Linking up at Monday Mural
July 2018 - Toronto ON
More in the Dupont/Spadina area.
Source
Nation: Moose Deer Point First Nation
First Nations Affiliation: Shawnee, Lakota, Potawatomi, Ojibway and Algonquin.
Philip Cote is a Sundancer, Pipe Carrier and Sweat Ceremony leader recognized by
Elder Vern Harper and Floyd Looks for Buffalo Hand. Cote received his Indigenous
name Noodjmowin (The Healer) in 1979 from Joe Couture and was made a member
of the Falseface Society at the Seneca longhouse in 1992.
After I took these photos I went to the Toronto Archives up the street and saw this photo.
The beginning of the Mural depicts an Eagle Dancer representing the ancient Ice
Runners also known as the “Oh-kwa-ming-i-nini-wug” of Algonquin lineage who
were here in those early days looking towards the future. The Return of The Buffalo is
represented here and are part of the story of this land as there were once giant wood
buffalo that roamed across this land now called the city of Toronto.
The second Ice-Runner is the man running behind the wolf (The Wolf is the First
Brother of Man), and the Black Thunderbird symbol in the Medicine Wheel Circle is
the symbol of the Anishinaabe People who were the first to inhabit this territory.
Then you will see the Tobacco Plant, which is an important Sacred Medicine offered
up in our Ceremonies. Tobacco is in the East on the Medicine Wheel. It is one of the
four sacred medicines.
The Crane is part of The Anishinaabe Clan System and Governance. The Crane Clan
shares power of Chieftainship with the Loon Clan. Crane Clan takes care of
leadership of external relations, external negotiations, speaker of the community,
leadership and mediation and expresses of sentiments for the people, but wishes of
the group.
The next symbol, the Beaver, is the symbol of The Wendat People who were the next
in the order of inhabiting this territory.
Next you will see an Anishinaabe Moccasin. It is a message of the many trails
Indigenous peoples traveled across the city over 13,500 years ago. The Moccasin is
on Cedar which, a medicine that is put down on the arbor of the Sundance. Cedar is
in the South on the Medicine Wheel and is used as usually as a tea and for bathing
and cleansing in Cedar Baths.
The next symbol is the Star Symbol of the Cree peoples who came next to the land to
live here.
And then depicted is the eagle that can travel between the physical world and the
spiritual world, and is thus closest to the Creator.
The eagle feather and eagle wings are Sacred, they are used in Smudge Ceremonies,
and the eagle feather is a symbol of truth, power and freedom.
The Beaver is a symbol of advancement and Industry/progress since he is a builder.
Sage is in the West on the Medicine Wheel and is another medicine used for
smudging and cleansing. The canoe is there because it is a symbol of all the paths
the Indigenous People created which are still used to this day, like the Humber River
trail, and the Don River, etc.
The Bear is another Clan Animal. Bears are settlement guardians, they patrol the local
area; also, they know medicinal plants and are healers, guardians of traditions. The
Bear stands on a loop of Sweetgrass. This medicine is in the North, another one of
the four sacred medicines used in smudging and Ceremony.
The Bear looks on towards the Giant Buffalo. There were once 60,000,000 Buffalo in
North America, only to be slaughter by the settlers so they could take the land from
the Indigenous Peoples.
The Buffalo was vital for the survival of Indigenous Peoples of North America. They
used all the parts of the animal, the furs for clothing and warmth, the meat for food,
the bones for tools, and nothing was wasted. It was a major food source but was
taken away by the murder of the Buffalo by the Colonists.
It is said that one day there will be a Return of the Buffalo to this land and territory so
they could roam free as they once did here. This is what we all look forward to.
“Nindinawemaaganidok” “All My Relations”, which means We Are All Related.
