grow with the land. This is how he put us together. God made Mothers to create us, and we have a spirit or what we call a soul. We can not just take and take from the environment that we are part of. We have to take care of it.

31 AWARENOW / THE WORLD EDITION

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Everything that keeps us alive today depends on the environment. And one thing I want to say is if we do not respect the spirit of the environment, nothing is going to turn out the way it was meant to be (providing everything we need).

We are going to depend on it to heal itself….but…we are part of it, so we have to help it heal…

What if we help to heal the world and to balance what we use and what we take…

Sometimes we take these things for granted, not putting things back and not respecting the environment… We must respect the spirit. We must respect what was gifted to us. We must respect our future generations so they can get to know what we enjoy today…

There’s all kinds of food source and economics whether it is from the coal industry, gas, or logging.

There’s people out there growing food… That is the other side that we must respect because it is putting food on the table. Let’s respect all of the environment. It all works together. Let’s not take it for granted and let’s not destroy it for future generations and for ourselves.

Miigwetch. (Thank you.)

Thank you for listening to me today. ∎ Respectfully recorded by Kathy Kiss Edited by Sheena Frencheater OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

32 AWARENOW / THE WORLD EDITION

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33 AWARENOW / THE MAYDAY EDITION

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That symbol looks like us.

When I put on my Chief hat, that symbol looks like me.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 34 AWARENOW / THE MAYDAY EDITION

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 7 Throughout the world there are honored, preserved and protected, historical and sacred sites. Consider this as you read Chief Ogimaa’s “Mayday Message” for sites on Turtle Island. The whole human family is called to respect and learn from the messages of Creator where ever these may be, for we are one with all creation. People can help with this by bringing pressure to governments and organizations. Creator is calling .

Once again, I’m talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America). The Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay)…. which means leader of the sky. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit.

That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island.

“I'm the last of those keepers of our connection to this land…”

When God created the world, He thought about everything that we need, for identity and to develop ourselves and look after everything that he has put together…. everything, like a puzzle. Think of different parts of this world; the Values God created in this one world that we're all in. There is a spirit…. there's a soul…it is Life. Life is on the land, there's life in the water. Life in the air and that includes everything that flies. Everything in God's creation. We need that spirit, because God created everything that we need. That’s how much he thought about us.

Like I always say, Cypress Hills is a sacred place.

When the creator worked he took this soil from Cypress Hills to create first people in this land. It is part of this one world, and it's part of the land, part of the Turtle Island. That wasn't by coincidence, that people were divided Creator intended it to be like that. People are part of creation, but not all together then…. but from different parts of this world.

However, first people at this part of the world need symbols. God must have known that in a future, someone was going to outlaw his creation… for his people, his land, places that he has created as part of this turtle. He has taken that soil, creating that spirit that became and what we call the Mother Earth today. We are created from this place and this particular location, as the First People of Turtle Island as we called it…. with no States or Canada…. no boundaries.

So, when creator made the world he created different places for humans to be. He created in special places for the first people here, like those other people in different parts of this world…. In Europe, Africa, China. There He created those people from that area.

35 AWARENOW / THE MAYDAY EDITION

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When we understand ourselves…we understand how we're connected to this land.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND Photo Credit: Georgialh 36 AWARENOW / THE MAYDAY EDITION

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“We must respect each other.

We must understand each other.”

Something that I know for sure is what God has written for me as a first people to this Turtle Island. He made people like me, first people and some people call us Aboriginal. Some people call us Indigenous or Indians. We are many…We are Annashinaabe, Cree or Dene’, Blackfoot, Blood, Stoney, Cherokee, Nakita, Mayan, Navajo, Chipawa, Souix, Apache, and so many more.

Let me tell you because I'm the last of those keepers of our connection to this land. I was one of the runners to protect our culture and protect our land; to protect our values, to protect our education, to protect our spirituality, and education structure, but I still teach today.

When God took that soil from Cypress Hills and that’s where all the organs come from. God has embedded those medicines in our body, God has taken that soil from Cyprus Hills and He wrote the symbols on the land that shows our sovereignty of this land. We are symbolic people.

First people of Turtle Island whose origin comes from Cypress Hills didn't come from somewhere else. We weren't given a chance to explain it, because things were outlawed for us. We couldn't explain ourselves. We could not protect where our own origin comes from….that sacred site. In this case, I would say, really highly sacred site… really, highly historical site, because it began the day when the Creator created this world, he created Cyprus, he created people from that soil, because they were supposed to be. That's where our own origin comes from.

If somebody were to ask me, “Can you prove that God has put you in this?”

“Yes, all you have to do is look at the symbols. And look at how many millions of us there used to be, and there's still a few of us who live in what we call Turtle Island. We're still here, because God intended us to be like we are. I think God made sure and wrote on this land. These are God's writings that people call symbols. Symbols are our writing from God, in this part of the world, that's where we come from.

No matter how much we've been studied, when we understand ourselves….we understand how we're connected to this land, because God has put us here. He made a symbol that we're part of this Turtle and part of the world like everybody else. Like what is now called Europe, Africa and Asia, and there are other islands. However, God has put us in this part of the world. Only first people can interpret Gods writing here because this has to be in the language from here, that I speak. European language comes from Europe. What comes from this part of the world tells us how to live and care for this world.

If somebody was to ask me, “Do you have a document that you're put here in this part?”

I would say, “All you have to do is look at Creators writing (symbols). He wrote these things…. so we started our own sharing, and we really highly respect that, because this is about humans. This is about people. It’s not only about us, it's about God's creation. So people start to make treaties; peace and friendship, even though we weren't fighting. We can be friends helping each other, the way we were intended to be as human beings. It is about caring for all families everywhere. Treaties told of family here, everywhere and was even understood by the British Royal family, who agreed to this importance. This is why different parts of this world there were treaties between first peoples and those from other islands.

37 AWARENOW / THE MAYDAY EDITION

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If things weren't prohibited back in 1800s, today, we would be living in a better world.

Today, we wouldn't have all these sicknesses. No matter if you are in different parts of this world. Things that occur when sicknesses come impact all over the world. That means we're no different than anybody else. I mean, we're all in this one world. And we must respect each other. We must understand each other. That's why in this part of the world…people of my own origin, and words, are the only ones that can explain our values and structures because no one knows us better than ourselves. That’s why people when they came to visit us….. we helped them to survive in this part of the world.

We are the land. We're part of this. When people leave this world, they go back to this soil, our home soil, where God has put us. We are not taken back to Europe or somewhere else. Our bodies are put back to where we were from.

We don't abandon that turtle. We don't go to some other Island. This Is Where we were created, we have always been. We can prove that we are here, because God has written that we we belong. So therefore we're from here… what we call Turtle Island before it's known as United States, Mexico or when it's known as Canada.

Today, I am worried that our own origin will be destroyed. Our future generations need their identity….. to know where they come from. God wrote this. Where we come from, we didn't make this up. God wrote it himself. I cannot give you any document, because God doesn't write documents. His symbols are on everything on the land…. on this Turtle.

Cypress Hills is written by God Himself. We didn't make that up. We didn't create that ourselves. Or the the symbols in the mountains…... No alien, came down here to come and create. God is not an alien. God is God. And he didn't use aliens to come and create people. He created them himself from the land that he has created. He created all of us with connections to that spirit world.

In Cypress Hills, in the past, our people used to gather there. There's all kinds of medicines. There's all kinds of ceremonial sites. People came from what is now called States, Mexico and Canada. There was no division at that time.

It is not only that there are a lot of places, in this Turtle Island, but also a lot of places in the world that he wrote. God wrote these things himself . We didn’t have big machinery to make these these symbols, and things in the mountains.

Cypress Hills has significance for First people in this part of the world. That symbol looks like us. When I put on my Chief hat, that symbol looks like me. We are the sovereign people because God has taken that soil from Cypress Hills, which is why the world needs to protect the spiritual, historical connection to these sites that God has put here.

Cypress Hills is one of them and my own origin comes from Cypress Hills.

And somebody might ask, “Why talk about it?” I'm writing to tell us about these special sacred sites.

But you know what, things were outlawed. Things were prohibited, for a long as time, because if we're going to talk about these cultural sacred sites, we must do a protocol to the Creator….to God. It takes a ceremony and what they call a spiritual ritual and this was prohibited. These were outlawed….

38 AWARENOW / THE MAYDAY EDITION

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“…help us to protect these sacred sites.”

So today, I am worried.

What God has written here in this area…. particularly around talking about Cypress Hills might be destroyed, because there is already an oil site and a road going into to the cultural sacred sites. They are now private property. They are not valued as Sacred… Only for money….So I'm asking the world… to protect this cultural sacred site. It should not be mined, drilled, farmed. It is from the hands of God for worship, ceremony, protocols and medicines.

Jesus was put in that cave. It was given some importance, and it’s protected. So no talks about how much it's worth or its value to the Creator, to God. We can not even access our cultural origin connection. (Cypress Hills) We can not even get close enough to point to it, or to go and worship in our own sacred site, where people were created from here, in what we call Turtle Island. People have been taken from there. It is surrounded by “No Trespass Private Property”.

It's one of the sites that I'm talking about. There's other symbols.

There's a lot of other sacred sites that are worried about. And like Australia, their sacred sites are not even being protected as we speak.

Here we're asking for all Aboriginal people of this world to help us to protect these sacred sites. Please help us protect our educational structures. Everyone out there, who reads this please help. We all have children, who should know these sacred sites and what they mean. We are part of one world, with one Creator. If they're destroyed……They will never know. There are many other sacred sites that I'm talking about protection for like Cypress Hills. That’s just one of those sites. There's other sites that are in Jasper National Park, or Banff National Park, Chief Mountain, Sweetgrass Mountain, Peterborough, Ontario Whiteshell Park and Black River Manitoba. There are many throughout Turtle Island and the other islands of the world.

These sites are like a puzzle…. Because it is a puzzle of education….it is a structure…. Sadly, our future generations might never know their own origin of this island. It is part of this one world, but in this time, I'm asking everyone to help us to protect culture and heritage, historical sacred sites Migretchs, because it means a lot.

And if we hold together…. Like the way God is intended to be we're like a structure.

