N'baa kaa win (wisdom). 

Use the wisdom for
the people. The understanding that is gained
through interacting with all things that are of the
creation

There was a time that I was camped outside of Freeport, Maine. I would camp there once every year to stop at LL Bean Store to refresh my equipment. At the time, LL Bean would stay open twenty-four hours daily. This was great for me. I could go in at midnight and shop when no one else was around. A man and his children were camped nearby and we visited. He was a professor of philosophy at Hartford and was spending the weekend with his children.

In the evening, by the fire, we talked about some of the beliefs that I have learned from Ojibwe Elders. The professor told me that wisdom is the gradual acquiring of knowledge, judgement and patience. He then asked me what I thought. I answered that I only knew what my Elder had indicated in the teaching of the Seven Gifts of the Seven Grandfathers pertaining to finding balance in life.

Wisdom is the first of the seven teachings that were given. What the Elder told me is that wisdom is the knowing that we do not know. Opening up our awareness to accept new information.

The professor thought for a moment and then agreed that the definition given by the Elder was also a proper description of the word.

When one thinks that they know there is a tendency to close out other possibilities. When one admits that they do not have all the answers it opens them up to receive new information. Kind of like removing blinders so that more of what is there can be seen.

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