An Interpretation

Melchizedek and the Mideiweewin. Part Two

This an illustration of a “fourth degree chart from the National Museum. This is from the collection found by Reagan at Nett Lake (or Bois Fort).

Note that in this version the Buffalo and the bear are supportive, while Misshipeshu and the Great Serpent are malevolent.” *

* From “The Sacred Scrolls of the Southern Ojibway,” by Selwyn Dewdney

When you get right down to it, there isn’t much difference between the meaning of the symbols used to represent the four degrees found within the old Grand Medicine Society lodge and the four degrees found in a Latter-Day Saint temple. Except that the Midei used symbolism and hyperbole to consolidate power unto themselves over others, while the Latter-Day Saints use it as a teaching tool to enable all who wish, I a journey to return to God.

To the Anishinabeg all living things have spirits/manidos and the strongest spirits have the most power. In this case the spirits of the bear and the buffalo can represent either:

God the Administer and Jesus Christ-The creator, or Christ and Adam/Michael the first man,

Or God and the Holy Ghost,

as they were all involved in the creation. A symbol can have multiple and multi level meanings.

The good spirits created the Mideiwigun or a remnant of the ancient temple as the path to return to them.

Attempting to bar this path at each degree are the evil manidoos mishipeshew and mishiginebig, the great water lion and the great water serpent**. They represent the destroyer or any two of his servants. They are “fire breathing” and “pestilence striking monsters”. They represent evil spirits who attempt to destroy us through spiritual death, spiritual dissipation, and sometimes pestilence.

The “fire” that they breathe are “the fiery darts of the wicked,” Ephesians 6:16. These are the temptors and temptations of the natural man which beset us whenever we attempt to improve ourselves. So it is not at all unusual that an evil personage appears in the Mideiwii scrolls, or the temple as part of the story. In order for the old Anishinabeg to attain the highest degree or us to succeed in the plan of happiness, there must be “opposition in all things”.

If the destroyer has such power, how can we hope to protect ourselves? James 1:14 says:

“ But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” If we recognize that we are only being tempted with something that we want, which isn’t good for us, we can choose the good. That is how we overcome the destroyer. That is the way the old Anishinabeg progressed to the next degree in the Mideiwiigun and how we now make covenants in the temple.

This is a key that you won’t see in the old scrolls. Because we have a body and the destroyers do not, they only have power over us if we let them. NEVER give them permission. You’ll regret it if you do!

The last thing I would comment on is the circle in the middle. It is a sun symbol which can represent three things. , The Son who is The Creator, A return to the presence of The Father with whom the Son dwells, and our heart after we realize our best desires.

** It is interesting to me to note that both the Anishinabeg and the early Latter Day Saints connected the destroyer with water. D&C 61:

3 But verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief. 4 Nevertheless, I suffered it that ye might bear record; behold, there are many dangers upon the waters, and more especially hereafter; 5 For I, the Lord, have decreed in mine anger many destructions upon the waters; yea, and especially upon these waters.

18 And now I give unto you a commandment that what I say unto one I say unto all, that you shall forewarn your brethren concerning these waters, that they come not in journeying upon them, lest their faith fail and they are caught in snares; 19 I, the Lord, have decreed, and the destroyer rideth upon the face thereof, and I revoke not the decree.

This is one of the coincidences which enables me to reconcile the two institutions.

Melchezidek and the Mideiwiwin- to be continued.

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Part One: Indian AND Mormon?

I had a friend once who once accused me of selling out my being Indian (American) to the “Mormon” church. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) I suppose since I’ve never shared my innermost thoughts I can see how it appears that way. So I would like to set the record straight.

Mind you, these are all my personal beliefs and I claim to represent no one but myself.

Since I was raised a Latter-Day Saint the question is not why I joined the church but rather why I stay. It’s because I see beyond the two cultures in question to the spiritual commonalities they share.

Since this blog is from an Indian perspective I’ll start off there, although there needs to be some switching back and forth in other parts. If I were to say that I believe in a traditional “religion”-which I do, these are the things I believe that are necessary for it to have.

My people believe in prayer to a Creator. Conversely we believe in fasting during vision quest, which implies spiritual purification on our part and revelation on the part of the Creator. We believe we can receive revelation through dreams. We believe in the prophecies of old. The seven fires prophecy comes to mind. This implies that the Creator gives universal revelation to His chosen prophet-a spiritual person who also represents and is accepted by the people.

