On Monday, September 22, 2025, we will greet the autumnal equinox. This is êkwa that moment when pîsim (the sun) walks directly across the miskanâhk (the path above the earth), and day and night become almost the same length. In our way, this is not only an astronomical happening—it is a teaching.
It tells us of sâkîhito-wîn (love) and wâhkôhtowin (kinship), for even the sun and the earth must walk in balance. It reminds us that kîsikâw (day) and tipiskâw (night) are relatives, each carrying gifts. Neither is greater than the other, for one brings warmth and growth, and the other brings rest and dreaming.
Autumn—takwâkin—is the season of gathering, of looking at what we have planted in our lives and offering mîkwêc (gratitude). The leaves teach us to let go with grace, showing us that even in falling there is beauty. The cool winds whisper: prepare, prepare, for winter will soon walk toward us.
This equinox, we should sit beside our miskotâpân (lodge fire) and remember that balance is the true law of life. To work and to rest, to speak and to listen, to give and to receive—this is how we walk as nêhiyawak, as human beings.
Nîtisânak, may this season of takwâkin bring you clarity, strength, and peace as we enter the doorway of change.
—Kanipawit Maskwa
John Gonzalez
