Category Archives: Native American
Azeban
Pronounced: ah-zuh-bahn
Also spelled: Azban, Asban or Azaban, Espun, Hespuns, Hespens
Azeban is a low-level raccoon trickster spirit in Abenaki folk lore and mythology. The Abenaki’s traditional homeland is known as Wobanakik, meaning “Place of the Dawn” and located where Northern New England and South Quebec are today. Another tribe that Azeban is associated with is the Penobscots.
Like many animal tricksters from Native American folklore, Azeban is known for doing many foolish and mischievous things. Unlike many of the tricksters, Azeban is not dangerous or malevolent as they prefer to tricking others for food or other deeds.
Azeban Stories
There are a few stories regarding Azeban and his antics.
A Dog Named Azeban
For those who study the stories and folklore of the Abenaki, there is a story where a woman, Cedar Girl named her six dogs based on their characteristics. This had caused a lot of confusion because people that the trickster of Azeban was a dog, not a raccoon. The dog was so named as he had the characteristics of a raccoon.
As to the story itself, Azeban, the dog was one of a litter of six pups born to Awasosqua or Bear Woman. The other pups were: Awasosis (Little Bear), Kwaniwibid (Long Tooth), Mikwe (Squirrel), Moosis (Little Moose) and Soksemo (Good Nose). All six pups are spirits and so named for their characteristics. But when you’re translating from one language into another, you can see how misunderstandings and mistakes can happen.
Raccoon Learns A Lesson
This is the type of story that explains how the raccoon came to have his black facial mask and ringed tail.
Once there were two blind men living in a village who had become very unhappy as they could no longer see or do things for themselves. Frustrated and unhappy, the two settled themselves on a log, determined to remain there.
They remained there until Glooscap happened upon them one day and asked what was wrong.
The two replied that no one wanted them around as they could no longer take care of themselves or help anyone else and were planning to remain on the log until they died.
Not willing to let them die unable to take care of themselves, Glooscap built a wigwam for the two. Then he took a rope, instructing them to go down to the river and tie it to a tree and to tie the other end to a bucket. When the two wanted to drink, all they needed to do was put the bucket in the water and pull it back in to them.
This of course is where Azeban or raccoon comes into the story. He saw what was going on and decided he would enjoy a bit of fun and mischief.
When one of the men went down to get water, Azeban followed after. When the bucket was thrown into the river; Azeban very sneakily took the bucket and moved it up onto the sandy bank.
Pulling in the bucket, the blind man found only sand in his bucket and not water as expected. The man returned to his friend lamenting that the river had gone dry and there was no more water to be had.
The friend accused the other of being lazy and not having gone at all for water. That he was just making excuses.
The first man insisted he told the truth and the second man went down to the river so he could prove it.
Azeban had already gone back down to the river and moved the bucket back into the water so that when the second man arrived, he was able to pull up some water. This only confirmed the second man’s accusations of the first being lazy. This started a fight and argument.
Some time later, Azeban noticed that the two men were cooking dinner. They had four pieces of meat in a pot. Planning more mischief, Azeban stole two pieces of the meat and then hid himself.
When the first man came to serve himself, he took two pieces of meat from the pot. It is when the second man went to get his food that the trouble began again. He accused the first taking all the meat for himself in addition to being lazy and refusing to get water.
The first man claimed he had only taken two pieces of meat and that there should still be two other pieces of meat. Once more the two men fought and Azeban just sat back laughing to himself about it.
Eventually Glooscap returned and saw the two fighting. He asked them what the fighting was all about and the second man told of how the first was too lazy to get water from the river and then his taking all of the food.
Hearing that, Glooscap looked around and quickly spotted Azeban where he was laughing at the two blind men. He knew then instantly what was happening.
Glooscap proceeded to take a piece of coal from the fire and then he seized Azeban, drawing a black mask around his face. He told Azeban that this was for stealing the meat from the two men. Then Glooscap took the coal and drew four rings around Azeban’s tail, telling him that this was for causing all those fights. These marks would be a reminder of Azeban’s misdeeds and thievery.
Azeban And The Waterfall
In this story, Azeban was out wandering around looking for something to do rather than stay at home, taking care of the things that he should have been doing.
As Azeban wandered along through the wood, he heard the chirping of baby birds above him in the trees.
Azeban called up to the baby birds, trying to get them to come down to him and play. The mother birds knew of the type of mischief and trouble that Azeban could cause and forbade their nestlings from going. They knew Azeban to be a nest robber and that he was very likely to eat the young fledglings instead of playing..
Prevented from causing trouble with the birds, Azeban wandered on until he found himself in a valley leading through some hills. Tilting his head, Azeban could hear something that sounded like a good number of people all shouting.
