As a therapist, I am often talking with folks about their personal values. This is because values are the beliefs that we hold that, when all else is stripped away, can guide our decisions, behaviors, and attitudes. They tell us what is important in life and can serve as markers to let us know where to go or look when we are lost or uncertain. 

We each construct our personal value system throughout our life; values are influenced by our multiple cultural identities, past experiences, and worldview. As a community that lives in diaspora and embraces community members from varying geographical regions and cultural groups, it is expected that we all have different value systems. However, throughout time, a group of us at the Myaamia Center have worked to identify a set of values that are specific to our community culture and have influenced Myaamiaki since time immemorial.

Many individuals have contributed to this work, but I want to recognize George Ironstrack for having laid the foundation for our community value system. His knowledge and analysis of the historical manifestations of these values paved the way for the development of the myaamia nahi-meehtohseeniwinki ‘living well’ model. As mentioned in this previous blog post, values are an integral component of living well for Myaamiaki.

wiikiami mantepwayi ‘lodge frame’ metaphor

Myaamiaki have long used metaphors as a means for understanding and communicating complex concepts (see this blog post on Myaamia Metaphoric Expression). We use the wiikiaami mantepwayi ‘lodge frame’ as our visual and metaphorical representation of our values.

The wiikiaami is the traditional home that Myaamia people lived in for many centuries. The home is the place of the family, and the family is where the majority of values and teachings are passed down through generations. In addition to the mantepwayi metaphor, we use the Myaamia directional colors to represent the importance of each pole on the frame. 

Black

The first series of poles are the ones anchored into the ground and are considered foundational to the mantepwayi. They provide the most structure and strength for the wiikiaami as a whole. These are represented by the color black, which is associated with the north and the elder generation that has the greatest degree of experience and often wisdom. Black is also associated with death, cold, and the unknown. It is also associated with the seeking of knowledge; we know that young people often blackened their faces when seeking knowledge. There are four values that we represent with the color black:

• neepwaahkaayankwi ‘we are wise, conscious, aware’  Awareness of one’s surroundings stems from a communal desire to know the reason that things are the way they are. Within Myaamia culture, there is a constant drive to gain wisdom with age that comes through one’s lived experiences. These experiences allow us to integrate our previous knowledge with knowledge gained from current situations in order to expand Myaamia ways of knowing the world.  Historically, this general curiosity and awareness of surroundings is what provided resilience in the face of adversity. The adaptive, flexible, and ever-expanding understanding of the world allows for the community to adjust to whatever circumstances might arise. This wisdom and awareness leads to a deep respect for and valuing elders as they often hold more life experiences, wisdom, and knowledge than those in younger generations. This concept of paying respect to the elder generation for wisdom and knowledge is something that is taught from an early age, infancy even.
  
• eeyaakwaamisiyankwi ‘we strive for (something)’  Myaamia people have continually housed goals that push us to reach a desired place in life. While these goals aren’t always explicit that one is striving for, this allows us to progress in appropriate ways that fosters resilience within our community. This value is inherent with the community’s desire to revitalize language and culture as we are continually striving to overcome the challenges of the past. Myaamiaki to this day strive to better the community through many different means.
  
• eeweentiiyankwi ‘we are related to each other’ Many American Indian communities promote this concept of interrelatedness, but for Myaamia people the relatedness specifically includes kinship relations, responsibilities to one another, and even feelings of gratitude and alliance. At the heart of this value lies the connection between individuals that connect us as living beings as well as the connections between Myaamia people specifically. When a Myaamia person introduces oneself to another Myaamia person, it is important to discuss ancestors and the family line from which one comes from.  This allows us to remind one another that we are related and to treat one another with the respect that is inherent in interconnection.
  
• peehkinaakosiyankwi ‘we are generous, kind’  In particular, this is closely tied to the previous value as it is the core of interconnection and influences how we treat one another each and every day.  Specifically, for the process of living well at the core of this post, if we are all related, then it is imperative to treat one another with kindness as hurting one person hurts us all as a community.  Myaamia people know that when we ask for something from someone else (in particular an elder), we give tobacco or another gift to that individual to recognize the wisdom they are sharing.  We offer gifts as a means to show our gratitude and not simply because it is expected of one another.
  

Red

The next set of poles are the red poles, the color of the west. This color represents strength, vitality, and sacrifice and is associated with the adult generation. The color red is associated with blood and war and apart from the violence, adults would paint their faces red or use red to mark objects as important in some way. In the same way, the adult generation is the generation that is responsible for providing for and caring for both elder and younger generations, providing strength and ensuring the basic needs of the community are met. We have two poles represented by red:

• aahkokeelintiiyankwi ‘we care for each other’ In the process of providing for the community in effective ways, it is important to engage with the world such that they think about others before themselves. Caring for both the youth and elders is the responsibility of the adults and has always been this way. This is a difficult skill that requires an individual to understand how to be disciplined and aware of the needs of the community as a whole.
  
• neehweeyankwi ‘we speak well’ It is important to speak in ways that bring pride to the community. Our words are generally important, but when in a public setting make a reflection on both our families and ourselves. This is important especially among our leaders who choose words in order to maintain peace between communities.

Blue

The color blue represents the first of two horizontal ribs that create tension and keep the poles from moving around. The poles without the ribs can’t fully support a covering that makes the frame into the fully formed structure. With the ribs, the structure can be complete and keep a family safe, warm, and dry. Blue is actually a blue/green color that represents the south and symbolizes youth, the children who are gaining some independence, but don’t have responsibility quite yet. We have one value associated with this color:

• paahpilwaayankwi ‘we joke, are humorous’ Humor is one way to cope with the many stressors one experiences throughout his or her life. Myaamia people have a sense that there are many aspects of life that are out of our control and that humor is one way to help explain the lack of seriousness in our lives. This humor also helps in all areas including living our daily lives, in the political process, and community dances.  There are few domains where humor is restricted.

Yellow

Finally, we have yellow, the second horizontal rib that completes the structure. Yellow is associated with the east, with sunrise, with birth, and with our youngest children, the infants. While it is the youngest generation, it is also vitally important to the structure as a whole, providing flexibility and creativity. We have one value associated with yellow:

• aahkwaapawaayankwi ‘we dream’ Dreaming is a task that is primarily associated with youth. Historically, youth would fast, seek visions, and observe dreams in order to find a sense of purpose and direction in life. Dreams are associated with a freedom of thought, which is something that allows us as a people to continue to grow and strive to reach goals. Mental freedom is important to change and a vital source for new ideas and new ways of expression that can be important to creating new strands of our web.

While our community experiences regular change, we have seen examples of these values displayed in public and private contexts throughout many generations. They seem to be quite consistent drivers of Myaamia ways of being throughout many generations. It is likely that some of these values have influenced you all (community members) without your awareness or being able to explain “why” you do things the way you do. Typically values are implicitly taught and are “just the way things are.” However, like many facets of our experience, with the loss of pieces of our language and culture, many of us may have lost touch with components of this value system as well. It is our hope that making these values explicit will help community members to be able to be intentional about their own values and pass them on within families, ultimately promoting nahi meehtohseeniwinki ‘living well.’