Temagami - Te-mee-ay-gaming Tales,folk-lore,legends from the Land of Deep Water

Far in the grim Northwest beyond the lines That turn the rivers eastward to the sea, Set with a thousand islands, crowned with pines, Lies the deep water, wild Temagami: Wild for the hunter's roving, and the use Of trappers in its dark and trackless vales, Wild with the trampling of the giant moose, And the weird magic of old Indian tales. All day with steady paddles toward the west Our heavy-laden long canoe we pressed: All day we saw the thunder-travelled sky Purpled with storm in many a trailing tress, And saw at eve the broken sunset die In crimson on the silent wilderness. Archibald Lampman

It is time to listen to Aboriginal people. It is time to appreciate our spirituality, to hear our cries and see our oppresion, and to share it. It is time to respect and honour our spirituality completely and without reservation - just as we are willing to respect your roots." ~The Reverend Djiniyini Gondara, Australian Aboriginal Writer "If we try to understand and sensibly appreciate Native myth and legend we must be willing, first of all, to accept that there is involved here a very special way of 'seeing the world'. Secondly, and a necessary further step, we must make an attempt to 'participate' in this way of seeing." "There seems to be a vital link, then, for the Ojibwa, between mythical times and the present. In fact, it might be said that mythical times become present when we approach the realm of the sacred through the dream of the vision quest. Perhaps this can be expressed as simultaneous realities. What we have called mythical time is eternally present, and it occurs simultaneously with our present." James Dumont, an Anishinaabe scholar "Our myths and legends have told us that a time would come when our wisdom was needed to save the planet and we believe that time is now." Native Elders through a book by Anne Wilson Schaef: "Native Wisdom for White Minds".

Ancient meteorite impact    Creation of Temagami and Misabi Cy Warman     How God made TEMAGAMI     Weiga of TEMAGAMI Aleck Paul, second Chief of Timagami band recorded by Dr. F.Speck in 1913   Family Hunting Territories of Timagami Band   Iroquois painted pictures in the rocks on river and lake shores Grace Rajnovich, a researcher and writer:   Tale of O-bawb-ika Lake's Pictograph Madeline Theriault, Temagami Elder:  David (Old) Missabie came from where it is now Toronto   Old Missabie - a medicine  man   Use of fire Michael Paul, Bill Twain   Oral history relating to the Iroquois: Temagami River Fight, Lake Temagami Chase and Battle, Rabbit Lake Fight, Stinking Islands Battle, Island Lookout Pits, Temagami Island Indian Burial Ground, Wabun Pits Site Alex Mathias (Misabi), Elder of Temagami First Nation   How map of Family Hunting Territories of Timagami Band was drawn.   How Old Missabie shut down operations of a logging camp   Iroquois battles and lookout pits Evidence presented by Teme-Augama Anishnabai in Bear island Foundation vs Attorney General for Ontario trial during Land Claim process   Sacred places of Teme-Augama Anishnabai.   Nanabush Footprints.   Scroll Cave.   Devil's Armchair.   Timagami Folk-Lore   Tale of Obabika Lake   Origin of Constellation Fishing Star (Ursa Major aka Big Dipper)   Young Loon   The Giant Pike   Marry a Star   Lynx and His Two Wives   Story of Seal Rock   Rabbit, Lynx and Fisher   Snaring the Sun   Stinker   The Origin of Snakes   The Origin of Bats   Muskrat Warns the Beaver   Story of a Hunter   Story of a Fast Runner   Story of a Hunter and Seven Deer More stories to appear!... Nenebuc (Nanabojou, Manabozho), the Transformer   The Magic Birth of Nenebuc and His Four Brothers   Nenebuc Tempers the Wind   Nenebuc Starts Travelling, Changes the Colour of the Partridge Family, and Originates Rock Tripe from his Scabs for the Benefit of the People   Nenebuc Prepears a Feast and Gets Caught Between Two Trees, While the Animals Receive a Distribution of Fat   Nenebuc Gets Caught in the Bear's Skull   Nenebuc Wounds the Giant Lynx, Disguises Himself in a Toad's Skin, and Finally Slays Her   The Giant Lynx causes the World Flood and Gathers the Animals on a Raft; Muskrat Dives for Earth, which Nenebuc Transforms into a New World   Nenebuc Sends Crow Out, for Disobedience Changes Him Black and Gull Partly Black, then Retires to the West, until he Will Return Again THE HAWK'S NEST WEBRING This site is owned by Neodim Kollobok. Want to join the HAWK'S NEST RING ? | Previous | | Next | |Random |

Sources: Dr. F.Speck,Anthropological series / Geological Survey of Canada: Memoir 70, Memoir 71 at York University Library; Toronto Public Library; Elders of Temagami First Nation. Neodim Kollobok. Temagami, 2002-2006 Meegwitch! (thank you!) to all who provided this material. -N.K. Photographs are licensed under Creative Commons License. Updated: January 2006

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