Everyone on campus knows Wolfie, the Stony Brook University mascot.’ We see him at every football game punching the air and energizing the crowd.’ Although many students and faculty know what he is — a Sea-Wolf — fewer know what a Sea-Wolf is or where it comes from.
The closest response received was from Alex Moreno, 20, a journalism major who believes Wolfie to be ‘a Gaelic mythical creature.” ‘
Well, he is a mythical creature.’ But what is more exciting is that the legend of the Sea-Wolf could be told from the perspective of many different Indian tribes from British Columbia to the Nazca Plain in Peru.
According to the original legend, the Sea-Wolf was the head of totem poles for many different tribes — the only other honor given to the thunderbird.
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What makes it seem likely that the Sea-Wolf was far more than just a myth was that every tribe that has seen the creature from North America down to the south has described it in the same way.’ The Sea-Wolf could be described as having dog-like limbs with a crocodile-like snout and large eyes. Legend also says that when you see the Sea-Wolf he will bring good luck.
To Stony Brook University, however, the Sea-Wolf brings our sports teams and fellow students good luck for the season and the school year.
Wolfie, who is in his 14th season as mascot, is there not only to cheer us on and get the crowd wild, but to bring a little luck as well.