Boozhoo, She:kon, and Welcome to The Ways of Knowing Guide Earth’s Teachings. This guide is a journey of Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Traditional Knowledge, reflected through worldviews, values, beliefs, and stories that speak to the fundamental principle of ensuring sustainable relationships with the land. While there are many Indigenous nations in Canada, this guide focuses on the knowledge of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee nations, as the shared caretakers of the Great Lakes area. However, we must not forget that at one point in our history, all of this knowledge just as Indigenous people believed the land to be, was considered communal. Our intention is that the value of information found within this guide will be beneficial for all people who read it, and a respect for different ways of knowing will be honoured.

The Journey Begins -- Respect - The Words That Come Before All Else -- Haudenosaunee Opening Address -- Anishinaabe Creation Story -- Respect - Re/Creation Stories -- Haudenosaunee - Sky Woman -- Anishinaabe - The Great Flood -- Relationship - Interdependent Relations -- Sharing and Sovereignty -- Haudenosaunee - Two-Row Wampum Belt -- Anishinaabe - Seven Fires Prophecy -- The Time Has Come to Share Knowledge -- Reciprocity - Indigenous Ways of Knowing -- Exploring Indigenous Spirituality -- The Land as the Receptacle of Worldview -- Indigenous Worldview and Values -- The Transmission of Worldview and Values -- Language -- Storytelling -- Traditional Ecological Knowledge -- Relationship - The Sky World -- Grandmother Moon -- Thirteen Moons on the Turtle’s Back -- Grandfather Sun -- Relationship - The Waters -- Life Blood -- Women’s Responsibility -- Anishinaabe Story - How the Turtle Got Its Shell -- Haudenosaunee Story - Turtle Races With Beaver -- The Great Lakes Territory -- Mother Earth -- Plant Beings -- Animal Beings -- Conservation and Species Preservation -- Responsibility - Seven Generations -- Community Mapping - Sacred Spaces and Special Places -- Seven Generations Teaching.