A story about story

Tammo Geertsema muses about writing stories in the ancient Anishinaabe and Cree traditions. Thank you Tammo for letting me post this very interesting reflection on story. Joan

ABOUT STORY SEEDS AND THE STORY TREE 

~~ A musing ~~ 

I am busy putting the finishing touch to a story I have been writing on for the past week and which will be up very soon. The story, a love tale inspired by a dream I recently had, emerged in reciprocity with the process of “instinctual” association in combination with an intangible but powerful concept that’s often defined as manidoo-minjimendamowin or “spirit memory”; the ancestral (genetic) and spiritual connection that I, as a storyteller, feel with my People’s language, songs, and teachings. 

The narrative is presented as an old, traditional tale but is really a modern extension of longer Anishinaabe en Cree storytelling tradition and told here fully for the first time. I shaped the story in the form of a frame story: a story within a story. In this case a mixture of several different aadizookaanan, or metaphoric narratives of a traditional, sacred nature that I integrated in the larger aadizookaan. 

I like to refer to these narratives, passed on by many generations of Anishinaabe and Cree storytellers, as miinikaanan, or seeds; the miinikaanan become dibaajimowinimiinikaanag - seeds alive with story - as soon as we start (re)telling them. When passed on - and listened to - the miinikaanan that initially inhaled become alive again; the seeds start to exhale, and their life blood flows through the roots of the multiple-stem, multiple branched tree that grows out of them. 

Thus, throughout time and generations of storyteling, the miinikaanag grow into an ever-growing, multiple-stem and multiple-branched dibaajimowinimitig (story tree), firmly rooted in the fertile soil of manidoo-minjimendamowin. This tree, through generation and regeneration, grows high and its top reaches the Sky World so that even the spirits that dwell there may hear the stories told. 

So what can you expect? In a nutshell, the aadizookaan I will soon share with you is a reciprocical combination of my personal memories and dreams and the miinikaanan/miinikaanag, the stories and the collective memory and dreams, of my People. The narrative, which emerged like the fog and the sacred kettle stones rising from Lake Huron, is rich with metaphors and multiple layers of personal and Anishinaabe symbolism. It’s also a strongly autobiographical account of my own spiritual and relational path. And what else is it? It’s a heart-stirring tale of human and celestial connections, a magic teaching parable about a quest of love, about a man’s courage and determination, about overcoming obstacles, and about purity of heart. It's a story that's settled in my blood and that I love to tell. Atayaa! I hope you will enjoy the read as much as I liked writing it! 

- Illustration: Children Under the Ojibway Story Tree - acrylic on canvas by Miskwaabik Animikii (1987) 

Visit the website to read my stories: http://www.fisherstarcreations.com/worldview