View source for Nokomis

{{Short description|Grandmother of Nanabozho in Ojibwe mythology}}
{{other uses}}
'''Nokomis''' is the name of [[Nanabozho]]'s grandmother in the [[Aadizookaan|Ojibwe traditional stories]] and was the name of [[Hiawatha]]'s grandmother in [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]'s poem, ''[[The Song of Hiawatha]]'', which is a re-telling of the Nanabozho stories. Nokomis is an important character in the poem, mentioned in the familiar lines:

:By the shores of [[Gitche Gumee]],
:By the shining Big-Seawater
:Stood the wigwam of Nokomis
:Daughter of the moon Nokomis.
:Dark behind it rose the forest
:Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees
:Rose the firs with cones upon them
:Bright before it beat the water
:Beat the clear and sunny water
:Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

According to the poem, ''From the full moon fell Nokomis/Fell the beautiful Nokomis''. She bears a daughter, Wenonah. Despite Nokomis' warnings, Wenonah allows herself to be seduced by the West-Wind, [[Mudjekeewis]], ''Till she bore a son in sorrow/Bore a son of love and sorrow/Thus was born my Hiawatha''.

Abandoned by the heartless Mudjekeewis, Wenonah dies in childbirth, leaving Hiawatha to be raised by Nokomis. ''The wrinkled old Nokomis/Nursed the little Hiawatha'' and educates him.

In the [[Ojibwe language]], ''nookomis'' means "my grandmother,"<ref>{{cite web|title=nookomis|url=http://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/nookomis-nad|work=the Ojibwe People's Dictionary}}</ref> thus portraying Nokomis of the poem and the ''[[aadizookaan]]'' (Ojibwe traditional stories) from a more personal point of view, akin to the traditional Ojibwa narrative styles.

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

==Things named after Nokomis==
===Places===
;United States
*Nokomis Avenue, a broad road in [[Chicago]] and [[Lincolnwood, Illinois]].
*Nokomis Avenue, a street in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]].
*Camp Nokomis, all girls sleepaway camp run by the Merrimack Valley [[YMCA]]. Camp Lawrence is the boys camp that is on the same island and run by the same YMCA.
*[[Nokomis, Alabama|Nokomis]], Alabama, a community in [[Escambia County, Alabama|Escambia County]], Alabama which was a railroad stop
*Nokomis, [[Escambia County, Florida|Escambia County]], Florida, a community in northwest Florida adjoining [[Nokomis, Alabama|Nokomis, Escambia County]], Alabama. While not a census designated place, the name reference is in local use.
*[[Nokomis, Florida|Nokomis]], [[Sarasota County]], [[Florida]], a [[census-designated place]].
*[[Nokomis Township, Buena Vista County, Iowa|Nokomis Township, Buena Vista County]], Iowa
*[[Nokomis, Illinois|Nokomis]], Illinois, a city
*[[Nokomis, Minneapolis]], Minnesota, a neighborhood
*[[Lake Nokomis]], part of a chain of lakes connected by [[Minnehaha Creek]] in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]], Minnesota
*[[Nokomis Regional High School]], in [[Newport, Maine|Newport]], Maine
*The Nokomis Native American Cultural Learning Center in [[Okemos, Michigan|Okemos]], Michigan
*Nokomis Elementary School, in [[Ukiah, California|Ukiah]], California
*Nokomis Park in [[Cheektowaga (town), New York|Cheektowaga (town)]], New York
*Nokomis Groves, a landmark.
*Nokomis Pond, town reservoir of Newport, Maine<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.bangordailynews.com/2005/03/18/protection-urged-for-nokomis-pond-growth-threatens-newport-water-source|title=Protection urged for Nokomis Pond Growth threatens Newport water source}}</ref>
*Lake Nokomis, created in 1911 by a dam that is now called Harry Reasoner dam in Humboldt, Iowa.
*Lake Nokomis, in Oneida and Lincoln counties, Wisconsin
*Lake Nokomis, a reservoir in the vicinity of [[Red Feather Lakes, Colorado|Red Feather Lakes Village]] in [[Larimer County, Colorado|Larimer County]], [[Colorado]]
*Nokomis Township, Oneida County, Wisconsin
*Lake Nokomis (Rice Reservoir on Tomahawk River) in Lincoln/Oneida counties in Wisconsin
*Nokomis Inc. Small privately owned business located in [[Charleroi, Pennsylvania]].
*Nokomis Elementary School, Sachem CSD, Ronkonkoma, New York. (Sachem also includes a Hiawatha & Wenonah elementary schools).
*Nokomis Road, [[Sudbury, Massachusetts]].
*Nokomis Road, [[Wilbraham, Massachusetts]].
*Nokomis Road, [[Apple Valley, California]].
*Nokomis Way, [[Natick, Massachusetts]].
*Nokomis Elementary, [[Medford Lakes, New Jersey]]
;Canada
*[[Nokomis, Saskatchewan|Nokomis]], Saskatchewan
*Nokomis Trail, part of [[Lake Superior Provincial Park]], Ontario<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lakesuperiorprovincialpark.com/#!hiking/c4fi |title=Lake Superior Provincial Park Hiking Trails |access-date=4 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606234617/http://www.lakesuperiorprovincialpark.com/#!hiking/c4fi |archive-date=6 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*Nokomis Park, part of Larose Forest in [[Limoges, Ontario]], Limoges Village, Prescott-Russell counties, Ontario
===In fiction===
Nokomis is also a character in Richard Adams' fantasy novel ''[[Maia (novel)|Maia]]''. She has a son called Anda Nokomis.

===Vessels===
* ''[[USS Nokomis]]'' (YT-142) was a fleet tug that was in the Yard Craft Dock of the Navy Yard at the beginning of the Japanese attack on [[Pearl Harbor]] on 7 December 1941.  She provided assistance to other ships and survived the attack.

* [[SS Delphine (1921)]] was originally named ''Nomokis''.

== Nokomis Pottery Red Wing Minnesota ==
Red Wing Potteries Inc. produced Nokomis glazed pottery from 1929 to 1934.<ref>[http://www.goldenstateredwing.com/indexahtml/learning/displays/nokomis-glaze-red-wing-art.html Nokomis glaze Red Wing art pottery display]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Anishinaabe}}

[[Category:Anishinaabe mythology]]