The Manitou

The divine beings of the Anishinaabek people, the Manitou have been here since the World was created. They represent a wide range of mythic stature, from divine humans with great magic to the primeval forces of creation and destruction that dwell within the World. Yet one of the great distinctions of the Manitou is that they dwell, for the most part, in the same World as mankind, without separating themselves into the Overworld and Underworld of other pantheons. They are unseen, but ever here.

Born of a Titan’s destructive act against a noble God, the principal Manitou are linked as a nuclear family in a way few other pantheons are. Innumerable spirits great and small are accorded stature by these Gods, who express their equality down to the lowliest nature spirit. As much as term for the spirits as it is a term for all things energetic, mysterious, deific, dangerous, and powerful, Manitou is applied equally to Primordial forces, Gods, faerie creatures, wizards, witches, and great Chosen leaders. Their divinity is a difference in degree, not in kind. Most other pantheons are dismissive when speaking of them, suggesting they have no structure beyond this — titanspawn and Gods rub shoulders with no real respect for authority or hierarchy. The Manitou look at most other pantheons and just see Manitou.

There are Manitou of all shapes and sizes, always affecting the World, but only a small few have had an active role in the development of the mythology and the people. Many humans think of Manitou as only being connected to things of nature, but such thought is an arbitrary restriction imposed on them by human culture. Just as there are Manitou who watch over mountains and rivers and deer and corn, there are Manitou who watch over people, cities, neighborhoods, even strip-mining. As new Gods begin to intermix with the Manitou, the ancient ones see them as equally old Manitou they’re only just now meeting. It doesn’t mean they all like each other — some are downright hostile, as their people have been moved from land they gave them.

Principal Members
The Manitou are the bringers of art, tradition, and prosperity to the people. They are painfully human, brash, self-righteous, and supremely prideful in their interactions with other beings. As a rule, the Manitou are fairly removed from the day-to-day lives of their followers. While the people will make offerings to them, more often than not it is to keep them at bay, to acknowledge the right to live off creatures and plants to be hunted or gathered, or to have them look favorably on an interaction or trade that might concern the Manitou. When a Manitou comes among the people it is usually a significant event, and not necessarily a good one. Many Manitou are predatory, and such creatures are numerous and of many forms.

The Orenda
These two other sons of Winonah are the foundation of the Iroquois pantheon, recognized as a subset of the Manitou (the Orenda, of course, argue that the Manitou are a subset of Orenda). The two sons are twins named Ioskeha and Tawiscara — “Good Mind” and “Bad Mind”. Ioskeha tends to the things above the World, and Tawiscara tends to that which is below. Good Mind creates the things that are seen as wholesome and Bad Mind creates and tends to those things that are seen as dark and twisted. Together, they created humankind, who inherited both capacities for good and bad. The brothers are both necessary for the World to flourish, and a subtly different pantheon of spirits and Heroes grows up around them. They see the Manitou and the four brothers as rivals, due to the presumption of seeing themselves as the true descendants of Geezhigo-Quae. Sometimes Winonah isn’t even part of their telling of how they came to be. While Ioheska doesn’t pay much mind to the four brothers, Tawiscara takes their existence personally (although, he kind of takes everyone’s existence personally, so the Manitou don’t take him personally). Nonetheless, he tries to cause conflict between the four brothers, and everyone else from time to time. Tawiscara has a particular dislike for Nana’b’oozoo.

Pantheon Path
Assest Skills: Medicine, Occult

Virtues: Pride and Dream.

The Manitou never stop doing and providing for their people. As they strive to make the World a better place there are internal forces at work that keep them moving forward as much as they get in their way. The Manitou are prideful to a fault, without a doubt. Pride stems from their father, and pride defines them all in subtle ways. Though they are not necessarily hierarchical, they do like to be acknowledged for their Deeds and stature, and jockey for position amongst themselves. Many a Manitou will fly into an uncontrolled rage or begin a vindictive plot when they feel slighted. Some have much shorter fuses than others, but it is one of the main reasons that the people don’t invite the Manitou, or their Scions, to live among them for long periods of time. They are Heroes, but rarely champions. While their pride can be the thing that makes them move to solve a problem, if it doesn’t go their way the damage they do in a burst of anger can exacerbate the problem beyond measure. Even the greatest of Manitou must learn to communicate with the lowliest of Manitou so that altercations can be avoided, but the learning is always a journey.

