The Rolling Head Legend among Algonquians

Abstract

Abstract: An analysis based upon structural, archetypal and emic theory reveals that the Rolling Head legend among Algonquians supports the ideology of balance and oneness with nature and opposes the ideology of separation, manipulation and domination of nature. The analysis shows that the legends of Iyas and Trickster's Race with Rock are variants of the Rolling Head legend and that Earth Diver is an inversion. The analysis also links the legend to a wider body of mythic material which may be subsumed under the nomenclature of Mother Goddess legends. Introduction Although the Rolling Head legend is present in practically every collection of Algonquian stories (e.g., Ahenakew 1929:309-313; Barnouw 1977:112-115; Bloomfield 1930:14-18 and 1974:270-279; Brightman 1989:9-16, 23-26, 47-48, 59-60, 105-111; Coleman 1961:47-50; Jones 1919:45-103, 179-189, 405-413; Schoolcraft 1978:109-115; Skinner 1912:168-175; Stevens 1971:48-55, 112-120) and is usually the first in order of appearance (Brightman 1989: 66-72), its central role in Algonquian thought has not generally been recognized. Only Brassard (1980) and Levi-Strauss (1974, 1978, 1981) have attempted formal analysis. Only Levi-Strauss, who declares it worthy of an entire volume to itself (1974:451; 1978:99), has seen both the broad swath of its geographic impact and the depth of its localized input. Although he reveals it to be a continent-wide phenomenon which explains the origin of periodicity and mediates between such dualisms as life vs. death, sky vs. earth and being vs. non-being, he does not recognize an even wider geographic linkage nor does he adequately convey the critical role it plays as a living and growing political ideology of balance and wholeness. Evidence which reveals the depth of its ideological role in modern Algonquian life was obtained when it was discovered that the legend is a key ingredient of a dispute over how to respond to a hydroelectric project which is flooding Cree land in northern Manitoba. Evidence that the geographic context for understanding the legend may extend worldwide was obtained when the case-study material was examined in the light of cross-cultural studies of mythology, especially the work of Joseph Campbell. These indicated that the Rolling Head legend is linked to a worldwide grouping generally known as Mother Goddess creation legends. I begin my review of the Rolling Head legend with the insights of the Cree of Norway House, Manitoba. I extend our perspective by including Levi Strauss's structuralist contribution. I end this examination with the widest viewpoint by incorporating the work of Joseph Campbell and the archetypal school of thought. The Rolling Head Legend The analysis incorporates a review of 33 published Rolling Head narratives and a number of unpublished ones (see Appendices 2, 3 and 4). Based upon these data, the legend may be described as an account of how a once successful and harmonious family is torn apart by the interference of self-serving forces (usually adultery between the mother and her lover and desire for revenge by her jealous husband). The mother is separated from her lover, her husband and her children. Her body and severed head pursue the fleeing children. They use magical objects to thwart her pursuit and, in the process, create mountains, valleys, forests and rivers. She is defeated when she falls into the river and is transformed from a cannibalistic, food-consuming, food-withholding, witchlike object to a succouring, food-providing, sustaining water animal. The escaping children, usually Trickster and his brother, then encounter an evil man (often called Waymishose) who magically controls objects (such as his motor boat) and who wishes to dominate all things. This man separates the brothers and tries to overpower Trickster to obtain a sacrifice for his guardian animals and to stop him, as he has stopped all previous suitors of his daughters, from mating and raising a family. …