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Nain Rouge, which means “red dwarf” in French, is a small goblin-like creature that has shared a unique relationship with the city of Detroit, Michigan, for more than 300 years. Also called the “Demon of the Strait” (a reference to the Detroit River as a strait, a navigable channel in the Great Lakes system connecting Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair), Nain Rouge is described as a very small man with red or dark skin, glowing eyes, and sharp, pointed teeth. He falls within the tradition of mischievous little people or house spirits such as leprechauns, fairies, and pixies. Thanks to an ill-fated meeting with Detroit founder Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658–1730), Nain Rouge is an especially wicked figure in Detroit folklore whose appearance always heralds disaster for the city. Today, every spring Detroiters gather for “The Marche du Nain Rouge,” a street festival aimed at chasing away the little red devil for another year and ushering in a brighter future for their community.
Nain Rouge symbolizes Detroit’s French heritage and the hard luck that seems to have befallen the city since its earliest days. Some versions of the myth suggest that Ottawa and Huron Indian tribes in the region knew of the demon’s existence for many years, and Nain Rouge fits within the wider Native American belief in little people. But many folklorists identify Nain Rouge as a specific type of French house spirit called a lutin. Originating in Normandy, France, lutins are mischievous creatures that can do good or evil depending on how they are treated. Folktales from the Canadian province of Quebec tell of the lutin’s ability to take the form of a household pet, but other French Canadian accounts describe them as “malicious” little goblins, about twelve inches high with round eyes and wide, “frog-like” mouths (Fréchette 1907, 215; Beaugrand 1892, 327). Good lutins may use their powers to help heal sick family members or bring rain to a farmer’s crops. But once offended, lutins can make life miserable, using their powers to spread mischief and disaster.
Detroit’s founder should have heeded such warnings. According to legend, the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac admired the strategic location along “The Strait” (the Detroit River) and dreamed of building a city there. On the evening of March 10, 1701, at a Quebec banquet held in his honor, Cadillac met an old fortune teller, Mère Minique. She confirmed that Cadillac’s vision would grow into a great city, but the effort would not be easy. The city would see “strife and bloodshed” before achieving prosperity beyond Cadillac’s wildest dreams (Hamlin 1883, 25–26). When the explorer pressed Mère Minique to reveal what his children might inherit, her reply was ominous: “Your future and theirs lie in your own hands, beware of undue ambition; it will mar all your plans. Appease the Nain Rouge. Beware of offending him. Should you be thus unfortunate not a vestige of your inheritance will be given to your heirs. Your name will scarcely be known in the city you founded” (Hamlin 1883, 27).
Cadillac and his expedition headed south from Quebec the next day. By July 24, 1701, they had selected the location for present-day Detroit. Soon a church, stockade, and city streets emerged. Cadillac called it Fort Ponchartrain du Detroit, and for six years, the community prospered. Then in 1707, Cadillac and his wife were taking a walk when they overheard someone say that the little red demon had been spotted. Suddenly, Nain Rouge lunged in front of them, eyes gleaming and grin filled with pointed teeth. Cadillac’s wife recognized the demon, but Cadillac reacted with foolish anger. He smacked Nain Rouge with his cane, shouting “Get out of my way, you red imp!” (Hamlin 1883, 36–37).
A celebrant at the annual celebration to banish the evil spirit of Le Nain Rouge from Detroit. This sprite (French for “red dwarf”) has bedeviled the people of Detroit for more than 300 years. Every spring the Motor City holds a festival intended to exorcise the small goblin-like creature and to usher in good luck and prosperity for the city. (Jim West/Alamy Stock Photo)
It was the worst possible response. Nain Rouge laughed and vanished, and the fortune teller’s dire predictions soon came true. Cadillac’s fortunes fell thanks to political intrigue, and he left Detroit, never to return. He served as governor of Louisiana for a while, but that ended badly. He eventually died in France, leaving no inheritance for his children of the city he founded.
Ever since, sightings of the “Demon of the Strait” have foreshadowed terrible events for Detroit. In 1763, Nain Rouge was spied stalking along the Detroit River the day before British soldiers were ambushed by Chief Pontiac at the Battle of Bloody Run. In 1805 he was seen before a catastrophic fire destroyed the city and again during the War of 1812 when Detroit surrendered to the British. Some say that Nain Rouge did backflips through the streets before Detroit erupted in riots in 1967, sparking the downward spiral of urban flight that haunts the city to this day. Nain Rouge was even seen jumping off a utility pole during the winter of 1976, the day before Detroit was hit by a massive ice storm.
Not unnaturally, the residents of Detroit have a love-hate relationship with their little red demon. He is uniquely theirs, and today, local brands of beer and wine, plus a rock band, have been named in his honor. But why tempt fate? In 2009, Detroit revived the tradition of a spring street festival, “The Marche du Nain Rouge.” This family-friendly event attracts as many as 4,000 people each year who gather to chase away the red demon and celebrate the “liberation” of Detroit and “whatever is good and working in the city” (Marche du Nain Rouge 2015).
Leslie A. Przybylek
See also Crichton Leprechaun; Nin-am-bea; Pukwudgie; Tommyknocker; Yehasuri
Further Reading
Beaugrand, H. 1892. “Lutins in the Province of Quebec.” Journal of American Folklore 5 (19): 327–328.
Dybis, Karen. 2009. “Detroit’s Evil Spirit.” The Detroit Blog at Time website. October 30. http://detroit.blogs.time.com/2009/10/30/detroits-evil-spirit/. Accessed June 23, 2015.
Fréchette, Louis. 1907. “French-Canadian Folklore.” Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature 30: 215–216.
Hamlin, Marie Caroline Watson. 1883. Legends of Le Détroit. Detroit: Thorndike Nourse.
James, Sheryl. 2013. Michigan Legends: Folktales and Lore from the Great Lakes State. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
“Marche du Nain Rouge.” 2015. The Marche du Nain Rouge website. http://marchedunainrouge.com/. Accessed June 14, 2015.