07-25-02 @ 7:58 pm EDT

Been reading more of my Manitous book and have so far gotten through the chapters on Mudjikawiss and Peepaukawiss, having browsed those for Chibiabos and Manabozho. WOW these four were typical brothers! Here's what I've gleaned so far.

Mudjikawiss was the firstborn, and turned out exactly as his father wanted him to be. He loved fighting and hunting and such and grew to be this big strong man. He left home, to Winonah's (his mother's) disappointment, and set out to protect the Ojibwa's homeland. In his travels he came across the Bear Nation or some such to the north (probably where he got his bear association) and noticed how they used this special sash in their meetings. Intrigued, he asked to join them for a while as a guest. They agreed, but while they were talking with him he stole the sash and went running. They followed, their best warrior in the lead; desperate, Mudjikawiss turned around and killed him with one blow. The others were stunned; some wanted to kill him, some wanted to spare him because he was an even better warrior than THEY were! Finally they decided to adopt him as one of their own. (An Ojibwa tradition--the family of a murder victim may either kill or adopt the killer as their own. Freaky, huh?) Mudjikawiss agreed, but with the stipulation that he could return to his homeland whenever he wished. And so he became their war chief. They gave him the sash as a gift and he took it back to his own people. It was a "wampum belt" that detailed the history of the Bear Nation. From that day forward the Ojibwa used a similar device to keep track of their histories, so Mudjikawiss became the patron of warfare and history.

Mudjikawiss had had to keep an eye on Peepaukawiss when his brother was small, and he resented this; so when Puka (the nickname I'm going to give him) was old enough, Mudji was glad to be rid of him. Puka's dad hoped for the same from him that he had gotten from Mudji, but it wasn't to be. Peepaukawiss was rather...girly, from what the book described, only not in so many words. He liked observing nature, he was very giggly and flighty, and squeamish to boot. He disliked hunting and war games. Ae-pungishimook--his dad, whose name I may be spelling very wrong!--tried knocking some sense into the boy but even that didn't work to convince him to be more like his big brother, so finally, he just gave up on him and gave all his attention to Mudji. Poor Puka became known as the "disowned one" and left home...again, poor Winonah. From observing animals in nature he created his own special outfits and dances, and when HIS younger brother, Wabasso (I may use that spelling over Wabosso), created the flute and drum and rattle, he used those as musical accompaniment to his dances. He traveled all over and became very popular among the natives, who requested his presence at gatherings. He invented the Hoop Dance, which had a special symbolic meaning that many overlooked because it was so beautiful. The women begged him to stay and become their husband; the men, jealous of him, copied his outfits and took on his dances as their own. But Puka wouldn't stay in one place; he had to keep moving, an eternal wanderer. It's like he was simply too afraid to stay in one place for long...and so he forfeited all friendships and relationships with others.

Peepaukawiss was also an awful tease and trickster. The frequent victim of his pranks was his youngest brother Manabozho--Puka meant merely to be funny, but Manabozho didn't have a very good sense of humor. This all came to a head when Puka painted Manabozho's prize pigeons black with pitch. Manabozho threw a monster fit and went running after his older brother, but Peepaukawiss hid under a mountain. Manabozho simply called upon the manitous of storms to destroy it; when the rubble lay smoking before him, only then did he lament his decision and began to cry and beg for his brother to be brought back to life. But then...he heard laughter. Looking all around him, he couldn't find where it was coming from, but he knew that Peepaukawiss was still alive--and LAUGHING at him! His grief turned again to fury and he went chasing after his brother, but could never find him. To this day they supposedly still chase each other, and such things as whirlwinds, snow flurries, and leaves blowing about are thought to be Manabozho and Peepaukawiss chasing each other.

In another part of the book it says that Puka DID die after Manabozho wished for it, so there's some slight contradiction. Also, another version of events that I've read named Peepaukawiss as the angry party, who went chasing after MANABOZHO during a race. Wherever Manabozho ran, flowers sprouted and birds sang in spring; when Puka followed, along came the snow and cold. He could never catch up with his brother. Their race created the seasons.

The first version of the story I find much more appealing and tragic, though I'm likely to use a cross between the two.

