''Wiigwaasabak'' (in Anishinaabe syllabics: , plural: ''wiigwaasabakoon'' ) are

birch bark Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''. The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, craftin ...

scrolls, on which the

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

(

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawa ...

) people of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

wrote complex geometrical patterns and shapes, also known as a "written language." When used specifically for

Midewiwin The Midewiwin (in syllabics: , also spelled ''Midewin'' and ''Medewiwin'') or the Grand Medicine Society is a secretive religion of some of the indigenous peoples of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America. Its prac ...

ceremonial use, these scrolls are called ''mide-wiigwaas'' (in syllabics: ). These enabled the memorization of complex ideas, and passing along

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and stories to succeeding generations. Several such scrolls are in museums, including one on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. In addition to birchbark, copper, and slate may have also been used, along with hides, pottery, and other artifacts. Some archaeologists are presently trying to determine the exact origins, dates, and locations of their use. Many scrolls were hidden away in caves and man-made pits.

Construct

The

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, e ...

of the

paper birch ''Betula papyrifera'' (paper birch, also known as (American) white birch and canoe birch) is a short-lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named for the tree's thin white bark, which often peels in paper like ...

tree provides an excellent

writing material Writing material refers to the materials that provide the surfaces on which humans use writing instruments to inscribe writings. The same materials can also be used for symbolic or representational drawings. Building material on which writings or ...

. Usually, a

stylus A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision ...

of either bone, metal or wood is used to inscribe these

ideographs An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarit ...

on the soft inner bark. Black charcoal is often used to fill the scratches to make them easier to see. To form a scroll, pieces of inscribed bark are stitched together using '' wadab'' (cedar or spruce roots). To prevent unrolling, the scroll is lashed, then placed in a cylindrically-shaped '' wiigwaasi-makak'' (birch bark box) for safe-keeping. Scrolls were recopied after so many years, and stored in dry locations, often underground in special containers, or in caves. Elders recopied the scrolls over time, and some were hidden away in remote areas for safekeeping. Scrolls were often kept hidden to avoid improper interpretations and to avoid ridicule or disrespect of the teachings.

Purpose

Some scrolls are songs and details of Midewiwin rituals and medicine lodges. Some of the oldest maps of North America were made by natives, who wrote on birch bark for explorers and traders to follow. Some scrolls give the history of the Ojibway migration from Eastern

to further west. They indicate the discovery of ''miigis'' (white

cowrie Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The term ''porcelain'' derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (''porcellana'') ...

) shells along their migration through the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

region. These shells are used in

ceremonies, and Whiteshell Provincial Park is named after these kinds of shells that grow in salt water oceans, and not in fresh water, which indicates a large trading and traveling network. The Ojibwa peoples of the Great Lakes region historically used birch bark to keep records for instructional and guidance purposes. Songs and healing recipes were readable by members of the tribe. Either through engraving or with the use of red and blue pigment, scrolls could contain any number of pictorial representations. Birch bark scrolls could measure anywhere from centimeters to several meters. The scrolls and traditions are still alive today, and passed along from generation to generation. The

are a traditional group that still keeps the scrolls and their teachings alive. There is some secrecy involved to keep the scrolls safe, to interpret them correctly, and to wait until there is more respect for this ancient language system. Scrolls are passed along and the oral teachings that go with them. Complex stories are represented and memorized with the use of the pictures on the scrolls. There are many claims made by elders and indigenous teachers that humans have existed in

before the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

, and ancient ways of writing and other ancient skills and artifacts may provide some clues to the migration patterns and history of North American and South American peoples.

Archaeological knowledge

Twentieth century archaeology has confirmed that Native Americans have been using birch bark scrolls for over 400 years. In 1965 the archaeologist Kenneth Kidd reported on two finds of "trimmed and fashioned pieces of birch bark on which have been scratched figures of

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage ...

s, birds, men,

legendary creature A legendary creature (also mythical or mythological creature) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical accoun ...

s, and esoteric symbols" in the Head-of-the-Lakes region of Ontario. Some of these resembled scrolls used by the Mide Society of the

. Kidd concluded "These two finds of 'birch bark scrolls' and associated artifacts indicates that Indians of this region occasionally deposited such artifacts in out-of-the-way places in the woods, either by burying them or by secreting them in caves. The period or periods at which this was done is far from clear. But in any event, archaeologists should be aware of the custom and not overlook the possibility of their discovery." Another scroll from a different collection was later dated to about 1560, +/-70 years.Rajnovich, Grace ''Reading Rock Art: Interpreting the Indian Rock Paintings of the Canadian Shield''. Dundurn Press Ltd., 1994,

Notes

References

* Benton-Banai, Edward. ''The Mishomis Book - The Voice of the Ojibway''. (St. Paul: Red School House publishers, 1988). * Copway, George. "The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation." (1850). * Deleary, Nicholas. "The Midewiwin, an aboriginal spiritual institution. Symbols of continuity: a native studies culture-based perspective." Carleton University MA Thesis, M.A. 1990. * Densmore, Frances. ''Chippewa Customs''. (Reprint: Minnesota Historical Press, 1979). * Dewdney, Selwyn Hanington. ''The Sacred Scrolls of the Southern Ojibway''. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1975). * Edwards, Brendan Frederick R. Paper Talk: A history of libraries, print culture, and Aboriginal peoples in Canada before 1960. (Toronto: The Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2005).
Hoffman, Walter James. "The Midewiwin, or 'Grand Medicine Society', of the Ojibwa" in ''Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Bureau of Ethnology Report'', v. 7, pp. 149-299. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1891).
* Landes, Ruth. ''Ojibwa Religion and the Midewiwin''. (Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press, 1968). * Vecsey, Christopher. ''Traditional Ojibwa Religion and its Historical Changes''. (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1983). {{Anishinaabe Ojibwe culture Anishinaabe culture American Indian relics Native American art Native American ethnobotany

Construct

Purpose

Archaeological knowledge

See also

Notes

References