In any event, as a result of this merger, there are basically two forms in which he is conceived. The character in question is the manitou of the waters and the underworld, Mishibizhiw or Mishibizhii, whose name literally means “Great Lynx,” but is often referred to as the “Underwater Panther,” “Underwater Lion,” and similar variants, and whose Ojibwe name has been spelled in dozens of different ways, most often as something like “Mishipeshu” or “Mishepishu.” Mishibizhiw was originally distinguished from another manitou, the giant horned serpent Mishiginebig “Great Serpent,” but at least in many cases the two have since merged in Anishinaabe conception, with the name Mishibizhiw coming to cover the aspects of both (or mishiginebig being the name of some of his underlings), and in this post I will treat both under the rubric of Mishibizhiw. He’s a thing of dry foam, a thing of death by drowning, the death a Chippewa cannot survive. Then he takes the body of a lion, a fat brown worm, or a familiar man. He casts a shell necklace at your feet, weeps gleaming chips that harden into mica on your breasts. His feet are joined as one and his skin, brass scales, rings to the touch. But if you fall into his arms, he sprouts horns, fangs, claws, fins. Our mothers warn us that we’ll think he’s handsome, for he appears with green eyes, copper skin, a mouth tender as a child’s. Dewdney, The Sacred Scrolls of the Southern Ojibway, pg. How does one name one’s deepest, unspoken fears? Were there not creatures inhabiting the deep waters more deadly and dangerous than any of the fish species? How should they be named?. Leviathan and Tyger: Comparative Aspects.His domain is that of the waters, so it is only in winter, when the lakes and rivers are frozen over with ice and he is trapped slumbering in his domain, that the stories can be told. One of the characters in particular must never be named until winter, for to name him is to risk drawing his attention, and you do not wish to draw his attention. During the warmer months, unwholesome creatures-frogs, toads, serpents, and their kin-are active and may be listening, as are all the manitous (gods/spirits) and other characters mentioned in the stories. The Anishinaabeg, like most Algonquian and many other Native peoples, have a traditional prohibition on telling traditional, sacred stories ( aadizookaanag) during the warmer months. This is a post I need to write while it’s still winter.
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