Nanabozho (insyllabics: ᓇᓇᐳᔓ,[nɐˌnɐbʊˈʒʊ]), also known asNanabush, is a spirit inAnishinaabeaadizookaan (traditional storytelling), particularly among theOjibwe. Nanabozho figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creation. Nanabozho is the Ojibwetrickster figure andculture hero (these two archetypes are often combined into a single figure in First Nations mythologies, among others).
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It is said thatthe Creator gathered together the four sacred elements and breathed life into them to give form to Original Man before setting him uponTurtle Island. The last of all beings to be created, First Man was given the nameNanabozho. The Creator called out the name to the four directions so that the others would know who was coming. Nanabozho, part man, partmanido—a powerful spiritbeing—is the personification of life forces, theAnishinaabe culture hero, and our great teacher of how to be human. In Nanabozho's form as Original Man and in our own, we humans are the newest arrivals on earth, the youngsters, just learning to find our way.
Nanabozho did not know his parentage or his origins—only that he was set down into a fully peopled world of plants and animals, winds, and water. He was an immigrant too. Before he arrived, the world was all here, in balance and harmony, each one fulfilling their purpose in the Creation. He understood, as some did not, that this was not the "New World," but one that was ancient before he came.
