Ogimaakan shkode - Council Fires

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Fire, ishkode, is a central element in the Anishinaabe worldview. Ishkode is the force of the creation of the Earth, reflected in the Earth’s molten core. This relationship of fire to creation is, furthermore, mapped in the sky by the northern lights - “jiibagg niimi’idiwag” (they are the northern lights). The northern lights are considered to be reflections of the ancestors’ fires, illuminating the path of souls traveling to the land of the deceased. Anishinaabeg folk etymologies have identified ishkode as the heart of the Earth and of the people and point out its apparent inclusion of the morpheme ode; meaning “heart.” Thus fire appears as a central element that begins with the creation of the Earth, becomes the heart of the nation, and lights the way “home.” Fire, then, appears throughout the cycle of creation, or life.

Ogimaakan shkode include community and regional-level spaces where governance occurs. In the past each community was governed cooperatively by three different councils: the women, the warriors, and the Elders. Today, institutions that bring those in leadership together to collectively address challenges that affect multiple communities play a similar role to those held by regional ogimaakan shkode in the past. Within Anishinaabe politics, fire has been used to represent nation, council, and alliances.

The processes by which Ogimaakan shkode functioned were grounded in Anishinaabe creation stories. According to oral tradition, the ogimaag and council who together made decisions for the community were modeled on the council Gichi-Manidoo organized with the manidoog to address conflicts and issues of concern. Council included the gichi-anishinaabeg and all the mature males of the community.

In the 18th Century, Anishinaabe communities had three political classes: women, warriors (sometimes referred to as young men), and chiefs. At any large gathering, leaders were always careful to assert whether they had the consent and the support of these constituencies.  There was a cultural norm against unilateral decision-making by Ogimaakan shkode, having rather a major focus on consulting all constituencies within a community that would be affected by a particular decision. Anishinaabe councils were sites where Anishinaabe law was put into action, whether at the common councils or regional gatherings, with advice from advisory councils and the entire community.

At a regional level, sites such as Bawaating (meaning ‘place of the rapids’) in present-day Sault Ste. Marie provided a location where people from different communities and nations gathered, discussed and engaged in decision-making. As Norval Morisseau stated, decisions made at council sites such as Bawaating had important implications for child wellbeing.

In the story of The Great Conjurers and Warriors of the Mighty Ojibway he describes how, during the wars among the Indians the Ojibway, being a great nation to be feared, went into the plains in the land of the Stonies to fight. The Ojibway passed a law that if a full-scale battle were fought and all the enemy killed, any surviving children should not be killed or mistreated but brought back to be adopted as children of the Ojibway.”  His great grandfather was one of those children who was brought back and raised by an Anishinaabe family. However, despite this adoption, he was allowed to keep his Grizzly Bear dodem, maintaining connections to his birth family which were recognized years later.

In addition to being places where important decisions affecting family and community wellbeing occurred, ogimaakan shkode were also responsible for the wellbeing of those in need. Leaders of particular shkode held responsibilities to advocate and provide for those in need with the help of community members. Today, Band Councils often play a similar role, advocating for and supporting those needing help. This community-first approach to leadership was described by a Sagamok Elder:  

I think we learn from our experiences that we’re able to resolve the problem. I think the way we live in the community we try to find resolution before outside agency is called. Back in the day, there was no such thing as people calling authorities to resolve what’s going on.  It was the community itself, members of the community that tried to resolve everything then and there. Instead of taking this person and that person out of the community into the white man’s world. Everything was resolved right in the community itself. Instead of the authorities stepping in.  That happened later, when they started getting the police involved and other agencies coming in.  we always  resolved our own within the community. Chief and Council would step in to help resolve, they would say “let’s do this together”.

In the context of the current work of Koognaasewin and the development of a draft Child Wellbeing Law, it is also the reality that boards and committees bring different people together for discussion, similarly acting as forms of Ogimaakan shkode. As Earl Commanda of Serpent River said:  

In terms of change, you have to take the community and you have to experience some success for them to appreciate the change as well. You know, how else did we evolve in this community? And, how else were we able to broaden the things that we did. And it was really through some of the committees that we created in the community – the Recreation Committee, the Education Committee, the Health Committee, the Daycare Committee, the Economic Development Committee, whatever process to involve more members of the community other than chief and council.

Institutions that bring appropriate community members and leadership together to address challenges may play a similar role as those held by regional or community-based ishkode. By extension, some of the institutions (components) of a reimagined Child Wellbeing System can also be seen as modern-day versions of an ishkode, providing another space where those involved with a specific aspect of caring for children and families can gather to discuss how best to help those in need of support and develop a plan to help them overcome challenges all the while ensuring  connection to family, community and culture.