“We think we're in control of our lives and everything we do. But we're not, the spirits are. We go where they want us to go when they want us to be there.” That’s what Jay Bird believes and he’s had some remarkable experiences. Bird is a member of Bear clan, from Batchewana First Nation and his traditional name is Thunder Days. Since he was four years old, he wanted to be a truck driver like his dad. His parents wanted him to go to university and while he tried Trent University’s Native studies, his heart wasn’t in it.
He stayed on his reserve and was in a drum group. At powwow, Bird met a woman from New York and moved there to work as a security guard. Working double shifts, he saved enough to take a trucking course and got his license. He took jobs nobody wanted until he could buy his own truck and then two more. Bird had two truckers working for him when the recession hit and had to sell all but his first truck. He returned home to stay with his sister and uncle. He went to ceremony and helped out, unsure what to do with himself.
Being home reminded him of when he was seven and rode his bike to the museum in Sioux Sainte Marie. In the Ojibwe section, Bird saw a pipe that sent shivers down his back, neck and arms, overwhelming him. When he told his grandma about it, she said it had been in her family. Now home again, he went back and it was still there. Bird was overwhelmed in that same way. He talked to a counsellor who suggested stealing it back since it belonged to his people. Instead, he brought tobacco to the museum curator. Bird shared he had been encouraged to steal it, knowing he might never see the pipe again. The curator offered to tell him about the pipe but he left, overcome with emotion. Sitting in his car, he considered going back to trucking but stayed, helping his cousin with ceremonies.
Three months later, chief and council called him down and told him the pipe was being repatriated and given to him. He would need to make a pipe bag, fast and help his community with his pipe, Niishawsay Aanakwadoon, which means 7 Clouds. Everyone in his family who carried this pipe was a shake tent person. Made in 1610 by one of his relatives, his pipe was hidden under rocks in their fishing area at one point and later found by an archaeologist on a Hudson’s Bay dig who kept it until he passed away. The family donated it to the museum.
His connection to shake tent was strengthened through the remarkable connection to his mentor and teacher. In the winter of 2000, when he was in New York, Bird got in an accident trying to get to his sick sister. Swerving to miss a car, he rolled down an embankment and was ejected from his truck, breaking his neck, shoulder, back and both legs. Healers cared for him traditionally and one said he would be back to work in a year, something he struggled to believe. It turned out to be true. Later, when Bird received his pipe, one of those healers was invited to the festivities by the community because he practiced shake tent. The same man who helped save his life spent a year teaching him the ceremony. “I think it wouldn't have mattered where in the world I would have been, that would have happened. It was destined to be, I had no control over any of that,” Bird reflects.
Thinking about his advice for young Indigenous students wanting to pursue a career outside of their community, Bird reflects on his own experience of being young and leaving a reserve without opportunity. He would go into town and spend time around truckers, asking trucking companies if he could work in the shop or wash trucks. “I think you set a goal and you just imagine yourself doing that, eventually, you'll believe and you'll do it,” Bird muses. He left his community to experience life, which was scary. “But my goal in what I wanted to do was more important than being scared. Not to say it wasn't hard. Anything that's worth working for, that's always hard. It's never easy. You have to work. But the payoff later in life was worth it,” he affirms.
When it came to obstacles, Bird overcame many. Trying to get a job as a young person with no experience, he showed up at the same place day after day, even after being told they weren’t hiring. Eventually, the owner mentored him because he showed willingness to learn and wasn’t just looking to make money. Later, working as an independent trucker, Bird overcame anti-Indigenous racism by demonstrating his work ethic until he became a favourite among store owners. Despite mishaps with his truck, he did his best to be on time, something customers appreciated.
To keep his mental health in balance when life got messy, Bird went to ceremony. Growing up, he went to keep people off his back. He knew it could help, but didn’t engage deeply until later. “Going to lodge, helping in ceremonies, starting to pray, asking for help, that’s what saved me. That’s what kept me sane,” Bird recalls. “I developed my relationship with the spirits. That's what kept me good in my mind, clear, focused,” he continues. While he knows sometimes a medical approach is appropriate, a cultural approach felt most aligned and would heal the root of his issue. He didn’t know what ceremony would work, but learned as he went.
When it comes to inspiration, Bird is moved by how the outcome changes lives. Seeing people get well and their families thriving because he and his wife have shared their gifts inspires him. Knowing what it does for people drives him to keep giving back.
In closing, Bird encourages youth saying, “don't judge a book by its cover. You never know who's there helping you or what they're capable of doing.” He urges them to trust their instincts in what they want to do and how they feel about people. “Your spirit is never wrong,” he advises.
Going where the spirits want him to be, Jay Bird has had remarkable experiences. Finding his pipe, Niishawsay Aanakwadoon, in the museum at seven years old, leaving his community to pursue his dream of being a trucker, ending up in an accident where he met the healer who would teach him shake tent and reuniting with his pipe, he’s doing what he’s meant to do and what he promised to do. Overcoming obstacles with his work ethic, his cultural practices and his determination, he’s found his way through and ended up right where he’s meant to be.
Read more about Jay’s adventure’s in his book, Hidden Under The Water. Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.
