In mythology, the otter is often one of the animals which try to reach the bottom of the primordial waters to grasp a lump of earth with which the earth surface shall be formed. Particularly in the Algonquian cultures of the Great Lakes region, the Ojibwa among them, the otter takes on itself a  valuable symbolic meaning, as a mediator, which, thanks to its characteristics, is capable to integrate the terrestrial and the water domains, on the cosmological plane, as well as the world of the traditional hunters and that of the European fur traders, on the sociological plane. It was regarded as an animal with healing and vivifying powers and qualities, and its skin was utilized to make the sacred bags employed during the shamanistic ceremony of the Midewiwin among the Ojibwa. During the rite, the shamans used their bags pointing them against the youth to be initiated as they were weapons. From the bag a shell was shot, which, like a projectile, hit the youth killing him instantly. Then, with the power of the otter, the performers brought the initiated to life again, and the latter were given the new powers granted to the members of the shamanistic society (Pomedli 2014).

Among the Iroquois a Women Otter Society existed, whose members gathered to propitiate the favour of water animals and to obtain their blessing against misfortunes and diseases. The women who belonged to the Otter Society made their appearance sometimes during the celebration of the Winter Ceremony, to cure some persons. They went near a spring, where a series of rituals were performed, then they reached the sick person’s home and sprinkled the water of the spring on the latter, invoking the power of the otter and of other water animals on his/her behalf.

For the Kwakiutl of the North-West Coast the sea otter was an animal representing the water world. Their “mother” lived in a cave beyond the ocean and could bestow wealth to the hunter who was able to kill her. In some narratives the otter takes a human shape and marries a human hunter, giving him richness and prestige. But if he shows himself cruel to his animal game, the otter-woman turns back to her animal shape and disappears in the sea (Boas 1935: p. 164).

Lévi-Strauss has found the persistence of some characteristics and functions of the otter, which he identifies throughout the New World, as an indication of the deep antiquity of these beliefs. The otter appears as bearer of riches, but also as dangerous enchantress, who drowns those who try to reach her. On the other hand, the otter is a shamanic instructor, able to transmit its power to human beings, both among the Great Lakes peoples and among those of the North-West Coast (Lévi-Strauss 1964: p. 169-173).