An essential guide to the sacred Big Drum ceremony of the Ojibwe, as told by a respected elder, explained in both the Ojibwe and English languages. Sometime in the last half of the nineteenth century, a group of Dakota presented the Ojibwe with the Big Drum and the ceremonies around it, as an act of peace and goodwill. The US government promptly outlawed the traditional, spiritual ceremony, along with all other Indigenous spiritual practices, in order to destroy Native culture—but it permitted the secular powwow as a tool of economic development. The Ojibwe people, however, maintained the ceremony in secrecy. In this firsthand, bilingual account, Lee Obizaan Staples shares the stories and the practice of the Big Drum ceremony. He discusses the use and care of the drum, the duties of membership, the spirits associated with the drum, personal conduct while near the drum, and much more. "These Anishinaabe ceremonial drums were given to all Anishinaabe people," says Obizaan. "I am doing this writing so that the Anishinaabe will be able to get a better understanding of the spiritual depth of what is available when these ceremonial drums are being used." Obizaan—a ceremonial drum keeper at Aazhoomog, a first-language speaker, and a principal authority on the ceremonial life of the southwestern Ojibwe—has worked with Ombishkebines, his surrogate son and right-hand man, to provide these Ojibwe and English versions of these ceremonies. Lee Obizaan Staples is a spiritual advisor for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. He is from the Aazhoomog community (also known as Lake Lena, Minnesota), and he extends his help to all the surrounding communities. He has published two other books explaining the ceremonies that Anishinaabe go through during their lifetimes, as they were passed down to him. Other communities may vary in teachings; Obizaan shares what he was taught Chato Ombishkebines Gonzalez is a language and ceremonial apprentice, scholar, and teacher. He has worked with Lee Obizaan Staples since 2006, learning language, customs, ceremonial procedures, and community history. He taught Ojibwe at Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Medium School; he also worked on five monolingual Ojibwe books created by the Aanjibimaadizing program of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. He is an Ojibwe language and subject matter expert for Rosetta Stone’s Ojibwe language course materials. At the time of the big dances, people usually arrive on Friday at six o’clock at the dance hall. Tobacco and food are offered up at that time. All the drum members should make an effort to be there. They should remember that they represent Manidoog where they are seated. They need to be respectful to those Manidoog they represent by being there at the start of the dance, by bringing their tobacco and their cooking. They should not be disrespectful to those Manidoog that they represent. If they are disrespectful to those Manidoog, the Manidoog in return could do the same by only half-heartedly granting their requests as they put down their tobacco. When it is time to set the table, the ogichidaakweg serve the food in bowls from the kettles and hand them to the men to put on the table. At that time I request them to use the regular plates, rather than using paper or plastic plates. We want to remember that our tobacco goes to the earth that we live on and all that grows upon the earth. Those are the powers we rely on to help us as a people. When we use paper plates at our dances, we use a lot of them throughout the dance. When the dance is over, those used paper plates are hauled to the dump or landfill and into the earth. It is hard to tell what chemicals the white man has put into those paper plates. It is at that time that we are being disrespectful to the earth we live on as Anishinaabe.