Religious Belief, Myths and Feasts

There is a predominant interaction between the environment and spirituality in the Ojibwa religious belief.

The Ojibwa nation believed in a “Good Spirit” and in a “Bad Spirit”. They also had more particular gods such as the god of war or the god of hunting, with Ke-che-mon-e-doo being the Ruler of all, the Great Spirit. The “benevolent spirit”, as they called it, is a loving god, abounding in mercy and kindness toward leaving creatures. Its opposite is the evil spirit Mahje-munedoo (Munedoo meaning spirit,bad or good). This munedoo possesses the power to injure people who offended him. Therefore, fearing not to please the spirit, the Ojibwa proceeded to a lot of sacrifices in his favor.

Gods were everywhere but essentially in the sky. Their presence in the forest, mountains or river was only temporary, as if they were just visiting. “The earth teemed with all sorts of spirits, good and bad; those of the forest clothed themselves with moss. During a shower of rain, thousands of them are sheltered in a flower.”[Copway, George, 149]

Furthermore, the sun, moon and stars were adored gods.
“Every morning, Chiefs sang to welcome the return of the rising sun.” [Copway, George, 149]
The Ojibwas consider the wolf, fox, toad and all venomous snakes as sacred animals. They are believed to have supernatural powers and are venerated.

Every phenomenon that sparked tribute member’s curiosity or astonishment were soon considered as supernatural and sometimes referred as a deity. Thus, the thunder is considered as the most powerful deity.

Tobacco or tobacco smoke is usually considered as an offer to the gods since they are known to like it.

Despite the numerous different gods, worship and invocations were only conducted when needed (before hunting for example).

Feasts

Feasting is not periodical but still very important for both the religious aspect and the community. As there is no particular calendar for the different feasts, anyone could organize one. Despite the apparent randomness of the organization, the way the feast is conduct is much ritualized. All the guests sit on the ground, around the fire, and smoke silently while the food is prepared. The one who is organizing the feast is also sat, smoking, and dressed with its best attire. The cooked meat is then shared among the guests and one piece is thrown to the fire as an offer.

There are several kinds of feast: [William S. Lyon, 80]

-The Painted Pole feast or Sahsahgweijega which signifies: spreading out to view the desires of the supplicant.

-The Naming feast is organized when a child is given a name. During this feast, an offer of meat is throwm into the fire while an elder prays.

-Ooshkenetahgawin is the offering of the first animal. The animal offered has to be killed by a boy, cooked and, as always, a part is offered to the fire.

-Jeebanahkamin is the offering to the dead. A fire is lighted at the head of the grave and a portion of meat is burnt while tribute members pray.

-Uhnemoosh or the dog feast. For Ojibwas, the dog is considered as an ominous animal with great virtue therefore its sacrifice is a meritorious sacrifice. The dog is killed, hair singed off and cooked without breaking a bone. As always, after being divided between the guests a portion is thrown in the fire.

Myths

Myths are also a very important aspect of the religious/spiritual life of the Ojibwas.
There is an abundance of them, most of the time relating the powers of a great shaman or warrior, or simply embodying fundamental values and beliefs of the Ojibwas.

One of the most interesting myths is the one that led to the creation of dreamcatchers.
It is said that a long time ago, a spider called Asibikaashi was protecting the tribe’s kids by building its web above the place where they slept. Nightmares, negative thoughts and bad vibrations were caught in the web and destroyed by the rising sun in the morning. However, with years, the tribe grew in number and spread its territory. As the spider could not visit all the “wigwams” to give its protection, it asked the Ojibwa women to help her. They soon started to build a web of vegetal and animal fibers inside a wood circle.