The care of the Udjibbom – Anishinabek News
May 11, 2026
During the summer of 1929, anthropologist Diamond Jenness spent seven weeks among the Anishinabek of Wasauksing. He spoke with several Ojibwa, Potawatomi, and Métis residents, among them Jonas King, Jim Nanibush, Mary Sugedub, James Walker, and the decorated World War I Warrior Francis Pegahmagabow. They talked about all aspects of life, death, and spirituality, and chose to share their belief that to be whole, a human being must have three parts to them: the wiyo, or corporal body; the udjptchog, or soul; and the udjibbom, or shadow.
Jonas King, who had been initiated into the Midewiwin Society in the 1870s, explained the udjibbom to Jenness:
The shadow is located in the brain, but like the soul often operates apart from the body. In life it is the “eyes” of the soul, as it were, awakening the latter to perception and knowledge. When a man is travelling his shadow goes before or behind him; normally it is in front, nearer to his destination. It often causes a twitching of the hunter’s eyelids, informing him that it has seen game ahead. There are times when a man feels that someone is watching him or near him, although he can see no one; it is his shadow that is warning him, trying to awaken his soul to perceive the danger…Throughout a man’s whole lifetime the shadow fulfils this function of enlightening the soul… [Jenness, 1935: 19]
Read More: https://anishinabeknews.ca/2026/05/the-care-of-the-udjibbom/
