Manabozho

Also known as: Hiawatha / Ogee-bau-ge-mon / Tarenyawagon / Tarenyawazon · Family: Algonquins · Role: messenger of the Great Spirit · First appears: Hiawatha; or, Manabozho · Part 1

In Hiawatha; or, Manabozho · Part 1, Manabozho lives with his grandmother near a wide prairie’s edge. Schoolcraft describes him as “the messenger of the Great Spirit,” sent among the people as a wise man and prophet. He fights Megissogwon, the great wampum prince, and receives counsel from a woodpecker about finding his opponent’s vulnerable point.

In Hiawatha; or, Manabozho · Part 2, Manabozho meets his father, the West Wind Mudjekewis, on a mountain. His father tells him that his mother died giving birth to him, that he is the youngest of the children, and that his brothers are Kabibonokka, Wabun and Shawondasee. Manabozho and his father discover each other’s fears, then fight for several days; Manabozho drives him to the world’s brink. Mudjekewis offers him power and a mission to help the people, telling him, “Go and do good.” His grandmother has raised him and later helps him recover with her medicines.

In the parts that follow, Manabozho kills the king of the fishes and escapes from its body with help from Ajidaumo and the gulls, whom he names Kayoshk. He prepares for war against Megissogwon, whom he kills with his third arrow, and rewards the woodpecker who advised him by reddening its head with the Manito’s blood. His adventures also include encounters with a bear, a duck and an old wolf who uses enchantment against him. Manabozho retaliates against the wolf, and a young wolf helps restore the meat he had been made unable to see.

In Hiawatha; or, Manabozho · Part 6 and Part 7, Manabozho’s grandson Chebizbos is seized by serpents and killed. Manabozho mourns him, learns from Ke-ske-mun-i-see of the Prince of Serpents, and kills the prince; he also creates a new earth after the flood, with help from a muskrat that brings up earth from below. He later marries the arrow-maker’s daughter. In Part 8 and Part 9, he receives help from the Moose and the large redheaded Woodpecker, and his guardian Spirit speaks to him. He fasts, returns to his wife, and eventually transforms the Moose and Woodpecker at a feast into squirrels. Schoolcraft reports that Manabozho then withdraws to live with his brother Kabibonokka in the North.

In Pauguk, and the Mythological Interpretation of Hiawatha, Schoolcraft gives a distinct Iroquois version: Tarenyawagon is sent by the Master of Life to prepare the earth for people and teach the tribes. Having completed this work, he takes the name Hiawatha, settles among the Iroquois, marries, and urges the tribes to form a league. After his favorite daughter’s fate, he mourns for a long time, announces that his mission is over, and rises beyond human sight in his magic canoe.