Wabosso

Anishinaabe · demigod · pre prophecy · demigod

Third-born of four sons to E-bangishimog (West Wind) by Wiininwaa. Originally named Wau-boozoo ("white tail," in reference to the rabbit) — the rabbit-form etymology aligns him with the broader Anishinaabe rabbit-figure tradition that includes his brother Nanabozho's own occasional rabbit-form. Became Nanabozho's inseparable companion — variously twin, younger, or adopted brother depending on the recension; often takes wolf-form rather than rabbit-form in this companion-aspect. Slain by malevolent underwater manitous (horned serpents and underwater panthers like Mishibizhiw) who dwell in the depths of the lakes and embody chaotic forces disrupting natural balance. The killing is a cosmogonic pivot: the water-spirits flood the Earth in retaliation for Nanabozho's subsequent vengeance, reshaping the post-flood world. After death, renamed Cheeby-aub-oozoo (= Chibiabos), meaning "the ghost of rabbit" (jiibay "ghost" + waabooz "rabbit") — the name-change marking the status-shift from mortal-aligned-rabbit-brother to underworld-spirit-ruler. The chibiabos registry entry encodes the post-death role as the same figure under his post-death name; the two entries together model the pre-and-post-death lifecycle. The 19th-century English transliteration "Chibiabos" (notably in Longfellow's 1855 Song of Hiawatha, drawn from Schoolcraft) romanticized the figure as a "gentle musician and soul guide" — a poetically-accessible distortion of the more complex spirit-figure preserved in Basil Johnston's contemporary Anishinaabe-author retelling.

Parentage

Powers

Relations

Sources

Open in the interactive app →