The Wolf, Great Spirit of the Wilderness
The Wolf, Great Spirit
of the Wilderness
by Elikozoe
No animal other than the wolf has fed so many myths and stories in all the various world cultures. As much as it was feared and misunderstood in our Western ones, the wolf was on the other hand greatly revered in the native cultures of the American continent.
A fierce hunter with a deep caring for his pack, the wolf is not primarily seen as a predator by Native American cultures, but rather as a model.
In fact, in certain myths the wolves are sent to men to help them keep the game they hunt healthy.
Thus they are not seen as an opposite force but rather as a parallel one, reflecting man’s own.
It would be vain to pretend to cover in a single page the meaning and symbolism of the wolf in the rich traditions of Native American cultures, but let us pretend for a moment, and allow ourselves to be guided by the wolf in some fascinating stories.
The tribes of British Columbia (among which are the Nuu-Chah-Nulth), celebrated Klukwana, Shamans’ or Wolf Dance as the ceremony of the entrance into winter. Before the full moon of the solstice, it opened the sacred season of winter and allowed the initiates to communicate with spirits.
In another nearby tribe, the Kwakiutl, the wolf had an important role in the myth of creation. One of their myths says that Wolf survived the great flood by climbing to the top of a huge mountain. The wolves were said to have then changed into men, becoming the ancestors of the first people —thus explaining the use of wolf-masks in their rituals.
In the Arikara tribes (in Dakota), Wolf is one of the very first spirits in their creation myths.
In a story retold by anthropologist Cottie Burland, after creating the Earth with Lucky-Man, Wolf decides to populate the Earth from the most simple creatures to the more complex ones. He teaches two spiders how to reproduce and the eight-legged spider finally propagate in creating the eight, six, four and two legged creatures.
As well, the Shoshone American Indians (in California, Idaho, Utah etc.) saw in Wolf a creator God.
In a myth of the Shoshone, Coyote, trying to put Wolf in a grim light in the people’s eyes, argues with Wolf that people can’t be allowed to revive when they are dead, as there soon wouldn’t be any place left on Earth.
However, the trickster Coyote finds his trick had a bitter price when his son is the first to die and Wolf reminds him of his own advice.
So awe-inspiring is the wolf that even when associated with death it was still greatly respected for its wisdom and strength.
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