Gaa-izhi-miinigoowizid a’aw Anishinaabe: What We Were Given as Anishinaabe

A respected Ojibwe elder records the many traditions and ceremonies, from birth customs and dream catchers to fasting and first-kill feasts, practiced by Ojibwe children and their parents.

The Ojibwe have many ways of marking important moments in an Ojibwe child’s life. Customs surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. Handling of a baby’s belly button. A child’s first moccasins. What happens when a child first touches the ground. Naming ceremonies. What to do the first time a baby is brought into a ceremonial dance.

With warm and friendly stories and instructions, Lee Obizan Staples recounts these and many other ceremonies and traditions of an Ojibwe childhood. This book is both an accessible record of Indigenous knowledge and a valuable language resource for all ages and all levels of learners. It is written for those who wish to have greater access to Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, a growing body of resources designed to document the teaching and experience of Indigenous elders. Families, scholars, and Ojibwe language learners can use these teachings to expand their understanding of Ojibwe ways of thinking and speaking.

This vital collection of Ojibwe protocols and procedures, presented in Ojibwe and English, reflects the teachings of Ojibwe elder Lee Obizaan Staples as transcribed by his apprentice language and ceremonial officiant, Chato Ombishkebines Gonzalez. This is their third book of teachings.