In my tribe we have the Mide’wiwin. A Grand Medicine Society which is composed of both men and women. My Grandpa’s grandmother was a fourth degree Mide’. She prophesied at his birth that he would go on to meet royalty, and curiously enough, he did.

Socially, it was expected that a medicine person was chaste and moderate. If they slept around, or were drunken, it was noted with private disapproval.

That’s it in a nutshell. I might think of more in the future but this is what comes off the top of my head. So, looking around, where do I find a container of spiritual beliefs that matches all of the above criteria?

Almost all churches satisfy many of the above criteria except for one. That the Creator presently gives universal revelation to His chosen prophet-a spiritual person who also represents and is accepted by the people. (Although it strikes me as somewhat schizophrenic that religions or tribal institutions believe or espouse that The Creator provides personal revelation but has ceased to provide revelation for His people as a whole through prophets.)

For me, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only church which satisfies all of the above criteria. That is why I am still a member without having to sacrifice my traditional beliefs.

Coming Soon:

Part Two: The Temple and the Mide’wigun. The Mide’wiwin and the Melchizedek.

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Faith

Celia’s Sermon:

I had a friend accuse me of “selling out” because I was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Rather than–I suppose–her idea of what a traditional Indian would believe. But I remain a member for many reasons, chief among them, (no pun intended) gifts of the Spirit (the Holy Ghost) such as prophecy, and faith.

Today I would like to talk a little bit about my view of what I see as the LDS definition of faith, which is different in one major way than a secular definition of faith.

In Hebrews 11:1, The secular version reads:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

In other words, this faith, (in general) is a belief in things which are not seen, which are true. Alma 32:21

My LDS version differs by one word: “yet”.

Faith is a belief in things which are not YET seen, which are true.

You are not going to find that “yet” definition explicitly stated in one neat, handy little scripture somewhere, but you will find the process expounded in Alma chapter 32 in the Book of Mormon. I’ve included it.

21 “And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
22 And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word.
23 And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned.
24 And now, my beloved brethren, as ye have desired to know of me what ye shall do because ye are afflicted and cast out—now I do not desire that ye should suppose that I mean to judge you only according to that which is true—
25 For I do not mean that ye all of you have been compelled to humble yourselves; for I verily believe that there are some among you who would humble themselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might.
26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.
30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.
31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.
32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.
33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.
34 And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand.
35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect?
36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.
37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.
38 But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.
39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof.

40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life.
41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.
42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.”

Through this process of faith I can honestly say that because I have husbanded many of my seeds of faith into stout trees, I no longer have to only believe many of the tenets of my church, especially the one that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, because I know them to be true.

There IS a Honeycrisp apple orchard over that hill. You can’t see it now, but I hope that you have enough faith to go and see for yourself.

The fruit is delicious.

with love,

Russell

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The Undiscovered Country

If I were to die tomorrow…
The thought has crossed my mind a few times today. What with Corvid-19 going around and being 65 and a hypochondriac. I have the dry cough, sore red throat, and congestion. Wifie says the virus kills the cilia lining the throat. You can’t cough stuff up so you get pneumonia and die.

So, if I were to die tomorrow. I wouldn’t be too upset. A sudden illness and quick death would be much better to me than say, a slow decline into Alzheimers. Better to rip the bandage off quickly than to peel it back slowly.

Hm. All this imagery.

I suppose I’m not too worried because I have certain expectations of death. It will be like the next horizon. The undiscovered country. When I stand there, you’ll see me, but you won’t see those whom I see on the other side of the hill. There are the people I leave behind and the people I meet: generations of family members, friends, acquaintances, and strangers for whom I’ve done so many things I don’t remember.

Life’s been good. For the past 33 years. I’ve had a better half who has kept my heart warm, life challenging, and to whose presence I’ve looked forward every morning. If it’s true that “man is, that he might have joy”, then, having “endured to the end”, I have “fulfilled the measure of my creation”.

I do have my regrets though. I wish I were more brave, and could have said those things I wanted for my family and friends, to them. I’ve partially hidden behind a facade of “live and let live”, and Zen. That if people wanted to change, wanted more, they would have pursued it.

