2025 Poster
The largest giigoonh in Ojibwe Country is name. Known phonetically as nuh-MAY, the lake sturgeon has shared all manner of gifts with human beings over time—from long ago Woodland peoples to the Great Lakes Anishinaabe of the last half-millennium. Name ogii-shawenimaan iniw Anishinaaben means, “The sturgeon blessed the Anishinaabe,” in Ojibwemowin.
Name is an ancient fish, emerging in the waters of Turtle Island around the same time dinosaurs made their dramatic withdrawal from Aki. Over millions of years these gentle survivors would go on to become valued fixtures of early ecosystems, providing sustenance to First Nations and appearing in traditional stories known as aadizookaanag.
The late spiritual leader Bawdwaywidun Eddie Benton-Banai identified lake sturgeon as the Ogimaa of the Fish Clans. Both accommodating and playful, namewag would allow native people to cross rivers upon their backs when incredible numbers of large sturgeon gathered in the springtime shallows, Bawdwaywidun said.
Among the blessings imparted to the Anishinaabe, namewag are credited with delivering the stick-and-ball game, baaga’adowewin, to a young boy who would go on to share it with others. Also known as lacrosse, the game extended to native communities everywhere. It is this tradition that inspired Niiyogiizhig Wesley Ballinger in the 2025 GLIFWC poster Name ogii-shawenimaan iniw Anishinaaben where we see a lacrosse stick materialize from the flick of name’s mighty tail. Among the waves juvenile sturgeon represent new life and the efforts of modern Ojibwe bands to restore namewag to their historic waters across the Ceded Territory.