Nanabozho

{{short description|Ojibwe trickster spirit often in the form of a rabbit}} {{Infobox mythical creature|name=Nanabozho|Folklore=Ojibwe and other First Nations|alt=|Region=Southern Canada, and midwestern / Northern Plains United States|AKA=ᓇᓇᐳᔓ, Nanabush|caption=Pictogram of Nanabozho on Mazinaw Rock, Bon Echo Provincial Park, Ontario|image=Nanabozho pictograph, Mazinaw Rock.jpg}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}

'''Nanabozho''' (in syllabics: {{lang|oj|ᓇᓇᐳᔓ}}, {{IPA|alg|nɐˌnɐbʊˈʒʊ|}}), also known as '''Nanabush''',<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.native-languages.org/nanabozho.htm|title=Nanabozho (Nanabush, Nanabosho, Wenebojo, Nanapush, Manabus)|website=www.native-languages.org|access-date=5 March 2013|archive-date=28 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328152256/http://www.native-languages.org/nanabozho.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> is a spirit in Anishinaabe ''aadizookaan'' (traditional storytelling), particularly among the Ojibwe of North America. Nanabozho figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creation. Nanabozho is the Ojibwe trickster figure and culture hero (these two archetypes are often combined into a single figure in First Nations mythologies, among others).

Nanabozho can take the shape of male or female animals or humans in storytelling. Most commonly it is an animal such as a rabbit, a raven or coyote which lives near the tribe and which is cunning enough to make capture difficult.

Nanabozho is a trickster figure in many First Nation storytellings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nanabozho (Nanabush, Nanabosho, Wenebojo, Nanapush, Manabus) |url=http://www.native-languages.org/nanabozho.htm |access-date=9 December 2021 |website=www.native-languages.org |archive-date=8 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208023628/http://www.native-languages.org/nanabozho.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> While the use of Nanabush through storytelling can be for entertainment, it is often used as a way to pass down information and general life lessons.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Manitowabi |first=Susan |date=2018 |title=The Creation Story |url=https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/movementtowardsreconciliation/chapter/the-creation-story/ |language=en |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209194017/https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/movementtowardsreconciliation/chapter/the-creation-story/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==The Nanabozho spirit== As a trickster figure, it is often Nanabozho’s goal to create problems, which often highlight the struggles many Native people experience. According to Anishinaabe scholar Leanne Simpson, for instance, Nanabush often experiments with capitalistic means. They can be greedy, manipulative, and money driven. Because of their worldly desires, chaos often ensues. However, by developing deep relationships with others, Nanabozho becomes more balanced. Furthermore, as Nanabozho becomes more receptive to their surroundings, Nanabozho is able to create the ideal of decolonization through learned consent, recognition, and reciprocity. Therefore, the stories of Nanabush are used to guide people through life experiences and teach moral lessons.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Simpson|first=Leanne|title=As We Have Always Done|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=2017|isbn=9781517903862|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|language=English}}</ref>

=== Shapeshifting === Nanabozho is a shapeshifter who is both zoomorphic as well as anthropomorphic, meaning that Nanabozho can take the shape of animals or humans in storytelling.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Machová|first=Klára|date=2006|title=Bakalářská diplomová práce|url=https://is.muni.cz/th/61220/ff_b/diplomka_klara.pdf|journal=Masaryk University Faculty of Arts|access-date=9 December 2021|archive-date=4 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804021923/https://is.muni.cz/th/61220/ff_b/diplomka_klara.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Thus Nanabush takes many different forms in storytelling, often changing depending on the tribe. The majority of storytelling depicts Nanabozho through a zoomorphic lens. In the Arctic and sub-Arctic, the trickster is usually called Raven. Coyote is present in the area of California, Oregon, the inland plateau, the Great Basin, and the Southwest and Southern Plains. Rabbit or Hare is the trickster figure in the Southeast, and Spider is in the northern plains. Meanwhile, Wolverine and Jay are the trickster in parts of Canada. Often, Nanabozho takes the shape of these animals because of their frequent presence among tribes. The animals listed above have similar behavioral patterns. For example, they all live near human settlements and are very cunning, enough so as to be captured with great difficulty.<ref name=":0" />

==Stories== Nanabozho is one of four sons from what some historical and religious scholars{{who|date=April 2018}} have interpreted as spirits of directions.<ref>He is descended from a human mother, and his father spiritually impregnated a mother like the virgin birth of Jesus and other gods and heroes cross-culturally. The Anishinaabeg say the mother's name means "nourishment", but Henry Schoolcraft suggests the name is from the Dakota ''Winona'' ("first-born daughter").</ref> He has a human mother, and E-bangishimog ("In the West"), a spirit father.

