Folklore Profile: The Lake Superior God of the Waters (AKA: The Great Lakes Merman)
Since ancient man first settled around the five Great Lakes in what would go on to become known as North America, strange and unexplained stories have continuously filtered out from along the shores and into the ears of anyone who would listen. The range of stories that both Native American’s and European settlers told were vast and encompassed a slew of different topics that many people of today couldn’t even begin to imagine. Deep-rooted tales involving Gods and monsters, ancient magic and ghosts, lost treasures, supernatural weather, and even the mysterious Little People.
While the stories themselves are all unique and not often connected in terms of subject matter, the one thing that creates a strong link between these tales is the fact that they all originate in and around the water, and not just any water mind you, but Great Lakes water. These vast inland seas have long been a source of wonder and awe for all who look upon them. They have helped provide for and benefit the lives of those who built a strong relationship with them based upon respect. But on the opposite side of that coin, they have also taken the lives of those who have sought to control them and master their power.
It is believed that there are upwards of 6,000+ shipwrecks within the five lakes known as Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario. Their beds have become the final resting place for an estimated 30,000+ mariners, many of which have never been recovered. The sheer number of souls that have been lost within these waters can easily get one thinking of the possibility that there may be something more going on within these lakes than originally thought. That there may be a force at work under the water that decides the fate of those who dare to interact with it. Something magical, something supernatural, something Godlike. Something, as crazy as it is to believe, like a Merman.
The fascinating story of the Great Lakes Merman has a deep history that goes all the way back to the year 1782. The legend revolves around a voyageur and merchant from the small town of Repentigny by the name of Venant St. Germain. The encounter, which is recorded as taking place on May 3rd, is reported to have occurred on Isle Pate’ (Pie Island), located roughly between Isle Royale and the Canadian shoreline of Lake Superior. Retelling the tale himself about what was witnessed, St. Germain swore before two official Judges of the Court of King’s Bench for the District of Montreal, one P.L. Panet and one J. Ogden, on November 13th, 1812. Speaking truthfully and under no persuasion from others, St. Germain told the shocked Judges everything that occurred that night on and in the lake over 30yrs prior. What you are about to read is that same tale that was originally told over 208 years ago.
During a routine fur trading trip that was to take place in what is now known as Thunder Bay, Venant St. Germain, three unnamed companions, and an old Ojibwe woman who was only traveling with the party as a means to reach a separate destination, departed from the Grand Portage region (which currently resides within Minnesota alongside the U.S. and Canadian border) and made their way towards Pie Island in order to set up camp for the night. Landing on the south end of the island, St. Germain instructed the three men to help set their fishing nets for the night in order to secure additional food for the trip. The process, which was completed just a little before sunset, took place in an area that was flooded with natural beauty and proved to be awe-inspiring to all who looked upon it.
As he was making his way back towards camp, St. Germain decided to take in this sight one final time before the sun officially disappeared and darkness took over the landscape. But when he turned to stare out upon the majesty of Lake Superior, the seasoned woodsman instead laid his eyes upon something he had never once seen before. For there in the water, roughly “an acre or three quarters of an acre distant from the bank where he stood,” St. Germain witnessed a creature which appeared to him to be half-human and half-animal. Utterly amazed by what he was seeing, the fur trader approached the edge of the water and stared at the mysterious being for what is recorded as being three to four uninterrupted minutes. The creature, which followed suit, stared right back.
St. Germain, in his account of the incident to the two Judges, described the strange creature as having a body which resembled that of a human down to its waist which stopped at the waterline. Unfortunately for the voyageur though, he was unable to see what the creature looked like below the water as it was much too dark to see clearly. The visible part of the body was described as appearing like that of a child around the age of seven or eight years old. It was relatively small in size and for some unknown reason, held its long and odd-looking right arm up in the air. Because of this position, St. Germain was able to distinctly see a hand and fingers almost identical to that of a full-grown man. The other arm remained under the water.
Studying the creature with focused attention, the woodsman took note of a face that strongly resembled that of a small human being. Its eyes were described as being brilliant; its nose was small in size but strong in shape; the ears were noticeable and well-formed and the mouth was proportionate to the overall size of the head. The skin complexion of the creature was recorded as being that of a “brownish hue” and the expression on the face appeared to be a mixture of both uneasiness and curiosity. St. Germain also noted that the creature did not appear to have any long or flowing hair, but rather its body was covered in a wooly substance that looked to be an inch long. The official court document describes this hair as being grayish-black in color and “similar to that which grows on the heads of [African Americans].”
