Kicemanito kisemanitoo kisemanitow kishemanito chisamanitu

Gitche Manitou (Gitchi Manitou, Kitchi Manitou, etc.) means "

Great Spirit The Great Spirit is the concept of a life force, a Supreme Being or god known more specifically as Wakan Tanka in Lakota,Ostler, Jeffry. ''The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee''. Cambridge University Pres ...

" in several

Algonquian languages The Algonquian languages ( or ; also Algonkian) are a subfamily of indigenous American languages that include most languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically simi ...

. Christian missionaries have translated ''

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

'' as ''Gitche Manitou'' in scriptures and prayers in the Algonquian languages. ''

Manitou Manitou (), akin to the Iroquois '' orenda'', is the spiritual and fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in the Native American theology. It is omnipresent and manifests everywhere: organisms, the environment, events, etc. ''Aasha ...

'' is a common Algonquian term for spirit, mystery, or deity.

Native American Church The Native American Church (NAC), also known as Peyotism and Peyote Religion, is a Native American religion that teaches a combination of traditional Native American beliefs and Christianity, with sacramental use of the entheogen peyote. The ...

es in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

often use this term.

Anishinaabe

In more recent

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...

culture, the

Anishinaabe language Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...

word ''Gichi-manidoo'' means Great Spirit, the Creator of all things and the Giver of Life, and is sometimes translated as the "Great Mystery". Historically, Anishinaabe people believed in a variety of spirits, whose images were placed near doorways for protection. According to

Anishinaabeg The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, M ...

tradition, ''Michilimackinac'', later named by European settlers as Mackinac Island, in Michigan, was the home of Gitche Manitou, and some Anishinaabeg tribes would make pilgrimages there for rituals devoted to the spirit. In

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...

's ''

The Song of Hiawatha ''The Song of Hiawatha'' is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features Native American characters. The epic relates the fictional adventures of an Ojibwe warrior named Hiawatha and the tragedy of his l ...

'', Gitche Manitou is spelled ''Gitche Manito''. Other Anishinaabe names for God incorporated through the process of syncretism are ''Gizhe-manidoo'' ("venerable ''Manidoo''"), ''Wenizhishid-manidoo'' ("Fair ''Manidoo''") and ''Gichi-ojichaag'' ("Great Spirit"). While ''Gichi-manidoo'' and ''Gichi-ojichaag'' both mean "Great Spirit", ''Gichi-manidoo'' carried the idea of the greater spiritual connectivity while ''Gichi-ojichaag'' carried the idea of individual soul's connection to the ''Gichi-manidoo''. Consequently, Christian missionaries often used the term ''Gichi-ojichaag'' to refer to the Christian idea of a Holy Spirit.

Other tribes

In addition to the Algonquian Anishinaabeg, many other tribes believed in ''Gitche Manitou''. References to the Great Manitou by the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

and the

Oglala Sioux The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...

(notably in the recollections of

Black Elk Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk (December 1, 1863 – August 19, 1950), was a ''wičháša wakȟáŋ'' (" medicine man, holy man") and '' heyoka'' of the Oglala Lakota people. He was a second cousin of the war leader Crazy Horse and ...

), indicate that belief in this deity extended into the Great Plains, fully across the wider group of Algonquian peoples. Cognate terms recorded in other Algonquian languages include: ; Manitou *Sauk Fox: Mannittoo, God *Narragensett: Manitoo, God ; Gitche Manitou *

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

: ''Gichi-manidoo'' * Ottawa: ''Gchi-mnidoo'' *

Swampy Cree The Swampy Cree people, also known by their autonyms ''Néhinaw'', ''Maskiki Wi Iniwak'', ''Mushkekowuk,'' ''Maškékowak'' or ''Maskekon'' (and therefore also ''Muskegon'' and ''Muskegoes'') or by exonyms including ''West Main Cree,'' ''Lowlan ...

: ''Kihci-manitô'' *Miami: ''Kihci Manetoowa'' * Lenape: ** Minsi: Kitschimanitto **

Unami The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) was formed on 14 August 2003 by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1500 at the request of the Iraqi government to support national development efforts. UNAMI's mandate includes ...

: Ketanëtuwit (<''ket''- 'great'+''(m)anətu'' 'spirit'+-''wi-t'' 'the one who is'; the initial ''m''- in ''manətu'' is elided in this compound) *

Nanticoke Nanticoke may refer to: * Nanticoke people in Delaware, United States * Nanticoke language, an Algonquian language * Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey Place names Canada * Nanticoke, Ontario ** Nanticoke Generating S ...

(spoken in Maryland): Gichtschi Manitto ; Kishe Manitou *

: ''Gizhe-manidoo'' * Ottawa: ''Gzhe-mnidoo'' *

: ''Kise-manitô'' *

Naskapi The Naskapi (Nascapi, Naskapee, Nascapee) are an Indigenous people of the Subarctic native to the historical country St'aschinuw (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, meaning 'our nclusiveland'), which is located in northern Quebec and Labrador, neighb ...

: ''Chisa-manitu'' *Illinois: Kisseh Manetou ; Other *

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

: Wishemenetou ''Gitche Manitou'' has been seen as those cultures' analogue to the Christian God. When early Christian (especially French Catholic) missionaries preached the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

to the Algonquian peoples, they adopted ''Gitche Manitou'' as a name for God in the Algonquian languages. This can be seen, for example, in the English translation of the "

Huron Carol The "Huron Carol" (or "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime") is a Canadian Christmas hymn (Canada's oldest Christmas song), written probably in 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada. Brébeuf wrote th ...

Related spirits

Spirits who were either aspects of Gitche Manitou or lesser spirits under Gitche Manitou include: *Hobomok, who was deemed more approachable than Gitche Manitou, and more likely to listen to pleas, but who was also mischievous and interpreted by Englishmen as being the devil, or an evil deity.Philips, David E. (1992) ''Legendary Connecticut: Traditional Tales from the Nutmeg State'' (2nd edition) Curbstone Books, Willimantic, Connecticut, page ?,

Manitou as mystical term

Manitou is the spiritual and fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in the

Native American mythology The indigenous peoples of the Americas comprise numerous different cultures. Each has its own mythologies. Some are quite distinct, but certain themes are shared across the cultural boundaries. Northern America There is no single mythology o ...

. Manitou is one aspect of the interconnection and balance of nature and life, similar to the East Asian concept of '' qi.'' In simpler terms it can refer to a spirit. This spirit is seen as a person as well as a concept. Everything has its own manitou—every plant, every stone and, since their invention, even machines. These manitous do not exist in a hierarchy like European gods/goddesses, but are more akin to one part of the body interacting with another and the spirit of everything; the collective is named ''Gitche Manitou''.

Notes

{{Reflist

References

* Densmore, Frances. ''Chippewa Customs''. (1979, Minnesota Historical Press). * Hoffman, Walter James, M.D. ''The Mide'wiwin: Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibway''. (2005, Lightning Source Inc.) * Johnston, Basil. ''Ojibway Ceremonies''. (1990, University of Nebraska Press). * Johnston, Basil. The Manitous: the spiritual world of the Ojibway. (2001, Minnesota Historical Society Press). * Nichols, John D. and Earl Nyholm. ''A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe''. (1995, University of Minnesota Press). * Cuoq, Jean André. ''Lexique de la Langue Algonquine''. (1886, J. Chapleau & Fils). * Rhodes, Richard A. ''Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary''. (1985, Mouton de Gruyter).

External links

Mackinac Island

Wisconsin History

Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Anishinaabe mythology Gods of the indigenous peoples of North America Creator gods Names of God Nature gods