Open AccessKizhay Ottiziwin: To Walk With Kindness and Kinship
Author(s) -
Vicki Kelly
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of the canadian association for curriculum studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1916-4467
DOI - 10.25071/1916-4467.40617
Subject(s) - kindness , kinship , reverence , attunement , indigenous , witness , homeland , aesthetics , sociology , ceremony , honour , prayer , history , environmental ethics , anthropology , art , philosophy , law , religious studies , theology , epistemology , archaeology , political science , medicine , ecology , alternative medicine , pathology , politics , biology
Forty years ago, I was sitting beside Poohbah Lake, a part of my homeland. I was deeply engaged in a process I would now describe as attunement and prayer; I was asking Gzhwe Mnidoo and the Ancestors to guide me on my way. I longed to be a living being of kindness and useful to Creation by honouring my kinship to All My Relations. As my moccasined feet gently walked the land, I wanted to honour each and everything as created, to open my heart, and to regard each being with reverence and respect. I learned to hold these teachings as they were offered. As I grew older, I understood the enormous gift I was given to witness Creation as it had been created by Gzhwe Mnidoo. This learning legacy seared itself into my heart and spirit. As I wander my life journey I return to the teachings of my people, the Anishinaabe; I continue to seek an honourable way to walk. This Indigenous Métissage tells the story of my search for Mino Bimaadiziwin through the practice of Kizhay Ottiziwin.