Discussion:
Nanabush & The Turtle
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Melroseman
2006-07-03 19:10:57 UTC
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Last weekend, I was out in Peterborough Ontario visiting an ancient
Petroglyphs site.

There were Ojibwa legends about a creature named Nanabush that reminded
me of the monster on Lost.

"Nanabush had powerful magic to give special powers or attributes to the
animals and plants. Nanabush was also a Trickster, bent on making humans
look silly (although his own jokes often backfired on him). As a
Trickster, he could change form and take the shape of an animal. The
one distinguishing feature of Nanabush when he was in human form, as
drawn on rocks and carved in stone by the Ojibwa, was his rabbit-like ears."

There was also a legend about a turtle (a recurring symbol on Lost) and
how it created the Milky Way. The depictions of turtles on the
petroglyphs were strikingly similar to those we've seen on Lost:

"Nanabush called together all the birds and animals so he could give
them their duties. He told the beaver to build dams, the bees to make
honey and the woodpeckers to play forest music;. And so it went until
all the animals had been given their duties. however Nanabush forgot to
give anything to Turtle for while the animals were all together Turtle
was swimming far below the lake surface and could not hear. When Turtle
found out that he was forgotten, he sank beneath the surface of the lake
to sulk. As days passed, Turtle grew angrier. One day upon seeing a
passing canoe, he shot to the surface, upset the canoe and ate the
surprised Ojibwa. The Ojibwa was very tasty and Turtle continued
attacking canoes for many days. Nanabush upon hearing the strange
events, suspected Turtle was angry with him, and decided to stop the
strange behavior by making turtle do something useful. Nanabush took a
bow and an arrow and seeing Turtle fired at him. Turtle dove into the
water and was narrowly missed. When diving, Turtle flung his tail up in
the air shooting great a spray of water high into the sky. Nanabush
using his magic, turned the spray of water into thousands of stars,
thereby creating the Milky Way."

More info & pix for anyone interested:
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http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/1066/513ojibwa.htm
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tdciago
2006-07-03 23:25:49 UTC
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Post by Melroseman
There were Ojibwa legends about a creature named Nanabush that reminded
me of the monster on Lost.
Well, I'm glad this isn't a thread about Barbara Bush, and it's nice to
see you posting, Melroseman.
:)
Post by Melroseman
"Nanabush had powerful magic to give special powers or attributes to the
animals and plants.
I found a Nanabush creation story online (
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/clan/legends/nanabush.htm ), and several
things stand out:

1) Nanabush has a brother, which is similar to Prometheus and
Epimetheus being assigned the task of giving attributes to the animals.
Prometheus was also a trickster.

2) There's yet another flood story, and a raft.

3) Nanabush uses animals to see whether it's possible to reconstruct
the world. This is similar to both Noah and Jason sending out a dove.

4) Serpents get a bad rap once again.
Post by Melroseman
Nanabush was also a Trickster, bent on making humans
look silly (although his own jokes often backfired on him). As a
Trickster, he could change form and take the shape of an animal. The
one distinguishing feature of Nanabush when he was in human form, as
drawn on rocks and carved in stone by the Ojibwa, was his rabbit-like ears."
In early episodes of "Lost," there were a bunch of rabbit references,
including "Watership Down."
h***@animail.net
2006-07-04 14:25:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by tdciago
Post by Melroseman
There were Ojibwa legends about a creature named Nanabush that reminded
me of the monster on Lost.
Cool myth. So you think Lostzilla is a shape-shifter? That would
allow Lostzilla and Old Smokey to be one and the same, and would also
account for a lot of the things people see.
Post by tdciago
Well, I'm glad this isn't a thread about Barbara Bush,
The thought of anyone calling Barbara Bush "nana" makes me giggle. The
very small amount of sympathy I have for our moron in chief derives
from realizing that he was raised by that woman...shudder.
Post by tdciago
I found a Nanabush creation story online (
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/clan/legends/nanabush.htm ), and several
1) Nanabush has a brother, which is similar to Prometheus and
Epimetheus being assigned the task of giving attributes to the animals.
Prometheus was also a trickster.
2) There's yet another flood story, and a raft.
3) Nanabush uses animals to see whether it's possible to reconstruct
the world. This is similar to both Noah and Jason sending out a dove.
4) Serpents get a bad rap once again.
They do? The bad guy seems to be the turtle here. A turtle isn't a
serpent.

It really is amazing how we all tell the same basic stories though.
I'm not sure if I buy the Jungian collective subconscious idea or
Campbell's great truths idea or the trade routes idea or the idea that
these are the stories we carried with us from the beginning when we
stumbled out of Africa....but somehow or another, we really do tell the
same stories in all cultures and climes.
Post by tdciago
Post by Melroseman
Nanabush was also a Trickster, bent on making humans
look silly (although his own jokes often backfired on him). As a
Trickster, he could change form and take the shape of an animal. The
one distinguishing feature of Nanabush when he was in human form, as
drawn on rocks and carved in stone by the Ojibwa, was his rabbit-like ears."
In early episodes of "Lost," there were a bunch of rabbit references,
including "Watership Down."
I'm having "Harvey" visions here. ;)

himiko
h***@animail.net
2006-07-04 17:27:15 UTC
Permalink
Post by h***@animail.net
Post by tdciago
4) Serpents get a bad rap once again.
They do? The bad guy seems to be the turtle here. A turtle isn't a
serpent.
Oops. I don't what I was thinking...or smoking. Obviously you were
talking about the other story. Sorry.

himiko

SmokeD
2006-07-04 13:24:48 UTC
Permalink
Post by Melroseman
Last weekend, I was out in Peterborough Ontario visiting an ancient
Petroglyphs site.
There were Ojibwa legends about a creature named Nanabush that reminded
me of the monster on Lost.
OT -
Woah, thank you for pointing these out to me. Now I have somewhere to
visit that isn't too far away from where I am. :)
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