Tribal Creation Stories
Water is sacred not just to the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes but to non-Native peoples as well. For millennia, humans have returned to lakes, rivers, and bodies of water for inspiration, exchange, and rejuvenation. Water is a repository of memories, stories, and teachings, whether that be cultural, recreational, or traditional.
To the Anishinaabe, Lake Superior is “Gichigamiing”—the “great water” or “sea.” Anishinaabe communities are scattered around the northern and southern regions of Lake Superior, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario. According to Anishinaabe oral history, seven prophets visited them and instructed them to move westward to the land where the “food grows on water.”
This history of migration can be traced through Anishinaabe oral history and in maps on birch bark, as well as confirmed by traditional archaeological records. Throughout their journey, the Anishinaabe have stayed closely connected to the water. The story of the long and arduous migration journey creates a powerful sense of belonging that nurtures Ojibwe families today.
Among the Native peoples of the Great Lakes region, water also plays an important role in the mythology of creation. Indigenous creation mythology directly influences how water is perceived in both a literal and metaphorical sense. There are many versions of the creation legend.
Tribal reverence for water is apparent throughout North America. Anishinaabe worldviews involving water, or nbiish, are not relegated to history; today’s Water Walkers, Water Ceremonies, and Anishinaabe fishing and harvesting practices are indicative of the sanctity of water. Beyond the Great Lakes, calls from Standing Rock and across the world illustrate humanity’s admiration for water.
During the migration of the Anishinaabe ancestors, the Ojibwe parted from their Potawatomi and Odawa relatives at Michilimackinac. Their next stop was the island, “Great Turtle,” with its prominent, mounded form situated in the Straits of Mackinac.
The Anishinaabe legend of the creation of Turtle Island came from this migration.
The Anishinaabe see themselves as the original humans of North America. The legend states that long after the Great Spirit Kitchi-Manitou created the Original People, or the Anishinaabe, they strayed from their harmonious ways. Brother turned against brother, sister against sister, and soon the Anishinaabe were killing one another. Seeing that mutual respect for all living things no longer prevailed, Kitchi-Manitou decided to purify the Earth. He did this with water. The water came in the form of a great flood, or mush-ko’-be-wun’, destroying the Anishinaabe people and most of the animals as well.
Only Nanabush, the central figure in many of the Anishinaabe oral traditions, was able to survive the flood, along with a few animals and birds who managed to swim and fly. Nanabush and the animals dove into the water to try and grab a handful of earth to rebuild, with each successive try failing until the muskrat who sacrificed his life for a new earth succeeded. With the earth, the turtle volunteered to bear the wight of the world, and, with the help of Kitchi-Manitou, formed a mi-ni-si, or island in the water, which grew and grew on the turtle’s back to create North America.
Water has a sacred place in Indigenous cultures, as well as a spiritual significance. Tribes and Native communities view their relationship to the water and the inter-relation of natural resources as one of stewardship and reverence. This relationship to water is rooted in creation stories, prayer, and traditions that have been handed down from one generation to the next for countless generations. Tribal communities embrace a philosophy and responsibility “to leave the resource better than when you found it.” Today, the relationship and stewardship to water and natural resources is becoming difficult as the demands and pressures on these resources increases.
