The Wabanakis of New England, particularly in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, are of the Algonquian language peoples. This includes the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, Abenaki-Penobscot, Algonquin, Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes. They are members of the Wabanaki Confederation and call themselves The Dawn Land People. Like all other Native American tribes, they have their lore, myths and legends.

Gluskabi, (also spelled Gluskap, Glooskap, Gluscabe, Koluscap, and several other ways.) Gluskabi is the benevolent culture hero of the Wabanaki tribes. His name is spelled so many different ways because the other Wabanaki languages were originally unwritten, so English speakers just spelled it however it sounded to them at the time. The correct pronunciation in Abenaki and Penobscot is similar to glue-skaw-buh, and in Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and Passamaquoddy it sounds more like klue-skopp (but with very soft k and p sounds.) Gluskap shares some similarities with other Algonquian heroes such as the Anishinabe Manabozho, Blackfoot Napi, and Cree Wesakaychak, and many of the same stories are told in different Algonquian tribes with only the identity of the protagonist differing.

Trickster Animals: Many Wabanaki folktales feature clever animal heroes playing tricks on each other or on Wabanaki people. Usually these are lighter, less sacred stories, and like modern cartoon animals, the tricksters sometimes die and spontaneously come back to life. Raccoon, Rabbit, and Otter are the most common Wabanaki trickster characters.

How Rabbit Got His Long Ears
Retold by P.D. Burns

A long time ago when Rabbit was first on Earth he had very short ears. One day he had nothing to do. He was very bored so he decided to play a trick on all the other animals.

He told Beaver, "Did you know that the sun was not going to rise again?"

Of course Beaver told Squirrel and Squirrel told Chipmunk and Chipmunk told Skunk and so on. The story soon got around and all the animals were worried.

The animals were all upset. They said, "If the sun is not going to shine anymore it will be dark and cold like winter. We will have to gather our food and get ready right now."

Even Bear was worried. He began to eat and eat the blueberries around him so he could grow fat and store his food. Squirrel was busy gathering all the nuts he could find. Everyone was busy getting ready for the sun not to shine again. They had no time to play even though it was a nice summer day.

Now Rabbit really thought this was funny. He hid in the bushes. He was laughing and laughing as he watched the other animals all running around trying to get ready for the sun not to shine anymore.

Along came Glooscap. Normally the animals were all very glad to see Glooscap. They usually gathered around to talk to him. But this day no one ran up to greet him. Glooscap asked Bear, "How are you? How is everything going?"

Bear said, "I don't have time to talk to you." Glooscap just kept walking. No one paid any attention to him. Glooscap went back to Bear. "What's wrong with you? You're not talking to me. What is going on? Talk to me. Something is wrong!" Glooscap said.

"Well, don't you know?" Bear said. "The sun is not going to shine anymore and we have to hurry up. I have to get ready for winter now. That is what everyone is doing." Glooscap told bear, "Whoever told you that story is lying. It's not true."

So Glooscap called a meeting with all the animals and they all gathered around him in a circle. He got to the bottom of it.

He said, "Who told you Bear?"

Bear said, "Raccoon told me."

And Raccoon said, "Well, Chipmunk told me."

Everyone said who they heard the story from, all the way down to Beaver. Beaver said, "It was Rabbit that told me."

Glooscap said, "Well, where is Rabbit?" Rabbit was really scared so he hid in the bushes. Glooscap knew for sure then that Rabbit had started the story. "Where is Rabbit?" he asked again.

"Not here. He is gone. He must be hiding," Beaver said.

Glooscap went and looked in the bushes. He found Rabbit and when he did he grabbed him by his ears and lifted him up. That is how Rabbit got his long ears.
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