Mishkiki

06/01/2026

This month we are welcoming Odemin Giizis -
The Strawberry Moon.

The sixth moon of Creation is the Strawberry Moon. The medicine of the strawberry is reconciliation. It was during this moon cycle that communities usually held their annual feasts, welcoming everyone home, regardless of their differences over the past year, letting go of judgment and/or self righteousness. The strawberry is the first berry to ripen it is thought to be a good medicine for the heart and the teeth.

The Makwa (Bear) & Odemin (Strawberry)
An Anishinaabe Story & Teaching

Long ago, when the world was young, after Nanaboozhoo rid the world of evil and built the land, but before the human beings were here.

The plants and animals were all new and getting used to each other and things looked much different. The rabbits had long tails and short ears.

The bears were giants with short noses. The bears didn’t have enough food to eat because someone was eating all the strawberries, and the bears were starving.

They were upset because they became too skinny and weak to hunt and only had bitter roots to eat to survive. They weren’t sure they could survive the next winter, so they asked Nanaboozhoo for help. He said he would help and sent the bears back home.

The moment the bears went home and told their families that he would help the next year, but they had to survive the winter without food and only bitter roots to eat.

Nanaboozhoo watched over the berry patch for the whole year. The next spring when the strawberries were ripe, Nanaboozhoo saw rabbit eating everything and saving nothing for anyone else. So he spoke to rabbit about the bears starving because they were eating all the strawberries. The rabbits didn’t care because the bears were eating all the rabbits when they were healthy.

Just then, Nanaboozhoo caught the giant bear eating a rabbit and grabbed it by the snout, holding its mouth closed. They locked for months and years. The bear refused to stop eating the rabbit and Nanaboozhoo refused to let the bear go so he could finish swallowing the rabbit. The giant bear shrunk in size and its snout became brown and long where Nanaboozhoo held on.

The strawberries were upset because the rabbits were still eating all the strawberries when they were instructed to share their medicine with all beings.

Nanaboozhoo tried to catch him, but the rabbit started running away. Nanaboozhoo lunged at rabbit and caught it by the tail. Rabbit twisted away and broke its tail off to escape. As it was about to make its escape, Nanaboozhoo grabbed the rabbit by the ears and its ears stretched out and became long. The rabbit stopped running before its ears broke off too! Now the rabbits could hear the bears coming and have lots of time to escape.

Next, he changed the medicine of the strawberries to be much sweeter. The next spring, the rabbit could only eat a few of them, and only once in a while. So there were lots of strawberries for the bears to eat when they came out of their fast.

That’s why the first thing we eat when we emerge from our fast is bear root and strawberries. We do this to honour the gifts and the medicines of our closest relatives, the bears.

Story & Painting by: Tom Sinclair, TMS Woodland Art
Artist Inquiries: [email protected]

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06/01/2026

We had an amazing time in Sheshegwaning First Nation this weekend making Mini Tipi’s with birchbark, quills and sweetgrass!

Chi meegwetch again to all you who came out and to everyone who made it possible. ❤️🪶🙏🏽

05/25/2026

We will be back in Sheshegwaning First Nation next weekend and next month for workshops!

There will be an Indigenous Crafts Pop-Up Shop at the Sheshegwaning Complex this Saturday 🪶

Chi meegwetch to the staff & community for making this all possible. 🙏🏽❤️

05/24/2026

Mino Bimaadziwin (The Good Life)
An Anishinaabe Teaching

Mino Bimaadziwin is an Anishinaabe way of understanding our responsibilities to ourselves, our families, our communities, and all of Creation.

Our ancestors understood that life moves in cycles, and that every stage of life carries its own gifts, lessons, and responsibilities.

These teachings remind us that growth is not only personal, it’s also spiritual, communal, and intergenerational.

The Seven Stages of Life in Anishinaabe Teachings:

1. The Good Life (Birth - 7):
A time of love, safety, and belonging. Children are sacred gifts, carried with kindness and protected so they may grow strong in spirit.

