Jiibaykwe

Cooking for the Spirits

In Honor of

all our friends and relatives

who've walked on

Hosted by the

Fisher and Harrington Families

A Ghost Supper is an entire family affair, with hunters, berry pickers, scavengers, cleaners, servers and eaters. Our head cooks are Jeannie Schlappi (Fisher), Julie Harrington, and Maria Sargent. Our feasts are in honor of Grandmother Louise Harrington (Taylor) and all of our other relatives who've passed on. This year during our feast we would like everyone to remember and pray for four very special people in our family who've recently walked on, Tim Harrington, Albert Colby, Fred Harrington, and Julie's Grandfather, Lester Hiduskey. In the last few years we've lost Julie's mother, Evanka, brother Joe, Marge Colby who used to host this dinner and dear friend Bruce Kahgee and many other friends. This feast honors them all.

The reason for calling these feasts a ghost supper is just that, it is to feed the spirits of family members and friends who will be visiting from the spirit world. It is a little different in each family. Each household prepares the favorite foods of their departed loved ones so as to make them happy when they come to visit. The table is then set with food as well as tobacco. A sacred fire is built ( in which no trash should be burned ). This fire is burned all night so that consumable items ( food, beverage, tobacco ) may be burned as offerings. Before anyone eats a plate of food is fixed with a serving from each dish prepared for the feast. This dish is burned in the fire for the benefit of any spirits passing through. The door is left ajar as a gesture that everyone is welcome. Visitors are expected to enter without knocking ( knocking is not recommended as you may insult someone ). Anyone knocking shows hesitancy about entering into the house, therefore it may cause the spirits traveling along with them to hesitate about entering as well. This may be misconstrued as defeating the purpose of the feast as everyone (no invitation is extended) is welcome. Each and every visitor is honored, fed, treated with respect, and appreciated for their visitation and participation in the feast. It is believed that the more visitors you have from this world the more you have from the other; each visitor bringing along with him or her spiritual members of their family. On this great day of feasting it is said that you are not able to fill yourself. To stop my dad from getting full my Grandma used to always say “save room for pie at the next house.” You may get a strange look if you say you are full. Any food left on your plate is not to be thrown out, or fed to the dogs, it is to be burned in the fire as an offering to any passing spirits. when we put food on the fire we say “Ne-baw-baw-tche-baw-yew.” The table is set with clean place settings throughout the evening for the guests who visit. The table settings were passed down from Margie. The table has one open place setting for the visitors from the other world. Either the leftovers are burned in the fire or the table is left set with one place setting overnight with tobacco for the unseen visitors who may come throughout the night.

New traditions? When the microwave door got stuck with some corn soup in it, Margie said the spirits didn't like the microwave. It would open no matter who tried until the next day. Since then we haven't used a microwave for cooking or warming food at our feast!

Chi Migwetch for coming and feasting with us.

Wreaths on Wooden Crosses

They say the gates of heaven are opened on Halloween and the spirits are set free to return home for the feasts that are being held in their honor. Although wooden crosses aren't allowed at some cemeteries, we put them up anyway. On those crosses we place wreaths. Confetti made from parts leftover from making the flowers is spread over the graves as if to place a blanket over them. We do this on or before October 31. Sometimes late at nite. The crowns are placed there so the returning spirits may pick up their new crown and wear it to the Ghost Suppers. The wreaths are made of crepe paper. the petals are not to be waxed because it is said the heavy dew and rain washing away the colors of the crown signify the spirits have come for their gifts and feasted. We make various colors for each different person and place red, white, and blue crowns on the veterans crosses.