Under the Blueberry Moon by Racquel Banaszak

Ambe nokomis, mishomis, maamaa, dede, aunties, uncles, 

cousins, brothers, and sisters! 

The days are hot and the miinan is ripe!

Bineshiinhyag flitter and flutter from tree to tree, 

welcoming us to our beautiful blueberry camp.

Bizindan! Do you hear that? A celebration song for all of us.

Dewe’igan beats and the violin weeps, 

for these days won’t last forever, but oh, how we love them.

EYA! Anishinaabeg & miinan go together like Americans & apple pie.

Gabeshiwin has everything we need for these days and nights ahead.

Gaag, Esiban, Ajidamoo & Migizi. So good to see our relatives near.

Haw! No, these days can’t last forever 

no matter how much we wish they could.

Izhichige dah! Let’s fill these pails with all the minaan we can.

Jibwaa-mamooyaang’oow minaan, asemaakewyang.

Just like Nokomis told us.

Mii-zhigwa! We’ve waited all year for these berries to grow 

from seed to flower to fruit

Miini-giizis, in just a few weeks abinoojiinyag

will be gone again to learn the ways of new, 

but out here they’re still with us 

where the sun warms our hearts and 

our minds are full of good thoughts.

Minopogwadoon miinan. 

We almost don’t make it home with our boxes full, 

but we must for our family.

Nashke, happiness.

Noodin blows through our hair, 

which the black robes cut the other month, 

but it’s coming back to us.

Oodenaag, Sold at 10 cents per quart, this is the way we get by. 

Sisigwad is music to our ears, 

the sounds which soothe our Anishinaabeg hearts.

Taayaa! It is sad to know we must be leaving soon. 

For this is the good life. 

Waabigwaniin fade, but they always come back and so will we. 

Zaagi’idiwag- the great Miinan & Anishinaabeg love story. 

Racquel Banaszak (she/hers) is an Anishinaabe visual artist and Indigenous education advocate based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She earned a graduate certificate in Native American Studies from Montana State University (2018) and a Bachelor of Science degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (2012). She studied Aboriginal Visual Culture at the Ontario College of Art & Design University in Toronto, Canada. She can be found @racquel_kwe. More about her visual art piece, “Blueberry Fields,” the cover photo, can also be found in THE VISUAL.