Yet the Manitou are not static beings. They each have a purpose that is given to them in a dream and dreams that they give to others. That purpose keeps them always fidgeting about. It is rare for a Manitou to stay in one place for very long because the hunger to physically act on their dream purpose begins to bring disquiet after a time. Being restricted causes such unrest. They cannot escape their natures. This can cause them to be manipulated by the savvy and the unsavory among men and Manitou.

Signature Purview: Dodaem

Dodaem refers to the ideas of action, heart, and nourishment. The people believe that there is a Manitou for all things in the world. This spirit oversees the well-being and functionality of its charge. Before any undertaking these guardian Manitou, called dodaem (or totem) must be acknowledged with respect and your intent made known. Additionally, your own dodaem must be invoked and sought out. It will give you dreams of how to accomplish the thing you wish to do and can be convinced to intervene with other Manitou on your behalf to get them to use their abilities and shape the world to achieve your desired goal.

Tobacco is a plant that seems to resonate with the Manitou. Making physical or burnt offerings of it allows communication to be established and acknowledges respect for the workings of the world and the place of the Manitou and their charges. In addition to tobacco, proper prayers are required. These prayers aren’t limited to sitting and praying. They often include songs and chants as well as dances. Once connected, if the Manitou decide in your favor, then miracles can be made to happen.

Cosmology
Manitou are, by default, unseen to humans. While they coexist in the world they are mostly nonphysical beings with invisible manifestations. The exceptions are those Manitou who are inherently physical; they can be seen. Manitou are as the World: Some things are untouchable and unseen, and some things are seeable and touchable. It follows then that humans stumble across Manitou all the time and can, on occasion, stumble into, and trespass upon, their homes. This is why it is wise to treat all places with respect, for one never knows what place a Manitou has come to dwell in or protect. In general, the Terra Incognita of the more powerful Manitou are a bit harder to come across. These places may be hard to find, or require particular tricks or tenacity to access, but they are nonetheless in the World of men. The rivers are known to have secret entrances to places where the Manitou called Memegwesi, small water spirits, live and also to where dwell tribes of the strange Nibiinaabe (mermaid- and merman-like creatures).

There are some places that are far enough removed that they might as well be considered other realms. This includes the elusive and unmapped Skyworld and the frightening Underworld. The Manitou of the pantheon mostly choose to live incarnated physically in the World, enjoying Worldly experiences and guiding their Scions. Cheeby-aub-oozoo is the exception, for he dwells in the Underworld, and Kitchi-Manitou really doesn’t manifest, per se, anywhere.

Skyworld
Skyworld has been said to be somewhere just above the clouds and/or somewhere on the moon. It is a place filled with Manitou that mankind has never met. Only Geezhigo-Quae left Skyworld and came down to the World. In Skyworld, there is a great tree that reaches from the cloudy base of Skyworld and extends its branches up into the stars. It was a hole by the roots of the tree through which Geezhigo-Quae descended/fell to the world. Getting to Skyworld is difficult for any Manitou that cannot fly. Even then, only the wicked would go there without permission from Kitchi-Manitou.

Underworld
The Underworld is said to be literally under the World, accessible through deep lakes and underwater caves. It is filled with the spirits of the deceased and other strange Manitou that no living person has communicated with. Cheeby-aub-oozoo is the ogimauh, or leader, of this world. The Manitou of the Underworld were so impressed by his ability to speak to the Manitou and teach the humans how to listen to the Manitou that they decided he would be the best intermediary for all involved. Somewhere in the deep shadows of the Underworld also dwells Tawiscara.

Both of these places, in ages past, were completely inaccessible to normal people. In the modern age, this has changed. Now, with the help of the great machines of man, humans might accidentally trip across Terra Incognitia connected to Skyworld on the moon and to the Underworld deep beneath the Earth. The Manitou in these places have little to do with humans, and next to no concern with their existence. Some may not even be aware of humans and barely interact with other Manitou. Others may be waiting for doors to be opened so they may pour out to ravage. Technology allows the curious to extend the reaches of their explorations so that they may bump shoulders with these Manitou. This, of course means that humanity stands the chance, more and more, of disturbing Manitou that should not be disturbed.

