Glooscap
Encyclopedia
Culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group who changes the world through invention or discovery...
, and "transformer" of the Wabanaki
Wabanaki
Wabanaki, Wabenaki, Wobanaki, etc. may refer to:In geography* area referred as the "Dawn land" by many Algonquian-speaking peoples to describe the Eastern region of the North American continent, generally described as being New England in the United States, plus Quebec and the Maritimes in CanadaIn...
peoples. He is represented as the creator in the Penobscot Indian Nation's Creation Myth, as transcribed by Joseph Nicola in The Red Man.
He was an important figure for the Abenaki in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Atlantic Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, including the Passamaquoddy
Passamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy are the First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick....
and the Mi'kmaq (Micmac) tribes, both part of the Wabanaki Confederacy
Wabanaki Confederacy
The Wabanaki Confederacy, as it is known in English, is a historical confederation of five North American Algonquian language speaking Indian tribes....
.
Glooscap is portrayed in a creator role similar to that of the Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
Nanabozho
Nanabozho
In Anishinaabe mythology, particularly among the Ojibwa, Nanabozho is a spirit, and figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creation. Nanabozho is the Ojibwe trickster figure and culture hero...
and the Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
Wisakedjak
Wisakedjak
Wisakedjak is the Crane Manitou found in northern Algonquian mythology, similar to the trickster god Nanabozho in Ojibwa aadizookaanan and Inktonme in Assiniboine myth...
. His name, Kloskabe, means "Man that came from nothing" or literally, "Man [created] from only speech."
Abenaki
The Abenaki people believe that after TabaldakTabaldak
Tabaldak is the androgynous creator among the Abenaki and Algonquian people of northeastern North America. His name means "The Owner" who "created all living things but one". Tabaldak created people out of stones, but thought these people to be too cold. Next he tried wood, and out of these came...
created humans, the dust from his body created Glooscap and his twin brother, Malsumis
Malsumis
Malsumis is a highly malevolent spirit or god in Abenaki mythology, an Algonquian people of northeastern North America.-General background:According to legend, after Tabaldak created humans, the dust from his hand created Gluskab and some versions say that he also created Gluskab's twin brother,...
. He gave Glooscap the power to create a good world. Malsumis, on the other hand, is the opposite, and seeks evil to this day.
Glooscap learned that hunters who kill too much would destroy the ecosystem and the good world he had sought to create. Frightened at this possibility, Glooscap sought Grandmother Woodchuck (Agaskw) and asked her for advice. She plucked all the hairs out of her belly (hence the lack of hair on a woodchuck's belly) and wove them into a magical bag. Glooscap put all the game animals into the bag. He then bragged to Grandmother Woodchuck that the humans would never need to hunt again. Grandmother Woodchuck scolded him and told him that they would die without the animals. She said that they needed to hunt in order to remain strong. Glooscap then let the animals go.
Later, Glooscap decided to capture the great bird that Tabaldak had placed on a mountain peak, where it generated bad weather in the flapping of its wings. Glooscap caught the eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
and bound its wings and the winds ceased. Soon, the air was so hot and heavy that Glooscap could not breathe, so he loosened the bird's wings, just enough to generate enough weather so that humanity could live.
Modern Abenaki believe that Glooscap is very angry at the white people for not obeying the rules he set down.
Mi'kmaq
In one version of the Mi'kmaq creation myth, Glooskap lay on his back, with arms outstretched and his head toward the rising sun, for 490 days and nights, then NogamiNokomis
Nokomis is the name of Nanabozho's grandmother in the Ojibwe traditional stories andwas the name of Hiawatha's grandmother in Longfellow's poem, The Song of Hiawatha, which is a re-telling of the Nanabozho stories...
, the grandmother, was born as an old woman from the dew of the rock. The next day, Nataoa-nsen, Nephew, was born from the foam of the sea. On the next day was born the Mother of all the Mi'kmaq, from the plants of the Earth.
Glooscap was said by the Mi'kmaq to be great in size and in powers, and to have created natural features such as the Annapolis Valley
Annapolis Valley
The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy.-Geography:...
. In carrying out his feats, he often had to overcome his evil twin brother who wanted rivers to be crooked and mountain ranges to be impassable; in one legend, he turns the evil twin into stone. Another common story is how he turned himself into a giant beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
and created five islands
Five Islands, Nova Scotia
Five Islands is a rural community in Colchester County Nova Scotia with a population of 300 located on the north shore of the Minas Basin, home of the highest tides in the world...
in the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
by slapping his huge tail in the water with enough force to stir up the earth.
