The underwater panther, or mishipeshu in Ojibwe, was considered one of the most important water-dwelling creatures to the Anishinaabe and other indigenous nations of the Great Lakes region. Living in opposition and as a counterpart to the thunderbirds, these creatures controlled the waters and underwater creatures of the lakes and guarded a vast wealth of copper in Lake Superior.
The mishipeshu, which translates to Great Lynx, were a major component of ceremonial life to many of the Anishinaabe nations of the Great Lakes region. They were said to have the body, head, and paws of a large cat, often compared to a mountain lion or lynx, and were covered in scales with spikes along their backs and horns similar to those of a deer or buffalo. Some were also depicted with bird feathers or other attributes depending on the stories and the source culture. Almost all are depicted as having extremely long tails, generally with spikes continuing from their backs down their length. They are said to have lived in the deep parts of lakes and rivers and were always to be appeased before travel was undertaken on the waterways of the region. As the thunderbirds were seen as masters of the air, the mishipeshu were seen as masters of the waters, and they were in constant conflict with one another yet are often viewed as complementary forces in ceremonies.
The mishipeshu were not considered evil beings, as they often provided medicine or aid when called upon by medicine carriers, but were beings to be appeased and respected as they were often thought to cause death or disaster when they were angered in one way or another. Mishipeshu were thought to cause storms, waves, whirlpools, breaks in the ice, and all sorts of aquatic maladies when they were angry and were considered the cause of many drownings and aquatic misfortunes in the Great Lakes region. When they growled, they were said to sound like storms or rapids. There are many stories of groups that did not appease the mishipeshu or who took sacred copper from their homes without permission, after which the mishipeshu came growling and killed the trespassers.
Historically and in the present day, taking copper is taboo for many Anishinaabe, as the mishipeshu were thought to be the guardians of vast amounts of copper, especially on Michipicoten Island, which was said to be their home. Because large amounts of copper were traded from the Great Lakes region during the Mississippian Period, these ancient groups likely mined the copper and caused the taboo after taking too much from the mishipeshu. In some stories of the mishipeshu, portions of their scales or horns were made of copper, and strands of copper hair or pieces of copper scale were highly prized in medicine bundles of the Anishinaabe and other cultures of the region.
Although the beliefs are primarily centered in the region, the symbolism of the underwater panther is not limited to the Great Lakes, as one of the largest pre-Colombian American Indian paintings was of a similar creature often referred to as the Piasa bird or Piasua, located on a limestone bluff overlooking the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois. The motif of the underwater panther, or at least of a similar creature, dates back to the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex of the Mississippian Period and cultures. The Alligator Effigy Mound in Granville, Ohio, is also considered to be an effigy of an underwater panther, which would date to the Fort Ancient period, just after the Mississippian and predating the formation of many of the historical nations and alliances encountered by European explorers. In the Historical Period, Anishinaabe quilled or beaded depictions of underwater panthers and thunderbirds on bags to be carried by men. These representations and the prevalence of the imagery in the everyday life of the Anishinaabe show the importance of the beings in their cosmology and belief systems.
Jonathan Byrn
See also Big Water Snake of the Blackfoot; Champ; Chessie; Hudson River Monster; Igopogo; Legends; Piasa; Sharlie/Slimy Slim; Thunderbird; Whitey
Further Reading
Angel, Michael. 2002. Preserving the Sacred: Historical Perspectives on the Ojibwa Midewiwin. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.
Howard, James H. 1960. “When They Worship the Underwater Panther: A Prairie Potawatomi Bundle Ceremony.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 16 (2): 217–224.
Johnston, Basil. 1990. Ojibway Heritage. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Treuer, Anton. 2001. Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press.
“The Water Panther.” 2015. Native Languages of the Americas website. http://www.native-languages.org/water-panther.htm. Accessed October 16, 2015.