Nanabozho

Nanabozho (in syllabics: ᓇᓇᐳᔓ, [nɐˌnɐbʊˈʒʊ]), also known as Nanabush, is a spirit in Anishinaabe aadizookaan (traditional storytelling), particularly among the Ojibwe. 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).

Pictogram of Nanabozho on Mazinaw Rock, Bon Echo Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

Quotes

• It is said that the Creator gathered together the four sacred elements and breathed life into them to give form to Original Man before setting him upon Turtle Island. The last of all beings to be created, First Man was given the name Nanabozho. The Creator called out the name to the four directions so that the others would know who was coming. Nanabozho, part man, part manido—a powerful spiritbeing—is the personification of life forces, the Anishinaabe culture hero, and our great teacher of how to be human. In Nanabozho's form as Original Man and in our own, we humans are the newest arrivals on earth, the youngsters, just learning to find our way.
  • Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions. 16 September 2013. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-57131-871-8. 

• Nanabozho did not know his parentage or his origins—only that he was set down into a fully peopled world of plants and animals, winds, and water. He was an immigrant too. Before he arrived, the world was all here, in balance and harmony, each one fulfilling their purpose in the Creation. He understood, as some did not, that this was not the "New World," but one that was ancient before he came.
  • Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions. 16 September 2013. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-57131-871-8. 

External links

• "Manabosho's Hieroglyphics" recorded by Seth Eastman at Northern Illinois University
• "Nanabozo" in The Canadian Encyclopedia
• "Nanabozho" in Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, 1907. Reproduced in Handbook of Indians of Canada, 1913.
• How Nanabush Created the World
• Nanabush and the Giant Beaver
• The Legend of 'Nanabozho' (from the CBC radio archives, as an audio file)
• Native American: North Gods: Algonquin
• Nanabozho, Access genealogy.

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