Nationhood Interrupted by Sylvia McAdam Saysewahum

(If I am to tell this teaching, it would take a very long time. It was the spirits that told this story about Wesakechak.) So Wesakechak made his journey from the north. the Cypress Hills in southern what is Saskatchewan now. This is a teaching that was told about Wesakechak. In her “Wesakechak” video, Professor McAdam explains, in part: In 2014, Professor McAdam released a series of “ Cree Teaching Videos” on YouTube. Wesakechak was also a “trickster,” but let’s first look at Wesakechak as a revealer of sacred laws from the Great Spirit, the Creator. RELATED: Gluskap: Trickster, Transformer, Teacher McAdam says she “shares nêhiyaw laws so that future generations, both nêhiyaw and non-Indigenous people, may understand and live by them to revitalize Indigenous nationhood”-although “the spiritual laws can never be written down.” She is a law professor at the University of Windsor and a co-founder of the international movement Idle No More. Professor McAdam, also known as Saysewahum, has also published an important book on the subject: Nationhood Interrupted: Revitalizing Nêhiyaw Legal Systems. Q: Kevin, you told me about this video: Sylvia McAdam, “Wesakechak,” about the Cree sacred lawgiver.

They cause the crooked branches to become straightened, the fruitless trees to become fruitful, and gradually transform this great wild, uncultivated field into a beautiful orchard producing wonderful abundance and outcome. They are like unto Gardeners, and the world of humanity is the field of Their cultivation, the wilderness and untrained jungle growth wherein They proceed to labor. … The mission of the Prophets of God has been to train the souls of humanity and free them from the thralldom of natural instincts and physical tendencies. God has sent forth the Prophets for the purpose of quickening the soul of man into higher and divine recognitions. The Encyclopedia Britannica says “Often the trickster serves as a transformer and culture hero who creates order out of chaos.” In some ways, that definition could also describe the transformative power of a holy messenger or divine prophet, as in this passage from a speech given by Abdu’l-Baha in Montreal, Canada in 1912: Therefore the whole idea of a trickster will require some explanation, to the best of our ability. Tricksters are important figures in sacred Indigenous traditions-even though they’re utterly unfamiliar to most non-Indigenous people.

In our continuing series on Indigenous messengers of God, we want to explore that connection a bit more. In what ways does a messenger of God resemble the familiar figure of the trickster in Indigenous myth and belief? Could tricksters fulfill the same function in tribal cultures as prophets and founders of religion do in other societies?

Nationhood Interrupted by Sylvia McAdam Saysewahum