CEREMONIES and TRADITIONS
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Our 7 Ojibway Teachings: 
Manitoba First Nation Elder Dave Courchene explains the origins and lessons of the First Nation Seven Teachings.
The lessons of the Bear Spirit (Courage), the Beaver Spirit (Wisdom), the Eagle Spirit (Love), the Buffalo Spirit (Respect), the Sasquatch Spirit (Honesty), the Wolf Spirit (Humility) and the Turtle Spirit (Truth) are all retold in this 11 minute video in both English and Ojibway. 

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The Seven Grandfather Teachings
"Each one of us represents the child. We must faithfully apply the teachings of our Seven Grandfathers to our own lives. We must place our trust in the Creator. We must also never forget to be sincere in our actions, character, and words..."
Love, Respect, Bravery, Truth, Honesty, Humility, and Wisdom.
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Fasting - "Fasting is one of many ceremonies that has been practiced in First Nations communities for thousands of years. In the past, the Elders of a community would take the young people out to fast in order to help them find their direction in life. Today, as our cultural traditions and ways of healing are being revived in our communities, more Native people are seeking answers through the ceremony of fasting....."
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Shaking Tent  
The Shaking Tent
(see "Video Transcript")
"Jean-Baptiste Bellefleur - With regards to the shaking tent, those who guided it acted differently. They did not sing, since the power was inside the tent. We only practiced the shaking tent when there was a state of negativity, a bad spirit, one might say. We only used it in such moments. As soon as we felt the presence of a bad spirit, we set up a shaking tent that very night...."
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Sunrise Ceremony  
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Sun Dance Ceremony  "The Sun Dance (also Sundance) is an annual sacred ceremony performed by several First Nations in the Prairies. (See also Plains Indigenous Peoples in Canada.) The Sun Dance reaffirms spiritual beliefs about the universe. The Sun Dance was forbidden under the Indian Act of 1895, but this ban was generally ignored and dropped from the Act in 1951. Some communities continue to celebrate the ceremony today... "
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Pow-wow
 Powwows in Canada    Article by: Anna Hoefnagels
"Powwows are celebrations that showcase Indigenous music, dances, regalia, food and crafts. Commonly hosted by First Nations communities (either on reserve or in urban settings), powwows are often open to non-Indigenous and Métis and Inuit peoples alike. ..."
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Sweat Lodge  
What’s A Sweat Lodge?
"Sweat lodges are heated dome-shaped structures used by Indigenous peoples during certain purification rites and as a way to promote healthy living. The intense heat generated — often by steam created from pouring water onto heated rocks — is meant to encourage a sweating out of toxins and negative energy that create disorder and imbalance in life. In this way, the sweat lodge ceremony cleanses the body, mind and soul.
Each sweat lodge is slightly different, depending on the community or person who operates it, and the purpose for which it is used...."
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Water Ceremony
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Naming Ceremony
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Pipe Ceremony
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Vision Quest
Jimmy Jackson
on Vision Quest"Jimmy Jackson, a respected Medicine Man, recounts the vision quest that he undertook as a young man. In Ojibwe culture, a vision quest is a period of 4-6 days where young Ojibwe are sent into isolation in the woods without food or drink. If they are successful, the fast will reveal to the young person their manidoo (“spirit”) that will help them throughout their life."
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The Four Directions
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Smudging
Smudging "...is a cultural ceremony practised by a wide variety of Indigenous peoples in Canada and other parts of the world. Although practices differ, smudging is used for medicinal and practical purposes as well as for spiritual ceremonies. The practice generally involves prayer and the burning of sacred medicines, such as sweetgrass, cedar, sage and tobacco. While colonization has repressed such traditions, the practice of smudging has survived to the present day...."
Smudging
​The Preservation Project
"Indigenous people have used smudging as a form of prayer, healing, and cleansing for years. Edler, Lawrence Wells from Membertou, First Nation leads us through the smudging ceremony with local youth, Storm Alexander and Selena Sylvester, teaching us the significance it can have."

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​CBC News
How to smudge: Burning sage
"How do you smudge? Why do you smudge? Should people be buying/selling traditional medicines like sage? We put these questions to knowledge keeper Debra Courchene."
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