Aayaase
Aayaase, sometimes referred to as Iyash or ᐋᔾᔮᐦᔥ (Aayaash; unpointed as ᐊᔾᔭᔥ), is an epic hero of the Cree tribe and the adjacent Ojibwe, Innu, and Algonquin communities.
From his family members' betrayal to the world fire, Aayaase is essentially the protagonist of a single heroic epic. The specifics of Aayaase's tale differ depending on the community, but without any fault of his own, he is always left behind by his father or stepfather on a desolate island. Aayaase was typically punished for shielding his mother from mistreatment. Aayaase has a series of adventures in which he kills or defeats strange monsters and then brings them back to life as good people or animals with the assistance of Old Lady Fox, who serves as his mentor. At the end, Aayaase locates his family once more, saves his mother, and uses fire to murder everyone—including the child of the second wife—who he later brings back to life as a duck, the world is consumed by fire and is also better off than it was before.
