Category: myths

A collection of myths and stories, shared about the web that I have found interesting.

Story of the Man Tree and Maple Syrup

Interesting things you find out I was looking at street names in a local town today and decided to look one up to see what it means and it lead me to an Anishinaabe story of the discovery of Maple Syrop. So I thought I might share that story here … The Original source may be found here https://zhaawanart.blogspot.com/2019/04/giigidowag-mitigoog-trees-speak-part-1.html



In the beginning when the world was still young, GICHI-MANIDOO, the Great Mystery, decided to make life easier for the Anishinaabeg, who were starving. One day a man stood at the lake gazing across when he heard a voice behind him. It was the spirit of the Man Tree who addressed him saying that the Great Mystery pitied the starving Anishinaabeg and that from now on the trees would gift them with their stories and nutritious sap. The voice gave the Anishinaabe inini at the lake instructions on how to tap the trees. The maple trees were full of thick, sweet syrup that dripped out easily when a branch was broken from the tree and the Anishinaabeg knew they would never have to grow hungry again after the hardships of winter.

One day, Wenabozho, the supernatural hero and friend of the People, decided to visit the Anishinaabeg, but they were not in the village. No one was hunting, fishing, or working in the fields. Finally he found them in a forest of man-trees, lying around on the ground, catching syrup in their open mouths from the dripping maples.

Wenabozho decided that after all the hardships in the past, life had become too convenient for his People; they would all grow fat and lazy because they would never had to work anymore. So he made a basket out of birch bark, filled it with water, went to the top of the man trees and poured the water down their trunks. Suddenly, the thick syrup turned thin and watery, just barely sweet. From now on, Wenabozho said, the Anishinaabeg will have to work for their syrup by collecting it in great amounts in a birch basket like mine, and then boil off the water by heating the sap with hot stones. In this way, people will appreciate their hard earned syrup. But Wenabozho made it so that maples only produced the sap during certain times of the year, at the end of winter, so the Anishinaabeg would spend the rest of the year working in the fields and hunting and catching fish. And this is how it has been ever since.

Why the Raven is Black

Origin of this myth is unknown to me at this time but I found it interesting.

Why the Raven is Black~

Great Spirit decided it was time to give the winged (the birds) their colors. Before this time all of the birds were gray. Their feathers did not carry the beautiful colors they do today. Great Spirit told all of the winged to gather at a special lake which was hidden high in the mountains. All of the winged flew to this magical body of water. Great Spirit told them to dive into the water and they would emerge with beautiful colors in their feathers. Brave little Hummingbird dove in first. He didn’t stay long but when he came out he was a beautiful green and had ruby on his throat. Jaybird was next. He stayed a little longer than Hummingbird had. When he emerged he was a bright blue and had a white throat. He wore a black necklace low on his neck. Wren splashed into the depths. When he got out of the water he was brown with a golden chest. Cardinal flew into the lake. He stayed in a bit longer than the others. When Cardinal broke the surface he was bright red and beautiful. Bluebird splashed into the water and stayed for a while. He came up blue with his beautiful red breast. Indigo Bunting dived in. He stayed linger than any of the previous birds. He came up such a beautiful blue that the other birds gasped at his gorgeous color.

Raven had been watching all of this. He was aware that the longer the birds stayed under the water the more beautiful they were when they emerged and Raven wanted to be the most beautiful of all of the winged.. Raven filed his lungs with air until his chest swelled up much larger than it usually was. He dove into the lake and swam deep into the depths. Raven grabbed a large rock and held onto it so he would not use up his air too quickly. He stayed under water so long that all of the other birds became worried that he would drown. Kingfisher dove into the lake and looked for Raven but could not find him. Kingfisher emerged a pretty blue gray color. Still Raven did not come up. The winged were just about to ask the fishes to help them find Raven when Raven finally broke the surface. He thought he would have the most beautiful colors of all of the winged but he was wrong. Raven had absorbed all of the colors and far too much of them at that. He was as black as a piece of coal and was just as shiny. Though Raven was not happy with his color he had brought something special out of the deep waters of the lake. He had been submerged for a very long time. When he did this Raven had found the opening between this world and the world of Spirit, which lies under the waters of the Earth Mother. Raven brought the secrets of Magic to the surface world. He brought the ability to shape shift and to work magic for healing and to do good for the entire world. This was many years ago and Raven is still black, and he still carries much strong Medicine.