Who is Glooscap?

Glooscap, the first human, was created out of a bolt of lightening in the sand and remains a figure that appears in many of the Mi’kmaw legends. These legends are stories that are passed down from generation to generation and tell of the Mi’kmaw culture.

Much of what we know today about the traditional stories, myths and legends of the Mi’kmaq originate with books published in the late 1800s by a Nova Scotia Baptist missionary clergyman, Silas Tertius Rand. Rand was an accomplished linguist and became fluent in Mi’kmaq. The stories Rand documented were all told to him in Mi’kmaw, which he then translated and wrote down in English. To increase their accuracy, he then read the translated stories back to the storyteller.

Glooscap’s wondrous powers are impressive throughout a number of the Mi’kmaw legends.  As demonstrated in many legends, Glooscap even had the power to shape the environment around him.

“The next day [a] young man solicits the loan of Glooscap’s canoe. Glooscap says, “I will lend it to you willingly, if you will only bring it home again…” The young adventurer promises faithfully that he will bring the canoe back in due time, and the two young men go down to the shore to make ready for their journey. They look round in vain for the kweedun (“canoe”); there is no such thing to be seen.  There is a small rocky island near the shore with trees growing on it, but there is no canoe. Glooscap tells them this island is his kweedun. They go on board, set sail, and find the floating island very manageable as a canoe. It goes like magic….”  (Rand, 1893, p.94)

Since the late 1800s, many authors became entranced by the stories of the Mi’kmaq and with this increase in awareness Glooscap’s accomplishments grew. Yet he still embodies the fundamental attribute of wisdom and hope.