Kinship Law And Family Governance

An article by Sheila Annettee Wheesk

Canadian law has been and continues to be used as a tool of colonization and sex-based discrimination against Anishinaabekwewag.

Ojibway governance emanates from the cosmos, the environment, and the interaction between all beings animate and inanimate. Like a sphere, Ojibway governance is encompassing, continuous and though it does have a core, it does not have a beginning or an end.

Humility is a cornerstone of the Seven Grandfather Teachings. Humility is the comfort of knowing our place within our surroundings. The beginnings of Anishinaabek law rests in how one feels calm in the sound of the waves splashing quietly, in how the birds sing to each other, and in the tree’s sway with the wind. Anishinaabeg justice rests in a place of balance all beings have with each other and within nature’s dialogue. Within this dialogue, the use of force is reduced or not necessary for the order.

Now, let us begin this historical journey to understand Anishinaabe law or family governance within their communities before the Indian Act, 1876, before the treaties with the Crown, and the influx of settlers encroaching on their traditional land.

The supremacy of the Canadian government has been the power imposed upon the Indigenous people. In support of my statement, the Northshore Alliance needs to implement policies in a way the Crown understands and is willing to support. The requirements in this project include the retrieval of family law in Anishinaabeg governance from historical documents stored within the colonial system. In other words, my job is to find evidence of Anishinaabeg law external to the Indigenous community governing the children’s welfare. It appears the Crown intends to limit its support of Aboriginal rights because Indigenous law needs to approach the Crown in a way it understands and is willing to support. The Indigenous law, Anishinaabeg governance and child and family orders exist in history, but they will not be connected chronologically to the present or one-dimensional. Like a medicine wheel, Indigenous law is reflected upon and made relevant by continuous use and enjoyment.

Therefore, we will search in the archives, historical narratives, oral history from Anishinaabe knowledge keepers for songs, prayers, legends, stories, ceremonies, birch bark scrolls, language and art to find this evidence. The proof of law is in cradleboards, moss bags, birch bark baskets, birch bark scrolls, designs found on attire, and in ocher petrography. My method is to collect examples of material culture. Their sacredness will tell of Anishnaabe-kwewug (Ojibway women’s) governance and how it might apply to child and family Indigenous law. Written documentation such as the historical journals of early settlers will confirm these examples.
In a quick scan of the GRASAC database, I have found cradleboards, blankets, toys, baskets, moccasins, birch bark containers, adult clothing, like leggings, and holy items. I am not too sure if I can show pictures of the sacred objects.
On a personal note, I will share what was given to me by an elder who has finished her work in the physical world. She lived with her daughters at Birch Island. On her living room wall, she had a painting. She loved it and sat next to it. The artwork consists of four hills.

Anishinaabeg family law persists regardless of colonization because it is used and enjoyed, and therefore, cannot be erased. The late grandmother, Lillian Pitawanakit, shared her traditional teachings with many people. She explains: life does not begin at birth. Life happens even before the fetus is conceived and forms. Life is a spiritual being that comes from the spiritual realm, and the spirit-being chooses their parents. The next stage is when the spirit-being enters into the physical world in a vessel. The vessel is the mother, and the mother is responsible for this spiritual being. In preparation, the mother begins with her partner, family and community members to help this spirit’s journey to be born healthy. During the planning, the mother, her family and community ensure that they are careful what they say and do in front of the infant because the baby can hear through the mother’s stomach. In addition, the mother and family make things like moccasins, dreamcatchers, bundle bags, feather cases, drums, rattles, ribboned clothing, moss bags and a tikinaagan.

I used to make tikinaagan. The backboard is a plank of cedar or birch. A crossbar piece is soaked and carefully bent. The crossbar protects the child and can be used as a handle to lift the tikinaagan or to hang sacred items from, such as a rattle, the umbilical cord, or a dream catcher. Carved or painted motifs of hearts or geometric symbols decorate the backboard.

Meanwhile, other family women help sew the tikinaagan covering using hide, cloth, sinew, thread, beads, embroidery, and porcupine quills. The pattern’s design was passed down from grandmother to mother to granddaughter. Some community’s had members who could recognize these families from the covering. Some tikinaagan covers represent family stories and clans. The stories represent a belief system, and clans represent a social organization and political identity.