It Flows from the Heart

Description

Indigenous Knowledges and intellectual tradition emanate from relationship with land, water, spirit, and the beings of Creation. Knowledge mobilization occurs intergenerationally and through these relationships. The Bodwewaadmii Anishinaabeg have lived in relationship with the Great Lakes since the formation of the lakes. Our stories and practices demonstrate our intimate ties to land, water, and the other than human beings. This dissertation shares some of these practices and stories. Settler colonialism in the Great Lakes has disrupted Bodwewaadmii Anishinaabe relationships and resulted in a diaspora. Following the Federal Indian Removal Act of 1830, individual Bodwewaadmiig and families moved north and inland from the southern shores of Lake Michigan, south to the southern plains of the United States and into Mexico, or seemingly stayed in place in southwestern Michigan. As a result, Bodwewaadmii Anishinaabeg now reside in three colonial nation states—Canada, United States, and Mexico. The disruption of Great Lakes basin-based relationships continues, impacting cultural practices, language, and Knowledges as well as knowledge mobilization. Multilayered settler colonial processes have covered women’s water Knowledges and practices. This dissertation shares narratives of Bodwewaadmii migration, removal and relocation through a lens of disruption and knowledge covering.
Returning to ourselves, Biskaabiiyang, is revitalization of culture, language and Knowledges. In addition, Biskaabiiyang is a way of being and a research methodology. This dissertation shares the stories and motivations of over twenty-five Anishinaabe women, men and gender fluid humans working to uncover Knowledges and practices and reweave both into their daily lives, the lives of their grandchildren and their community members.
This research builds on historical literature and on a body of literature about cultural practices, water Knowledges, and Indigenous peoples’ relationships with land, water, and the beings of the Great Lakes. It contributes to Indigenous research methodology, Bodwewaadmii Anishinaabe history, and revitalization of language, Knowledges and practices. It has been written in a narrative style and for the benefit of our families and communities.

Author Keywords: Anishinaabe Studies, Biskaabiiyang, Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenous Research Methodology, Potawatomi, Water