MANIDOOG
Classification: Gods (Extra-Dimensionals/Immortals)
Location/Base of Operations: Giizhigong
Known Members: Calumet (god of peace & war), Ghost Dancer (currently James Owl), Haokah (god of thunder), Hotamintanio (god of warriors), Iktomi (god of trickery), Manitou (god of the sky & creation), Nanabozho (god of mischief), Nokomis (Gaea), Owayodata (god of the hunt), Tawa (god of the sun), Tomazooma (god of kinship & storytelling)
Affiliations: Other races of Gods
Aliases: Native American Gods; Algonquin, Anasazi, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chippewa, Crow, Haida, Iroquois, Kachina, Manitou, Orenda, Tsimshian, Wintun Gods
First Appearance: (Mentioned) Avengers I#80 (September, 1970); (seen) Marvel Spotlight#1 (November, 1971)
Powers/Abilities/Traits: The Manidoog all possess certain superhuman physical attributes. They are true immortals who cease to age upon reaching adulthood, and they cannot die by conventional means. The Manidoog are immune to all terrestrial diseases and are resistant to conventional injury. If a Manidoog is wounded, his or her godly life force will enable him or her to recover at a superhuman rate. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it incinerates a Manidoog or disperses a major portion of his or her bodily molecules to cause him or her to die. Even then, it may be possible for a god of greater or equal power, or several gods acting together, to revive the deceased Manidoog before the god's life essence is beyond resurrection. Manidoog flesh and bone are about two-and-a-half times denser than similar human tissue, contributing to the gods' superhuman strength and weight. An average male god can lift about 25 tons; an average goddess can lift about 20 tons. The gods' metabolism gives them superhuman endurance in all physical activities. Many Manidoog also possess additional superhuman powers derived from "orneda," the mystic power of the Giizhigong spiritual plane. For instance, the sun god Tawa travels astride a beam of solid light and possesses arrowheads that explode with the fury of solar fusion upon impact. Unlike the members of several other pantheons, the Manidoog possess an intimate connection with the Earth that enables them to remain in the Earth realm indefinitely without losing their powers. Whereas most other Earth-based pantheons are organized in a strict hierarchal structure, the Manidoog are more akin to an interdependent collective.
History: (Thor & Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica) - The Manidoog (also known as the Anasazi or Native American gods) are a race of superhumanly powerful humanoid beings who have been worshipped by the indigenous people of North America from approximately 1200 BC into modern times. Most of the Manidoog dwell in Giizhigong, a "pocket" dimension adjacent to Earth. Sipapu ("the Place of Emergence") is one of several interdimensional nexus points between Giizhigong and Earth and exists at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers within Arizona's Grand Canyon. Very little is known about Giizhigong other than it appears to exist as a boundless spiritual plane. The Manidoog are called different names by their human worshippers; for example, the sun god Tawa is known as "Shakuru" to the Pawnee, as "Angpetu Wi" to the Dakota, and as "Tsohanoi" to the Navajo. Furthermore, some Manidoog were more prominently worshipped by certain tribes; for instance, the thunder god Haokah was popular among the Lakota Tribe of North and South Dakota, while Tomazooma was worshipped primarily by Oklahoma's Keewazi Tribe. Although many of their worshippers were converted to Christianity following the arrival of European settlers to the New World, the Manidoog are still actively invoked and worshipped on Earth by isolated indigenous populations.
The Manidoog's precise origin, like that of all Earth's pantheons, is shrouded in legend. According to legend, Manitou, the Great Spirit, emerged from Giizhigong into an immeasurable void of endless space where he created the elements of rock, water, fire and wind - as well as the other nature spirits that would become the Manidoog. When Manitou created light, his shadow became the sentient being known as KhLΘg, who sought to destroy all that Manitou had created; upon discovering KhLΘg, Manitou took away his physical form and banished him to nothingness. With his son Tawa's help, Manitou fashioned Tokpela, the First World, as well as Sotuknang, the first being who was to act as their instrument and model the world according to their universal plan. However, the inhabitants of this new world eventually corrupted themselves by struggling for material wealth and power, leading to their ultimate destruction. Topka, the Second World, was born from the fires that consumed the First World, but Topka's inhabitants eventually met a fate similar to their predecessors; likewise, Kuskurza, the Third World, emerged from the icy wastelands that destroyed the Second World, but was itself destroyed by a great flood due to its inhabitants' sins. Finally, the Manidoog ventured through Sipapu and emerged in the Earth realm, known to them as "Tuwaqachi."
