Wiigwaasi-Jiimaan

These Canoes Carry Culture Project 2013-

Medicine Wheel

The canoe was constructed over the course of four seasons. Different materials were available at different times of the year. In Western cultures, the different seasons are recognized as a way of understanding time and life. Ojibwe people understand the four seasons in relation to the four cardinal directions, north, east, south, and west. In the medicine wheel, these directions are specifically linked to further aspects of human and natural life. The left quadrant of the Ojibwe medicine wheel is associated with the West (Ningaabii'anong), young adults (Oshki-aya'aag), autumn (Dagwaagan), and the color black (Makade). It is associated in this website with Bigiw, pine pitch.

Read Here about:

Harvesting and processing the bigiw, pine pitch, for the canoe;

The Situation of Wisconsin Tribes Today

back to top