Nanabozho
Anishinaabe · demigod · pre prophecy · Recorded classification
The central culture-hero and trickster of the Anishinaabe. Completes creation by naming all things. Brother of Maudjee-kawiss, Pukawiss, Chibiabos, and Wabosso. The Wenabozho cycle is the longest sustained narrative tradition in Anishinaabe oral literature.
Parentage
- paternal: E-bangishimog
- maternal: Wiininwaa
Powers
- shapeshifting multi
- naming power
- wind mastery
- medicine knowledge
- trickster cunning
- Name the plants and animals
- Recreate the earth after the flood
- Transform his own shape
- Wield spirit-power
Epithets
- Nanabozho The Great Hare; culture-hero and transformer who remade the world after the flood and taught the peopleAnishinaabe oral tradition; Basil Johnston, Ojibway Heritage (secondary)
Relations
- sibling: Maudjee-kawissReciprocal of maudjee_kawiss.sibling. Eldest brother in the four-brother Anishinaabe-cosmogonic-cycle.Schoolcraft, Algic Researches; Benton-Banai, Mishomis Book (secondary)
- sibling: PukawissSecond brother — disowned for rejecting traditional pursuits, became the dance-and-pigeon-form figure.Schoolcraft; Benton-Banai (secondary)
- sibling: ChibiabosBrother killed by the Underwater Manitous; became guide-to-the-dead.Schoolcraft; Benton-Banai (secondary)
- sibling: WabossoThird brother, inseparable companion to Nanabozho before being killed by the Underwater Manitous.Schoolcraft; Benton-Banai (secondary)
- sibling: JiibayaaboozReciprocal of jiibayaabooz.sibling (alphabetical family sweep). (auto reciprocal)
Sources
- existence: Schoolcraft, Algic Researches (1839) vol. I-II (secondary); Benton-Banai, The Mishomis Book (secondary); Coleman, Ojibwa Myths and Legends (1962) (secondary)