Crashing Thunder: The Autobiography of an American Indian

THE common-sense man, the man in the street, has 
always been good-naturedly skeptical of the academi- 
cally trained scholar, particularly when the latter chose 
to discuss the subject of man and his moods and to 
make generalizations concerning phases of life and 
thought that, from the very nature of the case, he 
could only remotely understand. The glamour that for 
so long a time hung about the educated man and his 
unlimited capacity for understanding everything has 
slowly but surely evaporated in the last generation. We 
are all now quite willing to admit that the economist 
and the sociologist, the psychologist and the historian 
are capable of making—and do frequently make—the 
most ludicrous and appalling mistakes as soon as they 
find themselves compelled to deal with man himself in 
all his vagaries, his inconsistencies, and his lack of di- 
rection. Perhaps it is this more than any other single 
factor that has led to the popular characterization of 
history as a pleasant, amiable, but wholly imaginative 
record of man as he never existed. We can fill our 
libraries and public archives with as many details as we 
wish and yet in no way improve on the situation or alter 
the fundamental distortion and ludicrousness of the 
average presentation of history. The real mani, man as 

Intro duction ; 

he actually is, will never be revealed to us in this 

manner. 

There is nothing new in this criticism. Most of us 
have always suspected that such was the case, and 
have, as a corrective, instinctively sought refuge in the 
letters and autobiographies of men of their time. But 
letters and autobiographies written by citizens of such 
complicated civilizations as are those of our own time, 
in their turn, represent most frequently, conscious or 

at best unconscious distortions of the people who wrote 

them. Our notions of convention and propriety effectu- 
ally bar any true revelation. No man who regards his 
thoughts, feelings, and actions of sufficient importance 
for him to note them down in a diary or an autobiog- 
raphy, ever admits to himself or to the world for whom 
he is writing that his life has not been a unified whole 
or that it did not gradually lead to a proper and early 
heralded climax. Can any one picture to himself a 
man, in our civilization, writing an autobiography in 
which he frankly admitted that his life had ended in an 
anticlimax or that he had throughout been but a reed 
driven the way the wind listeth? And yet many of us, 
be it confessed, are so driven, even some of those who 
write autobiographies. 

The value and.significance of the autobiography that 
follows does not simply lie in the fact that it is a docu- 
ment absolutely unique of its kind—the only account 
- that has ever been obtained from a so-called “primitive” 
man—but in the fact that this particular individual 
took his task literally and attempted to give an abso- 

withing ac ma Ri wall 

- lutely and bewilderingly honest account of his life. He 
apparently proceeded from an assumption, strange to us, 

that however damaging to a man’s reputation his actions 

and thoughts may have been, no amount of blinking 
can possibly do away with them. Now this American 

Indian did something, in its way, even more remark- 

able: he never confused his reputation or his own ex- 

_planations of himself with his real self. He did not, 

for a moment, fall into the error of the writers of most 
of our own Confessions. No, he most emphatically does 
not beat his breast and cry, “Father, I have sinned,” 
or exclaim, on the other hand, “Look how wicked I 
have been!” Far from it. Apology is the very last 
thing he has in mind. At all times he accepts and 
approves of himself. We are taken into his confidence 
on the very first page. There he informs us in the most 
matter-of-fact manner that shortly before he was born 
his mother had been told by a very prominent member 
of the tribe that she was about to give birth to a man 
of no ordinary importance! Had he been as uncon- 
sciously dishonest as the heroes of most of our auto- 
biographies he would have made this the theme of his 
life and he would have attempted to prove or disprove 
this prophecy. 

He does nothing of the kind. When he was but a 
small boy, so he tells us, he heard what had been 
prophesied about him. He accepts and tries to impress 
the world around him with its truth, but he sees no 
reason for dwelling upon it to the utter exclusion of all 
the other pertinent facts about his life. This is all the 

more remarkable in view of the fact that he was a 
somewhat unusual man both in character and in in- 
tellect. Few people in any community, civilized or un- 
civilized, have ever had so full an experience with life 
in all its ramifications. Benvenuto Cellini’s life was 
drab in comparison. Yet no man has ever so success- 
fully refrained from dramatizing these experiences in 
the interest of an imaginary audience as did this un- 
tutored “savage.” He never forgets what the actual 
facts were. At the most tense moment of his life, when 
he has unwittingly become converted to a new religion 
and seen visions of the most beatific kind, he refuses to 
dramatize, and allows a most gloriously opportune mo- 
ment to sink into an uninteresting anticlimax merely 
because it happened to be an anticlimax. 

The rhythm of his life, like that of the generality of 
mankind, was a succession of climaxes and _ anticli- 
maxes, and so he portrays it. He began his life with 
a lie and it was rounded by murder and a conversion. 
Much of it was spent in sexual debauch and in drunken- 
ness. Pleasures and intense sufferings were also his. 
His favorite brother is killed, murdered. He longs for 
revenge and in despair desires death. Like so many 
people before and after him he seeks forgetfulness in 
the cup. Yet he has the amazing and disconcerting 
honesty to admit that after a while he got so fond of 
drinking that he forgot all about his primary object. 

He gets delirium tremens and shares with Burns the 
rare good fortune of seeing ghosts drunk. But his 
ghosts are more terrifying. They are the ghosts of men 

es 

whom he had known very well and they are on horse- 
back singing a song with a very old theme: “We all 
must die some time: so what value is there to any- 
thing.” 

Upon becoming sober he finds that he has added one 
more experience to his already rich store: he has become 
a poet and his song a favorite drinking song. Subse- 
quently, at his conversion, he sees God, identifies him- 
self with God, with the soul and with thought itself. 
He reaches the startling philosophical conclusion—pro- 
ceeding from one deduction to another—that he is his 
thought and from this again he draws the perfectly 
logical inference that, though still living, his corporeal 
affairs are over. When he recovers from his halluci- 

- nation he continues as though nothing had happened. 
He does not become insane nor does he confuse his 
hallucination with reality. 

As a child he was markedly non-suggestible and he 
afterwards passes successively from the rdle of a man 
about town to that of a pimp, a thief, a murderer, and 
a coward, finally to develop into an excellent philos- 
opher and something of a moralist. And yet he always 
feels himself the same, no better or worse at the end 
than at the beginning. He passes no judgment, he 
makes no evaluations on what he has done. In his own 
eyes he is no better when he finally succeeds in living 
up to a certain standard of self-restraint that would 
have made him a hero in any standard European biog- 
raphy than he was when, to save himself from imprison- 
ment he, in the most selfish fashion conceivable, be- 

trays his companions who had participated in a murder 
which he had planned and for which he got all the 
glory. The question of good and bad simply does not 
present itself to him, because the task he had set him- 
self did not entail the passing of judgments but the 
giving of as an accurate account of his life as was 
possible for him to give. 

It would be both incorrect and stupid to imagine that 
he was either morally blunted or unintelligent or that 
he did not have many of those half-mystical strivings 
that so many of us have. All his life, in fact, can be 
said to have been spent in the search of an experience 
which his marked non-suggestibility when a child pre- 
vented him from then obtaining. The fundamental 
religious experience of every member of the tribe to 
which he belonged was obtained in early youth. It 
consisted of fasting, of retiring at night to some lonely 
and inaccessible spot where one could commune un- 
disturbed with the deities. Most youths got it. It 
was something of a disgrace not to. Yet he did not. 
In spite of his dishonestly persuading his father that 
he had been properly blessed, he never deluded himself 
about the matter. He always felt the stigma attached 
to his failure to experience what all the others had 
obtained, and in his inconsistent fashion he tried to 
find some substitute. When he finally got the experi- 
ence he had been seeking, although it had come to him 
in the most devious and unexpected manner, he recog- 
nized it at once, was satisfied, and became a good man, 
even from the normal Christian standpoint. 

Be A man to whom this could have happened was clearly 
not blunted either spiritually or morally. He was 
merely true to the task he had voluntarily imposed upon 
himself when he decided to write an account of his 
life, when he refused to see running through it a pur- 
pose from which he had never deviated and which had 
blotted out everything else. His final conversion and 
spiritual and moral regeneration are consequently to 
him neither a reaction against his vices nor the ending 
of a long continued inward search. It is just an incident 
happening to come last. 

Here is a theme out of which a dozen heroes could 
have been forged. Our author, however, makes no 
pretense at being one. He consistently and objectively 
pictures himself as never rising superior to any situa- 
tion, not even toward the end. Wherever in life there 
was any temptation to which he could succumb, he 
succumbed to it. Even at the turning-point of his life, 
before he eats the medicine that is to lead to his con- 
version, he frankly and acutely observes, “I thought I 
was fooling them and they thought they were convert- 
ing me!’ Life and his own emotions and moods 
buffeted him about incessantly and no consistent di- 
rection is anywhere visible. What neither life nor his 
own nature could do, however, was to delude him into 
believing that he was any other than what he was, or 
that he had had an experience when he knew he had 
not had it. 

Herein lies the fundamental value of this document 
for all those who are interested in the comédie humaine, 

whether professionally or unprofessionally. Here is a 
man with an unusual capacity for articulate expression 
and fortunately free from our traditional conventions 
and proprieties, setting before himself the task of 
pleasing a sympathetic white man by writing down for 

him what he regarded as significant and important in ~ 

his life. What facts is he going to select? Is he going 
to begin with the last act and work backwards, that is, 
is he going to attempt to show how all the experiences 
in his life have led to the crowning achievement of his 
forty-fifth year? As we have pointed out, he had ample 
reasons for so considering it, for he did obtain at the 
age of forty-five that experience he had missed in his 
youth. But he is too good a psychologist to humbug 
himself into any such belief. 

Accordingly he begins with the beginning. He de- 
scribes his birth with meticulous care, and he does the 
same for his early childhood and the formation of 
certain personal habits which for us seem trivial, such 
as how he acquired the habit of eating fast or how he 
acquired the habit of taking the blanket away from 
people with whom he slept. His life to him means 
something very specific, and he describes the significant 
stirrings of early childhood and youth with an insight 
and accuracy that would do justice to the finest psycho- 
logical novelist. He indicates the precise time when 
he began to have memory of things and afterwards the 
first stirrings of sex. He very delightfully states when 
the desire arose within him of “making himself pleasing 
to the opposite sex.” From the beginning, as I have 

Faas BN fl Ie alte ioe ene 2 

ete Om 

bby idan 

repeatedly pointed out, he shows an unusual insistence 

in separating what he has actually experienced from 

what he should have experienced. We saw above that 
when he failed to get into rapport with the spirits dur- 
ing his youthful fasting, he states so unhesitatingly, 
although he strove hard to obtain the desired com- 
munion with the deities. Not strong-charactered 
enough to admit his failure, he deceives his parents. 
In the same way he confesses to being anything but a 
success with the girls in his early days. Here again, 
however, he cannot resist the temptation of pretending 
to be very successful. 

Psychologically and humanly, what is so interesting 
here is not so much the fact that he knows the differ- 
ence between truth and desirable social fiction, but that 
he never becomes a cynic. He escapes. this because 
there is nothing he is hiding, and cynicism therefore 
is quite unnecessary. He needs no defense mechanism. 
He is giving a description of his life and it so happened 
that in his life, owing to certain weaknesses in his char- 
acter, outwardly pretense had to rule over truth. Due, 
however, to his inward honesty, it never did. How, in 
fact, he managed not to confuse the two more than he 
did is somewhat of a mystery to me. It bespeaks a 
man with many facets to his personality and at the 
same time a personality which itself was markedly 
unintegrated. It is to this same multiple personality 
that we shall have to ascribe also his amazing faculty 
for living himself into the particular period of life 
which he is at the moment describing. Although he 

[ xxiii | 

wrote down the autobiography when he was a stanch 
adherent of a new religious sect which had definitely 
broken with the old cultural background, this in no 
way interfered with the accuracy and the sympathetic 
penetration with which he described the old back- 
ground. Never does he forget himself and inveigh 
against it. When he describes his childhood he is a 
child, his youth a youth, the Medicine Dance a member 
of that fraternity, and finally when he describes the 
new religion it is as a stanch adherent. Everything in 
its proper place and time. 

Thus he passes through life, or, better, life passes 
through him—lying, boasting, swaggering, stealing, 
murdering, fornicating, interpreting dreams in the most 
approved Jungian fashion, and finally philosophizing 
and adding a new proof of the truth of the Trinity— 
consistently lying to the world about him and never 
lying to himself. Always very kind, he was throughout 
life unable to resist the appeal of his kindred, par- 
ticularly of the more immediate members of his family. 
He ends his account fittingly and in the most approved 
style of Voltaire. He, too, like Candide, was going to 
settle down. He was happy and his are had a new 
baby. 

All we have thus far discussed relates directly to the 
personal and human implications of this amazing revela- 
tion of a “child of nature.” But there are other aspects 
just as important. Its value as an ethnological and 
psychological document need not be stressed, for that 
is apparent at every turn. It seems to me, however, 

eee 

a 
we 
‘4 

NAS@AY 

that its significance for the student of religions and 

_ religious psychology cannot be placed too high. 

Whether he has made a correct analysis or not, he here 
gives us his version of his conversion with the most 
remarkable detail. We see his struggle, the reasons for 
his resistance and the strong urge to please his family, 
and finally we see his conversion in all the completeness 
and absoluteness of a revelation. 

In conclusion may I hope that this document, be- 
cause of its authenticity and its freedom from all out- 
side influence, will play its rdle in dissipating once and 
for all the erroneous notion that still persists—that 
primitive peoples are incapable of an objective and 
analytical presentation of facts, that they can draw no 
clear line between truth and illusion, between halluci- 
nation and phantasy-dreaming on the one hand, and 
the objective world on the other. 

PAUL RADIN

Father and mother had four children and after I 
was born. An uncle of my mother named White Cloud 
spoke to her before I was born and told her, “You are 
about to give birth to a child who will not be an ordi- 
nary individual.” ‘These were the words he addressed 
to her. It was then that my mother gave birth to me. 
As soon as I was born, indeed as I was being washed— 
as my neck was being washed—I laughed out loudly. 

I have been told * that I was a good-tempered child. 

During childhood my father told me to fast and I 
obeyed him. Throughout the winter, every morning, I 
would get up very early, crush charcoal, and then 
blacken my face with it. As soon as the sun rose 
would I go outside and there gazing steadily at the sun, 
make my prayer to the spirits, crying.’ 

1 Whenever the writer refers to events that happened before his 
time or before he could remember things, he always uses the quota- 
tive, “it is said.” 

2 This refers to the custom of fasting of which many examples will 
be found later on. Among the Winnebago and many culturally related 
tribes, every person, male and female, was expected, between the 
ages of five and twelve, to seek communion with some supernatural 
spirit and the spirit so obtained was supposed to grant the sup- 
pliant certain powers and in general preside over his destinies 
throughout life. The proper manner of approaching this ordeal 

was to blacken one’s face with charcoal and retire at night to some 
semi-deserted place at some distance from the house and there pray- 

Thus I acted up to the time that I have memory of 
things. 

In those days there were not many white people 
living near us as to-day. My father went out hunt- 
ing continually. The lodge in which we lived was cov- 
ered with rush mattings, with reed mattings spread over 
the floor. After hunting for some time in one place we 
would move to another. My father, mother, older sis- 
ters, and older brothers, all carried the packs. ‘Thus 
we would spend our time until the spring of the year 
and then in the spring we would again move in order 
to live near some stream where father could hunt 
muskrats, mink, otter, and beaver. 

In the summer we always returned to Black River 
Falls, Wisconsin. Here all the Indians gathered after 
they had given their feasts. Then we picked berries. 
When picking berries my father used to buy me gum. 
so that I should not be able to eat any of the berries. 
I managed however to eat berries and chew gum at the 
same time. After a while I learned to chew tobacco 
and then I did not eat the berries while picking them. 
Later on I got to like tobacco very much and I 
probably used up more money in buying tobacco than 
would have been the value of the berries had I eaten 
them. 

ing and crying to await the coming of the spirit. Among the Winne- 
bago, and probably among many other tribes, it was customary 
for the parents or grandparents, to prepare the children specifically 
for what was likely to happen; to inform them how to recognize 
the approach of the spirit and, what was more to the point, to teach 
them how to distinguish a good from a bad spirit. 

In the fall of the year we would pick cranberries. 
_ When the hunting season was open, I would begin to 
fast again. 

This was my life for a number of years. 

After a while we bought a pony on which we used 
to pack all our belongings whenever we moved our 
camp. In addition three of us would ride on top of 
the pack. Sometimes my mother and sometimes my 
father drove the pony. 

After I had grown a little older and taller all of us 
brothers would fast together. My father would indeed 
repeatedly urge us to fast. “Do not be afraid of the 
burnt remains of the lodge center-pole,”’ he would say 
to us.* “Whatever are the true possessions of men, the 
apparel of men and the gift of doctoring—all these 
things that are spread out before you—do try and ob- 
tain one of them.” * Thus he would speak to us. 

I would then take a piece of charcoal, crush it and 
blacken my face and he would be very grateful to me. 

I would at first break my fast at noon but then grad- 
ually I began to fast all night. From the fall of the 
year until spring I would fast until nightfall and then 
eat. After a while I trained myself to pass the night 
without eating and after that I was able to go two 
nights and days without taking any food. Then my 
mother went to the woods at some distance from the 

8Symbolical manner of describing the crushed charcoal with 
which fasters must blacken their faces. 

4 By “possessions of men” he means mainly that knowledge which 

will make a man honored and respected in his community; and by 
“apparel of men,” he means power and ability. 

village and there she built me a small lodge in which I 
and my elder brother were to remain whenever we had 
to fast through the whole night. At this fasting-place 
we used to play and before we were really able to spend 
a night at this particular place we moved away. 

After a time I passed from this stage of childhood 
to another. I now began to use a bow and arrow and 
I spent my day at play, shooting arrows. 

It was at about this time also that I found out that 
my mother had been told just before I was born that 
she was about to give birth to a child who would not 
be an ordinary being, and from then on I felt that I 
must be an uncommon person. 

At about the same time my elder sister married a 
very holy man. My parents gave her in marriage to 
him. He was a shaman and he thought a great deal 
of me. 

Crashing Thgnger

My brother-in-law was named Thunder Cloud. It 
is said that he was living his third life as a human 
being.” 

This is his account: 

I once lived with a small group of Indians numbering 
about twenty camps. When I had grown up to be a lad, 
although still not large enough to handle a gun, a war-party 
attacked us and killed us all. I did not know, however, 
that I had been killed. I thought that I was running about 
as usual until I saw a heap of bodies on the ground and 
mine among them. No one was there to bury us, so there 
we lay and rotted. 

My ghost was taken to the place where the sun sets. 
There I lived with an old couple. The land of the spirits 
is an excellent place and the people have the best of times. 
If you desire to go anywhere all that you have to do is to 
wish yourself there and you reach it. While there I thought 
I would like to come to the earth again so the old man 
with whom I was staying said to me, ‘My son, did you not 
speak about wanting to go to the earth again?” I had as 

5 The belief in reincarnation is very widespread among the Win- 
nebago. It is generally believed that if any child resembles some 
deceased individual he is that individual reincarnated. Not every 
person, however, can become reincarnated. This is a privilege that 
belongs only to the more prominent people and to the members of 
the most sacred of Winnebago ceremonies, the Medicine Dance. 

a matter of fact only thought of it yet he knew what I 
wanted. Then he said to me, “You can go but you must 
ask our chief first.”” Then I went and told the chief of the 
village of my desire, and he said to me, “You may go and 
obtain your revenge upon the people who killed your 
relatives.” 

Then I was brought down to earth. I did not enter a 
woman’s womb but I was taken into a room. There I 
remained conscious at all times. One day I heard the noise 
of little children so I thought I would go outside. Then it 
seemed to me that I was going through a door but I was 
really being born again from a woman’s womb. As I 
walked out I was-struck by a sudden gust of cold air and 
I began to cry. 

At the place where I was brought up I was taught to 
fast a great deal. Afterwards I did nothing but go to war 
and I certainly took my revenge for my own death and 
that of my relatives, thus justifying the purpose for which 
I had come to this earth again. 

There I lived until I died of old age. All at once my 
bones became unjointed, my ribs fell in and I died a second 
time. I felt no more pain at death then that I had felt 
the first time. 

This time I was buried in the manner used then. I was 
wrapped in a blanket and laid in the grave. Sticks were 
placed in the grave first. There I rotted. I watched the 
people as they buried me. 

As I was lying there some one said to me, “Come, let 
us go away.” So then we went toward the land of the 
setting sun. There we came to a village where we met all 
the dead. I was told that I would have to stop there for 
four nights, but, in reality, I stayed there four years. The 
people enjoy themselves here. They have all sorts of 

dances of a lively kind. From that place we went up to 
_ where Earthmaker lives and I saw him and talked to him, 
face to face, even as I am talking to you now. I saw the 
spirits too and, indeed, I was like one of them. | 
Thence I came to this earth for the third time and here 
Iam. I am going through the same that I knew before. 

Thus my brother-in-law had lived long ago, had 
joined the Medicine Dance ° and adhered strictly to its 
precepts. He was a good man; he disliked no one; 
he never stole and never did he fight. He made offer- 
ings of tobacco to the spirits and was always giving 
feasts. He could always be relied upon. 

When Thunder Cloud was in spirit land, just before 
he was to come to this earth, he fasted. He only ate 
once a month. All the different spirits who live on 
high, all those who live under the earth, indeed all 
those whom Earthmaker had created, they all blessed 
him. Then he came to the earth and was born here as 
a human being again. When he came to the earth he 
fasted. All the various spirits who had blessed him 
before, now blessed him again. Thus did he become a 
holy man. When he came here, he became a shaman 
for he was very holy. Indeed he was the North Spirit. 

6 The Medicine Dance is a secret society which with the preliminary 
ceremonies lasts five days. Members of this society are supposed to 
possess the secret of being able to kill one another and then to restore 
one another to life again. The “killing” is done by “shooting” a 
shell from a pouch made out of an otter skin. The shel] is sup- 
posed to enter the body of the person shot at and to render him 
unconscious. He regains consciousness gradually after spitting out 

the shell. The ceremony is described in detail on pp. 103 ff. of this 
autobiography. 

Once when I was sick he treated me. As soon as he 
came my father arose with tobacco in his hands and 
made him an offering, greeting him as follows: 

“My son-in-law, tobacco do I offer you and I make 
offerings to your spirits. You have made your hat’ 
become Holy, for the various ves made it sacred. I 
greet you.” 

Before treating me Thunder Cloud told of his fasting 
experience: 

At the very beginning those above taught me the follow- 
ing. All the various spirits who live up above in the 
clouds, in a doctor’s village, came after me and instructed 
me in what I was to do. They taught me and told me the 
following. ‘Here let us try it,’ they said to me. There 
in the middle of the lodge lay a rotten log, almost entirely 
covered with weeds. They tried to make me treat this log. 
I breathed upon it and all those who were in this spirit 
lodge also breathed upon it. Then for the second time I 
breathed upon it and they with me. Then for the third 
and the fourth time I did it. After the fourth time the 
rotten log arose and walked away. Then the spirits said 
to me, “Human being, very holy indeed are you.” 

There from the middle of the ocean, from the shaman’s 
village, they came after me. They blessed me, all the 
spirits in the middle of the ocean. They made me try my 
power. As many waves as exist, all of them as large as 
the ocean, upon these they asked me to blow; and as I 
blew upon them everything became as quiet as the water 
in a small saucer. So they became. Then I blew for the 

7Symbolical expression for the various objects and blessings be- 
stowed upon him by the spirits. 

third time and it was the same. The fourth time the spirits 
- made the ocean very choppy and the waves were piled, one 
upon the other. Then they told me to blow again and show 
my power. I blew, and the ocean, mighty indeed as it 
was, became very quiet again. ‘“Now this, human being, 
is what you will have to do,” they said to me. “Not any- 
thing will there be that you cannot accomplish. Whatever 
be the illness a person may have, you will be able to cure 
him.” 

All the spirits on the earth blessed me. “If any human 
being who is suffering from pain, makes an offering of 
tobacco to you, then whatever you demand, that we will 
do for you,” the spirits told me. 

Now at Blue Clay Bank (St. Paul) there lives one who 
is a dancing grizzly-bear spirit. Whenever I am in great 
trouble I was to pour tobacco, as much as I thought nec- 
essary, and he would help me. This grizzly bear gave me 
songs and the power of beholding a holy thing; he gave 
me his claws, claws that are holy. Then the grizzly bear 
danced and performed while he danced. He tore his abdo- 
men open and, making himself holy, healed himself again. 
This he repeated. One grizzly bear shot claws at the other 
and the wounded one became badly choked with blood. 
Then both made themselves holy again and cured them- 
selves. They had a front paw disappear in the earth and 
after a while pulled out a prairie turnip. Finally they 
grabbed hold of a small plum tree, breathed upon it and 
shook it, and many plums began to fall. 

This was only the first part of the treatment. 

After recounting his fasting experience Thunder 
Cloud addressed the spirits and said, “Spirits, here is 
a person who is sick and who offers tobacco to me. I 

am on earth to accept it; to try and cure him.” He 
then turned to me and said, “You will live, so help 
yourself as much as you can. Try to make yourself 
strong. Now as I offer this tobacco to the spirits 
you must listen and if you know that I am telling the 
truth, you will be strengthened thereby.” 

Then he prayed to the spirits: © 

The Prayers to the Spirits 

Here, O Fire, is the tobacco for you. You promised that 
if I offered you some, you would grant me whatever re- 
quest I made. Now I am placing tobacco on your head as 
you told me to do when I fasted for four days and you 
blessed me. I am sending you the plea of a human being 
who is ill. He wishes to live. This tobacco is for you and 
I pray that the one who is ill be restored to health within 
four days. 

To you too, O Buffalo, I offer tobacco. A person is ill 
and is offering tobacco to you and asking you to restore 
him to health. So add that power which I obtained from 
you at the time I fasted for six days and you sent your 
spirits after me. They took me to your lodge which lies 
in the center of the earth and which is absolutely white. 
There you blessed me, you Buffaloes of four different 
colors. Those blessings that you bestowed upon me then, 
I am now in need of. The power of breathing with which 
you blessed me, I am now in need of. Add your power 
to mine as you promised. 

