Mno Bimaadziwin, The Good Life
Mno bimaadziwin or “the good life” can mean living a life in balance or living a just life. Living a good life requires an individual to live in a way that honours their individual gifts and purpose while also fulfilling their obligations to family and community. In a practical sense, mno bimaadziwin places responsibilities and obligations on parents and relations to provide children and youth the opportunities necessary to find and live out their own understanding of mno bimaadziwin.
Pamela Rose Toulouse of Sagamok writes that, “Bimaadziwin is a powerful word. Bimaadziwin is the 'good life' that we aspire to, it's the way we think, the measurement of our behaviour and it carries a lot of responsibility.” Patricia McGuire states that Mno Bimaadziwin can also be equated to justice:
For the Anishinaabe, the concept of achieving harmony in life, to live in balance with all of creation is expressed by the term mino-bimaadiziwin. The concept of mino- bimaadiziwin is literally defined as to “live a good life.” This concept stems for the terms; minw- which means good, or well and the term bimaadizi which means to live.8The term bimaadizi is further broken down with the following stems: bim-, which means along in space or time, -aad- which means of being or life, character or nature, and -izi, which means s/he is in a state or condition.
The principles of mino-bimaadiziwin are attained through the assistance of all of creation, both on a physical and spiritual level. Henry Flocken reiterates this idea as he explained “it is through close intimate relationships with the Spirits that Bimaadiziwin is achieved.”
Mno Bimaadziwin also includes living a good life, ethics and living a life in balance between the physical and the spiritual worlds, living a healthy life and having a good sense of who you are. In practice, mno bimaadziwin requires parents, caregivers and relations to help children and youth grow into healthy adults by providing them with the knowledge, skills and connection to culture that will ensure they can find and live out their own unique approach to living the good life.
Anishinaabe governance structures and institutions, including the doodemag or clan system, are designed to facilitate mno bimaadziwin. Heidi Bohaker states that the concept of mno bimaadziwin shapes Anishinaabe law and governance, including international relations. She explains that the principles and practices that shaped Anishinaabe legal traditions around governance through alliance were grounded in the principles and practices that guided everyday family life in the pursuit of mino-bimaadiziwin. This phrase means both life itself and the rules for proper conduct: to live well, to achieve mino-bimaadiziwin, is to fulfil one’s obligations to all one’s relations in all four directions.
Mno bimaadziwin remains a central goal of Anishinaabe life. One of the primary goals of reassurting jurisdiction over child wellbeing is for North Shore First Nations to assume their inherent responsibilities and to protect their children and youth from the ongoing effects of colonization, intergenerational trauma and challenges with substance abuse.
Mno bimaadziwin is relevant and important today in bringing Anishinaabe people and communities back to the culture and teachings, to rebuilding relationships within and across communities and families, and in the revitalization of Indigenous laws. The principles of mno-biimaadiziwin should be utilized to interpret and develop Anishinaabe-inaakonigewin (law). An important outcome of utilizing and implementing the principles of mno biizaadiziwin will be to allow Anishinaabe justice systems and alternative dispute resolution processes the ability to bring the principles of minobimaadiziwin into the modern era of child wellbeing.