nimaamaa-aki | mother earth

Nimaamaa-aki ('Mother Earth'), as Larry Aitken explains, is the manidoo ('spirit') in charge of the four orders of the earth—-1) soil / covering; 2) plants; 3) animals; 4) people. The spirit of Nimaamaa-aki is embodied by giigonhyag ('fish'), ginebigoog ('snakes'), and nibi ('water'). These are messengers of mikinaak ('snapping turtle').