Little people (mythology)

Little people have been part of the folklore of many cultures in human history, including Ireland, Greece, the
Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, Flores Island, Indonesia, and Native Americans.

Contents
Native American folklore
Native American
Memegwaans
Types of little people in mythology
Types of little people in fictional mythologies
Little people in literature
See also
Native American "Little People" from
References Stories the Iroquois Tell Their
Bibliography Children by Mabel Powers, 1917

Native American folklore

The Native peoples of North America told legends of a race of "little people" who lived in the woods near
sandy hills and sometimes near rocks located along large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes. Often
described as "hairy-faced dwarfs" in stories, petroglyph illustrations show them with horns on their head and
traveling in a group of 5 to 7 per canoe.[1]

Native legends often talk of the little people playing pranks on people, such as singing and then hiding when
an inquisitive person searches for the music. It is often said that the little people love children and would take
them away from bad or abusive parents or if the child was without parents and left in the woods to fend for
themselves.

Other legends say the little people if seen by an adult human would beg them not to say anything of their
existence and would reward those who kept their word by helping them and their family out in times of need.
From tribe to tribe there are variations of what the little people's mannerisms were like, and whether they were
good or evil may be different.

One of the common beliefs is that the little people create distractions to cause mischief. They were believed to
be gods by some. One North American Native tribe believed that they lived in nearby caves. The caves were
never entered for fear of disturbing the little people.

Legends of physical remains of tiny people being found in various locations in the western United States,
particularly Montana and Wyoming, typically describe the remains as being found in caves with various details
such as descriptions that they were "perfectly formed", dwarf-size, etc. Archeologist Lawrence L. Loendorf
notes that "The burials, of course, are always sent to a local university or to the Smithsonian for analysis, only
to have both the specimens and research results disappear."[2] Loendorf also suggests that the discovery of two
mummies of anencephalic infants in the first half of the twentieth century with deformities that caused some
people to believe they were adults has "contributed to public belief in
the existence of a group of tiny prehistoric people."[3]

A graveyard unearthed in the 1830s in Coshocton County, Ohio, was

believed to contain skeletons belonging to a pygmy race. In fact, the
graves (which were roughly 3 feet (0.91 m) long) were "bone burials"
containing disarticulated or bent bones packed together.[4]

Native American
Chaneque - Aztec
Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg - Maliseet[5]
Ircinraq - Yup'ik
Ishigaq - Inuit
Jogahoh - Iroquois[6]
Mannegishi - Cree
Memegwesi/Memegawensi/Memengweshii/Pa'iins -
Anishinaabe[7]
Nimerigar - Shoshone "How Morning Star Lost Her Fish",
from Stories the Iroquois Tell Their
Nirumbee[8] or Awwakkulé[9] - Crow
Children by Mabel Powers, 1917
Nunnupi - Comanche
Pukwudgie - Wampanoag
Yehasuri - Catawba
Yunwi Tsundi - Cherokee
Canotila - Lakota[10]
Popo-li or Kowi Anukasha - Choctaw[11]

The Native American little people have been said to reside in the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming.
The Pryors are famous for their "fairy rings" and strange happenings. Some members of the Crow tribe
consider the little people to be sacred ancestors and require leaving an offering for them upon entry to the
area.[12]

Memegwaans
Ojibwe myths also bring up a creature known as the Memegwaans, or Memegwaanswag (Plural), which
seems to be different from the more common Little People variation of Memegwesi. According to Basil H.
Johnston, a Memegwaans is a little person without definitive form which is terrified of adult humans.
However, it seems to have a soft spot for children and will often approach in the guise of a child any young
person who seems upset, injured, scared or lonely and either protect them or keep them company until help
arrives. If an adult sees one, they will often cower on the ground, screaming and crying hysterically before
vanishing in the blink of an eye. They were also known as protectors of copper mines & were prayed to
almost as patron saints of lost children. This is more specific & different from the Memegwesi, which is often
simply described as a short, hairy man.[13]

Types of little people in mythology

Brownies / Tomte / Tonttu / Domovoi / Kobolds / Zlydzens
Christmas Elves
 Dwarves
Di sma undar jordi
Gnomes
Karzełek
Knocker
Nimerigar
Goblins / Gremlins
Laminak
Tylwyth Teg
Leprechauns
Pixies
Sprites
Taotao Mona
Menehune
Trows
Pygmies (in Greek mythology)
Abatwa (only partly mythical, see Twa for historical
background) Little people from Stories Iroquois
Ebu Gogo (Flores) Tell Their Children by Mabel Powers,
Nittaewo (Sri Lanka) 1917

Ta'ai, or⼩⿊⼈ - in the mythology of, or remembered by,

the Saisiyat people of Taiwan
Patupaiarehe (in New Zealand Maori mythology)
Qutrub
Trauco - Chilote mythology
Pombero - Guarani mythology
Nisse - Scandinavian Folklore
Korpokkur
Vazimba

Types of little people in fictional mythologies

Hobbits / Halflings / Kenders
Tcho-Tcho
Lilliputian

Little people in literature

The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Littles by John Peterson
The Nome Trilogy by Terry Pratchett
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

See also
Pygmy peoples
 Homo floresiensis
Dwarfism
San Pedro Mountains Mummy
Atacama skeleton

References
1. Furtman, Michael. 2000. Magic on the Rocks. Birch Portage Press.
2. Loendorf, Lawrence L.; Nancy Medaris Stone (2006). Mountain Spirit: The Sheep Eater Indians
of Yellowstone. University of Utah Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0874808681.
3. Loendorf, Lawrence L.; Nancy Medaris Stone (2006). Mountain Spirit: The Sheep Eater Indians
of Yellowstone. University of Utah Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0874808681.
4. Squier, Ephraim George (1984) [1849]. Aboriginal Monuments of New York (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=Y_7n5wA3mOwC&q=Coshocton%2C+bones%7Cskeletons&pg=PA130).
Sourcebook Project. p. 130. ISBN 978-0915554157.
5. Paul, Pat (1996). "Little People Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg" (http://www.kstrom.net/isk/stories/patpaul.
html). Retrieved 2020-08-13.
6. Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22096/22096-h/22096-h.
htm#Page_18)
7. Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary (http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/ojibwe.html)
8. Daniels and Stevens, Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the
World, 1903, p. 1421.
9. Frey, The World of the Crow Indians: As Driftwood Lodges, 1993, p. 68.
10. Walker, James R. "Lakota Myth". 1896
11. - [1] (http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheLittlePeople-Choctaw.html)
12. Cheung, Theresa. 2006. The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Harper Element.
13. Johnson, Basil "The Manitous: The Spiritual World of the Ojibway". 1996

Bibliography
Daniels, Cora Linn and Stevens, C.M. Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult
Sciences of the World. Milwaukee, Wisc.: J. H. Tewdai & Sons, 1903.
Frey, Rodney. The World of the Crow Indians: As Driftwood Lodges. Norman, Okla.: University
of Oklahoma Press, 1993.

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