St. Germain and the strange water creature continued to stare at each other without moving. Their curiosity towards one another had locked them into place as a means to take in everything they could regarding their subject of focus. At that moment, neither man nor merman was on a higher level than the other. They were equal subjects on a level playing field that was dedicated to understanding one another. That all changed though when the additional members of St. Germain’s party proceeded towards the shoreline and took sight of the strange being in the water.
When the three men approached the deeply focused Voyageur, it was as if he had snapped out of a trance. The desire to understand what he was looking at was replaced by a strong impulse to capture the creature by any means possible. So in order to carry out this impromptu act, St. Germain rushed for his gun as quick as a flash and turned back towards the water to take aim. With the experience and skill that only comes to those who have been hardened by the unforgiving wilderness, St. Germain raised his weapon, planted his feet on the uneven ground beneath him, and steadied his hand to pull the trigger. But one thing he had not accounted for in his haphazard plan to shoot the aquatic being, was the old woman whom he had allowed to accompany his party on their trip across the water. The old woman who had lived her entire life along the banks of this dangerous body of water. The old woman who had grown up hearing the stories and legends of magical beings who called this respected place home. The old woman who knew exactly what the mysterious creature was and what would happen if that trigger was pulled.
Without hesitation, the old Ojibwe woman dashed towards St. Germain, grabbed him by his clothing, and pulled him towards the ground. A scuffle ensued along the water’s edge in which the woman attempted to remove the gun from the woodsman’s grip in order to protect the creature in the water. Unwilling to let go of his weapon, St. Germain removed himself from the hands of the old woman and jumped back up to his feet, but unfortunately for him (and luckily for the creature), the mysterious being had sunk back beneath the surface of the water and had disappeared from view. Furious at what had just occurred, St. Germain approached the old woman and demanded she explain herself for what just took place. So, after rising to her feet once again, the old woman dusted the sand off her clothing and began to tell the Voyageur everything he wanted to know.
The old woman explained that the creature he so casually decided should become a trophy was, in reality, known throughout the area as the God of the Waters. This mythical being in the Ojibwe language is known as Maymaygwashi, a type of water spirit (manitou) that is believed to be somewhat of a cross between the classic depictions of both merfolk (peaceful) and sirens (dangerous). They are said to possess childlike bodies but with adult features and occasionally are seen covered in some sort of strange-looking hair. The Ojibwe legends claim these Maymaygwashi live within the rocky crevices and caves surrounding Lake Superior.
Editors Note: Along with being known as a Maymaygwashi, there are additional texts which state that this “God of the Water” is also known as a Nebaunaubaewuk, a creature said to be more in line with the classic depictions of merfolk as it is described as being human on top and fish on the bottom. In this version of the legend, the creature(s) will often attempt to abduct human beings from the shoreline, drag them down into the lake, and magically turn them into Nebaunaubaewuk. Along with this hatred towards people, these merfolk are said to be able to transform themselves into full-blown humans and walk on land (much like the Scottish Selkie) in order to find victims. The side effect of this transformation though is that they are plagued with terrible eyesight and are nearly blind when in the sun. To combat this, while transformed, the Nebaunaubaewuk will only walk on land during stormy weather or at night.
Continuing on with her story, as well as her attempt to bring St. Germain up to speed on what the creature actually was, the old woman explained why she not only reacted the way she did but also why she felt the need to tussle with her party leader. According to her, since the creature was believed to be a water god, those who lived around the lake all believed that it possessed a multitude of magical abilities. One of these abilities, it was thought, allowed the creature to control the weather in any way it seemed fit. And since St. Germain attempted to shoot the mysterious being, the old woman was fearful that it would summon a violent storm to in order punish them in some way. Believing the old woman’s tales to be nothing more than nonsensical children’s stories, the Voyageur turned away and headed back towards camp. He remained in this mindset for a majority of the evening, but when the clock struck 11, his entire belief system started to be challenged.
It was said by St. Germain and recorded by the two Judges that later that night, a storm of terrific proportions enveloped their island camp and assaulted them with violent wind and dangerous waves for three solid days. The lake, which appeared to think for itself and seemingly recognized where the voyageurs were holding up, slowly raised higher and crept forward until the five-member team had no choice but to huddle together for safety in the middle of the island at its highest point. The old woman, who adamantly believed that St. Germain was responsible for the situation at hand, told the men that due to the actions of one, the God of the Waters was punishing them all and would not stop until every person had been dashed to pieces upon the rocks surrounding the island. But fortunately for them all, the storm broke after a grueling 72 hours and gave way to a clear sky which allowed them all to leave the island and continue on with their journey.
