The Michigan Merman

Yes, it could have just been bad eyesight or even a little too much to drink, but on May 13 th, 1782, a Canadian fur trader by the name of Vanant St. Germain spotted what he believed to be a merman in the cold, deep waters of Lake Superior.

While making a stop at Pie Island in the northern part of the lake, St. Germain spotted the creature and described it as looking child-like with brownish skin and “extremely brilliant eyes.” According to the authors of Mysterious Islands, St. Germain, thirty years after he saw the merman, “stood before the Court of King’s Bench in Montreal to sign an affidavit,” further showing his conviction of what he had seen so many years before in Lake Superior. But St. Germain wasn’t the only one to speak of strange water creatures in the lakes. The Ojibwe people spoke of a creature called the Maymaygwashi. Described as also looking “child-like” and sometimes hairy, the Maymaygwashi is also known as another unpronounceable word, Nebaunaubaewuk.

Naturally, St. Germain’s first instinct when he saw his merman was, “I must get my gun and shoot it!” They had been traveling with a Native American woman of the Ojibwe tribe and she prevented the shooting. The women told them it was bad luck to be threatening the water creatures/gods and sure enough, a nasty storm rolled through the area that lasted for three days. Was the storm just a coincidence? Better not shoot at the next merman you see swimming in the waters of Lake Superior.

Written by Amberrose Hammond

 

Sources:

Bisaillon, Cindy. Gutsche, Andrea. Mysterious Islands: Forgotten Tales of the Great Lakes. Lynx Images: Toronto. 1999.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maymaygwashi. Retrieved 8/14/08.

 

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