Nanabozho most often appears in the shape of a rabbit and is characterized as a trickster. In his rabbit form, he is called '''Mishaabooz''' ("Great rabbit" or "Hare") or '''Gitchii-waabooz''' ("Big rabbit"). He was sent to Earth by Gitche Manidoo to teach the Ojibwe. One of his first tasks was to name all the plants and animals. Nanabozho is considered to be the founder of ''Midewiwin''. He is the inventor of fishing and hieroglyphs. This historical figure is a shapeshifter and a co-creator of the world.<ref name="greathare">{{cite web |title=The Great Hare |url=http://community-2.webtv.net/TheObsidianMask/GreatHare/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209064541/http://community-2.webtv.net/TheObsidianMask/GreatHare/index.html |archive-date=9 December 2012 |access-date=29 June 2010 |publisher=Community-2.webtv.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nanabozho, Access genealogy |url=http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/history/nanabozho.htm |access-date=29 June 2010 |publisher=Accessgenealogy.com |archive-date=16 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716081833/http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/history/nanabozho.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In this he is called Michabo Ovisaketchak ("the Great Hare who created the Earth").<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Singer |first=Eliot |title="The Manner of Their Begyning…a Pretty Fabulous Tale Indeed": Walking Around and About the "Algonkin Great Hare" |url=https://www.academia.edu/106972058/_The_Manner_of_Their_Begyning_a_Pretty_Fabulous_Tale_Indeed_Walking_Around_and_About_the_Algonkin_Great_Hare_}}</ref>

=== Fight with Paul Bunyan === An Ojibwe legend describes Nanabozho's encounter with folkloric lumberjack Paul Bunyan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gross |first=Lawrence W. |date=2003 |title=Cultural Sovereignty and Native American Hermeneutics in the Interpretation of the Sacred Stories of the Anishinaabe |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1409540 |journal=Wíčazo Ša Review |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=127–134 |doi=10.1353/wic.2003.0014 |jstor=1409540 |s2cid=144831083 |issn=0749-6427|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Along Bunyan's path of deforestation, Nanabozho confronts Bunyan in Minnesota and implores him to leave the state without logging any more timber.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Hellenbrand |first=Kasey Keeler, Ryan |date=2 December 2021 |title=In the Northwoods, Paul Bunyan Looms Large |url=https://edgeeffects.net/paul-bunyan-narratives/ |access-date=11 January 2023 |website=Edge Effects |language=en-US |archive-date=10 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110213222/https://edgeeffects.net/paul-bunyan-narratives/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A fight ensues and they battle for forty days and forty nights. Nanabozho ends the fight by slapping Bunyan across the face with a Red Lake walleye fish.<ref name=":1" /> After this, Bunyan "stumbles, [and] Nanabozho pulls at Paul’s whiskers, making him promise to leave the area."<ref name=":1" /> Unofficial sources add a portion in which Bunyan lands on his rear end at the end of the battle, creating Lake Bemidji with the shape of his buttocks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1077 WRKR – Kalamazoo's Rock Station – Kalamazoo Rock Radio |url=https://wrkr.com/ |access-date=11 January 2023 |website=1077 WRKR |language=en |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111035544/https://wrkr.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.reddit.com/r/IndianCountry/comments/1067gwy/sometimes_yah_just_gotta_hit_em_with_that_walleye/|title=Sometimes yah just gotta hit em with that walleye|date=8 January 2023|access-date=3 June 2024|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111035546/https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianCountry/comments/1067gwy/sometimes_yah_just_gotta_hit_em_with_that_walleye/|url-status=live}}</ref>

