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Information about Abenaki Mythology

The Abenaki (also Wabanaki) are a Native American tribe located in the northeastern United States. Religious ceremonies are led by shamans, called Medeoulin (Mdawinno).

The history of the Abenaki people is divided into three time periods. In the first, the Ancient Age, humanity and animal-life are undifferentiated. In the second, the Golden Age, humans are still animals, but quantitatively different. In the third, the Present Age, animals and humanity are totally differentiated.

Beings of the Ancient Age

  • Atosis (also as Ato-sees) - a Medeoulin who is both snake and human, forces people to find a stick so that he can cook them with it, was blinded by Moosbas
  • Asban (also Azeban, lit. "raccoon") - raccoon (or wolverine) trickster spirit
  • Kee-wakw - a gigantic, forest-dwelling cannibal
  • Kisosen (also as Kee-zos-en, lit. "sun-bringer") - the solar deity, an eagle whose wings opened to create the day, and closed to cause the night-time
  • Kita-skog (lit. "Big Snake") (also Pita-skog, lit. "Grand Snake") - a snake-spirit who fights the Pa-don-gi-ak
  • Kchi-awasos (lit. "Big Bear") - the bowl stars of the Big Dipper are the Great Bear, who is chased every night by three hunters; he is killed every fall and his blood drips to earth turning the leaves brown while the constellation turns upside down; it is righted, and he is reborn, every spring
  • Mateguas (also as Mat-gwas) - a rabbit spirit, first (one of magic) the rabbit, the very first Medeoulin (shaman), legendary founder of the Meda Society of Magic
  • Metee-kolen-ol - a race of evil wizards with hearts of ice
  • Nanom-keea-po-da - subterranean spirit who causes earthquakes
  • Niben (also as Nee-ben, lit. "summer") - a woman whose stunning beauty forces Pe-ben to retreat to the north; she represents summer
  • P-mol-a - (also Pamola, Bmola, Pomola) - a bird and night spirit who takes prisoners to Alomkik, near Mt. Katahdin and causes cold weather
  • Psônen (lit. "snow-bringer") - an eagle-spirit that makes snow by opening his wings
  • Padôgiyik (also as Pa-don-gi-ak, lit. "thunders") - seven white-skinned, golden-haired brothers, half-human and half-bird, former inhabitants of Lake Champlain, war-like (battles Kita-skog), thunder and lightning spirits.
  • Pebon (lit. "winter") - a powerful sorcerer who puts his audience to sleep when he tells stories, spirit of winter
  • Siguan (also as See-gwen, lit. "spring") - a young male who loved the season of summer, and brought her to the north every spring
  • Tabal-dak (also Tabaldak) - the androgynous creator of existence
  • Wa-won-dee-a-megw - a snail spirit that can live in trees, on land or in the water, as well as change size and appearance to look like a huge snake, alligator or scaly man; has horns which can be ground into a magical powder
  • Wad-zoo-sen - the eagle that flaps his wings to create wind
  • Wassan-mon-ganeehla-ak - a race of people who play games with a ball of light, causing the Aurora Borealis

Beings of the Golden Age

  • Oodzee-hozo (Odzihózo)[1] - ("the man who created himself") a man who lived before the invention of legs. He dragged his body around, creating mountains, valleys and rivers (in this early form, he is referred to as Bemee-geedzin-pobi-zeed), as well as Lake Champlain, which is holy to the Abenaki. Odzihozo turned himself into a stone in the middle of the lake and is said to inhabit Rock Dunder (west of Burlington, Vermont).
  • Tool-ba - foolish turtle spirit, uncle of Gluskab
  • Pla-ween-noo - turtle spirit, mother of Gluskab, patron spirit of the Sokwakis
  • Agaskw (also Nokemis) - woodchuck spirit, grandmother of Gluskab, very wise
  • Moos-bas - mink spirit, adopted son on Gluskab, powerful fletcher, sometimes fulfills wishes
  • Mool-sem - one of Gluskab's dogs, the white one, could shrink or enlarge himself
  • M-da-weelh-ak - a loon spirit in the form of a dog, Gluskab's messenger, one of his dogs, the black one, could shrink or enlarge himself
  • A-senee-ki-wakw - a race of stone giants, the first people Gluskab created but then destroyed because they crushed other animals and injured the earth with their great size

Gluskab and Malsumis

Tabaldak, the creator god, made humans and then Gluskab (several variants of whom were associated with different branches of the Abenaki, including Glooscap, Glooskap, Gluskabe Klooskomba) and Malsumis sprang from the dust on his hand. Gluskab and Malsumis both had the power to create a good world, but only Gluskab did so. Malsumis still seeks evil to this day.