Manitou of the Underworld
The Underworld is home to a great many Manitou that have no interest in coming up to the World. There are no living things in the Underworld, so there aren’t Manitou that manage the life of things. There are Manitou that guide the dead to where they belong and ensure that the dead stay out of the world of the living and vice versa. They tend to pathways, and gateways, and forgotten things, and things whose time in the World has come to pass. There are also the monstrous things. Some are hungry, some are angry, some are warlike, all are nightmares. These dark Manitou would love to come into the world and rampage like a wendigo. The Manitou that guard the ways ensure this doesn’t happen. Cheeby-aub-oozoo can pass freely between the two worlds. Tawiscara, however, is always making or inciting more nightmare Manitou and helping them get into the World to see what havoc they cause.

Kitchi-Manitou - The Great Mystery
The chief Primordial of the Manitou is Kitchi-Manitou: the Great Mystery, creator of all things, people, and Manitou. Creation began with the vision and dream within Kitchi-Manitou, sometimes known as Gitche-Manitou, other times as Chi-Manidoo. Through this dream, the Primordial had a knowing of the universe, and an experience of all it could be. Kitchi-Manitou immediately set into motion making this dream manifest, creating what we know to be the physical World. In the World, Kitchi-Manitou created and placed all the beings that would cohabitate in all ways. This included all plants, animals, fish, birds, insects, peoples, and Manitou. This is all that it did.

Once creation was done, Kitchi-Manitou left things to the created beings so that they would, in turn, create and grow the World and shape it even as they were shaped. Humans in particular inherited the capacity to dream as Kitchi-Manitou had dreamed. This allowed a human to find their purpose in the World and showed them which creation they were to make manifest.

On occasion, Kitchi-Manitou imparts power to a mortal in the form of a dream. This is how its own Scions come to be. Such Scions are impulsively drawn to find their particular place in the World, driven by the dream that they must make manifest. They have to create, or, in some cases, destroy something. In this way, Kitchi-Manitou ensures that the World stays in motion and that the people always have protection against the titanspawn, bad Manitou, and twisted humans.

The Primordial reaches out and connects to humans who seek guidance from it with great frequency, though never through Incarnations. It only manifests to other Manitou through messengers, portents from Skyworld, and dreams.

Callings:  Creator, Judge, Sage

Purviews:  Fortune, Stars, Prosperity, Sun, Darkness, Forge

Titans
The Manitou count all mysterious divine and semi-divine beings as Manitou and try their best to engage each other with respect. They presume all were created by Kitchi-Manitou and, therefore, all have a purpose. There are some Manitou, however, that are given to a rapacious need to just destroy things in the foulest way possible. Something got into them that has left them all kinds of twisted and perverse. These Manitou are titanspawn.

Not all titanspawn are extreme. Some just have natures that make them dangerous for them to be around humans. These get checked by the Heroes and Scions of the Manitou, and are allowed to do whatever task they do best. Others must be destroyed on sight. Some giants have their own tribes. On occasion one will amass power and begin to raid and destroy the cities of man and the Terra Incognita of other Manitou. These get slain much like the wendigo. Beyond the giants, most notable titanspawn are strange twisted beasts.

Ae-pungishimook - The West Wind, Death
This giant lives in a great cave somewhere in the west. He is more powerful than any other giant and destroys what he wishes, relatively unimpeded. He is the father of the four brothers, having sired them by forcing himself upon Winonah over several generations. His relationship with his sons is tenuous. He is most proud of the might and ferocity of Maudjee-Kawiss but fairly disappointed in all the others. He at least tried to get to know Pukawiss, but he completely abandoned Nana’b’oozoo, who sought him out for vengeance. Nana’b’oozoo could not even begin to match Ae-pungishimook’s power, or his bow that shot volleys of flame and lightning. He soundly beat Nana’b’oozoo. Ae-pungishimook, however, impressed with his son’s tenacity, gave him the pawaugun (pipe) as a token of an agreement of mutual respect.

Purview: Death.

Virtues: Rapacity, Dominance

Wendigo
The greatest of the titanspawn among the Manitou is the wendigo. No one quite knows for sure where it comes from. The wendigo, or windigoag plural, are giant cannibals who only exist to destroy humans and other corporeal beings. Especially active in the winter, they feast with great gluttony on the flesh of their victims. They especially hate Nana’b’oozoo and his Scions, as Nana’b’oozoo is said to have wiped out an entire tribe of over 40 Windigoag singlehandedly, drowning them all in a lake because they can’t swim.

