My Journey has Led Me to Walk the Tight Rope

It is difficult to put into words how I feel about elders. It seems that I am not the only one.  As related to Michael McNally in his book Elders: Aging, Authority, and Ojibwe Religion “References and memories of elders are savored in a tangible way, tangible sometimes by how few words are equal to the task of the often tender regard inside”.  I love looking at their hands. I try to imagine all the things that they have done.  I always wonder how many things their eyes have seen. I used to sit and wait for the pot of tea to go on, I waited to be handed that hot cup of sweet tea and half full of canned milk. Usually we had homemade bread or cookies to go with it. Yummo, I have to go get one right now. I sat there intently investigating their hands, tracing all the lines, listening, now that my tummy was full. Tender regard towards the Elders is a description that I would have struggled with to come up with by myself. I am thankful that someone else put my feelings into words.

We always sit quietly.  We are given toys to play with but we are usually more interested in listening to the stories.  They were relayed with great detail that made us think we were right there with them, and we were. Through them, we all took that journey together. We did not interrupt them, we did not speak, we listened intently. We did not ask questions. They gave us the information in a format that we were able to understand. These stories were told to us again and again, as we moved the different stages of our lives, more information was given to us. In the book Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa We Look in All Directions they said “elders are given respect and for whom a title of age is proof of honor and influence”.  I do not understand how younger people now do not respect the elders, who would include teachers, by being disruptive or talking while they are teaching us. I have to remember that we are all on a journey and not everyone has had the same teachings as I have. I find myself biting my tongue on many occasions but I find that recently when I cannot hear the teacher, I, as gently as I can, let those people know that I cannot hear the teacher.  I always feel bad about this. I find that I am walking on the tight rope again, the rope that on one side, I have the teachings that we are all on our own journey, and the other side being in a university that has a number of people who do not have these teachings.  It would seem that in the last few years, I have found my voice.

I also have to add the, bizarre to me, notion that Canada is separate from the United States. While “recent” political structures define us as separate entities, my people believe that we are still one nation. In the book, Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa We Look in All Directions, Eddie Benton Benai states “We the Anishinabe people have a history that goes back 50 000 years on this continent which is now known as North America, but which had been always known to us as Turtle Island. And 50 000 years is a long time.”  We are all connected, whatever we do has impact to those around us. Even through that invisible line laid down by the Europeans that separate Canada and the United States. I have a difficult time understanding how we are expected to not use information that comes from the United States when the stories that we learned from the Elders apply to everyone everywhere.

These are the obstacles that are making my journey incredibly difficult. The tight rope has two sides: one side of the rope has the view the Elders deserving of respect and that we are all connected even through that invisible line and the other side of the rope that no longer respects the Elders and who believe that we are all separate entities, independent of each other.  I will keep walking  the line trying to keep an open mind and understand other people’s point of view. 

I am off to get myself another cup of tea with extra cookies.

Miigwetch,

Kimberly   

 McNally, Michael D, (2009). Honoring Elders: Aging, Authority, and Ojibwe Religion. New York: Columbia University Press

Peacock, Thomas and Wisuri, Marlene (2008). Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa We Look in All Directions. Afton, MN: Pettit Network Inc.