This story claims to explain why Bunyan is beardless and facing west in the Lake Bemidji statue.<ref name=":1" /> (A nearby statue of a Native American figure that had locally acquired the name Nanabozho was actually a 1960s Muffler Man statue. It was taken down in 2025.)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hyatt |first=Kim |date=2025-04-01 |title=Native American statue in Bemidji removed, relocating to Route 66 museum |url=https://www.startribune.com/native-american-statue-in-bemidji-removed-relocating-to-route-66-museum/601313624 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=www.startribune.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Mel |title=Bemidji, MN: Nanabozho Muffler Man |date=26 May 2012 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_mel/7330797364/ |access-date=11 January 2023 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111043424/https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_mel/7330797364/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Similar characters in other Native cultures== Among the eastern Algonquian peoples located north of the Abenaki areas, a similar character to Nanabozho existed called ''Tcakabesh'' in the Algonquin language, ''Chikapash'' among the eastern James Bay Crees, ''Chaakaapaas'' by the Naskapi, ''Tshakapesh'' in the Innu language and ''Tcikapec'' in the Atikamekw language, changing to various animal forms to various human forms (adult to child) and to various mythical animals such as the Great Porcupine, or Big Skunk. He conquered or diminished these mythical animals to smaller size after killing or changing them with his trickery or shapeshifting. Among the Meskwaki, ''Wīsakehā'' serves a similar role, as does Wisakedjak among northern Algonquian peoples and for the Saulteaux in the Great Plains. The Lakota had a similar figure known as 'Iktomi.'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aktalakota.stjo.org/lakota-legends/iktomi-the-trickster/ |title=Iktómi the Trickster |access-date=12 April 2023 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412070853/https://aktalakota.stjo.org/lakota-legends/iktomi-the-trickster/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAMRHeUPgec | title=09 Iktomi and the Prairie Chickens' Red Eyes (Lakota) | website=YouTube | date=20 March 2018 | access-date=12 April 2023 | archive-date=12 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412052340/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAMRHeUPgec&gl=US&hl=en | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iktomi |title=Iktomi |access-date=12 April 2023 |archive-date=5 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305214733/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iktomi |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Circular reference|date=September 2023}} The Abenaki-influenced Algonquin had a similar figure called ''Kanòjigàbe'' (Fiero spelling: ''Ganoozhigaabe''; Abenaki ''Gluskabe''; English Glooscap).

==Nanabozho name variations== The ''Nanabozho'' name varies in the Ojibwe language depending on whether it is presented with a first-person prefix ''n-'' (i.e. ''Nanabozho''), third-person prefix ''w-'' (i.e. ''Wanabozho''), or null-person prefix ''m-'' (i.e. ''Manabozho''); the "Manabozho" form of the name is most commonly associated with Menominee language version of these stories. In addition, depending on the story and the narrator's role in telling the story, the name may be presented in its regular nominative form (with the final ''o'', i.e. ''Nanabozho'') or in its vocative form (without the final ''o'', i.e. ''Nanabozh''). Due to the way the two ''o'' sounds, they are often each realized as ''oo'' (i.e. ''Nanaboozhoo''). In some dialects, ''zh'' is realized as ''z''. These variations allow for associating the name with the word for "rabbit(-)" (''waabooz(o-)'').

Due to the placement of word stress, determined by metrical rules that define a characteristic iambic metrical foot, in which a weak syllable is followed by a strong syllable, in some dialects the weak syllable may be reduced to a schwa (ə), which may be recorded as either ''i'' or ''e'' (e.g. ''Winabozho'' or ''Wenabozho'' if the first weak syllable is graphically shown, ''Nanabizho'' if the second weak syllable is graphically shown).

In addition, though the Fiero double-vowel system uses ''zh'', the same sound in other orthographies can be realized as ''j''  in the Algonquin system or ''š'' (or ''sh'') in the Saulteaux-Cree system (e.g. ''Nanabozho'' v. ''Nanabojo''). To this mix, depending on if the transcriber used French or English, the Anishinaabe name may be transcribed to fit the phonetic patterns of one of the two said languages (e.g. "Winnaboujou" and "Nanabijou": French rendering of ''Winabozho'' and ''Nanabizho'' respectively, or "Nanabush": English rendering of ''Nanabozh'').

Like the transcription variations found among "Nanabozho," often ''Mishaabooz'' is transcribed into French as ''Michabous'' and represented in English as Michabou. Additional name variations include "Winneboujou, Winabojo, Wenabozho, Wenaboozhoo, Waynaboozhoo, Wenebojo, Nanaboozhoo, Nanabojo, Nanabushu, Nanabush, Nanapush, Nenabush, Nenabozho, Nanabosho, Manabush, Manabozho, Manibozho, Nanahboozho, Minabozho, Manabus, Manibush, Manabozh, Manabozo, Manabozho, Manabusch, Manabush, Manabus, Menabosho, Nanaboojoo, Nanaboozhoo, Nanaboso, Nanabosho, Nenabuc, Amenapush, Ne-Naw-bo-zhoo, Kwi-wi-sens Nenaw-bo-zhoo [...] Michabo, Michabou, Michabous, Michaboo, Mishabo, Michabo, Misabos, Misabooz," and "Messou."<ref name="auto"/>

== In popular culture == thumb|upright|Nanabozho in the flood. (Illustration by R.C. Armour, from his book ''North American Indian Fairy Tales, Folklore and Legends'', 1905) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem ''The Song of Hiawatha'' (1855) is adapted from several Nanabozho stories, along with Longfellow's own inventions. However, the poem has little to do with the historical or legendary Hiawatha.

