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The Abenaki (also Wabanaki) are a Native American tribe located in the northeastern United States. Religious ceremonies are led by shamans, called Medeoulin (Mdawinno).
The history of the Abenaki people is divided into three time periods. In the first, the Ancient Age, humanity and animal-life are undifferentiated. In the second, the Golden Age, animals are still humans, but quantitatively different. In the third, the Present Age, animals and humanity are totally differentiated.
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Beings of the Ancient Age
Ato-sees (also Atosis) - a Medeoulin who is both snake and human, forces people to find a stick so that he can cook them with it, was blinded by Moosbas
Az-ban (also Azeban) - raccoon or wolverine trickster spirit
Kee-wakw - a gigantic, forest-dwelling cannibal
Kee-zos-en - the solar deity, an eagle whose wings opened to create the day, and closed to cause the night-time
K-tsee Awa-soos - the first four stars of the Big Dipper are the Great Bear, who is chased every night by four hunters; he is killed every fall and his blood drips to earth turning the leaves brown while the constellation turns upside down; it is righted, and he is reborn, every spring
Nee-ben - a woman whose stunning beauty forces Pe-ben to retreat to the north; she represents summer
P-son-en - an eagle-spirit that makes snow by opening his wings
Pa-don-gi-ak - seven white-skinned, golden-haired brothers, half-human and half-bird, former inhabitants of Lake Champlain, war-like (battles Keeta-skog), thunder and lightning spirits.
Pe-ben - (also Pebon) a powerful sorcerer who puts his audience to sleep when he tells stories, spirit of winter
See-gwen - a young male who loved the season of summer, and brought her to the north every spring
Wa-won-dee-a-megw - a snail spirit that can live in trees, on land or in the water, as well as change size and appearance to look like a huge snake, alligator or scaly man; has horns which can be ground into a magical powder
Wad-zoos-en - the eagle that flaps his wings to create wind
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Beings of the Golden Age
Tool-ba - foolish turtle spirit, uncle of Gluskab
A-gaskw (also Nokemis) - woodchuck spirit, grandmother of Gluskab, very wise
Moos-bas - mink spirit, adopted son on Gluskab, powerful fletcher, sometimes fulfills wishes
Mool-sem - one of Gluskab's dogs, the white one, could shrink or enlarge himself
M-da-weelh-ak - a loon spirit in the form of a dog, Gluskab's messenger, one of his dogs, the black one, could shrink or enlarge himself
A-senee-ki-wakw - a race of stone giants, the first people Gluskab created but then destroyed because they crushed other animals and injured the earth with their great size
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Gluskab and Malsumis
Tabaldak, the creator god, made humans and then Gluskab (several variants of whom were associated with different branches of the Abenaki, including Glooscap, Glooskap, Gluskabe Klooskomba and Nanabozho) and Malsumis sprang from the dust on his hand. Gluskab and Malsumis both had the power to create a good world, but only Gluskab did so. Malsumis still seeks evil to this day.
Gluskab founded the Golden Age of the Earth by rendering the evil spirits of the Ancient Age smaller and safer, as well as teaching humanity how to hunt and fish, build shelter and all of the Abenaki's knowledge of art, invention and science. Gluskab's departure ended the Golden Age, though he is prophesied to return and renew it again.
Me-koom-wee-soo was Gluskab's assistant and wields an ivory bow. He has a fierce temper and gains weight as he gets more angry; eventually, it is said, he sinks into stone. Gluskab and Me-koom-wee-soo had an archery contest once; Me-koom-wee-soo fired an arrow into the top of Mt. Washington, creating a pond, while Gluskab's arrow created a hole in the sky that was then called msatawa (the Evening Star).
Gluskab realized the strain hunters can cause on an ecosystem. He asked a woodchuck spirit for help, and she gave him all the hairs off her belly, woven into a magical sac. This is why woodchucks have bald bellies. Gluskab then went to a mountain, where Tabaldak had placed a huge eagle (P-mol-a) that made bad weather by flapping its wings. After binding it, Gluskab realized some wind was necessary and loosened them slightly. Gluskab saved the world from a frog monster that swallowed all the planet's water. When Gluskab cut open the monster's belly, some animals jumped into the water and became fish. Some modern Wabanaki believe that Gluskab is angry at white people for not obeying his rules.
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Beings of the Present Age
Alom-begwi-no-sis - an aquatic dwarfish race of men that can increase or decrease body size at will; they also own a pot which can transform a few kernels of maize into a huge quantity; seeing one supposedly foretells a death by drowning
Chibaiskweda - marsh gas, supposedly caused by the ghost of an improperly buried corpse
Do-gakw-ho-wad - small men who prop the jaws of animals open with sticks in order to avoid being eaten
Dzee-dzee-bon-da - a monster, so ugly that even he is terrified of his own appearance
Lo-lol - a frightening monster
M-ska-gwe-demoos - a swamp-dwelling woman, dressed in moss with moss for hair; she cries alone in the forest and is potentially dangerous
Meek-moos-ak - a pair of short twins who seduce women, who are then cursed to never desire marriage, kills hunters during the winter, possibly a personification of the Mi'kmaq tribe
N-dam-keno-wet - a half-fish, half-human creature with a small face and long hair, molests bathing women
P-skig-demo-os - a female creature, P-skig-demo-os slays men and children
Tsi-noo - a person whose heart is made of ice and has no soul; he eats the souls of others for sustenance and strength
Wana-games-ak - river-dwelling creatures with faces so narrow, they are essentially two-dimensional, friendly creatures that warned the Abenaki of coming attacks
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