Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa - a powerful in-depth portrayal of the second-largest tribe in North America, the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe (Chippewa) nation of the upper Great Lakes region. Narrated by Wicona LaDuke. Produced by PBS in 2002.

Brand new VHS tape. Still in factory shrink-wrap.

Gaa miinigooyang, “That Which Is Given To Us,” examines the patterns of
Anishinaabe/Ojibwe economic survival in the Great Lakes environment over time. “That Which
Is Given to Us” refers to the Ojibwe belief that everything we have is given to us by the Creator
as a gift that we must give thanks for humbly. Survival in the northern harsh environment of the
Great Lakes was dependent on a delicate seasonal cycle of hunting, fishing, and gathering that
was precarious and could easily result in starvation. Before European contact, Ojibwe survival
and economic well-being depended upon being in balance and harmony with both the plant and
the animal worlds. The Great Spirit provided the gifts of food, shelter, clothing, medicine and
dreams and the people completed the circle of giving through ceremonies, offering tobacco (a
mixture of traditional plants) or other gifts in gratitude, and by sharing with each other. The
inter-dependency of all things formed the traditional economic philosophy of the Ojibwe system:
the individual is dependent upon the group for survival, the group is dependent on nature for
survival, and nature is dependent on the supernatural for survival. Wealth, in the traditional
Ojibwe world-view, was measured by the ability to have enough to share with others and to
giveaway more than one receives.