Yet another legend says that when Glooscap finished painting the splendor of the world, he dipped his brush into a blend of all the colours and created Abegweit, meaning "Cradled on the Waves" — his favorite island (Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
).
When Glooscap slept, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
was his bed, and Prince Edward Island his pillow.
Glooscap is remembered for having saved the world from an evil frog-monster, who had swallowed all the Earth's water. Glooscap killed the monster and the water was released. Some animals, relieved at the resurgence of water, jumped in, becoming fish and other aquatic animals. Of course, this legend, like many others did have some basis in fact. A massive earthquake converted a mountain on the east side of the Penobscot river into a new channel through a split in that mountain. The eastern side of this mountain became Verona island, and the new river channel passed in-between. Later, when explorers asked where the stone fort Norumbega was, they were told that it lay on the eastern side of the river (which it did prior to the earthquake), and so could never find the new location. It is presently located in the north-west corner of the Sandy Point Animal Enhancement Area in Sandy Point, Maine.
Glooscap is also believed to have brought the Mi'kmaq stoneware, knowledge of good and evil, fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, fishing nets, and canoes, making him a cultural hero.
Penobscot (Panawapskewi)
Gluskabe created the first humans from the mud of the banks of the biggest, longest river in the area, the Penobscot RiverPenobscot River
The Penobscot River is a river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's West Branch and South Branch increases the Penobscot's length to , making it the second longest river system in Maine and the longest entirely in the state. Its drainage basin contains .It arises from four branches...
. There are many stories that relate to how different animals were created and how they attained their physical characteristics. Gluskabe also had run-in with a trickster spirit, Pomola, until Gluscabe tired of his antics and banished Pomola to the western valley of Mount Katahdin
Mount Katahdin
Mount Katahdin is the highest mountain in Maine at . Named Katahdin by the Penobscot Indians, the term means "The Greatest Mountain". Katahdin is the centerpiece of Baxter State Park: a steep, tall mountain formed from underground magma. The flora and fauna on the mountain are typical of those...
, a holy place. Gluscabe is thought to currently reside in this mountain, protector of the people of this land.
Gluskabe created the Penobscot River, the headwaters of which are located at the base of Mount Katahdin, when he fought a greedy giant toad that had swallowed all of the water in the land. Gluskabe killed the toad, and thus created the Penobscot watershed, largest on the northeast coast of what is now known as New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. Of course many stories are based partly in fact. A massive earthquake did change the local geography.
After the earthquake,the old temple was claimed by the Penobscot,being previously on the Passamaquoddy side of the river. The "king" of the Penobscot turned it into a royal castle. They changed its name to Norumbega, being previously called Temple of Umglebemu. The Penobscots called the defeated Amphibian God "Kei Checqwalis". The mountain itself is today is called Mt. Tuck. Part of it (northeast side) is called Ft. Knox. Another interesting feature is the "Gondola Cove" in Sandy Point. Early Italian explorers supposedly once saw a ships prow sticking out of the mud during a spring ice-out. They described it like a gondola they had seen in Venice (Viking Longboat?).
One story tells of a massacre at the castle. Miqmac natives, with muskets traded by the French, invaded the stronghold, killed or captured everyone, looted what they could find and left. They had been told that the place contained gold jewelry and stockpiles of pearls and jewels. But the invaders found nothing like that. Are they still there? One clue is a row of Standing stones on the mountaintop. They appear to be placed there. The largest is over 40 tons and egg shaped. Only the Penobscot Nation knows for sure. David Ingram described it like one of the cities of El Dorado.
Cultural Influence
In addition to being a spiritual figure, Glooscap also became a major figure of regional identity for the Bay of FundyBay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
region with everything from steam locomotives, the ship Glooscap
Glooscap (ship)
Glooscap was an full-rigged sailing ship built in 1891 at Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia in the Minas Basin of the Bay of Fundy. The ship was named after Glooscap, the spiritual hero figure of the Mi'kmaq people. Glooscap was the culmination of several decades of large-scale ship building in the...
, schools, businesses and the Glooscap Trail
Glooscap Trail
The Glooscap Trail is a scenic roadway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.It is located in the central and northern part of the province around the Minas Basin and Cobequid Bay, sub-basins of the Bay of Fundy...
tourism region named after the heroic figure.