The Manitous: The Spiritual World of the Ojibway (Native Voices) - Softcover

Johnston, Basil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0873514114 ISBN 13: 9780873514118

Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2001

Synopsis

Manitous lived in human form among the Ojibway in the early days, after Kitchi-Manitou (the Great Mystery) created all things and Muzzu-Kummik-Quae (Mother Earth) revealed the natural order of the world. With depth and humor, Johnston tells how lasting tradition was brought to the Ojibway by four half-human brothers, including Nana'b'oozoo, the beloved archetypal being who means well but often blunders. He also relates how people are helped and hindered by other entities, such as the manitous of the forests and meadows, personal manitous and totems, mermen and merwomen, Pauguk (the cursed Flying Skeleton), and the Weendigoes, famed and terrifying giant cannibals.

About this title

From the Publisher

The definitive and spellbinding collection of legends and spiritual teachings of the Ojibway, the famous American and Canadian Indian tribe, brought together for the first time by the world's leading Ojibway expert.

From the Back Cover

Manitous are mysteries and spirits - the essences - that infuse and safeguard plants and animals, including humans, in all aspects of life. The tales of the manitous are simple in narration and complex in spirit, rich with incident and detail, and attempt to explain the mysterious ways of the natural world. Here are wily tricksters, timorous tree spirits, wise grandmothers, seductive maidens, and the ever-hungry evil manitous, fearsome giants known as Weendigoes. Here is a half-man, half-manitou legend of Ojibway lore who represents the wonders and shortcomings of all humankind and who becomes a hero by masquerading as one; a powerful warrior who is riled and routed by a younger sibling with a fight for dancing and disguises; a man who seems obsessed with the trivial but learns to understand the spiritual; and The Prophecy - which is told but disbelieved - telling of the changes in the native world to come. By turns comic, erotic, dramatic, and tragic, these engrossing stories - most of which have never before been recorded - provide a window into an ancient culture, and hold great meaning for modern readers.

Edition details

• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0873514114
• ISBN 13: 9780873514118
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 271