Nanabozho is featured, as "Nanabozo", in the form of a trickster rabbit in the Swiss bandes dessinées series Yakari, e.g. ''Yakari et Nanabozo'' (1978).

The novel ''Motorcycles and Sweetgrass'', a novel by Drew Hayden Taylor, contains a contemporary depiction of Nanabozho.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Drew |title=Motorcycles and Sweetgrass |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-039-00061-2 |edition=Modern Classics |location=Canada}}</ref> Published in 2010, the trickster is portrayed as a white man who charms his way into an Indigenous family living on the Otter Lake reserve.

The novel ''Moon of the Crusted Snow'' by Waubeshig Rice contains a retelling of a story involving Nanabozho.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rice |first=Wuabeshig |title=Moon of the Crusted Snow |publisher=ECW Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-616-86854-6|location=Canada}}</ref> Published in 2018, the spirit is called by the name Nanabush and is involved in a retelling of the story "Nanabush and the Wild Geese".

==Notes== <references />

==References== * Benton-Banai, Edward. ''The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway''. Hayward, WI: Indian Country Communications, 1988. * Chamberlain, A. F. "Nanibozhu amongst the Otchipwe, Mississagas, and other Algonkian tribes," ''Journal of American Folklore'' 4 (1891): 193–213. [https://doi.org/10.2307/534004 Nanibozhu amongst the Otchipwe, Mississagas, and Other Algonkian Tribes]. * Johnston, Basil. ''Ojibway Heritage''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1976. * Barnouw, Victor. ''Wisconsin Chippewa Myths and Tales''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1977. * Webkamigad, Howard. ''Ottawa Stories from the Springs''. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2015.

==External links== {{Wikiquote}} *{{Cite web|url=https://digital.lib.niu.edu/illinois/lincoln?page=63&ipp=9&theme=Land,+Migration+and+Settlement|title=Lincoln/Net | Northern Illinois University Digital Library|website=digital.lib.niu.edu}} {{cite web |url=http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/fimage/prairiefire/results1.php?page=63&ipp=9&theme=Land,%20Migration%20and%20Settlement | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319145624/http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/fimage/prairiefire/results1.php?page=63&ipp=9&theme=Land,%20Migration%20and%20Settlement | archive-date=19 March 2012 | title=Lincoln/Net | Northern Illinois University Digital Library }} "Manabosho's Hieroglyphics" recorded by Seth Eastman at Northern Illinois University *{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nanabozo|title=Nanabozo|website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}} "Nanabozo" in ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' *{{Cite web|url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/NanabozhoIndianstoryofthecreation.htm|title=Quebec History|first=Claude|last=Bélanger|website=faculty.marianopolis.edu}} "Nanabozho" in ''Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico'', 1907. Reproduced in ''Handbook of Indians of Canada'', 1913 *{{Cite web |url=http://collections.ic.gc.ca/clan/legends/nanabush.htm |title=How Nanabush Created the World |access-date=11 July 2005 |archive-date=4 December 2003 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20031204083758/http://collections.ic.gc.ca/clan/legends/nanabush.htm |url-status=dead }} *{{Cite web |url=http://collections.ic.gc.ca/clan/legends/nan_giant.htm |title=Nanabush and the Giant Beaver |access-date=11 July 2005 |archive-date=8 May 2003 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20030508024625/http://collections.ic.gc.ca/clan/legends/nan_giant.htm |url-status=dead }} *{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/alanis-obomsawin-tells-the-legend-of-nanabozho |title=The Legend of 'Nanabozho' (from the CBC radio archives, as an audio file) |access-date=31 October 2019 |archive-date=6 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906040258/http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/alanis-obomsawin-tells-the-legend-of-nanabozho |url-status=live }} *{{Cite web |url=http://www.gods-heros-myth.com/algonquin.html |title= Native American: North Gods: Algonquin |access-date=11 October 2007 |archive-date=12 December 2005 |archive-url=http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20051212103416/http://www.gods-heros-myth.com/algonquin.html |url-status=dead }} *{{Cite web|url=https://accessgenealogy.com/native/nanabozho.htm|title=Nanabozho – Access Genealogy|date=9 July 2011}}

Category:Anishinaabe mythology Category:Creator gods Category:Shapeshifters Category:Trickster gods Category:Raven deities Category:Coyotes in religion Category:Mythological rabbits and hares Category:Mythological spiders