Great Lakes Watershed

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Three billion years ago as liquid turned to ash, water became clouds, layers of land and life were spinning in space during a period of freezing, thawing and flooding. After a time, glaciers receded and in a dimple of limestone, sandstone, shale, halite and gypsum a water system of connected aquifers, rivers and lakes was conceived. The cycle of water and weather created a rhythm connected to, but unlike any other place on earth. Today this distinct ecosystem, known as the Great Lakes Watershed of North America, includes many forms of life and spans the boundaries of the United States and Canada. Together these lakes are the largest freshwater system on the globe.

For several thousand years the interlocking lakes were simply referred to as the vast sea, Michigami, in the Anishinaabemowin language which is used by Odawa, Ojibwe and Potawatomi people in the region. The morphemes of the name Anishinaabe – onizhishin (it is good), naabe (human being), nisaa (to lower) and abi (to be seated) – can be understood to imply galactic origins of matter, energy and biologic beginnings. The term for the land is “aki” and the space beyond the shores of Michigami is often referred to as “Anishinaabewakiing,” which can reference either indigenous land in general or the particular network of individuals and communities located in and around Michigami.

In this landscape, species, classes, biomes and air masses are tied to one another by fractals of clan and kinship. Every life is related to the layer immediately preceding and can be traced through pathways of connections preserved at a cellular self-conceptual level and an expansive communal level through complex origin stories. Knowing one’s place in the universe was to know one’s name and claim an identity with temporal and physical dimensions. Anishinaabe stories tell of dark winters, spring floods, fires of renewal, times of change and sudden extinctions. The names chosen and given in this place reveal its deep history and offer a model for understanding traditional relationships with water, land and all life. To imagine a sustainable future we must examine these accidental and intentional connections. We need to untie, or re-tie ideas of identity, equity and responsibility relative to place and time. Stories in multiple languages must become unbound and be unraveled to winnow meaning from the chaff, to find song in the heartbeat, to speak with the stones born of centuries of nonhuman memory. What follows is a map of naming based in place, politics, misunderstanding and righted relations. Inawe Mazina’igan or the Map of Our Sound. It serves as a starting point for acknowledging old ideas and identities and it stands as a snapshot of the ever changing web in which we live.

Margaret Noodin
Margaret NoodinCo-Project Lead
Margaret is Professor of Anishinaabemowin and Director of the Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She also writes poetry and songs in Anishinaabemowin which appear in her books Weweni and Gijigijiganeshiinh Gikendaan and on ojibwe.net.
Stacie Sheldon
Stacie SheldonCo-Project Lead
Stacie is a user experience researcher and designer, published author, mentor, and American Indian language advocate. In her spare time she manages ojibwe.net. Learn more about her work at staciesheldon.com.
Shannon Noori
Shannon NooriCreative Lead
Shannon Noori graduated from the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science & the Arts in 2019 with a B.A. in Communications Studies, American Culture and Digital Studies Minor. She currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she works full time and enjoys expressing creativity through painting and digital design in her free time.
Sarah Gordon Altiman (Niigaanosekwe)
Sarah Gordon Altiman (Niigaanosekwe)Content Manager
Sarah is a doctoral student at UW-Milwaukee in the Urban Education Doctoral Program. She enjoys doing research on Indian Boarding/Residential Schools and is interested in all aspects of American Indian Education. She holds a B.A. in Global Studies/Intercultural Comm. and an M.A. in Non-Profit Business Management. She is a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and honors strong families ties at the Fond Du Lac, Mn Band of Ojibwe as well.
Willow Lovecky
Willow LoveckyContent Manager
Willow is a Junior at UW-Madison double majoring in Entomology and Botany, and studying for a certificate in American Indian Studies.
Lacey Meyer
Lacey MeyerContent Manager
Lacey is a junior at UW-Milwaukee majoring in Conservation and Environmental Science with a focus on water resources and ichthyology. She is also working on a certificate in American Indian Studies. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running, and hiking the local Milwaukee trails and parks.
Austin Schuh
Austin SchuhContent Manager
Austin is a Junior at UW-Milwaukee Majoring in Creative Writing with the aspiration of becoming an author and professor.

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