I have yet to finish the chapters, but from what I read of Chibiabos's, he started out as Wabasso, another disappointment to his father. He was far too serious even for Winonah's tastes, and would sit still for hours at a time, staring off into space. He claimed to be "listening," but in reality he was going into trances. He became able to communicate with the manitous, and was respected and feared for this ability. He stayed close to home though, to Winonah's relief, and was still about when Manabozho was born. When grown and ready to get married, Manabozho invited him to his wedding; Wabasso used the flute to call to his other brothers, Mudjikawiss, who had moved to live in the west with their father, and Peepaukawiss, who was God knows where. To Manabozho's surprise, the two showed up--it was the first time all four brothers had been together! So of course it was cause for celebration.

This didn't last long though. Mudjikawiss, seeing his other brothers, wasn't very impressed with them, and was quick to insult their talents as useless. Peepaukawiss was lazy and always shirking his duties; Wabasso was purely weird; and Manabozho was no better than the other two. Puka and Manabozho ignored the taunts, but Wabasso was stung. He argued that Mudjikawiss's talents--bloodshed and warfare--were just as bad as theirs supposedly were. Mudji scoffed and said that should a truly powerful manitou appear, Wabasso would turn tail and run the other way. To which Wabasso got in his face and snapped, "Name the manitou, name the place, and I'll be there!" The whole while, Peepaukawiss and Manabozho were trying to defuse the situation (which says a lot about how bad it must have been!), to no avail.

Mujdikawiss ended up naming a particularly nasty manitou to the north or something (this is what I haven't read thoroughly yet), and Wabasso went off to confront him. He ended up drowning...and became the brother known as Chibiabos, "Ghost of Rabbit" ("Wabasso" means "White Rabbit"). Manabozho was inconsolable over this loss, which leads me to believe that he and Chibi were very close. In the end, Manabozho ended up alone, the last of the four brothers, his father gone and his mother dead (she died giving birth to him); he had only his grandmother, and because he was so neglectful and irresponsible, sometimes he didn't even have her.

Very sad story! But so realistic. We have the brothers who dote on each other--Manabozho and Chibiabos--and the brothers who despise each other--Mudjikawiss and Chibiabos, Peepaukawiss and Manabozho. I can identify each of the types represented by the four brothers. Mudjikawiss is the responsible, hardworking but bullying one, close to the father figure and disdainful of the younger brothers. Peepaukawiss is the carefree, flighty, irresponsible one, yet almost feminine in some ways with his showy behavior. Chibiabos is the serious, studious one, yet also mystical and sensitive to a fault; he's also the tragic "martyr" figure. Manabozho is the baby brother, very conflicted, almost a mixture of the other three. In my stories, he will be followed by Chakenapok, but having been abandoned at such a young age, Chakenapok is the true outcast, and doesn't consider himself a member of the family. He will be the angry hateful one, calm and clear headed yet filled with spite and the need for revenge.

I've been trying to assign a different element to each and I tentatively came up with

Mudjikawiss--earth or fire
Peepaukawiss--air
Chibiabos--water
Manabozho--fire or earth

Iffy on Mudji and Mana; fire is the "war" element, yet Mudji strikes me as more earthy; earth types can be volatile too, when roused. Meanwhile Mana is close to the earth, but also quick tempered and very active; he could have an air sub-element. So I lean more toward fire for him.

Chakenapok has a fire and earth relation (flint), but is the "outsider" and so has no element.

What ennea-types would they be, I wonder? Mudjikawiss is very clearly an eight with a seven wing. Peepaukawiss is probably a seven with a six wing. Chibiabos...hm...most likely a four with a five wing. Manabozho? Not as clear...he might be a three, wing uncertain. Possibly a five with a six wing, but he's rather emotional to be a five. He could also be a seven though that's a bit flighty. I'm starting to lean toward three then. Threes are very appearance oriented, and want to look good. In the stories Manabozho is always going out of his way to help others, so perhaps he could be a three with a two wing (two is the helper). Then again, he could be a one, the perfectionist...see how confused I am! I'll have to take the personality test from his POV sometime to find out.

Well, I have to copy and paste this before I lose it. Hope SOMEBODY enjoyed.