To you, Grizzly Bear, I also offer tobacco. At a place 
called Pointed Hill there lives a spirit who is in charge of 
a ceremonial lodge, and to this all the other grizzly bears 

meg 

belong. You all blessed me and you said that I would 
be able to kill whomsoever I wished and that I would be 

able to restore any person to life. Now I have a chance 
to enable a person to live and I wish to aid him. So here 
is some tobacco for you. You took my spirit to your home 
after I had fasted for ten days and you blessed me there. 
The powers with which you blessed me there I ask of you 
now. Here is some tobacco that the people are offering 
you, grandfathers. 

To you, O Chief of the Eels, you who live in the center 
of the ocean, I offer tobacco. You blessed me after I had 
fasted for eight days. With your power of breathing and 
with your inexhaustible supply of water, you blessed me. 
You told me that I could use my blessing whenever I tried 
to cure a patient; you told me that I could use the water 
of the ocean and you blessed me with all the things that 
are in the water. A person has come to me and asked me 
for life. As I wish him to live I am addressing you. When 
I spit upon the patient may the power of my saliva be the 
same as yours. Therefore do I offer you tobacco. Here it 
is. 

To you, O Turtle, you who are in charge of a shaman’s 
lodge, you who blessed me after I had fasted for seven 
days, you who carried my spirit to your home, to the home 
of birds of prey, to you I offer tobacco. You blessed me 
and you told me that should, at any time, human beings 
suffer from pain I would be able to drive it out of them. 
You gave me the name of He-who-drives-out-pain. Now 
I have before me a patient with a bad pain and I wish to 

drive it out of him. This the spirit told me I would have 

the power to do, when they blessed me before I was reborn. 
Here is tobacco. 
To you, O Rattlesnake, you who are perfectly white, 

Aen Ge foe tl 
ah ea 

Crashing Thad a 
you who are in charge of the snake lodge, to you I pray, 
You blessed me with rattles to wrap around my gourd; 
you told me after I had fasted for four days that you 
would help me. You said that I would never fail in any- 
thing I attempted. So now when I offer you tobacco and 
shake my gourd, may my patient live and may life be 
opened out before him. That is what you promised to 
me, grandfather. 

O Night Spirits, you also, I greet. You blessed me after 
I had fasted for nine days. You took my spirit to your 
village lying in the east, and there you gave me your = 
flutes. You told me they were holy. My flute likewise 
you made holy. For your flutes I now ask you, since you 
know that I am speaking the truth. A sick person has 
come to me and has asked me to cure him. I want him to 
live and so I am speaking to you. You promised to accept 
_ my tobacco at all times. Here it is. 
To you, too, O Disease-Giver, I offer tobacco. After I 
had fasted for two days you informed me that you were 
the one who gave disease; that if I desired to heal any one 
it would be easy to do so if I were blessed by you. So, 
Disease-Giver, I am offering tobacco to you and I ask that 
this sick person who has come to me, be restored to health 
again. 
To you, O Sun, I offer tobacco. Here it is. You blessed 
me after I had fasted for five days and you told me you 
would come to my aid whenever I had something difficult 
to do. Now, some one is here who has pleaded for life. 
He has brought good offerings of tobacco to me, because 
he knows that you have blessed me. 
To you, grandmother Earth, I also offer tobacco. You 
blessed me and promised to help me whenever I needed 
you. You said that I could use all the best herbs that 

AVA SS 

3s My Brother-in-Law Tender Cloud 

grow upon you, and that I would always be able to effect 
cures with them. I beseech you for those herbs now and 

I ask you to help me to cure this sick man. 

Then Thunder Cloud breathed upon me and squirted 
some water on my chest. ‘What I have said is very 
true and very holy, I believe,’ he said. “Indeed now 
you will get well.” 

Thunder Cloud knew all the good medicines that 
exist and he used them in order to heal me and so that 
I might recover from my illness. I got well. Indeed 
Thunder Cloud was holy. 

Thunder Cloud was also what we call a poisoner. 
He used to travel at dead of night, it was said. One 
night at about eleven o’clock he got ready to poison a 
family by the name of B. We were all listening, sitting 
in our lodge. Then outside we heard him make some 
noise. We were afraid of him because we knew he 
was a poisoner. Indeed he claimed to be in control of 
our household. My family would do nothing without 
first consulting him, for we were afraid of him. We 
believed that he had come from the spirits, that he was 
a reincarnated man and, if displeased, would poison 
us. So whatever he asked we did. 

He had been married to my eldest sister and after 
her death wished to marry the second sister. Where 
he had come from at the dwelling-place of Earth- 
maker,* my elder sister was now staying, he said. But 
now he claimed that the second sister resembled the 

8 Circumlocution for saying that she was dead. 

first. “She must be the one I left behind when I came 
from my spirit home,” he thought. So up above, to 
Earthmaker’s village, he went to see whether his first 
wife was still there. He found her there. “How is 
this? I thought I saw you among the human beings 
and that is why I have come to see if you were still 
here,” he said. And the woman answering said, “Why, 
where was I to go? Here you left me when you went 
away and here I have remained up to the present time. 
What kind of woman is she who resembles me? 
Bring her up here to me.”’ Thus my dead sister spoke. 

However since he was a bad shaman, a poisoner, we 
let him marry the second sister. We were afraid that 
if we didn’t he would poison us. 

He told my brother that he had come from the place 
where Earthmaker °® lives, that Earthmaker had told 
him that he was to bring back with him four men. 
He was to examine them carefully, for they were to 
be virtuous men, not quick tempered nor of change- 
able ideas, but really virtuous, men of conservative 
tendencies. Such was he to take back with him. 

My brother loved Thunder Cloud for these reasons. 
Never did he show any disrespect to him. Whatever he 
was asked to do he did. Zealously and painstakingly 
did he perform all the actions demanded, for he hoped 
that if, in return, our brother-in-law loved him and 
blessed him, he would take him back to Earthmaker. 
Wholeheartedly did he wish to be like him. This was 
always in his mind and he served him to the best of 

® Karthmaker is the supreme deity of the Winnebago.

At this stage of life I secretly got the desire to make 
myself pleasing to the opposite. sex. 

The Indians then lived in their old-fashioned lodges. 
Women, however, whenever they had their menses, 
were placed in special huts. There the young men 
would go to court them at night when their parents were 
asleep. I used to go along with the men on such occa- 
sions, for even although I did not enter any lodges but 
merely accompanied the older men, I enjoyed it. 

My parents were greatly in fear of my coming into 
contact with menstruating women so therefore I went 
with these men secretly. My parents were even afraid 
of having me cross the path over which a menstruating 
woman had passed. They worried so much about it 
at that time, because I was to fast as soon as autumn 
came. They did not wish me to be near menstruating 
women, for were I to grow up in their midst I would as- 
suredly be weak and of little account. Such was their 
reason. 

Before long I started to fast again together with an 
older brother of mine, both day and night. It was 
during the fall moving, and several lodges of people 
were living near us. There it was that my elder brother 
and I fasted. Among the people of the other lodges 
were four girls whose duty it was to carry wood. 

_ Whenever these girls went out to get wood my older 
_ brother and I would play around with them a great 

_ deal. We did this even although we were fasting at 

the time. Of course we had to do it in secret. When- 
ever our parents found out we got a scolding and so 
did the girls. At home we were warned to keep away 
from menstruating women, but we ourselves always 
sought them. 
After a while some of the people living in the lodges 
moved away and we were left alone. They moved far 
‘ahead of us. We ourselves were to move only a short 
distance at a time. My father and my brother-in-law 
went out hunting and killed seventy deer between 
them, so that we had plenty of meat. 
When the girls with whom I used to play moved 

- away I became very lonesome. In the evenings I used 

to cry. I longed for them greatly and they had moved 
far away! 

Soon we got fairly well started on our way back. 
We moved to a place where all the leaders used to give 
their feasts. Near the place where we lived there 
were three lakes and a black-hawk’s nest. Right near 
the tree where the nest was located, they built a lodge 
and our war-bundle *° was placed in it. There my elder 

10 The war-bundle was the most sacred object among the Winne- 
bago. It consisted of dried animal skins, other parts of animals, reed 
flutes, etc., all of which had some symbolical meaning. The various 
animal remains, for instance, were supposed to give the owner the 
powers of these animals, the sound of the reed flutes was sup- 
posed to paralyze his enemy and make it impossible for him to walk. 
Each clan possessed at least one such bundle and whenever the tribe 
went on the warpath, this bundle was carried on the back of some 

brother and myself were to pass the night. It was 
said that if any one fasted at such a place for four 
nights, he would be blessed with victory and the power 
to cure the sick. All the spirits would bless him. 

We were told the following would happen to us. On 
the first night we would imagine ourselves surrounded 

by spirits whose whisperings we would hear outside of . 

the lodge. The spirits would even whistle. I was told 
that I would be frightened and nervous and that if I 
still remained there, I would be molested by large mon- 
sters, fearful to look upon. Even the bravest man 
might well be frightened. Should I, however, manage 
to get through that night I would then on the following 
night be molested by ghosts whom I would hear speak- 
ing outside. These ghosts would say things that might 
well cause me to run away. Towards morning I was 
told these ghosts would even take my blanket away 
from me. They would grab hold of me and drive me 
out of the lodge and not stop until the sun rose. If I 
was able to endure a third night, then I would be ad- 
dressed by the true spirits. They would bless me and 
say, “We bless you. We had really intended to turn 
you over to the monsters and bad spirits and that is 
why these approached you first, but you overcame 
them and now they will not be able to take you away. 
Now you may go home for we bless you with victory 

individual esteemed for his bravery. The power of this war-bundle 

was such that it would kill anything or anybody who approached | 

it, the only exception being a menstruating woman. For this reason 
the war-bundle was always carefully guarded and protected and 
women were not allowed to see it or come anywhere near it. 

a ae 

Seer A". 

_ and long life; we bless you with the power of healing 
__ the sick. Nor shall you lack wealth. So go home and 
eat, for a large war-party is soon to fall upon you. As 
soon as the sun rises the war whoops will be given so 
that if you do not go home now you will be killed.” 

Thus the spirits would speak to me. I was told that 

if I did not care to do the bidding of one particular 

spirit, then some other would address me and repeat 
very much the same thing. So the spirits would speak 
alternately until the break of day. Then, just before 
sunrise, a man wearing a warrior’s costume, would come 
and peep into the lodge. He would bea scout. I was 
told that when this happened, then I would surely be- 
lieve that a war-party had come upon me. Soon an- 
other spirit would come and say, “Grandson, I have 
taken pity upon you and I will bless you with all the 
good things that the earth holds. Go home now for a 
war-party is about to rush upon you.” If then I went 
home the war-whoops would be given just as the sun 
rose. The members of this war party would give the 
whoop all at the same time. They would rush upon me 
and capture me and after coup had been counted upon 
me (i.e., after I had been struck) they would say, 
“Now, grandson, we have acted thus in order to teach 
you. Thus shall you act. You have completed your 
fasting.” 

Thus would the spirits talk to me, I was told. Now 
this war-party was really composed of spirits, spirits 
from the heaven and the earth. Indeed all the spirits 
that exist would be there. These would all bless me. 

Ts Md Tee ae 

I was also told that it would be a very difficult thing 
to obtain this particular blessing. 

So there I fasted at the black-hawk’s nest, where a 
lodge had been built for me. The first night I stayed 
there I wondered when something would happen. But 
nothing took place. The second night, rather late in 
the night, my father came and opened the war-bundle 
and then taking out a gourd, began to sing. I stood 
beside him without any clothing except my breech-clout 
and, holding tobacco in each hand, I uttered my cry 
to the spirits: 

“O spirits, here humble in heart I stand beseeching 
you.” 

My father sang war-bundle songs and wept as he 
sang. I also wept as I uttered my cry to the spirits. 
When he was finished he told me some sacred stories; 
he told me about my ancestor Weshgishega: 

The Story of My Ancestor Weshgishega 

When Weshgishega was growing up his father coaxed 
him to fast. He told him that when Earthmaker had 
created the various spirits, all the good ones he had created, 
were placed in charge of something. The gift of bestow- 
ing upon man life and victory in war he gave to some; 
to others, the gift of hunting-powers. Whatever powers. 
the Indians needed in order to live, these he placed in the 
hands of various spirits. These blessings Weshgishega’s 
father told Weshgishega to attempt to obtain from the 
spirits. 

Thus Weshgishega fasted and tried to obtain something 

___ from the spirits. But as he fasted he kept thinking to him- 
self, “Long ago Earthmaker created all the different spirits 
and he put every one of them in control of something, so 
people say. He himself must therefore be much more 
powerful than all the others. As holy as these spirits are, 
so assuredly, Earthmaker must be mightier, holier.’? So 
he thought. He tried to be blessed by Earthmaker. He 
thought to himself, “What kind of being is he?” As he 
fasted Weshgishega thought to himself, ‘““Not even any of 
the spirits whom Earthmaker created has really known 
Earthmaker as he actually is; not one of the spirits has he 
he even blessed. I wonder, however, whether Earthmaker 
would bless me? This is what I am thinking of.” So he put 
himself into a most pitiable condition and uttered his cry to 
the spirits. He could not stop. “From Earthmaker do I 
wish to obtain knowledge. If he does not bless me during 
my fasting I shall assuredly die.” So, to the utmost of his 
power, did he fast. He wished to be blessed only by Earth- 
maker. 

At first he fasted four days; then six; then eight; then 
ten and finally twelve days. After that he broke his fast. 
Yet it was quite clear that he had obtained no knowledge, 
quite clear that he had not been blessed. So he gave up 
his fasting and when he reached the age of early manhood 
he married. 

He took his wife, and the two of them moved to an out- 
of-the-way place. There they lived, he and his wife. 

Here again he commenced to fast, his wife with him. 
He wished to be blessed by Earthmaker. This time he felt 
that most assuredly would he die if Earthmaker did not 
appear before him in his fasting. “Never has it been told 
that such a thing could happen, that Earthmaker would 
bless any one. Yet I shall continue even if I have to die.” 

After a while a child was born to him. It was a boy. 
He addressed his wife and asked her advice, saying that they 
ought to sacrifice their child to Earthmaker. She con- 
sented. To Earthmaker therefore they prepared to sacrifice 
their child. They constructed a platform and placed their 
child upon it.1t_ Then both of them wept bitterly. In the 
nighttime when the man slept, Earthmaker took pity on 
him and appeared to him. The man looked at him. He 
thought, ‘‘This, most certainly, is Earthmaker.” He wore a 
soldier’s uniform and carried a high cocked hat on his head. 
He had a very pleasing appearance. Weshgishega looked at 
him and wondered whether this really was Earthmaker. The 
figure took one step, then another, and finally disappeared, 
uttering a cry. It was not Earthmaker; it was a pigeon. 
The bad spirits were fooling Weshgishega. 

Now even more than before did his heart ache, even more 
than before was his heart wound up in the desire to be 
blessed by Earthmaker. Now again he fasted and again ap- 
parently Earthmaker appeared to him. ‘Human being, I 
bless you. Long have you made your cry for a blessing. I 
am Earthmaker.’”? When Weshgishega looked at him, he 
saw that he was pleasing in appearance. He looked very 
handsome and his dress was nice to look upon. He won- 
dered whether this really was Earthmaker. As he looked 
at the figure it became smaller and smaller and when finally 
he looked, he noticed that it was a bird. 

Then his heart ached even more than before. Bitterly 
did he cry. Now, for the third time, Earthmaker blessed 
him saying, “Human being, you have tried to be blessed 
by Earthmaker and you have caused yourself great suf- 

11 That is, they killed the child and then placed his body upon a 

platform, this being the customary mode of burial of the clan to 
which Weshgishega belonged. 

fering. I am Earthmaker and I bless you. You will never 
be in want of anything; you will be able to understand the 
languages of your neighbors; you will have a long life; in- 
deed, with everything do I bless you.’’ But, from the very 
first, this figure did not inspire Weshgishega with confi- 
dence and he thought to himself, “Somebody must be fool- 
ing me.” And so it was; it was a bird. 

Then most assuredly did he think that he wished to die 
for he felt that all the bad birds in the world were Wyns to 
make fun of him. 

Earthmaker, above where he sits, knew of all this. He 
heard the man’s voice and he said, “O Weshgishega, you 
are crying. I shall come to the earth for you. Your father 
has told me all.” Then when Weshgishega looked, he saw 
a ray of light extending very distinctly from the sky down 
to the earth. To the camp it extended. ‘“Weshgishega, you 
said that you wanted to see me. That, however, cannot 
be. But I am the ray of light. You have seen me.” 

Not with any war powers did Earthmaker bless him; only 
with life. 

After telling me about Weshgishega, father left me. 
When I found myself alone I began to think that some- 
thing ought to happen soon, yet nothing occurred so I 
had to pass another day there. On the third night I 
was still there. My father visited me again and we 
repeated what we had done on the night before. He 
told me about my grandfather Jobenangiwinxga: 

My Ancestor Jobenangiwinxga 

Once Jobenangiwinxga fasted. So that he might be 
blessed by the spirits he starved and thirsted himself to 

death; he made himself pitiable in their sight. At first 
he fasted four nights and the Night Spirits came to him; 
with mighty sounds they came. There they stood before 
him and said, “Human being, you have thirsted yourself to 
death and we are going to bless you for that reason. We 
who speak are the Night Spirits.” They blessed him with 
life and with success on the warpath. Then he looked 
at them and said to himself, “I wonder whether these really 
are the Night Spirits speaking to me?” Then he looked at 
them and he saw that they were small birds called heshepga. 
They had fooled him. 

Then once again was his heart sore. In despair he said, 
“Well, if I have to, I’ll die fasting.” So he fasted again 
and once again he rubbed charcoal on his face. For six 
nights he continued to fast. And then, once again, from 
the east the Night Spirits came. They came making a 
great noise and they stood near him and said, “Human being, 
we bless you. You have thirsted yourself to death and you 
have made your heart sore. We feel sad on your account. 
With life and success on the warpath we bless you.’ 
Then he looked at them and again he wondered in his 
heart whether they really were the Night Spirits.1? Indeed 
they were not the Night Spirits who were speaking to him. 
They were birds called the kawishge, choxjin and shikokkok. 
They were fooling him. Instead of feeling sad this time, 
however, he said, “I don’t care what happens; I am willing 
to die in order to get a blessing.” So he thought to himself. 

Then again he began fasting. He rubbed charcoal over 

12 The Night Spirits were mythical spirits whose precise nature 
is never described in detail. They are supposed to cause darkness 
and the night. They possess a cane with which they strike those 
of their worshipers who are not properly attentive to their cere- 

monies, 

his face again. Seven nights he fasted and once again from 
the east the Night Spirits came singing. They came and 
stood before him and said, “Nephew, we bless you. So long 
have you been sad and so piteously have you cried to us 
that we bless you. No one did we ever bless before. Both 
in war and in life you shall be able to do as you wish.” 
Then again he looked in their direction and thought to 
himself, “I wonder whether those speaking are really the 
Night Spirits?” But indeed they were not the Night Spirits 
They were the bluebird and the duck and as many as there 
were of them, their breasts were dark; as many as there 
were of them, they were bad. “O my! Omy! How they 
abuse me,” Jobenangiwinxga cried. 

He had at first thought in his fastings that just to spite 
the spirits he would fast again but now he rubbed charcoal 
on his face and wept bitterly. Both hands contained to- 
bacco, and he stood in the direction from which the Night 
Spirits came and, weeping, put himself in the most abject 
condition. 

Now indeed to its very depths did his heart ache. Ten 
nights did he fast. Finally the Night Spirits came after him. 
“Human being, I have come after you.” He followed the 
spirits and they took him to the east; to the site of a Night 
Spirit village they took him. In the village there was a long 
lodge standing in the east. There they took him. All the 
Night Spirits in control of the most powerful blessings were 
there. When he entered he had to wade through white 
feathers up to his knees. Many kettles and much food did 
he see in the lodge. On the outside a buffalo hide was 
stretched almost across the entire lodge. Then these spirits 
said to him, “Human being, without giving up, long have 
you suffered; your heart has indeed been sad. _ All 
of the spirits in this lodge have talked about what is to 

Crasting Thee 

happen to you. I, myself, am the chief of the Night Spirits. 
This creation lodge, just as you see it, with all that it con- 
tains, I give to you. Never shall you be in want of food. 
Offer up to us as many buckskins as you see here in the 
lodge. Thus it shall be. The creation lodge of the village 
of the Night Spirits I give to you. You can go on as many 
war-parties as you wish and you will obtain everything that 
you demand of life. All the offerings of tobacco, of food, 
of buckskins, and of red feathers, that you and your de- 
scendants offer to us, they all will come here to our creation 
lodge and we will accept them.” 

Now thus did the Night Spirits speak to grandfather 
Jobenangiwinxga. 

In the morning, just before sunrise, I uttered my cry 
to the spirits: 

“O spirits, here humble in heart I stand beseeching 
you.” 

The fourth night found me still there. Again my 
father came and we did the same thing, but in spite of 
it all I experienced nothing unusual. Soon another day 
dawned upon us. That morning I told my elder brother 
that I had been blessed by the spirits and that I was 
going home to eat. I was not speaking the truth. I 
was hungry and I also knew that on the following night 
we were going to have a feast, and that we would have 
to utter our cry to the spirits again. I dreaded that. 
So I went home. When I got there I told my people 
the story I had told my brother; that I had been 
blessed and that the spirits had told me to eat. I was 
not speaking the truth, yet I was given the food that is 
carefully prepared for those who have been blessed. 

= Ps 
eo 

Just then my older brother came home and they ob- 
- jected to his return for he had not been blessed. How- 
ever, he took some food and ate it. 

My brother J., however, obtained a blessing. When 
he reached the age of puberty my father called him 
aside and told him to fast. He told him that it was 
his fervent wish that he should begin to fast in order 
to become holy, te become invincible and invulnerable 
in war. He wished him to become like one of those 
Winnebago of whom stories are told. He assured him 
that if he fasted he would really be holy and that_ 
nothing that exists on this earth would be able to molest 
him; that he would live a very long life and that he 
would be able to cure the sick. He told him that if he 
were blessed no one would dare to make fun of him 
and that they would be very careful how they addressed 
him; first, because they really respected him and sec- 
ondly, because they were afraid of getting him angry. 
He was to fast until spring and then he was to stop, 
for there are many bad spirits about in the spring who 
are likely to deceive a faster. 

Near our village there was a hill called Place-where- 
they-keep-weapons. This hill was very high, steep and 
rocky. It was a very holy place. There it was that 
my father wished my brother to fast for it was the 
place where he himself had fasted. Within this hill 
lived the spirits whom we call Those-who-cry-like- 
babies. These spirits are supposed to possess arrows 
and bows. Twenty of them were supposed to be in 
this hill. My father had centrol of them and when 

fey 

ih a 

he wished to bless a man he would take his bow and 
arrows and, holding them in his hands, lead the man 
around the hill and into the lodge (i.e., into the hill). 
There he would look for a stone pillar, and upon it, at 
about arm’s length, he drew the pictures of a number 
of different animals. My father possessed only one 
arrow, but that one was a holy one. Then dancing 
around the stone pillar and singing some songs, he 
finished by breathing upon the pillar. Finally he 
walked around and shot at it and when he looked at the 
stone, it had turned into a deer with large horns which 
fell dead at his feet. He repeated this a number of 
times. The little spirits living in the hill breathed 
with him and said, “Winnebago, whenever you wish to 
kill a deer with one horn, do as you have done, and 
offer us tobacco and you will be able to obtain what- 
ever you wish.” 

This was the power my father wished my brother 
to obtain. My father was a very famous hunter and 
my brother wished to be like him. 

Now of all these things my brother dreamed; with 
all these powers he was blessed. He also had a vision 
of visiting the village of the ghosts. There he was able 
to steal a costly shawl and escape with it. He dreamed 
that all the inhabitants of the ghost village chased him 
but that they were unable to overtake him and were 
compelled to return back when my brother reached the 
earth. 

The night after we had stopped fasting we gave our 
feast. There, however, our pride received a fall, for 

_ although the feast was supposedly given in our honor, 

-_we were placed on one side of the main participants. 

After the kettles containing the food had been put on 
twice, it became daylight and the feast was over. 

The following spring we moved to the Mississippi in 
order to trap. I was still fasting and ate only at night. 
My brothers used to flatter me, telling me that I was 
the cleverest of them all and, in consequence, I used to 
continue fasting although I was often very hungry. In 
spite of my desire to fast, however, I could not resist 
the temptation of being around the girls. I wanted 
always to be near them. They were generally in their 
menstrual lodges ** when I looked for them. My 
parents did not wish me to go near the girls then but 
I went nevertheless. 

My parents told me that only those boys who had 
no connection with women would be blessed by the 
spirits. Throughout this time my sole wish was to 
appear great in the sight of the people. To be praised 
by my fellowmen was all I desired. And I certainly 
received what I sought. I stood high in their estima- 
tion. That the women might like me was another of 
the reasons why I wanted to fast. But as to being 
blessed, I learned nothing about it, although I went 
around with the air of one who had received many 

blessings and talked as such a one would talk. 
18 Any contact with menstruating women, or even with objects 
in any way connected with them, will, it is the firm belief of the 

Winnebago, destroy the power of sacred objects or individuals tem- 
porarily sacred. Fasting youths were regarded as such.

The following spring I stopped fasting. 

In those days we used to travel in canoes. My 
father used to spear fish and always took me along 
with him, and this I enjoyed very much. He kept a 
club in the canoe and after he had speared a fish, I 
would kill it with the club as it was jumping around. 
Sometimes my mother accompanied us. She sat in the 
stern of the boat and rowed while my father stood in 
the prow and speared the fish. I killed all those thrown 
in the canoe. 

Sometimes my parents would start out without me, 
but I would then cry so bitterly that I, in the long run, 
induced them to take me along. Sometimes they 
whipped me and told me to go home, but I would follow 
them so far that they were then afraid to let me go 
back alone and I would thus be permitted to ride with 
them. Indeed I exerted myself greatly in crying and 
as I cried, ran after them and followed them very far, 
I was always taken along in the end. 