Gluskab founded the Golden Age of the Earth by rendering the evil spirits of the Ancient Age smaller and safer, as well as teaching humanity how to hunt and fish, build shelter and all of the Abenaki's knowledge of art, invention and science. Gluskab's departure ended the Golden Age, though he is prophesied to return and renew it again.

Me-koom-wee-soo was Gluskab's assistant and wields an ivory bow. He has a fierce temper and gains weight as he gets more angry; eventually, it is said, he sinks into stone. Gluskab and Me-koom-wee-soo had an archery contest once; Me-koom-wee-soo fired an arrow into the top of Mt. Washington, creating a pond, while Gluskab's arrow created a hole in the sky that was then called msatawa (the Evening Star).

Gluskab realized the strain hunters can cause on an ecosystem. He asked a woodchuck spirit for help, and she gave him all the hairs off her belly, woven into a magical sac. This is why woodchucks have bald bellies. Gluskab then went to a mountain, where Tabaldak had placed a huge eagle (P-mol-a) that made bad weather by flapping its wings. After binding it, Gluskab realized some wind was necessary and loosened them slightly. Gluskab saved the world from a frog monster that swallowed all the planet's water. When Gluskab cut open the monster's belly, some animals jumped into the water and became fish. Some modern Wabanaki believe that Gluskab is angry at white people for not obeying his rules.

Beings of the Present Age

  • Alom-bag-winno-sis a mischievous, aquatic creature that upsets canoes
  • Alom-begwi-no-sis - an aquatic dwarfish race of men that can increase or decrease body size at will; they also own a pot which can transform a few kernels of maize into a huge quantity; seeing one supposedly foretells a death by drowning
  • Ask-wee-da-eed - a fire-elemental, identified as a will o' the wisp, that brings bad luck and death, also connected with comets and meteors
  • Atsolowas - a trickster.
  • Awa-hon-do z- insect spirits that bite humans
  • Awes-kon-wa - a small, flying sprite, associated with the Mohawk tribe
  • Batsolowanagwes - a benign trickster
  • Bedig-wajo (western Abenaki) or Ktaden (eastern Abenaki) - a culture hero
  • Chibaiskweda - marsh gas, supposedly caused by the ghost of an improperly buried corpse
  • Do-gakw-ho-wad - small men who prop the jaws of animals open with sticks in order to avoid being eaten
  • Dzee-dzee-bon-da - a monster, so ugly that even he is terrified of his own appearance
  • Ko-gok - another monster
  • Lo-lol - a frightening monster
  • M-ska-gwe-demoos - a swamp-dwelling woman, dressed in moss with moss for hair; she cries alone in the forest and is potentially dangerous
  • Maski-mon-gwe-zo-os - a toad creature, seduces men and children and kills them, appears either as a partridge or a woman dressed in moss, with a belt made of arborvitae bark
  • Meek-moos-ak - a pair of short twins who seduce women, who are then cursed to never desire marriage, kills hunters during the winter, possibly a personification of the Mi'kmaq tribe
  • N-dam-keno-wet - a half-fish, half-human creature with a small face and long hair, molests bathing women
  • P-skig-demo-os - a female creature, P-skig-demo-os slays men and children
  • Pak-zin-skwa - an ugly, old woman
  • Pim-skwa-wagen-owad - small, aquatic, pinching creatures
  • Pok-wejee-men - small creatures, created from the bark of the ash tree
  • Tsa-tsamolee-as - the noisy, clownish fool
  • Tsi-noo - a person whose heart is made of ice and has no soul; he eats the souls of others for sustenance and strength
  • Wana-games-ak - river-dwelling creatures with faces so narrow, they are essentially two-dimensional, friendly creatures that warned the Abenaki of coming attacks

References

1. ^ Afable, Patricia O. and Madison S. Beekes (1996). "Place Names" in Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 17 (Ives Goddard, ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, p. 193
Abenaki (or Abnaki) are a tribe of Native Americans/First Nations belonging to the Algonquian peoples of northeastern North America, located in area the Eastern Algonquian languages call the "Wabanaki" (Dawn Land) Region.
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American Indian and Alaska Native
One race: 2.5 million[1]
In combination with one or more other races: 1.6 million[2]
Regions with significant populations  United States

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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. There are many variations in shamanism throughout the world, though there are some beliefs that are shared by all forms of shamanism:

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The Midewiwin (also spelled Midewin and Medewiwin) or the Grand Medicine Society is a secretive religion of the aboriginal groups of the Great Lakes regions in North America.
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Azeban is a lower-level trickster spirit in Abenaki mythology. The traditional homeland of the Abenaki is Wobanakik (Place of the Dawn), what is now called Northern New England and Southern Quebec.