2. The Fast Life (7 - 14):
A season of rapid growth. Young people begin learning who they are, testing boundaries, discovering talents, and absorbing teachings from those around them.

3. The Wandering & Wondering Life (14-21):
A time of searching. Youth begin asking deeper questions about identity, purpose, and where they belong in the circle of life. Mistakes become teachings.

4. The Truth Life (21 - 28):
A stage of accountability and self-awareness. Individuals are called to walk in truth, recognize their gifts, and align their actions with their spirit.

5. The Planting & Planning Life (28 - 35):
A time to build. People begin planting seeds for future generations through family, work, community, and service.

6. The Doing Life (35 - 49):
A stage of action and responsibility. Knowledge gained through earlier stages is put into practice to support family, nation, and community.

7. The Elder / Giving Back Life (49+):
A sacred stage of reflection, wisdom, and teaching. Elders carry stories, teachings, language, and experience so the next generations may continue the circle.

These teachings remind us that every stage of life has meaning. No matter where we are on our journey, we all have a role to play in creating balance in our lives by living with Love, Truth, Respect, Bravery, Honesty and Humility within our communities. By doing so we honour the Seven Grandfather Teachings or 7 Sacred Teachings depending on your nation.

Mino Bimaadziwin is about living each stage of life in a good way. 🙏🏽❤️🪶

Painting by: Norval Morrisseau
Artist Link: https://OfficialMorrisseau.com

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05/22/2026

The “Duck & Dive” Dance
Nimiipuu / Nez Perce History

Before sunrise on August 9th, 1877, the Nimiipuu were camped along the Big Hole River, near the town of Wisdom, Montana in Beaverhead County, USA.

They went to sleep that night believing they had finally found a moment of peace.

Then the soldiers came.

Col. John Gibbon launched a surprise attack at dawn, firing into lodges filled with sleeping families.

Women, children, Elders, and warriors were k*lled as chaos erupted across the valley. More than 100 Nimiipuu lost their lives that morning during what became known as the “Battle of the Big Hole”.

As the battle raged, the Calvary soldiers rolled in a cannon and fired twice into the village. Warriors charged through gunfire, attacked the cannon position, and stopped it before it could fire again.

To this day, those two cannon blasts still echo through the drum.

During the “Duck & Dive” song, the drum gets hit with two hard downbeats: only twice, representing those shots fired at Big Hole.

Dancers duck low, dive, and let out a war cry; honouring the memory and the spirits of the ancestors who fought there.

The drum still remembers, and every time the dancers duck on those two beats…

the battle lives again.

Painting by: Tracey @ Spacey Ace Studio
Artist Link: https://spaceyacestudio.com/

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05/20/2026

Wenabozho and the Bullrushes
An Anishinaabe Story

One night, Wenabozho heard the music of a grandfather drum in the dark. He thought he was among the Anishinaabeg and that they were celebrating his arrival.

​Wenabozho saw that the people were dancing with great intensity. The dancers would crouch low to the ground, then suddenly rise up and sway.

Wenabozho had never seen such great dancers, especially at a celebration held in his honor.

​Joining in the dance, Wenabozho moved low to the ground just as the others did. He matched the movements of the other dancers perfectly; when they swayed back and forth, Wenabozho did the same.

Impressed by their skills, he even tried to outdo them in a dance-off. Wenabozho stayed as low to the ground as the others, but eventually, he became so tired that he couldn't keep up.

​He decided to lie down and sleep. When Wenabozho woke up, he saw that the Anishinaabeg were no longer there.

All he saw around him were tall bullrushes, swaying in the wind.

Some say this is how the Duck ‘N Dive Dance was born.