We all have values. We all have children who should enjoy these cultural sites, and get to know what's there…. And then what's going to help them…..in this world. It is about the environment. It is about life. It is about spirit. It is about the future generation. Tomorrow, and then to the future. Thank you all. ∎

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

39 AWARENOW / THE MAYDAY EDITION

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We're not taking care of the land the way it's supposed to be taken care of. It is scary.

CHEIF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 40 AWARENOW / THE OUTSIDE EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 8 Once again, I’m talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America) the Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay)…. which means ‘leader of the sky’. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit.

That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island.

I am just introducing myself as a hereditary leader. This is how I understand the whole connection to everything. It is about the world, it is about US. There's different countries in this world, and there’s people…. children, women, men, elders, mothers, and grandparents. The world is about people, all one race, all one world. We are all in this world together, which makes us who we are, as humans of this world. Humans were given a responsibility to take care of the world because they are part of the world.

When we talk about safety, it’s not-only about putting a seatbelt on in that vehicle, it is about the whole world, which is why we need to look out, because we're part of the world. It is all about US. We're part of everything.

We all need to be safe.

There is drinking water that's not safe. That's not right. This is a safety issue. It's not about putting the seatbelt on, so you're safe in your vehicle. It's about the whole world. Whatever happens in this world is a safety issue, because we're not taking care of the land the way it's supposed to be taken care of. It is scary.

That's what a safety issue is for all of US… What are we doing to the world?

What are we doing to the water?

What are we doing to future generations?

What are we leaving?

What kind of legacy are we leaving for the future generations?

I know I'm not going to be here forever.

I have children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great great grandchildren to come….

Will they be safe with the water?

Are you gonna be safe in this world?

I think we need to look at this to address what has happened, with….COVID-19 and now variants. It used to be smallpox and used to be measles, and whooping cough but it was about US and it is still about US .

We need to take care of the land. It has taken care of us for thousands, if not millions of years. Not only in any one place but everybody around the world even the animals. The animals of the Amazon and the animals here in what is now called Canada….all animals drink water that is probably not safe to drink.

So when we talk about the ‘safety’ we need to talk about the ‘safety of the world’, because it is about US. It is about children. US is about grandchildren, our own grandchildren, our own great grandkids, and those yet to be born.

Look at what happened with Covid. It happened all over the world…. not only some parts of this world. We're still dealing with it today. Today, July 13, 2021, we're still worried about how we're going to be safe.

We tell each other… ”be safe”.

41 AWARENOW / THE OUTSIDE EDITION

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The world has a spirit life and a soul. We are alive in the same way.

CHEIF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 42 AWARENOW / THE OUTSIDE EDITION

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That’s good because it is all about safety. But I wish we could look at everything like that to ‘be safe’… even the water.

Animals that are drinking the water out there, is it safe?… The foods I'm going to be eating… are they safe? Even the safety of some of the plants that we use.

As we know, we need to take care of the land.

We need to take care of the environment, and that's about the world… and that's about US. God, or the Creator, gave US this world to be in, so the environment and the land will take care of US. That it has done, and has taken care of us for hundreds or thousands of years. If you walk in the forest, the food is there whether it is berries or mushrooms, or anything that Creator gives you there….. but it comes from the land. It comes from the world we live in.

The world, the land, has taken care of us for thousands of years.

We must take care of it because it is the safety of the world and those animals can be safe. We can be safe and drink the water from anywhere. We can be safe to eat fish or lobsters from anywhere. Right now, we don't know, while we're drinking water that's been put in treatment plants. Those animals and the fish don't have that luxury to drink from the water treatment plants. They drink some water that’s not safe, and that's in the whole world, not only here in Canada.

You know the world, the land, is alive. That is why the flowers and foods can grow, The food source that God has given us, we must appreciate. The world has a spirit life and a soul. We are alive in the same way.

Everything that we need is here in this in these different islands, that we may be in.

We can come together in parts from this world to provide the things we need because it is for US. We must appreciate that. We must take care of the environment to work and heal…. because if we don't it means we're not being safe.

We put that seatbelt on so we can be safe. We must think about the spirit. We must think about not only different races. There is only one race, the human race. And we are all humans. And our mothers were given that right, from God Himself to create a human. Every one of us…..we come through our mothers. This is human rights to me. So we have to decide for the future generations. Because it is about US… We must take care of US (all life that we are part of—everything). We must think about the next generations because it is about them to become a part of us. I mean, the whole world. It's about taking care of it. We are here because it took care of us. I don't think anybody can say this world hasn't taken of care of them somewhere in some way or another. We're all being taken care of by this world because it is living. That's why things can grow. Water is life and alive so is all the environment. Just like everything that we see is growing. It is alive.

I mean, it has a spirit… because anything that grows has a spirit.

So, I like to thank all of you for listening or reading this magazine.

“Stay safe…”

Thank you.

Mii’gwetch ∎ (This lesson by Chief Ogimaa was recorded and submitted by Kathy Kiss and edited by Sheena Frencheater.)

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

43 AWARENOW / THE OUTSIDE EDITION

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We depend on the connection…

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 44 AWARENOW / THE SOURCE EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 9 Once again, I’m talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America) the Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay)…. which means ‘leader of the sky’. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit.

That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island.

It is time for a reminder… what we do to nature we do to ourselves.

We are part of everything. We must remind ourselves and the people of this world, of the need to pay attention.

Creator has put us in this world, and different parts of these islands, but we are one. As humans we are the same (doesn’t matter what the skin color). We are the environment, the children, and the next generations.

God created humans, and Creator gave the responsibility for the women to create a human, all over the world. We're being brought here by the women. We were children, at one point, and we all came to our mothers, and those mothers, created a human being. Same for everybody all over the world. Nobody was created by a machine.

Creator gave us all the responsibilities. And… we’re given everything that we need. If we don't pay attention only to ourselves, we will do really well… we are part of the environment. What we do for the environment, we are doing for ourselves.

“We are part of the land…”

We are spiritual, so is everything in the environment.

We are part of the land… Mother Earth, the whole world… She needs us. Take care of her… the way we used to take care of her, and appreciate the environment that we were given everything that works together as God gave us, so there’s everything that we need. We need the world…

Therefore, all the mothers, all the women, all the children have to be respected, otherwise there would be no life to continue on… if we don't respect this spiritual creation and the creation that the mother is giving us.

Just like the world is in different islands… There are trees growing, actually there's a bunch of trees. There’s grass growing and flowers. Actually, there's all kinds of flowers. And there's people. Actually, there's all kinds of people, millions of people. We depend on the connection… about the spirit. God is intended to be a big part of us… the environment, part of everything, that he has created.

45 AWARENOW / THE SOURCE EDITION

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What we do to nature, we do to ourselves…

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 46 AWARENOW / THE SOURCE EDITION

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“Everything belongs.”

We inherited all of that which makes us humans… we have this world and different parts of the island. And this case for myself, I was put in this part of the world, and I appreciate everything surrounding me. But I can see, I can see my purpose. I can see that sense of belonging. Everything belongs… Everything was put nicely in an order. I’m looking at poplar trees… They take care of oxygen, that’s part of that creation. At this time we must be aware of that…

There are fires and floods, earthquakes and big storms. We must remember… we must take care of Mother Earth, all the women and all the children .

It is about us….we are one. ∎

Respectfully recorded and submitted by Kathy Kiss

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

47 AWARENOW / THE SOURCE EDITION

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We must join forces to take care of the world…

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 48 AWARENOW / THE KIND EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 10 I’ve been thinking about kindness…

Most important, to begin with is to be kind to the environment. I might be in just this side of the world, but there is one air, one sun, one world, and one spirit. It's all about us. All over in this world, kindness begins with Creator… God… whatever we call him. God is very kind to all things that he has provided. So, we must be kind to everything that he has provided for us. That includes the spirit of the world. What I mean is the spirit… the spirit of life… The trees that grow look after the oxygen. The flowers grow year after year. The air he gave us to be able to move, able to breathe every day. That is spirit itself.

We must be kind to one another all over the world because we were put here for a reason… No matter where we are.

Everything that's surrounding us, we cannot disrespect. We must be kind to it. We must be kind to each other, especially to our mothers, brothers and sisters, grandpas and grandmothers. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here.

As part of that creation, women were given the ability to give us life. This is something that was created by God and no human being can do, only God himself. So we all must be kind to women and to the children, because we were children one time. We were babies, because of our mothers, and so on.

That's gonna go on.

We have made it this far, because we were being kind to everything that God has created. He gave us kindness. This gave us a healthy idea to survive and live in this world, wherever we may be. The world needs us… the same as we need the environment, to take care of us.

“If we don't respect and be kind to that spirit of nature, then nature won't be kind to us.”

We need the environment to respect us and to be kind to us. Think about the floods and tornadoes that happen. The fires that happen and mudslides. If we don't respect and be kind to that spirit of nature, then nature won't be kind to us. Just like with another human being. If we are not trying to be kind to each other, before long somebody's not going to be kind to us in return. We must be kind to each other, not only the physical but the spiritual. The spirit is ourselves.

We have a soul. Everybody in this world has a soul. And everybody in this world depends on environment. Everything that we enjoy today comes from the land. It comes from that environment, and like ourselves, life begins with that kindness and it grows with that kindness. Sometimes we need to stop and think for a while… what really gets us to where we are today in creation. It's the spirit. Mothers are next to their Creator, because they can create humans.

Humans cannot be made by man… For the Mother Earth…… She's alive… Mother Earth is a mother. She carries us and took care of us. Everything that we needed, including the food. Vegetables grow from the soil, water that comes out from the mountains and glaciers. The air that was provided for us.

49 AWARENOW / THE KIND EDITION

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“Now we must show them what kindness is…”

It is about kindness. And we must take care of each other. We must take care of our mind. It's really up to us, because God gave us free will to decide what's good for us, and everything that we needed. He put it here for us. It's for us…

Air is for us. The sun is for us. The world is for us…… the children and mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers. Even the great great grandchildren……. Somewhere in there… we find that we care… every one of us.

