But many of the Elders will have fallen asleep. Their steps will take them to the Elders who they will ask to guide them on their journey.

They will retrace their steps to find what was left by the trail. He said: 'In the time of the Seventh Fire New People will emerge. He was young and had a strange light in his eyes. He would lead his people to the teachings of the Midewiwin lodge.Īccording to the Mishomis Book, the seventh prophet that came to the people long ago said to be different from the other prophets. It is said that when the time is right, a boy would dream where the Ironwood log is buried. They dug a hole in the cliff and buried the log where no one could find it so the teachings of the Elders were hidden out of sight and kept safe. These items were placed in a hollowed out log from the Ironwood tree in the side of a cliff. They gathered all the sacred bundles and scrolls that belonged to the ceremonies. They knew the traditional Spiritual ways would be under attack.

In the time the Sixth Fire, it is said that a group of visionaries gathered with the priests of the Midewiwin Lodge. It wasn’t until 1978, when the American Indian Freedom of Religion Act was passed, that American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians could freely exercise their religious and cultural way of life without fear of persecution. Family members who remained on the reservations could be imprisoned for practicing traditional ways and ceremonies. They were forced to cut their hair, and their clothing and sacred items were taken away. Children in boarding schools were beaten for speaking their language and following traditional ways. The boarding schools systematically stripped Native children of their tribal identity. The government withheld rations from families who refused to send their children to boarding schools. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) introduced boarding schools based on the assimilationist model of the off-reservation Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The boarding school era of 'civilizing' Indian children began as early as the 1600s in Maryland, but became policy when the United States government paid religious organizations to “educate” Native American children. The traditions, language, ceremonies, and family structure were under attack by the United States government. The prophecy came true as children were taken from the teachings of the Elders and families torn apart. It predates the arrival of the Europeans, and contains information for the future lives of the Anishinaabe which are still in the process of being fulfilled. The seven fires of the prophecy represent key spiritual teachings for North America, and suggest that the different colors and traditions of the human beings can come together on a basis of respect. This is the final post of our three part series on the Ojibwe creation story:

The seventh prophecy