Gichinaakinagewin (laws of the land)
Isabelle Meawasige from Serpent River First Nation says,
In the Dawn of Memory, at The Beginning of Time, the First People lived in balance and harmony with all of Creation. They watched nature and knew that she had ways of governing, and the People called that, Spiritual Laws. They watched and learned the concepts of cycles and circles. And with regards to the government of the people, again those ways of governance and how they were structured came from the Creation. There were Warrior Societies for the protection of the people, councils that fulfilled the needs of the People of the Land. But the most important laws they observed, was how the animals of the forest behaved. One of the most important observations was how the animals cared for their young. How they fiercely protected them. They observed the wolves and bears and the foxes. How much they loved their young. The people fashioned their lives and their councils around this concept. At the center of every village was a fire being kept by the old people, the Keepers of the Children’s Fire. This fire was a reminder of the pledge that the people made to the children, do not harm the children. Love them as fiercely as the animals do. Care for them gently, as the animals do and protect them as fiercely as the animals do. For thousands of years, those keepers kept the fires burning for the children. Never was that fire allowed to go out. The other councils had great respect for that children’s fire. Whenever big decisions were being made by the councils, a runner was sent over to the children’s fire. The keepers deliberated quite seriously over that question, sometimes for days. “If we do this move, will it help the children? If we do this, will it bring harm to the children?” If the answer was, that decision was good for the children, then the runner was told, “yes”, and he would run that affirmation up to the council, awaiting for the response from the Keepers. And they would proceed to make that decision happen. If this decision would bring harm to the children, the answer was “no”. and the runner had the job to run that answer to the council. If this was the case, “no meant no”, and nothing was done. Being the keepers of the children’s fire was a big job. Who are the keepers now? What do they look like?
Gichinaakinagewin or the “laws of the land” were given by the Creator and define the responsibilities and obligations of Anishinaabe to aki (land) and to one another. Gichinaakinagewin are reflected in the dodemiwan or clan system and in many other aspects of Anishinaabe governance. Anishinaabe people learn how to govern and how to live together from aki and niibi (water). Gichinaakinagewin teach Anishinaabe people how to uphold their responsibilities to both human and non-human communities including protecting the environment and engaging in practices of healing that benefit themselves and their communities.
For Isaac Murdoch, “Inaaknigewin is a form of governance on how we live on the land. It’s a set of principles and guidelines that we follow to ensure that we live with nature.” And for Sam Manitowabi,
Gichinaakinagewin (great laws) given to us by the Creator, define our responsibilities and obligations to kidakiimnaan (land), and debendiziwin (the right to self-determination). These laws govern all our relationships to allow us to live in harmony with all creation. These responsibilities and obligations given to us cannot be altered or taken away by any foreign government.
Gimaa Dean Sayers of Batchewana describes the ongoing obligations towards the earth – gichinaakinagewin as,
The Anishinaabek of RHW have Gichi Naakinagewin (great laws) that govern all their relationships in how to live in harmony with nature and mankind. Gichi Naakinagewin define our Anishinaabek rights and responsibilities. Gchi-Mnidoo gave them spiritual beliefs, Anishinaabemowin, culture and a place on Mother Earth, which provided them with all the necessary life-giving resources to make their existence possible. RHW Anishinaabek continue to maintain their freedom, Anishinaabemowin, culture and traditions from time immemorial. They continue to fulfill the responsibilities and obligations given to them by Gchi-Mnidoo for kidakiimnaan (the land) upon which they were placed.
Mike Bisson of Mississauga says that gichinaakinagewin is grounded in deep relationality with humans and non-humans, and that this broad sense of kinship implies a responsibility to respect and care for women and children:
I have DNA of many Elders going through me; I come from their DNA. I’m proud of who I am as Anishinaabe person, and I have a relationship. That’s why we say, “[Phrase in Anishinaabemowin],” “It’s to everything I’m related to.” I’m related to the land; that’s why we say, like, “[Phrase in Anishinaabemowin],” because we’re related to the rivers, the lakes that are around here, and the spirits that dwell in there – the hills, the mountains. But I’m related to the different [inaudible]. I’m related to everybody here. And my daughter is very cherished by me, and I want nobody to harm her, and we have laws to protect that, “If you put your hand on a woman as an Anishinaabe man, you are a man without honour.”
There are many creation stories that outline the relationship between humans and aki(the land). Kekek Jason Stark describes one such story told by Campbell Papequash which “explains the establishment of the “Great Laws of Nature,” or gichinaakinagewin.
