What's in a name?

Shakespeare’s Juliet famously asked ‘what’s in a name?’ when grumbling about her forbidden love for Romeo. It’s a question I find myself thinking about because I would like you to know where I am from, who I belong with. It all starts with a name.

I am Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe from Hiawatha First Nation.

My partner thought that because I was from Hiawatha First Nation, that I was Haudenosaunee. After he said that, I gave him an exaggerated and playful look of insult. How dare he? Afterall, the Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee have a long, bloody history as enemies. The Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee are different cultural groups, with different languages, practices, and political organization (to name a few things). The easiest way for me to explain it would be like a Canadian traveling abroad and being mistaken for an American—yikes!  

My partner made this mistake because Hiawatha is the name of a legendary Haudenosaunee chief. So, in his words, “why the heck would a Nation of Nishnaabs be named after a Haudenosaunee guy?” A fair question.

Well, that story begins in 1860 with a visit from the Prince of Wales. While traveling by ship to Turtle Island (North America), the Prince became sea sick. His doctor was very interested in Indigenous peoples at the time and read as much as he could about them. While the Prince was ill, the doctor read him Henry Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha (1855). When the Prince arrived on the shores of Rice Lake and saw the beauty of community, he was so moved, he gave the community the name from the poem that had so deeply affected him---Hiawatha. The name has remained with our community since. 1

While the name Hiawatha has had impressive longevity with our community, we are first and foremost the Michi Saagiig Anishinaabeg, meaning “the people that live at the mouths of rivers”.  We are  the Salmon People. In the words of Elder Gidigaa Migizi-baa, “we are river mouth people that lived at nearly every river that flowed into Lake Ontario….The Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg lived here and they were traditionally the people that fished the Atlantic Salmon that came up the St. Lawrence River and spawned in the great rivers that flowed into Lake Ontario…. Salmon were our staple.”2

We are from Rice Lake, Pamitaashkodeyong, which means “where it burns and where it travels”. It is called that because our people used to burn the south shore of Rice Lake to maintain a mishkode—a meadow or a prairie. Embedded in this name is part of the roles and responsibilities of the Anishinaabeg from my community. It references the seasonal burns undertaken to return nutrients and health to the land.  3

Given these understandings, I think the real question is, what’s not in a name? 

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 1This story is taken from “The Village of Hiawatha: A History” which can be purchased at the Old Railroad Stop Gift Shop in Hiawatha First Nation.

 2 Gidigaa Migizi-baa (Doug Williams), “Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is Our Territory”. This book may be purchased at the Whetung Ojibwa Centre in Curve Lake First Nation.

3 There are a few ways to write and translate Pamitaashkodeyong. This explanation was taken from Gidigaa Migizi -baa (Doug Williams) book “Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is Our Territory”. Similarly, in “The Village of Hiawatha: A History”, the authors refer to the area as Pemedashcoutayang, meaning the plains where fire moves across.