We care about our children. We care about our mothers and fathers. We care about our grandfathers and grandmothers. Brothers and sisters. How can we not think about that gift of Creator… He was kind to us… kind enough to create everything we need… That I call ‘kindness’. Everything that we enjoy today all over the world came from this world that we're in. If we need water… air… food. That's all there. That is to me…….. that's kindness….. And we're a part of it. I think if we look after ourselves, and in that time we tend to look after us… to look after each other in a kind way… I think things will change. We will enjoy ourselves.

We must join forces to take care of the world. We're all in it… If it's here in this part of the world or this Turtle Island… or if it's somewhere else. We all need kindness… We must take care of the future generations so they can enjoy what we enjoy… to see we enjoy things today… because we're working with the nature. If we don't work with the nature, we're not being kind. We're not being kind to the environment. And we're not being kind to each other. When children come, from day one… they want us to be there for them…… They don't know life yet. They have long ways to go. But I understand what a beautiful life that they should have. Like we have. Sometimes it's difficult.

Life is difficult. We make better times for each other, if we take care of each other, and take care of the land. The land provides for needs. The world provides what we need. So we must be kind to all things, human beings, the animals, the water, and the air to work together, because there's one world, and we're all in it. And we're all part of the creation… I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be kind to us… So I think we must join all over the world. Enjoy.

Enjoy and appreciate kindness. Kindness comes from the heart. Kindness comes from people. Kindness comes from the Spirit. Try kindness to one another and to the children.

These are the things that I think about.

It's about spirit. We only have one Spirit, one life, one world. One sun. One air and one water. It's all about us… so future generations can have this... Now we must show them what kindness is…

Migwetch.

Thank you.

Chief Ogimaa Respectfully recorded and submitted by Kathy Kiss

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

50 AWARENOW / THE KIND EDITION

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51 AWARENOW / THE KIND EDITION

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Connections to the constellations…

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 52 AWARENOW / THE ORIGIN EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 11 Let me introduce myself as I always do in my own language speaking to you here where are people are part of the world he called Turtle Island. I just want to thank you all who are listening.

We are a structure like a puzzle.

There is somebody higher than us.

He gave us everything we need in this world and we should cherish what we are given.

We are given everything we could possibly need that by somebody higher than us.

I guess I'm trying to say it is God Himself.

We call him creator because he gave us life… gave us everything we need.

And used pieces of himself as he put together everything that is us and about the world.

The water, the air… everything.

It is one world and there's one way to be born into this world…which is through our mothers.

And everything we need is already together from the first of his creation.

We are part of that origin.

It is something we should cherish… the world we should look after.

Because it does look after us. It does take care of us.

We grow food… our food sources so much… everything we need He created this world… even the constellations that are up there.

The mountains, the land, they all have a purpose.

Those constellations above us are part of it…

All the stars are part of the sun… we're part of everything.

We're part of the land where we're given the medicines that we need in this world.

God has put together all that is necessary.

God doesn't create over and over.

He put the puzzle together in the beginning of creation and everything is the way he put it together.

We are part of the water… Not separate from it.

We're part of everything. We have all we need. It is all here and we must take care of it.

53 AWARENOW / THE ORIGIN EDITION

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“We must respect this Spirit because it is not just a puzzle. It is a structure.”

Wherever we may be, if we destroy some parts of the puzzle we're destroying this life and spirit of everything.

God has given us… connections to the constellations… to himself to all of his creation.

We are connected to everything…

Everything at this time it's been going on for year after year.

Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring to rotate around the sun…

It still comes the way he put it together.

Wherever our own origin comes from…. we are connected to this world.

We must take care of the environment.

We must respect this spirit because it is not just a puzzle. It is a structure.

It is a connection. We are a part of it… If we don't take care of it and we can't change

Ourselves without changing the big part of the ecosystem as some people call it…

If we destroy this all, what is there going to be for future generations and ourselves… right now.

Thank you.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

54 AWARENOW / THE ORIGIN EDITION

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55 AWARENOW / THE ORIGIN EDITION

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We must not only care for the world but each other…

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 56 AWARENOW / THE RIGHTS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 12 Once again, I’m talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America) the Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay)…. which means ‘leader of the sky’. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit.

That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island.

God, we call him Creator, created everything and the human rights that are a natural condition. Creator, himself, has given women the right to create a human being. Everyone in the world , in some way or the other came to be through mothers. There is no way that is going to ever change. Creator, himself created male and female from the environment…from the land. Every living thing that has female energy has a right to give life. It has been that way from time immemorial.

Women have this God given human right and responsibility. Creator gave human beings responsibilities to help living things throughout the islands of the world. God has given us the right to be in this world. No matter what island we are on today, we are still all human beings. We're still the same… We still are breathing the same air. We still drink the same water. We still appreciate the land we're given to live on. We still function the same way. God has given you women the responsibility to bring us to this human world. Later on, this part, was called Turtle Island, after the flood.

Someone decided to change how our first people were. It was decided for us if we are a human or non human, a long time ago. So today in 2021 we’re still not being treated like a human because somebody else decided for people what is our Right.

In the 1400s….1492 or ’93….. Somebody decided if we didn't believe…. What to believe and how to believe….That means we weren't human… and that's not Creator’s law. Creator has His own law. The creator loves everybody in this world and in his eyes we are seen as a human. We're all human beings. We're not animals or savages. We're all human beings.

In 1492 or 93… the others brought a law. It’s called “Doctrine of Discovery”, to this part of the world that we call Turtle Island. It was a man’s law. God has given us a right to be here. To be here as human beings…. to be here together… to coexist and have peace and friendship and respect.

We must respect the world. We respect each other and take care of one another as brothers and sisters. If somebody's not doing well…. always please help. We’re not supposed to put them aside…. not treat them as humans. Why would God put them in the world to not be treated as human beings?

Many places and ways they took what is called ‘Doctrine of Discovery’. The first peoples were treated as… “These are savages. Because they don't believe in God the way we believe in God”.

There is ‘the only God’ no matter how we believe in Him. He is part of the world, and as part of the environment, we must respect the water, we must respect the air, we must respect every living thing that was put here. It is all for a purpose. God has put that purpose here... Our Daily breath… oxygen… It was put here for a purpose. The sun was put up there for a purpose.

The environment is what we’re connected to. It is what makes us function. We are God's creation and we need to take care of each other. Not to forget about each other.

When things happen, we're here to help each other whether it’s a tornado, flood, or a wildfire… or destruction of water. This impacts the whole world somewhere, and suddenly we feel it, because it is part of the whole world, connected by God given human rights. It's not only here from what we call Canada, human rights are important all over the world. We must treat each other like equal human beings. We must take care of each other, as human beings.

We must respect our children and our grandchildren, our great grandchildren yet to be born for their future… for their human rights. Some of them are too young to know the law. So we’ve got to think for them. What's going to be there for them in a future because they are humans? So many things I can be talking about… what's been happening to the children in the past?

And what's happening with the environment as we speak, what's happening with the water? What's happening all over the world? All these Disasters are happening. We need to start looking at a spirit of this world, as we are part of it. No man or woman can say she doesn't have a spirit or say not everybody has a soul.’ Everything is connected to the whole world, or spirit.

57 AWARENOW / THE RIGHTS EDITION

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It’s up to us and Mother Nature. All over the world we must help her, like we help our mothers. The world can stay healthy, but the next generation to come really needs to look at what's happening all over the world.

Our world is suffering, things are happening… because we forget the spirit of the world. We have to go through somebody, as a middle man, before we can believe God. God created us directly. He engaged the women with that responsibility to bring us here we must take care of the world. We must take care of the relationship of humanity amongst each other. We must not only care for the world but each other AND the spirit so the things that we enjoy today will be in the future.

Destroying the world is not only happening in Canada, it's happening all over the world. Here in Canada we are facing floods, fires and different disasters, but we must wake up and help Mother Earth. She is reaching out to us. Like mothers when they are struggling to breathe! They want to grab on to somebody to give support and help. That's what she's doing.

Not only is mother earth a thing… She's a spirit and she can grow things. We can continue to prosper and to mimic what He has put there for us but we need the environment. We need the soil….. We need the water….. We need the air we need to look at each other with the God given right of humanity.

In Canada, first people are not being looked at like human beings. Somebody else is deciding what we should believe or what we should follow. There’s a lot of kids out there, who were taken and never came back. And I think it’s like that all over the world, it's not only us here. Those children are human beings… they're no different! Like us they would have been old men or they would have been old ladies. They would have had children but lots of them never came back because somebody decided we're going to teach you what's right. I would never do that to anybody's child to go and take a child and to get no punishment. Those children never come back and we need your help. The whole world needs to help humans be as God intended us to be… caring about everything and that includes the environment, the spirit and the children of tomorrow, so they can have something in their future.

Here, others decide what's best for first people. We don't decide for ourselves. Even some of those cultural sites that we have out there. They're 10,000 years old 9,000 years old, 6,000 years old… and not being respected. Others decide what's good for those cultural sacred sites and cultural historical sites. It is not the first people that decide what's good for them. Somebody else decides what's good for us and that includes the children and people. I'm pretty sure it's like that all over the world. That is not kindness. That’s not the human rights that creator intended to be.

In my own land, so called Canada, I can only speak for myself. I can't even decide for myself. Somebody else came from another country and by coming here decides what's good for me. I am first people here… And I don't think that's right. I would never go to any other country or Europe to decide what's good for those People or how they should live and how they should be. And that's not what creator has intended to be… especially for the children. Imagine if somebody came and grabbed them from your own hands and you never see them again. These are the things that happen. I cannot speak for other countries but it is what's happened.

I’m certain Creator’s given rights are not respected in other parts of the world and we must look at what law is being used. It is all up to us. Creator has provided what we need…

Thank you, to those who listen… Are we living by Creator’s law? ∎ Migwetch.

(Thank you.)

Chief Ogimaa Submitted by Kathy Kiss

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

58 AWARENOW / THE RIGHTS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

59 AWARENOW / THE RIGHTS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

We're still not recognizing that human beings have human rights…

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 60 AWARENOW / THE RISE EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 13 Once again, I’m talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America) the Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay)…. which means ‘leader of the sky’. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit. That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island.

I’ve talked to you before about the effect of the “Doctrine of Discovery” on the first peoples of Turtle Island and I imagine it has been the same in other islands of the world.

All creation is part of creators everything….. the water… the air… the plants… the animals… the spirit. Creator has given us all we need… and everything has spirit….

