Conversation between the Ojibway cultural hero Waynaboozhoo and Bug-way-jinini (Sasquatch)

Conversation between the Ojibway cultural hero Waynaboozhoo and Bug-way-jinini (Sasquatch).

From The Mishomis Book, by Edward Benton-Banai, 7th degree Midewiwin Elder…

Waynaboozhoo did not need to voice his thoughts as he visited with Bug-way-jinini and they conversed through the night. Bug-way-jinini continued to tell him many things that he had previously wondered about.

”Here upon the Earth is a plane, a place marked by time. Nowhere else in the Universe is time necessary. Remember that time belongs to the Creator and to none other. It is the one thing that is beyond the reach of man. None shall ever see it. Very few shall ever get to know it. Do not concern yourself with it. If you do, it will become an obsession, and in the end you will be slave to it.”

”I know of many things that have puzzled you: the time you looked into the sky and wondered about clouds; the time you felt rain drops on your face and looked into the distance to see rain falling in torrent; the time you felt warm and cold drafts of air sweep across your face; the time when you saw the heat dancing in waves over the plains.”

”Here between the lap of our Mother Earth is a place and time that hangs between eight levels of elements. These elements are unseen but are as real and necessary for life as the water you drink. Of these eight elements, four are above the Earth and four are below the Earth. These elements are the things that must work together if life itself is to be.”

”All these things working together lift the water into the clouds. Your oldest uncle Noo-din (the wind) then blows this water to where it is needed. There it falls to the ground to nourish the grasses, flowers, and other beings who are dependent on it for life. Beyond this, there are elements that work together to change the seasons. The seasons are the evidence of time.”

”Someday, when the time comes according to the Creator’s plan, the cup of life will be measured by time. But even though time will be a part of life, life cannot exist without other things we have spoken of. Remember, the cup of life is water and the cup is measured by time.”