Native Groundhog Day

Groundhog lore began with Native AmericansThe Lenni Lenape counted groundhogs among their ancestors, believing that each member of the tribe began life as an animal that eventually turned human in another life later on, according to About.com

“According to (their) original creation beliefs, their forebears began life as animals in ‘Mother Earth’ and emerged centuries later to hunt and live as men,” according to Stormfax.

The Lenni Lenape used the word, “wojak,” for groundhog, and that is where the word “woodchuck” comes from.