Regional Nunnehi Family: Nigigwayaan

Author's notes: I am not a speaker of Ojibwe and I apologize for mangling things. Corrections are welcomed.

Nigigwayaan

Regional Family of Yunwi Amai’yine’hi

A small, but wide ranging, family of Nunnehi, the Nigigwayaan live along the shore, islands, and rivers of Lake Superior. Those born Nigigwayaan are the river otter children of the woman-who-had-enough-of-people. These children manifest their first Gift, the power to take off their skin and become a human. Like the Selkies and the Yunwi Amai’yine’hi they have a powerful affinity for the sea -- specifically the great lake and its system of rivers and lakes.

In the time since the Nigigwayaan were created some have passed their otter skins on to humans, creating a second sort of otters who were born human but became Nigigwayaan later in life. These are often groomed for their Nigigwayaan “parent”’s gift of the skin, bringing them into very close contact with the manidoo-aki, the Ojibwe Dreaming. The “parent” giving up the skin slowly loses their memories of their life as a changeling, slipping gently into the mists until they are indistinguishable from any other mortal.

Appearance

The human forms of Nigigwayaan resemble the woman they get their affinity for humanity from. As they get their humanity from their grandmother, all otter-born Nigigwayaaan are women. In the hundreds of years since they first appeared in the world some of them have passed their skins onto male children, though male Nigigwayaan are still rare.

In their deiform Nigigwayaan are an athletic people with broad noses and often beautiful dark hair. Creatures of the European Dreaming may mistake them for Redcaps on seeing their teeth. Many have noticeable webbing between their fingers and toes.

As otters Nigigwayaan are indistinguishable from the animal to human senses. Kenning an otter (difficulty 8) produces a vague feeling of familiarity -- similar to the feeling mortals have when they recognize an acquaintance in a crowd but cannot remember any details about them.

Lifestyle

Athletic, playful, and sometimes cruel, Nigigwayaan live close to the water and tend to carry occupations related to the lakes and rivers they come from. Traditionally fishermen and sometimes ricers, approaching the modern era they sometimes become tour-guides, triathlon organizers, and water protection organizers. No small number of Nigigwayaan move into fields of advocacy for women generally and Native women specifically.

In 2017 a contingent of the Nigigwayaan made their way to their Dakota cousins at Standing Rock. Some stayed, integrating with the Dakota and creating a second protectorate at the Missouri River and its tributaries.

Revelry

Driven in a way their Yunwi Amai’yine’hi and Selkie cousins are not, Nigigwayaan experience revelry when an effort they had a role in significantly improves the state of either their home waters or Native American women.

Unleashing

The sound of running or crashing water and an intense urge to play accompany Nigigwayaan Unleashings. Sometimes smooth river stones or beach-glass are left behind in the wake of otter magic.

Birthrights

Skin Changer (Otter)

A Nigigwayaan can assume the form of a human by removing her otter skin -- this display is intimate and though she does not have to be alone to do this most prefer to be alone. Returning to otter form involves stretching the skin out and putting it on again.

The Land Where Food Grows on the Water

These Nunnehi have the unique talent to inspire the water to give up its bounty, whether that is wild rice, fish, cranberries or any other primarily aquatic food source. The Nigigwayaan rolls her Wits + Occult (or another more appropriate skill) difficulty 6. Each success produces enough of an appropriate and easily located harvestable river or lake provided food source to feed one person.

Frailty

Particular Taste (Fish)

Nigigwayaan are unable to resist indulging their appetite for fish and shellfish. Whenever these Nunnehi are confronted with an untended supply of fish or is invited to share in a seafood feast, she must spend a point of Willpower to resist immediately casting aside any reservations and responsibilities and eat until she is full.

Favored Realm

Scene

Common Totems

Mishipeshu, White Deer Woman

Backstory

Sophie speaks,

I know that story. Auntie Cat told it to me. It’s a little sad.

Once, long ago, when white people just started coming here there was a young woman. A beautiful woman. A clever woman. A kind woman. A woman with a wish lodged deep in her heart. She left her family and traveled deep into the Dreaming. There walked with White Deer Woman. What they did is a secret.

The kind woman came back to her family with White Deer Woman’s Medicine. She brought blessing to the fishermen and ricers’ boats and did great healing for any who approached her. The people rarely approached her because her time in the Dreaming had made her strange, but any who approached her -- Ojibwe, Dakota, Cree, even white -- had their illnesses and injuries cured. Her fame spread.

Eventually a big ship of white explorers came and set anchor just outside Onigamiinsing, where she lived. The ship sent out a little boat with the captain’s first mate, who came to the woman who walked with White Deer Woman. He told her a story about a terrible illness that had struck the his brother, who would surely die without her help. The beautiful woman did not quite trust the way the man looked at her, but she could not refuse to aid anyone who came to her.

The kind woman traveled back to the ship with them. Too late she learned that the tale about the brother was a lie. What the men did with her we do not say.

They did not let her out onto the deck until the ship was very far from the shore. The beautiful woman surprised her captors by immediately throwing herself off the ship and swimming away. The men sent out their little boat to catch her and bring her back. In desperation she cried out to anyone who could hear her for help. Mishipeshu came up from under her and threw an otter skin over her. By now the wish lodged in the powerful woman’s heart had changed. She no longer wished to be a healer -- she wished to be done with humanity. She drew Mishipeshu’s protection around herself and became the otter.

Safe at last, the woman who had enough of people lived the rest of her life as one of Mishipeshu’s children. She stayed close to Onigamiinsing but never took off her skin to resume her humanity.