Curious, Azeban went to go find the source of the noise. He followed the sound ot the end of the valley. As the noise got louder, Azeban finally found the source when he pushed through some bushes and found himself at the edge of a cliff.
There, Azeban found himself looking out over the Winnoski River as it flowed down, forming a waterfall. It was the sound of all this rushing water and the roaring sound it made that Azeban had heard.
For some reason, Azeban decided to get into a shouting match with the waterfall. As it is just water and a waterfall, it couldn’t answer back to Azeban’s challenges and kept on doing what rivers and waterfalls do.
So Azeban kept yelling, angry that the waterfall would ignore him. With each challenge that Azeban made to the waterfall, he couldn’t out match the sound of the roaring water.
Eventually with Azeban’s antics of trying to out shout the waterfall, he got too close to the edge of the cliff where he lost his balance, falling into the water and getting swept out over the falls.
Amarok
Alternate Spelling: Amaroq
Also known as: Great Wolf
In Inuit mythology, Amarok is the name of a gigantic, monstrous wolf. There is another wolf entity, Amaguq who is a Trickster deity. While very similar and from the same culture, neither Amarok nor Amaguq are the same being.
Amarok is said to hunt down and devour those who are foolish enough to go out hunting alone at night. Unlike other wolves who hunt in packs, the Amarok is a lone hunter.
Folk Lore & Legends
* One particular legend of Amarok is that of a young boy who was physically stunted and was hated by his village. Wanting to improve his strength, the young boy called out to the Lord of Strength. At his call, an Amarok appeared and proceeded to knock the boy to the ground with its tail.
This act caused a number of small bones to fall from the boy’s body. The Amarok told the boy that these bones had prevented his growth and that he needed to return daily in order to increase his strength. The boy did so and after several days of meeting with the Amarok and wrestling him, he gained enough strength that he was able to beat three large bears and win the prestige and esteem of his people.
* Another legend tells that Amarok came when the caribou had become so numerous that many were becoming sick and weakening from the lack of food. Amarok began hunting the weak and sick caribou so that the herd was strong and healthy again.
* Yet another story goes that a man, who mourned the death of a relative of his, had heard that an amarok was close by. Deciding to seek out the amarok’s lair, the man took another family member with him.
Once the two had found the amarok’s lair, they found it had pups and they proceeded to kill all of them. The deed done, the man’s family member became frightened and the two fled to go hide in a cave.
From the cave’s entrance, they could see the amarok returning with food for its pups. When the amarok couldn’t find its pups, it ran to a lake nearby and began to pull something human-shaped up out of the water. At the same time, the man fell dead at his relative’s feet.
It is believed that the amarok took the man’s soul from his body as “nothing remains concealed” from the amarok and no matter how far away the man hid or ran, it would extract revenge for the death of its pups.
There are many stories where an amarok kills or captures people.
Cryptozoology & Possible Prehistoric Connections
In his book “Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo,” the author Hinrich Rink makes note that the native Greenlanders use the term “amarok” to refer to a large “fabulous” animal. Other tribes living in the Arctic use the term “amarok” to refer to a wolf.
The stories surrounding Amarok and his description sound plausible enough to some that he may have a real world basis.
Dire Wolf – These Ice Age predators lived some 1.8 million years to 10,000 years ago. They like so many of the Pleistocene megafauna died out during the end of the last Ice Age. Its very possible that the ancestors to the Inuits passed on stories of dire wolves as their descriptions are similar to that of Amarok with being large (five feet long) wolves.
Hyaenodon – Another Ice Age predator, they were the early ancestors to modern hyenas with the largest being the Hyaenodon giga. It has been suggested by some that stories of Amarok may be stories of this creature.
Shunka Warakin – For those who follow cryptozoology, among the Iowa tribes (part of the Sioux), the name means “carries off dogs.” Like the Amarok, it is described as being a large wolf-like animal of Native American folklore.
Waheela – Another cryptozoology candidate, Amarok is sometimes seen as being the same as a creature known as a Waheela. Stories of the Waheela are found in the Northwestern part of Canada. They are also a wolf-like creature similar to the Amarok.
Personally, I think the Dire Wolf is the most likely candidate for any real world or historical basis and truth to the Amarok. The Waheela and Shunka Warakin are also likely when seen as possibly being the same animal, just a different name.
Amaguq
This is another one where when I went to look it up, there really isn’t a whole lot of information to be found or had.
In Inuit mythology, Amaguq is the name of a trickster and wolf god. There is another wolf entity, Amarok, a spirit and one who isn’t so nice. Amaguq is described as being sly and cunning.
