Ojibwe Spiritual Ceremony ~ Native American Culture

Ojibwe ceremonies are based in a belief system that is very unlike that of modern western thinking. It is common in our modern times to view spiritual matters as separate from "reality". For traditional people, the spiritual realm is the very place we live, now. Just as you must do very specific things to drive your truck from point A to point B safely, very specific actions are taken in Ceremony. For example, in certain Ojibwe ceremonies, you cannot do the ceremonies in any language but Ojibwe. Ojibwe is the sound given by the Creator for Ojibwe people to use, and the spirits hear this sound as Ojibwe for the purposes of Ojibwe prayer and ceremony. These sounds, words and songs, are to communicate directly and privately in spirit. You are not allowed to use any kind of modern form of technology to preserve them, and you can't talk about them outside of the ceremony. The words and songs of ceremony are alive and doing the work they were created to do, repeating these sounds in any way dilutes them, robs them of effect by distraction and misdirection. It is a great wrong to interfere in the spiritual work of another. For this reason, and for others, the sounds and ceremonies can't be written down, they can't be recorded, and you can't videotape them.

It is alright to ask questions and to discuss the the reasons for the ceremonies, the thinking and experiences that lead to them being useful now and in the past. Ceremony is mostly concerned with the idea of human-to-human and spirit-to-human transmission of knowledge and healing, as communicated through legends and songs and procedures. But, like a kiss, each ceremony is a personal experience, best understood by those deeply involved and to whom the meaning and purpose are of immediate importance.

Here is a story explaing why, in Ojibwe ceremonial life, it is necessary to use Ojibwe Language.

One time there was an old man. He honored his ceremonial commitments for 82 of his 96 years, all his adult life. He was running a ceremony, and he was frustrated that the people weren't understanding what was supposed to be done in the ceremony, and with the level of their commitment. He was normally a very gentle, mellow, kind guy, but he was very dissatisfied with the people. So he left the ceremonial lodge. He got up from his place and walked out into the night air. The others followed him. Standing there, he says in English, "I had to come out here, because I can't use English in there. I can't use English in there, because the spirit does not understand me when I speak English. But I want you to understand me, and that's why I'm speaking English." And in clear English he began to sort of yell at the people.

Whenever an Ojibwe person takes something (harvesting, gathering, hunting) we give thanks. You may know of leaving tobacco. Tobacco was given to the Ojibwe people as a means of communicating with the spirit. In smoking, the physical object ( tobacco) becomes as spirit, drifting up and dissolving into the spirit world. It is direct and absolute. When we want to talk with another in absolutely truthful terms, we offer them a bit of tobacco as a symbol of the truthful conversation we offer and desire. So it is when we offer thanks to an animal or plant for giving itself to our need, we are saying we are truthful, and reminding ourselves to be truthful and understand that only through absolute truthfulness can we be authentic and live rightly in harmony with the natural world.

From these notes you should take the knowledge that Ojibwe Ceremony is not something you can learn by reading or chatting online. Learn the Language and be there in person. If you have Ojibwe or Chippewa or Anishnaabe blood, of any degree, your Ancestors are waiting to hear your voice.

Notes on Ojibwe Ceremony