The Island of the Anishnaabeg: Thunderers and Water Monsters in the Traditional Ojibwe Life-World

by Theresa S. Smith

In this study, Theresa S. Smith explores the lived experience of the contemporary Ojibwes (or Anishnaabeg) amid the remarkable revival of both belief in and practice of the Ojibwe religion. Scholars have contended that traditional Ojibwe religion was gradually lost during the three centuries following Euro-American contact. And yet even though traditional religion no longer exists as a plausibility structure for a hunting-gathering culture, historic and contemporary accounts and a revival in the arts attest to the changing and vital nature of Ojibwe religion. The Island of the Anishnaabeg is a nuanced look at traditional Ojibwe religion and its structure, interpretation, and revival among contemporary Ojibwes.

The Ojibwe life-world, as experienced and described through religious symbols, beliefs, and practices, is alive with the presence of other-than-human people, known as manitouk. This book is the first thorough and systematic interpretive treatment of the relationship between Thunderers and Underwater manitouk. Smith’s work reveals the Thunderers and Water monsters as determinative beings and symbols in the Ojibwe world and explores how their relationship inscribes a dialectic that both reflects the lived reality of that world and helps to determine the position and existence of the human subject in it.

Genres: Indigenous, Anthropology

236 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[Nancy Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Occasionally, you find a book that tells you exactly what you wanted to know -- even though you didn't know exactly what that was at the time. I was looking for some description of the underlying beliefs of the Ojibwe people. I probably would not have called them "religious" beliefs, and I still think there is something awkward about the English word "religion" in this context, some kind of mismatch of categories. This book doesn't worry about it: it just gets down to a systematic description of the way an individual, specifically one who lives in a part of the world with dramatic weather systems and sharp seasonal variation might see his or her own capacities and limitations in relation to land, water, rivers, lakes, fish, animals, birds and plants, and other people.

By the time a reader begins to notice the dramatic differences between this kind of perspective and more familiar Judeo-Christian traditions, she has already has been reading for a while, gained some experience of looking at human potential in relation to a fundamental, ongoing conflict: thunderers and water manitouk -- superhuman beings -- are inherently in opposition to one another. Thunderers -- airborne forces -- are, on the whole, more positively disposed toward human beings than water beings. But everything moves, changes, and allegiances aren't permanently fixed. A human being inhabiting the island that is North America, negotiating between water and sky, needs to be alert, attentive, responsive, strong and enterprising as well as humble and accepting. For it is understood that each human being has a unique relationship to the world. Rather than the one-size-fits-all message that seems to lie at the core of "religions of the book" (i.e., Christianity, Judaism and Islam), each Anishinaabe is expected to recognise his or her own particular characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, attractions and repulsions, an then to develop and use them in the interests of preserving life and social continuity.

The Ojibwe are one of a number of groups that speak Anishinaabemowin, in turn one of a number of Algonquin languages. They live in a vast area of mainly lake and forest country that straddles hundreds of miles of US-Canadian border, in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota -- my own home state: the Great Lakes are likely to be an orientation point for most people.

I knew before reading this book that Anishinaabemowin -- the language -- does not incorporate gender difference the way English does: no "he" "she" and "it". Rather it distinguishes between animate and inanimate -- all living things, as well as rock and water, being animate, and only some man-made objects being inanimate. Perhaps the thing I most wanted to learn from the book was the foundation of an apparently surpassing reverence for the environment. The words probably don't translate very smoothly. The Anishinaabek probably wouldn't speak of an "environment" that surrounds without including human beings. Perhaps they would speak of something closer to a "reality" that encompasses both.

Some of the feelings expressed here are readily recognisable as religious, notably a pervasive sense of gratitude toward the forces that shaped, and go on shaping the world and everyone in it. I came away with a sense that my earlier understanding of "religion" needed revision, expansion to encompass such gratitude, and to consciously accept responsibility for being unique -- and knowing it.

[Janie Panagopoulos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book and want to visit this location. It was well written, well researched, and peeked my interest to want to learn move.

I enjoy the personal connection with the researcher to the people and their stories.

[Janice]

Seriously...

[Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing study of Ojibwe's traditional worldview. Now, I know much more about the Thunderers and Water Monsters then i did previously.

It is well written, using an academic voice. There are many resources that the author uses to support her viewpoint.

I have to read again.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice book.