10/19/2015 Who 

are the Anishinabeg, Ojibway Algonquian Algic Medawewin Megis defined

WHO ARE THE ANISHINABEG?

 
Anishinabeg, Ojibway, Medawewin, Algonquian & Megis defined *
 

 
They called themselves “Anishinabeg”.  They were the people of the First Nations who
greeted the pilgrims on the Atlantic shore.  The Anishinabeg people spoke a common
language which the French denominated “Algic” or “Algonquian”.  One of the most
numerous tribes of the Anishinabeg is the Ojibway Nation.  [Note: Anishinabeg is the
plural of Anishinabe.] 
 
The “Algonquian” language of the Anishinabeg people is defined as “A family of North
American Indian languages spoken in an area from Labrador to the Carolinas between
the Atlantic coast and the Rocky Mountains.”*  However, they were not necessarily
confined to those regions. 
 
The fact that the Anishinabeg spoke a common language would indicate that the various
tribes and clans thereof also had similar customs and traditions.  The common religion
of the Ojibway was “Medawewin” [pronounced Me­Day­Wee­Win].  The Medawe even had
their own written language, as evidenced by preserved birch bark scrolls and rock
formations.  The Medawewin religion consisted of four degrees or levels wherein
initiates learned to use their spiritual abilities for spiritual healing.  Herbalists and
surgeons also belonged to the Medawewin.  This may have been the origin of the term
“medicine man”, since “Medawewin” sounds very similar to the English words “medicine
man”.   
 
The “Megis” was one of the primary symbols that represents the Medawewin religion. 
The Megis is a little shell called a cowry shell.  The word “cowry” was derived from a
Hindu word and is defined as “Any of various tropical marine mollusks of the family
Cypraeidae, having glossy, often brightly marked shells, some of which are used as
money in the South Pacific and Africa.”*    What is not mentioned in the foregoing megis
definition is that megis shells were also used as money, or “wampum,” in North America
before the European invasion of this continent. 
 
What is most intriguing about the cowry shells used by the Anishinabeg is that these
particular shells were not indigenous to America.   “The money­cowry (Cypraea moneta)
is, and has been for centuries, a sacred object among the Ojibwa and Menomini Indians
of North America, and is employed in initiation ceremonies of the Grand Medicine
Society [Medawewin].  The use of this particular cowry by these Indians is of peculiar
interest; in the first place; owing to it being alien to the American continent, and in the
second place, in view of its intimate association with so many remarkable and fantastic
beliefs and practices in different parts of the Old World.”**  Cypraea moneta shells come
from the South Pacific.  Other shells which are native only to Asian and South Pacific
seas have been found in pre­Columbian North American aboriginal sites, indicating that
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10/19/2015 Who are the Anishinabeg, Ojibway Algonquian Algic Medawewin Megis defined

trans­oceanic trade was occurring prior to the European invasion.

 
Archaeological finds such as the “Kennewick man” reveal that people with “Caucasian”
features lived in North America a long time ago.  When one examines this kind of
evidence and looks at the similarities between the Medawewin, ancient Hebrew and
Judeo­Christian beliefs, one cannot help but wonder if we are not all cousins in the same
world family.
 
 
 
CLICK HERE to read about the PROPHECY OF THE SEVEN FIRES
 
 
*  Read HISTORY OF THE OJIBWAY PEOPLE by William W. Warren to verify most of the
information on this web page.  Warren completed his book in 1852 and it was later
published by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1885.  Definitions quoted above came
from the American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition.  
 
** SHELLS AS EVIDENCE OF THE MIGRATIONS OF EARLY CULTURE by J. Wilfrid Jackson,
Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1917.

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