In those days we lived in the old-fashioned Indian 
lodges. In winter our fire was placed in the center of 
the lodge and my father used to keep it burning all 
night. When he placed a large log in the fire it would 
burn a long time. 

ae 
s 

_We were three boys of whom I was the youngest and 
at night we slept together. In cold weather we fought 
as to who was to sleep in the middle, since whoever got 
that place was warm; for while those at either end used — 
to pull the cover from each other, the one in the middle 
was always covered. Even after I grew up I always 
took the cover away from the particular person with 

_ whom I happened to be sleeping. I would always fold 

it under me, for it had become a habit with me to take 
the cover away from the other person whenever I slept 
on the outside. 

We always ate out of one dish. At times we did not 
have enough food on hand and then I would always try 
to get enough by eating very fast. In this way I often 
succeeded in depriving the others of their proper por- 
tion. Sometimes, on the other hand, I would purposely 
eat slowly and then when the others were finished, I 
would say that I had not been given enough and so get 
some of their food. In this way I developed a habit, 
that I still have, of eating fast. Even after I grew up, 
whenever I ate with other people, I always finished 
sooner than they did. 

Another habit acquired then was the ability to go 
without food for a whole day while traveling. I did 
not mind this in the least, for during my fasting I had 
grown accustomed to going without food for long 
periods of time. 

In the summer, at the season when people pick ber- 
ries, I used to go around visting, sometimes for a day, 
sometimes for a longer period. I would often receive

Whenever they think highly of any individual in a 
family they give him the means for obtaining a happy 

_ life. If ‘the older people think highly of any one they 

prearrange the kind of life he is to lead afterwards. 
With this object in view, my uncles told my brother the 
story of how human beings first came into this world, 
the story of the origin of our clan. 

The Story of the Origin of Our Clan 

Earthmaker was sitting in space when he came to con- 
sciousness. Nothing was to be found anywhere. He began 
to think of what he was to do and finally he cried. Tears 
flowed from his eyes and fell below where he was sitting. 
After a while he looked below and saw something bright. 
The bright objects were tears, of which he had not been 
aware and, which falling below, had formed the present 
waters. They became the seas of to-day. 

Then Earthmaker began to think again. He thought, 
“Thus it is whenever I wish anything. Everything will be- 
come as I wish it just as my tears have become the water 
of the seas.” So he wished for light and it became light. 
Then he thought, “It is as I have supposed; the things that 
I wished for, come into existence as I desired.” Then he 
again thought and wished for this earth and this earth 
came into existence. Earthmaker looked at the earth and 

Crashing T hander ae 

he liked it, but it was not quiet. It moved about as do 
the waves of the seas. Then he made the trees and he saw 
that they were good. But even these did not make the earth 
quiet. Then he made the grass grow and still the earth was 
not quiet. It was however almost quiet. Then he created 
the four cardinal points and the four winds. At the four 
corners of the earth he placed them as four great and pow- 
erful spirits, to act as weights holding down this island 
earth of ours. Yet still the earth was not quiet. Then he 
made four large beings and threw them down toward the 
earth and they were pierced through the earth with their 
heads eastward. They were really snake-beings. Then it 
was that the earth became still and quiet. Now he looked 
upon the earth and he liked it. 

Again he thought of how things came into existence just 
as he desired. Then it was that he first spoke and said, 
“As everything happens just as I wish it, I shall make a 
man like myself in appearance.” So he took a piece of 
earth and made it like himself. Then he talked to what 
he had created but it did not answer. He looked at it and 
he saw that it had no mind or thought. So he made a mind 
for it. Again he talked to it but it did not answer. So 
he looked at it again and he saw that it had no tongue. 
Then he made it a tongue. Then he talked to it again but 
it did not answer. So he looked at it and he saw that it 
had no soul. So he made it a soul. He talked to it again 
and then it very nearly said something but could not make 
itself intelligible. So Earthmaker breathed into its mouth 
and talked to it and it answered. 

As the newly created being was very much like Earth- 
maker in appearance, he felt quite proud of him, so he 
made three more exactly similar. He made them powerful 
so that they might watch over the earth. These four he 

_ made chiefs of the Thunderbirds. Then he thought, “I 
will have some beings live on the earth.” So he made four 
more like himself. Just like the others he made them. 
They were brothers—Kunuga, Henuga, Hagaga and Nan- 
giga. He talked to them and said, “Look down upon the 
earth.’ So saying he opened the heavens in the place where 
they were standing and there they saw this earth spread out 
before them. He told them that they were to go down 
there to live. “And this I shall send down with you,” he 
added giving them a plant. ‘Even I shall never have the 
power of taking this away from you, for I have given it to 
you exclusively; but when, of your own free will, you 
make me an offering of some of it, I shall be glad to 
accept it and give you in return whatever you ask. This 
shall you hold foremost in your lives.” What he had given 
them was the tobacco-plant. Then again he spoke and said, 
“All the spirits that I have created will not be able to take 
this away from you unless you desire to give it to them, by 
calling upon them during fasts. Thus only can the spirits 
get some. And another thing I send with you that you may 
use it in life, to be a mediator between you and us, when- 
ever you offer anything to the spirits. It shall take care 
' of you throughout life, stand in the center of your dwellings, 
and be your grandfather.” This was the Fire. 

Then the four Thunderbirds brought the brothers down 
to the earth. On their journey down Kunuga, the oldest of 
the four, said, “Brother, when we get to earth and the first 
child is born to me, I shall call him Chief-of-the-Thunder- 
birds, if he is a boy.” On and on they came, down toward 
the earth. As they got near the earth it began to get very 
dark and then the second brother said, “Brother, when we 
get to the earth and a child is born to me, if it is a girl, I 
shall call her Dark.” ‘Then they came to a place called 

Within-lake at Red Banks, a lake near Green Bay (Wiscon- 
sin). On an oak tree south of the lake is the place where 
they alighted. The branch on which they alighted was 
bent down by their weight. Then spoke the third brother, 
“Brother, the first daughter born to me I shall call She- 
who-weighs-the-tree-down.” Then they alighted on the 
earth. Then said the fourth brother, “Brother, the 
first son born to me I shall call He-who-alights-on-the-earth.” 
Then the brothers alighted on the earth. But the thunder- 
birds did not touch the earth. The first thing the brothers 
did on earth was to start fire. 

Then Earthmaker looked down upon them and saw that 
he had not prepared any food, so he created animals that 
they might have something to eat. The oldest brother 
suddenly said, “What are we going to eat?” Thereupon 
the youngest two took a bow and arrow Earthmaker had 
given them and started toward the east. Shortly after, 
the third brother came into sight with a young deer on 
his back and then the youngest appeared with a two years’ 
old deer. The two deer killed and those who had killed 
them, were brothers. 

The men were very much delighted that they had ob- 
tained food. Then they said, “Let us give our grandfather 
the first taste.” So saying they cut off the ends of the 
tongues, cut out the heart and together with some fat, 
threw both into the fire. 

The first people to call on them were the Warrior clan 
people. Then came those from the west, four of them, the 
Pigeon clan people. Then came those of the earth, the 
Deer people, the Snake people, the Elk people, the Bear 
people, the Fish people, the Waterspirit people and all the 
other clans that exist among the Winnebago. 

Finally there appeared on the lake a very white bird, the 
swan. After that all the other birds in the world appeared. 
They were named in the order of their coming until the 
_ lake was quite full. Then the people began to dress the 
deer meat. Suddenly something came and alighted on the 
meat and one of the brothers asked, ‘“What is that?” ‘Then 
said Kunuga the eldest, “It is a wasp and the first black 
dog that I possess, I shall call Wasp.” “Just as the wasp 
_ scented and became aware of the deer meat as it was being 
_ dressed, so shall the dog be toward other animals. When- 
ever an animal is on the windward the dog will scent it,” 
Kunuga continued. 

Then they made a feast for Earthmaker with the deer 

meat, threw tobacco into the fire and gave some to him. 
_ They showed the other clans how to make fire and gave a 
little to each adding, ‘Each of you must now learn how to 
make fire for yourselves for we shall not always lend 
you some.” Here then it was that the first people who lived 
made their homes. They had come at the time of the 
year when the grass grows as far as the knee. 

One day it was reported that a very strange object was 
nearing the camp. The men thought at first that they 
would leave it alone. It came nearer and nearer and as it 
moved toward the camp it began to eat the bones it found 
there. They allowed this animal to become the founder of 
one of their clans and took it to their homes. It was the 
dog. Then they killed one of these dogs and offered it up 
to Earthmaker telling him all they had done. 

In the beginning the Thunderbird clansmen were as pow- 
erful as the Thunderbird spirits themselves. It was they 
who made the ravines and the valleys. While wandering 
about the earth they struck the earth with their clubs and 

2) aie ean 

Crashing Thander a 

thus created dents in the hills. That is why the Thunder- 
bird clansmen are the chiefs. The Dog-clan people are the 
least in importance. 

One day the oldest of the brothers lay down and did not 
rise again. He did not breathe and his body became cold. 
“What is the matter with our oldest brother?” the other 
three said. Four days they waited for him but he did not 
get up. They tried to find out from one another what the 
trouble was but did not succeed. Then they began to 
mourn for him not knowing what to do or think. They 
fasted and blackened their faces as we do now when we are 
mourning. They made a burial platform and placed him 
upon it. When the snow fell and it was knee-deep then, 
filling their pipe, the three brothers walked in the direc- 
tion of the coming of daylight. They came to the first spirit 
Earthmaker had placed in the east, the Island Weight as he 
was called. Weeping they entered his lodge and extended 
the stem of their pipe toward him and spoke, “Grandfather, 
our brother Kunuga has fallen down and ‘is not able to 
rise again. Earthmaker made you great and endowed you 
with all knowledge so that you know all things. Tell us 
what has happened to our brother?” Then he answered, 
“My grandsons, I am indeed sorry but I know nothing about 
this. Since, however, you have started on this quest you 
had better go to the one ahead of me, the north Island 
Weight. Perhaps he can tell you.” 

So weeping they started for the next one. When they 
got there and told him their troubles he told them he could 
not help and referred them to his third brother in the 
west. Thus in turn they were referred to the last of the 
Island Weights, the one in the south. There they found 
all four of the Island Weights assembled and the south one 
answered and spoke, “Grandsons, thus Earthmaker has 

willed it. Your brother will never rise again. He will be 

_ with you no more on this world and so it will be with human 
_ beings as long as the world exists. Whenever a person 

reaches the age of death, he will die. Those that wish to 
live long will have to attain old age through good actions. 
Thus only will they succeed in living long. Into your bodies 
Earthmaker has placed a part of himself and that will re- 
turn to him if you do the proper things. This world will 
- at sometime come to an end. Your brother is to keep a 
village in the west for all the souls of your clan and there 
he is going to be in complete charge. When this world 
_ comes to an end then your brother will take all the souls 

back to Earthmaker—at least all those who have acted 
properly.” Then the Thunderbird clansmen thanked the 
four spirits and left the lodge. 

When they got home they took their brother’s body, 
dressed him in his best clothes and painted his face. Then 
they addressed the dead person and told him where he 
was to go. They buried him with his war club, his head 
toward the west. At the grave they placed the branch of 
a tree and to this branch they tied a small red stick in 
order to prevent anything from crossing his path, in his 
journey to spirit-land. He was told that if any animal 
crossed his path or was found on his path during the jour- 
ney, he was to strike it with his club and throw it behind 
him, so that those of his relatives whom he had left behind 
on earth might derive blessings for the warpath, and at- 
tain long life. He must take his pipe and his food along 
with him. Whatever years he was deprived of when he 
died, all the victories he might have gained had he lived to 
a normal old age, all these he was to bestow upon his rela- 
tives. The wealth he might have gained, in fact anything 
he could possibly have obtained, all this he was asked to 

Crashing Thundn 

give to his relatives. Then they would not feel so unhappy 7 ‘ 
and lonesome. oe 

Now in our clan whenever a child was to be named 
it was my father who did it. That right he now trans- 
mitted to my brother. 

Earthmaker, in the beginning, sent four men from 
above and when they came to this earth everything that 
happened to them was utilized in making proper names. 
This is what our father told us. As they had come 
from above so from that fact has originated a name 
Comes-from-above; and since they came like spirits we 
have a name Sfirit-man. When they came, there was a 
drizzling rain and hence the names Walking-in-mist, 
Comes-in-mist, Drizzling-rain. It is said that when they 
came to Within-lake they alighted upon a small shrub 
and hence the name Bends-the-shrub; and since they 
alighted on an oak tree, the name Oak-tree. Since our 
ancestors came with the thunderbirds we have a name 
Thunderbird and since these are the animals who cause 
thunder, we have the name He-who-thunders. Simi- 
larly we have Walks-with-a-mighty-tread, Shakes- 
the-earth-down-with-his-force, Comes-with-wind-and- 
hail, Flashes-in-every-direction, Only-a-flash-of-light- 
ning, Streak-of-lightning, Walks-in-the-clouds, He-who- 
has-long-wings, Strikes-the-iree. 

Now the thunderbirds come with terrible thunder- 
crashes. Everything on the earth, animals, plants, 
everything, is deluged with rain. Terrible thunder- 
crashes resound everywhere. From all this a name is 
derived and that is my name—Crashing Thunder.

When we were children my father used to tell us 
stories in the evening. Whenever we showed signs of 
restlessness he stopped. Here are some of the stories 
that I remember. 

The Story of Coyote and the Ghost 

Coyote was wandering about alone. He was wandering 
about aimlessly looking for food; he was scenting around 
everywhere for food, for he was very hungry. As he was 
walking from place to place he suddenly became aware 
of the scent of human flesh. “Ah! Ah! If there are any 
human beings in the neighborhood surely they have thrown 
away bits of food and I shall be able to get some.” So 
he started in the direction of the scent and soon he got to 
an old abandoned village and picked up some moccasins, 
but he could find nothing that would satisfy his hunger. He 
wandered to the end of the village thinking, “Perhaps 
here at the end of the village I may find some graves and 
possibly the bodies there will still have some flesh on 
them.” But not even graves could he find. 

In the distance, however, he saw a rack and when he 
ran toward it eager to see what it was, he saw a corpse 
lying on top. A man had died and his body had been 
placed on a burial scaffold. “Oh my! Oh my!” he ex- 
claimed, “if this body were only on the ground then indeed 

[4z] 

I would have my fill.” Badly did he want to eat but there ~ 
was nothing that he could do. So he sat there always look- 
ing upwards at the corpse, hungry. He would at times leave 
it but then return again. This was in the fall of the year 
and as he sat there he thought, “How I wish this corpse 
were on the ground! It would last me till spring.” 

When night came on, Coyote was still there. He pre- 
pared to sleep there. Suddenly the corpse spoke, “Coyote, 
what do I smell like?’? Coyote got frightened but he 
thought to himself, “What shall I say to him?’ “Well, 
what could you possibly smell like, but like small dried 
corn boiled with bear’s ribs.” “Good,” said the ghost, 
“come and get it.” So Coyote sprang forward and there, 
much to his surprise, he found a big dish full of corn boiled 
with bear’s ribs. And Coyote, the covetous fellow, ate 
very much. 

The next morning the ghost again spoke to Coyote, “Co- 
yote, what do I smell like?” “What indeed could you smell 
like, but like jerked meat in bear’s fat.” ‘Good, come and 
get it.” And there again he found a plate full of jerked 
meat and bear’s fat. And Coyote, the covetous fellow, ate 
very much. 

In this way every morning and every evening he obtained 
food. Dried corn boiled with fruit and watermelon, these 
too he ate. Coyote, the covetous fellow, ate very much. 

All winter he lived there with the corpse. Every morning 
and evening the corpse would ask the same question. One 
day Coyote decided to ask for something special, so he 
waited anxiously for the corpse to speak, “Well, Coyote, 
what do I smell like?” “What could you smell like, but 
like a bottle of whisky, of dark red color. “Good, come 
and get it,” said the ghost. So there he went and found a 
square bottle. He pulled the cork out of it, took a drink and 

q 
s 

Re before long he was hopelessly drunk. He finished the bottle 
but he wanted more. Soon it was filled again. In his 
happiness he gave a war whoop and soon emptied it. Then 
he lay down drunk. The next morning he was sober, but 
he was sick of whisky and when the corpse spoke to him he 
asked for some deer-loin soup. This he drank avidly for 
as he became sober he was very thirsty. Four times dur- 
ing the winter he got drunk and four times he always 
sobered up in the same way. 

Spring was now near at hand and he began meditating 
upon what he should ask for. Then as the corpse shouted 
over to him, “Coyote, what do I smell like?” he answered, 
“Well, what could you smell like but like a warpath?” 
“Good, Coyote, you may go on a warpath. One man you 
may go after; one man I bestow upon you.” So Coyote 
started out on the warpath. He came to a village and there 
he dug up a grave and from it he took a scalp. With this 
he returned victoriously to the corpse. Before leaving he 
had sung his farewell song: 

“Oh, you grass widows! Oh, you grass widows! When 
you look at your work, surely you will think of me!” 

When he returned with a man’s scalp he danced the vic- 
tory dance, all by himself. 

Spring had now come, the real spring. The weather was 
beautiful; the green grass was up and the days were 
pleasant. Coyote contemplated himself and he liked his 
appearance. “How splendid I look!” Sleek and fat he 
was. He felt like wandering around and visiting people. 
When, therefore in the morning, the corpse asked, “Coyote, 
what do I smell like?” he answered, “Well, what indeed 
could you smell like, but like a stinking corpse with hollow 
eyes?” “Oh, you greedy, covetous fellow,” exclaimed the 
corpse, “you shall die for this!” Then he chased him but 

Crashing Thang 

always, at the last minute, just as he was about to be 

caught, he managed to escape. Finally Coyote ran intoa 5 

hole and the corpse stationed himself outside and said, 
“Coyote, you have saved yourself for the present, but surely 
you do not deserve to be blessed and I will not rest till I 

have killed you.” Just then the corpse grabbed hold of r 

Coyote’s tail and the end of it broke off. 

Coyote managed to escape eventually and as he ran 
along he sang: 

“Uncles, my uncles! Uncles, my uncles! A corpse has 
bitten off my tail!” 

A bear passed, but he could not help him. Finally, how- 
ever, a deer, the kind we call chiakshigega, came along and 
gave him part of his tail. So Coyote had a tail the end of 
which was white. He liked it very much and as he ran 
along, he looked at it again and again. He was very proud 
of it. 

Now this is the reason the chiakshigega deer have short 
tails and this is the reason why the tip of the Coyote’s tail 
is white. 

The Story of the Man Who Avenged the Death of 
His Wife 

Once an old man lived together with his daughter and 
son-in-law in one lodge. He was too old to trap or hunt 
any longer and so depended entirely upon his son-in-law for 
food. Now this old man possessed the right to give the 
war-bundle feast and one day he told his daughter that she 
was to take her husband and her children and accompany 

him while he hunted for the deer to be used for the feast. _ 
So the husband left with his family and went to a place — 

bis = 
a 

about two days’ distance from their camp. They arrived at 
_ the destined place at evening and the woman pitched the 
tent, while the man went out to gather wood. Since there 
was nothing to eat he told his wife that he would go in 
search of food immediately. He took his bow and arrows 
and left. While he was gone the woman fetched some 
water, filled the kettle and put it on the fire so that it 
would be ready when her husband returned. At dusk he 
returned carrying a deer on his back. This he set down 
outside and the woman skinned it and prepared it in the 
usual manner by cutting it first into small pieces and 
then drying these by the heat of the fire. Then they all 
sat down and ate and, shortly after, went to bed. The 
woman and children were soon fast asleep but the man 
stayed awake planning the hunt for the following day, for 
he wished very much to please his father-in-law. On the 
following morning he told his wife that if, during his ab- 
sence, anything should happen she was under no circum- 
stances to leave the children. Then he took his bow and his 
arrows and went away. 

Now in the olden days it was considered a very brave 
thing for a man to camp at some distance from the main 
settlement and that is why, on this occasion when he was 
leaving, the man said to his wife, “If anything happens 
to you while I am away, remember that I will return im- 
mediately.”” He wished to show how much he loved her. 
He was out all day hunting and he killed a deer, skinned 
it and began carrying it home on his back. When he was 
near the site of his little camp he noticed that the lodge- 
poles were all standing upright and he knew immediately 
what had happened; he knew at once that his wife and 
children had either been killed or captured. He felt ter- 
rible but he laughed when he reached the lodge and found 

his wife gone and the children dead. The bodies of the 
children had been placed in a standing posture against the 
door. Their lips were parted so that they might thus con- — 
vey to their father on his return, the impression of smiling 
at him. This was an old custom and it was done because 
the enemy thought that, in this way, they could cause a 
father the most pain. ‘ 

When the man returned and saw all this, he quietly at- 
tended to the fire, prepared his meal and then addressed 
the children saying to them, “Come, this is the last meal 
that we will take together.” Then he pried open their 
mouths and put a piece of meat in their throats. After 
he had fed them, he himself sat down to eat. When he 
was through he painted his body in two colors, one side 
from head to foot white and the other from head to foot 
black. Then he again spoke to the children, “My dear 
children, I believe I can go on a few warpaths myself and 
I shall endeavor to send your spirits to the spirit land as 
properly as I know how. I shall kill the people who have 
slain you and many more to boot.” 

Then he put some arrows in his quiver and buried his 
children. Starting out he soon found himself in a trail and 
by carefully scrutinizing the footprints he discovered those 
of his wife, and thus knew that she had been taken prisoner. 
Now he transformed himself into a ghost and following the 
trail, found the enemy not far away. He ran ahead of 
them and waited, and as one of the enemy who was carry- 
ing the medicine pouch approached, he gave a whoop and 
killed him, cutting off his head as far as the neck. Then 
he disappeared in the brush, hid the head and ran ahead 
again. So he killed one after another, eight in all. When 
day dawned he returned to the camp with his eight heads 
and eight war clubs. These he first placed around his camp- 

ing site, but then picking them up started for the home of 

his own father. 

_ Thus, with the eight heads, he came to his father’s lodge, 
but he did not enter it until late at night. Then when all 
his people were asleep, he blackened his face and entering 
the lodge, sat down in the place he had occupied before he 
had married. The old man suddenly saw some one sitting 
in his son’s accustomed seat and awakening his wife he 
said to her, “There is some one sitting in our son’s seat 
who looks exactly like our son.’? Both of them then sat up 
and soon they discovered that it really was their son and 

_ that he was in mourning, his face all blackened with char- 

coal. 

Then the old man spoke, “My son, what is the matter?” 
And the son answered, “Father, a war-party came upon 
my camp while I was out hunting, took my wife prisoner, 
and killed my children.” “My son, if you had any respect 
for yourself, why did you not die with your children?” 
“Father, let me explain to you how it happened. While I 
was out hunting they fell upon my lodge, killed my two chil- 
dren and took my wife prisoner. When I came back I felt 
very miserable but I laughed and cooked my own meal, fed 
the children and ate with them for the last time. Then 
I pursued the war party and on that very night I killed 
eight of them, whose heads and war clubs I have brought 
home with me. Near the spring I have hidden them. There 
I placed the heads in a row and there I planted the war 
clubs in the ground, one near each head.” “My son,” said 
the father, “you have done well and the souls of your chil- 
dren will certainly reach the spirit land safely. For us, too, 

‘you have brought some nice heads, so that we might derive 

some amusement from them. I am very thankful to you.” 
In the morning the father sent the crier around the vil- 

lage with the news of what his son had accomplished all 
alone. All the men in the village put on their war paint, — 
took their war clubs and ran to the place where the heads 
had been deposited. There each man struck one and giving _ 
the war whoop, counted coup on the enemy. Then they 

took the heads and brought them to their war lodge. There 

the victory dance was given and there all praised the man > 
who had accomplished this brave deed. 

When the dance was over the man again blackened his 
face and fasted for ten days. His people gave a feast 
when he had finished his fast, and at this feast he told 
them that he was now going on the warpath to rescue his 
wife who had been captured, and that all those who wished 
to come along could do so. “To-morrow at dawn,” he 
said, “we will get ready and go to a certain hill and from 
there start out.” So the next morning they gathered at | 
the appointed place and started out. The man led the 
expedition. They marched all that day and toward eve- 
ning they built their fires and sat around the fireplace 
while the old warriors told war exploits. The next day 
they marched all day again and so on until the third 
day. On the fourth day the man said, “Now here I shall 
attempt to locate the whereabouts of the enemy.” So he 
went away and on that very night he succeeded in approach- 
ing the enemy’s village. He found them all asleep. Then © 
he went to his wife and said, “I have come to get you. The 
spirit who is in charge of this war-party has given this 
whole village to me and to-morrow we shall kill them all. 
Your brothers are outside with me and to-morrow, when 
we rush upon these people, you must run toward your 
brothers and tell them that you want to be a prisoner. I - 
shall tell my friends to be on the lookout for you and not 
kill you. Now remember, do as I tell you, for if you don’t, 

ay 

Cle 

they will kill you!” “TI shall try,” said the woman. Then 

_ the man returned to his followers and told them that every- 

E. thing was well and cautioned them about the woman, tell- 

ing the brothers also to see that she was not killed. 
When day dawned they fell upon the village and sur- 
prised it. They fought nearly half a day and killed prac- 
tically every one except the head chiefs and their sons, 
whom they took prisoners. They then returned home. 

_ When they reached the village they took both the prisoners 

and the captured scalps to their war lodge where they were 
guarded. The next morning they tied the prisoners to 
posts, danced around them and tortured them till they 
died. 

Now such is the story of a man who was faithful to the 
spirit from whom he had received war blessings. He gave 
feasts and he made offerings in their honor. He fasted and 
his prayers were answered. 

The Story of the Man Who Rescued His Wife from 
Spirit-land 

Tn a certain village there once lived two’ young married 
people. The woman was very beautiful and her husband 
loved her very much. Always he was thinking of some- 
thing that he could do for her. 

