Excerpt from
Aboriginal People And Birds: A Brief Cultural History of Manitoba's First People
The Birds of Manitoba (2003)
By Virginia Petch
A special thanks to Rudolf Koes of the Manitoba Naturalists Society.
Virginia Petch is an anthropologist/archaeologist who specializes in Aboriginal culture. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba in 1998. Dr. Petch has worked extensively in the north with many First Nation and Aboriginal communities, and is currently president of Northern Lights Heritage Services Inc.
The oral traditions of Manitoba’s First People tell of a time when ice mountains were present and the earth was covered with water. The Anisinabeg (Ojibwa) and Nehayawuk (Cree) creation stories in particular document a changing physical environment created in part by the culture hero Wasakejuck (Cree) or O-Na-Bush-O-we (Ojihwa). This environment included many species of birds which had an important role in Aboriginal life.
The events that shaped the present landforms of Manitoba also had great consequence on the movement of the First People. As the ice age ended and the glaciers began their retreat, human populations migrated into the southwest corner of present-day Manitoba. These early occupations may have been no more than exploratory forays, or pursuits for game. Very little evidence of these very first people has survived the past 11,500 years. A few fluted spear points mark the extent of our knowledge. We can conclude, however, that these people had adapted to the tundra-like climate at the edge of the glacier, pursuing a variety of large mammals. While no bird bone has been found for this time period, it stands to reason that a variety of tundra species would have been present and utilized in some way.
The presence of Glacial Lake Agassiz, created by the meltwater of the receding glaciers, offers an important indicator of human occupation. In particular the Campbell Beach Ridge, which formed the western shore of the lake, marks the spatial and temporal boundary of two distinct early cultural groups.
By 7500 years ago, Glacial Lake Agassiz had drained and been replaced by a huge expanse of ecosystems in flux. The increased diversity of flora and fauna throughout unexplored lands marked the expansion of people into the four corners of the province. The only area that remained inaccessible was the region now known as the Hudson Bay Lowlands. The Tyrrell Sea inundated this area, and it was not until around 3500 years ago that an archipelago of rocky islands, which could support wildlife and human populations, appeared in the Churchill area.
As people settled into their various niches they began to accumulate an intimate knowledge of the plants, birds, other animals and their physical landscape, observing the symbiotic relationships that existed. The experiences of different people helped to shape the cultural concepts that are now recognized as representing Cree, Ojibwa, Dene, Dakota and Inuit people. Within each cultural world- view, all birds are considered sacred because of their special association with the circle, which is considered to be the embodiment of life and the symbol of power.
Traditional Aboriginal Classifications and Cultural Concepts
The most important of all the creatures are the winged, for they are nearest to the heavens, and are not bound to the earth as are the four-legged, or little crawling people. They see everything that happens on the earth, and they never miss their prey (Black Elk, cited by Brown 1993:4 1).
Aboriginal people have developed ways of classifying elements of the world around them that are grounded in a record of observation that predates modern science. These classifications are based on a cogent, intellectual and holistic design that is woven into a cultural understanding of the universe. For these reasons cultural symbolism and wildlife behavioural characteristics are more critical than actual anatomical structures to understanding traditional Aboriginal classification. Creatures may be grouped together in a manner that, at first glance, makes little sense to people accustomed to scientific classification. In describing a model of this traditional taxonomy and the nomenclature of birds, it is important to note that the basic tenet of Aboriginal philosophy is that all creatures are related.
Aboriginal taxonomy is based on similar patterns of behaviour, regardless of the class to which life forms are ascribed by biologists. In the case of birds, there appears to be one single semantic relationship that describes the order to which they belong: “Creatures that fly”. This, in turn, is divided into two classes, “winged creatures” and “those that fly without wings”. “Winged creatures that fly” include insects such as butterflies, moths, bees and dragonflies, and mammals such as bats, as well as birds. Wingless creatures such as the flying squirrel and supernatural beings are grouped separately. The “supremacy of winged creatures” is recognized by members of the Ojibwa, Dakota, Cree and Dene Nations.
Furthermore, birds are named according to distinctive characteristics or behaviour. For example, according to Ojibwa custom, Binay-sih-wok, or Thunderbird, gives rise to all birds that have naturally loud, ringing voices. These birds were called Businause (echo-makers). According to Warren (1984), there were two main birds in this category: U je jauk (crane) and Megizee (eagle).
