Shingwauk U to preserve secret Midewiwin teachings

They are the Midewiwin, the Grand Medicine Society of the Anishinaabe.

They are the keepers of traditional knowledge and values, responsible for passing Anishinaabe wisdom on from each generation to the next.

Until now, the practitioners of Mide have vehemently opposed the writing down of their oral stories.

But all that is about to change.

With the full co-operation of the Midewiwin, accounts of their ceremonies and sacred teachings are now being committed to paper, to be preserved at Sault Ste. Marie's newest postsecondary institution, Shingwauk University.

The Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamic Centre of Excellence in Anishinaabe Education will become a North American repository of Midewiwin culture and history, says its president, Darrell Boissoneau (shown).

"A lot of our stories are based on oral tradition and the Midewiwin Society found that, because there is a rapid loss of our language, we have to start writing these stories down," says Boissoneau. "The keepers of the Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge have encouraged us to start writing it down."

Eddie Benton-Banai, grand chief of the Midewiwin Lodge, is also the Shingwauk University's academic/ spiritual advisor and his testimony can be found on the ShingwaukU.com website, launched last week.

Benton-Banai has recently realized a lifetime goal to set down the oral history of the Ojibway Nation with the publication of The Mishomis Book, a representation of the life he lived as a youth within the family circle.

This volume is part of the Shingwauk University collection, and Boissoneau hopes many more books and documents will make their way to the local institution as well.

"One very interesting project we are working on is that we are looking at housing the national chief's library," he said.

Andy Rickard, a band councillor for Garden River First Nation and a student at the new Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig, said it's important for Anishnaabe people to learn about their history, culture and values from other Anishnaabe, that this will make them more proud of their heritage.

"Here at Shingwauk, the students actually have opportunities to bring things to the classes," Rickard said. "It's more like a teaching circle than an environment where the teacher is throwing things out there and the students are just listening."

Rickard said the teachers contribute most to and direct the discussions, but the classes are continuously evolving, much like the centre, as it works its way toward an independent charter from the province.

To see more photos taken at last week's official launch of ShingwaukU.com, click on the image gallery below.