The Wake

Nanaboozhoo took the piece of Earth from Muskrat’s paw. Just then, the turtle swam forward and said, “Use my back to bear the weight of this piece of Earth. With the help of Kitchi-Manitou, we can make a new Earth.” Nanaboozhoo put the piece of Earth on the turtle’s back. Suddenly, the wind blew from each of the Four Directions, The tiny piece of Earth on the turtle’s back began to grow. It grew and grew and grew until it formed a mi-ni-si’, or island in the water. The island grew larger and larger, but still the turtle bore the weight of the Earth on his back. Nanaboozhoo and the animals all sang and danced in a widening circle on the growing island. After a while, the Four Winds ceased to blow and the waters became still. A huge island sat in the middle of the water, and today that island is known as North America.

This is part of a story adapted from The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway, by Edward Benton-Banai. The story describes why traditional American Indians, including the Ojibway, hold such reverence for the turtle and the muskrat.

But it also emphasizes the importance stories have in a culture that has been around long before Europeans first set foot on this continent.

“Stories are the oral history of the people,” says Carter Meland, a lecturer with the department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. Meland added that there was a moral to each tale. “Many refer to the teachings that are in the stories,” he says.

The American Indian Cultural Center held an event on campus last month commemorating the act of winter storytelling. They invited several storytellers from different tribes across the region to tell stories that had been passed on to them. The stories preserve a tradition in which older members of the community told stories in the Ojibway language. Using deep, bellowing voices and at times standing on chairs, the men conveyed the story so that even those who did not understand the language understood the story.

After the story had been told once, younger men from the community took to the stage to retell the same story, but in a jiving non-formal way that sounded more like a style heard on a high school bus than on a stage. But then, that’s the cultural significance of storytelling—that the stories are continuously passed on through generations who have their own styles.

“Storytelling is the source of knowledge in the Ojibiway culture,” says Dennis Pebaamibines, the Ojibway Language Specialist at the University of Minnesota. “And the source of the stories are their dreams, and their dreams are from the spirits,” Pebaamibines added.

Back in the days when great battles took place between various American Indian tribes across the forests of Northern Wisconsin, when the cold winds of winter blew off of Lake Superior, testing the will and strength of even the strongest warriors, the skills of the Ojibway storytellers were most important—creating community, remembering history and instilling morality upon their fellow tribe members. The following passage, again from Benton-Banai’s book, illustrates this sense of tribe morality in the story.

Long ago, after the Great Mystery, or Kitchi-Manitou, first peopled the earth, the Anishinabe, or Original People, strayed from their harmonious ways and began to argue and fight with one another. Brother turned against brother and soon the Anishinabe were killing one another over hunting grounds and others disagreements. Seeing that harmony, brotherhood, sisterhood, and respect for all living things no longer prevailed on Earth, Kitchi-Manitou decided to purify the Earth. He did this with water.

“There are four aspects of storytelling,” said Pebaamibines. “Cultural morals, animal characteristics, land formations and entertainment.” And though storytelling is a time-tested method of communication, Pebaamibines admits that today “the competition is great with things like Nintendo and TV.”

But with events like the Winter Storytelling event hosted by the American Indian Cultural Center, and the efforts of those in the community to get younger people involved as storytellers, perhaps these fascinating stories will captivate audiences for a long time to come.

Read the full version of the story about the creation of North America:

Long ago, after the Great Mystery, or Kitchi-Manitou, first peopled the earth, the Anishinabe, or Original People, strayed from their harmonious ways and began to argue and fight with one another. Brother turned against brother and soon the Anishinabe were killing one another over hunting grounds and others disagreements. Seeing that harmony, brotherhood, sisterhood, and respect for all living things no longer prevailed on Earth, Kitchi-Manitou decided to purify the Earth. He did this with water.

The water came in the form of a great flood, or mush-ko’-be-wun’, upon the Earth destroying the Anishinabe people and most of the animals as well. Only Nanaboozhoo, the central figure in many of the Anishinabe oral traditions, was able to survive the flood, along with a few animals and birds who managed to swim and fly. Nanaboozhoo floated on a huge log searching for land, but none was to be found as the Earth was now covered by the great flood. Nanaboozhoo allowed the remaining animals and birds to take turns resting on the log as well. Finally, Nanaboozhoo spoke.

“I am going to do something,” he said. “I am going to swim to the bottom of this water and grab a handful of earth. With this small bit of Earth, I believe we can create a new land for us to live on with the help of the Four Winds and Kitchi-Manitou.”

So Nanaboozhoo dived into the water and was gone for a long time. Finally he surfaced, and short of breath told the animals that the water is too deep for him to swim to the bottom. All were silent. Finally, Mahng, the Loon spoke up. “I can dive under the water for a long way, that is how I catch my food. I will try to make it to the bottom and return with some Earth in my beak.”

The Loon disappeared and was gone for a very long time. Surely, thought the others, the Loon must have drowned. Then they saw him float to the surface, weak and nearly unconscious. “I couldn’t make it, there must be no bottom to this water,” he gasped. Then Zhing-gi-biss, the helldiver came forward and said “I will try next, everyone knows I can dive great distances.” So the helldiver went under. Again, a very long time passed and the others thought he was surely drowned. At last he too floated to the surface. He was unconscious, and not till he came to could he relate to the others that he too was unable to fetch the Earth from the bottom.

Many more animals tried but failed, including Zhon-gwayzh’, the mink, and even Mi-zhee-kay”, the turtle. All failed and it seemed as though there was no way to get the much needed Earth from the bottom. Then a soft muffled voice was heard. “I can do it,” it spoke softly. At first no one could see who it was that spoke up. Then, the little Wa-zhushk”, muskrat stepped forward. “I’ll try,” he repeated. Some of the other, bigger, more powerful animals laughed at muskrat. Nanaboozhoo spoke up. “Only Kitchi-Manitou can place judgment on others. If muskrat wants to try, he should be allowed to.”

So, muskrat dove into the water. He was gone much longer than any of the others who tried to reach the bottom. After a while Nanaboozhoo and the other animals were certain that muskrat had given his life trying to reach the bottom. Far below the water’s surface, muskrat, had in fact reached the bottom. Very weak from lack of air, he grabbed some Earth in his paw and with all the energy he could muster began to swim for the surface. One of the animals spotted muskrat as he floated to the surface. Nanaboozhoo pulled him up onto the log. “Brothers and sisters,” Nanaboozhoo said, “muskrat went too long without air, he is dead.” A song of mourning and praise was heard across the water as muskrat’s spirit passed on to the spirit world. Suddenly Nanaboozhoo exclaimed, “Look, there is something in his paw!” Nanaboozhoo carefully opened the tiny paw. All the animals gathered close to see what was held so tightly there. Muskrat’s paw opened and revealed a small ball of Earth. The animals all shouted with joy. Muskrat sacrificed his life so that life on Earth could begin anew.

Nanaboozhoo took the piece of Earth from Muskrat’s paw. Just then, the turtle swam forward and said, “Use my back to bear the weight of this piece of Earth. With the help of Kitchi-Manitou, we can make a new Earth.” Nanaboozhoo put the piece of Earth on the turtle’s back. Suddenly, the wind blew from each of the Four Directions, The tiny piece of Earth on the turtle’s back began to grow. It grew and grew and grew until it formed a mi-ni-si’, or island in the water. The island grew larger and larger, but still the turtle bore the weight of the Earth on his back. Nanaboozhoo and the animals all sang and danced in a widening circle on the growing island. After a while, the Four Winds ceased to blow and the waters became still. A huge island sat in the middle of the water, and today that island is known as North America.