One day the young woman got ill. They called for a 
shaman but he could do nothing for her. Many were the 
holy men the young husband called, but it was all of no 
avail and the young woman died. They buried her. On the 
evening of the funeral many friends came to the grave 
to place lights there, so that the soul of the departed might 
find its way through spirit land. The young man was very 
good and every one liked him. They all came to the Four 

Nights’ Wake and they all played the mourning games 
with him. Then on the morning after the fourth night they 
all went home and the young man was left alone. 
Immediately he made preparations to journey toward 
the west, for it is said that the soul of the deceased goes — 
in that direction. In the direction of the west did he there- 
fore chase the soul of his wife. As he trudged along the 
~ road he became worn out with exertion and fatigue and 
finally found it necessary to support himself on a cane. 
Even for that, however, his strength was not adequate and 
after a while all he could do was to barely creep along. 
~Soon his knees were worn out from the incessant crawling 
and he tied some basswood bark around them. Thus he 
continued until all his strength deserted him. He was just | 
strong enough to crawl to a pleasant-looking knoll. “This,” — 
he said, “is pleasant and nice and here I am willing to die. ee 
He rolled over until he finally reached the coveted spot and 
there lay awaiting death with his eyes closed. ieee 
Suddenly, much to his surprise, he heard some one talk 
ing to him, saying, “Come let us go home. I live here.” 
The young man opened his eyes and looked about him and — 
there before him he saw a fearful-looking person whose 
body was entirely covered with hair. The young man was 
unable to get up but the stranger spoke to him and said, 
“Come on!” At this the young man jumped up and fol- 
lowed him around the lodge. There the old man said to 
him, “Grandson, you are indeed in a most pitiable condi- 
tion and I wish I could help you. But I do not know how. 
The little knowledge I possess I will tell you.” Then he . 
gave him something to eat and spoke to him again, “My 
son, you must keep straight on and at some distance from 
here you will come to a body of water over which you must ~ 
jump. Then you must proceed straight on.” 

ea ere. Fe 

Then the young man arose and continued on his jour- 
ney. Soon he came to a large body of water that had a 
very swift current, the water whirling around at a terrific 
speed. He was afraid to jump across because the land on 
the other side seemed so small. It looked like the merest 
speck of green, so small that it had the appearance of a 
man’s eyebrows. Indeed it seemed impossible to jump 
across but he remembered what the old man had told him 
and he decided to attempt it. ‘After all,” he thought, 
“what if anything does happen,” and so he closed his eyes 
and jumped. He landed on the other side and then looked 
back to see the water. But he could not find it. It was 
only after looking very carefully that he noticed a very 
‘small creek. What he had seen before as a large body of 
water whirling along at a terrific speed, appeared now as a 

very small creek. Then he thought to himself: “Perhaps © 

everything that looks difficult to me will in reality be easy,” 
and from this he took courage. Now he felt that he 
would be able to accomplish what he was seeking. 

_ As he walked along he came to a lodge and in it he FN 
found the old man of the previous day with another per- 
son just like him. They gave him something to eat and 

said to him, “Grandson, we will concentrate our attention 
on the object you have in mind. It is very difficult but 
“since your resolve is so strong you will undoubtedly ac- 
complish it. So go right on and in the next place you will 
find a friend of ours who will help you. We too shall 
assist you.’ Thus they spoke to him, 

Then the young man started out again and after a time ~ 

came to another lodge where he found three old men, two of 
whom he had seen before, and another. The third one 
gave him something to eat and spoke to him saying, 
“Grandson, we are going to help you. You are doing very 

ipcxaa\"\ 

C rashing The ) 

well. Now do all that we have told you for otherwise you 
will fail in your quest.” 

Then the young man started out again and after a 
while came to a knoll where he found a large gathering. © 
Indeed the place was evidently a large village and there 

seemed to be no end to it. But strangely enough no people — : ‘ 

were to be seen; not a person was there anywhere. There 
were many bark lodges and he peeped into them but they 
were all empty. Finally he entered one and there he found 
four old men, three of whom he had met before and a 
fourth one. The fourth one spoke to him, “Grandson, you 
have come to the place you hava been seeking. Your 
wife, however, you will not be able to see. Now do what 
I tell you if you ever wish to see her. To-night there is 
going to be a big dance which you will attend. Now re- 
member, never turn around. We will take care of you.” 

In the evening he heard a drum beaten followed by some 
noise, then a shout here and there. Again he heard the 
drum beaten and ever greater was the noise. The four 
men arose and said, “Come, it is about time to start, for 
otherwise the lodge will be too crowded when we arrive.” 

They proceeded to the center of the village where they 
found a long lodge which they entered. The young man 
they placed in the middle. As he sat there he heard some 
whispering, ‘‘Wakisha has come; he has followed his wife 
as far as this; he is here. Yet his is a fruitless task, for 
never will he attain his quest.” Then the voice began to 
annoy him and tease him. “Why his wife is married. In- 
deed I am the one she has married.” 

Soon after, the singing started. It was wonderful. All 
his relatives came and sang their songs. They were sing- 
ing about him. They were saying, “Wakisga has come for 
his wife; Wakisga has come for his wife!” Thus they 

teased him. All night they did this but when the sun rose 
_ they all disappeared. His wife did not know anything 
- about it. He returned with the four men to their lodge and 

_ there he was congratulated profusely. “You have done well 
grandson, you have done well, but to-morrow the test will 
be more difficult. Try your best.” 

The next evening he heard the drum beat again and after 
the fourth time, he entered the lodge with the four men. 

_ That whole night he was teased and annoyed. The ghosts 

did everything in their power to make him talk. All sang 
and the young man thought it was wonderful, more won- 
derful and exciting than on the previous night. Finally 
the ghosts began putting their hands on his head, pulling 
him down and doing all sorts of things to him. He en- 
dured it as best he could and finally the day dawned and 
they all disappeared. He returned with the four men and 
they cautioned him against the next night. 

The third evening had now come. The drum was beaten 
and the ghosts responded by cheering. At first it was not 
loud but then it became louder and louder. They entered 
the lodge. Immediately the ghosts began to tease him and 
even the six attendants that had been placed at his disposal 
to help him by the four old men, could do nothing. The 
singing began again. The young man sat there covered 
with the blanket and it was hard for him to resist the 
temptation of turning around. The force of the drumming 
was simply terrific; it shook the earth with its vibrations. 
The ghosts tugged at the blanket of the young man, tried 
to pull him down and fell all about him. At last morning 
dawned and as the sun rose, they all disappeared. He went 
home and the old men said to him, “You have done very 
well. To-morrow will be the last night. It is going to be 
very hard. There will be eight of us to help you. But 

even then we will be of no avail unless you too do your 
best.” 

Toward evening the drum was beaten again and soon 
the young man walked to the dancing lodge accompanied by 
the old men. The village had grow rapidly overnight. 
There were far more ghosts there than on the previous 
night for they increased just as the number of deaths on 
earth increased. The dancing-lodge was already crowded 
when they got there and they were literally almost trodden 
upon by the ghosts as they entered. As soon as the young 
man entered, he heard the voice of his wife saying to him, 
“Well, if you are going to be indifferent to me there was 
no need of your coming.” He almost turned in her direc- 
tion as he heard this. Then they began to sing. It was 
glorious. The earth shook from the vibration of their 
singing. He was pulled down. His wife was most active 
in this and always he heard her voice. Wrapped in his 
blanket he sat there. It was jerked off of him again and 
again, in spite of all that the eight attendants could do. 
Finally toward morning he grew tired and weakened. The 
ghosts grabbed him by the ankles and pulled him along 
the floor. It seemed almost impossible to endure. At last 
the sun came up and every one disappeared. 

“Come let us go now.” It was the voice of one of the 
old men. “Grandson, you have conquered. From now on, 
however, this shall never happen again, for Earthmaker has 
not ordained it so. It is only because I and my friends 
blessed you that you have been successful. Go now and 
bring his wife,” they said to one of the attendants. She 
was brought to the young man and the old people spoke 
to them, “I have blessed you both. Go to your homes now.” 
Then he gave them a drum painted with blue clay. “If 
any one dies, this drum will bring his soul to you and if a 

soul is about to leave the earth, during illness, this drum 
will bring it back to you. If you pour tobacco for me 
and my friends, we will always remember you. Now go 
home. The ghosts will chase you, for they are wicked. 
Eight attendants will take you home.” ‘Then he gave them 
some ashes and told them to throw them behind them if 
necessary. 

On their way home they were chased by the ghosts. 
“Alas, Alas! He has taken our wife away. Let us rescue 
her!” they shouted. Close they came to the two people 
but then the young man took the ashes and threw them 
behind him and the ghosts called to one another saying, 
“Run away, the ashes will ruin our clothes.” They re- 
treated. Again and again this happened but finally the two 
young people were able to reach the earth. 

Coyote Goes on the Warpath 

“Come, let us go on the warpath and take Coyote along. 
He is always up to something foolish, always exaggerating 
everything he does. Let some one go for him.” Then some- 
one went to get him saying, “Coyote, we are going on the 
warpath. Why don’t you come along too?” “Good. Of 
course Ill go along,” and he accompanied the man back to 
the others. Then each one in turn sang his death song and 
when it was Coyote’s turn he too sang:— 

“Wiyayoho! Wiyayoho! 

The little coyote, if he dies, if he dies, 
Who will weep for him? 

Wiyayoho! Wiyayoho! 

The little coyote, if he dies, if he dies, 
Who will weep for him?”

My father used to keep up the old habit of teaching 
us the customs of the Winnebago. He would wake 
us up early in the morning and, seated around the fire- 
place, speak to us. The girls would be taught sepa- 
rately. Now this is what my father told me: 

I 

My son, when you grow up, see to it that you are of 
some benefit to your fellowmen. There is only one way in 
which you can aid them and that is by fasting. Our 
grandfather, the Fire, he. who stands at all times in the 
center of our dwelling, sends forth all kinds of blessings. 
Be sure that you make an attempt to obtain his. 

My son, do you remember to have our grandfathers, the 
war chiefs,* bless you. See to it that they have compassion 
upon you. Then some day as you travel along the road of 
life, you will know what to do and encounter no obstacles. 
Without any effort will you then be able to gain the prize 
you desire. The honor will be yours to glory in, yours 
without exertion. All the disposable war-blessings belong 
to our grandfathers, the war-controllers, and if reverently 
you fast and thirst yourself to death, then these will be 
bestowed upon you. Yet if you do not wear out your feet 
in frequent journeyings to and fro, if you do not blacken 
your face with charcoal, it will be all for naught that you 

14 Symbolical name for all those spirits who were supposed to be 
in control of war powers. 

oF 

inflict this suffering upon yourself. Not without constant 

effort are these blessings procurable. Try to have one of 
the spirits created by Earthmaker take pity on you. What- 
ever he says will come about. If you do not possess one 
of the spirits from whom to obtain strength and power, 
you will be of no consequence socially and those around 
you will show you little respect. Indeed they will jeer at 
you. | 

My son, it is not good to die in the village; in your 
homes. Above all, do not let women journey to the spirit 
land ahead of you. It is not done. To prevent this from 
happening do we speak to our sons and encourage them to 
fast. Some day in life you will find yourself traveling along 
a road filled with obstacles and then you will wish you had 
fasted. When such an event confronts you, that you may 
not find it necessary to reproach yourself, I counsel you 
to fast. If you have not obtained any knowledge from the 
spirits, why it may happen that some day, in later life, 
warriors will be returning from the warpath and as they 
distribute the war prizes to their sisters,‘° your own sisters 
will stand there empty-handed envying the rest. But. if 
you obtain blessings from the war-controllers, your sisters 
will be happy. How proud they will be to receive the 
prizes, to wear them, and to dance the victory dance! Your 
sisters too will be strengthened thereby and you will be 
content and happy. 

Now all this it would be well for you to obtain. Try to 

15 Among the Winnebago a man’s sisters, especially his elder sis- 
ters, were very highly respected and all war prizes, such as wam- 
pum-belts, wampum necklaces, etc., were always given to them 
whenever a man returned from a successful war-party in which he 
had secured some honor. These war honors were of various kinds. 
The greatest was considered to be the feat of having struck the body 
of a dead enemy first. 

be a leader of men. ‘To become one, however, is very 
difficult, the old people used to say. It may happen that 
you merely pretend to be a leader of men, that you are but 
a mere warrior in the ranks and yet take it upon yourself to 
lead a war-party and thus cause a needless waste of life, 
that you do what is called “throwing away a life.” That 
is the most shameful of all acts. The relatives of the person 
whom you have thus sacrificed would then have the right 
to make you suffer, to torture you with burning embers. 
And then your relatives would have to stand by, sad and 
humiliated. Not with the blessing of one, not with the 
blessings of twenty spirits, can you go on the warpath. 
For that the blessings of all the spirits are necessary—those 
on this earth, those under it and those who lie pinned 
through it, the Island Weights; those in the waters and 
those on the side of the earth, the winds, all four of them. 
You need the blessings of the spirit who dispenses life from 
one side of his body and death from the other, the bless- 
ings of the Sun, the Moon, the Daylight, and the Earth. 
All these Earthmaker has made controllers of war and by 
all these must you be blessed in order to lead a war-party. 

My son, if you cast off your dress for many people, that 
is, if you give to the needy, your people will be benefited 
by your deeds. It is good thus to be honored by many 
people. And even more will they honor you if you return 
victorious from the warpath with one of the four limbs, that 
is, one of the four war honors. But if you obtain two, or 
three, or perhaps even four limbs, then all the greater will 
be the honor. Then whenever a war feast is given you will 
receive part of the deer that is boiled, either part of its 
body or part of the head.* When on some other occasion, 

16 The meat of a deer at such a feast is given only to great war- 
riors. The head is regarded as the choicest. piece. 

y such as the Four Nights’ Wake, you are called upon to 
3 recount your war exploits in behalf of the departed souls, 
be careful, however, not to claim more than you actually 
accomplished. If you do, you will cause the soul of the 
man in whose behalf you are telling it, to stumble?” in his 
journey to spirit land. If you tell a falsehood then and 
exaggerate, you will die before your time, for the spirits, 
the war-controllers, will hear you. It is indeed a sacred 
duty to tell the truth on such an occasion. Tell less than 
you did. The old men say it is wiser. 

My son, it is good to die on the warpath. If you die on 
the warpath, you will not lose consciousness at death. You 
will be able to do what you please with your soul and it will 
always remain in a happy condition. If afterwards you 
wish to become reincarnated as human being, you may 
do so, or you may take the form of those-who-walk-upon- 
the-light, the birds, or the form of any animal you please, 
in short. All these benefits will you obtain if you die on 
the warpath. 

II 

My son, if you cannot obtain war-blessings, fast at least 
for position in life. If you fast then, when you get married 
you will get along well. You will then not have to worry 
about your having children and your life will be a happy 
one. If you fast and have the spirits bless you with all that 
concerns the happiness of your home, then throughout life 

17 According to Winnebago belief the soul of a deceased individual 
in his journey to spirit land must cross a very slippery, swinging 
bridge and it is thought that if, during the wake following the man’s 
burial, any of the invited warriors exaggerate their achievements the 

unfortunate soul will not be able to cross this bridge and will stum- 
ble and fall into the abyss of fire over which it is thrown. 

you will never be in need of anything. Fast for the food 
you are to receive. If you fast frequently enough for these 
things then some day when your children ask for food they — 
will be able to obtain a piece of deer meat without diffi- 
- culty; they may indeed be able to obtain a piece of moose 
meat. It lies within your power to prevent your children — 
from ever going hungry. 

Now again, my son, let me enjoin you. Do not abuse 
your wife. Women are sacred. If you make your wife 
suffer, then you will die in a short time. Our grandmother 
Earth is a woman, and in abusing your wife you are abusing _ 
her. Most certainly will you be abusing your grandmother 
if you act thus. Since after all it is she who is taking care 
of us, by your action you will be practically killing your- 
self. 2 

When you have your home, see to it that whoever enters | 
your lodge obtain something to eat, no matter how little 
you yourself may have. Such food will be a source of 4 
death to you if withheld. If you are stingy about giving ; 
food, some one might kill you in consequence; some one 
may poison you. If you ever hear of a stranger passing 
through your country and you want to see him, prepare 
food for him and have him brought to you. In this manner 
you will be doing good and it is always good to do good, 
it is said. 

If you see a helpless old person, help him if you have 
anything at all. If you happen to possess a home take him 
there, and feed him, for he may suddenly make uncompli- 
mentary remarks about you.** You will be strengthened 
thereby. Or perhaps when he comes, he may bring with 
him under his arms a medicine bundle, something he cher- 

18 It is considered exceedingly bad form for a guest to admire any- 
thing in the house he is visiting. 

; a ~ 
— fi a 
eae = 

a5 
oe 
oo! 

- ishes very much and which he will offer you. If it is a 

= bulb-medicine keep it to protect your house. Your home 
_ will never then be molested by anything evil and nothing 
q evil will enter your house, neither bad spirits, ghosts, dis- 

5 ease, nor unhappiness. Now such will be your life if you 
; do as I tell you. Witches will keep away from you. Thus 
by fasting will you benefit yourself and your fellowmen. 

You know that Earthmaker created all the spirits, those 
that live above the earth, those who live on the earth, those 
who live under the earth, those who live in the water—all 
these he created and placed in control of powers. Even 

_. the minor spirits Earthmaker placed in control of some- 
thing. In this fashion he created them and after that, he 
created us and because we were created last and no further 
powers were left, he could not put us in control of anything. 
Then, however, did Earthmaker create a weed and this he 
placed us in control of. He further told us that none of 
the spirits he had created would have the power to take 
this weed away from us without giving us something in 
exchange. He told us that if we offered him a pipeful of 
this weed, which we call tobacco, he too would grant us 
whatever we asked for. Now it so happened that all the 
spirits came to long for this weed as intensely as they 
longed for anything in creation and for that reason if, at 
any time, with tobacco in our hands we make our prayer 
to the spirits, they will take pity upon us and bestow upon 
us the blessings which Earthmaker gave them. Indeed so 
it is, for Earthmaker created it thus. 

Fast, my son. If you are blessed by the spirits and then 
blow your breath upon people who are ill, they will become 
well. Thus will you help your fellowmen. If you can cure 
any of your fellowmen of disease, then you will be of even 
more than ordinary help to them. If you can draw dis- 

Crashing Thanh 

ease from out the body, people will greatly respect you. 
If then you happen to be without work, all that you need 
for your support they will give you. For as long a time as 
you live they will do this for you. After your death people 
will speak about your deeds for all time. During your life- 
time they will say, “Yes, he really has power.” 

If you are not able to fast, do at least try to obtain some 
power from those individuals who know the virtues and 
powers of certain plants. It is sad enough, of course, if 
you will have to admit to yourself that you could not obtain 
blessings during fasting; but if you could not, at least try 
to have those who possess the plants I have mentioned, take 
pity on you. If they take pity on you, they will present 
you with one of the good plants that give life to man. 
Now it will not suffice for you to possess merely one plant. 
You should try to obtain all those plants that grow among 
the hairy covering of our grandmother, the Earth—all those 
that give us life—until you have a complete medicine 
bundle. Then will you truly have reason to feel encouraged. 

Some of the medicine men, the shamans, were blessed 
by the waterspirits.1® If you wish to obtain really powerful 
blessings and gain the power of curing many people, you 
will have to fast a long time and sincerely. If four, or 
say ten, of the truly powerful spirits bless you, then some 
day when you have children and anything happens to one 
of them, you will not have to look around for a medicine 
man, but all you will have to do will be to look into your 
own medicine bundle. Search there and you will undoubt- 

19 Waterspirits are mythical animals generally described as having 
the shape of a lynx or wild-cat and provided with long tails that 
completely encircle their bodies. Their gifts to man are ambivalent 
and it depends upon the man whether he cares to make good or 

bad medicines from their bodies. Their so-called “bones” generally 
consist of semi- or completely fossilized objects. 

a 

Se 

aia 

i ol 

__ edly be able to find the medicines necessary for curing your 
children. Indeed after a while you will be called upon to 
cure your fellow men. Then you can open your medicine 
bundle without embarrassment, for you will have the knowl- 
edge necessary for treating the sick. You will know where 
the disease is lodged and your treatment will be successful, 
for it was only after the greatest efforts on your part that 
you succeeded in obtaining the requisite blessings. If you 
declare to the patient that he will live, then he will live. 
If you make proper offerings to the medicine and speak to 
your medicine in the proper manner, it will exert all the 
power it possesses to cure the patient. Now you must make 
good offerings to these medicines; you must give many 
feasts in their honor and then if, in addition, you address 
them as if they were human beings, they assuredly will 
help you and do what you ask. You may accordingly 
accept the payments offered to you by your patients in good 
conscience and your children will wear these payments in 
the form of wampum necklaces and thus gain renewed 
strength. They will be well and happy. ‘These are the 
reasons why I want you to be extremely careful in your 
attitude. Medicines are good for all purposes; that is why 
they were given to us. Earthmaker gave them to us so that 
we could cure ourselves from disease. 

If any one tries to obtain these staffs of life, these medi- 
cines and inflicts sufferings upon himself in acquiring them, 
then assuredly will our grandmother Earth have cogni- 
zance of it. She knows all that you have lost in ob- 
taining them and in the long run what you have lost, will 
be returned to you. You made your offerings for the 
future and it is good for people to look forward to their 
future. 

Say, you wish to obtain the paint medicine. For that you 

would have to put yourself in the most abject condition — 
before the spirits. If you smear yourself with your paint 
medicine it will irresistibly attract the enemy; it will 
paralyze him, deprive him of all power of movement and 
utterly overpower him. Keep it in your home and then 
you will never be in want of riches. People will give you 
their most valued possessions owing to the influence of this 
paint medicine. The paint medicine is made from the 
blood of the waterspirits and that is why it is so holy. 
People obtain it by fasting and thirsting themselves to 
death and then receiving a blessing from the waterspirit. 
Earthmaker placed the waterspirits in possession of these 
powers so that they could then, in turn, bestow them 
on us. 

Some people succeeded in obtaining a medicine that will 
enable a person to outdistance another in running. It might 
perhaps be well for you to learn something about this. 
There are medicines to be used in courting; medicines to 
prevent married people from separating; medicines for get- 
ting rich; medicines for causing people to become crazy. 
Should you, for instance, wish to make a person feel very 
sad at heart, then you can poison him with this last-named 
medicine and even make him crazy. It is also possible to 
make a woman who has refused you become a harlot, for 
this medicine will make her fall in love with every man 
she sees. Indeed any kind of medicine you desire can you 
obtain from certain individuals. Some are acquainted with 
medicines that put one to sleep, others with those that keep 
one awake and give one insomnia. Some have medicines 
enabling one to overcome the viciousness of dogs who are 
put to watch over women; others again have medicines 
that make people single out the possessor in a crowd. 
Every one will look at him and consider him a great man. 

(y+ eed Aa, 

_ There are medicines to prevent people from getting tired 
_ when walking and medicines to cause a dog fight to take 
place. In short there are medicines for everything. 

Every one must take care of himself and try to obtain 
that knowledge which will enable him to live in comfort and 
happiness. Try therefore to learn about the things you will 
need. If you know them, then as you travel along in life, 
you will not have to go to the expense of buying them from 
others, but you will have your own medicines. If you act 
in this way and if, in addition, you fast properly, you will 
never be caught off guard in life. Should you possess a 
‘ home, it will look beautiful and you will never be in want. 
That is why I know you will never regret this that I am 
telling you. So you shall travel on your journey though 
life, along the virtuous road taken by all your fellowmen, 
and your actions and behavior will never become the butt 
of your neighbor’s sarcasm. 

Help yourself as you travel along the road of life. The 
earth has many narrow passages scattered over it. If 
you have something with which to strengthen yourself, then 
when you get to these narrow turns you will be able to pass 
through them safely and your fellow men will respect you. 
See to it that people like you. Be on friendly terms with 
every one and then every one will like you. You will be 
happy and prosperous. 

Never do any wrong to your children. Whatever your 
children ask of you, do it for them. If you act thus people 
will then say that you are good natured. 

If any one in the village loses a friend through death, 
should you at all be wealthy, cover the expenses of the 
funeral of the deceased, if you can. Help the mourners like- 
wise in defraying the expenses of feeding the departed. If 
you act thus, you will do well. All the people you have 

helped will then really know what kind of a man you are. 
For the good you do people will love you. 

It is not good to win at gambling. You may possibly 
become rich thereby but that is no life to lead. If you 
are blessed with luck in cards, if you are blessed with 
luck at gambling, you will perhaps win things and have 
plenty of wealth, but none of your children will live. 

Now if you do all that I have told you, you will lead a 
happy and prosperous life. That is why we Winnebago 
preach to a child we love so that it should never become 
acquainted with the things that are not right, and never do 
anything wrong. Then if, in later life, a person does any- 
thing wrong, he will do it with a clear knowledge of the 
consequences of his actions. 

III 

My son, when you get married, do not make an idol of 
the woman you marry; do not worship her. If you worship 
a woman she will insist upon greater and greater worship as 
time goes on. This is what the old people used to say. 
They always preached against those men who hearken too 
strongly to the words of women; who are the slaves of 
women. Now it may happen that a man has received many 
warnings as to his behavior in this regard and that he pays 
no attention to them. It may go so far that when he is 
asked to attend a war-bundle feast ° he will refuse to go; 
it may be that when he is married he will listen to the voice 

20 The war-bundle feast was the great war ceremony of the Winne- 
bago. It was given by all those individuals who possessed a war- 
bundle and since theoretically there was only one war-bundle in each 
clan, the basis of the organization of the ceremony was the clan. 

The ceremony consisted largely of prayers, songs and speeches in 
honor of the spirits more definitely associated with war. For each 

SOR eta ee 

ee) ae ee 

_ of his wife and refuse to go on a warpath. He might as 
well have been brought up as a girl. Men who are real 
men perform the deeds of men, but such a man will never 
perform a real man’s deed. If he should actually attend 
a war-bundle feast he will be given the leanest piece of 
meat, only given to a man of no account. Why should any 
one run the risk of being thus jeered at? Now when a 
really brave man attends a war-bundle feast he is given a 
deer’s head. This other man gets a lean piece! It will dry 
up in his throat, so humiliated and disgraced will he feel. 
After a while he will not be allowed to go to any feast; his 
wife will not let him. He will listen to the voice of his 
_ wife. His relatives will scold him, his sisters will think 
nothing of him. They will tell people never to go to visit 
him. Finally when he has become a real slave of his wife 
he will even hit his relatives if she asks him to. It is for 
these reasons that I warn you not to listen to women. 
You will be considered different from others. It is not 
good. 

