We Follow the Bear Path

Native American wedding rings depicting the Midewiwin Life Road

Wedding bands product information

Title: Gibiminizha'aanimin Makomiin (We Follow The Bear Path)
Type: Ojibwe-style graphic overlay wedding ring, with cut-out designs in both exterior and interior (the Life Road and a stylized bear paw); organic (sculptural) finishing by means of melting and hammer-texturing.
Materials: 14K red gold (men's ring) and 14K white gold (ladies' ring); interiors of 14K warm yellow gold (men's ring) and red gold (ladies' ring)
Width: 0.394 in (10 mm).
Set price from: 2,120.00 USD* / 2,810.00 CAD* / 2.300,00 EUR**
Item: WISDOM-9

*Prices are indicative and depend on the current gold price and ring sizes. Shipping costs included, US and Canadian tax rates excluded.

**Prices are indicative and depend on the ring sizes and the current gold price and exchange rates. Shipping costs excluded, Dutch BTW included.

This gold ring set can also be ordered executed in sterling silver.
Set price from: 686.00 USD* / 915.00 CAD* / 730,00 EUR**
Item: WISDOM-9SS
*Shipping costs and US and Canadian tax rates excluded. Click here to find information about shipping costs.
**Shipping costs excluded, Dutch BTW included. Click here to find information about shipping costs.

The above wedding bands are also custom-available in different widths and gold and/or silver color combinations. If desired, it is also possible to make the rings in a non-organic, sleek design, executed with smooth surfaces and straight edges.

Please note that persons who hold a Canadian First Nations status card and live and work on their reserve are generally tax exempt.

PLEASE NOTE: The cost of gold, silver, and platinum is fluctuating weekly. Although prices on this website are being updated on a regular base, they are merely indicative. Contact us for a customized price quotation if you find a set of wedding or clan rings or a piece of jewelry you are interested in ordering. Please do not forget to mention the item number and the exact ring sizes in case you ask for a price quotation for wedding rings or clan rings.

Some considerations when measuring ring sizes:

Since the wider a ring is, the tighter it will fit, please note that your sizes must be measured with a ring sizer (a jeweler's wedding band gauge) of the same width as the rings of your choice.

The best size is usually the ring that fits snugly and gives a little resistance when you take it off. If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

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Bear, bringer of dreams and protector of healing ceremonies

Bear paw wedding rings

The above wedding rings show a cut-out design of the Midewiwin Life Road on the outsides, and a stylized bear paw on the insides.

Nooke doodem, the Bear Clan, is the most numerous of the warrior clans of the Anishinaabe Peoples. To the Ojibweg, Oodaawaag, and Bodéwadmik, Makwa the bear is a powerful and respected bawaagan (grandfather-appearing-in-dreams), who chose the earth walk as a spiritual leader in order to show the People the way into the dream world and teach their mashkikiiwininiwag (Medicine People) the medicinal use of herbs. As bears personify their lodge, members of the Midewiwin follow makomii “the bear path”, which contains certain rituals in order to advance from a lower to a higher degree in their Society. 

According to Midewiwin, the bear personifies their Lodge; it is Makwa who guards the eastern door of the Midewigaan, the ceremonial lodge of the Midewiwin, as he protects the healing ceremonies and sacred rituals that are being performed inside the lodge.

But Makwa is also symbolic of the Anishinaabeg themselves: both bear and humans “walk the bear path” both inside and outside the lodge. Anishinaabeg have always mirrored themselves in Makwa's yearly pattern of hibernation, isolation, and emerging with new life in the spring. This is why still today certain initiation rituals, puberty rites, and ceremonies of the Midewiwin follow this cyclic pattern and invoke the bear's power of renewal...

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