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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT><BR><FONT size=2 face=Arial> <BR><FONT
size=4>Mermaid Tales From Native Tribes Abound</FONT><BR>July 17, 2012
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2
face=Arial>http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/07/17/mermaid-tales-from-native-tribes-abound-124105<BR><BR>While
the U.S. government and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) denies their existence, Native American tribes have been telling stories
about mermaids from time immemorial.<BR><BR>From the Halfway People of the
Mi'kmaq and the Lampeqinuwok of the Maliseet, to the story of Ne Hwas told by
the Passamaquoddy and the story of the first merman told by the Potawatomi,
there is no shortage of tales about the half human creatures.<BR><BR>The Mi'kmaq
tell the tale of Lone Bird who stumbles upon a cove of five beautiful maidens
swimming and playing in the water: "They<BR>were lovely, it is true, but they
looked nothing like human maidens, for humans do not have pale skin, spotted
with silvery scales.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>They do not dress their hair with strands of
seaweed. And though maidens adorn themselves with necklaces of bright shells,
humans have legs. Their bodies do not end in long fish tails," from the book
Spirits, Fairies, and Merpeople: Native Stories of Other<BR>Worlds by C.J.
Taylor.<BR><BR>Lampeqinuwok are water sprites from Maliseet and Passamaquoddy
stories. The website Native-Languages.org reports that in some stories they take
human form, and in others they have fish tails, but in most stories they fall
into the power of anybody who can steal their magical garments.<BR><BR>The
Passamaquoddy tell the story of He Nwas, the mermaid. It's about two girls who
defy their mother by swimming where they weren't supposed to. The girls turn
into mermaids and instead of playing on the shore, they tow their parent's canoe
for them.<BR><BR>"They were all slimy; they grew to be snakes from below the
waist. After sinking a few times in this strange slime they became very
handsome, with long black hair and large, bright black eyes, with silver bands
on their neck and arms," from The Algonquin Legends of New England, by Charles
G. Leland.<BR><BR>The Potawatomi story "The Adventures of Raccoon" recounts a
troublemaker raccoon and how he tricks villagers, crawfish and his<BR>brother
Wolf. In the end of the story, raccoon's last trick is to drown Wolf: "When he
was within reach, Raccoon sprang upon him and ducked him until he was drowned.
Because of this there is a two-legged animal in the water to this day, which the
Potawatomi call a merman. He is half fish and half human," from The Mascoutens
or Prairie Potawatomi Indians, Part III, Mythology and Folklore.<BR><BR>There is
also a Sekani legend about a man who married a mermaid. He captured her by tying
her to a tree by her long hair. During her first winter on land she begged him
to let her return to the water. During her second winter her husband wasn't able
to kill much<BR>game so he let her return to the water. She brought him and
their son food and returned to him.<BR><BR>"After this the mermaid lived very
happily with her husband for many years and bore him several children," the
legend says. "Very<BR>reluctantly he consented and dug a hole through the ice
for her. She dived into the water but returned immediately because
her<BR>children were unable to follow her. One after another she rubbed their
mouths with water and told them to dive in after her. Then<BR>they all went down
into the water and never returned."<BR><BR>Another legend called "The Lost Boy"
comes from the Lenape. It tells the story of three boys crossing a normally
calm, shallow<BR>stream. One of the boys was lost when a wave came rushing at
them. The boys' parents went to a mystic man to find their lost
son.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><BR>The man told them their son was alive and had
been taken by a woman. The mystic man told them they could see their son at
sunrise if they camped on the bank of the great river.<BR><BR>"Before the hour,
a great crowd gathered at the appointed place, and the mysterious deep began to
roll and throw forth great<BR>whirlpools. And thunder or rumbling sounds burst
into the air," from The White Deer and Other Stories Told By The Lenape edited
by John Bierhorst. "At sunrise, behold, they saw on the waves of the great river
the missing boy. At his side was a beautiful humanlike personage, said to be a
mermaid."<BR><BR>An Ottawa tale tells the love story of Menanna and Piskaret.
Menanna showed up at the door of an Ottawa warrior, covered in scales with twin
fishtails where her legs should be. She told him she had once been mortal but
longed to roam the heavens. The Great Spirit granted her wish, but she grew
tired of wandering and was allowed to return to earth, though in a form "neither
mortal nor immortal, neither man nor beast-the mermaid shape in which the
warrior beheld her. In this guise she became the adopted daughter of the Spirits
of the Flood."<BR><BR>The warrior took her in and the scales began to fall away,
but she wouldn't regain her original human form until she found love.<BR>When
she did find love, it was with Piskaret, the son of an enemy tribe-the
Adirondacks, who refused their love.<BR><BR>Menanna was so sad she left the
Ottawas and rejoined the Spirits of the Flood, who vowed vengeance on the
Adirondacks.<BR><BR>"The Spirits of the Flood attacked the canoes of the
Adirondacks, leaving few of the tribe alive. Piskaret was caught and
shielded<BR>in the arms of Menanna, who drew him from his canoe and sank with
him beneath the waters," reads Sea Enchantress, The Tale of the Mermaid and her
Kin by Gwen Benwell and Sir Arthur Waugh.<BR><BR>Native Americans aren't the
only cultures that have numerous legends of the fishtailed creatures; cultures
across the continent<BR>speak of mermaids. The fantastical creatures seem to be
universally imagined in similar fashion.<BR><BR>Check out DSC.Discovery.com to
keep on eye on when the faux-documentary Mermaids: <STRONG>The Body Found will
air again</STRONG>.<BR></FONT></DIV><BR><BR>
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