Remember this too, that women cannot be watched. If 
you try to watch them and are jealous about them, then 
your female relatives will also be jealous of them. Finally 
when your jealousy has developed to the highest pitch, 
your wife will leave you and run away with some one else. 
You have allowed her to see by your actions that you wor- 
ship a woman, and one alone, and, in addition, you have 
been watching her all the time. Because of this incessant 
annoyance she will run away from you. If you think that 
of these spirits, a buckskin decorated with the symbol sacred to 
the spirit, was prepared and then at the most dramatic moment of 
the ceremony these buckskins were thrown out of the ceremonial 

lodge and it was believed that the spirits came down in person to 
fetch them. The war-bundle feast was specifically a man’s cere- 

mony. 

+s ee 

your wife is the only one to love, you have humbled yourself 
and she will be taken from you. You have likewise made 
the woman suffer; you have made her unhappy. The whole 
world will hear about it. No other woman will want to 
matry you and you will have the reputation of being a 
bad man. 

Now you may act in the following way: You see people 

starting on a warpath and you join them knowing that it 
is an honor to die on the warpath. But you will join them 
because you feel unhappy at your wife’s flight. Now this 
_ is not the proper way to act. You are throwing away your 
life; you are causing the leader of the war-party to throw 
away a life. If you want to go on the warpath, do not go 
because your wife has been taken away from you, go 
because you feel courageous enough to do so. 

It is on the warpath that a man has fun! Do not go, 
however, unless you have fasted adequately. You must 
fast for each specific warpath. If you do not and yet 
join a war-party, then in the midst of the fight, a bullet 
will come your way and kill you. That will happen because 
you did not fast. If you have performed any deeds of 
valor, recount them to your sisters and to your sister’s 
children. Those in charge of war-bundles are good to 
listen to in such matters. Those to whom such people give 
advice will eat an excellent dish; they will have the 
honor of sitting near a great warrior in the middle of the 
lodge. 

These are the things of which the old people spoke and 
this also is the advice I give you. I myself never asked 
for these things, but my father did. Your grandfather 

i 
oS 

~~ Sa 

did. He asked for the information relating to the manner — 

in which people are to behave. Never, when you are older, 
should you allow yourself to get in the predicament of not 

knowing what is the right thing to do. Ask for this instruc- 
tion, my son. It is not a matter requiring a few moments; 
it is something that must be thoroughly learned. You, too, 
must learn it. : 

To a girl the following was told: 

My daughter, as you travel along the path of life, listen 
to your parents. Do not let your mother work. Attend 
to the wants of your father. All the work in the house 
belongs to you. Do not shirk it. Chop wood, pack it; look 
after the gardens; gather the vegetables and cook them. 
When you come back to the village in the spring, plant your 
fields immediately. Never get lazy, for Earthmaker created 
you to do these things. 

My daughter, when you get your menses, do not ask 
those in the house to give you any food. Fast and do not 
eat until you get back to the family lodge. If you act 
thus, you will be fasting for your seat, for your position in 
life. You can only keep this seat by fasting. Then when 
you marry, even if your husband has been a good-for- 
nothing before, he will become a good hunter. You will 
have accomplished this for him. You will not fail in any- 
thing and you will be happy and contented. If, on the 
contrary, you do not do as I tell you, then when you marry, 
you will weaken your husband. After a while he will 
become sickly and it will be your fault. 

It is not good to use medicine. If you marry a man and 
place medicine upon his head, you will weaken him and he 
will not amount to anything. It may happen that you do 
not want your husband to leave you and that after reflect- 
ing on the matter, you place some medicine on his head, to 
prevent him from leaving you. This is not good. You 

will be ruining a man. It is equivalent to killing him. Do 

not do it. It is forbidden. If you marry a man and want 
to live with him permanently, work for him in order to 
hold him. When you marry a man, listen to what he says. 
If you do your work properly and the man likes you, he 
will never leave you. By working for him must you make 
your husband love you. Now remember it is not good to 
use medicines on him. At least before you are fairly mature 
in years do not use any, for you will thereby merely 
weaken yourself and your life will be of no consequence. 
Indeed you may cause the medicine to work on yourself 
and then become demented in consequence. 

Marry only one man at a time. Be good and virtuous 
in your married life. If you do not listen to what I am 
telling you, you will become bad and men will make fun of 
you. They will do whatever they wish with you; joke 
with you familiarly on any subject. If you do not listen 
to me you will injure yourself. Thus did the old people 
speak to one another and thus did they hand down these 
precepts from one generation to another, warning young 
girls against committing wrong actions. ‘They also said 
that when a girl is growing up, one should admonish her 
and that is why I am now speaking to you. 

As you grow older, when you get to be a young woman, 
the men will begin to court you. Never hit a man. It is 
forbidden. If you dislike a man very much tell him to go 
away gently. If instead, you hit him, remember that fre- 
quently young men possess certain injurious ‘medicines 
which they may use against you. Even if a particular 
person does not possess them, he knows where to get them. 
Then this man whom you have humiliated, will use it and 
transform you from a chaste and nice woman to a loose 
one, to a harlot. That is why the old people used to warn 

i 
f 
q 

i= the young girls not to maltreat a man. Hope with all 

your heart that you do not fall into such a predicament. 
I really mean what I say. 
_ Do aot be haughty with your husband. Do whatever he 
says. Kindness will be returned to you and he will treat 
you in the same way as you treat him. 

Tf you have a child and it is naughty, do not strike it. 
In olden times when a child was naughty, the parents did 
not strike it, but instead made the child fast. Then when 
he is quite hungry he will reflect upon his disobedience. 
If you hit the child you will merely be putting more naughti- 
ness in him. It has also been said that mothers should 
not lecture their children, that they merely make them 
bad by admonishing them. If your husband scolds them, 
do not take their part for then they will become bad indeed. 
If a stranger makes your children cry, do not speak to the 
stranger in your children’s presence and take their part, 
If you wish to take the children’s part, prevent such a 
thing from happening and keep your children home, and 
there at home, take good care of them and think of the 
best means of letting your children get to know you. 
When you are bringing up children, do not imagine you 
are taking their part if you just speak about loving them. 
Let them see it for themselves. Let them see what love is 
by observing you give things away to the poor. Then 
they will see your good deeds and then they will know 
whether you have been speaking the truth or not. 

Do not show your love for other children so that other 
people notice it. Love them but let your love for them 
be different from your love for your own. ‘The children 
of other people are different from your own and if they 
were to be taken to some other place they would become 
estranged from you; they would no longer belong to you. 

You can, however, always depend upon the love of your own : 
children because they are of your own body. Love them — Be 
therefore. 

If you do not have any real interest in your husband’s a 
welfare and affairs, then you will be to him like any other a: 
woman. People will ridicule you. On the other hand, if 
you pay more attention to your husband than to your 
parents, if you listen to him more than to them, that will be 
equivalent to deserting them. Let your husband keep your 
parents and take good care of them for they depend upon 
him. Your parents saw to it that you married him and 
they expect you to make some return for this as well as for 
the fact that they raised you. 

Do not hurt the feelings of your relatives, the old people 
used to say. If you hurt their feelings you will make your 
brothers-in-law feel ashamed of themselves on account of 
the evil things you say about them. 

Never desire to have any other man than your husband 
when you are married. Have only one husband. Do not 
give any one the right to call you a prostitute. 

The old people said, “Never hit your relatives.” You 
may be on bad terms with one of them, for instance, and 
he may die. Then people will say that you used to quarrel 
with the deceased when he was alive. They may even 
claim that you are overjoyed at his death, that you want to 
dance with joy. Then indeed will your heart be sore and 
you will think to yourself how best you can make amends. 
Even should you have a performance of the Medicine 
Dance given in his honor, if you wish to bury him with 
honor, even then people will say, “What does all this mean? 
She used to be partial and jealous when he was alive. 
Now that he is dead she loves him! She should not do 
such things. She is merely wasting her wealth. She need 

eas 

PT a a a a 

___ not have spent so much.” Thus will people speak of you. 
Then indeed will your heart ache to its very depths. Per- 
haps you will even get angry when people say these things 
to you. It is to prevent this from happening that the old 
people used to say, “Love one another.” If you have 
always loved a person then when he dies you will have the 
right to feel sorry. All your relatives will love you; indeed 
every one will love you. If you behave like a true woman 
you will be beloved by all and then if you meet with some 
crisis in life, all will turn their hearts to you in your trouble. 

It will be good for you if you conduct yourself in the 
way I have just told you. That is what I wish you to 
do. In your own home you have doubtless been instructed 
in all the domestic work, your part in hunting, and in the 
work around the camp. If you learn about all these mat- 
ters then some day when you visit your husband’s relatives 
you will not find yourself in an embarrassing position from 
which you cannot extricate yourself. When you are visit- 
ing your husband’s people do not walk around in a haughty 
manner. Do not act as if you were far above them. Try 
to get them to like you. If they like you they will put 
you in charge of their camp. 

Never think a home is yours unless you make one your- 
self. If you are living with people and have put them in 
charge of your household, do not behave as though the 
home were still yours.

It was at about this time that I desired and tried to 
court women. I did not, however, know the proper 
thing to say. The young men always went around 
at night to court. During the day I used to mix with 
the women but when evening came I did not know what 
to say. I had, however, a brother who was a very 
handsome man and he offered to take me along so that 
I could learn. One night therefore I went along with 
him. We went to a girl who was having her menses 
at the time, a young girl. At such times the girls are 
accustomed to live apart from the rest of the family. 
We were very cautious about the whole matter be- 
cause these girls were always carefully watched by 
their relatives. The relatives knew that it was cus- 
tomary for the young men to attempt to court the girls 
then. Now one of the precautions frequently taken was 
to pile sticks and branches about the lodge so that it 
would be difficult to enter. If then a person tried to 
enter one of these lodges he was likely to make some 
noise moving the branches and thus awaken the people 
living in the larger lodges near by. They would, of 
course, run to see what was the matter. 

It was to such a place that we went. After working 
at the obstacles placed near the entrance for some time, 

‘my brother succeeded in entering the lodge. I went 
as close as possible to listen. My brother spoke in an 
audible whisper so that I could hear. Sure enough, I 
heard him. However, after lying there for some time 
I got tired and fell asleep. I began to snore and my 
brother had to wake me up. Afterwards the girl found 
out and sent us both away. 

After a time I entered the lodges myself. We al- 
ways had blankets wrapped around us and we took 
care to have our heads well covered on these occasions. 

Sometimes a girl would be acquainted with quite a 
- Jarge number of men and then these would always 
gather around her lodge at night and annoy her parents 
a good deal. We would, in fact, keep them awake all 
night. Someof these people kept vicious dogs. 

There was one old woman who always watched her 
daughter carefully on such occasions. It was a long 
oblong lodge in which the daughter was confined, with 
just enough room for two persons. The mother of the 
girl finally decided to sleep with her daughter. Never- 
theless we annoyed her all the time just for her mean- 
ness. Once we went there and kept her awake practi- 
cally all night. Just before dawn, however, she fell 
asleep, So we young men—there were several of us— 
pulled up the whole lodge, poles and everything, and 
threw them into the thicket. The next morning the two 
women were found sleeping in the open, it was rumored, 
and the mother was criticized for being overcareful. 

The reason why some of the older people were care- 
ful at that time was because it had been reported that 

some young men had forced themselves into lodges 
where they had not been willingly received. 

On one occasion I went to see a young girl and 
arrived there before the people had retired so I waited 
near the lodge until they went to sleep. As I lay there 
waiting, listening, I fell asleep. When I woke up it was 
morning and when the people got up they found me 
sleeping there. I felt very much ashamed of myself 
and the people laughed at me. I was not long in getting 
away. 

We always did these things secretly for it was con- 
sidered a disgrace to be caught and discovered. 

On another occasion, in another place, I was crawling 
into a lodge when some one woke up as I was about 
halfway in. I immediately stopped and remained quiet 
and waited for the people to fall asleep again. In wait- 
ing, however, I myself fell asleep. .When the people 
woke me up in the morning I was lying halfway inside 
the lodge. After waking me up they asked me whether 
I wouldn’t stay for breakfast but I immediately ran 
away. 

After a while I began to go around with some par- 
ticular girl and I liked it so much that I would not get 
to sleep at all at night. I would sleep during the day. 
While we were acting in this manner our parents saw 
to it that we had food to eat and clothes to wear. We 
never helped them, for we were always courting girls. 
Only in the fall, when we picked berries, did we help 
along. However, as we were generally out all night, 
we could not do much work even then. 

aa In reality I I did not get ce fs 
, smile from one or two girls. Yet even thisT s

Just about this time we moved to the hunting-grounds 
and I began to fast again. I began to take sweat baths 
and caused myself to vomit in order to be purged. My 
father was a good hunter; he was always able to kill 
many deer and occasionally a bear. 

My brother-in-law thought a good deal of me. He 
was a holy man and a shaman. One day he said to me, 
“Brother-in-law, I am going to bless you although you 
will have to fast for it. I was once blessed by four 
spirits, brothers, called Good giant-cannibals. They 
said that they had never before blessed any one. 
They promised me that if I ever got into any difficul- 
ties they would help me. They blessed me with long 
life. Now this blessing I will give you. If, for four 
nights, you fast without a break, these giants will 
speak to you.” Thus he spoke to me. Then he con- 
tinued, “These four brothers are called Good-giant, 
Good-heart, Good-as-he-walks-about, Good-where-he- 
lifts-his-foot-from. ‘They lived toward the east, where 
you will find a promontory. Nothing across the large 
body of water is too difficult for them to accomplish.” 

So when I fasted I always offered tobacco to these 
spirits first. I would cry to these spirits, but I never 
fasted over night. 

A URRON Ge

When the hunting was over my father selected ten 
deer with which to give a war-bundle feast. Those who 
had been selected as attendants then transferred these 
deer to the place where the people always give their 
feasts. 

I was fasting at the time and only broke my fast at 
evening. Every night I went out to make my appeal to 
the spirits before I ate. Five days before the feast 
was to be given I commenced to fast through the night 
also. On the fifth night, together with my older 
brother, I went to the feast. During the day I had 
spent the time in the wilderness uttering my cry to 
the spirits: 

“O spirits, here humble in heart I stand, beseeching 
you.” 

I was far more thirsty than hungry. I don’t believe 
that either my tongue or mouth were even moist. 

That night we held aloft the deerskins that were to 
be offered to the spirits and we stood there crying 
piteously. There we wept humbly and those who were 
to give the feast wept with us, as they extended their 
holy compassion to us. Then, at midnight, we stood 
near the war weapons and again raised our appeal to 
the spirits. 

Our feast was given in a lodge that had eight fire- 

places. The host always sits near the last fireplace, at 
the east end. There we stood crying to the spirits. 
My older brother fell to the ground from fatigue and 
exhaustion. We were stark naked except for our 
breech-clouts. When this prayer was finished we put 
on our moccasins. Then the host greeted the partici- 
pants as follows: 

“T greet you; I greet you all, war-bundle possessors. 
My grandparents, especially my grandfather, concen- 
trated their minds upon this ceremony for me. The 
fireplace, the food, the offerings, with which the spirits 
blessed my grandfather, that I am going to ask for my- 
self to-day. However weakly I may wobble about in 
trying to do the proper thing to-day, I know that my 
elders present here will extend their aid to me. I am 
now going to offer some tobacco to you all. War- 
bundles possessors, I greet you all.” ‘ 

Following the speech came the prayers to the various 
spirits: 

Hearken O Earthmaker, our father, I am about to offer 
tobacco to you. My ancestor concentrated his mind upon 
you and that with which you blessed him I now ask of you 
directly. I ask for the small amount of life you granted 
him, aye for four times the blessings you bestowed upon 
him. May I never meet with trouble in life. 

O Grandfather, chief of the Thunderbirds, you who live 
in the west, here is a handful of tobacco. Extend to me the 
deer with which you blessed my ancestor. I pray you to 
accept this tobacco from me. May I never meet with 
trouble in life. 

O Grandfathers, spirits of the night, walkers in darkness, 
to you I offer tobacco and ask for the fireplaces which my 
ancestor received. If you smoke this tobacco see to it that 
I never become a weakling. 

To you who live in the south, you who look like a man, 
you who are invulnerable, you who deal out life from one 
side of your body and death from the other, you whom we 
i call Disease-Giver, to you I offer tobacco. In daylight, 

in broad daylight, did you bless my ancestor. With food 
q you blessed him; you told him that he would never fail in 
anything, you told him that you would avoid his home; 
= you placed animals in front of him that he should have no 
trouble in obtaining them. An offering of tobacco I make 
to you that you may smoke it and that I may not be 
troubled in life. 

Then they offered prayers to the Black Hawk, the 
Sun, the Moon, the South Wind, the Earth, and the 
Eagle. Many speeches were given, for every guest 
who was invited to impersonate a spirit delivered one. 
The man who was impersonating the Thunderbird 
spoke as follows: 

Host and relatives, all you who are seated here, to all 
I send forth my greetings. All those present have given 
me good advice and even the women and children here 
have pleaded in my behalf with the spirits. What love that 
was! And of what does life consist of but love! The clan 
counselor is repeating the songs that were obtained when 
the sacred bundle was made, so that when the time for the 
tobacco offering to the spirits came, the specially prepared 
tobacco would be ready. Now indeed that time has arrived 

Crashing Thovdee : 

and they are all sitting here prepared to pray to all the 
various spirits. Long before, when in their visions they 
were vouchsafed a warpath, the soul of the man they were 
to kill would be already in their possession when they per- 
formed this ceremony. It is to attract his soul that this 
ceremony is performed. You are going to have a good and 
prosperous warpath. When you are actually in the midst 
of the warpath and are about to rush upon the enemy, pour 
tobacco to the various spirits who are in control of war, say, 
“Thus, grandfathers, were we accustomed to offer tobacco 
to you.” Although you may not know by any word or 
direct sign whether the war-controllers have answered you, 
you will know it as soon as the rush upon the enemy takes 
place, for although you walk where the bullets rain hardest 
you will pass out of their range and come through in safety. 
Then when you return to your people every one will rush 
out to bestow the war honors upon you. If you give this 
sacred feast in the proper way, if you burn up much tobacco 
and food, then the various spirits, especially the Thunder- 
birds who are the greatest war-controllers, will bless you 
for the excellent way in which you prayed to him. When- 
ever they pass your way they will remember you. They 
will even call you by name and say, “Let us smoke here.” 

This is the way in which young men are encouraged to 
act, but only a few succeed. It is good. The host has 
preached to us and pleaded for all those who are present. 
He has made offerings of food to our grandfathers who 
live in the west; pleasing offerings of tobacco and buckskin 
has he sent to them. I have been permitted to impersonate 
this great spirit and have thus obtained life for myself and 
my unimportant clansmen, for all of us who have been liv- 
ing in so lowly a condition. With real life have we felt our- 
selves connected through your actions. We have felt our- 

selves connected with life by means of that organ which 

Earthmaker gave us as a measure of things. I send 
forth my greetings to you all. 

Then he who was impersonating the Disease-Giver 
spoke: 

War-bundle owners, relatives seated around here, I greet 
you all. This is indeed a marvelous performance that we 
have witnessed and he who was able to do it must surely 
be a marvelous man. Very few people listen to the advice 
of their parents but he must have been one who did and 
that is why he has done so well. The members of his clan 
have been sincerely worshiping the spirits. He who 
originally made this war-bundle ritual was like a spirit in 
power and what he told them to do they are doing in every 
detail. It is good work they are doing. Sufficient food are 
they offering to those in control of war powers for the 
spirits easily to take cognizance of it. They have placed 
ample tobacco and different kinds of buckskin within reach 
of the spirits. To you, O Disease-Giver, a pleasing white 
buckskin has been strung out in offering and with it a pleas- 
ing red feather as a hair ornament. How indeed would it 
be possible for the spirits not to recognize these offerings? 
And if they recognize them then we who are impersonating 
the spirits, will also receive the benefit of the blessings of 
war and life, extended to the host. 

Long ago our ancestors asked the spirits to bless them so 
that then they might live happily. Here we are sitting 
around the fireplace and the life that the host and his friends 
have asked for, the spirits are not merely extending to them 

21A very curious circumlocution for stomach. He means, of 
course, all the food that has been eaten. 

but to all those present. In the olden days the old people 
used to say to the young boys, “You are not able to fast 
as yet and to offer up proper food to the spirits so as to 
clear away the weapons held against you.” Now just as 
these older people would have liked, so you are doing. 
Even I, who am of no consequence, have nevertheless been 
permitted to impersonate a great spirit. This you have 
done for me—allowed me to impersonate that spirit who 
is the bravest of them all, the one who is in control of 
power whereby an enemy can be killed outright! One side 
of this spirit’s body controls life and the other death. Now 
they are about to offer to this spirit, the food of a white 
animal, of a male animal, the dog, as well as a white buck- 
skin, feathers and tobacco—all of them objects that please 
him very much. To Disease-Giver they are about to extend 
these things so that therewith they may ask him for war 
power and life. It is an awe-inspiring spirit to whom they 
have been making offerings. Surely I, who have been listen- 
ing only by virtue of the host’s generosity, do not have to 
say anything in his behalf. He thought of his ancestor 
when he asked me to impersonate this spirit. Of all the 
spirits his is the name which one cannot speak lightly, 
it is said. If nevertheless I greet his name and speak about 
this spirit, may I not be weakened by uttering it. Those 
who are about to offer you food, grandfather Disease-Giver, 
send you their greetings. To you, O host, do I send my 
greetings, as well as to all the war-bundle owners seated 
here. 

The feasters sang dancing songs throughout all this 
time. At dawn we were to pass the deerskin offerings 
through the roof of the lodge. My older brother took 
the lead. I followed and the others came up behind 

me. We all had a deerskin apiece. Only those who 
_ were giving the feast had the right to hold one of the 

ten deerskins. A man playing a flute taken from a 
war-bundle marched ahead, and behind came the people 
carrying the incense of the burning cedar leaves. We 
thus marched around the lodge and my brother and I 
again made our cry to the spirits. At that time we 
were naked apart from our breech-clouts and mocca- 
sins. Four times did we make the circuit. Then we 
passed the deerskins up through the roof of the lodge. 

Now the feasters were to eat again. A separate 
kettle had been put on for us boys and we were to eat 
first. They then called upon a man to eat out of our 
plate with us. His name was Blue-sitter. He was a 
holy man, a shaman, a brave man, one who had ob- 
tained many war honors. Four deer ribs were dished 
out to me in a wooden bowl. ‘Then the one who was 
to eat out of my plate came and sat near my dish and 
began to handle the food. He tore it into small pieces 
and began telling me of the blessing he had received 
from the spirits. He told me how all the great spirits 
~ had blessed him—the Sun, the Moon, the Thunder- 
birds, the Earth, the Sky, the Daylight, and all the 
spirits that exist in the heavens. The spirits on the 
earth and those under the waters, all these talked to 
him, he said. ° While partaking of my food he would 
think of this power, he told me. I would go through 
battle unharmed and I was to obtain war honors. My 
children, if I had any, were to enjoy a good and happy 
life. Thus he spoke. 

Then he took a piece of my food in his mouth and 
placed some in my mouth four times. I continued eat- 
ing as the rest of the feasters began their meal. For 
quite some time I was not able to eat much. 

Through it all I was not in the least conscious of any 
dreams or blessings. All that I was aware of was that 
all the people around me were taking pity upon me. 
Throughout it all I had my mind fixed on women. In 
doing these things I imagined that I had accomplished 
something great and that I had risen greatly in women’s 
estimation. Even though I tried to render myself 
pitiable in the sight of the spirits, yet through it all, 
my thoughts were centered upon them. I was never 
lowly at heart and never really desired the blessing of 
the spirits. All that I thought of was that I was a 
great man and that the women would regard me as a 
great man. 

a Ne ee 

bull

After a while I used to get into the habit of going to 
town. When I got there I would look into the barrels 
to see if there was any food in them and if there was 
I would fill my pockets with whatsoever I found. I 
used to steal a great deal. 

About springtime we always moved away from the 
vicinity of the town. We always moved to the place 
where my father intended to trap, generally to the 
neighborhood of some farming community where there 
were few Indians. There my mother used to make 
baskets and sell them to the farmers. We also used to 
circulate a written petition asking for any help people 
cared to give us. Whenever they went on this kind 
of a trip I always went along with them, for sometimes 
people would take pity on us and give us some old 
clothes. Sometimes we would even get a good meal at 
some farmer’s house. For these reasons I was always 
envious of those who went along on such journeys. 

Occasionally when we got many provisions I had to 
carry some of them, but I never minded that. When 
the birds returned north father used to make us bows 
and arrows and we would then shoot at them and often 
kill many. We also used to kill squirrels which my 
grandmother roasted for us. My older brother was a 

good shot and I was greatly his inferior. He often | 

killed pheasants. 

Whenever the older people went to town circulating 
petitions for help we youngsters always went along. 
We always took our bows and arrows with us for the 
Whites wanted to see how well we could shoot. Often 
they placed five-cent pieces on some object at a con- 
siderable distance and had us shoot at them. We gen- 
erally hit a number. I would also let my brother shoot 
at twenty-five cent pieces that I held between my 
fingers and he never hit my fingers. We would often 
make as much as five dollars in this way and this 
money we always gave to our parents. 

In summer the Winnebago would return to Black 
River Falls (Wisconsin). We used to go out with our 
bows and arrows and stay out all day. At evening 
when we returned we of course always expected to get 
a scolding and we therefore had a good excuse ready. 
It really would have been much better had we returned 
earlier in the day, but we were enjoying ourselves so 
much hunting that night overtook us when we were 
still a long distance from home. Often we would not 
eat anything at all all day, but to that we were accus- 
tomed. Sometimes we would go fishing on a stream 
nearby, forget all about the time, and then return home 
very late. We got a scolding then even although we 
had a good excuse. 

wise = ane 
ae Pras tees

Once my father gave me away. Once on my return 
home I found my father talking to my grandfather 
and after a while I saw the old man weep. He had 
just lost a son, a young man and the last of his chil- 
dren. They had all died. It was this that they were 
talking about. I heard my grandfather say finally that 
he was tired of life. Then my father, weeping, called 
him by his relationship term and said: “I sympathize 
with you for you indeed speak the truth, yet in spite 
of it all I wish you to live. Here is my son, my own, 
and of all my children the one I love best. He is obedi- 
ent. He is present here listening to me. He shall be 
your companion and as long as you live he will take 
you by the hand.” Thus did he speak and the old man 
thanked him profusely. 

