Regional names and their meanings, plus a recipe!

Anishnaube-akii (the land of the Anishnaube) is a broad and vast territory, which at one time spanned most of the Great Lakes, out onto the prairies, and east into Quebec. With such regional diversity, the Anishnaube had two things going on;

First, was a vast variety of food.

Secondly, they had a lot of places to name!

With such a vast territory, the Anishnaube had many titles for rivers, lakes, hills and so-forth. Many of these had something to do with food, whether directly (Tullibee River), or indirectly (where to gather hunting or gathering materials). This is not just found amongst my people, as my good friend Mark pointed out to me that in his region of Alberta, the local river was called the Bow River, because the local nations would travel down it to harvest the proper woods for bows, as well as arrows and baskets (the red osier dogwood of the region was apparently superb). With this being said, I would like to cover a few of my region, which happens to be the ancestral territory of the Missisauga, who are my direct ancestors.

I live on Rice Lake, in Central Ontario. Many people assume the name of Rice Lake would be translated into "Lake of Wild Rice". No brainer, huh? However, the Missisauga people called it Pemedashkotayang, Lake of the Burning Plains. This was due to a vast Black Oak Savannah and Tallgrass Prairie ecosystem spanning much of the lake. The Haudenasaunae People, most likely members of the Mohawk People, had a well established agricultural society based on the southern shore of Rice Lake, and frequently burned back the grasses to encourage the growth of succulent plants, which would in turn encourage the deer and other critters out into the open to be hunted by bow, atlatl, sling and many other hunting devices. So an entire lake was named after an action that was performed to access food sources.

The river closest to my house is the Otonabee. I've heard many theories as to what it may mean, until I just finally looked it up. Ottanabeezibi was the original name of the river, and was translated as follows;

Ottanabee = Tullibee (Coregonus artedi), a type of fish, often called a Chub, Lake Herring, or Northern Cisco. I like the name Tullibee, as it is the only name that does not seem to be argued about.

Zibi = River, a type of body of water that moves with the gravitational... okay maybe I don't need to explain what a river is.

So the Otonabee River, is perfectly translated as the Tullibee River. Makes you wonder how important tullibee was to the Missisauga People, huh? Well, being a member of the Whitefish family, tullibee were extremely important. Their spawning and numbers allowed the Missisauga and other Anishnaube nations the chance to harvest a large amount of fish meat (high in Omega 3 Fatty Acids and many other nutrients). This ability to harvest a big yield of protein with simple devices (basket traps, nets, spears, weirs, etc), granted the Anishnaube the chance to secure their lives for at least a couple of months. This gave them more time to focus on other food gathering subjects, community activities, and the collection of other resources, or repairing of tools.

It also granted them the chance to expand their culture, religion and society. Fishing has been connected with the Woodland Period of North America for a great many years. This is because of a higher yield of artefacts that pertain to fishing (bone harpoons, fish bones in midden piles, old weirs found under certain lakes, etc). Notice how suddenly our cultures began to drift more into agriculture, bows rather than atlatls, and much more advanced technology with a simple change in diet? Fishing was more successful than big game hunting, and often the yield was much more rewarding.

Along with the fish, other things would be caught in the traps, such as snapping turtles and eels. While out seeking fish, waterfowl like ducks and herons could be shot at in opportunistic fashion. While scanning the waters for panfish, young men would often come across freshwater mussells, as well as crawyfish and bullfrogs. While gathering such things such as fish, and shellfish, plant sources such as Water plantain, Arrowhead, and cattail would also be gathered as food sources. Sweet Gale would also be harvested for seasoning.

All with just adding fish to the diet, the Anishnaube people were able to advance their society. They had more time to expand their hunting arsenal, as well as delve deeper into their spiritual world.

Oh, and because I know you are wondering.. Tullibee is freakin' delicious. A very sweet fish meat. Here is an out of season recipe, as I often catch Tullibee in April, which happens to be the Whitefish Moon.


Roasted Tullibee

Need:

-Fire that has died down to hot coals
-Basswood bark strips
-Basswood leaves and/or burdock leaves

Ingredients:

-Gutted tullibee
-1/4 cup of garlic mustard (diced)
-Three wild leeks (diced)
-Two tablespoons of birch sap


1) Mix all ingredients other than the tullibee
2) Stuff into body cavity of tullibee
3) Wrap up in two layers of leaves
4) Bind shut with basswood bark strips
5) Place on coals and bake/roast for about 5-8 minutes
6) Flip and roast on other side for another 5 minutes
7) Open up and enjoy!

Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!

Baamaapii,

Caleb Wazhusk

The seasonal food of the Raspberry Moon

This time of year is known among my people (The Missisauga Anishnaube/Ojibway) as the Raspberry Moon. In my language, Raspberry Moon is translated as Miskomin Giizoonh (Giizis in other dialects). This is because the raspberries are beginning to ripen. North of here, among the Manitoulin Island and Lake Superior Anishnaube, it is called Miinan Giizis, or the Blueberry Moon. We don't have many blueberries growing wild in this region, and our raspberries ripen before theirs' do, so regional differences must always apply. This will be an ongoing subject that I frequently bring up during each Moon.

Many fruits are in this part of the country. I am currently looking out a window and see that the Mayapples Podophyyllum peltatum are ripening up. They ought to be just about ready at the end of Miskomin Giizoonh. Often called American Mandrake, or Elephant's Ear, the Mayapple is extremely toxic, up until the very moment of ripeness. Then it seems to have the taste of a Golden Delicious apple, but with something else added to the flavour.

Strawberry-blite Chenopodium capitatum are just about perfect this time of year. The "fruit" (actually the flower of the plant) of this member of the Goosefoot family has a flavour to me that stands alone. It somewhat tastes like strawberry, raspberry and mint blended into one, but yet it seems to be so unique that my tastebuds go crazy trying to figure it out. It is by far one of my favourite foods in the woodlands. The rest of the plant makes a good potherb, that I often add to stirfries or stews. Some call it Strawberry Spinach, as the fruit-like flowers resemble Ode'min (strawberry), and the rest of the plant tastes very similar to spinach.

Many members of the Raspberry (Rubus) family are going to be ready during this Moon, this is obviously a logical reason for this time of year to be called Miskomin Giizoonh. Wild Red Raspberry Rubus idaecus, common blackberry Rubus occidentalis and even my personal favourite, the Purple-flowering Raspberry Rubus odoratus will all be ripening at different times. The wild red is already ripe, and this weeked I will be working on a Staghorn sumac Rhus typhina bark basket to collect it and its' respective relatives. The common blackberry will begin to ripen next week, and be ready by the third week. The Purple-flowering is still in bloom, but at the end of the Raspberry Moon will provide the largest of the three fruits.

So does this mean just berries are available? Of course not! There are two more weeks left before the bark of many trees will cling ferociously to the wood once again. So if you want to make baskets, gather soon!

 Sweetflag Acorus calamus will be ready at the end of this moon, and we will talk more about her and her uses in next moon's blogs.

The medicinal plant Jewelweed Impatiens spp. is at its' peak now. Though useful throughout the summer, this is when the most sap can be found in our local plants. This stuff is nicknamed the Aloe of the North, for its' soothing effect on bugbites. I have treated poison ivy with it, though so far science has stated that the Jewelweed plant has no genuine effect.

Salsify Tragopogon sp. is in my opinion best harvested now.

The fruit of the Staghorn sumac (whose bark I will be gathering tomorrow), is just going red now. A sun tea with a very tart, but sweet and citrusy flavour can be made now, though I prefer to wait until the first frost sweetens it up a tad. However it is edible once it turns red. I have heard many outdoors instructors state that the reason Staghorn sumac is called Staghorn, is because that is the title of the fruit. That is incorrect. Look at the branches, and then look at the antlers of a deer. You will notice the branches are very similar looking, and the soft fuzzy hairs of the branches is so similar to when a buck is in velvet. This is the true reason for the name. Gather the leaves now, and you can make a strong dye or mordant for dying fabrics.

This is of course an incomplete list, but then again, I have three more weeks to go! I will include photographs in my next blog post.

Nest blog I will give some recipes for using these foods, but one thing I want to make very clear before we end is this; The Raspberry Moon is a time of great yields of fruit. We would glut ourselves' on the berries and wild plants this time of year, but we would also disperse the seeds, to assist the lifecycle of the plants. Just as importantly, we preserved the majority of the fruits we gathered, through dehydrating (a method I will explain in further detail in the next blog). This may have been a time of plenty, a time to feast. But we remembered the famine of the winter. Around here, February has a special name. It is Bakade Giizis, or The Hunger Moon.

Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section. Please feel free to subscribe!

Baamaapii,

Caleb Wazhusk

Living the Thirteen Moons; Introduction

Aanii, Boozhoo. Caleb Wazhusk n'diznikauz.

