Giigidizhiminaanig
Grandparents and Elders hold important roles as teachers, community leaders, and in many cases primary caregivers.
Elders are our historians, philosophers, helpers, leaders, teachers, and healers. Elders are our experts, specialized in traditional cultural knowledge and experiences. The Elders’ role at the community level is to act as “cultural” guides and models for how to live life in a healthy, well-rounded manner.
Each time an Elder passes on to the Spirit World a whole body of knowledge passes on with that person. If younger people do not take the time to sit with grandparents, uncles and aunties to learn about our origins and philosophies, then we are at a loss and a great disadvantage. The Elders are the core transmitters of our unique way of seeing and perceiving the world. They are our guides in this life journey.
Giigidizhiminaanig or grandparents hold important roles in their families and communities. They are “…life teachers. Elders are highly regarded, because they are the “spirit teachers.” Along with their roles as teachers, giigidizhiminaanig play a central role in Anishinaabe governance systems, as leaders within their families, communities, and nations. Through ceremony and teaching, they may form strong relationships to children and youth that connect them to their lands, culture, and communities. In particular, a grandmother’s “…role in caring for young children is to prime the next generation with the foundational skills necessary to become adults and parents themselves.
Within the Anishinaabe nation, giigidzhiminaanig hold significant authority around child wellbeing and should be included in decision-making that affects children and youth. They can also legitimately intervene when children and youth are at risk. Grandmas and Aunties groups are contemporary examples of decision-making bodies that reflect this authority.
The important responsibilities many grandparents hold in supporting parents and raising grandchildren continue to this day and may present financial and other challenges for those on limited incomes.
And so the picture gets bigger because you bring them home, and then we want to be able to care for them in a manner that we want to... that they know, and they know who they are. And so, that’s a whole new thing, and I can only imagine how a child must feel, like, “Now what?” And you’re thinking, “I’m all by myself. I need somebody, but who is that somebody? And now I need someplace to live. Who am I going to live with?” Aunties and Grandmothers, that’s our role as well, but sometimes we don’t have that capacity in the way that... the housing situation, we should not bring a child in. If I were younger, I would bring a child in because, when you hear what’s going on in our Indian land, “Well, how did it get there and how are we going to fix it?”
According to focus group participants, grandparents have the right to remove children if they are vulnerable to harm, and it doesn't matter what agency says either. When children aren't being cared for appropriately and there’s harm being caused to children, the Aunties and the Grandmas should intervene. Giigidizhiminaanig are not expected to raise the children but to be there to teach the children. The roles grandparents are being asked to play today as primary caregivers can be too much. Today, it’s a totally different kind of role grandparents are playing as they’re raising their grand kids because of health and social issues (such as addiction). Grandparents should be “nurturing” grandchildren and “showing them patience” instead of taking on these primary parenting roles.
Giigidizhiminaanig hold important roles in governing their nations. Community elders served the community in a leadership capacity, as they increasingly took on responsibilities that had to do with governance. The advice of the elders will inform all the major decisions made by the Nation.
It was the old ladies who held responsibility for leadership and governance, teaching, and managing the health of their communities. There were many stories about elderly women who were leaders in their extended families; the gii maa kwe (head woman) was the final decision maker in many cases. Old ladies were valued for how they looked after the communities through their attention to kinship, through how they managed the health, well-being, and spirit connections of community members. As with the younger women, elderly women worked hard to ensure the survival of the community, contributing to the very end of their lives.
Giigidizhiminaanig hold ceremonial roles in many spaces including ceremonies that contribute to child wellbeing. One of their most important responsibilities was giving a “spirit name” to babies as this name was considered both sacred and significant. Naming, teaching, and other ceremonial roles serve to connect giigidizhiminaanig to younger generations and to facilitate kinship connections. As Pamela Rose Toulouse explains,
The heart of understanding our own ways and behaviours is found in the relationships and expressions between grandparents and grandchildren. It is important to note that the grandparent does not limit itself to only biological relationships but encompasses a far greater interpretation. To speak of our grandparents in the most respectful manner we use the Ojibwe terms Nookmis (grandmother) and Mishomis (grandfather). Often people within our home community have developed familial and special bonds with various 'old folks' in Sagamok which results in the adoption of that individual as his/her grandchild. These Nookmis and Mishomis bonds are strong and become the process by which traditions, customs, mores, and protocols are transmitted.
This connection is important and circular. It is important to remember that the holistic notion of the Anishinaabe worldview tells us that life is circular and cyclical – and in this understanding, the work of the Elder who has reached the fourth stage of life - as depicted by the Medicine Wheel, is to ensure that this circle remains continuous and connected. Elders set a standard for a good life, both in words and in deeds. Elders used to ask mothers and children to join them when they prayed in Ojibway that they would be good to their fellow men and women.
Rachel Pattison of Atikameksheng stated that, “we have this Child Welfare Agency hanging over us, but if you look, it’s starting to shift, where the Grandmas and Aunties are going back to their traditional role. And they’re serving... they’re telling their kids that this is what needs to be done and if you can’t do this then we’re going to step in, or we’re going to help you and we’re going to walk beside you”.