However, the previous worlds, known collectively as the "Secret Worlds," still existed, housing the disembodied spirits of their former mortal inhabitants. Manitou created the supernatural Ghost Dancer to serve as the gatekeeper between the Secret Worlds and the Earth realm. The Ghost Dancer mantle has been passed through the Owl family of the Hopi Tribe for generations. In the early 20th century AD, the shape-shifting trickster god Iktomi granted a clown demon ("koyemsi") the power to take over the mortal form of photographer and ethnologist Curtis M. Edwards; but in 1925, the demon was purged by Nathaniel Great Owl, that era's Ghost Dancer. Iktomi had his shape-shifting powers stolen in the following decades.
In recent years, Tawa was chosen by Manitou to assist a team of thunder and sun gods from other Earth pantheons in subduing the Demogorge when an alliance of death gods inadvertently released him during a ritual to merge their netherworld realms. Although Tawa was consumed by Demogorge, he was freed after the Asgardian thunder god Thor persuaded Demogorge to retreat.
Nathaniel Great Owl was later killed by a skin-walker demon and his clown demon minions, who sought to usurp Ghost Dancer's powers to access the Secret Worlds so they could unleash the spirits from those worlds to slaughter humanity. Meanwhile, Iktomi, who sought to regain his stolen shape-shifting powers, formed an uneasy alliance with the demons in order to better achieve their individual goals. The Ghost Dancer mantle was soon inherited by Great Owl's grandson, James Owl, who used his newfound mystical powers to defeat Iktomi and his demon allies. Most recently, after Inali Redpath, a SHIELD agent of Sioux descent, was killed in the line of duty, he was reborn in a cloned body augmented by the thunder god Haokah. Seeking to return control of North America to its indigenous population by force, he was defeated after using Haokah's powers to battle Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Thor.
Comments:
The demonic Adversary wasn't actually one of the Anasazi.
Collectively, the Native American Gods seem to
be made up of a collection of interconnected familes known
together as the Anasazi. Separated, they are known as the Innua
(gods of the North West), Manitou (North East gods), Orenda
(South East gods) and the Kachina (South West Gods). A parallel
can be found in the Asgardian Aesir and Vanir, Celtic Danaans and
Fomore and the Greek Olympians and Titans.)
The Innua, or Inuit/Eskimo Gods,
have their own page. Whether they are to be considered within the
same pantheon in the Marvel Universe is uncertain.
Neither Calumet nor Tomazooma are derived from any actual gods of the Native Americans. They are Marvel Universe manufactured.
other mythological characters:
Hobomokko
Thunderbirds
other creatures associated with the Native American Gods include:
Anung-Ite
AvatarWarlod72 info:
After doing some reading on the gods of Native Americans in the Appendix I realized there are a few gods missing or have not been mentioned, that have appeared in Marvel Comics. Found in the Human Fly #19 March 1979 (also the last issue), the Hopi gods were featured along with images and text pertaining to their myths. Here is what was shown:
"First there was Tokpela, empty space in the mind of Taiowa, the creator. Then did Taiowa give life to Sotuknang the god of the universe, that he might bring order. In his turn did Sotuknang create the earth and seeing it lifeless, did bring forth Kokyangwuti- the Spider Woman to populate the barren world. The ancient Spider Woman took some Earth in her mouth, mixed it with saliva and created the Twins. It was the Twins duty to make the Earth firm and life supporting. Meanwhile the Spider Woman created the trees, flowers, animals, and the races of man in the holy image of Sotuknang".
Not sure how they fit into the rest of the Marvel Universe's pantheons of gods but in my opinion may be as follows:
Taiowa can possibly be assumed to be "the God" as in the view of Christianity.
Sotuknang may be the cosmic entity Eternity or another name for Manitou.
Kokyangwuti may be just an alternate name for Gaea.
The Twins are the toughest to place into any specific position in the Marvel Universe. There are many possibilities as they are not part of the real myths of the Hopi.
The main image in this profile is by Kevin Sharpe.
images:
Thor & Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica, p33
Last updated: 03/09/16
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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