The Shawnee Survived Noah's Flood?
Up Close and Personal with the Shawnee
Last week I introduced to you the most powerful tribe of the Ohio Valley during the time of the American Revolution, the Shawnee. The Shawnee were a Central Algonquian speaking people. Linguistically, this means they were related to the Sauk-Fox-Kickapoo, Miami-Illinois, Ojibwe-Potawatomi, Menominee, and the Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi. The name Shawnee comes from the Algonquian word, Shawunogi, which means "Southerners." The Shawnee perfer to call themselves Shawano. The Shawnee were very conservative people. They believed they must obey a strict set of laws, known as creeds, that Our Grandmother had handed down to them in order to learn how to live a faithful life. Some of their customs and beliefs set them apart from their neighborning tribes.
The Shawnee and Noah’s Flood?
The Shawnee creation story is very unique for the Algonquian group in that the Shawnee are the only tribe to believe they had crossed open waters at the time of creation. Also unique to them is the belief that a female deity, known as Our Grandmother, had created everything. The Shawnee believed in a supreme being known as Moneto, aka Great Spirit, who had the idea for creation. According to the Shawnee story, "In the beginning there was the Great Spirit, formed of wind, invisible, but in the shape of a man. He lived above the sun. There was just space; no earth, no water. The Great Spirit said, 'Let there be woman' and as soon as he spoke there was a being formed as a woman. Then to this woman the Great Spirit gave the work of creating this earth, light (the sun), water, people, and animals. She is the one the people saw and knew. Before the flood she and the devil and her grandson and the great giants were all on this earth which she made, and the people talked to them. In this first creation, people lived along time and died four times, but not so today. The Great Spirit must have made the sky, or again it might mean that the Great Spirit was the sky. The female creator (Our Grandmother) is under the Great Spirit. Afterward the female creator did her creating and made the rules which are to be fulfilled."
According to George Bluejacket at Wapaughkonnetta on October 29, 1829 this is how the Shawnee had survived the great flood:
“The beginning of the Shawanoe tribe was when the Go-cum-tha (our grandmother) of our people come up out of the great salt water holding to the tail of the Ne-she-pe-she (Panther).
Her Wash-et-che (Husband) was carried to the shore by a very big Wa-be-the (Swan or Goose).
The land where their people had lived was swallowed up in the great salt water by Watch-e-men-e-toc (Bad Spirit or Devil), but Mish-e-me-ne-toc (The Great Spirit) saved these two and they were the first of our tribe. Many animals and birds were saved too, so there was plenty of hunting in the new Me-to-quegh-ke (Forest).This was many Te-pe-wa-ko-te (Hundred seasons or years) ago, and our people soon became many. They have always been called Shawanoes (Water people), and the Me-she-pe-she (Panther) and Wa-be-the (Swan) have always been the signs (Emblem or Totem) of this tribe.”
Thirty years later, Charles Bluejacket, explained how both the white man and the red man were saved during Noah’s flood. He said the white man and his family were in the great canoe that saved the white family, just as the Bible records. As stated above, a red woman had been saved as well. After the flood, Moneto, placed her in a valley with a hill between her and her white brother and his family. She could see the smoke from the white man’s wigwam. Feeling quite lonely she wept. The Great Spirit came down. She told him she was just an old woman and she was the last of her people. He reminded her of how the first man had been created. After the Great Spirit had left her she began to form children out of clay. She tried to breathe life onto them but nothing worked. She wept. The Great Spirit once again visited her. She told them what had transpired. He once again reminded her of the story of the first men. After the Great Spirit left she breathed into the nostrils of her clay children and they became alive. This was the beginning of the red man. The people were one tribe and grew numerous.
Next week we will learn how the Shawnee broke away from the Kickapoo and the Delaware. We'll explore the relationships between the three groups and how they affected the Shawnee.
What is your favorite sport?
Last week I introduced to you the most powerful tribe of the Ohio Valley during the time of the American Revolution, the Shawnee. The Shawnee were a Central Algonquian speaking people. Linguistically, this means they were related to the Sauk-Fox-Kickapoo, Miami-Illinois, Ojibwe-Potawatomi, Menominee, and the Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi. The name Shawnee comes from the Algonquian word, Shawunogi, which means "Southerners." The Shawnee perfer to call themselves Shawano. The Shawnee were very conservative people. They believed they must obey a strict set of laws, known as creeds, that Our Grandmother had handed down to them in order to learn how to live a faithful life. Some of their customs and beliefs set them apart from their neighborning tribes.The Shawnee and Noah’s Flood?
The Shawnee creation story is very unique for the Algonquian group in that the Shawnee are the only tribe to believe they had crossed open waters at the time of creation. Also unique to them is the belief that a female deity, known as Our Grandmother, had created everything. The Shawnee believed in a supreme being known as Moneto, aka Great Spirit, who had the idea for creation. According to the Shawnee story, "In the beginning there was the Great Spirit, formed of wind, invisible, but in the shape of a man. He lived above the sun. There was just space; no earth, no water. The Great Spirit said, 'Let there be woman' and as soon as he spoke there was a being formed as a woman. Then to this woman the Great Spirit gave the work of creating this earth, light (the sun), water, people, and animals. She is the one the people saw and knew. Before the flood she and the devil and her grandson and the great giants were all on this earth which she made, and the people talked to them. In this first creation, people lived along time and died four times, but not so today. The Great Spirit must have made the sky, or again it might mean that the Great Spirit was the sky. The female creator (Our Grandmother) is under the Great Spirit. Afterward the female creator did her creating and made the rules which are to be fulfilled."
According to George Bluejacket at Wapaughkonnetta on October 29, 1829 this is how the Shawnee had survived the great flood:
“The beginning of the Shawanoe tribe was when the Go-cum-tha (our grandmother) of our people come up out of the great salt water holding to the tail of the Ne-she-pe-she (Panther).
Her Wash-et-che (Husband) was carried to the shore by a very big Wa-be-the (Swan or Goose).
The land where their people had lived was swallowed up in the great salt water by Watch-e-men-e-toc (Bad Spirit or Devil), but Mish-e-me-ne-toc (The Great Spirit) saved these two and they were the first of our tribe. Many animals and birds were saved too, so there was plenty of hunting in the new Me-to-quegh-ke (Forest).This was many Te-pe-wa-ko-te (Hundred seasons or years) ago, and our people soon became many. They have always been called Shawanoes (Water people), and the Me-she-pe-she (Panther) and Wa-be-the (Swan) have always been the signs (Emblem or Totem) of this tribe.”
Thirty years later, Charles Bluejacket, explained how both the white man and the red man were saved during Noah’s flood. He said the white man and his family were in the great canoe that saved the white family, just as the Bible records. As stated above, a red woman had been saved as well. After the flood, Moneto, placed her in a valley with a hill between her and her white brother and his family. She could see the smoke from the white man’s wigwam. Feeling quite lonely she wept. The Great Spirit came down. She told him she was just an old woman and she was the last of her people. He reminded her of how the first man had been created. After the Great Spirit had left her she began to form children out of clay. She tried to breathe life onto them but nothing worked. She wept. The Great Spirit once again visited her. She told them what had transpired. He once again reminded her of the story of the first men. After the Great Spirit left she breathed into the nostrils of her clay children and they became alive. This was the beginning of the red man. The people were one tribe and grew numerous.
Next week we will learn how the Shawnee broke away from the Kickapoo and the Delaware. We'll explore the relationships between the three groups and how they affected the Shawnee.
What is your favorite sport?
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