Some of the Legends of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Respecting the
Great Flood of the World--A Person Swallowed Up Alive Like a Prophet
Jonah.
Before proceeding with the history of the Ottawas and Chippewas some of
their most important and peculiar legends will be given. They have a
tradition of a great flood, as is recorded it the Bible History, and
many other tribes of Indians who speak dialect of the Ottawa and
Chippewa languages have the same story. The legends say it was caused,
not by a rain, but by the great Ne-naw-bo-zhoo, who was the most
remarkable, wonderful, and supernatural being that ever trod upon the
earth. He could transfigure himself into the shape of all animals and
live with them for a great length of time. He has done much mischief
and also many benefits to the inhabitants of the earth whom he called
"his nephews;" and he shaped almost everything, teaching his nephews
what materials they should take for their future utensils. This
mischievous Ne-naw-bo-zhoo spoiled the sugar trees by diluting their
sap with water. The legends say, that once upon a time the sugar trees
did produce sap at certain season of the year which was almost like a
pure syrup; but when this mischievous Ne-naw-bo-zhoo had tasted it, he
said to himself, "Ah, that is too cheap. It will not do. My nephews
will obtain this sugar too easily in the future time and the sugar will
be worthless." And therefore he diluted the sap until he could not
taste any sweetness therein. Then he said, "Now my nephews will have to
labor hard to make the sugar out of this sap, and the sugar will be
much more valuable to them in the future time." In former times the
heart of every tree contained fat from which all inhabitants of the
earth obtained delicious oil to eat; but this mischievous Ne-naw-bo-
zhoo, in his supernatural way, pushed his staff into the heart of every
tree; and this is the reason why the heart of every tree has a
different color.
There was no great ark in which to float during the great flood, but
when Ne-naw-bo-zhoo could not find any more dry land to run to when he
was pursued with mountains of water, he said, "let there be a great
canoe." So there was a great canoe which he entered with his animals
and floated.
As to the origin of Ne-naw-bo-zhoo, the legend says, that once upon a
time there lived a maiden with her grandmother, who was a very dutiful
and obedient child, observing every precept which was taught her by her
grandmother, and she spent much time fasting; during which time she had
wonderful dreams which she related to her grandmother every morning
during her fast days. She very often had a vision of holding
conversation with some deities and finally she was assured in a vision,
that her children would be terrible and would redeem all the
inhabitants of the earth from their various calamities; and
accordingly, she bore two sons. The first born was like any other human
child, but the last one was a monster which caused the death of its
mother, and, although shaped like a human being, as soon as born ran
off in the wilderness and was never again seen by any person; but the
first child was nourished and reared by the grandmother. When this
child grew to be playful and talkative by the side of its grandmother,
he was so strange that very often she would say to him, "Your actions
are like a Ne-naw-bo-zhoo." Then the child would reply, "I am the great
Ne-naw-bo-zhoo on this earth." The meaning of this word in the
Algonquin language is "a clown" and therefore he meant that he was the
great "clown" of the world.
When Ne-naw-bo-zhoo became a man he was a great prophet for his nephews
and an expert hunter. His hunting dog was a great black wolf. When he
learned from his grandmother, that his mother was dead and that his
brother was a monster with a body like flint stone which caused her
death, Ne-naw-bo-zhoo was in a great rage after hearing the story and
he determined to seek for this evil being and slay him. Then he
immediately prepared for a long journey, and trimmed his ponderous war
club nicely and prepared to be in a great battle. So off he went with
his great black wolf on the war path. As he passed through the forest,
for a trial of his strength and the strength of his war club, he simply
made motions with it toward one of the tallest pines of the forest
and the gigantic tree came down all into slivers. "Ah," said Ne-naw-
bo-zhoo, "who could stand against my strength and the strength of my
war club." After many days journey going into every nook and loop hole
of the earth, he succeeded at last in having a glimpse of the object of
his search. Ne-naw-bo-zhoo ran to overtake him, and chased him all over
the world; and every now and then he would be close enough to reach him
with his war-club and to strike at him, but he would only break a piece
of the monster's stony body, which was like a mountain of hard flintstone.
So the legend says that whenever we find a pile of hard flints lying on the
face of the earth, there is where Ne-naw-bo-zhoo overtook his brother
monster and struck him with his tremendous war-club. At last he vanquished
him on the east shore of Grand Traverse Bay, Michigan, near the place now
called Antrim City, but formerly by the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, it was
called "Pe-wa-na-go-ing," meaning "Flinty Point," so called because there
were great rocks of flint lying near the edge of the lake shore. And so
the Ottawas and Chippewas say it is there where the old carcass of the
monster is now lying--the brother of the great Ne-naw-bo-zhoo. After
that he traveled over almost every part of this continent sometimes in
the shape of an animal and then again in human shape. There is an
impression of human foot tracks on a very smooth rock some where along
the Ottawa river in Canada, and also a round hole about as large and
deep as a common brass kettle on this flat rock near where the track is
and every Ottawa and Chippewa calls these "Ne-naw-bo-zhoo's track" and
"Ne-naw-bo-zhoo's kettle where he dropped it when chasing his brother,"
and then they would drop a piece of tobacco in the kettle as a
sacrifice, at the same time praying for luck and a prosperous journey
to Montreal and back again to Michigan, their native home, when passing
this place.