After that I stayed with my grandfather. He thought 
a great deal of me and I got along very well in every 
way. He was a great man, one who doctored and who 
had great knowledge of medicine. This he used to 
give to the sick. He was also a great Medicine Dance 
man and an old soldier. 

About this time a school was built at Tomah, Wis- 
consin, and I wanted very badly to go to it. My grand- 
father consented and I went there for a winter. In the 

spring of the year my father came after me and asked 
the superintendent whether I could go home for two 
weeks and he consented to let me go. 

Then my father spoke to me, “My son, your grand- 
father is dead and they are going to have a memorial 
ceremony in his honor to take, place at a performance 
of the Medicine Dance. Some one, you know, must 
take his place in the ceremony and they have decided 
that I am to be the one. Now, my son, of all the 
children I possess I have most control over you. I 
have never kept anything from you and you have never 
willfully disobeyed me. I want you therefore to do 
me the favor and take my place. I am getting old and 
besides cannot control my desire for drink any longer. 
Under these circumstances I would not be able to live 
up to the teachings of the lodge. I wish therefore to 
turn my right over to you. Do you take your grand- 
father’s place.” Thus my father spoke to me. 

ie 
"© REA

My grandfather was buried in the manner custom- 
ary in the Thunderbird clan. His relatives got some 
one to bury him and the chief mourner invited ai dis- 
tinguished person to talk to the corpse before it was 
dressed for burial. The person addressed the body as 
follows: 

You are about to leave your relatives. They will remain 
on earth, objects of pity to all. You must proceed on your 
road and turn to your left after you start. Continue until 
you come to the one who is in charge of spirits. When you 
see him, make the following request—that he bestow upon 
us all that you fell short of in this world. The means of 
offering, the tobacco, which Earthmaker gave us, we have 
given you to take along. As you go along you will come 
to a place where the road branches off. Do not turn to 
the right for that leads to the bad spirits. Turn to the 
left and soon you will come to a guard. Point your pipe 
at him and he will be thankful. This man will wear a com- 
plete suit of clothes and he will be terrible to look upon. 
He will smoke with you and you must address him as 
follows: ‘Grandfather, before I left earth the people 
told me to ask you to point out which road I was to travel 
in.” Then he will tell you and you will pass ahead and 
come after a while to a fire on both sides of the earth. The 
man in charge of it will wear a complete suit of clothes 

[or] 

just like the former one. Point the stem of your pipe 
toward him and he will be very thankful and smoke your 
pipe. Then make your request—that you be permitted to — 
pass—and he will grant it. As you continue you will come 
to a round lodge where you will find an old woman. Point 
your pipe at her and she will permit you to go ahead. Your 
hair will now have become white but you will not be uncon- 
scious. On the contrary you will be in complete possession 
of your senses. Then you will come to the place where he 
who is in control of all the souls sits. Go toward him and 
point your pipe at him. When he is smoking it ask him 
to show you the road to Earthmaker, our father, and he will 
point it out to you. Then you must proceed until you come 
to Earthmaker. When you get to him, point the stem of 
your pipe toward him and if he takes it and smokes it 
you must say, “Earthmaker, our father, you know very well 
what kind of a life I have led.” Then he will answer, “My 
son, you have done well.” 

After this speech the body was dressed by the per- 
son who was to do the actual burying. The best clothes 
of the deceased were put on, beads placed around his 
neck, bracelets on his wrist, rings on his fingers and 
earrings in his ears. It was then placed in the casket. 

When the grave-diggers completed their work, the 
mourners blackened their faces with charcoal and the 
corpse was taken up by the man to whom this duty 
was assigned. The mourners followed behind weeping. 
Thus they proceeded to the grave. When they got 
there the corpse was immediately placed in it. Then 
the chief mourner stepped across the center of the 
grave and the others did the same. When they started 

al 
z 
Pee 

E 

iy ots 

«eee a 

back for home they were told under no circumstances 
_ to turn around and look in the direction of the grave. 

As soon as they returned home the man in charge 
of the funeral arrangements went around the village 
and invited every one to come to the wake. Brave men 

and warriors are especially welcome. 

The mourners prepared food and when the sun went 
down the chief mourner took a stick made of hard 
wood, lit it, and carried it to the grave, placing it at the 
east end. It must be still burning when put there. | 
After this the man returned and the funeral manager 
prepared everything for the feast. When all were 
gathered around he rose and addressed the people as 
follows: 

Relatives, all you who are gathered around here, I greet 
you. I have done nothing of any consequence which could 
justify you in coming here and thus honoring me, but being 
relatives of mine, you came in the kindness of your hearts 
to comfort me. I have prepared cooked food and boiled 
water for the dead person. Tobacco is also handy and as 
soon as the aftendant is ready he will pass this around to 
those who wish any. 

It is good that so many of you have come to-night. You 
know that we are not creating any new ceremony but are 
simply following what our ancestors found to be true and 
good. And as it is said that we should not weep aloud, 
you will not hear any of us making utterings of sorrow. 
And even though we weep silently, should any one come to 
us we will look upon them smiling. We therefore beg of 
you, should you find us happy in mood, not to think the 
worst of us. 

Then the attendant took the water and tobacco and 
gave it to the one who was to speak to the soul of the 
departed person. This one then rose and spoke as 
follows: 

To-night we have come together not for the sake of 
amusement but because we are afflicted with grief. Now 
it is the custom to speak to the soul of the departed. It is 
a sacred action yet even I, they tell me, can do it provided 
no worthier person can be found. I have even been told 
that my words vwrill not cause the spirit of the departed to 
lose his way on his journey to spirit-land. For that reason 
I am going to speak to the soul of the departed and say 
the best I can. I greet you all. 

Then he takes some tobacco in his hand and passing 
it behind him through the lodge says: 

Here it is, the tobacco. I am certain that you, O ghost, 
are not very far away, that in fact you are standing right 
in back of me, waiting for me to reach you the pipe and 
tobacco, that you might take it along with you; that you 
are waiting for the food to take with you on your journey. 
For four nights, however, you will have to wait here. Now 
here are the things that you desire. In return we ask you 
to act as mediator between the spirits and us. You have 
made us long for you and therefore do you see to it that 
all those things that belonged to you, all those things that 
you would have enjoyed had you lived longer—the victories 
on the warpath, earthly possessions, life—that all these you 
leave behind for your relatives to enjoy. This do you 
ask for us as you travel along. One thing more do I ask 
of you: do not cause us to follow you, do not cause your 
relatives any fear. I have now lit the pipe for you. 

yee ae = 

| _ Then the pipe is passed on to all those present. After 
that the leader drinks a little water and passes this 
around too. It is only after pipe and water have 
_ passed all the way around that the people begin to eat. 
When the meal is over the attendant takes the pipe and 
some tobacco and places it before some distinguished 
warrior who has been invited to the wake. The latter 
is then asked to speak to the soul of the deceased and 

tell him the route to take on the journey to the spirit 
land. This warrior then rises and speaks: 

Ho, I greet you all. We are not greeting one another 
because we are happy as on ordinary occasions but because 
it is the custom to come together at a wake. Now I shall 
show the soul of the departed the route he is to take and the 
care he must observe on his journey. I shall announce to 
him the ghosts over whom I have control and who are to 
conduct him safely to his destination. I will not exag- 
gerate ?? when I speak of my war exploits but relate only 
what really happened to me. It is said that if a person 
exaggerates and tells falsehoods in recounting his exploits 
on such an occasion, the soul of the departed will stumble 
on his journey. I shall therefore only tell the truth and I 
shall tell the chief of the spirits to guide our dead one 
safely over all obstacles. Now I am not going to speak 
of anybody else’s exploits but only of my own. Only those 
over whom I have control will I put at the disposal of 
our dead one to act as his guide. The spirit-tobacco, the 
spirit-food, and the fire, these things the ghosts over whom 

22 For the dangers of exaggeration on such an occasion see note 15. 
It was also believed to cause the death of the warrior who indulged 

in it. 

——a 

I have control will carry for him, and they will lead him : 

by the hand until he reaches his destination. I greet — 
you all. 

Then he narrated his war exploit. He went into 
great detail. He told as accurately as it was possible 
how he had killed a man, broken his collar bone and ~ 
then flayed him; how he had then chopped and cut up 
the body and mutilated him in such a fashion that he 
could not be identified; how finally he had stolen 
his dogs. All night he spoke in this strain. He went on 
to tell how he had killed and utterly destroyed an 
entire village so that no one was left to tell of the 
massacre. All night he told of his war exploits. Some- 
times such an account may last two to three hours. 
When he finished the people all went to sleep. 

For three nights the same thing was repeated. 
Throughout this time a burning ember was placed at 
the grave. When the spirit was ready to start his 
journey he took this ember, it is believed. 

For the fourth night all the brave men as well as 
everybody else in the neighborhood were invited. A 
great quantity of food was prepared and the relatives 
of the mourners brought objects to be used in the 
games that are always played at the wake. They 
tried to comfort the main mourners as much as possible. 
On the fourth night a burning ember was also placed 
at the grave of the deceased. 

As soon as the attendants prepared the food the chief 
mourner gov up and spoke: 

as I greet you all. I know that I am not performing any 
great action in greeting you. I was in trouble and all my 
relatives have come to comfort me. You have all asked 
me to live and not to succumb to my sorrows and I shall 
therefore try to overcome my grief and sorrow. I will not 
forget all the good you have done for me. You have been 
a comfort to me and you have helped me in many things. 
Now we have come to the last night and I am glad that it 
is a nice night for the warriors to relate their experiences. 
If they should say something funny I hope that you will 
not hold back laughter. I, too, will laugh with you. You 
are free to make all the noise you care to for I shall feel 
all the better if you do. This is what I want you to remem- 
ber. I greet all those who are present here. 

Then the one who is to address the spirits speaks: 

I greet you all. We have come to this wake for a pur- 
pose, much as I would wish that the occasion for it had 
never happened. Now I am going to tell the soul of the . 
departed the road he is to take, nor will I, by my words, 
cause him to go astray. On an occasion like this not 
every one is qualified to speak to the souls of the dead; 
not every one can do it. My grandfather obtained the right 
to do it and handed it down to my father, who in turn, 
turned it over to me. Now I am going to breathe upon the 
soul of the departed and I wish all those present to do the 
same. It is said that for those who do not make this 
breathing it is a sign that they will die. So do all of you 
breathe with me. 

Then he said /a-a and all joined with him in repeat- 
ing it. He now began his address to the spirit of the 
deceased: 

Ho-o! Are you ready? I am going to speak of the 
Four Nights’ Wake during which you listened to your 
relatives and to the words they had to say. I am placing 
the sacrificial tobacco in the rear of the lodge. 

I suppose you are not far away, that indeed you are 
right behind me. Here is the tobacco and here is the pipe 
which you must keep in front of you as you go along. 
Here also is the fire and the food which your relatives have 
prepared for your journey. In the morning when the sun 
rises, you are to start. You will not have gone very far 
before you come to a wide road. This is the road you 
must take. As you walk along you will notice something on 
your road. Take your war club and strike it and throw it 
-behind you. Then go on without looking back. As you 
proceed you will again come across some obstacle. Strike 
it and throw it behind you and do not look back. Still 
farther, you will come across some animals and these also 
you must strike and throw behind you. Go on right along 
and do not turn back. The objects you have thrown behind 
you will go to the relatives whom you left behind on earth. 
They will symbolize victory in war, riches, and food-ani- 
mals. When you have gone but a short distance from the 
last place where you threw an object behind you, you will 
come to a lodge. This lodge you may enter. One of its 
doors faces the rising sun. As you enter you will find an 
old woman on your right. Go and sit opposite her. Then 
your great-grandmother will say to you, “My great-grand- 
child, what did the people say to you when you were leav- 
ing, when your life was over.” And you must answer, “My 
great-grandmother, as I listened to my beloved relatives 
they said very little indeed. They said that I was breaking 
their hearts in leaving them and that they hoped that none 

would follow me soon. Then they asked me to make the 
- following four requests: 

First: I was to ask for life; that the flames from the 
lodge fire rise straight upward. Yet they would be satis- 
fied, they said, if at my departure the flames only swayed 
to and fro. 

Second: Whatever fruit had been predestined for me 
and that I did not taste, my relatives were not to be de- 
prived of. 

Third: They also mentioned nuts, all kinds of herbs, all 
serviceable hides and skins, all medicinal roots and grasses. 
They asked me to make a request for all the things that 
grow on the earth. 

Fourth: That if any one had a friend his weapon might 
have a keen edge on one side. 

Now, my great-grandmother, these are the requests my 
relatives commanded me to make.” 

Then she will answer you and say, “My great-grand- 
child, you are wise beyond your years. My great-grand- 
child, my lodge is a place where all who enter must pass 
an examination. Earthmaker looks upon it as a keen-edged 
instrument. No clouds of ill omen ever pass over it. The 
four requests you have made will be granted. The nuts 
and herbs you have asked for shall be given to you. There 
will be nothing of that food predestined for you that your 
relatives will not taste. The hides and skins, all the 
grasses, they shall possess in plenty. And if they have 
friends their weapons will be keen on one side. All that 
they have requested through you will be granted. Now, 
great-grandson, here is some food for you in this wooden 
bowl.” 

If you eat it you will have a headache. She will say, 

“Great-grandson, you have a headache. Let me cup it 
for you.” Then she will break open your skull and take 
out your brains and you will forget all about your people. 
You will become like a holy spirit. Your thoughts will not 
extend as far as the earth, as there will be nothing carnal 
about you. 

Now be sure that you only take,a taste and push the dish 
away from you for then the old woman will say, “My 
great-grandchild, all that you have left behind you in that 
dish represents the vegetable kingdom on the earth. Many 
who are older than you ate all that I gave them. You 
have a wise head on young shoulders. All that you have 
left on the plate will grow on the face of the earth. Now 
Earthmaker is waiting for you in great expectation. There 
is the door to the setting sun.” On your way you will come 
to the lodge of the chief of the bad spirits and his fire. 
Those who come, the souls of the brave men who have come 
from the land of the spirits, will meet you here and touch 
you. There the road will branch off toward your right and 
you will see the footprints representing the footprints of 
those who have passed into life again. Step into their steps 
and plant your feet upon their footprints, but be careful that 
you do not miss any. Before you have gone very far you 
will come into a forest of bushes alternating with prairies. 
Here in this beautiful country the souls whose duty it is to 
gather together the other souls, will come to meet you. 
Walking on each side of you they will conduct you safely 
home, to Earthmaker. Here the inquiry that took place in 
the first lodge will be repeated’ and answered in the same 
manner. Then Earthmaker will say to you, “All that your 
great-grandmother has told you is true. Your relatives are 
waiting for you in great expectation. Your home is waiting 
for you.” 

[ 100 | 

Mae arn ates 

Fe

The person who had died and whose place I was to 
take was an uncle of my father’s. I was glad of the 
opportunity for I had always liked the Medicine Dance 
whenever I had seen it. I had aways enjoyed watching 
from the outside what was taking place inside and I 
had always been filled with envy. So naturally I was 
very glad to join and anxious as to what would happen. 
We proceeded to the place where the ceremony was to 
be held, traveling from Tomah to Wittenberg. Some- 
times we would have to walk, but I enjoyed it neverthe- 
less. I was very happy. 

Finally we arrived at the place and my father ex- 
plained to the people that he had turned over his right 
of membership to me. They were quite satisfied. 

We were to build the ceremonial lodge immediately, 
so we went and cut the poles for it after measuring 
the length required. Of course, we hunted around and 
got the kind of poles always used for that purpose. 
Then we constructed the lodge. We stuck the poles in 
the earth. We worked together with three old men, 
brothers of the man who had died. They told me that 
this ceremony was a holy affair, that it was Earth- 
maker’s play. We made an offering of tobacco at every 
move we made. I, of course, thought that it must 

indeed be a marvelous thing and I was very happy 
about it. What I was most eager to see was myself 
killed and then brought to life again in the lodge, as it 
was believed happened to the members of the Medicine 
- Dance. I also realized that a member of the Medicine 
Dance, whether man or woman, was different from a 
person not belonging to it and I was quite anxious not 
to be an ordinary person any longer but to be a medi- 
cine man. 

As soon as we finished building the ceremonial lodge 
the ceremony began, and the first thing the people did 
was to sing. Then the leader of the band that was 
giving the dance arose and delivered a speech: 

All those who are sitting here I greet. We are waiting 
for all of you to have compassion upon us. Nephew,?* I 
shall now tell you the road you are to travel. He whom we 
call nephew, the hare, the founder of the Medicine Dance, 
obtained this life-ensuring ceremony for us. This is the 
only life; no other exists. Exert yourself to follow in the 
road of your ancestors and adhere to the ceremony that 
represented their mode of life. I know you will hearken to 
what I say. Assuredly you will listen, for thereby you will 
help and benefit yourself and, at the same time, attain the 
good life. 

Never do anything wrong. Do not steal. Do not quarrel. 
If on any occasion you meet a woman on the road, turn 
to the right, never to the left. No matter who the woman 
is, do not take liberties with her. This is what the old 
people taught us and if you perform the rites of this 
ceremony you will obtain the life that we desire for you, 

23 The person to be initiated is always called nephew. 

I beg of you to try with all your powers for I wish you to 
lead a happy life. This truly is our sincere wish. 

Ancestors, we greet you. Our ancestors long since de- 
parted, performed the ceremony just as we do to-day. We 
are to have a tear-pouring ceremony for the spirit of the 
one who has died. All those who are here will mourn for 
him. Whatever it is that his ghost can obtain for us by 
his requests,—all that he left behind him in this world— 
beseechingly we shall ask him to obtain. It is said that this 
is always procurable. What we mean is additional life. 

All that our ancestors desired, that we too earnestly desire. 
So it is when the ceremony was first established. Now we 
shall sing a mourning song. We must sing it with sincerity 
and when we cry we must not allow our voices to quaver. 
It has: been said that if a man is bad his crying will be 
insincere. Ancestors, we greet you. 

The first night they kept me up all night and I 
heard a good deal about sacred affairs. I was not 
sleepy at any time during the night and I remained 
this way until morning. I enjoyed it all so much that 
I did not even go to sleep the next day. The next night 
they kept me up again but as before I did not get 
sleepy. On this night they told me even more things. 
Throughout three successive nights I did not sleep at 
all. On the fourth night they sang till morning. On 
the fifth night they were to have what is called the 
rehearsal. During the day many people began to 
gather. In the afternoon only the old men and myself 
went to the sweat lodge. Only the men who had re- 
ceived special invitations. were allowed. When we came 
out it was sundown. Then those occupying the eastern 

co be Jeu Rahe eres) 
Pt On Ara ae ee ees 

q Seat in the main lodge stopped singing and the specially 
invited people entered the regular ceremonial lodge. 

The older people took charge of me for the whole 
night. Whenever they referred to me they would say, 
“In the morning when he-for-whom-we-desire-life be- 
comes like us.” They meant me and they meant that 
I would be a member in the morning. So I was ex- 
tremely anxious for the morning to dawn. All night 
they danced. This part of the ceremony is called the 
rehearsal or trial performance. 

The next morning, just before day, even while the 
dance was still going on, the leader of the first and 
second band, those of the east end and some others, 
took me to a secret place in the brush. When we got 
there we found a place where the ground had been 
cleared in the outline of the dance lodge. There the 
older people preached to me and told me that the most 
fearful things imaginable would happen if I made pub- 
lic any of the affair, z.e., told the secrets of the Medi- 
cine Dance. The world would come to an end, they 
said. They told me that if I didn’t keep everything 
secret I would die. 

It was in the brush that the leader told me of the 
road that all medicine men travel. 

The Road of Life 

My son, as you travel along this road do not doubt it. 
If you do you'll be unhappy; you'll injure yourself. But if 
you do everything that I tell you well it will benefit you 
greatly. 

My son, the first thing you will come to as you travel 
along, will be a ravine extending to the very ends of the 
world on both sides. It will look as though it could not 
possibly be crossed. When you get there you will think 
to yourself, “Grandfather said that I was nevertheless to 
pass across.” Plunge right through and you will get to 
- the other side. 

Now this ravine means that sometimes in life you will 
lose a child and thoughts of death will come to you. But 
if you pay attention to my teachings you will be able to go 
right on and find the road of the lodge on the other side. If 
you don’t try to go beyond, if you get frightened and dwell 
upon your hardship too much, this will be your grave. 

After you have crossed the ravine you will see the foot- 
steps of the medicine men who have gone before you, 
marked very plainly in the road. Step into them and you 
will feel good. Then as you go along you will come to an 
impenetrable brushwood of stickers, thorns, and weeds. 
You will not see how you can possibly get around them. 
Then you will remember that your grandfather said that 
you would be able to penetrate them. This too, you will 
pass. 

The impenetrable brushwood means death. Some one 
you have loved greatly, but not your wife, will die. You 
must try to get through this obstacle, not get frightened 
and not dwell upon your hardship too much. Otherwise 
this will be your grave. 

As you pass along this road, evil little birds will continu- 
ally din into your ears and will cast their excrement upon 
you. It will stick to your body. Now don’t try to brush it 
off and don’t pay any attention to it. If you pay attention 
' to it you might forget yourself and brush it off and that is 
not right, and life is not obtainable in this manner. 

[106 | 

ae 
5 i 
«say alae 
le eae 

The evil birds signify the following. The fact that you 
have joined the medicine lodge means that your intentions 
are to lead a good life. Now as soon as you join, the work 

of evil tattlers will begin and they will say that you have 

done things contrary to the teachings of the lodge. Per- 
haps a piece of bird’s excrement will fall on you. What of 
it? Don’t brush it off without thought. Some will claim 
that you had said that the lodge was no good. Yet even 
then you must not blurt out, “Who said that?” and get 
angry. Keep quiet and hold your peace. 

As you go along you will come to a great fire encircling 
the earth and practically impossible to cross. It will be so 
near that it will scorch you. Remember then that your 
grandfather had said that you would be able to pass it. 
Plunge through it. Soon you will find yourself on the other 
side and nothing will have happened to you. 

Now this great fire means death. Your wife will die. 
Go through this as well as you can; don’t get discouraged, 
This fire will be the worst thing you have to go through. 
You will have been living happily and then without warn- 
ing your wife will die. There you will be with your chil- 
dren. Remember, however, what your grandfather said and 
plunge straight through. On the other side you will find 
the footprints of the medicine men. 

After a while you will come to tremendous perpendicular 
bluffs which hardly seem passable. Think, however, of 
what your grandfather said and soon you will find yourself 
on the other side quite safe. 

Now these bluffs mean death. As you travel along the 
road of life you will find yourself alone. All your rela- 
tives, all your loved ones, are dead. You yourself will be- 
gin to think to yourself, ‘‘Why, after all, am I living?” ‘You 
will want to die. Now this, my grandson, is the place 

where most encouragement is given for it is most necessary. 
This is the most difficult of all the places you will come to. 
Keep in the footprints of the Medicine Dance man and you 
will be safe. The teachings of the lodge are the only road; 
they alone will enable you to pass this point safely. 

Soon you will come to a hill and when you reach the foot a 
of the hill you will sit down to rest and eat. You will } 4 
eat dried ribs of bear meat mixed with spirit-food and this a 
spirit-food will vibrate with life. When you are finished ; 
you must climb to the top of the hill and look behind you. 4 
There will be no one. But in front of you, you will see 
many people. 

Now this hill means that you have reached that period 
of life where, because you have always done things cor- 
rectly, you will be continually partaking of feasts. You 
will always be invited. The road full of people in front 
of you represents the members of the lodge who have passed 
before you. There is no one behind you because you are 
just beginning to enter on that road. 

Soon you will come to another hill. It will look like a 
nice country full of red stone. There you will find food 
and you will eat out of a very greasy kettle. When you’re 
finished, climb to the top of the hill and you'll see that 
some people are now following you and.that the number 
in front will be smaller. 

You'll be traveling through better country now, ie., you'll 
be taken better care of. 

Then as you go along, another hill will loom in sight. 
You must go toward it and there you will find yourself in a 
country of red willows and bulrushes. Many presents will 
you find scattered all along this most pleasing of lands. 
There you will find your food and when you have partaken 
of it, ascend as far as the middle of the hill. There as you 

2 The Whine ete | 

yet you will see a reddish haze across the land. Then go 
7 to the top of the hill. As you look behind you will see 
a many people following you and only a few in front. 
4 Halfway up the hill, we have said, the land will be cov- 
ered with a red haze. This is the Indian summer and this 
means that you will now have reached that period in life 
where your eyes have become dim. The red willows, etc., 
signify that your hair has become grizzled. The men in 
front of you are the older members of the lodge who will 
assist you by inviting you to the lodge and those in back 
of you are the younger members who will give you feasts in 
order to obtain increased knowledge. 

Then finally you will come to a fourth hill. This will 
be a very beautiful country with white poplars everywhere. 
There, after having eaten at the foot of this hill, you'll 
climb it and look around. You will see not one ahead of 
you and very many people following. The place from 
which you had started, apparently a long time ago, will 
seem very near. You will have to rest four times before 
you get to the top of this hill. 

This means that when you get to ‘the fourth hill, you 
will be so feeble that you will have to rest four times belce 
you succeed in getting to the top. The fact that you see 
no one in front of you on the road means that you have 
now become the oldest member of the lodge. 

