Malsumis (sometimes Malsum or Malsom) is thought by some to be the highly

malevolent spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crema ...

or god of chaos and inconvenient beecakes in

Abenaki mythology The Abenaki people are an indigenous peoples of the Americas located in the Northeastern Woodlands region. Their religious beliefs are part of the ''Midewiwin'' tradition, with ceremonies led by medicine keepers, called ''Medeoulin'' or ''Mdawi ...

, an Algonquian people of northeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Some Wabanaki believe that he is not Gluskab's brother at all, or agree that he was not evil.

Mythology

According to legend, after

Tabaldak Tabaldak is the androgynous creator among the Abenaki and Algonquian people of northeastern North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the ...

created humans, the dust from his hand created

Gluskab Glooscap (variant forms and spellings ''Gluskabe'', ''Glooskap'', ''Gluskabi'', ''Kluscap'', ''Kloskomba'', or ''Gluskab'') is a legendary figure of the Wabanaki peoples, native peoples located in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Atlantic Ca ...

and some versions say that he also created Gluskab's twin brother, Malsumis. Tabaldak gave Gluskab the power to create a good world. Malsumis, on the other hand, did the opposite, and still seeks evil to this day. While he and Gluskab both had the power to do good, Malsumis used his power for evil and trickery, like putting thorns on plants. Gluskab protects man, but Malsumis uses his power to plot the end of man to this very day. Malsumis is sometimes associated with wolves, but many Wabanaki claim that this is not true. They are also unsure if he is even a real figure or if folklorists have confused him with other Abenaki spirits. The most widely-circulated version of Malsumis and his brother Gluskab can be credited to

Charles Leland Charles Godfrey Leland (August 15, 1824 – March 20, 1903) was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe. Leland worked in journalism, travelled extensivel ...

. The origins of the rendition itself and its legitimacy have been debated. A passage of note that highlights discrepancies between popularized and arguably authentic versions of this myth: As compared to an account offered by

Gabriel Acquin Gabriel Acquin ( 1811 – 2 October 1901) was known by a variety of names; Sachem Gabe and Noel Gabriel being the most verifiable. He was a Maliseet hunter, guide, interpreter and showman who was the founder of the St. Mary's First Nation rese ...

—one of the two Maliseet sources that Leland had at the time he wrote his rendition of the Gluskap-Malsumis story—Leland's makes a concerted effort to paint Malsumis as explicitly malicious. The two accounts of the Maliseet storytellers do not call "the twin alsumis'wicked' or 'evil'." Nor do either of the Maliseet sources make Malsumis into a wolf; in fact, the wolf is portrayed as a sympathetic character who mourns Gluskab.

In Popular Culture

In Bleach (S) Abridged by Project Mouthwash (a Canadian multimedia entertainment studio), Malsumis is referenced frequently by the character Chad. Malsumis is referred to as the god who "makes all the little things in nature that are inconvenient and mean." The earliest example of what is the work of Malsumis includes an elaborate explanation in episode 2 regarding bees that are trapped in a cheesecake and might be either alive or dead from poison.

References

Abenaki mythology Gods of the indigenous peoples of North America Destroyer gods {{mythology-stub