Everyone, even the leaders, must take care of things for future generations, for everyone together.

That is why the spirit must be included in the way land is to be shared, everything must be taken care of, and allowed to take care of all the parts of creation together.

Sometimes, in some islands of the world… there is too much want for land, natural resources, and power. In Turtle Island, now in the part called Canada, thousands of children are found… buried at residential school grounds. Other parts of the world have their own history of human and cultural genocide this also includes environmental genocide. It is all part of us. There is one race… “the human race” as creator intended.

Children have been taken from their parents, their culture, their language and many have lost their lives…

It is a human right for us to help children grow for the future… their future….. our future.

Sometimes the genocides are hidden and lied about. Sometimes they are in front of our eyes. We have a responsibility to Creator to take care of this basic human right. We are one creation. We must take care of children and their future… which is the future of everything. We have a responsibility to Creator to take care of this basic human right. We are one creation we must take care of the children.

The natural order… the organization by the Creator is to come through the creation. Mothers are next to the Creator, therefore, I believe your mothers and grandmothers connection, generation to generation… for reasons of the Creator Himself….. We come to be a human race… it is one race in this world wherever we go. It’s the human race.

I don't know how Columbus missed that, when he came to this part of the human race in the world. We have Spirit connection to the environment. We were connected to our mothers and the spirit at is part of everything.

In this part of the world we call Turtle Island, our connection for our own origin comes from here….now called Canada.

I'm pretty sure everywhere there are these connections and I'm pretty sure mothers have a heart for their children.

We must make the right decisions and that includes the land and the world. We live in the Creator’s natural organization for a reason. It’s the reason for us to always take care of it.

61 AWARENOW / THE RISE EDITION

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Nobody can say land hasn't taken taken care of us, because without the land to take care of us, everything that was put there by the Creator is nothing. It is not going to be there for the future generations. We have spirit life and purpose. We have soil. Air. There’s got to be air. Then a seed. It all has spirit. It's got to have a purpose which is why Creator created everything that’s needed. That seed will not grow without the sun. A seed will never grow without the soil….. without the air… we wouldn't function without their food source. And it all won’t start without the water.

We wouldn't survive because we're part of the spiritual connection for children that come here. Like I said, we were chosen one time, no matter who we are…even a Queen or a King. They were children at one time and somebody took care of them and that's why they're still here today. And that's how we should be thinking about our children. The children of tomorrow. The future generations, our own children, our grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren and great great great grandchildren…

We need to think about them because everything that gives life… never stops… the sun comes up every day….. it rises… so we rise every day. We need to take care of everything… It was put here for us. It didn't start 50 years later, after the Creator created everything. This continues thousands of years into the future. Everything began at the beginning. It's about people…. it's about the humanness of the children waiting for you…and that we were children. At one time….. We were somebody’s children… We were somebody’s grandchildren.

Every human being has to be respected. Doesn’t matter who you are. Doesn’t matter….if you are First Nations or not…everyone is still a human. Doesn’t matter what colour we are. Nobody's greater. Nobody's higher…. If we think we're higher, we are missing the boat…that we are one human race… Creator's creation never made us to be different, and we're not different. We'll never be different. Always gonna be one race, the human race. The human race has a spirit. That human race has a purpose. The human race has a future. Those children should be respected, to be children… to be happy… to grow as creator intended that life.

Creator gave us to be babies… the baby life. Creator gave us to be children. …the child life. Creator gave us the adult life. He gave us the elders, the grandparent life. Creator gave us to be great great grandfathers to respect the world.

He has given us the children that were taken away and punished because they were not recognized to be human.

Children who weren’t taken, they weren't treated like humans.

Today, here in Canada, as in the rest of the world… there are children being dug up, because respect is not for all children… To me, it's still happening. We're still not recognizing that human beings have human rights… and I'm talking to you today from the year 2022… I thought things would have changed by now….. The children are still not respected. The children are not being looked after as children, because if they were… they wouldn't be in these situations… What happened to them and the institutions that are to protect them? Agendas of genocide wouldn't happen?

We have a responsibility from Creator to take care of this basic human right. We are one creation….. we must take care of the children of tomorrow and onward. Look at and care for the environment that they live in…. What kind of life or even better, what kind of life are they going to need?

Migwetch.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for considering what we must do.

Respectfully recorded and submitted by Kathy Kiss

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name. That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

62 AWARENOW / THE RISE EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

63 AWARENOW / THE RISE EDITION

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“Whatever happens anywhere in this world has a ripple effect and affects the whole world.”

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 64 AWARENOW / THE EARTH EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 14 Once again, I’m talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America) the Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay)…. which means ‘leader of the sky’. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit. That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island.

I'm over here — a place called Turtle Island… spiritual place, like everywhere else in this world. Every place is a spiritual place. There is only one world, one air, one sun, one water, one environment in this world… We're all part of this world and it does not matter where we are or who we might be… We are all one people of this world no matter where we are… like one nation.

There's one shared world, and there's people. People everywhere in this world. We all depend on the world that we live in. Creator or God… or however, we call him… He created this world for us to be able to enjoy the world and land and the environment. The environment that we enjoyed for thousands of years from time of immemorial. And those people back then are still a part of that somewhere.

We have ancestors that we are related to and they're also part of the environment or land that we depend on, taking care of the land for thousands of years… from the beginning of time… Everything that we rely on… It's all here… God has given us everything that we need… Not what we want.

We need the water and the sun… Like the plants. Plants need water… needs air… need the land. The whole world wherever we might be… we need land — might be any island.

Today are we taking care of the land? No. We are not taking care of the land. We don't take care of it the way ancestors used to.

And the reason why I say that is because we don't work with the spirit of the land… because if we did we wouldn’t destroy the land for the future. Today we depend on the land to grow the food… like vegetables, like potatoes, like corn, like wheat and everything that grows. It's all part of the elements that I just talked about. It comes down to ourselves as human beings of this world… Whatever happens anywhere in this world has a ripple effect and affects the whole world. It impacts the whole world….. It impacts the whole world, it impacts the spirit of somebody's mind… of somebody's life….. even if we don't know anybody where things happen in different parts of this world.

So I’m here in Turtle Island… Things are happening in this world and different parts of the this world about people and children and women and elders, mothers and fathers…. it impacts the whole world….. It impacts the spirit in everything that we enjoy about life… A future generation — they are not going to benefit from this if we don't take care of the land… because the land is alive… If she wasn't alive, nothing would grow. But she is very much alive in all different parts of the world because it has spirit….. because it has responsibility for everything. Not only the old, not only parents, or grandparents… it's about the children of tomorrow.

65 AWARENOW / THE EARTH EDITION

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“In this world, there is still genocide whether it is cultural genocide or the spiritual genocide.”

It's about the future generations. If we destroy the world…. If we destroy the land, we destroy the environment and destroy the water there is nothing there for the future generations because of us.

We need to continue to protect the world, the environment, and not destroy it for the future generations. We should take care of the land because the land has taken care of us.

We enjoy the world. We enjoy the land wherever we might be. We still breathe… but in some places of this world, things are happening…

In this world, there is still genocide whether it is cultural genocide or the spiritual genocide. It is still happening….. genocide… and the children of tomorrow shouldn't be a part of it. That’s not as the Creator has intended it to be. He intended us to take care of each other and be kind to each other… especially the children, especially the elderly. To respect the land… taking care of everything. Therefore we must take care of each other. We must take care of the spirit of those children and their homes. They should have a beautiful home to come home to. They should be able to say, “I’m home.”

There’s enough homeless people in different parts of this world, and there shouldn't be. We don't need to make more people to be homeless for no reason at all. We must respect the need for homes, and I think that God intended there to be respect for each other's homes…. especially the children. Children in this world shouldn't have worries.

They should be able to sleep peacefully. Wake up to caring…if they wake up, not to disaster. We don’t want that!

But if we don't take care of the environment….. If we don't take care of the world, it is disaster… and we don't want to see our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren or our grandchildren yet to be born to this world to go through this!

We must think. The world is huge. There is enough land. There is enough everything. We must think not only for us, ourselves. Things should be shared. That’s what we did here on Turtle island. We shared the land on this Turtle Island of ours because that’s the way it should be. The Creator’s way…

Thank you…

Mii’gwetch Ogimaa Respectfully recorded and submitted by Kathy Kiss

CHIEF OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY) Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

66 AWARENOW / THE EARTH EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

67 AWARENOW / THE EARTH EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

It was my dream…

Not to run anymore.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 68

AWARENOW / THE DREAMS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 16 Ogimaa carries the intact teachings, of the first people, forward in time. He was educated only in the world view and understanding of the first people of Turtle Island. He was hidden and educated without interruption until the 1970s. He carries forward the teachings and an uninterrupted hereditary leadership documented to the time of Chief Pontiac and the first peace and friendship treaties with Europeans. This is an international treaty between hereditary leaders of first peoples nations and the hereditary leadership of the crown as committed to by King George.

My name is Acha-Kooh-waay. This is my spirit name. Being the leader for Foothills Ojibway First Nation is not easy sometimes but it’s good in a way. I’m going to talk a little bit about what I learned growing up and how this world we were put in is all connected. I am Anishinaabe of Foothills Ojibway First Nation in Canada… which comes from our Anishinaabe word meaning “clean land”.

Today we have a beautiful day… Green, green leaves… flowers… lots of birds…. Life is good as it can be on this land. The water is not as good as it should be… I just wanted to say that life used to be good, when we followed creator or God, whatever his name is. When we follow his instructions, the law lies in what he has created for everything, and not only here in Canada but in all the world.

In my language there is a word that means clean and beautiful mother earth. That is how I would describe Turtle Island and not only here in Canada. We’re all in this world together… Whatever goes in this land you are part of it.

Without water, that means nothing functions and that includes people. God, whatever you call him, created us to be human beings, to be people... maybe with a different colour or different features, but we’re all human beings in the eyes of God. Creator put people in different parts of the earth. Wherever we may be, we grow and get to know the island or the world that we came to be in. We enjoy the air. We enjoy the sun. We enjoy the life we have. Everything that comes from the land. We are human beings, a spirit within the spirit of everything that was put here. We are all part of it.