Wolves In Folklore
There are whole books, websites and articles dedicated to the significance and prominence of wolves in folklore. Their presence is common throughout a lot of European and North American cultures and mythologies.
The most notable trait of wolves is that they’re predators and depending on the culture, they are seen as either symbols of warriors or evil incarnate, representing danger and destruction.
It can vary too by culture and even religion with how wolves are viewed. Those who relied on hunting, tended to see wolves in a positive light. They saw in them traits worthy of a warrior or hunter to have in order to survive in the wilds. Those who relied more on agriculture and raising livestock, tended to see them more negatively,
While there are many Native American tribes who saw wolves as guides, guardians and protectors, there are those tribes such as the Netsilik Inuit and Takanaluk-arnaluk who didn’t always view wolves so favorably. This is understandable as wolves were some of their main competitors for feeding their families and tribes.
Aguara
Aguara is a South American Fox god who is responsible for giving the carob tree as a source of food for people. Effectively, he is a god of chocolate. Can’t go wrong there!
Or can it?
I do have to wonder about whoever did the initial writing down and researching for Aguara. A lot appears to be continued repetition and the result of bad research with a no one who knows enough about the subject to say “Hey! That’s incorrect!”
Most of the websites that give anything about Aguara, place him among Native American Deity lists. And that works when those sites in question include gods from North America down to South America. Other sites seem to be repeating bad information citing Aguara as a North American god.
Carob Tree Vs Cacao Tree
First off, Carob Trees are found in the Mediterranean, over there in Europe. They do have an edible seed pod that is used as a vegan alternative to cacao or chocolate. It is not as flavorful as chocolate, but given how much refined sugars are found in chocolate today or if you’re allergic to chocolate, it’s a good choice.
Second, Cacao Trees are found in South America and it is from the cacao beans that we get our chocolate.
Now, it is highly possible, that when European Explorers landed in the area, that they called the Cacao Trees by what they were most familiar with back home, Carob.
Maned Wolf
Properly, the animal referred to as Aguara isn’t a fox, though it does looks like a large red fox with long legs suited for and adapted to the grasslands it calls home in South America, especially its major habitat areas found in Brazil. They represent the tallest of the canine family and are in a genus of their own distinct from dogs, wolves, foxes and even jackals.
Tunpa Tribe?
This is the tribe often listed as whose pantheon of gods that Aguara would belong to.
Curious, I went to look this up. I didn’t find much on who the Tunpa were supposed to be. Just what seems to be more listings of various Native American tribes.
I did come up with a book called “Magic: A Sociological Study” by Hutton Webster from the Standford University Press, 1948. In it, the word tunpa refers to “superhuman” power. With a capital T, Tunpa can also refer to certain dead people who possess superhuman powers.
One site did mention the Chiriguano tribe found in South America from the Andes, Argentina and Boliva. Incidentally, the Chiriguano along with the Chané are those South American tribes mentioned in “Magic: A Sociological Study” that use the word tunpa.
My list of information for Tunpa also included mention of a warrior who took up the name when leading others into battle.
In Conclusion?
So we seem to be getting closer to a connection for Aguara’s South American origins. By the time I got done with looking up everything, I have to wonder about Aguara’s authenticity given the amount of poor research and repetitive re-listing the same information found among numerous websites.
Yehasuri
Alternate Spellings: Yenosu’riye, Yehasu’rie
Also known as: Wild Indians, Little Wild Indians, Wild People, Not Human Ones, Little People
Etymology – “wild little people”
Pronunciation: yay-hah-soo-ree
The Yehasuri are a race of small (roughly two feet tall), hairy humanoids from the Catawba legends of South Carolina in the United States.
It is said that the Yehasuri live in tree stumps and eat a variety of different things like acorns, roots, frogs, fungi, turtles, and insects to name a few.
While the Yehasuri are not known for being dangerous, they are known for pulling a lot of mischievous pranks and tricks. Some of these pranks include: stealing children’s footprints and shadows, outright kidnapping children, tying people by the hair to trees, and undoing people’s work if they aren’t properly respected or avoided. Sometimes these pranks can get rather destructive.
It seems to be that Catawba parents use stories of Yehasuri, portraying them as a type of bogeyman, to keep children in line and from misbehaving themselves.
Protection from Yehasuri
The only way to stop the Yehasuri is to rub tobacco on your hands and to say an ancient Catawba prayer:
“dugare ini para’ti na yehasuri deme hana te we stere yanamusi sere.”
Other precautions against Yehasuri were to make sure that nothing is left out where they can’t mess with things, bring in clothing at night, sweep away the tracks and footprints of children before night, and avoid potential places in the forest where they might be encountered.
Brickthology 