The Great Spirit then made the Great Laws of Nature for the wellbeing and the harmony of all things and all creatures. The Great Laws governed the world, and movement of the sun, earth, moon and the stars. The Great Laws of Nature governed the fire, rock, water, and winds. The Great Laws governed the rhythm and continuity of birth, life, growth, and decay. All things lived and worked by these laws. . . There are four orders in creation: the physical world, the plant world, the animal world, and the human world. All four parts are so intertwined, and they make up life and one whole existence. With less than the four orders, life and being are incomplete and unintelligible. No one portion is self-sufficient or complete . . . each component of creation derives its meaning from and fulfils its function and purpose within the context of the whole creation. It is only by the relationship of the four orders that the world has sense and meaning. Without animals and plants, Man would have no meaning, nor would he have much more meaning if he were not governed by some immutable law. There is a natural law. It is the law that everyone is ruled by, including all things in creation. It is an absolute law. It is a law that has no mercy. It is a law that will always prevail. The basis of this great law is peace . . . Before he can abide by this law, human beings must understand the framework of the ordinances of creation.
Relationships between community members including the obligation to meet the needs of those who are vulnerable and in need of support can also be understood through the lens of gichinaakinagewin. As Isaac Murdoch explains, “…you look at colonies of wolves for example, you look at animals that live in a colony, they're amazing and they look after each other. Children are being breast fed by other mothers. I was breast fed by another mother. There was a deep, intimate connection to your people and it ran very deep.” The relationships established by gichinaakinagewin are reflected in the dodemiwan or clan system and in daily practices that ensure the wellbeing of extended family and community members.
In many cases, aki and niibi (land and water) are both a source of law as well as a recording or reminder of legal decision-making that has taken place. As one Sagamok Elder asserts, “Aki, is our land. We learn to live by her laws from the land. Learn from our own way of learning. Learning the relationship to the Land.”
In the story of The Year the Roses Died, gichinaakinagewin are referenced during decision-making around the fate of Waabooz (rabbit) and the roses. Makwa (bear) intervenes to prevent the killing of Waabooz based on his understanding of gichinaakinagewin,
“Well,” said Makwa, softening his growl to show respect, “you see, Your Honor, it has been determined that Waabooz is responsible for the disappearance of the roses.”
The Manidoo said, “Killing the Waabooz will not bring back the roses. You all noticed that the roses were in trouble, and you all decided to take your own shares even if it meant killing the roses forever. There is no honor in this. This is not keeping creation in balance as you were told to do in the Beginning Time.”
This story also reflects the responsibility that all parts of creation owe to one another. It is decided that while Waabooz did eat all of the roses, all of the other animals also failed to protect them and therefore they are all responsible for the disappearance of the rose. This sense of collective and interconnected responsibility is a major part of gichinaakinagewin.
There are consequences to failing to uphold or comply with gichinaakinagewin, as reflected in the story of Deer clan. In this story, an entire clan fails to follow the laws against incest and eventually disappears entirely. As Rupert Ross relates in his retelling, “[t]he disappearance of this most gentle, song-filled and poetic clan is traced in Ojibway storytelling to their refusal to heed the Creator’s warning against incest, even when their continued misbehaviour sent them afflicted children. As a result, the Creator was left with no choice but to see to the disappearance of the entire clan.” Other consequences of failures to uphold or live according to gichinaakinagewin may include climate change and environmental destruction.
So how can the teachings around gichinaakinagewin be brought forward and grounded in Koognaasewin? Communities currently discussing their vision for their new Child Wellbeing system models and governance system are telling the Koognaasewin Team that in order to build the future, they need to reach back and acknowledge those traditions and teachings on raising children. But even more importantly perhaps is the recognition by many of whom Koognaasewin has been meeting with that leadership, staff and managers of services for children and families, and community members overall should also be looking to these teachings and Anishinaabe culture and traditions as they build new child wellbeing governance and service delivery models. The research report highlights the critical role of gichinaakinagewin, the Laws of the Land, and the responsibilities that we have to one another and to the central role that the land plays in nurturing and sustaining healthy children and healthy families. Language, culture, traditions, and teachings cannot be just held as historical facts. Reimagining child wellbeing cannot be done without gichinaakinagewin, the Laws of the Land, because this is what defines being Anishinaabe. Gichinaakinagewin is the reassertion of what is the Anishinaabe’s inherent jurisdiction over how we raise our children – Koognaasewin, based on the Laws of the Land.
To read the stories referenced above as well as the section on Gichinaakinagewin, please visit https://www.koognaasewin.com/reports to download and read the Summary Report or the full Anishinaabe Laws and Customs Research on Child Wellbeing Final Report.