Painting by: Frank Polson
Artist Inquiries: [email protected]

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05/20/2026

We will be in the beautiful community of Musk-Kosiminiziibing next month to facilitate our Addictions Awareness + Prevention, and Song Writing Workshops!❤️🪶✊🏾🎼🎤

05/15/2026

🙏🏽❤️‍🩹🪶🫎🧡🔸

As the sun sets on Moose Hide Campaign Day, our hearts are full of gratitude. Over 300K people came together across Turtle Island today — walking, fasting, l...

05/12/2026

Chi meegwetch to Sheshegwaning First Nation for having us out for the Iskigamizigan (Sugar Bushing) Workshop! 🍁🚰🔥

A special chi meegwetch to the youth, elders, adults and staff that came together to make this a memorable and sacred experience for everyone. 🙏🏽❤️🪶

05/10/2026

Mino Gashi Giizhgaat / Happy Mother’s Day!
❤️🌹🌷💐

When the Rainbow Was Made 🌈
An Anishinaabe Story

One day when the earth was new, Nanabozho looked out the window of his house beside the wide waterfall and realized that all of the flowers in his meadow were exactly the same off­white color. He thought how boring!

He decided to make a change, so he gathered up his paints and his paintbrushes and went out to the meadow. Nanabozho sat down in the tall grass and arranged his red and orange and yellow and green and blue and violet paint pots next to him. Then he began to paint the flowers in his meadow in many different colors.

He painted the violets dark blue and the tiger lilies orange with brown dots. He made the roses red and pink and purple. He painted the pansies in every color combination he could think of. Then he painted every single daffodil bright yellow.

Nanabozho hummed happily to himself as he worked in the brilliant daylight provided by Brother Sun. Overhead, two little bluebirds were playing games with each other. The first little bluebird would chase his friend across the meadow one way. Then they would turn around and the second bluebird would chase him back the other way. Zippity­zip went the first bluebird as he raced across the sky. Zappity­zing went the second bluebird as he chased him in the brilliant sunshine.

Occasionally, Nanabozho would shade his eyes and look up…up into the endless blue sky to watch the two little birds playing. Then he went back to work, painting yellow centers in the white daisies. Above him, the two birds decided to see how fast they could dive down to the green fields below them. The first bluebird sailed down and down, and then pulled himself up sharply just before he touched the ground.

As he soared passed Nanabozho, his right wing dipped into the red paint pot. When the second bluebird dove toward the grass, his left wing grazed the orange paint pot. Nanabozho scolded the two birds, but they kept up their game, diving down toward the grass where he sat painting and then flying back up into the sky.

Soon their feet and feathers were covered with paint of all colors. Finally Nanabozho stood up and waved his arms to shoo the birds away.

Reluctantly, the bluebirds flew away from Nanabozho and his paint pots, looking for another game to play. They started chasing each other again, sailing this way and that over top of the giant waterfall that stood next to Nanabozho's house.

Zippity­zip, the first bluebird flew through the misty spray of the waterfall. The first bluebird left a long red paint streak against the sky. Zappity­zing, the second bluebird chased his friend through the mist, leaving an orange paint streak. Then the birds turned to go back the other way. This time, the first bluebird left a yellow paint streak and the second left a pretty blue­violet paint streak.

As they raced back and forth, the colors grew more vivid. When Brother Sun shone on the colors, they sparkled radiantly through the mist of the waterfall. Below them, Nanabozho looked up in delight when the brilliant colors spilled over his meadow. A gorgeous arch of red and orange and yellow and green and blue and violet shimmered in the sky above the waterfall.

Nanabozho smiled at the funny little bluebirds and said: "You have made a rainbow!" Nanabozho was so pleased that he left the rainbow permanently floating above his waterfall, its colors shimmering in the sunshine and the misting water.

From that day to this, whenever Brother Sun shines his light on the rain or the mist, a beautiful rainbow forms. It is a reflection of the mighty rainbow that still stands over the waterfall at Nanabozho's house.

Painting by: Norval Morrisseau
Artist Link: https://officialmorrisseau.com

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