In the eyes of God, we are people... We are human beings. Everybody came to be born in this world as was the intention of the Creator.

We have been on Turtle Island, in the part that is now called Canada after European contact. We are first people of the land. Other people came later after the flood from France and Europe. I know it’s like that all over the world.

People come from different parts of this world to go to different islands, such as Canada, Europe, Africa, or different parts of the world, but my homeland is what I call this land. God has put me in this land of ours.

People came to visit us in the 1400s…. About 1492…. And soon after somebody decided he wasn’t going to recognize us as human beings. That was the beginning of cultural genocide…. people only recognizing others by race. This was the beginning, but this is not what we all are in God’s eyes. This was the Pope of that time.

My people of Foothills Ojibway, Anishinaabe people, are not even recognized in their homelands… Even though they have always been here. Someone else decides if we should be recognized in our homeland and I think that wasn’t the intention of God. Creator intends that we all belong to this world regardless. In my island called Turtle Island now Canada, I’m still not human according to the government in 2022 today. I’m still not recognized in my homeland by the government, which is a visitor who came from somewhere else leaving his ancestors behind. People who were put in different parts of the world know that as their homeland.

69

AWARENOW / THE DREAMS EDITION

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Now more than 60 years later, I still have that dream…to be recognized as humans.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 70

AWARENOW / THE DREAMS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

I’m telling the world; I don’t know if it’s only happening here in Canada. Is it only this part of the the world that people are not recognized in their homeland? I’m reaching out to world leaders and reaching out to United Nations to please define and help with this. I’m also asking for the Pope to represent God in the way that God would have intended humans to be…. as one. I don’t think God would not recognize me in this world. I think God recognized all of us as one race, regardless of culture, even here in Canada.

In Canada we weren’t allowed to believe in our own culture or spiritual practices and were not recognized as human beings believing in the one God… the same as any Christian believes in one God and giving us human rights. Sadly, now there is only a very small number, a handful, that truly believes in the one God. I think it is time that the Prime Minister of Canada, the Queen, the Governor General and the Pope start recognizing each other and all of us again in a way that God made us to be. We are people with human rights in their homeland.

Although my origin comes from what we call Canada… the government here ignores our needs and continues many forms of genocide.

First, they pushed us to different parts of the land. Some of us ran to protect our children. We ran to protect our culture, our spirituality, our knowledge, and our teaching structures so the influence of the Catholic Doctrine of Discovery did not impact us… I think that should be revoked because it’s not fair. I don’t think that was Creator’s, God’s, intention not to recognize all humans as one race.

So, leaders all over the world, we must begin to think about what God created for us, each of us, and the spirit and creation we share.

I thank you for listening, and I would like to share my dream as I am asking all of you to help work towards this…

My dream is to be recognized in my homeland with my people…

All people dream dreams … they begin from when they are girls and boys.

My dream is a peace dream, for me to be recognized as a human being.

I have a dream, but other people in my homeland, in Canada do too…

You have dreams, You have dreams on your own as a teenager…

You have dreams when you become an adult…

You have dreams when you become a senior citizen.

All those dreams never end…

And I have those dreams still today.

The dreams started when I was five, seven or nine years old…

A dream that I would never have to run…

A dream that I can take off my moccasins, Or not put them on to be ready to run…

That dream was not to have to keep my jacket on while I sleep so I’m ready to run…

When you become a teenager, you dream.

My dream was one day to work, And to belong with other people…

So that you are not looked at differently, Not a different race…

To be looked at like a human being, Who would work with others in a good way.

It was my dream…

Not to run anymore.

71

AWARENOW / THE DREAMS EDITION

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That was the beginning of cultural genocide… people only recognizing others by race.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 72

AWARENOW / THE DREAMS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

“We are one race…connected to the spirit of all.”

As a teenager I believed I would live in peace on my own…

Only later, the Government of Canada still doesn’t recognize me and my home. Somebody who’s ancestors came from Europe continues the decisions today.

Right now, my dream is for me to be recognized And live in peace in my homeland…

Now more than 60 years later, I still have that dream for me, And for my children and my great grandchildren…

To be human beings who are recognized as humans.

So, people out there, it would help me if I can be recognized as Foothills Ojibway First Nation…

A nation fully human and equal.

Hereditary leaders are the ceremonial leaders. The government outlawed potlatches, sun-dances, sacred practices, and gatherings. Hereditary leaders were responsible for the future generations and their homeland. However, that was taken away and they were forced into different areas. Some of them were put in prison because they resisted giving up their homelands… But the land was already shared in something called treaty. This land was never sold… It was shared but the cultural responsibility was taken away by placing the chief and council to be elected under the Indian Act. That was not the intention of God himself, when he gave us a responsibility to lead people with the ceremonial, hereditary leadership that was outlawed and many things from other parts of the world were imposed on us.

If we resisted, then it would be imposed and even sometimes it led to hanging a head man while even forcing our children from residential schools to watch… Some of us ran…. still hanging on to the ceremonial cultural leadership.

I am so glad to hear of change, when the Prime Minister said, “We’re sorry. Cultural genocide happened.” Does he mean that he is sorry that this happened? Does he really mean that, or is he just saying that?

It is time. I am reaching out to people, especially leaders of the world to re-examine the lasting impact of the Doctrine of Discovery and the physical, cultural, and spiritual genocide that has become part of many places in the world… For I am sure this happens in other parts of our world.

It is time to think about change in the way we all recognize each other and all of creation. We are one race… connected to the spirit of all.

What if we all work to share our best dream for creation and future generations? ∎ Respectfully recorded and submitted by Kathy Kiss

CHIEF OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY) Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

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The hope is not gone.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 74

AWARENOW / THE HOPE EDITION

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 17 Once again, I’m talking to you from here on what we used to call Kânata, it became Canada. It was one part of this world we call Turtle Island (this includes North America) the Anishinaabe people always maintain the connection to Turtle Island, in spirit. What I mean by that is there are spiritual ties, spiritual connection, in my leadership. People call me Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay)…. which means ‘leader of the sky’. I maintain that, because it has to do with the Spirit. That’s how we had our connection to the beginning of the creation, for this part of the world, Turtle Island.

I come to you from Turtle island, and there are many, many things in the world that need hope right now.

This is about hope. Hope is very important in my language and I’m pretty sure it’s much the same all over the world.

It’s something you fall back on…in the spirit side of things…..like…. “I hope you get better….” You are putting your spirit or soul to help that person get well….. to help that person heal.

Hope is spiritual language, spiritual thinking… it has spiritual support and help.

The more people think that way, it becomes more powerful and stronger.

Like to wish and hope… but it’s a spiritual thing in our language.

It is something you say because your spirit can help.

Same as with mother earth….

We hope mother earth will be healed because she is alive…

It is spirit ..it is a word you use when you feel something needs to be better.

It is used only in a positive way,… never negative.

Throughout the world we hope for the best….

In my language- we say it with feeling. It is with spirit…. It gives someone sick the feeling that they can come home…

It gives them energy to go forward…

It is not just a word. It is bigger than a word itself…

It is something that is not material… because it has spirit…

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AwareNow Podcast

CREATOR’S CALLING From The Beginning To Now: Lesson 17 Words of Ogimaa Received and Read by Kathy Kiss https://awarenow.us/podcast/creators-calling-lesson-17

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We do not give up.

It is something that we can hope for and it it gives us function… there are lots of these things that give us function.

We hope the water is going back to the way it was…. with the destruction.… that takes hundreds of years to heal, But we do not give up.

The hope is not gone…

Throughout the world we send the energy… hope.

Miigwetch.

(Thank you.)

Respectfully submitted by Kathy Kiss

CHIEF OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY) Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

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When you understand natural compass, you never get lost.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 78

AWARENOW / THE COMPASS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 18 (NATURAL COMPASS) Ogimaa, or 'Jim' as he’s called, is an Anishinaabe Runner & Knowledge Keeper. He is Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island. Hidden and protected from the colonized world in his youth, even in his childhood, Jim has lived a life in a legacy of service to his people and to Creator. He holds and preserves sacred knowledge that has been passed down for generations. It is this indigenous knowledge that must be protected for the safety of his people and the preservation of their culture.

We need to think about the natural world.

The natural world includes everything… has everything we need. Everything is there for purpose and reason. That’s the reason for us to get to know the connectedness to the natural world. We are part of it.

As long as we live in this world, nothing is going to change… unless we change it…but we must know the effects of what is going to happen… when we change things on top of it.

It’s not going to be the same natural order of everything…natural instructions, natural guidance and directions… these directions are part of the natural Spirit guidance. That is the guidance we come to be born with. The guidance we must know is what is already here. Our guidance comes through our mothers, our parents, our grandparents.

Compass is everywhere. People need to be guided with the spirit intact. People have started to change something and it is time to get it back. I'm going to do an example: If you take out someone’s language, the spirit is not intact. That person will be so lost. Like putting a baby in the middle of an ocean or in the bush. It has no way to have the guidance of spirit.

That's how we came to be when we started replacing something that's supposed to guide us…. to direct us in the right direction.

In my world, as a runner, I ran. Many of us were little boys and we didn't carry an instrument… what I mean by an instrument is what they call a compass. I didn't carry that… but I did kind of figure out there's spirit.

One day I was helping my grandfather build a birch bark canoe. My grandfather, I thought, was a very fussy grandfather. But later I knew he wasn't… It was that he was choosing the right trees to use when you build a birch bark canoe. These trees always take you back to where the roots are… The same as the geese come back to where their spirits connect them with spirit knowledge, to where they came from.

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Everything is there to guide you back.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 80

AWARENOW / THE COMPASS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

“There will be no changes in the constellations.”

We need to think about the natural world because the natural world has everything we need and has a purpose.

Sometimes when there are trees floating around in the ocean, they go back to where they are taken from. The natural order is already there.

Spirit guides through the first part when we were making the birch bark canoe… some of them are very huge. We use the birch tree that we take the bark from. We use the tree to bend and put that canoe together but we need Tamarack roots (vines) for the birch bark canoe as well. The vines from the Tamarack tree are very strong… and used to sew the canoe together. With my grandfather, I got to learn how to do that. Using moose bone we made our needles…

These things were all alive…. like us. You never forget where you are born. It's a compass so it will bring you back.

