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The Nain Rouge, French for "red dwarf", is a legendary creature that some believe originated in Normandy, France, as a type of lutin. Contrary viewpoints speculate that the alleged creature is more closely related to Glooscap, who created protective nature spirits and dwarves in the Midwestern United States in Algonquian religion. Original legends tell of the creature being seen as a protector of Detroit, Michigan, but, due to modern interpretations, is now feared by its residents as "the harbinger of doom."
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Detroit urban legend
His appearance is said to presage terrible events for the city. The Nain Rouge appears as a small childlike creature with red or black fur boots. He is also said to have "blazing red eyes and rotten teeth." (Skinner 1896)
The creature is said to have attacked the first white settler of Detroit in 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac who, soon after, lost his fortune. The creature is also said to have appeared on July 30, 1763 before the Battle of Bloody Run, where 58 British soldiers were killed by Native Americans from Chief Pontiac's tribe. The small tributary of the Detroit River which still flows through what is now Elmwood Cemetery turned red with blood for days after the battle. It is said he was seen dancing on the banks of the Detroit River.
Multiple famous sightings occurred in the days before the 1805 fire, which destroyed most of Detroit. General William Hull reported a "dwarf attack" in the fog just before his surrender of Detroit in the War of 1812.
Jane Dacy of East Elizabeth Street was at home performing errands one evening in October 1872 when she entered a dark room and saw what the Detroit Free Press called a ghost. However, the description of "blood-red eyes, long teeth and rattling hoofs" seems more akin to the famed Nain Rouge than a mere spectre. The fright of seeing the creature caused Dacy to faint and become bed-ridden.
Another woman claimed to have been attacked in 1884, and described the creature as resembling, "a baboon with a horned head ... brilliant restless eyes and a devilish leer on its face." Another attack was reported in 1964.
Other sightings include the day before the 1967 Detroit riot and before a huge snow/ice storm of March 1976, when two utility workers are said to have seen what they thought was a child climbing a utility pole which then jumped from the top of the pole and ran away as they approached.
More recently, in the autumn of 1996, according to an article in the Michigan Believer, the Nain Rouge was spotted by two admittedly drunken nightclub patrons, who claimed to both have heard a strange "cawing sound, similar to a crow," coming from a "small hunched-over man" who was fleeing the scene of a car burglary. The creature was described as wearing "what looked like a really nasty torn fur coat."
Detroit Beer Company, a brewpub in downtown Detroit, has as its signature brew a "Detroit Dwarf" lager, named in honor of the Nain Rouge.
In 2015 Woodberry Wine, a distributor and wholesaler of fine wines and Kindred Vines Import Company, an importer of French and Italian wines both based out of the Metro-Detroit area introduced Nain Rouge Red; a French red wine blend named after the Nain Rouge dwarf.
In 2010, a community-based movement began a tradition of a costumed community parade in the Midtown/Cass Corridor neighborhood. Called the Marche du Nain Rouge, At the conclusion of the parade, an effigy of the imp was destroyed, thus banishing the evil spirit from the city for another year. Each year, parade participants and spectators are encouraged to wear costumes so that when the Nain Rouge next returns, he will not recognize the persons who once again ousted him from the city limits and thus will not be able to seek personal vengeance.
The 2011 event featured a parade followed by the banishment and a party in Cass Park, drawing hundreds of guests. At the parade organizations calling themselves The Friends of the Nain Rouge and We Are Nain Rouge have protested the banishment parade, arguing that the Nain Rouge is not to blame for the city's ills and that considering Detroit's population loss, no one should be banished from the city, particularly those who have been there the longest. Both groups also work toward making the event a celebration of Detroit's folkloric ancient guardian. The banishment parade has also taken place in 2012, 2013, and 2014. The 2014 parade included a short speech from Alexis Wiley, Mayor Mike Duggan's representative.