The other major bird category was Ah ah wauk (loon). All other birds are considered to have descended from these categories (Figure 1).
The Cree word-form for crane is Uchichaak, which is similar to the Ojibwa U je jauk. The Sandhill Crane is called Ochichaak (Myers et al. 1974) and has no prefix attached to it (F. Beardy, personal communication, 2003). James Isham, a Hudson’s Bay Company employee stationed along the Hudson Bay coast between 1743 and 1749, used the Cree word Usa wa u techauk to identify the Sandhill Crane (Rich 1956). Whooping Cranes are called Waapichickaak in Cree, with waapi the descriptive adjective for white.
Isham was not the only European influenced by the Cree. In his Observations on Hudson’s Bay describing his tenure at York Fort and Forts Severn and Prince of Wales between 1767 and 1791, Andrew Graham not only included the various bird species he viewed, hut also those described to him by the Cree people (Williams 1969). Although Graham’s understanding of Cree dialect and spelling is occasionally inaccurate, his records indicate that a sophisticated Cree nomenclature existed. The Cree attached a prefix to each name, one that described some characteristic or observed behaviour of the particular bird. For example, Wapuska-Apetheyshish, identified by Graham as a species of plover, is literally translated as “white bear bird”, wapuska meaning “white bear” and apetheyshish a derivative word-form meaning “little bird”. Other examples include Graham’s Etheeniesheip, which is literally translated as “Cree duck”; etheen is a word-form derivative meaning “Cree people”, while esheip is a word form of seesip or “duck”. Graham used this word to describe the Mallard.
The importance of birds is also revealed by the many species that are included in the clan system as dodaims or totems. Clans are kin groups whose members trace descent from a common ancestor, usually a mammal, fish or bird. The clan system was a key means of social organization that functioned simultaneously with common kinship. Members of the same clan recognized each other as “brothers or sisters” and were obliged to observe the rules of kinship as they applied to these relationships. Hind, during his second exploratory expedition through Manitoba, was told by his Cree informants, regarding totems, that the “...recognition of relationships not infrequently took place between individuals who met for the first time, and who were born and lived in districts far apart” (Hind 1970, 11:146). The Anisinabeg in particular followed a strict clan system that continues to be practiced today, albeit in a modified form. The Crane, Loon, Eagle, Goose, Cormorant, Gull and Hawk are the major bird totems of the Anisinabeg. Other minor bird totems found among the Ottawa and Ojibway are the “hen hawk” and “sparrow hawk” (Tanner 1956). The Kingfisher, a totem symbolized at present mainly in Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi, represented a powerful and influential band that traveled between Family, Dogskin and Sasaginnigak Lakes to the mouth of the Berens and Bloodvein Rivers on Lake Winnipeg.
Samuel Hearne, most famous for his trek to the Coppermine River in 1770, also provided observations regarding the Native use of birds other than for food or plumage. He noted that the Aboriginal residents at Fort Prince of Wales were “fond of taming” Gyrfalcons and frequently kept them the whole summer, but released them once winter approached (Hearne 1911:370). The common grey goose [Canada Goose] was also a bird that could be tamed. In his post journal Hearne stated: “I sent some Indians up Churchill river to procure some of those Geese, and in the afternoon they were seen coming down the river with a large flock before them...so that, with the assistance of the English and the Indians then residing on the plantation, the whole flock (41) was drove within the stockade which incloses the Fort where they were fed and fattened for Winter use” (Hearne 1911:401). Hearne also recorded the ingenious method that the Cree devised for hunting Willow Ptarmigan, using nets set over a heap of gravel, usually on the ice of rivers or lakes close to a stand of willows (Hearne 1911:381-382).
The Eagle
While all birds are held in esteem, the eagle is considered to be the most respected of all non-human beings because it is believed to fly higher than all other birds, seeing everything as it moves through the sky in the sacred form of the circle. It has long been the source of inspiration and courage for all Aboriginal people. This was why Elijah Harper, a member of the Manitoba legislature, carried an eagle feather when he voted against the Meech Lake constitutional accord. The eagle feather helped change the direction of Canadian history.