But that’s not totally true either. People are sometimes afraid, and that fear can keep them from what they want. Just as my fear of rejection keeps me from sharing what I want for them. Perhaps if I had said something, I could have helped them with their fear.

I know there is no letting someone do something. I can’t control my family, friends, and acquaintances, but, I can influence you.

So if I were to die tomorrow, tonight I would say to you, “Be Good”. Most of the troubles we endure, we create ourselves. Live while looking forward with an eye of faith to the undiscovered country. Life is eternal.

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“Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, Incorporated” — BallClub, July 13-15, 1920

The full title reads: ” “Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, Incorporated” — BallClub, July 13-15, 1920. Benjamin Caswell, of Cass Lake, President” “and in another place “Rich” Photo –Bemidji–

I found this photo in my Grandmother’s shed. Having cleaned it out a few months after she died in 1985. “Lizzy” Elizabeth Joyce Mason is the girl with the bow in her hair on the far left. She was 14 then.

To the left of her is my Great -Grandfather, “Neogeshig”, or Thomas Jefferson Jerome Mason. You can tell from his visage that Littlecreek men received many facial characteristics from him. 🙂

He’s holding Helen C. Mason, age 2, and I believe that little boy half hiding behind his pant leg to the left of him is either his son Vilas, age 6, or son Thomas Jr., age 7.

I figured I’d better put this photograph online somewhere so others could benefit from it–since it’s been sitting on top of my dresser all these years.

I am amazed at the amount of personal family history contained in this photograph. Who are all these people???

The expression of their genes is so strong, I think I would recognize their descendants from this picture! Let me know if you know any of them.

After uploading the whole photo,  I noticed that it was compressed so much that I couldn’t really identify anyone, so I’m adding enlarged sections of it above and below.

I’m guessing that the man sitting apart from the others in the front bottom row, as a place of prominence, is Benjamin Caswell. Can anyone confirm this?

Aren’t phone cameras great?

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Old Red Lake Clans

A reader previously asked the question of whether I knew of any other clans in the Red Lake System. At that time I did not. But I’m pleasantly surprised to learn, and pleased to share, that more existed in antiquity. Here is the source of that knowledge:

From the Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Volume 2, 1880-1882, Red Lake Notes. Pages 99-100.
Totems of Red Lake Odjibwas. –Herewith is subjoined, in the hope that it may be of use for future reference, a list of the totems of the Red Lake band of Odjibwas. There were named to the writer by the old chief, Little Rock, who is a leading medicine man belonging to the grand medicine, as it is called, and who was pointed out as authority in the matter under investigation. Miss Mary Warren, to whom Odjibwa and English are alike mother tongues, kindly undertook to act as interpreter in the case. This cultivated lady is thoroughly conversant, not only with the purely theoretical range of the totem system, but likewise with its practical workings and she has taken especial pains to ensure a precise translation in the present instance.
TOTEMS OF RED LAKE ODJIBWAS
Bald Eagle,      Eagle,          Lynx,           Snake,
Bear,                 Eelpout      Marten,       Sturgeon,
Catfish,             Elk,             Mermaid,    Wolf,
Crane,               Loon,         Moose,         Woodpecker,
Rabbit,             River.

A Rabbit totem, or clan, and also a River totem, are found among the Odjibwas: but it is the belief of Little Rock that no representatives of these totems are at present living at Red Lake.
The Bald Eagle totem, and the Eagle totem, represents each, a clan altogether distinct from the other and independent of it.
The Loon clan was formerly a large one here. Mr. warren tells us concerning it that in olden times when the civil policy of the tribe was much mixed up with their religious and medicinal rites, “the totem of the Mong (Loon) ruled over them, and Musk-wa, or Bear totem, led them to war.” May-zhuck-ke-osh, former head brave of the Red Lake band, is of the Bear Totem.
The Martens, and next below them in point of numbers, the Bears, are held to be the two largest of the lake clans.
The term Mermaid stands out in such bold relief, as embodying an idea naturally foreign to an aboriginal and especially to an inland tribe of savages, that, at first, I hesitated to accept it as a correct exponent of the thing meant. However, I was assured by both Little Rock and Miss Warren, that the Odjibwa totem name under consideration is really properly translated by this word, and further, that the word signifies with the Red Lakers what it does with us; but I could get no clue to the origin of the myth thus curiously brought forward. I have since learned that these people formerly believed their lake to be haunted by mermaids.
While a red Lake Odjibwa will never name himself to a second person if he can avoid the necessity, he is always quite willing to mention his “family mark” or totem. The latter trait is prominently exhibited at the government school, where the pupils are prompt to exchange genealogical confidence with their friends, and to assert the ties of clanship as well as consanguinity.

