Midewiwin

Due to the body-part medial de' meaning 'heart' in the Anishinaabe language, Midewiwin is sometimes translated as 'The Way of the Heart'.

[1][page needed] Minnesota archaeologist Fred K. Blessing shares a definition he received from Thomas Shingobe, a Mida (a Midewiwin person) of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation in 1969, who told him that "the only thing that would be acceptable in any way as an interpretation of 'Mide' would be 'Spiritual Mystery'.

"[2][page needed] Fluent speakers of Anishinaabemowin often caution that many words and concepts have no direct translation in English.

Walter James Hoffman recorded that according to the Mille Lacs Indians chief Bayezhig ('Lone One'), Midewiwin has its origin as: This event is called Gwiiwizens wedizhichigewinid—Deeds of a Little-boy.

There are many oral teachings, symbols, stories, history, and wisdom passed along and preserved from one generation to the next by these groups.

The walls of the smaller mide-wiigiwaam consist of poles and saplings from 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3.0 m) high, firmly planted in the ground, wattled with short branches and twigs with leaves.

Early accounts of the Mide from 19th-century books describe a group of elders that protected the birch bark scrolls in hidden locations.

"The Teachings of the Midewiwin were scratched on birch bark scrolls and were shown to the young men upon entrance into the society.

[8] The author of the original report on these hidden scrolls advised: "Indians of this region occasionally deposited such artifacts in out-of-the-way places in the woods, either by burying them or by secreting them in caves.

It represents key spiritual teachings for North America and suggests that the different colors and traditions of humans can come together on the basis of respect.