Underwater panther
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Underwater panthers were powerful creatures in the mythological traditions of some Native American tribes, particularly tribes of the Great Lakes region.[1] In Ojibwe, the creature is sometimes called Mishibizhiw ("Mishipizhiw", "Mishipizheu", "Mishupishu", "Mishepishu"), which translates as "Great Lynx,"[2] or Gichi-anami'e-bizhiw ("Gitche-anahmi-bezheu"), which translates as "the fabulous night panther."[1][3] However, it is also commonly referred to as the "Great underground wildcat," "Great under-water wildcat," and sometimes as "copper cat."[4]
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[edit] Description
Water monsters appear in the mythology of most cultures, but in some Native American mythologies they tended to combine traits of wild cats such as the mountain lion, or in some cases the lynx, with those of snakes. The underwater panther was an amalgam of features from many animals: the horns of deer or bison; snake scales; bird feathers; the body and tail of a mountain lion; and parts from other animals as well, depending on the particular myth. Mishipizheu were said to live in the deepest parts of lakes and rivers. Some traditions believed the underwater panthers to be helpful, protective creatures, but more often they were viewed as malevolent beasts that brought death and misfortune.
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To the Algonquins, the underwater panther was the most powerful underworld being. The Ojibwa reportedly held them to be masters of all water creatures as well as of snakes. Some versions of the Nanabozho creation legend refer to whole communities of water lynx. Potawatomi medicine bags sometimes had an image of the underwater panther on one side and the Thunderbird, master of the powers of the air, on the other. As late as the 1950s, the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians performed their traditional ceremony to placate the Underworld Panther and maintain balance with the Thunderbird.[5] In addition to the Anishinaabeg -- the Algonquins, Ojibwas, Potawatomis -- Mishibizhiw stories are also to be found among the Montagnais.[4]
When ethnographer Johann Kohl visited the United States in the 1850s, he spoke with a Fond du Lac Chief, who showed Kohl a piece of copper that was kept in his medicine bag, citing that it was a strand of hair from the mishibizhiw, and thus considered extremely powerful.[1]
[edit] "Alligator" mound
In a 2003 article in the Cambridge Archaeological Survey, Brad Lepper makes the case that the Alligator Mound in Granville, Ohio, is not an alligator at all but rather an effigy of an underwater panther, particularly since the tribes of Ohio were unlikely to have been familiar with alligators. The confusion is thought to be the result of misinterpretation by early European settlers, who upon inquiring of Native Americans regarding the underwater panther, were told that it was a fierce creature that lived in the water and eats people, which they assumed to be alligators.[6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Kohl
- ^ Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary
- ^ "The fabulous night panther" is a translation from Ojibwe into French to German, which then was translated into English. The direct translation would be something closer to "The greatly-revered lynx". See Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary
- ^ a b Barnes
- ^ Bolgiano
- ^ Lepper.
[edit] References
- Barnes, Michael. Aboriginal artifacts. Final Report - 1997 Archaeological Excavations La Vase Heritage Project. City of North Bay, Ontario. Retrieved on 2006-07-13.
- Bolgiano, Chris (August 1995). "Native Americans and American Lions", Mountain Lion: An Unnatural History of Pumas and People. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-1044-0.
- Fox, William A.. Dragon Sideplates from York Factory: A New Twist on an Old Tail.. Adams Heritage. Retrieved on 2006-07-13.
- Kohl, Johann (1859). Kitchi-Gami: Life Among the Lake Superior Ojibway.
- Lepper, Brad (2003). "Alligator Mound: Geoarchaeological and Iconographical Interpretations of a Late Prehistoric Effigy Mound in Central Ohio, USA". Cambridge Archaeological Journal 13: 147–167. doi:.
- Lore, David. "Man pounces on panther theory about mound", The Columbus Dispatch, 2001-01-21. copy
