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My 3rd great Uncle Louis II

Son of:

My 3rd great Grand Father

Louis Vincent Corbine “Kijebines King Bird”

My Vision:

After offering tobacco today, I was visited by a Yellow-rumped Warbler sitting quietly in a tree. In Ojibwe understanding, small songbirds often arrive as acknowledgment. They appear when an offering has been accepted and when attention is being gently called inward. The warbler was not loud or demand notice. Its presence signaled awareness, permission, and a soft opening of the doorway between worlds. 🪶

I entered meditation my through ancient trees that arched together, forming a tunnel. A warm yellow light poured through the opening ahead. When I looked up, the sky was blue and clear, and the branches slowly disappeared. As I stepped through, the world shifted. Stars rose and night arrived without fear.

Ahead of me burned a fire. Its flames were steady, its embers alive and breathing. From the firelight appeared my ancestor, Louis II, son of my Uncle Louis Vincent Corbine II, known as the son of my Grandfather Kijebines, Kingbird. He tended the fire with a fan of feathers, not feeding the flames too strongly, only keeping the embers alive. He wore a pelt medicine outfit, a single feather on his head, and a medicine bag across his shoulder. Behind him stood a wigwam, grounded and quiet.

He approached me and placed cedar into my right hand. He spoke one word in Ojibwe. Nibaa. When I asked if there was anything he needed to tell me, he repeated the instruction clearly. Nibaa. Bizindaw. Silence. Listen. I thanked him and embraced him before walking back through the trees.

Ojibwe term Kijebines. English meaning Kingbird. Kingbird medicine represents rightful authority, protection, and discernment. The Kingbird does not act from impulse. It watches, waits, and defends only when necessary. This reflects ancestral guardianship and the responsibility of holding knowledge without misusing it.

Ojibwe term Bizindaw. English meaning "Listen" This is not casual hearing. It is spiritual listening that requires patience, humility, and presence. It is an instruction to receive rather than speak.

Ojibwe term Nibaa. English meaning "Be still" or "quiet." This refers to intentional silence. It is a discipline of the spirit that allows truth to rise on its own.

Ojibwe term Giizhik. English meaning "Cedar." Cedar is medicine for protection, grounding, and truth. Placed in the right hand, it signifies responsibility and readiness to carry teachings forward.

Ojibwe term Mashkode-bizhiki-ishkode. English meaning "Sacred fire." The fire represents ancestral continuity and living memory. The embers symbolize knowledge that must be tended carefully, not rushed or consumed.

Ojibwe term Wiigiwaam. English meaning Wigwam. The wigwam represents lineage, home, and shelter for teachings. It signifies tradition held quietly rather than displayed.

Meaning

The meaning of the experience is clear and complete. The Yellow-rumped Warbler confirmed that the offering was received and that awareness was present. The passage from day into night marked the crossing from ordinary awareness into ancestral time. The Kingbird ancestor came not to speak at length, but to instruct restraint. Silence is the doorway. Listening is the path. Wisdom arrives when ego steps aside. This was not a request for action, but a reminder of how to receive guidance correctly.

I was not given answers... because I am being taught about how answers come.

Miigwech.

I was walking the forest path again, except this time it was winter. Snow covered the open path, and frozen branches lined the way. I could see snow falling faintly and hear the rustling of small animals moving quietly through the forest. Everything else was calm and silent. I watched my feet as I walked. I was wearing black boots, and a coyote pelt was draped around my shoulders, heavy and protective.

I came to an opening where the river appeared again, the same place where I had once seen the deer. This time the rock in the water felt warm and inviting. I made my way to it and sat down. Before me was the Chippewa Flowage. The water was foggy, and the sun tried to break through the haze directly above me.

Suddenly I noticed movement in the water. A loon (my doodem, clan animal) surfaced and came to greet me. It floated calmly, looking directly into my eyes with its red eye. I opened my heart to receive a message. It spoke without words. I asked what it wanted to tell me. The meaning came clearly: “Longing. Belonging.”

The loon swam swiftly in a small circle. I asked, “Where, to who?” It answered, “With us.” I watched as it moved easily across the water. I asked, “Are you the only loon left?” It replied, “The last loon of the season.” After a moment it added, “Like you.”

