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'Gitche Manitou' (or 'Gitchi Manitou', 'Gitchie Manitou', 'Gitchee Manitou', 'Kitche Manitou'; 'Gichi-manidoo' in the contemporary spelling), in traditional Algonquian First Nations culture, is the Great Spirit, the Creator of all things and the Giver of Life. "Manitou" is an Anishinaabe word for "spirit", and "Gitche Manitou" means "Great Spirit". Its actual meaning comes closer to "Great Connection". French explorers reported the name as "Grand Manitou".

Contents

Gitche Manitou

Manitou as mystical term

See also

External links

References

Gitche Manitou

Gitche Manitou is often treated as those cultures' analogue to the Christian God. When early Christian missionaries preached the Gospel to the Algonquian peoples, they absorbed Gitche Manitou as a name for God through the process of syncretism. This can be seen, for example, in the words of the "Huron Carol". Other related names for God incorporated through the process of syncretism are ''Gizhe-manidoo'' ("Merciful ''Manidoo''"), ''Wenizhishid-manidoo'' ("Fair ''Manidoo''") and ''Gichi-ojichaag'' ("Great Spirit"). While ''Gichi-manidoo'' and ''Gichi-ojichaag'' both mean "Great Spirit", ''Gichi-manidoo'' carried the idea of the greater spiritual connectivity while ''Gichi-ojichaag'' carried the idea of individual's soul's connectivity to the ''Gichi-manidoo''. Consequently, Christian missionaries often used the term ''Gichi-ojichaag'' to refer to the Christian idea of a Holy Spirit.

Manitou as mystical term

Main articles: Manitou

The term Manitou itself refers to the concept of one aspect of the interconnection and balance of nature/life, similar to the East Asian concept of qi; in simpler terms it can refer to a spirit. This spirit is seen as a (contactable) person as well as a concept. Everything has its own manitou—every plant, every stone and even machines. These Manitous do not exist in a hierarchy like European gods/goddesses, but are more akin to one part of the body interacting with another and the spirit of everything; namely the collective is named Gitche Manitou.

See also

★ The Song of Hiawatha

External links

★ Mackinac Island

★ Wisconsin History

★ Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians

References

★ Densmore, Frances. ''Chippewa Customs''. (1979, Minnesota Historical Press).

★ Hoffman, Walter James, M.D. ''The Mide'wiwin: Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibway''. (2005, Lightning Source Inc.)

★ Johnston, Basil. ''Ojibway Ceremonies''. (1990, University of Nebraska Press).

★ Johnston, Basil. The Manitous: the spiritual world of the Ojibway. (2001, Minnesota Historical Society Press).

★ Nichols, John D. and Earl Nyholm. ''A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe''. (1995, University of Minnesota Press).

★ Cuoq, Jean André. ''Lexique de la Langue Algonquine''. (1886, J. Chapleau & Fils).

★ Rhodes, Richard A. ''Eastern Ojibwa-Chippewa-Ottawa Dictionary''. (1985, Mouton de Gruyter).