SYMBOL

Four Hills

In Ojibwe teachings, the Four Hills is the process of life, it directly relates to the four seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter.  The adult period in your life is associated with fall.  This fall I found the leaves turned a magnificent shade of red ochre and needed to take advantage.  On a whim I found the loose leaves on the branches and created the Rooted in RED symbol and then took it a step further and created part of the commural sketch!  There will be a photo series of all four seasons represented by the symbol.  I am looking forward to the wintery, white snow!

-FALL-

-WINTER-

-SPRING-

Symbols of Ojibwe

Part of creation of the symbol for Rooted in RED stemmed from the study of these Ojibwe symbols.  I have been immersing myself into these studies and as I do, my designs evolved into the Rooted in RED symbol that is in use today.

MUZZINBINAKON: red ochre pictographs

Traditionally the medicine man of the Ojibwe will meditate and dream of the location and animal to paint in red ochre on the cliff sides of Lake Superior and other surrounding waterways.   This act is support of healthy harvest and hunting and communication to the Great Spirit.    This site is North Hegman Lake, Minnesota.  The pictograph represents the Ojibwe meridian constellations visible in winter, used to navigate hunters during the season.

What the Rooted in RED symbol means:

• THREE PEAKS...to represent a mountain, as the cliff is the only thing that touches the heaven and the earth.  Body, mind, soul. 
• DIAMOND CENTER...pointing south to include the color red as well as the Earth source.  Each point is placed in the cardinal directions, to include all. 
• SMALL DIAMOND FILLED...as an individual that is a part of a whole.

together all these things including the color, red ochre, create a symbol for equality for all. 

 We are all the same.  We are all RED.