Boozhoo. My name is Mide Ki’Wenzie. I am of the Lynx Clan, and I am Midewiin, six times. I come from Ki’eshgitabaaning, my ancestral grounds. I also have a healing lodge called Ki’eshgitabaaning Cultural and Healing Lodge, and also we created a website, firstnationelders.com.
I was requested by a relative to search for a spirit name for your organization. I asked the spirit helpers in a humble manner, using my tobacco on the water, on the land, the sacred areas. It took me a long time to get the dream and that vision and song.
And in my dream, I was sitting at the roundhouse, and all of a sudden, behind me, I could hear, swish swish … swish swish… wheew … wheew … wheew.. ..and I looked and there was a big snake coming my way. I was not scared. Behind the snake were other snakes, some long, some small.
The big snake stopped, and all the other snakes stopped behind him. Seemed to me he was the leader. And he told me:
We are running away. We cannot live anymore where we are. The ground is not good. Everything is gone.
There is no more clean water. We can’t go on that water because if we do, we will surely die. My young will die.
We can’t climb trees anymore – there are no longer any trees, they are gone. There’s no more plants, no insects for us to eat. The land is gone. It’s just barren, now – there is nothing.
So, we’re running away, and I’m going to tell you to prepare too. That you should run, run south. There might be better ground towards the south.
Kinabeg
As he was leaving he was singing a song, and the sounds were really, really powerful. Also, the younger snakes were singing as they were passing by. They all looked so sad, their eyes downcast. They had travelled many many miles from the north.
When I woke up, I sang that song right away, and I cried. I cried because that was the future that I was shown. The old snake – old wise snake, the leader – he was singing that song, and that word, tataganobin, which means “looking far ahead into the future.” Tataganobin. This is what will happen, I have a strong feeling – not in my lifetime.
My heart is sad.
Migwetch, chi migwetch, for listening.
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Click hear to hear Elder Peter “Alo” White tell about this vision, including the song of the Kinabeg.
Download a PDF of Mide Ki’Wenzie‘s story of Tatanagobin.
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