Nanabozho Recounts His Past
It has
been many years since I met with my brothers. I have a wife now
and many children who have children of their own. I am an old
man. A wise man, I believe, but it took many years to find that
wisdom. I always wondered how I would be able to live up to my
brothers' greatness, but it seems that I was meant to overshadow
them. It
is not something I brag about because I am still just a man who has
reached the end of his days. Unlike my brothers, my greatness did not
come in youth. I spent many years searching for my place among
my
people. I had hoped that my brothers would bring me a sense of my
self, but they only brought me more questions. My grandmother
fell ill
soon after I met with my brothers and I was more lost than I had been
before. I decided that the only thing I had left to do was to
meet my
father. I asked my brothers for one last favor and they told me
where
I could I find him. It was at this point that I found my future.
My
father lived in the West controlling the wind so I journeyed to the
very western border of our lands where rocks are more present than
plants and the wind sings. I yelled my father's name and he came
out
of his dwelling and stopped the wind so he could hear me speak.
And I said:
"Why
did you let me grow up all alone and not come visit like you did the
other boys? And why won't you go see my mom so she can come home? What
kind of father are you?"
He replied:
"I wanted
something different for you, son. You are not like your other
brothers. And I'm sorry about your mother, but sometimes women
who
love
manitous lose their hold on reality. I wish it hadn't happened,
but
there isn't much I can do now to help her. I loved her, but my
place is here and not among the humans. Now, son, what can I do
for
you?"
Over the next few hours we talked about our lives and
he talked about his role of controlling the wind, but I was still upset
and had it in my mind that I would fight my father. I began
asking him
what his weaknesses were and he gave me the usual answers about his
children and the people that he was fond of. I wanted to know
what he
feared and finally he pointed to the rocks at the top of a neighboring
peak. He told me that that rock was used by the witches to
control
manitous. It made him weak. Weak as man. I knew this
was my way into
hurting my father.
The next morning I woke early and told my
father I was going to go on a hike and went to take some of that
rock.
When I got close to where my father was I heard his gasp and saw him
visibly weaken.
He looked at me with shame and said:
"Go on, son. I know you want to hit me. I've known since
you came to see me that your mission was one of anger."
After this, I knew I could never fight my father and backed down.
My
father said, "Nanabozho, I always knew that you would be the best among
the sons I had with Winona. Your brothers are great men, but they
use
their skills as part-manitou to find greatness. You have always
focused
on
being a young man and used what was given to you as a human. You
may
not be a great hunter, or dancer, or singer, but you can be a great man
like so many others from our people"
I never saw my
father again after that. I realized that my greatest skill was my
humanity. My ability to love those around me. So I stayed
with my
grandmother until she passed, and then I found a wife and had a
family. Now my family is large and great men from all over come
to
see
me. Not because my father was a manitou, but because I have ruled
this
land for many years now. And my strength as a manitou finally came as I
grew older. I realized I did not need great strength to
accomplish
things, but loyal men and women that were willing to follow me. I
am
at the evening of my days, but I look back fondly on the time I spent
with my brothers and father. Their stories are the ones I tell my
grandchildren today.
Author's Note:
In this
story, I retold the story of Nanabozho meeting his father from the book
The Myth of Hiawatha, and Other Oral Legends, Mythologic and Allegoric,
of the North American Indians by Henry R. Schoolcraft. It was
published in 1856 and can be found at Project Gutenberg.
Nanabozho was seen as a
symbol of humanity for the Ojibway people and I
wanted to tell the story of how he realized what his destiny was.
In
the original story, he fights his father, but I wanted to keep the idea
of Nanabozho as a human and knew that he couldn't fight the manitou and
realistically win. I also added details of Nanabozho's later life
as a leader of his people. There are thousands of different
stories about him because the Ojibway saw him as their symbol. He
was seen by some as a prophet and by others as a medicine man. He
had a power that was deeply connected to the spiritual side of the
Ojibway.
I also thought I would add
that he told the stories of his brothers to his grandchildren because
he wanted to be like his brothers and find greatness, but he found it
in his own way.
Source: "Nanabozho" The Myth
of Hiawatha, and Other Oral Legends, Mythologic and Allegoric, of the
North American Indians . By Henry R. Schoolcraft.
1856. Web Source: Project
Gutenberg
Image Information: Ojibway Creation Story Image Weblink.