Nanabozho The story of Noah and the ark is not unique. More than three hundred stories of great floods are found around the world from South America to India to Australia.
The Anishinaabe Nation, called Ojibwe in Canada and Chippewa in the United States, live around the Great Lakes. Long ago the Anishinaabe people began to argue and fight. The Great Spirit, or Gitchi-Manitou, decided to purify the earth with a flood that would destroy the Anishinaabe people and most of the animals.
When the flood came, only Nanabozho—an important figure in many Anishinaabe stories; he even has his own Facebook page—survived by floating on a huge log with a few animals. (A version told by the Ottawa says he was in a great canoe with many pairs of animals and birds, rowed by a most beautiful maiden.) “I am going to swim to the bottom of this water and grab a handful of earth,” he said. “With this small bit of earth, I believe we can create a new land for us to live on with the help of the Four Winds and Gitchi-Manitou.”
But Nanabozho was not able to reach the bottom. The loon, the grebe, the mink, and other animals also tried to reach the bottom, but failed. Then the muskrat said he would try. The other animals laughed and made fun of the muskrat. “Only Gitchi-Manitou can place judgment on others,” said Nanabozho. “If muskrat wants to try, he should be allowed to.”
After a very long time, the muskrat floated to the surface. He had died, but in his paw was a small ball of earth. The muskrat had given his life so life on earth could start again after the flood.
The turtle then offered to “use my back to bear the weight of this piece of earth.” The little ball of earth the muskrat had brought up grew and grew on the turtle’s back, becoming an island today known as North America. The Ottawa version says the maiden and Nanabozho repopulated the world.
The Anishinaabe story is a lot different from Noah and the Ark. But Dr. John Morris analyzed more than two hundred flood stories and said if the common features are combined, the story would read something like this: (the percentages are the percentage of the stories he analyzed containing the element, for instance 88 percent of the stories involve one righteous family)
Once there was a worldwide (95 percent) flood, sent by god to judge the wickedness of man (66 percent). But one righteous family (88 percent) was forewarned (66 percent) of the coming flood. They built a boat (70 percent) on which they survived the flood along with the animals (67 percent). As the flood ended, their boat landed on a high mountain (57 percent) from which they descended and repopulated the whole earth.
Interestingly, nine percent of the stories say specifically that eight people were saved and seven percent mention a rainbow.
Why are there so many flood stories with so many comment elements? Perhaps some accounts borrow details from other stories. Perhaps floods are a common disaster and people tell stories about them.
Or perhaps these stories from around the world are a collective memory of an actual Great Flood that covered the entire earth.
The Anishinaabe Nation, called Ojibwe in Canada and Chippewa in the United States, live around the Great Lakes. Long ago the Anishinaabe people began to argue and fight. The Great Spirit, or Gitchi-Manitou, decided to purify the earth with a flood that would destroy the Anishinaabe people and most of the animals.
When the flood came, only Nanabozho—an important figure in many Anishinaabe stories; he even has his own Facebook page—survived by floating on a huge log with a few animals. (A version told by the Ottawa says he was in a great canoe with many pairs of animals and birds, rowed by a most beautiful maiden.) “I am going to swim to the bottom of this water and grab a handful of earth,” he said. “With this small bit of earth, I believe we can create a new land for us to live on with the help of the Four Winds and Gitchi-Manitou.”
But Nanabozho was not able to reach the bottom. The loon, the grebe, the mink, and other animals also tried to reach the bottom, but failed. Then the muskrat said he would try. The other animals laughed and made fun of the muskrat. “Only Gitchi-Manitou can place judgment on others,” said Nanabozho. “If muskrat wants to try, he should be allowed to.”
After a very long time, the muskrat floated to the surface. He had died, but in his paw was a small ball of earth. The muskrat had given his life so life on earth could start again after the flood.
The turtle then offered to “use my back to bear the weight of this piece of earth.” The little ball of earth the muskrat had brought up grew and grew on the turtle’s back, becoming an island today known as North America. The Ottawa version says the maiden and Nanabozho repopulated the world.
The Anishinaabe story is a lot different from Noah and the Ark. But Dr. John Morris analyzed more than two hundred flood stories and said if the common features are combined, the story would read something like this: (the percentages are the percentage of the stories he analyzed containing the element, for instance 88 percent of the stories involve one righteous family)
Once there was a worldwide (95 percent) flood, sent by god to judge the wickedness of man (66 percent). But one righteous family (88 percent) was forewarned (66 percent) of the coming flood. They built a boat (70 percent) on which they survived the flood along with the animals (67 percent). As the flood ended, their boat landed on a high mountain (57 percent) from which they descended and repopulated the whole earth.
Interestingly, nine percent of the stories say specifically that eight people were saved and seven percent mention a rainbow.
Why are there so many flood stories with so many comment elements? Perhaps some accounts borrow details from other stories. Perhaps floods are a common disaster and people tell stories about them.
Or perhaps these stories from around the world are a collective memory of an actual Great Flood that covered the entire earth.
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