Honourable Senator Murray Sinclair, Senate of Canada

• Pages: 1-4

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(2019) 1 CJCCL

Foreword

Honourable Senator Murray Sinclair

Senate of Canada

I. Introduction & Indigenous Worldview of

Relationship to Animals

It is said among the Ojibway that ‘in the beginning before the

beginning’, Anishinaabe was weak and lost and unable to come to

terms with their existence; f‌inding the daily challenges of life dif‌f‌icult

to manage and suf‌fering from inner turmoil and sicknesses they did not

know how to cure. ey mistreated each other, bickered constantly, saw

all outsiders as threats, and were even unable to feed themselves properly.

It is said that at that time the animal beings of Creation, who had

been observing all of this, called a Great Council to discuss one question:

‘What shall we do to help Anishinaabe’? ey agreed on one thing at the

outset: something must be done, for if Anishinaabe failed to survive and

thrive, then all of Creation was threatened, including them. After long

discussion, it is said that one by one, each of the Animal leaders stepped

forward to announce its commitment to help Anishinaabe and what they

would do.

e Bear stated that because he walked constantly in the woods, he

would protect Anishinaabe from outside attack. He further announced

that because he spent so much time among the plants, he knew where all

the medicines were and he would show them to Anishinaabe and help him

learn how to use them for healing. e deer and other hoofed creatures

of‌fered themselves as a source of food for Anishinaabe to consume in

times of hunger. e Eagle promised to f‌ly over Anishinaabe’s territory

each morning to see how he was doing and watch over him. One by one,

each of the animal beings of Creation committed to do what was within

his ability to do to keep Anishinaabe alive.

at teaching was repeated over many millennia and generation after

generation of children understood its importance: that we are all related,