Hello, Greetings. My name is Caleb Muskrat.

I am a Missisauga Anishnaube-nini (Missisauga Ojibway Man) from Hiawatha First Nation. I work as a wilderness skills instructor, as well as an Aboriginal-Archeological Liaison for the Williams Treaty First Nations. I have been accepted at Trent University for the Foundations of Indigenous Learning, and will be pursuing a B.Sc. in Archeology, and if I play my cards right, a Masters in the same subject. I also will be following along with Dan Longboat's programs, which focus on Traditional Indigenous Education and Health, plus Sustainable Agriculture. My passion is for the knowledge of my ancestors, and with that came a big lifestyle change as of New Years of this year.

At the beginning of 2012, I began a diet called the PaleoDiet, which helped me to lose more than forty-five pounds of body fat, and that -plus walking- has gained me twenty-odd pounds of muscle mass. I sleep better now than I ever have, and my joint pain is next to nothing (other than my back, which I am sure will never go away for us humans). However, the PaleoDiet has one problem in my eyes. It is not realistic to my ancestors' way of life, on either continent. You see, the PaleoDiet was made by people who were neither archeologists, nor ethnobotanists (let alone Paleo-Ethnobotanists), The developers of the diet were not mndful to the fact that legumes, grains and members of the nightshade family were consumed all over the world long before the advent of agriculture.

So, with that problem, I decided to take the PaleoDiet, and mix it with more ancient knowledge. As a member of the Anishnaube People, we have what is called the Thirteen Moons Calendar. The story goes that Nanaboozhoo noticed that a turtle had thirteen plates on her shell, and in that moment, decided that there would be thirteen months, or moons. Now, with modern western culture, there are only twelve months. But our calendar goes by moon phases. In each moon phase, the month is measured by twenty-eight days.
There are three hundred and sixty-five days within a year, so does a thirteen month/moon calendar, with twenty-eight days per month really work?


Actually yes. Twenty-eight days goes into three hundred and sixty-five days, Thirteen times.. like this..

365 divided by 28 = 13

Math, it is never wrong.. at least my computer's calculator isn't.

Now, what would the names of these months be? Obviously my people did not name them after Greek deities, or even after their own spiritual beings (Mnidoo or Manitou depending on your dialect). So what would they name their months? Being a people who lived off of the land, and in tune with their environment, the months/moons were titled after what was most available during those seasons, or what was most common in activity or in food. What's that? A calendar based around food? Why yes!

Now, the Anishnaube people have a very broad range, and of course, each area would have different things available in regard to food. And I want to make it clear, not everywhere was each month/moon titled the same. For example; July here in the Rice Lake region is called Miskomin Giizis (or in some dialects, Giizoonh). Miskomin is the name for Raspberry (Misko = Red, min= fruit/berry), and Giizis/Giizoonh refers to Moon. So July is in this region, the Raspberry Moon. However, in Manitoulin Island, July is often called Miinan Giizis/Giizoonh, which is the Blueberry Moon. Why the difference? Because here we have a huge variety of the raspberry family, and throughout this month/moon, they all ripen. Common Raspberry,  Purple-flowering Raspberry, Common blackberry, etc etc. We don't have blueberries here, whereas in Manitoulin Island, they do. Seasonal and regional differences will happen.

So, what exactly is Living by the Thirteen Moons? Well, it is exactly what my Anishnaube ancestors did. Each moon provides different foods, or different important activities. As a person who focuses a great deal of his life on traditional skills, and traditional teachings, it is a no brainer for me to try to emulate this.

I am a firm believer in your genetics having a big say in what you should or should not eat. The Indigenous people of Canada have a rate of diabetes three times higher than the rest of the population of this country. Our heart disease rates are also sky-high. Now compare how we used to eat, to the current diet of many First Nations communities. Health professionals, anthropologists and common sense is all saying this folks, it is not just my opinion.

So what will this blog page be? It will be me, each month (or week) writing about what I am doing to return my body to the traditional diet of my ancestors. No wheat, no dairy, no refined foods. I will also be talking about some traditional skills involved in the thirteen moons, such as; food preserving the old way, and making gathering tools (baskets, digging sticks, etc,) or hunting implements (bow, arrows, fishing spear, etc) for the harvesting of those wild foods.

Hope you enjoy my personal experiment. If you feel like joining along, let me know your results, research or anything else in the comments section.

Baamaapii,

Caleb Wazhusk