My latest drawings … The Turtle (mikinàk) and the Story of Turtle Island

My latest drawing from the Indigenous Art History workshop ….

Turtle: mikinàk

Source - Algonquin Words : http://www.native-languages.org/algonquin_animals.htmL

Ojibwe Dictionary : https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/mikinaak-na

Interestingly, the word Mackinac Island means Turtle Island, and this is where my Great great great … Grandmother lived.

The Story of Turtle Island:

In some Ojibwe oral traditions, the story of Turtle Island begins with a flooded Earth. The Creator had cleansed the world of feuding peoples in order to begin life anew. Some animals survived the flood, such as the loon, the muskrat and the turtle. Nanabush (Nanabozo) (or Weesakayjack in some Cree tales) — a supernatural being who has the power to create life in others — was also present. Nanabush asked the animals to swim deep beneath the water and collect soil that would be used to recreate the world. One by one the animals tried, but one by one they failed. The last animal that tried — the muskrat — was underwater for a long time, and when it resurfaced, the little animal had wet soil in its paws. The journey took the muskrat’s life, but the creature did not die in vain. Nanabush took the soil and put it on a willing turtle’s back. This became known as Turtle Island, the centre of creation.

Source: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/turtle-island

Mackinac Island, Michigan

The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" (Ojibwe: mishimikinaak) in Ojibwe meaning "Big Turtle". It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

The island was long home to an Odawa settlement and previous indigenous cultures before European colonization began in the 17th century. It was a strategic center of the fur trade around the Great Lakes. Based on a former trading post, Fort Mackinac was constructed on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the site of two battles during the War of 1812 before the northern border was settled and the US gained this island in its territory.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Island

My Odawa grandmother … Josepthe Sai-Sai-Go-No-Kwe

Mackinac Island… it does look like a Turtle shell from the side.

Source: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79137_79770_79873_80003-405705--,00.html

I am a Métis youth taking a course on Indigenous Art and History in Canada. I will share my work here along with some of the thoughts and ideas I have while creating these works. I will also share some of the Ojibwe and Algonquin language we are learning.