Manitous lived in human form among the Ojibway in the early days, after
Kitchi-Manitou (the Great Mystery) created all things and
Muzzu-Kummik-Quae (Mother Earth) revealed the natural order of the
world. With depth and humor, Johnston tells how lasting tradition was
brought to the Ojibway by four half-human brothers, including
Nana'b'oozoo, the beloved archetypal being who means well but often
blunders. He also relates how people are helped and hindered by other
entities, such as the manitous of the forests and meadows, personal
manitous and totems, mermen and merwomen, Pauguk (the cursed Flying
Skeleton), and the Weendigoes, famed and terrifying giant cannibals.