Azeban deceives animals and other beings for food or other services.
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Azeban is a lower-level trickster spirit in Abenaki mythology. The traditional homeland of the Abenaki is Wobanakik (Place of the Dawn), what is now called Northern New England and Southern Quebec.

Azeban deceives animals and other beings for food or other services.
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According to the folklore of the Abenaki tribe of the north-eastern United States a Kee-wakw was a giant cannibal half animal half human creature that inhabited the forests and woodlands of New England during ancient times.
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solar deity (also heliolatry or sun worship), is a god or goddess who represents the sun, or an aspect of it. People have worshipped these for all of recorded history.
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Horned Serpent is a mystical, invisible, serpent with horns appearing in the mythologies of many Native Americans. He brought rain and made a noise similar to (but not the same as) thunder.
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Horned Serpent is a mystical, invisible, serpent with horns appearing in the mythologies of many Native Americans. He brought rain and made a noise similar to (but not the same as) thunder.
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Great Bear, form a well-known asterism that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial.

Names and lore

Europe

In the United Kingdom this pattern is known as the Plough
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The Midewiwin (also spelled Midewin and Medewiwin) or the Grand Medicine Society is a secretive religion of the aboriginal groups of the Great Lakes regions in North America.
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Pamola (also known as P-mol-a, Pomola, and Bmola) is a legendary bird spirit that appears in Abenaki mythology. Pamola is correctly spelt Pamolai. Most Tourists are the cause of the secondary spelling (Pamola), for they found it easier to prenounce it Pamola
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Pamola (also known as P-mol-a, Pomola, and Bmola) is a legendary bird spirit that appears in Abenaki mythology. Pamola is correctly spelt Pamolai. Most Tourists are the cause of the secondary spelling (Pamola), for they found it easier to prenounce it Pamola
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Mount Katahdin (USGS name) is the highest mountain in Maine. Called Katahdin by people local to the peak and by the Penobscot Indians: the term means "The Greatest Mountain".
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Coordinates Coordinates:

Primary sources Otter Creek
Winooski River
Missisquoi River
Lamoille River
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Tabaldak is the androgynous creator among the Abenaki an Algonquian people of northeastern North America. From the dust of his hand Tabaldak created the brothers Gluskab and Malsumis.
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Tabaldak is the androgynous creator among the Abenaki an Algonquian people of northeastern North America. From the dust of his hand Tabaldak created the brothers Gluskab and Malsumis.
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Auroras (or aurorae) [sing: aurora] are natural colored light displays, which are usually observed in the night sky, particularly in the polar zone. Some scientists therefore call them "polar auroras" (or "aurorae polaris").
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mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill, but there is no universally accepted standard definition for the height of a mountain or a hill although a mountain usually has an identifiable
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geology, a valley is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.

The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys.
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river is a natural waterway that transits water through a landscape from higher to lower elevations. It is an integral component of the water cycle. The water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through surface runoff, groundwater recharge (as seen at baseflow
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Coordinates Coordinates:

Primary sources Otter Creek
Winooski River
Missisquoi River
Lamoille River
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Burlington, Vermont
Nickname: Queen City
Location in Vermont
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Vermont
County Chittenden

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Agaskw ("woodchuck"; also known as Nokemis, "my grandmother") is a very wise woodchuck-spirit of the Abenaki. She is the grandmother of Gluskab.
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Agaskw ("woodchuck"; also known as Nokemis, "my grandmother") is a very wise woodchuck-spirit of the Abenaki. She is the grandmother of Gluskab.
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The A-senee-ki-wakw are a race of stone giants in Abenaki mythology. They were the first race created by Gluskab. However, because they crushed so many animals and injured the earth with their great size and weight, Gluskab destroyed them.
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Tabaldak is the androgynous creator among the Abenaki an Algonquian people of northeastern North America. From the dust of his hand Tabaldak created the brothers Gluskab and Malsumis.
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Glooscap (also spelled Gluskabe,Glooskap, Gluskabi, Kluscap, Kloskomba, or Gluskab) is a mythical culture hero, and "transformer" of the Wabanaki peoples.
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