We made eye contact one final time in acknowledgement. Then it turned away and disappeared into the foggy water. I stayed seated on the rock, watching the snow fall softly around me. I could feel the faint warmth of the sun through the haze. When I was ready, I stood and walked back through the snowy forest along the same path I had come.

Symbols in the Vision

(Ojibwemowin → English meaning)

Biboon (Winter)

Winter represents inward reflection, solitude, and truth stripped down to its essence. It is the season of listening rather than action.

Mashkiki-mitigong (Forest path)

The forest path represents a personal journey. Walking it again shows continuity and return, not repetition.

Makwaadiziwin (Silence)

Silence reflects clarity and presence. In Anishinaabe ways, silence is not emptiness but awareness.

Gidagaakoons (Coyote)

Coyote represents adaptability, survival, and intelligence. Wearing the pelt shows protection through lived experience and instinct.

Asiniig (Rock)

The rock represents grounding and steadiness. A warm rock in winter signifies safety, belonging, and a place of rest during hardship.

Nibi (Water)

Water holds memory and spirit. Fog over water represents knowledge not fully revealed but still present.

Giizis (Sun)

The sun trying to break through the haze represents reassurance and guidance, even when clarity is partial.

Maang (Loon)

The loon represents belonging, identity, and the voice between worlds. Its red eye symbolizes truth, depth, and emotional awareness.

Maang-giizis (Seasonal loon)

The last loon of the season represents transition, threshold, and those who remain between departure and return.

Noondin (Movement through water)

Circular movement represents connection and continuity. It shows belonging is shared, not isolated.

Meaning of the Vision

This vision was about belonging during transition.

Winter stripped the world to its quiet truth. Wearing the coyote pelt showed that I am protected by instinct and experience, even when walking alone. Sitting on the warm rock showed that rest and belonging exist even in cold seasons.

The loon’s message revealed a shared longing, not loneliness. “With us” showed that belonging does not mean permanence in one place. It means relationship. Being the last loon of the season reflected my own position. I am between cycles, between departure and return, aware of what others may not see.

The fog showed that not everything is meant to be clear yet. The sun’s warmth confirmed that guidance is present even when vision is limited.

This vision teaches that longing is not absence. It is recognition. Belonging is not location. It is connection. I am not alone in this threshold. I am exactly where I am meant to be, with those who understand the space between seasons.

Miigwech.

Vision quests:

I was back in the autumn forest again and followed the path to the old tree. At its base was a circle of stones and two stumps. In the center, a small fire burned with a pot of tea resting over it. The air felt settled and familiar, like a place that waits.

A presence came to me. It was Redsky Mourning, my grandmother. She appeared young and slender. Her braids were tied with mink, and she wore a white Native dress. She held a soft smile the entire time. We sat together and drank the tea without urgency, without needing to speak.

Afterward she came behind me and held my head gently, her hands steady and sure. As she held me, clarity came with healing. There was no force to it. It was calm and complete. She held me like this for a long while.

When she released me, she looked at me eye to eye and gave me a gift. It was held inside a birch bark box. Inside was an abalone necklace, the shell cut into a perfect circle, with smaller shell pieces beaded up both sides. This is the same abalone I carry in my waking life. I understood that she wants me to wear it.

She then gave me another gift. It was a feather, blue along the bottom with a black tip. I asked her without speaking what her message was. She answered simply, “courage, love, light.”

The wind moved through the clearing and the leaves fell from the tree. I turned and entered a portal that led me back into the forest I came from.

Symbols in the Vision

(Ojibwemowin → English meaning)

Dagwaagin (Fall)

Fall is the season of maturity, reflection, and readiness. It is when teachings are given after growth has occurred, not before.

Mitig (Old tree)

The old tree represents ancestral memory and continuity. Returning to it shows an ongoing relationship rather than a single visitation.

Asiniig (Stone circle)

A stone circle represents balance, protection, and shared understanding. It is a place of gathering between worlds.

Ishkode (Fire)

Fire represents life, warmth, and transformation. A controlled fire is intentional and communal, not destructive.

