Nokomis is the name of

Nanabozho In Anishinaabe ''aadizookaan'' (traditional storytelling), particularly among the Ojibwe, Nanabozho (in syllabics: , ), also known as Nanabush, is a spirit, and figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creat ...

's grandmother in the Ojibwe traditional stories and was the name of

Hiawatha Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwathaaa or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some account ...

's grandmother 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 poem, ''

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 ...

'', which is a re-telling of the Nanabozho stories. Nokomis is an important character in the poem, mentioned in the familiar lines: :By the shores of

Gitche Gumee Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

, :By the shining Big-Sea-Water :Stood the wigwam of Nokomis :Daughter of the moon Nokomis. :Dark behind it rose the forest. According to the poem, ''From the full moon fell Nokomis/Fell the beautiful Nokomis''. She bears a daughter, Wenonah. Despite Nokomis' warnings, Wenonah allows herself to be seduced by the West-Wind,

Mudjekeewis In Ojibwe mythology, Mudjekeewis (from the Anishinaabe language ''majiikiwis'' "first-born son") is a spirit, and figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creation. In their ''aadizookaanan'' (traditional storie ...

, ''Till she bore a son in sorrow/Bore a son of love and sorrow/Thus was born my Hiawatha''. Abandoned by the heartless Mudjekeewis, Wenonah dies in childbirth, leaving Hiawatha to be raised by Nokomis. ''The wrinkled old Nokomis/Nursed the little Hiawatha'' and educates him. In the

Ojibwe 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 ...

, ''nookomis'' means "my grandmother," thus portraying Nokomis of the poem and the ''

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 ...

'' (Ojibwe traditional stories) from a more personal point of view, akin to the traditional Ojibwa narrative styles.

Things named after Nokomis

Places

;United States *Nokomis Avenue, a broad road in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and Lincolnwood, Illinois. *Nokomis Avenue, a street in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. *Camp Nokomis, all girls sleepaway camp run by the Merrimack Valley

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. Camp Lawrence is the boys camp that is on the same island and run by the same YMCA. *

Nokomis Nokomis is the name of Nanabozho's grandmother in the Ojibwe traditional stories and was the name of Hiawatha's grandmother in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, ''The Song of Hiawatha'', which is a re-telling of the Nanabozho stories. Nokomis is ...

, Alabama, a community in Escambia County, Alabama which was a railroad stop *Nokomis, Escambia County, Florida, a community in northwest Florida adjoining Nokomis, Escambia County, Alabama. While not a census designated place, the name reference is in local use. *

, Sarasota County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

. * Nokomis Township, Buena Vista County, Iowa *

, Illinois, a city *

Nokomis, Minneapolis Nokomis is a community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It takes its name from Lake Nokomis. It comprises eleven smaller neighborhoods. Official neighborhoods in the Nokomis community * Diamond Lake * Ericsson * Field * Hale * Keewaydin * Minne ...

, Minnesota, a neighborhood *

Lake Nokomis Lake Nokomis is one of several lakes in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and part of the city's Chain of Lakes. The lake was previously named Lake Amelia in honor of Captain George Gooding's daughter, Amelia, in 1819. Its current name was adopted in 1910 ...

, part of a chain of lakes connected by

Minnehaha Creek Minnehaha Creek ( dak, Mniȟáȟa Wakpádaŋ) is a 22-mile-long (35 km) tributary of the Mississippi River that flows east from Gray's Bay Dam on Lake Minnetonka through the suburban cities of Minnetonka, Hopkins, Saint Louis Park, and Edin ...

, Minnesota *

Nokomis Regional High School Nokomis Regional High is a secondary school located in Newport, Maine, United States. Nokomis is a public school which accepts students from Newport, Corinna, Palmyra, Hartland, St. Albans, Plymouth, Etna and Dixmont The school principal ...

, in Newport, Maine *The Nokomis Native American Cultural Learning Center in Okemos, Michigan *Nokomis Elementary School, in Ukiah, California *Nokomis Park in Cheektowaga (town), New York *Nokomis Groves, a landmark. *Nokomis Pond, town reservoir of Newport, Maine *Lake Nokomis, in Oneida and Lincoln counties, Wisconsin *Lake Nokomis, a reservoir in the vicinity of Red Feather Lakes Village in

Larimer County Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denver. ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

*Nokomis Township, Oneida County, Wisconsin *Lake Nokomis (Rice Reservoir on Tomahawk River) in Lincoln/Oneida counties in Wisconsin *Nokomis Inc. Small privately owned business located in

Charleroi, Pennsylvania Charleroi ( ) is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, along the Monongahela River, 21 miles south of Pittsburgh. Charleroi was settled by Walloons in 1890 and incorporated in 1891. The 2020 census recorded a population of 4,210. There has ...

. *Nokomis Elementary School, Sachem CSD, Ronkonkoma, New York. (Sachem also includes a Hiawatha & Wenonah elementary schools). *Nokomis Road, Sudbury, Massachusetts. *Nokomis Road,

Apple Valley, California Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, in the U.S. state of California. It was incorporated on November 14, 1988, and is one of the 22 incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in thei ...

. *Nokomis Way, Natick, Massachusetts. *Nokomis Elementary,

Medford Lakes, New Jersey Medford Lakes is a borough in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,264, an increase of 118 (+2.8%) from the 2010 census count of 4,146,Nokomis Nokomis is the name of Nanabozho's grandmother in the Ojibwe traditional stories and was the name of Hiawatha's grandmother in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, ''The Song of Hiawatha'', which is a re-telling of the Nanabozho stories. Nokomis is ...

, Saskatchewan *Nokomis Trail, part of

Lake Superior Provincial Park Lake Superior Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks in Ontario, covering about along the northeastern shores of Lake Superior between Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, Ontario, Wawa in Algoma District in No ...

, Ontario *Nokomis Park, part of Larose Forest in

Limoges, Ontario Limoges, Ontario is a small unincorporated place located in The United Counties of Prescott and Russell approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) east of Ottawa. The east and north sides of the community are located in the township of The Nation ...

, Limoges Village, Prescott-Russell counties, Ontario

In fiction

Nokomis is also a character in Richard Adams' fantasy novel ''

Maia Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; la, Maia), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daugh ...

''. She has a son called Anda Nokomis.

Vessels

* ''

USS Nokomis USS ''Nokomis'' may refer to: * , served the US Navy as a patrol craft during World War I * , a tugboat in service from 1940 to 1974 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nokomis United States Navy ship names ...

'' (YT-142) was a fleet tug that was in the Yard Craft Dock of the Navy Yard at the beginning of the Japanese attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

on 7 December 1941. She provided assistance to other ships and survived the attack. * SS Delphine (1921) was originally named ''Nomokis''.

Nokomis Pottery Red Wing Minnesota

Red Wing Potteries Inc. produced Nokomis glazed pottery from 1929 to 1934.Nokomis glaze Red Wing art pottery display
/ref>

Notes

{{Reflist Anishinaabe mythology