Pukwudgie
A dwarfish, shape-shifting creature from Ojibwe and Wampanoag folklore.
The Pukwudgie is a mischievous or menacing dwarfish human-like creature from Native American lore, particularly known from the folklore of the Wampanoag people of Massachusetts. It originally appeared in Ojibwe folktales published by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft in 1839 and gained nationwide fame through Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 poem *The Song of Hiawatha*. Later, Wampanoag natives crafted tales that deliberately borrowed the "Pukwudgie", and retold them for the purpose of Indian cultural awareness. Some of these were collected and published by Elizabeth Reynard in The Narrow Land (1934).
- Pronunciation
- American English pronunciation:
- Alternate spellings
- Puk-Wudjie, Pukwudgee, Bokwjimen, Bgoji-nini, Bagwajinini, Puck-wudj-ininee
- Height
- knee-high (2–3 feet / 0.61–0.91 m)
- Skin color
- gray-skinned
- Distinctive features
- very large noses, ears, and fingers
- First published source
- Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Algic Researches (1839)
- Notable literary appearance
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha (1855)
Lore & Background
The Pukwudgie originates from Ojibwe folktales, where a single orphaned boy named Wa-Dais-Ais-Imid ('He of the Little Shell') gained the ability to become invisible and stole from the culture hero Manabozho, eventually fleeing to live among mountains and rocks, thereafter called 'Puck Wudj Ininee'. The being is both an individual and a race. Among the Wampanoag, Pukwudgies were originally well-intentioned helper spirits whose efforts backfired, turning them mischievous and menacing. They became enemies of the giant Maushop and his wife Granny Squanit; after Maushop scattered them across New England, the survivors reassembled in Massachusetts and turned to kidnapping children. Pukwudgies are said to be short-statured, gray-skinned, with very large noses, ears, and fingers, and can shape-shift into dangerous beasts like cougars or porcupines, appear and disappear at will, and harm victims by staring. The Wampanoag warn they fire poisoned arrows, lure victims to death, push them off cliffs, start fires, attack with knives and spears, blind with sand, and kidnap children.
Reader's Guide
The Pukwudgie's significance stems from its journey from Ojibwe oral tradition to national prominence through Schoolcraft's 1839 publication and Longfellow's 1855 poem, where it appears as the killer of the giant Kwasind. Although Longfellow was a New Englander descended from Pilgrims, the creature's setting was transposed to Middleboro, Massachusetts by a 1906 local history. Later, Wampanoag natives deliberately borrowed the name and crafted tales for Indian cultural awareness, collected by Elizabeth Reynard in *The Narrow Land* (1934). The term 'Pukwudgie' is not of attested old usage in Massachusetts; the original local name is lost. The creature is widespread among Algonquin-speaking tribes including the Ojibwe, Wampanoag, and Lenni-Lenape, with equivalents among the Mohegan (Mukheahweesug), Mi'kmaq (Mikumwess), and Miami (Paisa). Its legacy is one of cultural adaptation and reclamation, as the name was imported to Massachusetts after Longfellow's poem popularized it.
Did You Know?
- The Pukwudgie was originally an Ojibwe folktale published by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft in 1839.
- Longfellow's poem *The Song of Hiawatha* (1855) features Pukwudgies killing the giant Kwasind with pinecones and fir cones.
- Wampanoag natives later crafted tales that deliberately borrowed the Pukwudgie for Indian cultural awareness, collected in 1934.
More in Legendary Creatures of the Indigenous Peoples of North America 1-24
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