Association, Affiliation
2:38 min. - “The man who sits on the floor of his tipi to meditate on life and its meaning has accepted a common filiation with all creatures and has recognized the unity of the universe”. Luther Standing Bear, Lakota
Transcription
Narrator - The man who sits on the ground in his tipi to mediate on life and its meaning, has accepted a filiation common to all creatures and has recognized the unity of the universe. By doing this, he infuses his being with the actual essence of humanity.
When primitive man abandoned this form of development, he hindered his improvement. Story by Luther Standing Bear, Lakota For Native peoples in the Americas, as for the Innu in Canada, this is how we understand the universe.
We recognize the association between man and the cosmos and the filiations between all living essences in this universe. This highly structured universe of energy has as its symbolic representation a cross-section of a tree, with its countless layers of striations. Each one of these striations represents a world, including the human, animal, vegetal, mineral, wind, ice, manitou and dream worlds.
These worlds have in common, energy, the energy of the universe; this vital energy needed by all, no matter which world we belong to. The difference between them is the perception of this energy by each of these worlds.
The dream world has the particularity of allowing one to travel between these perceptions or worlds, during a dream. If we can visit these other worlds, then creatures from these worlds can also visit us. Think of Miminteo or Memekushue, beings so thin they can pass through a fissure between two rocks.
The life purpose of all these creatures of the universe is to improve the whole, and, by the same token, improve themselves. The way to attain this is through respect, respect established as a value system.
A very ancient legend, the legend of Tshakapesh, helps us understand the dream world. After dreaming that she would be swallowed by a giant trout, Tshakapesh's sister said to him: "If your intention is to live your dream, it will become reality."
Music - Kathia Rock, Jorane, Jean-Baptiste Bellefleur
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Association, Affiliation
2:38 min
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- akutakanu eshkanat
- we hang the antlers on a tree
- kushapatshikan
- shaking tent
- natshi-minu-akutau ushkanima
- out of respect for the caribou, he’ll place the bones in an elevated spot
Nametau innu: Memory and knowledge of Nitassinan, a website dedicated to the Innu nation in which elders pass on their skills and knowledge to younger generations.
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