In
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 ...
mythology, Mudjekeewis (from 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 ...
''majiikiwis'' "first-born son") is a spirit, and figures prominently in their
storytelling
Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...
, including the story of the world's creation. In their ''
aadizookaan
Anishinaabe traditional beliefs cover the traditional belief system of the Anishinaabeg peoples, consisting of the Algonquin/ Nipissing, Ojibwa/Chippewa/Saulteaux/ Mississaugas, Odawa, Potawatomi and Oji-Cree, located primarily in the Great L ...
an'' (traditional stories), ''Majiikiwis'' is the first-born son of the ''E-bangishimog'', the West Wind, and is cast as the guardian of tradition and ceremonies, symbolized by the
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
.
Of the medicinal plants,
white cedar White cedar may refer to several different trees:
* Bignoniaceae
** ''Tabebuia heterophylla'' - native to Caribbean islands and also cultivated as an ornamental tree
* Cupressaceae:
** ''Chamaecyparis thyoides'' – Atlantic white cypress
** ''Cup ...
is associated with ''Majiikiwis''. He is the eldest brother to
Nanabozho.
However, in ''
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 ...
'' based on the ''aadizookaanan'', Mudjekeewis is portrayed instead as ''E-bangishimog'' himself, ravishing Wenonah and fathering
Hiawatha. However, even in ''The Song of Hiawatha'', Mudjekeewis is strongly associated with bears as demonstrated in the passage:
{{cquote, He had stolen the Belt of Wampum
From the neck of Mishe-Mokwa,
From the Great Bear of the mountains,
From the terror of the nations,
As he lay asleep and cumbrous
On the summit of the mountains,
Like a rock with mosses on it,
Spotted brown and gray with mosses., 17px, 17px
References
* Benton-Banai, Edward. ''The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway''. Hayward, WI: Indian Country Communications, 1988.
* Johnston, Basil. ''The Manitous: the spiritual world of the Ojibway''. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
External links
A site with information about Mudjekeewis
Anishinaabe mythology