The Spirit Lives in the Mind: Omushkego Stories, Lives, and Dreams (review)

Several years ago, I had the fortune of meeting Louis Bird, when he visited the University of Toronto. At that time he was looking for support to help with translating and publishing the many hours of Omushkego stories and histories that he had recorded over the years. We simply did not have the resources to help him out at that time, and I was very sorry that we had to say no, as it was obvious that we were being offered a tremendous gift. I was very pleased when, a few years ago, the collection Telling Our Stories: Omushkego Legends and Histories from Hudson Bay was published. The new book, The Spirit Lives in the Mind: Omushkego Stories, Lives, and Dreams, is a wonderful addition. To create this book, Louis Bird worked with Susan Elaine Gray, who compiled and edited his narratives of the Omushkego Cree. The two are to be applauded for taking on this project. The reader is very fortunate that they met, as they give us some of Louis Bird’s stories of the Omushkego Cree, in particular stories that have as their theme the nature of spirituality and spiritual beliefs.

For those who do not know of Louis Bird, Gray provides an introduction. Louis Bird is

a storyteller, a scholar, a musician, and an artist with words. For over forty years he has gathered the memories and stories of Omushkego (Swampy Cree) elders in communities along the western Hudson and James Bays. He has crafted their legends and tales into an oral history of his people and his work conveys, as great histories, the forces that moved and shaped his ancestors – the saga of the Omushkego Crees.

The book, to use Louis Bird’s words in the introduction, ‘is specifically bringing out the spirituality of our Omushkego people . . . the spiritual connection of the people to the land and the spirituality of the Omushkego people before the European came.’ He goes on to say that the book came out ‘to teach us the teaching system of the Omushkego people. . . . All these stories have a definition, an explanation – they are there to open the subject, or to melt the ice – whatever you want to call it. So they’re here to help us to understand the Omushkego cultural experience, and also to show our Omushkego history.’ Gray stresses that the book gives an insider’s view of Omushkego Cree culture and its spiritual underpinnings, providing a glimpse into the Omushkego world view.

The book is divided into ten chapters: ‘Water, Earth, and Skies,’ ‘Intruders and Defenders,’ ‘Pakaaskokan: An Ancient Legend and Mystery,’ ‘Values for Life and Survival,’ ‘Relations with Animals,’ ‘Mitewiwin Heroes and Villains,’ ‘Wihtigos and Cannibal Hearts,’ ‘Women and Men,’ ‘Personages,’ and ‘Wisakaychak.’ Each chapter contains several stories. In the first chapter, ‘Water, Earth and Skies,’ there are, among others, stories about the land and the spirit, about rocks, and about astronomy; in ‘Relations with Animals’ we learn about the important role of the caribou and the respect and thanks owed to animals; the final chapter presents stories of the trickster figure known by the Omushkego people as Wisakaychak. As Gray discusses in the preface, from these stories the reader learns the power of belief and of the mind, the importance of humility and of flexibility, the importance of faith in one’s self and one’s spiritual connection with the land, birds, and animals.

It has not always been possible to find a way to access the world of the Cree. Louis Bird gives an invaluable gift by affording readers the opportunity to open their minds to the spiritual beliefs of the Omushkego Cree, helping readers to understand and value the relationship of spirituality to the land and how Cree traditions have changed and evolved. There is a remarkable richness in this book, and the reader has much to learn. I am very grateful to Louis Bird for...