The Bald Eagle was called Wapaw Estiquan (Megizee) by Graham, literally meaning “white head”, the same description provided by the Latin species name leucocephalus. An Ojibwa legend, however, relates the story of how the eagle became “bald”. The eagle, being a very proud bird, desired to be boss. O-Na-Bush-O-we (similar to Wasakejuck of the Cree), the spirit god said to the eagle “I will fix you so you will not be so proud”. He plucked all the feathers from the eagle’s head and said “Now you will not be proud. You can never be boss. You wiI1 be called the bald eagle the rest of your life” (Thunder, 1975).
In the past Aboriginal people would capture eagles after elaborate ceremonies. Once these were completed, a young man would crawl into a prepared pit, which was covered with a platform constructed of branches. A leather thong was attached to the hind leg of a live rabbit which the eagle would try to capture with its power talons, the young man in the pit would hold onto the rabbit with all his might. The eagle, intent on holding its prey, would not have time to react to the leather sack being placed over its head. Occasionally, archaeologists have found the remains of these pits on top of bluffs.
All parts of the eagle are considered sacred, not just the plumes and feathers. Wing bones were made into whistles, which dancers blew during the Sun Dance. The whistles were usually between 10 and 25 centimetres in length and adorned with quills, ribbons and fur. Occasionally a vent was cut in the bone and a small wooden peg was fixed across the bone over the vent to produce a wider variety of sounds. The whistle symbolizes the great Thunder power and its note is the cry of the eagle, which represents the Thunder. Oral tradition states that if you were attacked, blowing into an eagle-bone whistle would “confuse the enemy and make them easy to overcome”. Archaeologists have found whistles fashioned out of eagle ulnae at several sites in Manitoba. Hearne also reported that both the humerus and ulna of the Whooping Crane were used as whistles or flutes (Hearne 1911:389).
Other Exceptional Birds in Aboriginal Culture
Of the birds that provided food, the goose and “partridge” [grouse] were probably the most important, the goose for its nutritious meat and the fat that served many purposes, and the partridge for its role as a survival food during the long winter months. Geese were considered to be so significant that ceremonies such as the goose dance, a cultural practice among the Cree and the Ojibwa during the 1850s, were held in the spring and fall to ensure their return (Hind 1971, 1:403 and 11:123).
During his trek to the Coppermine River in 1770, Hearne made several observations about how the Dene used certain bird behaviour to their advantage. The “Alarm Bird” served as a warning against approaching people or animals. Preble described what might be the Short-eared Owl when he stated that “In size and colour it resembles a Cobadekoock, and is of the owl genus... The name is said to be well adapted to its qualities, for when it perceives any people or beast, it directs its way towards them immediately, and after hovering over them some time, flies round them in circles, or goes ahead in the same direction in which they walk. They repeat their visits frequently; and if they see any other moving objects, fly alternately from one party to the other, hover over them for some time and make a loud screaming noise, like the crying of a child. The Copper Indians put great confidence in those birds and say they are frequently apprised by them of the approach of strangers and conducted by them to herds of deer and musk-oxen, which without their assistance in all probability they never could have found” (Hearne 1911:193).
Two nuisance birds are the Gray Jay or Whiskey Jack (Weskuchanis) and the Whip-poor-will, called “the bad news bird” by Ojibwa at Poplar River. The Whip-poor-will is a harbinger of bad news because according to one Elder, whenever people heard the bird, someone was either hurt or dead (J. McDonald, personal communication, 1999). The robin, on the other hand, is revered by the Cree as a very sacred, gentle bird that flies about the world singing and praying for the people (Ray and Stevens 1971). The oriole and the meadowlark are both considered cheerful birds.
The raven is the most popular bird of Aboriginal mythology. Raven can portray a number of roles such as trickster, transformer, legendary hero and creator. In the old days the Dene relied on the raven to reveal the location of the caribou. Often called “wolf birds” by the Dene, ravens have a symbiotic relationship with Canis lupus. Ravens do not have the ability to open the cavity of dead animals; so when they locate dead or dying caribou they call to the wolves, which quickly avail themselves of the situation (S. Nelzee Ellis, personal communication, 1992).
Petch, Virginia. Excerpted from "Aboriginal People and Birds: A Brief Cultural History of Manitoba's First People". The Birds of Manitoba. Winnipeg: Manitoba Naturalists Society, 2003. 56, 59-60.