Mashkikiwaaboo (Tea)

Tea represents nourishment, patience, and shared presence. Drinking together signifies trust and readiness to receive.

Nokomis (Grandmother)

A grandmother appearing young represents ancestral knowledge unburdened by time. Her softness does not lessen her authority. It strengthens it.

Wiigwaas-makak (Birch bark box)

Birch bark carries teachings, protection, and survival knowledge. A gift placed inside wiigwaas is meant to be carried and used, not stored away.

Abalone shell (Circular)

The circle represents wholeness and continuity. Wearing it means embodying the teaching rather than keeping it separate.

Migizi-wiingashk (Feather)

A feather represents prayer, truth, and responsibility. Blue reflects calm, honesty, and depth. The black tip represents grounding and protection.

Noondin (Wind)

Wind marks transition and completion. When it moves, the teaching has been given fully.

Bagidanaamowin (Portal / passage)

A portal represents movement between understanding and return. Entering it shows readiness to carry the teaching back into life.

Meaning of the Vision

This vision was about receiving and carrying responsibility with the heart open.

The fire, tea, and stone circle show that I was welcomed into a place of shared knowing, not tested or questioned. My grandmother’s healing touch brought clarity, not repair. It affirmed that what I carry is already aligned.

The abalone necklace being something I hold in waking life confirms continuity between spirit and lived experience. Wearing it is an act of courage, an agreement to walk visibly with what I know. The feather carries the same message. Courage to stand, love to guide action, and light to move without fear.

The falling leaves and wind show completion. The portal did not remove me from the path. It returned me to it, changed.

This vision teaches that courage is not loud, love is not fragile, and light does not erase darkness. They coexist. I am being asked to carry them forward fully, openly, and without hesitation.

Miigwech.

This vision began in fall, during Dagwaagin, when I was younger.

I visualized myself walking down a forest path until I reached a mountain stream. A rock sat in the middle of the water, and I sat down on it. Warm autumn sunlight filtered through the trees. Leaves were beginning to turn, and the air felt settled, not rushed.

I looked up and saw a baby doe standing in the stream. We met each other’s eyes. A message came without words. The meaning “growth” settled into me clearly.

As I sat with that message, time began to move. I grew older slowly and gracefully. As my hair turned white and gray, the season changed with me. Fall faded, and winter arrived. The light cooled. The forest became quieter. The doe then walked calmly back into the trees.

I realized I was young again. I stood up from the rock and walked back into the forest.

Symbols in the Vision

(Ojibwemowin → English meaning)

Dagwaagin (Fall)

Fall represents maturity, reflection, and understanding what has already grown. Beginning the vision in fall shows awareness forming early, even in youth.

Biboon (Winter)

Winter represents wisdom, rest, and inward knowing. The shift to winter as my hair turned white reflects knowledge earned through lived experience and time.

Mashkiki-mitigong (Forest path)

The forest path represents a life journey guided by experience. Walking it shows movement through stages rather than a single destination.

Nibi (Water)

Water holds memory and truth. A flowing stream represents life continuing while understanding deepens.

Asiniig (Rock)

The rock represents grounding and balance. Sitting on it shows steadiness while time and seasons change.

Giizis (Sunlight)

Autumn sunlight represents reassurance and clarity. It is gentle, affirming presence rather than urgency.

Waawaashkeshi (Deer / Doe)

The deer represents gentleness, awareness, and natural growth. A young deer carries the teaching that growth begins softly and without force.

Waabishkaa-bineshiinh (White hair)

White hair represents wisdom and completion of cycles. It reflects growth that comes from living fully through the seasons.

Meaning of the Vision

This vision was about growth through time and seasons, not speed.

Beginning in fall shows that awareness and growth start early, even when one is still young. Aging as the seasons moved into winter shows that wisdom arrives naturally when experiences are allowed to complete themselves. Winter was not shown as loss, but as depth, quiet, and understanding.

Sitting on the rock while water moved around me showed that growth does not require struggle. It requires grounding. The baby doe delivered the message simply. Growth happens when gentleness is allowed.

Becoming young again at the end of the vision shows that wisdom does not erase youth. It returns it with clarity. Growth is not leaving parts of myself behind. It is carrying them forward, whole.

Miigwech.