Mishibizhiw - The Water Lynx, Underwater Panther
Somewhere deep in the water dwells Mishibizhiw. It is a terrible creature that is some strange cross between a furry, cougar-like thing and a dragon sporting the antlers of a deer, a series of sawtoothed ridges along its back that are as sharp as knives, and a long prehensile tail made of copper. It preys upon all who venture into its waters. It is rumored to be the thing that actually drug Cheeby-aub-oozoo down into the water and drowned him, sending him to the Underworld. It can appear as small as normal cougar or as something Titanic that destroys everything in its path.

Misiginebig - Mishi-Ginebig, Great Serpent, Wewiwilemita Manetu
These strange giant serpents lurk in lakes and like to eat humans. There are many and all are extremely malicious, having no real reverence for life. They are enemies of the Animikii (Thunderbirds) who go out of their way to slay them with extreme prejudice, lest they find their nests and eat their young.

Aniwye - Aniwo’ye, Mishi-Zhigaag, Giant Skunk

Aniwye is a man-eating skunk of absolutely colossal proportions. It would rampage, slaying everyone with its terrible musk. People affected by its musk would grow sick, wither, and die. Nana’b’oozoo stumbled across it and kind of “killed” it by shattering it into all the skunks in the world. Its essence remains, however, and it will, from time to time, assemble enough of itself to rise again. Scions of the four brothers seek out any evidence of its rising and put it down before it figures out how to amalgamate its disparate skunk bodies into one giant monstrosity again.

Midewiwin
The major World religion that centers around the Manitou is that of the Midewiwin. Those who practice the religion in the World are referred to as Midew. Male practitioners are called Midewinini and women are called Midewikwe. Midewiwin is a state of being more than it is a role and translates to something like “the state of being in midewi.” The whole idea gets turned into medicine men by outsiders, but that’s wrong. Medicine men, or doctors, would be Mashkikiwin. Midewi truthfully doesn’t have a direct English translation. The closest attempts would be “spiritual,” “mysterious,” or “sacred.” This state of midewi is necessary to be able to connect with the Manitou to receive visions and favor. Most practitioners are only found on reservations, as they prefer to practice without the influence of outsiders. There are those, however, who are trying to popularize the teaching again in Anishinaabe social groups in urban areas.

In general, there is also the belief in dodaem, these days more commonly called totems. The idea of dodaem is that there is a personal Manitou that oversees the needs and affairs of every person. People are born into one of the tribal clans, which have a family dodaem. The major clan dodaem are bear, bird, fish, catfish, crane, deer, loon, and marten. Within a clan there are also several sub-totems of the same type as the main dodaem. These totems can be connected to by anyone, but members of those clans have particular favor. The clan dodaem is, in effect, a Manitou relative. In addition to the clan totem, a person would seek out which Manitou would be their personal guardian. That guardian could appear or manifest as any non-human animal, bird, insect, or plant. A person could have multiple dodaem in their life. The dodaem could be convinced to lend the particular attributes with which they’re associated to a person, help them resolve obstacles, or teach them new skills.

Many ceremonies are devoted to acknowledging the presence of powerful Manitou and their effect in the World. These ceremonies include, but are not limited to, the Midwinter Ceremony, the Feast of the Dead, Raven Festival, Painted Pole Festival, War Dance, ceremonial feasts for each season, and various rites of passage (birth, naming, first kill, puberty, dream seeking, marriage, and death).

Birthright
Birthrights for the Scions of the Manitou come in many different forms. The most common are Relics in the form of weapons, utility items, and clothing as well as strange creatures and magical animals representative of a personal or clan dodaem.

Creatures and Guides
Animals: General creatures of nature of the same type as the clan dodaem that attach themselves to the Scion as a pet and companion and guide. They tend to be bigger and more robust that normal animals of their type with particular qualities or attributes that really stand out (brave, tenacious, intelligent, swift, sharp-eyed, etc.).

Animikii: (Thunderbirds) These creatures are tribes of great, magical, eagle-like creatures that serve Muzzu-Kumik-Quae. They are more commonly called thunderbirds. They can control winds and rain and create lightning. They can shape-change into a human form and appear as human but prefer to stay among their own kind. While similar, they are different from the Wakinyan-Tanka who is the mighty “thunderbird” of the Lakota. Wakinyan-Tanka is a god in and of itself and has its own Scions. The Animikii are believed by some to be related to it but are such distant descendants as to be a different kind of creature. A Scion who is favored by the Animikii has no connection to Wakinyan and is as likely to go mad seeing it as anyone else.

