Anishinaabe storyteller film cradles the heart
By Kelly Anne Smith
NORTH BAY— At the screening of his film, Cradling the Heart: An Anishinaabek Creation Story, Terry Dokis asked the full lecture hall at Nipissing University if there were any questions. Hands went up of professors, former colleagues, students, members of the public and family.
His young grandson asked him if Grandmother Moon protects women, and if Grandfather Sun protects men? He answered yes.
A woman asked if the story comes with obligations about how to conduct ourselves.
“We are encouraged throughout that story to be humble, to have intention. And try to see things in a good way,” Dokis explained.
Dokis is an artist, a traditional dancer, a storyteller and a retired professor.
Pavlina Radia, Dean of Arts and Sciences, introduced Dokis, lauding his academic career with over 27 years at Nipissing University teaching in arts and sciences, education and Native studies.
Elder John Sawyer opened the event, speaking of his long-time friend as having integrity and skillful effectiveness as a teacher.
Katrina Srigley, an associate professor of history, coordinated the recording of Terry Dokis in two films. Katrina explains the beginning of the films.
“The screening of Cradling the Heart: An Anishinaabek Creation Story emerged from Terry Dokis being involved in the Summer Indigenous Institute on the history of the territory that I’m involved in with John Sawyer and Erin Dokis. We are offering it this summer as well at Nbissing Secondary School. It’s a first-year history credit that is open to community members,” Srigley explains. “Terry came to that class and spoke about stories and the importance of stories, and the foundational teachings about life, about storytelling, about relationships, about relationships between human beings, to land, to spirit, to animals, to plants embedded in that creation story. It was a really powerful experience.”
To fully explain the Creation Story, two films were produced by Greg Foster. First shown is Cradling the Heart: An Anishinaabek Creation Story with Dokis telling the Creation Story. The second is The Unfolding of the Creation Story, in which Dokis explains the Creation Story.
In Cradling the Heart: An Anishinaabek Creation, Dokis starts with, “I would like to start the story in the way that it has been told for millennium. In a time before time…”
He later states, “If you really want to know about a culture, study their Creation Story because embedded in those stories are the values of people.”
Dokis points out the many teachings found in the Creation Story.
“You saw the four elements that were put in the shell. That is the beginning of the Medicine Wheel teaching. Look what was put in that shell. There was white foam. There was yellow bark. There was red rock and there was black energy. The Indigenous way of having groupings of four are memory aids for important teachings.”
He also explained the spiral’s significance.
“Coinciding with circularity, cultures around the world use spirals and often in the same way. A spiral is a circle. If you are looking down the spiral, it’s circular. And of course, obviously, its movement is circular. The key thing about a spiral is it speaks to transformation of the human being. You start and go around in a spiral. You go around in the teachings and go through your life and you make mistakes and you learn from them. You go around and come back again. Because it’s a spiral, you’re actually one level up now. You’re higher. You’re further ahead than from where you started. But you are still in that cycle. You’re rising up in it to different levels of understanding. You are transforming yourself.”
The retired professor stated dreams are important for vision.
“We are encouraged to know ourselves better. We share our dreams around the table.”
Dokis says that by studying creation stories and our own stories, we become enlightened. He closed the evening saying it was an honour to tell the Creation Story.
“It’s giving me great feelings inside that I’ll remember for a long time. May the Creator be with you all. All my relations.”
After the screening, Dokis said he felt humbled by the opportunity and that so many people came.
“People want to hear this story. They want to remember who they are. They want to learn.”
Associate Professor of Anthropology, Carly Dokis, organized a feast with the showing of Cradling the Heart: An Anishinaabek Creation Story Feb. 28 in Dokis First Nation for the youth and the community. Terry Dokis looked forward to it.
“It gives me a great warmth inside of me. It’s so savvy. “