Nanaboozhoo (Greetings in the Name of Ojibwe First Teacher)!
Edge of the Bush was established in 2019 as a social enterprise to create an “ethical space” for Traditional Indigenous Knowledge Holders to engage with people and institutions seeking to engage in Truth and Reconciliation following protocols of Chi Gete Anishinaabe Inaakonigewin (Very Old Anishinaabe Law) beginning with Asemaa Nitam (Sacred Tobacco First).
These Old Ojibwe teachings come through Dr. Gokoomis (Grandmother) Jacque(line) Lavallée Ed. D. Waabizheshi Doodem (Marten/Warrior Clan), from her Doodoom (Mother) Agnes Abiitang Bimaadjiwan, Name Doodem (Sturgeon Clan) and her Aunties from Shawanaga, Nayaashingaaming (Cape Croker), and Sagamok around the Georgian Bay in Ontario, Canada (Lavallée, 2022). Because her Dede (Father), Norman Lavallée, Waabizeshi Doodem (Ojibwe Marten Clan), built their family home at the “edge of the bush'” just beyond the town of Shawanaga First Nation, Traditional Knowledge of Asemaa Nitam (Tobacco First): Indigenous Healing Practices within the Ojibwe Tradition (2022) were preserved through the time that they were made illegal by the Canadian government and the church (Lavallée, 2022).
Following the protocols of Chi Gete Anishinaabe Inaakonigewin (Very Old Anishinaabe Law) and Waabizheshi Doodem (Marten/Warrior Clan) Dr. Gokoomis (Grandmother) Jacque Lavallée and her family named and claimed Dr. Hopi Lovell Martin as her Niiyawe’enh (Namesake) to help bring this Traditional Ojibwe Knowledge into the future as detailed in the Preface of Learning from Doodoom Aki (Mother Earth) through Children’s Land-Based Play (2025).
Edge of the Bush as a social enterprise brings these teachings of Chi Gete Anishinaabe Inaakonigewin (Very Old Anishinaabe Law) following Asemaa Nitam (Sacred Tobacco First) and Kindness forever into the future allying with organizations and people committed to supporting all of the children and families of Mother Earth.
Dr. Gokoomis (Grandmother) Jacque(line) Lavallée Ed.D, from Shawanaga First Nation earned her Doctorate of Social Justice Education from the University of Toronto just before her 80th birthday where she recorded aspects of her life story to demonstrate Asemaa Nitam (Tobacco First): Indigenous Healing Practices within the Ojibwe Tradition (2022). She also holds her Second (Teaching) Degree in the Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge, and continues to act as ‘elder-in-residence’ at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). She is a proud Anishinaabe Ikwe (Ojibwe Woman), Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother, a ‘professor of the Oral Tradition’, Storyteller, Singer, and Dancer.
Dr. Hopi Lovell Martin, Oshkaabewis (Sacred Helper, Messenger, Fire Keeper, Lodge Caretaker) earned his PhD in Ojibwe Developmental Psychology and Education from OISE/UT through his research of Listening to Land as Teacher in Early Childhood Education (2021) which brought forward an Ojibwe Anishinaabe perspective of ‘how learning happens’. As a mixed race Lenni Lenape/European born in the United States without tribal belonging, this research grew from his experience of being named and claimed’by his Niiyawe’enh (Namesake), Dr. Gokoomis Jacque Lavallée, her family, and the traditional responsibilities of her Dede’s Waabizheshi Doodem (Ojibwe Marten Clan) in the urban context of Toronto, Ontario, Canada where he now lives with his family, down the street from his ‘Auntie Jacque’ (Martin citing Lavallée, 2021).
Our logo was designed by Dr. Gokoomis (Grandmother) Jacque, Dr. Hopi Martin, and Carleton Wilson based on the principles of this work of inviting Peoples/Nations from all Four Directions to that old-time meeting place between worldviews at the ‘edge of the bush’.
Gichi Miigwech (A Big Thank You)!