Your mind will always be aware of where you were raised… where you grew up, and your natural spiritual compass is already there.

You never forget. You can almost picture in your mind what was there and what is there… but if it isn't anymore, you're going to miss that.

A long time ago when we traveled in the Great Lakes of Ontario, people used to travel with those canoes and they could go far out into the Great Lakes and come back exactly to where they began.

They never got lost either with the constellations up there at night (I mean like the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Arrowhead). All these things are part of the directions like a compass, but these are the things that are very natural.

You cannot erase those. You cannot change them. There will be no changes in the constellations.

If it was cloudy, we used this: My grandfather would put the head of a loon at the front of the canoe because I'm from the loon clan. When it is cloudy, and we would be traveling, at nighttime sometimes, the moon would come out and we could see the light on the water. There would be a shadow on the water in front of us. When I would wake up from sleeping, my grandfather would be pulling that canoe into shore. We would be at our tipi home.

Later I started asking my grandfather about this. When we were out there, why were you specific in what kind of tree to use?

“First of all, Tamarack roots are very strong,” he said. “Second, they are connected to the water and moss land. They only grow there and it guides them back to where they are from. A Tamarack and birch tree are both connecting to moss land… When you understand natural compass you never get lost. Everything is there to guide you back.”

My grandfather would break a little branch and put it with the wood. That's where we were from… sticks float around and stay near. They come ashore somehow…. that spirit connection is in that place. So the wood has that place and connects to that moss land. If the sun is out, you can put the stick in front of the boat. The wind will come from a direction based on the time of year. Things grow where they're meant to be. The natural compass will help you grow things… They're always going to be connected as intended. The compass is everywhere… unless you change the natural order.

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What is natural is going to be there for a purpose and for good...

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 82

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“Pretty soon we’ll lose everything that’s natural order, because we’re going to paint over everything.”

Is it easy to be lost in the city? That's like painting over something…. When mankind says he knows more than the natural creation…. Pretty soon we'll lose everything that's natural order, because we're going to paint over everything.

Like clear cutting a forest, it's gone. It's changed…

Our white brothers got a lot of trees to make ships when they came. When they came back, the trees guided them back to their roots…. to the same place they came from.

Everything has roots. It's like the lineage network. The trees find their roots. The tree was alive. It grew. So it will return to its roots. The lineage network is spirit. That's one way of looking at compass.

Today geese land on houses. It's because the house is built where the moss land was. Same even with rabbits. Same with all kinds of living things. There is compass even with the trees.

When you change something, you're taking things off course. So the Spirit doesn’t recognize the lineage, network, and fit of things. Today we rely on technology. We don't use the natural compass so you can see the shadow in the water to guide you… the shadow directions… come from the trees… you don't get lost. And the wind also helps.

With Anishinaabe, we have no compass and no technology. We want to keep that strong even if the government wants to erase that knowledge. What is natural is going to be there for a purpose and for good...

It is the reason for us to know the connectedness to this natural world because as long as we are part of it… we have the natural spirit guides and that guidance that we were born with. ∎

As told to and submitted by Kathy Kiss Please watch for more teachings.

CHIEF OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY) Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

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We’re still not recognized as human beings.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 84

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT A TRUE ACCOUNT SHARED TO PRESERVE A PEOPLE

Ogimaa, or 'Jim' as he’s called, is an Anishinaabe Runner & Knowledge Keeper. He is Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island. Hidden and protected from the colonized world in his youth, even in his childhood, Jim has lived a life in a legacy of service to his people and to Creator. He holds and preserves sacred knowledge that has been passed down for generations. It is this indigenous knowledge that must be protected for the safety of his people and the preservation of their culture.

The following is an excerpt from an exclusive interview with Ogimaa. You are encouraged to listen to the history revealed in the full podcast episode:

ALLIÉ: In addition to being Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island, you are an Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper.

For those unaware, what is a ‘Knowledge Keeper’?

OGIMAA: Okay, there's two things there that are in your question. One is being a leader of an Ojibway First Nation and again, it would be a different answer in my language, but I'm trying to use the English language to explain what is a leader, a hereditary leader, and also the Anishinaabe language….. in the Anishinaabe as a language. We describe ourselves as….. the first people of the Turtle Island, in what today, they call Canada. Back in the days long time ago, when our people were put in this part of Turtle Island, we are known as Anishinaabe people….

The Creator or God, whatever his name is, he put us in this part of the world and the Ojibway people always lived in Turtle Island, because there was clans, the hereditary leadership began. The Creator gave us a responsibility to take care of the land, as the land took care of us for thousands of years, even before European contact. So, we always maintained and looked after the land because it's looked after us. That’s Anishinaabe, responsibility is to take care of the land and to work with others that might be in the Turtle Island.

So, a long time ago, to be a leader, you need to understand about the environment, to understand about God's spiritual creation of all things, you need to be able to lead a people in a good way, and a spiritual way according to the Creator himself. So, Anishinaabe, the word itself, is people that were selected in this part Turtle Island to lead the clans, according to the spiritual guidance… natural order of instructions, from God himself.

What they call Ojibway is protecting that leadership, which contains the hereditary spiritual leadership, and it contains the education structure. The education structure is to understand about the world, to understand the environment, to understand the spiritual, to understand the people, which is the human. That’s what to be a leader of a Ojibway Nation has maintained. So, that's how much I can explain my role being the hereditary leader, a spiritual leader, understanding the spiritual ties and the spiritual responsibility of the environment. We ran with that. This is what we had before. My people, maintained this connection and the natural order of guidance.

I'm just explaining what a hereditary leadership called as Ojibway. So, I have headmen . I'm a leader, I’m the Ojibway leader, but I have also 4 headmen. What the headmen are,… they’re the spiritual advisors to me. They know all the constellations the Creator has written. They know about everything that's connected to the environment and how we must work with that. It is a lot of responsibility for them, and that's what our leadership is based on, the spiritual ties to this part of the world, the Turtle Island. This is just that little piece answering your question about leadership.

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“We white-skinned people (who have crowded the remnants of the O’Chiese Non-Treaty Indians from the good productive land, shuffled them hither and yon until in the desperation they were forced to seek sanctuary in the Foothills region of the muskegs, jackpine, ridges and myriads of mosquitos at the foot of the Rocky Mountains where they hope tat they may be allowed to pitch their tents and be unmolested as they carry on their vocation of making a living) ought to bow our heads in shame, and if there is any goodness and loving thoughts left in our hearts, we ought to not only petition our Government to set aside a suitable tract of land for their exclusive use, but we ought to see to it that “such” is done.” - Henry Stelfox (Note: Henry Stelfox was a last Indian Agent in the territory during the formation of Canada’s Indian Act.) Source: The Native Voice (December 1954) 86

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“The government doesn’t even recognize us in our homeland, even though we signed that ‘peace and friendship treaty’…”

ALLIÉ: Not only are you a ‘Knowledge Keeper’, you are also a ‘Runner’. How long did you have to run, Jim? Why was it necessary?

OGIMAA: We ran because before, we weren’t running from anything. Before, we are just living humans, as people, this part of the world, this part of Turtle Island. So, around 1494, something happened with our people.

We had our own belief. We had our own ways of worshipping the same God that anybody does worship in this world, and we still do that today. Our people, around 1494, some were massacred, women and children while destroying our communities, our camps. So, where we fled from around ..it's known as Minnesota,… back then in our language, it was called Minnesotak. Not far from there, they call it Chicagonk. Today is known as Chicago. And some people came from where today is known as Mississippi.

So, anyway, one of my great, great grandfathers, in my ancestry, told his son to take the bundles, and to run with the bundles. These are ceremonial bundles, which are the archive we still have today. His son, took off to protect them. I don't know what happened to my great, great, grandfather, but he's buried down there somewhere by Minnesota.

Again, something happened …what they call the black robes caught up with the first runner so, this time, he sent his son whose name means who peeks around. The lookout, I guess, that looks out for people…..took off to protect the bundles going towards north at that time. He almost made it to.. Manitoulin Island in Ontario today, but then, it was just land. There was no Alberta, no Ontario, no United States, it was just Turtle Island.

And then from there, the black robes caught up with them again, forcing them to burn bundles, their ceremonial objects. Running from there, they took off, turning west. On the way, he told his son to take those bundles… that he's going to stall the back robes. And his son was, in our language we call i Pontak . Today is known as Chief Pontiac, and that was spirit horse, his son.

Chief Pontiac was part of treaty in Niagara Falls of 1763 and ‘64. around the time when King George reaffirmed that 1613 peace treaty.. So, anyway, it's about the spiritual ways of protecting our structures that have been here since time immemorial. That’s why we protect it, and people were getting destroyed, our people weren't recognized as human beings. So, a lot of things, our people ran from. They ran because, first of all, they want to protect their ceremonial objects and what they've always believed.

ALLIÉ: When people hear the word ‘genocide’, they think of lives physically taken. And while that is a horrific part of it, there is also ‘cultural genocide’ in the form of colonization. In the past, more often than not, indigenous people have not been recognized or respected as they deserve to be. Human rights have been denied. Today, are things better or worse? From your personal experience, are the Anishinaabe people being fairly acknowledged?

OGIMAA: For us running, from all the things that happened, like people being hunted, people getting sicknesses, like smallpox…. the government didn't want to recognize us as human beings. That goes back to a time of 1494, fast forward to 2014, the government is still stuck in those years 1492, ‘93, ‘94.

Today, the Anishinaabe people are still not being recognized as human beings. That’s why all that systemic racism is happening, and that’s why the government doesn't even recognize us in our homeland, even though we signed that “peace and friendship treaty”… an agreement to coexist and to live on this land together. To enjoy what we enjoyed before European contact. We are still back in 1492 or ’93 (Doctrine of Discovery)… because the Anishinaabe people are not being recognized here in Canada in their homeland.

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“A cultural genocide happened…”

We can prove that we are actually from here, because God has written all the symbols, not only in the constellations.

We didn't write those, he did. A lot of things were written about us on the land. So, if you Google Cypress Hills, you're going to see an Indian face on those hills, and if you look in those mountains, you’re going to see Indian faces. That's God's writing. And constellations are the same way.