Now the cause of the great flood was this: The god of the deep was
exceedingly jealous about Ne-naw-bo-zhoo's hunting dog (the great black
wolf) and therefore, he killed it and made a feast with it and invited
many guests, which were represented as sea-serpents, water-tigers, and
every kind of monster of the deep, and they had a great feast. When Ne-
naw-bo-zhoo found out what had become of his hunting dog, he was
furiously enraged, and determined to kill this god of the deep.
There was a certain place where he was accustomed to come on the shore
with his hosts, particularly on very fine days, to sun themselves and
enjoy the pleasure of being on a dry land. Ne-naw-bo-zhoo knew this
lovely spot very well. So right away he strung up his bow and trimmed
his arrows nicely, and went there to watch, transforming himself into a
black stump, near where these water gods usually lay down to enjoy
themselves. And therefore, one very fine day the sea-serpents and
water-tigers were very anxious to come on shore as usual and asked
their master to accompany them, but he replied: "I fear the great Ne-
naw-bo-zhoo might be lurking about there, and he will kill me because I
have killed and eaten up his black wolf." But he at last told them to
go on shore and examine the place and report if it was all clear; but
they found nothing unusual about the place except the old black stump,
which they never before observed to be there. Therefore, they went back
to their master and reported that nothing was there to be afraid of
except the old black stump which they never noticed before. "Go again,"
said their master "and closely examine the stump; peradventure, it was
he transfigured into the shape of the stump." So again they came ashore
and one of the water-tigers climbed upon it, inserting his long, sharp
claws as he went up, but he saw nothing strange. So, also the sea-
serpent went up to it and coiled himself around the stump so tight that
Ne-naw-bo-zhoo nearly screamed with pain. At last the serpent uncoiled
himself and they went back to their master and reported to him that it
was nothing but an old stump. So the god of the sea concluded to come
ashore with all his hosts, slowly and cautiously looking in every
direction as he was still afraid that Ne-naw-bo-zhoo might be lurking
around there and watching. Soon they were dozing upon the hot sand of
the beach, then Ne-naw-bo-zhoo unmasked himself and fixed one of his
best arrows into his bow and shot the god of the deep right through the
heart. Then all the host started to pursue the slayer of their master.
Ne-naw-bo-zhoo fled for his life; but he was pursued by the host with
mountains of water. He ran all over the earth, still pursued with the
mountains of water. So when he could not find any more dry land to run
to he commanded a great canoe to be formed in which he and the animals
who were fleeing before the water, were saved. After they floated, Ne-
naw-bo-zhoo wondered very much how deep was the water. Therefore, he
ordered one of the beavers to go down to the bottom of the deep and
bring up some earth if he could, as evidence that he did go to the
bottom. So the beaver obeyed, and he went down, but the water was so
deep the beaver died before he reached the bottom, and therefore, he
came up floating as a dead beaver. Ne-naw-bo-zhoo drew him up into his
canoe and resuscitated the beaver by blowing into his nostrils.
So he waited a little while longer, and afterwards he ordered the
muskrat to go down; but the muskrat did not like the idea, for he had
seen the beaver coming up lifeless. So he had to flatter him a little
in order to induce him to go down, by telling him, "Now, muskrat, I
know that thou art one of the best divers of all the animal creation;
will you please go down and ascertain the depth of the water, and bring
up some earth in your little paws, if you can, with which I shall try
to make another world? Now go my little brother,"--the legend says that
he called all the animal creation his little brothers,--"for we cannot
always live on the waters." At last the muskrat obeyed. He went down,
and descended clear to the bottom of the water, and grabbed the earth
and returned. But the water was yet so deep that before he reached the
surface of the water, he expired.
As Ne-naw-bo-zhoo drew him up into his great canoe to resuscitate him,
he observed the muskrat still grasping something in his little paws,
and behold, it was a piece of earth. Then Ne-naw-bo-zhoo knew that the
muskrat went clear to the bottom of the deep. He took this piece of
earth and fixed it into a small parcel; which he fastened to the neck
of the raven which was with him. Now, with this parcel, Ne-naw-bo-zhoo
told the raven to fly to and fro all over the face of the waters; then
the waters began to recede very fast, and soon the earth came back to
its natural shape, just as it was before.
Again this same Ne-naw-bo-zhoo was once swallowed by a fish, and after
being carried about in the midst of the deep, he came out again and
lived as well as ever, like the Prophet Jonah. This Ottawa and Chippewa
legend is, that once upon a time there was a great fish that resided in
a certain lake, and as the people passed through this lake in their
canoes, this great fish was accustomed to come after those crossing the
lake and if he overtook them he would swallow them up, canoe and all,
like swallowing a little clam in its shell. So Ne-naw-bo-zhoo said to
himself, "This great fish will eat up all my nephews. Now I must
somehow dispose of him." And he went to the lake in his canoe expressly
to look for the fish, singing daring songs as he went along. After he
came in the midst of it, there he stopped, but kept on singing the
following words: "Mishe-la-me-gwe Pe-le-wi-ko-lishim, Pe-la-wi-ko-
lishim"--daring the fish to come and swallow him up. So at last the
great fish, Mishi-la-me-gwe, did come and swallow the great Ne-naw-bo-
zhoo. But this was just what he wanted. After being swallowed, he was
able to dispose of this big fish, for with his weapons he caused the
fish such pain that he ran on the shore and died. After which, Ne-naw-
bo-zhoo came out like the Prophet Jonah, and he went home and sat down
to smoke his pipe, perfectly satisfied that he had saved many people by
disposing of this great fish.
These are some of the legends told among the Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians, as related in their own language, which are in some things
quite similar to the records of the Bible.