Description

“The Earth is said to be a woman. In this way it is understood that woman preceded man on the Earth. She is called Mother Earth because from her come all living things. Water is her life blood. It flows through her, nourishes her, and purifies her.”

The practice of Mothering is deeply embedded in Indigenous communities and can be delivered by anyone who brings life, nurtures life, and cultivates the development of embodied love. The reverence and respect for Mother is one of the many things we have in common across Turtle Island (North America). This is reflected in how we refer to the Earth herself, as the one who gave us life.

Mother

In Anishinaabe, the word for Mother is ni-maa-maa. The sounds “ma-ma” are the same sounds in many world languages. It is said that these are the first sounds we as humans can make. And these sounds should remind us that all life is interrelated. We are all held in a nest of mutuality, connected to a single destiny here on Earth. The Mothering act of caring and nurturing one of us is to bring this Mothering to us all.

“Gitchie Manitou, the Great Mystery, took four parts of Earth and blew into them using a Sacred Shell.  From the union of the Four Sacred Elements and his breath, man was created. It is said the Gitchie Manitou then lowered man to the Earth. Thus, man was the last form of life to be placed on Earth. From this Original Man came the A-nish-i-na’-be people.”

– Grand Chief of Midewiwiin Society, Eddie Benton Benai, Miishomis Book