As you walk along you’ll come to an oval lodge. There 
you will find a man who will ask you, “Grandson, how have 
you acted in life?” You must answer, “I don’t know.” He 
will answer and say, “Grandson, I know. Take some food.” 
You'll find four dishes and you must take a spoonful of 
each. When you have swallowed the fourth spoonful your 

- body will be like that of a dog or a flea, ie., you will be so 
old that your body will not only be flat but your ribs will 

th a y iy 

be caved in. The man talking to you will be the one in 
charge of the medicine-lodge road. You will now become > 

unconscious but not for a long time, i.e., although you will 
die, youll go right on in the spirit. Near you, you will 
find the medicine man’s staffs or ladders. The ladders reach 
to heaven. On the right side you will find a tree, all twisted 
and slippery from incessant rubbing. On the left you will 
see a red cedar tree, all smoothed down from wear and 
dirty from incessant handling. You must grab these trees, 
and then when you have ascended them you'll come to a 
country situated right below the place where Earthmaker 
lives. This country has been especially provided for those 
who have adhered to the ritual of the Medicine Dance. 
You will be told that this is your home and, after a while 
you'll be directed to a long lodge where you will find all 
those of your relatives who have adhered to the teachings 
of the lodge. Although you are a grown-up person you will 
nevertheless be taken on each one’s lap in turn. This coun- 
try is a very happy one to live in. No one is ever in want; 
no bad clouds float over it; there is no night and there is 
no work. 

After a while the attendants of Earthmaker will come to 
you and take you to him. There you'll see him face to 
face. He will tell you that you have done well and that 
you can become reincarnated in whatever tribe you desire. 
Those that perform the ritual properly believe that they can 
come to the world again after death. 

After the old man had finished telling about the road 
of the Medicine Dance Lodge I was shown how to fall 
down and lie quivering on the ground and how to 
appear dead. I was very much disappointed for I had 

had a far more exalted idea of the shooting. “Why, it 

amounts to nothing,” I thought. “I have been de- 
ceived. They only do this to make money.’ I also 
thought then that many of the sacred things about 
which they had spoken to me were not true either. 
However I kept on and did as I was told for I had 
been taught to deceive in the ceremony in the brush. 
As soon as I was proficient in the act of feigning death, 
we started back to the main lodge. 

The older people told me that I would become like 
them in body as soon as I became a member of the 
lodge, but I did not experience any change within me. 
All that I felt was that I had become a deceiver in one 
of Earthmaker’s creations. 

During the day, at the regular meeting, I did as I 
had been taught. Many speeches and many songs were 
sung and then, at about ten o’clock, the leader of the 
north band arose and told the story of the origin of the 
world and of the Medicine Dance. © 

The Story of the Origin of the World 

What it was our father sat on when he came to con- 
sciousness we do not know. His tears flowed and he began 
to cry. Not long was he sunk in thought. He saw noth- 
ing and nothing was there anywhere. He took something 
from the thing on which he was lying and out of it made a 
portion of our earth. This he sent to the space below him 
and from where he lay he could see that what he had 
created had become similar in shape to our earth. Yet 
nothing grew upon it and it was entirely without a cover- 

[r11]} 

ally. 

Suddenly he thought, “Now if I do the ee it will 
stop.” So he made a covering of hair for it. He took some- 
thing that was like a weed and made grass, and this he 
sent earthward. Then again he looked at what he had 
created. It was not quiet but kept spinning around and 
around. Then he thought to himself, “Well, I must try 
another way.” He took a tree and sent it earthward and 
again looked at his creation but it was still spinning 
around and around. Then he made four men and these 
he sent to the earth, placing one in the east, one in the 
north, one in the west, and one in the south. Again he 
looked at his creation. It was still spinning around and 
around. “Perhaps it will become quiet in the following 
way,” he thought. So he made four beings that we call the 
Island Weights. They were waterspirits. ‘Then he scat- 
tered a female spirit over the earth. By this we mean 
stones. Then finally he looked at his creation and he saw 
that the earth had become quiet. 

He had sent the stones clear through the earth, through- 
out its whole extent: Only the heads, the tops of the 
stones, were visible above the ground. He looked at his 
creation and he saw that the earth had indeed become 
quiet. No clouds appeared anywhere, the light of day 
appeared motionless, and the vibrations of heat seemed like 
floating spider webs drifting past. 

All the birds that were to roam over the sky, all the four- 
footed animals that were to live on this earth, all the ani- 
mals who were to live below the surface of the earth, all 
these he placed in lodges that he constructed for them. 
Then he created the various insects that were destined to 
live on the earth. Finally at the very end of his thinking 

[112 | 

ea Roses 

Cae Thunde oe 

ing. It was not quiet and kept spinning around ‘continu- : | 

he created us human beings. We were not however even 

equal in strength to a fly. We were the weakest of all. 
Then Earthmaker looked at what he had created and liked 
it and sat filled with happy thoughts. 

He was proud of us and gazed again and again at what 
he had created. He had, however, made the human beings 

- not equal in strength to the other beings and they were on 

the point of being destroyed by the bad spirits. Then he 
formed a being in our likeness and when he finished him he 
called him Foolish-one. Him he addressed as follows: 
“Foolish-one, to the earth you are to go. Weak, pitiable in 
all respects, have. I made the human beings. I made them 
as my last thought. Now this creation of mine, they the 
evil spirits are likely to injure. So do you, O Foolish-one, 
go and put things in order.” 

Then he sent him to the earth. But when Foolish-one 
came there he did not do what he had been told. Indeed 
he went around the earth doing nothing. He was as useless 
as a child crawling around on all fours. He really amounted 
to nothing. Though sent by Earthmaker he amounted to 
nothing. He did no good and injured the creation of 
Earthmaker, so Earthmaker took him back and placed him 
to the right of himself. 

Then he made another being in human semblance and 
when he finished him he called him Turtle. “The two- 
legged-walkers whom I created as the last of my thoughts, 
evil spirits are about to exterminate. Do you, O Turtle, go 
and put the earth in order.” Turtle went and took along 
with him a knife. When he came on earth he led people 
on the warpath and he did not look after Earthmaker’s crea- 
tion. So Earthmaker took back the second man and placed 
him at his left. 

Then he made a third being in human semblance and 

when he finished him he named him Bladder. To him he 
spoke, “Bladder, you are to go to the earth. As my last 
thought I created the two-legged-walkers and they were 
pitiful to behold in every way. They are now on the point 
of being exterminated and you must save them. Try with 
all your strength. 

When Bladder came to the earth he made a long lodge 
and he created twenty men. That many younger brothers 
he thus had. Then they all started to go around the entire 
island, this earth, and all the younger brothers were killed. 
Thus he too failed in his mission. The work his father had 
sent him to do he failed to accomplish and so Earthmaker 
took him back and placed him on his left side. 

Then Earthmaker made a fourth being and when he 
finished him he called him He-who-wears-human-heads-as- 
earrings. 

Finally he created the last one, Hare. He made his body 
exactly like ours. He spoke to him: “You are the last one 
I am going to create, so try with all your strength, Hare.” 
He-who-wears-human-heads-as-earrings had failed, so Hare 
was created. He was to be the last one. Earthmaker 
had created Hare entirely by the force of his thoughts. 

Then he spoke to Hare and said, “Hare, what I am doing 
you will also be able to accomplish. Try with all your 
power. If the evil spirits injure my creation it will not 
be good on earth; life will not be good. Try to overcome 
these evil spirits.” Thus he encouraged him. 

When Hare came to this earth he said to himself, “My 
brothers acted in a certain way and failed.”” He walked 
along until he came to an oval lodge. From this lodge 
there emerged, at the time, a young woman carrying a 
pail. She was going toward the river. Then Hare said 
to himself, “Now my brothers were not able to do what I 

a 
ae 

Be 

The Nene Dance 

am going to do.” There he entered the body of the young 

woman in order to become a human being. There in her 
womb he remained and yet from there he heard the shrieks 
and cries of the human beings. “My father sent me to help 
them and here I am sitting for so long time already,” he 
thought to himself. Shrieking and crying he heard the 
human beings. ‘Too long have I been sitting here. In 
the end the evil spirits will destroy the human beings com- 
pletely,” he thought to himself. Seven months had he been 
waiting when he said this. Finally when the proper time 
had come he entered the world through an opening. Four 
days after that his mother died. 

He lived with his grandmother. He would only leave his 
lodge at night. Then he would roam all around. When- 
ever he walked inside the lodge, light radiated from him 
in all directions. As soon as daylight appeared he became 
quiet. Throughout the day he sat thinking of the work 
he was to do. 

The third time he left the lodge it was sunset. He trav- 
eled over half the extent of the earth and he put an end 
to all the bad spirits who were doing harm. ‘Not again 
will any of these live, not again will they harm my uncles 
and aunts, the human beings.” Just before daylight ap- 
peared he returned home and there his heart would feel 
good. He stayed in the lodge wrapped in thought. 

On the fourth day when the sun went down he left the 
lodge and traveled to the very ends of the earth, killing all 
the bad spirits he met. At about daylight he went up to the 
sky and pursued all the bad spirits found there, driving 
them to the west and killing them. Very early in the 
morning he walked toward his lodge filled with pleasant 
thoughts. “The work for which my father sent me I have 
now accomplished. The life of my uncles and my aunts 

will now be like mine,” he thought to himself as he entered a : 

the lodge. 

“Well, grandmother, the work my father sent me to vie 
I have now accomplished. He sent me to look after his 
creation and that I have now attended to. The life of 
my uncles and my aunts will from now on be like mine.” 
“But, grandson, how can that be, how can the life of your 
uncles and your aunts be like yours? ‘The world is as our 
father created it and it cannot be altered.” ‘The old 
woman must be related to the evil spirits I have killed and 
that is why she does not like it,’”’ he thought. “No, grand- 
son, our father has ordained that my body, the earth shall 
fall in two. He ordained death lest there be a shortage of 
food on this earth because of surplus of people; he ordained 
death lest people crowd each other too much on this earth. 
He has therefore arranged a place for people to go to when 
they die.” 

Hare did not like it. “Surely grandmother is angry be- 
cause she was related to these spirits. She is taking the 
part of the evil spirits.” Thus he thought. “No, grand- 
son, that is not so. At present your heart feels sore. Your 
uncles and aunts, however, will obtain ample life, they will 
live to a normal old age.” So she spoke to him. “Now, 
grandson, get up. Your uncles and aunts will follow you 
in this. Try to do what I am now going to tell you. Be 
a man and do not look back after you have started with 
me.” 

Then they traveled around the earth. “I wonder why 
grandmother told me not to turn back,” he thought to 
himself. So he looked back just the least little bit; just the 
least little bit he turned to the left. Immediately the place 
from which he had started caved in. “Oh my! Ohmy! A 

z man I thought you were, a person of prominence, and I en- 

couraged you so much! Now, grandson, decay and death 
can in no way be taken back.” 

Around the earth they went, to the edge of the fire that 
stretches on each side of the earth. They united these two 
lines of fire so that human beings might attain old age. 

“To look back she forbade me. But I have already made 
up my mind as to the immortality of my uncles and my 
aunts. When they become like me then only will I be 
happy. Such is my thought.” 

Then he went out and walked to the lodge of the spirit 
who lives in the east where the sun rises. Opposite him he 
sat down. “Well, Hare, there is nothing I can do for you. . 
If the spirit ahead of me has anything he wishes to tell 
you, undoubtedly he will do so.” Then Hare greeted him 
and went out. 

He traveled toward the west. Even then he had no 
other thought in his head except that he would succeed. 
When he arrived at the lodge of the second spirit, the lat- 
ter spoke to him and said, “Hare, what you have come for 
I know, but if the spirits ahead of me could say nothing 
how can I, the least of all of them, do so?” 

Then Hare greeted him and left. He started for his 
home and arrived there crying, ‘““My aunts and uncles must 
not die, they must not die!” And then he thought, “To all 
things death will come.” He cast his thoughts upon the 
precipices, and they began to crumble and cave in. He 
cast his thoughts upon the rocks, and they began to crum- 
ble. Under the earth he cast his thoughts, and all the 
beings that were living there stopped moving and their 
limbs stiffened in death. Up above he cast his thoughts — 
and the birds fell down dead. 

Then after he had entered his lodge he took his blanket 
and, wrapping himself in it, he lay down crying. “Not 
the entire earth will suffice us when we die and in some 
places there will not even be enough room!” 

After a while the news reached our father. He heard the 
human beings saying that the evil spirits would now try 
to utterly destroy them. The news reached him that Hare 
was not feeling well. Then Earthmaker said to the first 
man he had created, “Hare is not feeling well. Go after 
him.” Foolish-one came to the earth. “Hare, I have come 
to fetch you,” he said. But Hare did not even answer him; 
~ he did not even move in his blanket. So Foolish-one re- 
turned to Earthmaker. Then Earthmaker sent the second 
one, Turtle, and told him, “Do you go now after Hare and 
bring him here. Try very hard to accomplish it for he is 
not feeling very well.’ When Turtle came to Hare he told 
him, “Hare, I have come to take you back with me.” But 
Hare did not even answer. Then he returned and said that 
Hare would not even answer. 

Finally Earthmaker sent the fourth one he had created 
and said, “You are to go for Hare and bring him back 
here. Try with all your strength to accomplish this.” “No 
matter how difficult it is I will accomplish it,”’ he said. He 
reached the earth and said to Hare, “Indeed, for a long time 
has your heart been sad, Hare. Come, let us go home now. 
Get up!” Then he took him back to Earthmaker. He did 
not, however, take him to Earthmaker’s lodge but to the 
one opposite, where the chief of the Thunderbirds lived. 
They placed him near the chief. In front of this lodge 
there was a mound and also a little war club painted red 
on one side. Thunderbird chief took the little war club and 
holding it lightly shook it gently. So great, however, was 
the noise that it made that Hare got frightened and almost 

ran out. Then they freed him from the sorrowful thoughts 
that he had had on earth and restored his spirits. 

Soon after that he was taken to Earthmaker. When he 
came there Earthmaker said, “Hare, your heart must have 
been very sad. Full of sorrow, indeed, must your heart 
have been for your uncles and your aunts. Now that their 
lives may be benefited, a holy teaching you are to take 
back to them. Come, look at this!” There the sky was 
parted and below on earth toward the south, a long lodge 
stood revealed. He gazed upon it and as he looked he saw 
old people with very white hair. “Thus your uncles and 
aunts are going to be. They will make very much noise in 
this ceremony. Now look down again! Some help is to 
be given them. Not one bad spirit will I put there.” 
Then Earthmaker pointed toward the earth again and said, 
“You are to go back to the earth and put this ceremony 
before them. Not alone are you to do it but with the aid 
of your own friends, Foolish-one, Turtle, Bladder, and He- 
who-wears-human-heads-as-earrings. Your grandmother, 
the Earth, will help you too. If one of your uncles and 
aunts performs the ceremony properly he will have more 
than one life. I shall always keep the door through which 
he may return to earth open to him. When he becomes re- 
incarnated he can live wherever he wishes. He can return 
to the earth as a human being, or join the various bands of 
spirits, or finally become an animal under earth.’ Now 
all this Earthmaker did for us. 

Then Hare returned to the earth and to his grandmother. 
“What I have tried to obtain for my uncles and my aunts, 
that now I have brought back with me,” he said. “Grand- 
son, how is it possible to make them immortai as ourselves? 
As the world was created so it must remain.” ‘‘Grand- 
mother, I say that my uncles and aunts will choose their 

lives for themselves, and, grandmother, you are to help 
me.” ‘Good, grandson, that I will do,” said grandmother 
thanking him. 
“When the time comes my friend Foolish-one will come,” 
he thought. Then Hare struck the drum and started his 
songs. All of a sudden Foolish-one came in. “I thought of 
your coming, Foolish-one, and you are here.” “Indeed, my 
friend, I knew your thoughts and that is why I came.” 
Then they went out together and outside the village they sat 
down to discuss what they were to do. When they returned 
to the lodge Hare thought, “My friend, Turtle, will come.” 
Then Turtle immediately appeared. Said Hare, “I thought 
of your coming and you are here.” “Yes, my friend, I 
knew your thoughts and that is why I came.” In the same 
way Bladder came. Finally Hare fixed his thoughts on He- 
who-wears-human-heads-as-earrings and he came. 
Grandmother listened to them very quietly but she could 
not understand what they were saying. Then after a while 
Hare said, “What I tried to obtain for my uncles and my 
aunts I have accomplished. You are now going to hear 
what it is. Come near the fireplace and sit down and then 
you will hear about it. I know that you too, grandmother, 
will be anxious to help the human beings.” “Indeed, grand- 
son, I am.” She got up, took her handiwork, sat down near 
the five of them and laid her hands upon their head. She 
placed her work in front of her grandson, Hare. Then she 
spoke and said, “If you get this ceremony, the Medicine 
Dance, for your uncles and your aunts, they will live hap- 
pily. Forever are they to do this.” Then she asked, 
“Grandson, what is the nature of the work that I am to 
do for you? Well, this is it. Now look at me. LEarth- 
maker, our father, had me bring the following things 
for your uncles and your aunts. I am going to give them 

aie oe e M en Dice 
2 OP aat with which they can always obtain life.” Then she 
opened her dress and there where the heart is, on the 

left, green leaves became visible and a stalk like an ear. 
The stalk was white as a blossom. It was corn. “For 
your uncles and aunts, Earthmaker, our father has per- 
mitted me to bring corn.” Thus did a stalk become visible 
whose leaves were very green and whose tassels were very 
white. — 

Then the five of them arose and said, “Let us greet our 
grandmother.” So they walked up to her and laid their 
hands upon her head. “It is good, grandmother,” said 
Hare. “This is what I meant when I said you were to help © 
the human beings.” 

Then Hare went out and when he got to a place in the 
east he stopped. Then he turned to the west. Then he 
thought, ‘“This is the way it will be.” He took eight yel- 
low female snakes and threw them in the air. As they fell 
they became transformed into the side-poles of the lodge. 
He turned their heads toward the east and their tails to- 
ward the west. He used rattlesnakes to tie them with. 
The doorway he made of two snakes, a black female snake 
on the left and a male snake on the right. The doors at the 
rear end of the lodge he made of blue female snakes. Then 
he took some reed-grass and threw it over the lodge so that 
it was completely covered. He took another piece of reed- 
grass and threw it inside the lodge where it became the 
white mats on which we stand. A bearskin hide he threw in 
on the right side and it extended along the whole length of 
the lodge. On the other side he threw a deerskin hide. 
Then he made a door of a real living mountain lion. This 
he did in order to prevent any bad spirits from entering. 
At the west door he placed a buffalo bull. When he had 
completed all these things, he looked inside the lodge and 

= eee 

there he heard these animals bellowing and roaring at each © 

other. Light radiated all over the lodge. 

He now started for the lodge, he first and his friends 
following. ‘Well, my friends, I am through; the lodge is 
finished. Grandmother, stand up and come with us!” She 
walked first and after her they all came. When they ar- 
rived at the door, the fear-inspiring lion snapped his teeth. 
But they entered and walked around the lodge until they 
came to the place where they had first come in. Then 
Hare sent a number of public criers, a bear and a wolf, 
to traverse the entire length of the earth and invite the 
spirits to the ceremony. Along with them were also sent 
winged messengers, the crow and the swan. 

When these started they all looked young but when they 
returned their bodies had become old and devoid of hair 
and they had to support themselves on staffs. The birds 
too when they returned, came back with wings exhausted, 
with eyebrows hanging over their eyes, looking very old in- 
deed. In front of Hare’s seat they stopped and said to 
him, ‘Your uncles and aunts, when they speak of you, will 
forever praise you. We have placed many life-giving ob- 
jects within this lodge.” ‘Well, my friends,” said Hare, ‘it 
is good. This is what I wanted. I thank you in the names 
of my uncles and aunts.” 

Then all the messengers who had been sent out re- 
turned. The first four beings created by Earthmaker also 
came. They stood at the door ready to enter. The oldest 
one started but turned back frightened by the animals he 
saw within. The next two also tried but recoiled back 
afraid. Finally the youngest opened the door and led them 
in. They made the circuit of the lodge and at the door 
Hare took the eldest and placed him in the seat at the 
east. Then he walked around and placed the next one at 

ee 

_ the north, then one at the west and one at the south. 
Then Hare took his own seat. 

Now the various spirits who had been invited began to 

enter. Then came the human beings, those of the bird 
clan, of the bear clan, the wolf clan, the snake clan, etc. 
Last came the one they were to initiate. 
_ Then Hare rose and spoke, “My friends, I have had you 
come together because my uncles and aunts had been liv- 
ing a very pitiable life. You are to teach them the life 
they are to live and which is to be handed down from one 
generation to the other. That is what I ask of you. You. 
have now heard what it is I want. I leave everything else 
to be done and said by those in the east.” 

Then the one in the east seat arose and said, “We are 
to teach our friends, the uncles and aunts of Hare, the 
meaning of life. This they may hand down from genera- 
tion to generation. To-day for the first time has this thing 
been discussed. All that life consists of—wealth, honor 
and happiness—they shall have from now on.” The other 
three spirits, the one in the north, the west, and the south, 
all said the same thing. When they finished each one re- 
turned to his own seat. 

Now Hare got up again and said, ‘‘This is what I de- 
sired for my uncles and aunts. This lodge I made for them 
and as long as they follow the precepts taught in this lodge 
of creation, they will be invulnerable. For that reason 
have these seats been made for them, that whosoever so 
desires may sit therein.” 

All day long the spirits taught the one who was to be 
initiated and when the sun was on the treetops and when 
it was time to stop, the spirits dispersed. As they left they 
took with them half of the light that had been radiated in 
the lodge. As they went out they rubbed against the door- 

SS — a Serenys) 

posts. They pushed these deep into the ground so that 
they would not fall over. 

Hare now rose and spoke again, ‘Grandmother, I shall 
ever be sitting ready for any of my uncles and aunts who 
will perform this ceremony that has been taught them. 
With tears my uncles and aunts will come to me and my 
heart will ache for them. I will go above and sit down, 
and if any person performs this ceremony, then he will be- 

Re bi. 

‘“Crasing THe 

‘ws 

come as I am. Now look at me, grandmother, look at my 

body!” The old woman looked and behold! he had be- 
come a small boy. ‘Grandmother,’ said Hare, “if any 
one repeats this ceremony properly, he will become just like 
this. Now look at me again,” Hare said. She looked at 
him and he had become a full-grown man. When she 
looked for the third time he had become middle-aged, his 
hair was interspersed with gray. When she looked for the 
fourth time, his head was covered as if he were wearing a 
swan as a headdress and he leaned tremblingly on his staff, 
standing in the east. “Well, grandmother,” said Hare, “if 
any of my uncles perform this ceremony properly this is the 
way they will live.” 

“It is good, grandson,” said the old woman. ‘However 
not only your uncles will live like that if they perform 
the ceremony properly. The same will apply to your 
aunts. Now look at me, grandson.” Hare looked and 
there stood a very young woman, her hair like a smooth 
shawl. “It is good,” said Hare; “in the name of my aunts 
I thank you.’ Then again he was asked to look and he 
saw a woman in middle age, her hair almost gray. When 
he looked the fourth time, her hair was entirely dried up, 
there was a hollow in the nape of her neck, her chin pro- 
truded trembling, like a wooden poker burnt short, and 
her whole appearance was that of duck looking at the sun. 

PP) 

fie 

: well, grandmother, this is what I meant when I said that 

you were to help me. My uncles and aunts have now re- 
ceived all that I desired for them. I thank you.” 

Now throughout the ceremony I felt all the time that 
we were merely deceiving the spectators. When it was 
all over the members of my band told me that in two 
years I would be able to imitate the sounds of animals 
to my heart’s content for I had taken the place of a 
great medicine man. Those who have the privilege of 
dancing obtain it by making gifts to the older members 
and thus buying the right. Those who do not buy this 
right or are not given permission to use it, are not 
allowed to dance. It is the same way with the shooting. 
Unless, for instance, a man buys the right, he is not 
allowed to extend his arms at full length when he 
shoots, but he must hold them close to his breast. The 
right to drum as well as the right to shake the gourd 
rattles, all these things must be bought. In fact, almost 
everything must be bought. I was told, however, that 
I would not have to go through all this training but 
would become a great medicine man immediately. That 
pleased me. I was given a gray squirrel-skin to use as 
a medicine pouch and I was told that it was really 
alive and that I had the power to make it cry aloud. 
I had seen people doing this and I had always envied 
them. This was another of the things I was anxious to 
do. Indeed I wondered greatly how it could be done. 

When the dance was over my father went away and 
left me at that place alone. He left me at the home 
of the deceased person’s wife. I did not go back to 

school but, instead, stayed near the old woman and did 
various jobs for her. There I stayed all spring. 

I had been told that if a person initiated into the 
Medicine Dance did not regard the affair as sacred this 
was a sign that he would die soon. This frightened 
me a good deal for I had been thinking of the whole 
matter in a very light-hearted fashion and I now felt 
that this was an indication that I would soon die. I did 
my best therefore to consider it a sacred ceremony. In 
spite of all this, however, I did not succeed. 

About this time I left for Tomah. It was about the 
middle of the summer. I stayed and lived with my 
grandfather and from that time on was taught by him 
many of the details of the Medicine Dance. For in- 
stance, when I prepared a sweat-bath for him he would 
teach me some of the songs. I accordingly prepared 
the bath for him frequently. He would always be 
grateful and that is another of the reasons why I was 
glad to do it. Before long I had learned all the songs 
he knew so that when I was invited to a Medicine 
Dance I would do all the singing and he would only do 
the talking. From that time on I said that it was a 
sacred affair, and from then on I participated in the 
ceremony for the greatness inhering in it. I boasted 
of its greatness in the presence of women, in order to 
make a good impression upon them. 

ive * - 
ee

About this time I joined a show and danced. I was 
always very fond of dancing and now I got a chance to 
go around and dance all the time and even got paid 
for it. I had money all the time. The people with 
whom I went around never saved anything and were 
always without funds, for they spent all their money 
on drink. I, however, never drank. After a while I 
got into the habit of going with these shows every fall. 

One fall I did not go and, instead, stayed with my 
grandfather. He told me to get married. I was about 
twenty-three years old then. I had courted women ever 
since I was old enough to doso. Every time I did any- 
thing I always thought of women in connection with it. 
I tried to court as many as I could. I wanted badly 
to be a beau, for I considered it a great thing. I 
wanted to be a ladies’ man. 

