Northern Lights Wolves
Naanaate ma’iinganag Last month, I kept having a recurring bawaajigan (dream) of a Ma’iingan (wolf) running at mookise (dawn) and I had to paint it. But it bothered me that it...
Sam Zimmerman
Welcome Home
I went home in September to Gichi-onigamiing (Grand Portage) to house sit for a cousin; it was the first time back since my naming. I was a little...
Calling the Pack
Ma’iimgan wiikomaad iniyen owiijima’iinganan I have seen a number of wolves and coyotes lately. This past month, I was heading up to Two Harbors when...
Nimishoomis Mooz (My Grandfather’s Moose)
With this past October and November being a favorite time for hunting either mooz (moose) or bine (grouse), I think of hunting stories shared with me. I have...
Ezhi-gikininjiininang gigashiminaan (The Way a Mother Hugs Us)
What started off as a public art commission to promote breastfeeding quickly became a love letter to my nimaamaa (mother) who has shared stories of her time...
Mookise Meme (Dawn Pileated Woodpecker)
Recently, I was driving back from Gichi-onigamiing (Grand Portage) when I saw a beautiful flash of miskwaa (red) launch from the trees and dive across Highway 61. At...
Maang at Dawn (Loon)
It is such a magical mandioo (spirit), the maang (loon); a doodem (clan) animal of the Ojibwe representing spiritual leadership with its haunting song traveling across the waters of Gitchi Gami (Lake Superior)....
Agwadaashi (Sunfish)
As a gwiiwizens (boy), I use to take my newest Hardy Boy book, bait pail and fishing pole and sit by the river and spend all gabe-zhebaa (morning) fishing....