*
[geese honking]
[fire crackling]
- Out in the woods and into nature,
Dylan Jennings finds life and energy.
[thud]
- It's a very powerful place.
- It's this sense of place that has grounded Dylan.
- This time of the year
we're finishing up sugar bush, our Iskigamizigewin.
- The maple syrup season marks the arrival of spring
in Ashland County
for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Anishinaabe.
- It's a very humbling thing to think about
when you realize that everything you need to survive
and to live healthy and to live a really good life
is right in our own backyard.
- As a twenty-something,
Dylan is very aware of where his people have been.
It's the lessons of the past that carry him forward.
- Our reservation was established
in the Treaty of 1854.
[geese honking]
The majority of our reservation
is on the south shore of Gichigami or Lake Superior
but we're predominantly located in wetlands all over the place.
My spirit itself gravitated towards this place
because of the spiritual power that these homelands have for us
as Anishinaabeg.
My name is Dylan Jennings
or Bizhikiins is the name that was given to me.
- Preserving and protecting the indigenous language
is also important to his way of life.
- Aaniin nindinawemaaganidog, (Hello all of my relatives)
niijii gakina. (and friends)
Niin sa Bizhikiins indizhinikaaz. (I am known as Bizhikiins.)
Waabizheshi nindoodem. (I am of the marten clan.)
Mashkiiziibi nindoonjibaa. (I am from mashkiiziibi.)
Good evening, everybody,
in our beautiful and descriptive Ojibwe language.
- It's a language the tribe is trying to resurrect.
- We try very hard to speak to my first-born daughter
as much Ojibwe as we possibly can
so that she grows up understanding
and comprehending our language.
*
- Passed down through the generations,
language, culture, and ancient traditions go hand-in-hand.
- I've been making drums--
or trying to make drums--
since I was a little kid.
Every hide is different too.
This one is elk hide.
You don't want to pull 'em too tight.
And then, you don't want to make 'em too loose either.
The drum has taken me all over the world traveling
and that's one of our teachings.
You take care of the drum, the drum will take care of you.
That's a very real and true statement.
The drum then dries,
kind of molds to that frame.
- Taking care of the drum is both sacred and ceremonial.
[drum reverberates deeply]
[chanting with drum beat]
- People recognize the drum
as being our heartbeat of Mother Earth
and the power that it brings to our circles
and our ceremonies and our communities.
I was very fortunate to be exposed
to some of our ceremonies
and some of our language at a young age.
And I'm also very inquisitive about those things.
You know, my grandmother
was a really big advocate for our way of life.
Cultural revitalization is a huge component
of all the work that we do nowadays as tribal communities.
It's almost as if we are picking up the pieces
of what's left.
*
- Calendula is a powerful skin healer.
- Picking up the pieces and forging ahead
also meant a foray into politics.
- I had a lot of our community members approach
and ask me if I would consider it.
I think I was one of the youngest individuals
to be elected into this capacity in our community.
- In addition to being a young tribal leader,
Dylan also works for
the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission
educating young and old alike.
[students chattering]
- I knew at a young age that teaching in some capacity
was going to be a part of my life.
And outreach specifically
and educating people on our way of life.
That's what I do for a living.
That's the portal or that's the gateway
or nexus to eliminating stereotypes,
to eliminating misconceptions about indigenous people
and to help us all to move forward
in a better and more productive society.
This drum here was created
and there was a lot of good blessings put into it
when it was created.
- Moving forward with lessons from the past,
Dylan is a role model for the next generation.
[chanting with drum beat]
- I stay drug- and alcohol-free.
Stay close to our ceremonies, try to learn our language
and try to be a good example for our young people.
[striking drum in unison]
If you're still waking up every day,
you're healthy,
you have relatives that care about you
and you feel good about yourself and who you are,
I think that's what success is for Anishinaabe.