Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales and Oral Histories

Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag--Leech Lake

Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag Leech Lake 179 Emma Fisher 180 181 Emma Fisher (1911–1996), whose Indian name was Manidoo-binesiikwe (Spirit Bird Woman), exemplified the experience of her generation in many ways. She was born in a wiigiwaam near the Leech Lake Reservation community of Boy River and given the name Emma Bugg. (Fisher was her married name.) Her mother died shortly after childbirth and Emma was raised by her grandparents in the village. She played in the woods and at the beach with her cousins and dogs under the lax but loving care of her extended family. Emma recalled vividly the many changes her generation experienced —from the construction of the first log homes and tarpaper shacks at Boy River to the more pernicious assault on culture through Bureau of Indians Affairs (bia) Circular 1665 and boarding schools. bia Circular 1665 actively suppressed tribal dances, ceremonies, and giveaways throughout the United States until 1933, and Emma remembered clearly this environment of religious persecution. Even more influential on her life and upbringing, however, was the bia boarding school she was forced to attend in Tomah, Wisconsin. Emma described boarding school life as harsh and unpleasant: she recalled marching to and from class, beatings for speaking Ojibwe, and e m m a f i s h e r 182 little love or support in the rigid confines of school life. She ran away from Tomah with some of her girlfriends and eventually started day school near Boy River. Many effects of the schooling she received, however , were permanent. She never lost her language, but she also did not try to teach it to her children, fearing that they might endure similar hardships for their knowledge of Ojibwe. By the time the boarding school era came to a close, her children had already grown up immersed in English. The threat was gone, but the opportunity was lost. Emma responded poorly to her experiences in Tomah and was a rebellious and difficult teenager, running away at least twice and eventually eloping with her future husband, an Ojibwe from Mille Lacs. She did finally settle down, raising five children of her own. Parenting would be an emotional trauma for her, however, as four of her five children died in early adulthood. Emma eventually moved from Mille Lacs back to Boy River and then to Cass Lake, where she lived the last several years of her life in the elder housing unit run by the Leech Lake Reservation. She loved her pet dog and cat and the company of her many visitors, some of whom she adopted as children and grandchildren. e m m a f i s h e r 183 Gii-agaashiinyiyaan [1] Emma Fisher indizhinikaaz. Mii gaa-ondaadiziyaan, ingii-maajig imaa Gwiiwizensiwi-ziibing. Mii i’iw wendaadiziyaan biindig anishinaabe-wiigiwaaming, wanagekogamig waawiyeyaakwak. Nimaamaa gii-nibo ishkwaa-ondaadiziyaan. Miish i’iw apii nitaawigi’idwaa nookomis, nimishomis igaye. Mii dash giianishinaabewinikaanagwaa imbaabaa, nimaamaa gaye. Mii ezhi-maajigiyaan, ingii-aanjigozimin imaa Gwiiwizensiwizaaga ’iganing, gaa-ayaawaad indinawemaaganinaanig. Noongom ayaamagad gaa-tazhishinikaag imaa gaadanakiiyaang . [2] Debaasige gii-akiwenziiwi i’iw apii wendaadiziyaan. Miish ezhi-owiiyawe’enyid. Ingii-wiinig a’aw akiwenziiban. Gii-piibiiyaan, ingii-sagaswe’idimin ji-anishinaabeizhinikaanigooyaan . Mii nising ezhi-wiinzoyaan. Apiitendaagwad ji-wiinzod anishinaabe ji-mashkawiziid obimaadiziwining. Indayag [1] Gwanaajiwan gii-agaashiinyaan. Mii go apane ko wayaabamagwaa animoshag gaa-odaminoyaan imaa mitigokaag, ingii-animiwinaag, bimiwinagwaa imaa endaayaan. Mii dash igo gii-ayaawagwaa midaaswi animoshag ingoji go, bimaadiziyaan imaa noopiming. Mii go gii-kanawenimiwaad gaa-pabaa-odaminoyaan, ezhi-zegi’aad awesiinyan migoshkaaji’iwinid. [2] Ingii-tanakiimin imaa megwaayaak, besho Gwiiwizensiwizaaga ’iganiing, endaawaad niibowa anishinaabeg. Aangodinong ingii-izhaamin imaa ji-mawadishiweyaang, giimisawendamaan ji-dazhitaayaan gaa-ayaawaad abinoojiinyag. Mii dash igo gii-saaga’amaan ji-bimoseyaan imaa mitigokaag wiiji-ayaawagwaa indayag. Ingii-nisaanaanig akakojiishag ji-amwigod iniw animoshan. Aapiji go gii-minwendaagwad. Gii-pabaaminizha’waad waawaashkeshiwan, miinawaa go gaye ingii-akwaandawe imaa mitigong. [3] Nookomis ogii-ayaanan biizikiiganan ji-biizikamaan gii-pabaaodaminoyaan agwajiing. Mii dash igo ko gii-minwendamaan e m m a f i s h e r 184 When I Was Little [1] My name is Emma Fisher. When I was born, I grew up there at Boy River. I was born inside an Indian lodge, the round dome-shaped kind. My mother died [shortly] after I...