Underwater panther

Lore & Background

The underwater panther is described as an amalgam of parts from many animals: the head and paws of a giant cat, scales, and dagger-like spikes along its back and tail. It may also have horns of deer or bison, upright scales, occasionally feathers, and an exceptionally long tail, sometimes serpentine. It lives in the deepest parts of lakes and rivers, where it can cause storms, squalls, rapids, sink canoes, and drown people, often children. Its roar or hiss is heard in the sounds of storms or rushing rapids. Some traditions view it as helpful and protective, sheltering those who fall through winter ice and endowing medicinal power to shamans who accept its guardianship. It makes gifts of copper, and the Ojibwe believed rock formations with copper lode protrusions to be a divinity, allowing passersby to cut copper from 'its horns.' More often, however, it is seen as malevolent, requiring placation for safe passage across a lake. As late as the 1950s, the Prairie Band of Potawatomi performed a ceremony to placate the underwater panther and maintain balance with the thunderbird.

Reader's Guide

The underwater panther holds deep significance in the mythological traditions of several Indigenous tribes, particularly the Anishinaabe, Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. It is a key figure in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex of the Mississippian culture, according to some archaeologists. The creature is well represented in pictograms, and historical Anishnaabe bags often feature an underwater panther on one panel and the thunderbird on the other. The Alligator Effigy Mound in Granville, Ohio has been hypothesized as depicting an underwater panther. Late 18th and 19th century dragon-motif side plates on muskets from York Factory were associated with the water panther by natives. Modern Ojibwe artist Norval Morrisseau has painted underwater panthers in his Woodlands style artworks. The Canadian Museum of History includes an underwater panther in its coat of arms. The title of underwater panther was also applied to similar mythological creatures of several Native cultures in the Eastern US, including the Iroquois, who depict it as a serpentine dragon with copper deer antlers and a diamond in its forehead, and the Ho-chunk, who have a horned water spirit equivalent.

Did You Know?

• Mishipeshu translates to 'the Great Lynx' in Ojibwe.
• The underwater panther is said to guard the vast amounts of copper in Lake Superior.
• A Jesuit missionary named Claude Dablon recorded a story of four Ojibwe who died after taking copper from Mishipeshu's home.