Response By
Leslee White-Eye
Tom Benner The Coves, 1990
mixed media Purchased, 1990Response
In Anishinaabek Creation stories, there are stories of Chi-Gnebig (Great Horned Serpent), a sea serpent, who lives along the east coast of Lake Huron.
Deshkan Ziibiing (Thames River), my community of Chippewas of the Thames First Nation is named after the river. Deshkan means “horn” or “antler” in Anishinaabemowin.
It’s been said ziibiing (river) is named after Chi-Gnebig. I often imagined how the gnebiggoog saw the world they were protecting when they came here. I no longer have to imagine.
Leslee White-Eye is Structural Readiness Coordinator at the First Nations with Schools Collective. She was Chief of the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation between 2015 and 2017. An Anishinaabe Ojibwe from the Great Lakes region, Leslee has also been an Education Officer with the Ontario Ministry of Education, where she was responsible for writing the revised Indigenous Studies curriculum. Leslee received an Honourary Doctorate of Laws from Western University in 2017.