The Canadian government refuses what is called our people, especially for those Ojibway First Nation, they're not recognized in their homeland, because we ran to protect our culture, archives and sacred ways. The government says, “We don't recognize you.” That means we're not recognized as human beings. So, it's not better. It's actually worse. At least we're not being hunted now. But what I mean worse…. is…. somebody that you recognize yourself and welcome them to your homeland, and for that visitor to turn around and say, “Hey, we don't recognize you now on your homeland. We don't recognize you as a people, or as a nation, or as humans.”

Today, we hear about all these kids graves being found…. they were forced to a school, by the government. Some people were hanged in 1885 because they refused to surrender their homeland, even though they share this land.. by international treaty… Government is still stuck in 1492 and ‘93, ‘94. We’re still not recognized as peoples in our homeland, which is very sad. Somebody that came from another country decides, “Oh, we don't recognize those people in their homeland as human beings.”

So, I don't know where human rights is for First People in their homelands. I wonder if that's happening in other parts of this world. But is it only in Canada that's still happening? This is where we're at today as we speak.

ALLIÉ: There’s no doubt that many changes are needed in our world. What is the most important change we need right now?

OGIMAA: I think the important change needs to happen. It begins from us, acknowledging each other, the way God intended to be, the way for us to take care of each other as family, as brothers and sisters. And to look at each other as human beings. That’s what began when the Dutch landed here in this Turtle Island, they knew nothing about this land, about this Turtle Island. So, they began to help them to live, to eat, even provided some clothing, even gave them a shelter, start teaching them about the land that they came to. They made that peace and friendship treaty back in 1613.

God said, “You respect my creation. You respect others”. So, back then already, we already knew that we must share this land that's called Turtle Island. So, they can have what we have here. Back in 1763 and ‘64 when King George reinstated the peace and friendship treaty back from 1613, my great grandfather was an instrumental part of that peace and friendship treaty. My great grandfather said, “These are people that we must look after and take care of, because they are human beings that have children and family.”

The Treaty of Niagara Falls, was about family, the Queen and her family, because that's the one that we made treaties with. Today, the royal family is still in Europe because of Chief Pontiac and other leaders that were here recognizing that family as human beings, as family. So, they made that peace and friendship treaty, which is international peace and friendship treaty of this island of ours.

So, what happened since then…. the government doesn't recognize some of these people that are part of the island.

But we recognize anybody that comes from anywhere in this world, Same thing with King George of 1763, ‘64 ordered a royal proclamation for us to coexist in this land, to take care of each other, and to work together as people. So, that's right today, we still maintain that. But now the government is saying, “We don't recognize these people on their homeland.”

A cultural genocide happened…. We couldn't practice our culture for a long time. It was outlawed. (The Indian Act) Back in 1885, we weren't allowed in sweats or to have our pipes. Our children were taken away to residential schools so they cannot speak their language anymore, to take away who we are. They wanted us to be something else.

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AwareNow Podcast

ANISHINAABE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Exclusive Interview with Chief Ogimaa https://awarenow.us/podcast/anishinaabe-acknowledgement

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Today 2022, we're still not recognized as human beings. And this is why still, today, our people are gone missing, missing and murdered women. And nobody cares to do the investigation, even the investigation of what happened with the children. But our own people don't do those things. They go and to take away somebody's child, and for some reason, punish them because they speak their language. Today, there's a lot of people that want to get their language back. But it's very difficult because they already were taught and afraid to speak their language. So, systemic racism is still out there. And for us Ojibway, here in Canada, we are not being recognized as human beings, or as people.

So, the government would say because of Columbus, we are called Indians. So, the government of Canada would say there's no Indians in Hinton or Jasper, other than first nations that allowed themselves being put under the Indian Act…. An Act that limited rights and still those are the only ones that the government recognizes. So, nothing much has changed. And that’s part of the human rights. It's a human rights issue.

As Chief of Foothills Ojibway, what I would like to see is, first of all, for us to be at the table when things are being decided what's good for us… and to be recognized as people, as human beings here in Canada.

Because it's very important, we recognize people that come from different parts of this world to our homeland. So, for that, I wanted to see... I guess need to see the government to recognize us, not only human beings, but to recognize us as people in the nation of this land. And that’s what I have been asking the government, but the government says, “We exhausted every angle of you guys to be recognized as a Ojibway nation in Canada.” But, I mean, they still don't recognize us as human beings. And that's still happening today.

People should recognize that we are a people that recognize anybody for our homeland. But as a runner, we ran because we want it to be in our homeland the way our Creator intended us to be. We want our people coexisting with our brothers and sisters, and we still maintain that today. That's why we ran to protect the archives of what was intended to be, how to coexist, how to share and how to work with one another in this Turtle Island. And that's why I keep going back to my great grandfather, Chief Pontiac, and the sons of generations following..who ran so all these things were handed down. But my age, I'm 66 years old, I got to see running. I am one of the runners of the bundles to keep everything intact about our own governance and our own leadership. So, today, very sad, the government doesn't even recognize us as people or a nation in our homeland. That's all I can say about that.

And one last thing I want to say is I know that historians won't be able to capture this, because we weren't allowed to practice our culture and our education. We weren't allowed to express who we are… and because of outlawing everything about our education structure and as people of this land. So, we couldn't talk about anything. I want people to know, things were outlawed, we want to talk about ourselves… we weren't allowed. And the fear tactic that happened, included no legal representation. We weren't allowed to get our own lawyers for the longest time.

So, thank you. Thanks for taking this time to talk to me. I always appreciate when you put things out there for us. ∎

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When you understand natural compass, you never get lost.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 90

AWARENOW / THE COMPASS EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 18 (NATURAL COMPASS) Ogimaa, or 'Jim' as he’s called, is an Anishinaabe Runner & Knowledge Keeper. He is Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island. Hidden and protected from the colonized world in his youth, even in his childhood, Jim has lived a life in a legacy of service to his people and to Creator. He holds and preserves sacred knowledge that has been passed down for generations. It is this indigenous knowledge that must be protected for the safety of his people and the preservation of their culture.

We need to think about the natural world.

The natural world includes everything… has everything we need. Everything is there for purpose and reason. That’s the reason for us to get to know the connectedness to the natural world. We are part of it.

As long as we live in this world, nothing is going to change… unless we change it…but we must know the effects of what is going to happen… when we change things on top of it.

It’s not going to be the same natural order of everything…natural instructions, natural guidance and directions… these directions are part of the natural Spirit guidance. That is the guidance we come to be born with. The guidance we must know is what is already here. Our guidance comes through our mothers, our parents, our grandparents.

Compass is everywhere. People need to be guided with the spirit intact. People have started to change something and it is time to get it back. I'm going to do an example: If you take out someone’s language, the spirit is not intact. That person will be so lost. Like putting a baby in the middle of an ocean or in the bush. It has no way to have the guidance of spirit.

That's how we came to be when we started replacing something that's supposed to guide us…. to direct us in the right direction.

In my world, as a runner, I ran. Many of us were little boys and we didn't carry an instrument… what I mean by an instrument is what they call a compass. I didn't carry that… but I did kind of figure out there's spirit.

One day I was helping my grandfather build a birch bark canoe. My grandfather, I thought, was a very fussy grandfather. But later I knew he wasn't… It was that he was choosing the right trees to use when you build a birch bark canoe. These trees always take you back to where the roots are… The same as the geese come back to where their spirits connect them with spirit knowledge, to where they came from.

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Everything is there to guide you back.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 92

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“There will be no changes in the constellations.”

We need to think about the natural world because the natural world has everything we need and has a purpose.

Sometimes when there are trees floating around in the ocean, they go back to where they are taken from. The natural order is already there.

Spirit guides through the first part when we were making the birch bark canoe… some of them are very huge. We use the birch tree that we take the bark from. We use the tree to bend and put that canoe together but we need Tamarack roots (vines) for the birch bark canoe as well. The vines from the Tamarack tree are very strong… and used to sew the canoe together. With my grandfather, I got to learn how to do that. Using moose bone we made our needles…

These things were all alive…. like us. You never forget where you are born. It's a compass so it will bring you back.

Your mind will always be aware of where you were raised… where you grew up, and your natural spiritual compass is already there.

You never forget. You can almost picture in your mind what was there and what is there… but if it isn't anymore, you're going to miss that.

A long time ago when we traveled in the Great Lakes of Ontario, people used to travel with those canoes and they could go far out into the Great Lakes and come back exactly to where they began.

They never got lost either with the constellations up there at night (I mean like the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Arrowhead). All these things are part of the directions like a compass, but these are the things that are very natural.

You cannot erase those. You cannot change them. There will be no changes in the constellations.

If it was cloudy, we used this: My grandfather would put the head of a loon at the front of the canoe because I'm from the loon clan. When it is cloudy, and we would be traveling, at nighttime sometimes, the moon would come out and we could see the light on the water. There would be a shadow on the water in front of us. When I would wake up from sleeping, my grandfather would be pulling that canoe into shore. We would be at our tipi home.

Later I started asking my grandfather about this. When we were out there, why were you specific in what kind of tree to use?

“First of all, Tamarack roots are very strong,” he said. “Second, they are connected to the water and moss land. They only grow there and it guides them back to where they are from. A Tamarack and birch tree are both connecting to moss land… When you understand natural compass you never get lost. Everything is there to guide you back.”

My grandfather would break a little branch and put it with the wood. That's where we were from… sticks float around and stay near. They come ashore somehow…. that spirit connection is in that place. So the wood has that place and connects to that moss land. If the sun is out, you can put the stick in front of the boat. The wind will come from a direction based on the time of year. Things grow where they're meant to be. The natural compass will help you grow things… They're always going to be connected as intended. The compass is everywhere… unless you change the natural order.

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What is natural is going to be there for a purpose and for good...

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 94

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“Pretty soon we’ll lose everything that’s natural order, because we’re going to paint over everything.”

Is it easy to be lost in the city? That's like painting over something…. When mankind says he knows more than the natural creation…. Pretty soon we'll lose everything that's natural order, because we're going to paint over everything.

Like clear cutting a forest, it's gone. It's changed…

Our white brothers got a lot of trees to make ships when they came. When they came back, the trees guided them back to their roots…. to the same place they came from.

