Nokomis

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Nokomis is the name of Nanabozho's grandmother in the Ojibwe traditional stories and was the name of Hiawatha's grandmother in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Song of Hiawatha, which is a re-telling of the Nanabozho stories. Nokomis is an important character in the poem, mentioned in the familiar lines:

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis
Daughter of the moon Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest.

According to the poem, From the full moon fell Nokomis/Fell the beautiful Nokomis. She bears a daughter, Wenonah. Despite Nokomis' warnings, Wenonah allows herself to be seduced by the West-Wind, Mudjekeewis, Till she bore a son in sorrow/Bore a son of love and sorrow/Thus was born my Hiawatha.

Abandoned by the heartless Mudjekeewis, Wenonah dies in childbirth, leaving Hiawatha to be raised by Nokomis. The wrinkled old Nokomis/Nursed the little Hiawatha and educates him.

In the Ojibwe language, nookomis means "my grandmother,"[1] thus portraying Nokomis of the poem and the aadizookaan (Ojibwe traditional stories) from a more personal point of view, akin to the traditional Ojibwa narrative styles.

Things named after Nokomis[]

Places[]

United States
Canada

In fiction[]

Nokomis is also a character in Richard Adams' fantasy novel Maia. She has a son called Anda Nokomis.

Vessels[]

  • USS Nokomis (YT-142) was a fleet tug that was in the Yard Craft Dock of the Navy Yard at the beginning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. She provided assistance to other ships and survived the attack.

Nokomis Pottery Red Wing Minnesota[]

Red Wing Potteries Inc. produced Nokomis glazed pottery from 1929 to 1934.[4]

Notes[]

  1. ^ "nookomis". the Ojibwe People's Dictionary.
  2. ^ "Protection urged for Nokomis Pond Growth threatens Newport water source".
  3. ^ "Lake Superior Provincial Park Hiking Trails". Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  4. ^ Nokomis glaze Red Wing art pottery display
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