What is "wabunowin"

The Wabunowin (also spelled Wabunohwin and Wabunohiwin; Waabanowin in the "double-vowel" spelling) is the "Dawn Society", also sometime improperly called the "Magical Dawn Society", is a distinct Anishinaabe society of visionaries, practiced among the Anishinaabeg peoples, consisting of the Algonquin/ Nipissing, Ojibwa/Chippewa/ Saulteaux/ Mississaugas, Odawa, Potawatomi and Oji-cree, located primarily in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. Like the Midewiwin, the Wabunowin is a secretive animistic religion, requiring an initiation, thus early non-indigenous writers lumped the information on the Wabunowin with the Midewiwin. But unlike the Mide, the Waabano have sometimes 2 levels, and sometimes 4. This variation is dependent on the particular lodge.

This society was mentioned in The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who used informational materials made available from Henry Schoolcraft to compose the epic poem. The Dawn Society members were systematically imprisoned in mental hospitals by the United States government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Because of this persecution, the Wabunowin went underground and have just began to reemerge in the last decade. While many of the ceremonies and traditions are closely guarded, one that is known is the Fire Dance.

The waabanowin have been coming out from underground and re-establishing themselves for about 15 years now. There are active lodges currently in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Indiana and Michigan.