[ My note: This, contrasted with the present 7 clans, just goes to show that tribal culture is a dynamic and changing thing! ]

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Too Many Pillows

Every once in a while an Indian (read American Indian) will give a friend or family member a nickname. Sometimes these names are given just for fun, other times they are given to help that person be humble. “Dances With Wolves” comes to mind.

I actually know some of my aunts and uncles by their nicknames: Ishky, Bunny, and Boogens are three.

I told my wife that I finally figured out what her Indian nickname was.

“Well, what is it?”, she asked.

“Too Many Pillows”, I said.

She laughed… because she knew it was true.

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In Red Lake

I hear the crows converse,
I see the cloudy skies.

I feel it pleasantly cool outside,
in Red Lake.

How strange,

that I will miss the amusing sounds of the crows,
the melancholy overcast skies,
and the invigorating feel of the cool air,
when I return to someplace else
where I live.

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A Mystery Solved

I found this picture while searching for family photos at the Minnesota Historical Society way back in ’77. (1977, not 1877)

Grampa Ben with Bob Hope

I managed to find out where I could write to Bob Hope at the time and sent him a copy, hoping that he might have some information about it. I received this letter from him along with my returned photo.

Mr. Hope couldn’t provide me with any new information except to suggest it may have been taken in a studio. (I was thinking Cali-for-nii-aa) but I was pleased nonetheless to have received a personal letter back along with his autograph!

I recently signed up for a five day free trial of Newspapers.com (I needed a credit card but was told how I could easily cancel my trial before the five days were up.)
During that period, I pretty much dedicated myself to looking up as many possible Ancestor references for myself and friends who were interested. I probably looked at a thousand possible articles and was rewarded with a score or more, which I “Clipped” and then downloaded. This was one of them.

Yep, same top hat, same sport coat, same two people. BINGO!!! Mystery solved.

Part of the article reads:

“Forever a gagster, Bob Hope invaded Minneapolis Monday. He put on a two-hour stage show in Minneapolis Auditorium. Sang a duet with Mayor Eric G. Hoyer, said nasty things about Bing Crosby, and was made an honorary Indian. Most of the shenanigans took place in Nicollet Hotel, where, among other things, the ski-nosed comedian attended a dinner put on by the Theadore Peterson American Legion Post.

*   *   *

In Picture below, Hope meets Chief Ben Littlecreek of the Red Lake Chippewa Indian Tribe. Hope made the Chief an honorary “Paleface”, from the movie by the same name.”

As a side note, I like Hope’s irony here. That’s the first time I’ve heard of an Indian being made an honorary Paleface!

All kidding aside, for you genealogy buffs out there, Try the Newspaper.com free Trial. It was worth it! (And, they actually made cancelling the trial easy!) All irony aside, I will pay for a subscription–which I can get for just one month if I want–should I need to research other ancestors in the future.

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*Mŭ·kwŭg

Mom says, “Let’s stop and see if the bears are there.”

So we turn off into the dump grounds, where six large dumpsters are lined up on an asphalt pad inside a ten foot high chain link fence.

It is night.

Our headlights illuminate almost everything–to a height of about six feet.

The scene is ghostly.

A bear saunters out from between the dumpsters–wary, as any wild animal is on an Indian reservation.

He is huge for a bear, at least a good six hundred pounds.

He walks slowly away and out of the compound with a full white garbage bag clutched in his mouth.

He is followed closely by a black and white mother cat–her belly hanging down loosely–
as if she were his pet,
hoping for a morsel leftover from her master.

Another bear rises from scrounging within one of the far dumpsters.

His form towers three feet above its five foot high walls.

He regards us curiously.
then disappears again within.

Strangely enough, we do not see each bear.

They are holes in the night,
an absence of light
In the form of a bear

Although, at just the right angle,
we see the glint of their eyeshine–
the light of their spirit within them.

*Bears, plural, in Anishinabemowin.

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