Navigating Grief: Ojibwe Teachings About Healing From Loss

Anton Treuer shares some common Ojibwe teachings about dealing with grief, loss, and hardship, especially as associated with the death of a loved one. Narration in English with a few Ojibwe words.

[@Blue13xs]

Aanii. Miigwech for sharing what you could in this video. I'm not Indigenous but I've always had a listening ear to Indigenous teachings and culture. I've been honoured to have the opportunity to have a lot of teachings shared with me, directly from Elders and knowledge keepers who have crossed my path. My grandmother passed away very recently and my mom and I are having a hard time with it. But what you have shared in this video is very comforting and a good reminder. I'll be sharing this with my mom. I hope it helps comfort her too. My grandmother may not have been Indigenous but she had a great respect for Anishinaabe beliefs and values and she definitely embodied that.

[@fryman1171]

ty for the teaching for as a veteran myself and i'm griefing now because i have lost my daughter on jan 14 2024 and doing my best to do this right for my daughter

[@cynthiawhite8323]

Thank you. This overlaps with some of the other teachings I have heard or read about grief. I find this talk helpful because it reminds me to be mindful of my grief and acknowledge the events in my life that I am grieving. About ten years ago I was grieving the loss of a job and I had trouble bathing and washing my hair - there are no grief rituals in my immediate family (my father is an atheist) but all I could think of was traditions where people don't bathe as a sign of mourning. In that time of grieving ten years ago, I did try to eat well and nourish my body and walked in nature and gardened for spiritual healing. I am not quite sure how this current grieving process will be - there is the larger societal grief and trauma that overlays my own personal grief.

[@butchncasey]

Beautiful, thanks for sharing

[@cynthiawhite8323]

I do have a tradition that I think is East Asian (and Mexican also, a little) - at certain holidays or "sacred days" during the year, I light candles so that lost souls or lost spirits can find their way to the spirit world. Sometimes I think the spirits remain because of unfinished business when they were alive in this cycle on earth. I light candles at times when maybe an old injustice has been resolved, or there is a traditional "day of the dead". They can use the light of the candle to navigate their way to the spirit world.

[@tehya7174]

I know that this video is almost a couple years old, but I am happy I found it. I grew up knowing I'm ojibwe, but not knowing or learning about it. I've been to many funerals growing up, and understanding some, but I lost my gram back in February. I'm 24 now and was finally understanding a little more. She was a traditional woman who was so loved by her community, and by her family. Thank you for this video- it has given me some good insight on my feelings, and how to navigate them ❤

[@loribarkley7283]

Chi Miigwech. Sorry to hear of your losses. After my sister's loss last year, my 75 year old dad, raised by his Chippewa grandparents, intuitively did many of the things you mentioned in your video. Several times during our grieving he looked at me apologetically and said "We must do this...but I don't remember why." Thanks for helping me fill in the why, for keeping the traditions present.

[@BGiizhig1113]

Timely, much needed, and appreciated. Miigwech, Niiji.

[@Nikoash1]

Chi miigwetch. I needed this today. Uncle just passed away and I'm far away from homelands and I feel a huge loss not being near to help with services

[@nellis9377]

I was not raised with the benefit of the wisdom of the Elders and the strength and support of a Moosonee community. Your gift of knowledge has filled so many holes in my heart that I didn't even know were there until the emptiness was gone. Thank you so much for the gifts you give us.

[@jawarden2006]

Beautifully written words. Thank you for putting words to something I am experiencing.

[@claudebelanger8524]

My cousin Joey passed away from a car accident while driving home because my other cousin who is his brother had a massive heart attack. One thing that was mentioned at his funeral by an elder was they would leave a light on in his house for one year. The same was said by his coworkers that Joey's bunk would be left vacant for one year. Joey was a leader on a railway gang that took care of maintaining the rails for freight trains. Now I understand the meaning of this. Miigwetch for all that you are teaching. My son is married to a Fiirst Nations lady and I have three granddaughters who are being brought up in the traditions of the Ojibwe. They are my pride and joy.

[@keithpiskur1401]

Miigwich for youe teachings

[@rachaellafriniere9349]

Miigwech for sharing.

[@wolfengel4557]

Beautifully expressed. Thank you for sharing this.

[@999Lumen]

Thank you so much - this was healing video.

[@Cars4Crazy]

Thank you for sharing.

[@roxannegould2447]

Beautiful teaching

[@lourdesmateo-casanova1977]

Thank you for sharing this

[@lj32920]

Robert Sapolsky is a professor formerly ( or perhaps still), from Stanford, who writes in a humorous and clear way about human biology and neurology, including feelings. He himself is an atheist, and does not bring religion into his teaching and explanations. I am 75, and think about death more than I did when I was young, for sure. I now live in a retirement residence for former military personnel. It happens that sometimes residents or the family of residents die. Of course people are of all kinds of religious beliefs here, so people do not talk much about feelings of loss and grief. But the subject comes up much more often than when I was younger. I'm really sensitive, and when somebody is grieving I tend to cry for them. That's pretty annoying for me and not much help to them. So I was thinking I should find out more about how to weather grief. But I didn't want a religious view. I wanted to know about how humans grieve. I found some of Robert Sapolsky's explanations very helpful. (Yours, too, but I thought you might like to hear about Sapolsky) I'm not going to try to tell you all of it. You can look up Sapolsky on grief on KZbin. But basically we are born with a hard-wired need to associate who somebody is, their location, and something else I can't remember at the moment. It might be an idea about where they are going to be, because he was talking about babies having to learn that Mommy is coming back when she leaves, not disappearing. But this becomes something that every human knows about whomever they know. Or at least something they can make a good guess at. But when someone dies, the people who knew them of any age, go through a mental pain because they can't make these three essential associations. Who is someone who presumably never changes? Where is a dead person? What happens to a dead soul? You are about the age of my youngest son. I want him to consider these things and how to deal with it before his parents die. You have expressed a desire to explore these things, too, and to know how to talk to people dealing with grief. So I'm recommending Dr. Sapolsky's information. BTW, I love how you teach. I discovered that I have an Ojibwe ancestor about 12 generations ago, and I'm suddenly interested in the Ojibwe. I'm painting a tabletop with an old Ojibwe design, and I'm on lesson 3 of Pimsleur's Ojibwe language course. They don't teach how to write it, but I learned to say, when asked if I am one of the People: "Anishinabe quay indow, bang-gee. et-a- go." Well, it's more of a guess. Please continue to be such an excellent wise teacher and elder as you age.

[@friday3055]

22:06, by Waagosh's shoulder, right corner. Did anyone else see that? Lol was that just a reflection from like a car pulling in or something? Or smoke?

[@harmony_online]

energy, orb ... his ancient Understanding asked for Love and was answered in that moment 🙏🏽 I have experienced the same, at times quite intensely, caught on film for naysayers. Wonderful that you witnessed That and are seeking its ⭕️rigin

[@TheRealSnooki]

I don't want to be rude or offend you or anyone but my question is , Why Do you sound like your on Broadway When you do funerals just my question cause I never seen Medicin men or ikwes sound like the way you do