Bagwajiwinnini (Pukwudgie): These diminutive, hirsute wildmen are benign, though given to small acts of good-hearted mischief. Like gnomes, they will make themselves at home in a Scion’s house or ride around with them in a backpack or purse. They are fond of Nana’b’oozoo’s Scions because they make them laugh just as Nana’b’oozoo once made the children laugh when they were plagued with despair.

Nibiinaabe: (Mermaids/Mermen) These water spirits are like merpeople and are found in riverbanks and docks. They will befriend Scions who spend most of their time in or around the water.

Followers
Clan: Human relatives within your clan, most likely Turtle for Heavy Followers. They also might be someone who has a personal dodaem that is the same as, or connected to, the dodaem of the Scion. All of the Scions of the Manitou tend to attract their fair share of activists who feel like they have more authority by connecting with a being of power. This can be a double-edged sword.

Relics
Club of Maudjee-Kawiss: This mighty club was wielded by Maudjee-Kawiss long ago when he stole the Wampum from the bear people. It allowed him to best nearly any foe with but a single stroke.

Spirit Rifle: While bows and arrows are all good and exotic, younger Scions like the modern feel of these enchanted rifles. They must be charged with a war dance and have their bullets blessed by blood. It fires the bullets with unerring accuracy and burns the flesh of titanspawn.

Winonah’s Jingle Dress: This ornate medicine dress is made of buckskin and covered with small tin cones from shoulder to hem. The sound of it frightens weaker titanspawn and confuses the stronger ones, making it hard for them to focus.

Hill Striding Moccasins: This leather footwear, beaded with symbols of clouds and birds and lightning, allows the wearer to move at great speed.

Relationship
Wendigo are everywhere. People are led to believe in this modern time that the wendigo are dying out, but in truth they are adapting. These giants are melding in, and among, the peoples of the world, feeding slowly and amassing their forces. In the dark of the night they can descend on people in the shadows of ghettoes and slums and feed while no one pays heed. The growth of man into the places that used to belong to the Manitou is also awakening strange new Manitoun who are either variations of the wendigo or something worse.

In response, the Manitou have begun guiding their Scions and followers to go hunting in the dark, cold places in the world of men and kill these awakening titanspawn before it’s too late. They remember the old days when whole armies of the things would descend on a winter night and wipe out a village.

Geezhigo-Quae, watching and listening to the stories of other Scions and Muzzu-Kumik-Que, fears that something bigger is in motion and if they don’t work with others to stop it there may be another flood soon as a result.

Of the other pantheons, the Manitou relate best (as a whole) to the Kami and Òrìshà. These groups have a similar understanding of the fact that there are many uncountable spirits. Even the more powerful spirits must connect with and respect the smaller spirits to maintain harmony. Kami are quick to recognize Manitou as Kami, just as Òrìshà are quick to see the Manitou as Òrìshà. Since the Manitou also adopt this approach there is an interesting back-and-forth flow of Scions across these pantheons.

Other Pantheons
While there had been contact with both Tuatha and Æsir in the past, the advent of the colonization of the Americas increased this contact greatly. While there is a tenuous amount of respect between the groups, they see each other as rivals more often than not. Particular sets of individuals get along more than others. Maudjee-Kawiss, always finding his brothers lacking, has found some comradeship among a few of the other warrior/hunter gods. He has gone so far as to invite some more regularly into his wendigo hunting war parties. Nana’b’oozoo is bothered by this. He feels left out and that both the people and his brothers are too quick to accept the strangers when they never quite seem to accept him fully. It was apparently enough to make Nana’b’oozoo leave. He made sure everyone knew.

Geezhigo-Quae is happy to foster Scions from all pantheons, as is Winonah. Nana’b’oozoo is happy to have anyone who’ll hang out with him.

The Manitou know that the Teōtl see them as barbarians, but they don’t care. They’d rather avoid the Teōtl altogether, as the Manitou perceive the group from the south to be more than a little obsessed, intense, and uptight.

Greatest Weakness
With the growing interest in the other pantheons, the Manitou are providing dreams to more and more people to lead them to reclaim culture and language. Unfortunately, for this to be done, Pukawiss knows that new traditions and songs must be created — and some things must be destroyed. In this, tradition has become their greatest enemy. Convincing their people to embrace new songs and stories has been hard. Nana’b’oozoo may have hit on the solution by being so enthralling to the younger tribes, causing them to dig deeper into spiritual tradition and adapt them to their modern lifestyles, but this causes generational strife anew.