Everything has roots. It's like the lineage network. The trees find their roots. The tree was alive. It grew. So it will return to its roots. The lineage network is spirit. That's one way of looking at compass.

Today geese land on houses. It's because the house is built where the moss land was. Same even with rabbits. Same with all kinds of living things. There is compass even with the trees.

When you change something, you're taking things off course. So the Spirit doesn’t recognize the lineage, network, and fit of things. Today we rely on technology. We don't use the natural compass so you can see the shadow in the water to guide you… the shadow directions… come from the trees… you don't get lost. And the wind also helps.

With Anishinaabe, we have no compass and no technology. We want to keep that strong even if the government wants to erase that knowledge. What is natural is going to be there for a purpose and for good...

It is the reason for us to know the connectedness to this natural world because as long as we are part of it… we have the natural spirit guides and that guidance that we were born with. ∎

As told to and submitted by Kathy Kiss Please watch for more teachings.

CHIEF OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY) Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

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There’s only one race… a human race.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 96

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‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY CHIEF OGIMAA

CREATOR’S CALLING

FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 19 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George 111 on 7 of October 1763. It established the basis for governing the North American territories…

The Canadian Encyclopedia

www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

Please note that Ogimma is a direct descendent of Chief Pontiac and is a Chief by lineage and hereditary lines. He is a knowledge keeper and a runner, as described in his previous teachings. Since the time of the this interview the the planet is experiencing alarming struggles, environmentally, and among its peoples. It is important to acknowledge the devastating, storms, earthquakes, and environmental disasters, which mark the response of Mother Nature to human priorities. Please also note that Ogimma teaches us that there is one human race… What follows is an excerpt from an interview Allié McGuire conducted with Ogimma, edited and submitted by Kathy Kiss.

OGIMMA: It’s a struggle for everything. We are struggling for lots of things. Not only in life, but then seeing everything the way it’s going. It is very difficult. At one time, I was thinking everything is going to be the way it is and that was in the years that I was a runner. I did not know that destructions exist. Fast forward, NOW makes me sad. Some of the places that used to be, they are not looking the same. That is sad. It is sad to see the environment destroyed and the animals that used to be there and living in peace, no longer there. Everything has been painted over even though it is natural land… it doesn’t look the same. It doesn’t feel the same way it used to be…some no longer exist. No longer are the birds that I used to enjoy listening to singing.

But when we feel lost, it is possible to reconnect because the connection is always there.

ALLIÉ: This is ‘The Bold Edition’. What it’s really about is finding strength and being fearless. It’s finding your foundation and staying true to your roots, which you have shown us in your many beautiful lessons of your column entitled ‘Creator’s Calling’. For which the subtitle is ‘From Then Until Now’. Right now, it is almost 500 years of being a runner, and 250 years from a treaty that was made - a treaty between Chief Pontiac and King George. It’s a treaty that you have honoured. You and your people have honoured that and held onto that. From then until now, you still hold on, and you’ve preserved the teachings that you refuse to let go when it would have been much easier, perhaps to do so. You were so bold and so brave to hold on. And that is beautiful to me.

OGIMMA: Well, it’s like this, the Creator connects us to everything like a tree. The tree has roots under the ground.

The tree is part of creation, the natural order of the trees, spruce trees, pine trees, poplar trees, they are all nicely spaced out. They’re all nicely ordered. And natural order of foundation, we are part of that creation. Nobody in this world can say they are not because everyone came to be born to this world, the way the Creator has intended. It’s all part of this world. It’s all something that we live by from the Creator. It’s like the sun up there. It doesn’t matter where we are. It’s something that is real… something that is truth. We cannot walk away from truth.

The truth is everything connected to this world. In order for things to grow, they have to be connected to the soil, they have to be touching the soil. They have to be part of this world. That’s the truth. What you see is the truth.

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The land was never sold.

The land was shared.

CHIEF OGIMAA

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND 98

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“This is why we ran. We wanted to protect these understandings.”

OGIMMA: (continued) The truth is vital. People are people. There’s only one race… a human race. There are other things like the animals. They’re part of this. This is truth and is always going to be there. The truth is believing… believing who we are… believing what God has intended to be here… because then we cannot go wrong… Creator has put everything here that we need. It’s going to be here and everything that we see from our own eyes.

On the other hand, there are those who want to change this… and want to have policies and control and management…. but that wasn’t the intent of Creator. The Creator gave us free will to decide for ourselves. It’s us up to us to show how we’re going to use what he has put here as we need it.

We ran. My ancestors ran all the way from Minnesota, and from where my other grandfather took that world archive of this part of Turtle Island. I call it ‘the archive of the world’. The Creator himself gave this to our people, connected to the land that we were put in.

It is shown in the symbols that he has created for us… Yes, they are land formations, because Creator put them here his symbols from the land. It’s like the constellations. Creator put those up there. The constellations are about people… about human beings. This is why we ran. We wanted to protect these understandings. They need to be protected because that is truth. That’s what’s going to help the world and going to help people.

I know I ran and my people ran, but that’s not history. We were there and we can still be there, so it wasn’t history when my great grandfather, Chief Pontiac, made that agreement with King George. My great grandfather wanted to have King George’s family live here and share the wealth of this Turtle Island, so we can all live like humans as God has said.

The Creator has said, “You respect my creation!”

So, Pontiac made that agreement because he wanted King George’s family to be respected and to coexist with us… so they can have the things they need. The land was never sold. The land was shared. If anybody needed help, they agreed they would notify each other. The intent from the proclamation is that we live side-by-side that we each have our own people… You have your own people… You have your own beliefs. You have your own laws and governments. I have mine. You keep yours on your side. I’ll keep mine on my side. We are two nations. You are a nation. The proclamation is why they stopped this fight that happened because they don’t want fighting… So they made treaty. We will treat each other with respect. We will treat each other like brothers and sisters, who take care of each other, who share the land with you because you have the family and you’ll have children. You’ll have people like I have… let’s understand our differences.

Pontiac said, “Mine is Creators law… It is our own constitution that we have here… You have yours and we will have the two row wampum belt showing the creators laws. We respect all human races. So let’s make peace… peace and friendship. No more fighting… King George agreed… saying, “We’re not the ones that are destroying your communities. It is the settlers not us.” My great grandfather said, “Let’s live in peace… So next year I’ll have people on Turtle Island meet here…”

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“After that they started putting our people into reserves, like concentration camps.

People were hung, kids were put in residential schools, blankets were shared that were with deadly contamination.”

OGIMMA: (continued) By 1764, he gathered over 2000 chiefs from across Turtle Island near Niagara Falls and that is where they used an artifact. I have that bundle… I have that ceremonial archive. There was agreement for peace and friendship with King George 111 and the division came after King George’s granddaughter came and made another treaty which is the Imperial Crown Treaty.

After that they started putting our people into reserves, like concentration camps. People were hung, kids were put in residential schools, blankets were shared that were with deadly contamination. First, we weren’t recognized by other humans as human beings by the law going back to the visit of Columbus…

I am not afraid. I’m not afraid to tell the truth. I’m not afraid to tell my side of why we protected the land. That treaty protects the land. Treaty protects not only people of this, what we call Turtle Island, where I am that is called Canada today. If we didn’t have a treaty, all this land would’ve been molested and destroyed… which is the environment.

Now what’s happening to our children, our grandchildren? You cannot eat fish from everywhere already. You cannot drink water from anywhere. Somebody has to stand up.

That’s what these things are… that have been happening without the truth. It is what happened with a lot of things and with the children, who didn’t come home for a long time… That is wrong. The many graves that are found here…

They cannot be forgotten. We must show them to educate and know who kills. Show them, to teach what’s right and wrong.

We all love our children. We love our grand children. The government rules and thinking to mimic the Creator is not going to work. This is why I’m not afraid to stand up for the future generations — all future generations not just the native people, not only first nations, all.

If they can drink one water, safe water, that’s truth, that’s real. That these children can play together whether it’s native children together… first nation, white children and all children. That’s what Creator intended for us… not this division because that’s what killed a lot of first nation children. So now, how can it be about reconciliation if the government is not telling the truth. The truth is vital. The truth is real.

We still keep the agreement of Chief Pontiac and King George, whose family exists in Europe. That family still has hereditary leadership.

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OGIMMA: (continued) Here people that survived the residential school are so terrified of the government… but I wasn’t a product of that and I’m not worried about what the government is going to do to me. That’s why I stand up and say things about the whole world. People are fighting. People want to control. But who is it hurting?…. the children… If it’s in Ukraine, in the States, in Israel, in Africa… anywhere.

The ones that are going to get hurt the most… the children. They don’t even know what’s going on. You hear a child, crying… It’s hurtful! All our children need to have a future, no matter whose children they are. That is what Pontiac wanted. That’s why he said “Let’s share. Let’s take care of families.” That was peace and friendship, and all those 2000 Chiefs agreed.

It is still like that today. I would never hurt anybody’s child. They’re innocent they should have no worries. It’s like nothing should happen to them ever. They should be playing out there with the nature… like fishing… How proud they are if they caught something and you are being there for them. That is very special.

For them to be bombed…. to be tortured in residential or forced schools… now with the racism that we’re facing today and that I experience myself… it is wrong.

There was no racism when Chief Pontiac said, “Let’s coexist… Let’s share this land…” So the treaty began with the two. One dealt with our constitution here, our governments, our own laws, and our own education structure. We still honour that today because the Creator meant it to be like that.

Creator has given us what we need, and we must be sure the next children have protection, prevention, and success with Creator’s guidance. The truth is always vital.

ALLIÉ: It all makes perfect sense, and I thank you so much for sharing everything that you have because it’s just like you said when you first started speaking… The fact that when we look up, look at the sun, it’s part of it. Look at the trees. They are part of it. We are all part of it. We’re part of ‘us’, and it’s not about serving ourselves, it’s about serving something bigger than we are, because we’re part of some thing bigger than we are. If we don’t realize the truth, we are quite lost.

OGIMMA: Yeah… Thank you for calling. We will keep doing these good things and telling truth out there.

ALLIÉ: Absolutely. Thank you for sharing everything that you have. Thank you for being the light you are. It takes all of us to be these lights to lead the way, and to always be mindful of the truth out there. Thank you for reminding us. ∎

CHIEF OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY) Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

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