In James Bay Cree mythology and legends, one of the recurring characters that comes up is the story of the trickster or wandering spirit. This a mysterious character that wanders around our world and takes on any form it wishes. It could be a man, a woman, a child, an Elder, or calls itself an older brother or a younger sibling. Sometimes it’s an animal, a bird or a tiny creature. It could just be a spirit that blows in the wind, that speaks from the forest or inhabits the earth or stones or water. Sometimes it’s a monster and sometimes it is a helpful being that saves people. Sometimes it is all intelligent, wise and all knowing and other times, it is as silly as child or as clumsy as a clown. In many of the stories, it could be a saviour or a bringer of death and destruction. We call him or her or it many things - as a spirit / god like being we have stories of Cheekapesh or Nanabush, and as a monster we call it Ochaskeechoo or Windigo.
Xavier Kataquapit