Anishinaabe

Seven teachings

These are the gifts many Anishinaabe educators, following Elders, have shared so that people can practice them. A written source schools often use is The Mishomis Book. This is not that book. Spellings and even the animal for honesty vary. If a teacher from the community corrects this page, they are right.

A misty cedar clearing at first light with beaver, eagle, bison, bear, wolf, turtle, and a tall figure half-seen in the trees.

Open one. Sit with the question before you open the next.

nih-bwah-KAH-win
Wisdom is not a pile of facts. It is using the gift you were born with so that your family, and the beings around your lodge, can live.
The beaver does not chew trees to be admired. The beaver changes a place carefully, and the water that follows feeds more than one household. To cherish knowledge is to know wisdom. Part of that is knowing your own limits, and the limits of the shore you are standing on.
Where are you spending a gift only on yourself?