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ANISHINABE / OJIBWAY

The sacred teachings of the people were hidden hundreds of years ago to keep them safe. From a dream, I believe that the sacred place where the ancient sacred teachings of our people were hidden is located southeast of the Island of the Manitous in the Dead Lands, at a place where the Three Worlds meet. Despite the name, the Dead Lands refers to an actual place in the physical world. Here, the Horned Serpent guards sacred knowledge from the unworthy, and the ancestors and Manitous can watch over the sacred teachings. One entrance to the location is marked by the nest of a Thunderbird and the Watcher. This is on the path that the dead take when they travel west to the Village of Souls. Our brothers, the Wendats, helped us to conceal our teachings so they would not be destroyed by the Black Robes. Today, the Elders have fallen asleep and too many of the people are themselves followers of the Black Robes or of no particular Manitou, so who can be trusted with the sacred teachings now? Strange as it may seem, the prophecy of the seventh fire says it will be a “New People,” who will emerge to show the way back to harmony with the earth and good health for the people. The question is, “Who are these New People?” One possible answer can be inferred from the fact that while we consider ourselves an independent nation, the nation of the white man is so powerful and large that we must deal with it; therefore, one who stands with one foot in the world of the people and one foot in the white man’s world would be in a position to combine the best of both nations. Sometimes the mixing of the blood of nations makes one weaker, sometimes stronger. So perhaps it will be a mixed-blood who seeks to honor his or her ancestors who will show the way.