Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales and Oral Histories

Melvin Eagle

Melvin Eagle 82 83 Melvin Eagle (b. 1931), whose Anishinaabe name is Miskwaanakwad (Red Sky), is a gifted oratorical artist. He grew up hearing legends told by his grandfathers Chief Migizi and Jim Littlewolf, both of whom were prominent religious and political figures in their community. When he was a boy, his uncles and a number of older men from the community at Neyaashiing forced him to sit and listen to their stories about history, culture, and daily life. When he was first sent to day school at Onamia, Minnesota, Melvin spoke nothing but his first language, Ojibwe. The school was conducted entirely in English, and, through the power of immersion and embarrassment, Melvin quickly acquired knowledge of the English language . However, he never forgot Ojibwe, and, throughout his schooling in reading, writing, and arithmetic, Melvin continued to be instructed about Big Drum, hunting, fishing, and ricing by numerous elders in his community. As a young man, Melvin was commissioned to hold one of the permanent seats on the Mille Lacs Big Drums. There he began his formal education in the songs and speeches used at the ceremonial dances. He would eventually become a member on the Ladies Drum at Mille Lacs and two more Big Drums. The miraculous story of his healing at the Drum and his reaffirmed faith in Ojibwe culture is detailed in the following narratives. As Melvin approached middle age, his knowledge of the Drum and fluency in the language proved to be assets well appreciated by his peers, and on one of the Big Drums Melvin was raised up to the position of Drum Chief. From then on, Melvin was to be not only a student of Indian ways, but also an increasingly recognized and respected teacher of Ojibwe culture. m e lv i n e a g l e 84 Melvin worked several jobs, sometimes as far away as Minneapolis. However, he never relinquished Mille Lacs as his home base and spiritual center. In his retirement, Melvin is busier than ever. He was recently seated as the first Oshkaabewis on the Big Drum at White Earth, and he uses that position to teach the proper means of conducting the ceremonies . He also travels frequently to participate in Drum ceremonies at Round Lake, Lake Lena, East Lake, and elsewhere. In December 1997, I was in Mille Lacs for the dance at which Melvin’s Big Drum was being used. I stayed at Melvin’s house to visit and to record some Ojibwe stories. As I flipped on the tape and Melvin began to speak, I was astounded by the depth of his knowledge and experience, as well as his gift for gab. Melvin filled up one side of my 120-minute tape and, when I flipped over the tape, he continued to speak, nearly filling the second side as well. He only used one English word—Batiste—the name of a Mille Lacs elder. Everything else was unwavering, fluent Ojibwe, full of inspiring thoughts about the importance of language and culture as well as humorous reminiscences about Melvin’s learning process and the actions of various elders around him. I had goose bumps at parts of his story and laughed out loud at others. By the time he was finished speaking, Melvin had shared a great deal of information about numerous learned elders—gekendaasojig—and the process of acquiring their knowledge himself—gikendaasowin. Ultimately, we broke his long narration into several stories for ease of access and reference . However, all of Melvin’s stories in this book were originally connected as one piece of verbal art. Humble, open, and very entertaining, the stories vividly describe Ojibwe cultural beliefs from hunting to Big Drum ceremonies—the Anishinaabe gift of gikendaasowin. m e lv i n e a g l e 85 Gimishoomisinaan [1] Ahaaw-sh iwidi mewinzha go daa-gii-pi-agaashiinyiyaan iko gii-pabizindawagwaa akiwenziiyag gii-pizindawagwaa ko waawiindamawiwaad gegoo iwidi ko mewinzha o’ow indazhindaan. Owidi mewinzha ko gii-kichi-naaniimi’idiiwaad Gaa-waababiganikaag gii-izhaa gii-pi-onjibaad gaa-onjiondaadiziyaan gaye niin. Wa’aw akiwenzii iwidi Gaawaababiganikaag gii-onjibaa. Owidi gii-pi-niimi’idiid omaa, omaa o’ow ikwe-dewe’igan omaa gii-tibendaagozi omaa nookomis. Miish imaa nimishoomis gaye gii-pi-wiidigemaad gii-pi-niimi’idiiwaad ko. Mii imaa gaa-izhi-ondaadizid nimaamaa. [2] Miinawaa-sh gegoo nisiwag ingiw gwiiwizensag imaa, iwidi Gaa-waababiganikaag. Ma’iingaansag gii-izhinikaazowag. Miinawaa...