"Confederacy Welcomes Fouth 'Fire'"

OHSWEKEN - In a traditional spirit of timelessness, the recent third annual maanjidowin (gathering) of Three Fires Confederacy, held at New Credit, ran slightly behind schedule. Things happened when they happened and not a minute sooner.

Consisting of Ojibway, Potawatomi and Odawa nations, or fires, this year, a fourth fire welcomed visitors and guests to the grove called "wandering among the trees." Picked up from Nipissing Reserve by Eric Sault, Darren King and Lawrence Bomberry, the sacred, spiritual fire originated at Shawanga Reserve and has visited many reserves this summer.

Sharing his knowledge about treaty procedures, speaker Ian Johnson, co-ordinator of United Indian Councils of Mississaugas and Chippewa Nations in Kitchener, observed that white people shortchanged themselves. "They neglected the spiritual parts of Indian treaties," he said. "Native peoples wouldn't even consider a treaty with each other until they understood each others world view. If the Ojibway or Hotinonshonni had medicine wheels or sacred beliefs which were understandable, then they would enter into an agreement."

He noted that when Indians dealt with Europeans, the spiritual part was always eliminated from the treaties. "Usually what's left relates to real estate or material things," he said. "It's a great loss."

Baw-dway-we-dun or Eddie Benton Benai, Fish clan from Keshana, Wis., brought a sacred pipestone pipe "older than the European arrival" and a beaded belt from the 1700s to share with the people. He and Ratsatenhtha, Jacob Thomas, Cayuga elder of the Sandpiper clan, examined the belt to determine its meaning. Made with trade beads strung together with wood fibre, the origin of the belt has yet to be determined. "We know there's a singing side to it," Mr. Benton said.

He suggested that the people return to their basic teachings. "Know your mother's clan; your father's clan," he said. "I sang and told these things to the mother's belly so the baby would know who it was when it came out. We have to know from whence we came before we can know where we're going."

He explained that a close translation of his name means The Messenger Teacher and comes from the Thunder People. In Ojibway language it means he can hear the sound or the message or teaching. He is the youngest person to reach the fourth degree of spirituality in the Madewwin Lodge, or Ojibway spiritual order.

South of the imaginary line, Mr. Benton is known for his pioneering work in founding the Little Red Schoolhouse in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1972. The school is credited with saving a native urban community from alcohol, drugs, suicide and despair by returning the people to their spiritual values.

After closing ceremonies brought an end to the singing, the drumming, the dancing, the teachings, the honoring, the sadness and the sharing, the fourth fire seemed to be burning a little brighter.