The Birth of Bright Sky

Though the experience renovated much of my inner landscape, the thing that has stuck with me most is my name.

One way of engaging the Ojibwe community was to participate in a sweat lodge – a traditional healing and purification ceremony where 20+ people sit in a tiny pitch black structure where water is poured over hot stones while the participants sing and chant. This was no sauna – the heat was uncomfortable and it was hard to breathe and at the end something came out. I fell out of the structure weeping, clutching the dirt and letting the earth absorb my tears. There had recently been a traumatic death in the family and I could feel all the tension and sadness flowing out of me, releasing itself from my muscles and cells and mind.

We had been asked to fast for the day preceding the lodge. That meant no food or water for 24 hours. After the lodge, each participant offered a handful of tobacco to our lodge leader, a Midewewin (medicine man) named Richard. He put it in his pipe, lit it, and waited. Each of us received a name, guide, and colors.

My colors were red, blue, and yellow. My animal was the deer. My name was wasogiizhig., which means ‘light of day.’ Or, Bright Sky.

The first time I actively used the name was to change my Facebook account. My pictures had been previously stolen when I was involved in a legal proceeding. I had been arresting streaking for the traditional year-end finals week run and been stopped unexpectedly by the police. I was acquitted after a six hour trial. The next year, I heard no one was arrested during the run.

Still, the experience made me wary of how indelicately my online information is protected. Bright Sky premiered on Facebook.

Story of My Life (Part 5) – The Road South