When asked by Judges Panet and Ogden whether he believed the storm he and his party encountered was truly the work of a merman, St. Germain stated that while the event was strange and unlike anything he had encountered before, he could not fully believe without a doubt that it was the work of the mythical God of the Waters. The reasons he gave were that while he had not personally encountered a storm of this exact size and fury while on the lake itself (until that point), he had heard from many other voyageurs who had dealt with storms just like this one, so it was well within the ability of nature to produce such an event. He also recognized the fact that prior to any large storm which occurs on the lake, fish have a tendency to gather in large groups near the surface and are known to jump more frequently and show themselves above the water. Whether or not a large yet common fish was responsible for taking on the appearance of the merman prior to the storm, St. Germain was not able to accurately say, but he was also not able to rule out the possibility.
For thirty years Venant St. Germain not only lived with the memory of what he saw that night on the lake in 1782 but also wrestled with his own beliefs on whether or not what was seen, actually was a merman. The rational, grounded, and well-seasoned woodsman understood that what occurred that night may have been nothing more than a series of coincidences that were enhanced by an old woman’s story. The other side of him though, the one who had personally seen various unexplained things on the water over the course of his many years, could not so easily claim that what he saw was not a merman. This possibility grew even stronger after he had met other fur traders within the area who had all claimed to have seen the same type of creature. Were all these voyageurs experiencing the same shared delusion in different locations, or maybe, just maybe, there was a little bit of truth to the old stories.
While seeing a mer-being would make for an interesting chapter in anyone’s life story, the universe was not yet done with placing Venant St. Germain into interesting situations. In 1821, roughly thirty-nine years after seeing the merman and only 9 years after telling his story before the judges, St. Germain found himself at Fort Panbian, a fur trading post owned by the North West Company which was said to be the first fur trading post in North Dakota and was located just below the present-day United States/Canada border. According to the story, St. Germain was preparing to leave the fort but realized he had forgotten something. Believing he knew where it was, the man ventured back inside and started looking in what was known as the Indian hall. At this same time, a fellow fur trader and friend of St. Germain by the name of Joseph Rainville arrived at the trading post and ventured inside.
As Rainville entered the door, St. Germain was descending the stairs with his forgotten object in hand. Upon seeing one another and exchanging pleasantries, Rainville said in a joking way, “What would you say if I were to bring your carcass down like a bear?” Knowing that his friend was a terrible shot, St. Germain responded in a way that is believed to have been similar to the classic, “I’d like to see you try.” Not one to let a good friendly jab go without another, Rainville grabbed his own weapon off the wall where he had left it since the previous winter, haphazardly took aim, and continued to make jokes towards his friend. As the two men laughed, Rainville jokingly pulled the trigger on the old weapon and was astonished to hear the gun go off. In shock, Rainville looked up and saw St. Germain slumped back against the wall, blood pouring out from beneath his clothing. Rainville ran towards the staircase and upon reaching his friend, he heard in a calm and composed manner, “You have killed me.” The bullet, jokingly fired from the gun of a friend, had entered through the left side below the ribcage and had exited the body through the right side under the arm. Four hours later, Venant St. Germain was dead.
Ever since the encounter between St. Germain and the merman took place over 238 years ago, there has been a steady stream of strange sightings filtering out from not only Lake Superior, but all five of North America’s Great Lakes. Chilling reports of unexplained creatures, strange weather patterns, haunting phantoms, and odd lights and sounds have long been recorded by experienced sailors while out in the open of the vast inland seas. Even those who only use the lakes for recreation have often reported encountering strange and unusual things that appear from below the surface. Are these sightings and encounters nothing more than illusions created within the minds of those wanting so desperately to see something strange? Or are these tales of bizarre creatures and mysterious merfolk, many of which are told by reliable individuals and trustworthy witnesses, true occurrences that should be looked at with a more believable gaze?
While we currently do not have all the answers regarding this subject matter, history has proven that given enough time, something lost will eventually be found. And even though St. Germain’s merman is said to have submerged back into the deep all those years ago, there is no harm in believing that one day it may decide to pop back up once again and take in the sights of everything it has missed over the past 200+ years. We can only hope though that when it does show back up, it will appear before a person who is more inclined to shoot it with a camera than a gun, because we can’t even begin to imagine what sort of storm it would unleash upon us all after being shot at yet again.
-The Pine Barrens Institute
Image Credit: “La Crosse Harbor / Lake Superior Storm Waves” by William Hart
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“…many people were in their homes enjoying what they thought was just a normal evening. But when they ran outside to see what was the matter, and heard the ever-growing roar steadily moving closer towards them, they also caught sight of a strange object both rotating and moving through the sky above the trees.”