Looking for Nanaboozhoo: Following the Water
Water’s movements, memories, and meanings are as essential to Anishinaabe self-understanding as they are to the life of all sentient beings. Looking for Nanaboozhoo: Following the Water is first and foremost an homage to water. It traces the mythical and historical route of the Anishinaabe migration from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. In this multi-year project, I have traveled from the mouth of the St. Lawrence River to the shores and rivers of the Great Lakes region. During my travels I stopped at significant Anishinaabe locations as mapped by Ojibwe leaders Edward Benton-Banai and James Red Sky.
Nanaboozhoo plays a central part in Anishinaabe stories. Part-human, part-spirit, he is an elusive shapeshifter who confronts difficult and transformative challenges. I consider Nanaboozhoo a spiritual—though never quite reliable—guide to explore the relation of water and identity, mythology and history, becoming and being. At each stop along the way, I introduce myself to the water, make an offering, and sing a water song. I ask the water’s permission to gather samples, make photographs and field recordings, and collect small objects like rocks and bark. These are gestures of listening. They attend to water’s many echoes and hopefully shape paths into the future.