My grandfather had wanted me to marry a certain 
girl so I went over to the place where she was staying. 
When I arrived there I tried to meet the girl secretly 
and succeeded in doing so. I told her of my intention 
of marrying her and asked her to go home with me. 
Then she went back, for I had met her some distance 
from her home. 

After a short time she came back all dressed up and 

ready. She had on a waist covered with silver buckles - 
and a beautifully colored hair ornament; she wore 
many strings of beads around her neck snd had brace- 
lets around her wrists. Her fingers were covered with 
rings. She wore a pair of ornamented leggings and 
ornamented moccasins with wide flaps. In each ear 
she had about a half dozen ear-holes and they were 
full of small silver pieces made into ear ornaments. 
She was painted, her cheeks red, and the parting of her 
hair red. She was all dressed up. 3 
I came to her on horseback. Then we rode together. 
We were not going to return to the place from which I 
had started that night, because I had been previously 
asked to sing at a Medicine Feast at a place on our 
way home. On the way I therefore hid the girl near 
the place where the feast was to be given. 
The girl had a red blanket, and I hid her under a 
small oak bush. Unfortunately it rained all that night 
and the next morning, and when, early in the morning, 
I went to where I had hidden the girl I found her still 
there, but soaked through and through from the rain. 
Her paint was smeared all over her face in such a way 
that she could hardly be recognized. When we arrived 
home my grandfather’s wife came out to meet us. She 
helped the girl down from the horse and took her into 
the lodge. Then we ate and when we were through the 
girl took off her clothing and gave it to my grand- 
parents who in return gave her other clothing. After 
the girl had stayed there three nights she had her 
menses and had to go to her special lodge and sleep 

SS 

| 5 ~ there. Shortly after a horse was given to this girl I 

had married. 

Some time after, my grandfather had a private talk 
with me and he said, “Grandson, it is said that this 
girl you have married is not a virgin and I am not 
pleased with it, as this is your first marriage and you 
are a young man. I suppose you know whether this is 
true or not, whether or not she is a maiden?” “Yes,” 
I answered, “I know.” ‘Well, you do not have to live 
with her then if you don’t care to,” he said. So I went 
away on a visit and from there I went home for good. 
After some time I learned that she also had gone back 
to her home. My grandfather was glad that I had not 
stayed with her and he told me, “You can marry an- 
other and a better one, one that I shall choose for you.” 
However I said to him, “Grandfather, you have begged 
women for me often enough. Don’t ever do it again 
for I don’t care to marry a woman who has to be begged 
for.” He was not at all pleased at this for he said that 
I was not allowing him to tell me what to do.

About this time we went to the Sioux country on a 
visit. There were a number of us. While there I was 
adopted as a friend and given a pony. When I returned 
to my home I used to ride around on my pony. That 
fall a number of Winnebago were going to join a show 
and I decided to go along with them. I was a good 
dancer. We went to all the large cities of the country. 

With us there were two grass widows and after a 
while I used to go with one of them secretly. This 
woman used to drink beer. Soon I began to go with 
the other woman also. They both drank a good deal 
and often asked me to drink with them, but I always 
refused. I finally married one of these women, al- 
though I continued frequenting the other one at the 
same time. We lived in a tipi. As I said, they both 

drank beer and gradually I got to drinking it too.- 

Soon I drank a great deal and began to like it. I 
kept this a secret from my people and told the women 
to do the same. Finally, however, as I began drink- 
ing frequently, a friend of mine found out about it 
and then the two of us used to drink together. Then 
the owner of the show discovered that I was drinking. 
He thought a good deal of me, that my dancing was 
better than that of the others, and when he learned that 

‘a 

% _ Iwas drinking, he told me that he would treat me and 

the two women to beer that very night. I drank a lot 
of it that night and I enjoyed it immensely. After that, 
of course, I was not able to keep the fact of my drink- 
ing from other people. I talked at the top of my voice 
under the influence of liquor and was very happy. 
Every few minutes I would suddenly begin to sing out 
loudly. Then I began drinking whisky in addition to 
beer, and got drunk. On the following morning I said 
I would never do it again, but in a short time I was 
drinking beer again secretly. 

Eventually the show was over and we all went to our 
homes. We had to go across Lake Michigan. It was 
very stormy and we all got sick. Then my friend said, 
“Say, let us drink so that we may not be sick.” He 
took out some whisky which he was carrying in a flask 
and we drank all night. Very early in the morning we 
got to Milwaukee. There we ate our breakfast and 
continued on our way home, to Black River Falls. We 
drank all the way on the train and when we reached 
our destination we were still drinking. All my relatives 
saw that I was drunk. They were very sorry and an 
older sister of mine wept when she saw me. I there 
made up my mind that I would never do it again. At 
about that time we received our annuity payment and 
although I had money I did not drink any more for 
some time. 

After we had spent what we had received in annuities 
the hunting season began. I went along with the others 
to the hunting grounds. I ran away from the two 

women with whom I had been living. We spent some 
time hunting. Every morning we would get up very 
early, stay out the whole day and not return until the — 
night. Often although we had been on our feet all 
day we would not find time to have our noon meal. At 
night, regularly, we would take our sweat-baths. We 
took these sweat-baths because they are supposed to 
act as magical charms to ensure success in hunting. It 
was always very refreshing to take them and then 
plunge into cold water, whether at night or in the — 
morning.

Once when I returned to the camp I found some 
other people there. There I also found my grandfather. 
He had brought along with him one of the two women 
with whom I had been living, the older one. I did not 
like it at all. My grandfather asked me to live with 
her and I did so during the hunting season. When it 
was over this woman remained there and I returned to 
my home with another one. My former wife stayed 
there a long time, but when she got tired of waiting for 
me to return, she left. 

Just about this time I heard that this former wife of 
mine, before going away, had used some magical medi- 
cine on me. A medicine feast was immediately given 
me and my scalp treated to counteract the evil effect 
of what she had used. It was said that she had taken 
one of my hairs and dipped it into her medicine bundle. 
This she did in order to prevent me from ever leaving 
her. If then I left her I would suffer from a headache 
and perhaps even die. Such was the belief. Fortu- 
nately the matter was discovered, my scalp treated and 
the hair she had taken recovered and washed with 
medicine. Nothing therefore happened to me. 

From that time on I began to live with as many 
women as I could, for I had developed the idea that I 
was a lady-killer.

Shortly after this my elder brother was killed. We 
two had grown up together and had hardly ever been 
separated. I felt quite heartbroken over it. I longed 
to kill the man who had murdered him. I felt that it 
would be better if I myself were dead. In this frame 
of mind I took to drinking a great deal. Indeed it was 
my wish to die drinking and I would announce this 
when I was drinking heavily. Up to that time I had 
drunk secretly, but now I did so openly. Soon I 
became a confirmed drunkard. By that time I had 
quite forgotten the fact that I had wanted to die. In- 
deed I enjoyed drinking very much. 

I got into the habit, then, of giving women whisky 
and getting them hopelessly drunk and then I would 
steal anything of value they possessed. I also learned 
to box and soon became quite expert. I was never de- 
feated, and in consequence treated every one roughly. 
Every one was afraid of me because of my skill with 
the gloves.. My father was a strong man and so were 
my elder brothers, and neither of them had ever been 
defeated at wrestling. For all these reasons I was very 
arrogant. Besides all this I was very tall. I am six 
feet two inches high and weigh about two hundred and 
fifty pounds. In actual fact I was not really as strong 

as I pretended for whenever I woke up from a drunken 
orgy I found myself firmly bound. 

All I did was to wander from place to place, from one 
woman to another. I had four sisters and from them 
and from my parents did I receive all that I possessed 
and yet in spite of this, I claimed to be a great man! 
I then had two women staying with me as my wives. 
At one time I had as many as four, two at my parents’ 
house and two at certain relatives of mine. I wasn’t 
serious with any one of them. [I lied all the time; I was 
always telling falsehoods. On one occasion I had four 
children born to me and each one had a different 
mother. Even after that I continued courting women 
and drinking. 

In the spring there was always work to do. We 
rolled logs down the stream and drank. I accepted 
such occupations because I could then always get as 
much drink as I wanted. Whenever I had any money 
I spent it on getting some woman drunk.

I was now drinking heavily all the time and I began 
to boast of being a holy man. I claimed that I had 
been blessed by certain spirits and I made this claim 
again and again. Of course this was all a lie, for I had 
never felt a stirring of any kind within me. I made 
the claim because I had heard others doing it. Gen- 
erally I made this claim when I was just about drunk, 
just on the verge of getting boisterous but still vaguely 
conscious of what I was saying. Then I would say, for 
instance, that I had been blessed by a Grizzly-spirit, 
that he had blessed me with the power of being uncon- 
trollable, that he had taught me certain songs. These I 
would then sing at the top of my voice. I used to exert 
all the power I had to imitate a grizzly bear. The 
bystanders would try to hold me but it always required 
a large number of men to do so. Now I thought this 
exhibition of mine an act worthy of praise. 

After that I began to claim that I had been blessed 
by many spirits. I made the claim at one time that I 
was really the reincarnation of one of the benevolent 
giant spirits and that my name was Good-heart, that I 
was now living as a human being among men. Such 
was my claim and people believed me. 

Once when I was on one of my drinking sprees I 

a _ visited the lodge of a relative of mine.. There I found 
a woman whom I had the right to call niece and whom 
I could therefore tease. Just in jest I used to call her 
“mother” and “sister.” Now on this particular occa- 
sion after food had been offered me, I began teasing 
her as usual when one of the women sitting around 
there said, ““My younger brother, your niece is really 

in a condition to excite your compassion and not to 
fool with. She is in fact about to face death, for she 
is going to be confined soon and she generally manages 
barely to escape death then.” “Oh, is that so?” an- | 
swered I. ‘Well, elder sister, this time my niece is not 
going to suffer. Up above, in the heavens, there exist 
four women, sisters, and these blessed me, telling me 
that if I ever called upon them for help they would 
help me. Now to these I shall offer tobacco and when 
my niece is about to be delivered, she, too, must ask 
for help.” Thus I spoke to her. The woman thanked 
me. I had told a terrible falsehood. I said all this 
because I was very hungry and I knew that I would 
then receive enough to appease my hunger. I’ had 
nothing else to say. 

Some time after this I saw the women in town. The 
older woman ran over to me and said, “My younger 
brother, all is well. Your niece is in wonderful condi- 
tion; she is very well indeed. She has just given birth 
to a child and within three days of its birth she was 
able to chop wood. Never before has such a thing 

- happened to her. It is good. As soon as the annuity 
payment is made you may have the child’s portion for 

es — 

drink.” Thus she spoke. I was surprised. Perhaps 
I am really holy, after all, I thought. 

After this incident, of course, I boasted of my powers 
even more, for now I was really convinced that I pos- 
sessed sacred power. I talked as do those who have 
knowledge of blessings obtained from all the spirits 
in creation; I spoke with all the authority of a great 
medicine man. I used to do the singing for my band 
during the performance of the Medicine Dance, and as 
I had a deep bass voice, everybody liked it. Some- 
times I would be given offerings of food in a kettle. 

I always drank a great deal whenever a Medicine 
Dance was given and frequently I would knock people 
unconscious when I was drunk, even those in the 
vicinity of the camp. 

eae ee

Once we went out hunting game in the fall of the 
- year. We used to sell the hindquarters and some- 
times ship them as far as Chicago. We were of course 
only permitted to hunt for thirty days. The law was 
that if any one hunted longer than that he would be 
arrested. Yet in spite of all we hunted for a longer 
time because we felt that the law was meant only for 
the Whites. One day, however, in shipping deer away, 
we were detected. One of my brothers and myself 
were arrested, taken to court and convicted. We had 
to spend sixty days in jail. During my imprisonment 
I never had my hair cut and from that time on, I al- 
ways wore it long. I told the people that a spirit called 
Foolish-one ** had instructed me to do this and that he 
had blessed me. I also told my older brother, the one 
who was still living, to do the same thing and that if he, 
too, let his hair grow, Foolish-one would bless him with 
long life. From that time on I wore long hair. 

After that I joined a show of the Whites. People 
liked me very much on account of my long hair and I 
was well paid. I kept on drinking all the time. I there 
learned to ride a bicycle and mount and ride wild 

24 The clown of Winnebago mythology. He is, hcwever, regarded 

as having some of the characteristics of a spirit and, very occa- 
sionally, blessing an individual. 

~— Crashing Thund ro 

horses. I used to call myself a cowboy, principally 
because I wore my hair long. Many vicious horses 
did I ride, and I was thrown off many times. I did all 
this not because I felt myself to be an expert, but be- 
cause I was wild. On one occasion I took part in a 
bicycle race on a regular racetrack. I was in full In- 
dian costume and wore long hair. 

The show I had joined played at St. Paul. I took 
part in it every summer. I became acquainted with 
many people and so I was asked to come again every 
year. Finally it got so that I would not even return to 
the Indians in winter. 

One season some one asked me to collect a number 
of Indians of whom I was to be in charge. I was told 
that I would be allowed ten dollars a week for each 
Indian and that I could pay them whatever I liked. I 
was quite satisfied, for I could pay them five dollars 
a week and thus make some money, I thought. I there- 
fore persuaded a number of people to go along with me 
and we all started. We rode to the place where we 
were to meet the man who had made the arrangements. 
From there we started out and went from fair to fair. 
We never made any money, however, and went bank- 
rupt. The man could not even pay us. We felt very 
angry and we then went to another show with whose 
manager I was acquainted. We were to divide the 
receipts. 

Once we were to give our show at a certain place for 
the last time, for the cold weather was setting in. It 
was thus our last day. One of the boys came to me 

re 2 

Re oe 

; es and told me that some one had struck him. I got 

angry and told him to point out the person who had 

done it. Just then the very person appeared and I 
tried to strike him, but he got away. I succeeded, how- 

ever, in striking him with a drumstick. That evening 

I was told that the man whom I had struck had said 

__ that he was going to kill a certain Indian. “Perhaps 

he doesn’t know that he also is subject to death,” I 
answered. “Indeed, I am anxious to get ahold of 
him.” After the show was finished we put on our civi- 
lian clothes and took our handbags. “None of you 
must go out alone,” I warned them, “for you might 
get hurt.” One of my boys was on horseback and was 
taking his horse to water it at a trough. His pony was 
taken away from him and he returned without it. 
His hat, too, had been stolen. Indeed he barely es- 
caped with his life. ‘Come, let us go back,” I said. 
I told the other boys to go right on and not to worry 

about me. I gave them my handbag and then returned 

to the place where the first boy had been attacked. 
Before we got there the same boy was attacked and 
set upon with clubs. We were right in the midst of a 
big crowd of Whites. These shouted and chased him. 
When they saw me they started for me. I fought 
them with my bare fists, turning from side to side. I 
was completely surrounded by them. Whenever any 
one got near enough to me I struck him. Then I 
started to run and was hit on the head, but I was 
not knocked unconscious. I was now angry and I 
struck out at all within reach. If I had had a weapon 

I would have killed some of them. Several now fell 
upon me and I was struck on the head until it was 

entirely covered with blood. I started for the show 

tents which had not yet been taken down. Just then 
the man who had begun all the trouble came toward 
me with a hatchet. I went for him and when he raised 
the hatchet I struck him and knocked him down, for 
I hit him straight in the mouth. | 

A policeman now came forward and led me to our 
show tents. I was covered with blood. The women 
were weeping and told the policeman who I was, that 
it was not my fault and that I had not been drinking. 
I was taken to jail. I told the policeman that we 
ought not to be locked up for we had not started the 
trouble. The others ought to be locked up, we said, 
for it was the particular man who had hit my boy who 
had been drinking. “You are right,” said the police- 
man. “I will go back and look for your things. Yet 
you ought not to be on the street for you have hurt 
many people. You had better stay in jail for a few 
hours for many people are on the watch for you. Now 
I'll go for your pony and then you can do what you 
like.” They put me in jail and there I found the Indian 
about whom all the trouble had started. ‘Well, this is 
good,” he said. “TI thought they had killed you. Well, 
how many did you kill?” “I didn’t kill any one,” I 
answered. “It is good, for I thought they had either 
killed you or that you had killed them.” 

Then I washed the blood from my head. Soon after 
the policeman returned and brought my pony with him, 

(-ag 
x 

5 ae 

ere é 
Ae ee ey 

nua Sis 
—_ a a aie 

as well as my hat. Then he said, “You are to go home 

immediately. It is true that you have been dealt with 
unfairly, but this is a regular fair town, and if any 
trouble starts in the courts about this affair, it will hurt 
our fairs in the future. We shall therefore not go to 

- law about it. The man who started the trouble is the 

owner of a large hotel, and in addition, owns a trotting 
horse. You have knocked out all the teeth of this hotel- 
keeper, and we do not know whether he will live or not. 
You have bruised other people, too, badly. So you had 
better go home.” 

From there we started for our home. My partner 
rode a pony and rode through the middle of the town 
on it. I went in the same direction. He was afraid to 
go through the crowd of white people. A policeman 
escorted us out to the edge of the town. There we told 
him that we wanted some whisky and he went into a 
saloon and bought us two quarts. We both started 
then, sitting on a small two-year-old pony that belonged 
to my partner. Every time a team drove by we got 
frightened. After we had been drinking a little, how- 
ever, we said that if the fight were to occur again, we 
would surely kill some one for we were sorry about the 
way in which it had ended. No one pursued us, how- 
ever. 

There were some Indians living in the neighborhood 
and we used to go to visit them every night. When I 
told them about what had happened they got quite 
frightened for they thought these white people would 
come out there to fight. So they moved away on the 

following morning. The other man and I took up — 
their trail and followed. We still rode the little pony 
together. We had plenty of whisky with us. At night 
we came upon their camps. These poor people were 
really trying to get away from us for they thought that 
the white people would really follow us and fight. 

There I found out that my relatives were camping 
nearby, so I went over to see them. They felt very 
sorry for us when we told them what had happened. 
They were working at the time, digging potatoes. 
I stayed with them at the house of a certain woman. 

é Ae A — 
; ae Se Se, ee

While staying at this woman’s indies I was one day 
“handed a paper by a woman, in which she told me that 
she was married, that she was living at a certain place, 
and that if I came over, she would do whatever I said. 
I told the woman with whom I was living about it, and 
she said, “Go after her, that I may have her as my 
companion.” Her father had a horse, and on it I rode 
_ over to the woman’s house. I went there secretly, and 
watched the people digging potatoes, for their camp 
was nearby. The man to whom this woman was mar- 
ried was also living with another woman at the same 
time. The woman I was after was staying in this 
camp. I approached her secretly and when I reached 
the place she got herself ready to go with me. The 
two of us rode on a pony, and it so happened that we 
had to pass the place where the husband was working. 
He pursued us, but we managed to get away. In a 
short time I arrived home, and my wife received the 
second woman willingly. They would sleep with me 
on alternate nights. 

After we finished our work there, we went to the 
place from which we had originally come, and we ar- 
rived home just in time for the annuity payment. The 
superintendent of the Wittenberg school made the 

payment. At about the same time, one of the two 
women with whom I was living was taken away from 
me. She went to live with another man. When the 
payment was over here, the superintendent went to 
Necedah to pay the people there, and I went along, 
for I was doing what we called “chasing the payment.” 
There, and at Red Hill, I deceived many women, and 
thus obtained quite a large sum of money. ‘Then I 
started off with a number of other young men. By 
this time I was spending all my time drinking. 

I got on the train at night. We were to change cars 
at a place called Honsa and from there we were to 
ride in a freight car. When we had gone only a short 

distance the conductor saw us and put us off. We were © 

all drinking heavily. One man had lost his hat and 
was walking bareheaded. We walked along until we 
came to a pasture, and there we found some dry wood 
with which we built a fire. We had deceided to sleep 
there. We had plenty of whisky with us. Late at 
night we became thirsty and so we looked around for 
water. We found a number of pools scattered around, 
and out of these we drank. Then we went to sleep. 
The next morning when we woke up we saw a good 
well near us, but we ourselves had drunk out of the 
water and mud in which pigs had been wallowing. 

In the morning when the train arrived we boarded it. 
Eventually we reached our destination, and there found 
many people, drinking and making a lot of noise. That 
was exactly the place I had been looking for. When- 
ever I saw a person drunk I would steal whatever he 

a8 

Crashing Thund. ve 

Dee eae ee 
So Vee 

_ happened to have, for I had become a thief. If I saw 
a woman drunk, I would steal her, for I was an adul- 
terer. What I was looking for mainly was a woman to 
cohabit with, for in this way, I was able to get all her 
‘money. If any woman wanted to cohabit with me, she 
would have to give me all the money she had. This 
is the sort of thing I was doing. In this way I often 
succeeded in inducing two or three women to live with 
me at the same time. 

After finishing at Necedah the superintendent always 
went to Tomah to pay the people there, and from 
Tomah he would proceed to Black River Falls. At 
Black River Falls the last payment was made, and for 
that reason it was always an extremely noisy place on 
such an occasion. All who liked this kind of a life, all 
who used to chase payments for the fun of it, would be 
there. Marriages would get badly mixed up here, and 
there would always be stealing of one another’s wives, 
fighting, robbery, etc. Even those married people who 
had been faithful to each other up till then, would 
become unfaithful. Many people would get hurt. 
When the last payment had been made, all those who 
had not spent their last cent on drink would begin gam- 
bling, the men and women playing poker. Only when 
our last cent was gone would we stop and settle down. 
Many of us were generally left without enough money 
to go home.

I never married any woman permanently. I would 
live with one for awhile, and then with another. Some- 
times upon my return after an absence I would find my 
temporary wife living with another man. This is the 
way in which I acted. 

My father had brought me up and had encouraged 
me to fast, so that I might be blessed by all the spirits 
that exist, and thus live in comfort. My father had 
raised me so that I should desire to obtain war honors,” 
so that I should not be like one who wears skirts. That 
was the reason he had me join the Medicine Dance so 
that people should not be able to ridicule me. My 
father taught me to lead a sober and sane life and my 
grandfather, during the time I lived with him, had told 
me the same. They both encouraged me to give feasts 
and to ask the spirits for war honors. 

At that time I had a comrade, and one day he said to 
me, “We have been thinking of something, have we not, 
friend? We ought to try and obtain some external 
emblem of our bravery. Do we not always try to wear 
feathers at a Warrior Dance? Well, then, let us try 

25 These war honors were the following: touching the body of a 
slain enemy first, killing an enemy, touching the body second, 

touching it third, stealing a horse. All of them entitled the possessor 
to wear an eagle feather in his hair. 

to obtain war honors, so that we can wear head orna- 
ments.” So did we both speak to each other. We both 
liked the idea, and so we decided to go in search of war 
honors. We decided to kill a man of another tribe; 
we meant to perform an act of bravery. We started 

_ out finally. There were four of us, and we went to a 

_ place where other tribesmen congregated. We took 
_ the train and carried some baggage with us. We took 
ropes along, for we intended to steal some horses, and 
if we found the opportunity, killa man. Horse stealing 
was regarded as a praiseworthy feat, and I had always 
admired the people who recounted the number of times 
they had stolen horses, at one of.the Warrior Dances. 
That was why I wished to do these things. 

We proceeded to a place where horses of other tribes 
used to pasture. Just as we got there we saw the owner 
of some of these horses and killed him. My friend 
killed him. Then we went home, and secretly I told 
my father all about it. I said to him, “Father, you 
said it was good to be a warrior and you encouraged 
me to fast and I did so. You encouraged me to give 
feasts and I did so. Now we have just returned from 
a trip. We were looking for war honors and the young 
people who were accompanying me decided that I 
should lead them. I told them that it was a difficult 
thing to lead warriors, my father had always told me, 
and that I had always been given to understand that 
a person could lead a war-party only in consequence 
of a specific blessing received from the spirits. I was 
not conscious of having received any such, I told him. 

Thus I spoke. However, they made me an offering 
of tobacco as they asked me, and I accepted the to- 
bacco saying that I would at least make an offering 
of tobacco for them. Then I offered tobacco to the 
Thunderbirds and asked them for rain, that we might 
walk in the protection and power of rain. This of- 
fering we made in the morning and it rained all that 
day. Then we went to the place where we knew that 
we could find horses. When we got there we met the 
owner of the horses and spoke to him. We accompa- 
nied him to a carpenter shop nearby, and there killed 
him. I struck his dead body, counted coup ** first, 
and announced my new name, as I gave a war-whoop. 

I shouted ‘Big-Winnebago has counted coup on his 

man.’ Then the others counted coup also. We 
searched his pockets and found medicine and money 
in them. The money we divided among ourselves. 
After that we cut out his heart, for we had heard that 
hearts were used for medicine. That is why we cut 
out his heart. He had a gun and that we took away 
from him and hid.” 

Then my father said to me, “My son, it is good. 
Your life is no longer an effeminate one. ‘This is the 
manner in which our ancestors encouraged us to live. 
It is the will of the spirits in control of war that has led 

26 The first four war honors enumerated above are called ‘“count- 
ing coup” by the Whites. Coup is the French for strike and the ex- 
pression owes its origin to the custom of warriors counting the num- 
ber of people they have killed or honors they have obtained by 
striking the post at the grave of the particular person for whose 
benefit they are recounting their achievements. 

A Abed 
ca 
>. me 

- you to do this. Of your own initiative you could not 
possibly have done it. However, we had better not 
have a Victory Dance as yet. We have the honor any- 
how. We must be careful about the Whites. In the 
old days we were at liberty to live in our own way, and 
when such a deed as yours became known, your sisters 
- would rejoice and dance, we are told. Now, however, 
the law of the Whites is to be feared. In due time you 
will get a chance to announce your feat and then you 
can wear a head ornament for you have earned that | 
right for yourself.”

Shortly after this I had to go to Nebraska. It was 
in connection with a child I once had, a boy who had 
died when he was two years old. His mother’s father 
then adopted another one in his place. This child 
belonged to the Menominee tribe. I had to go there for 
I was the adopted father of the child and he was thus 
my son, the one who was taking my dead son’s place. 
I gave the boy a horse at the ceremony performed to 
fill the dead child’s place. The ceremony itself was the 
Sore Eye Dance.*” The relatives of the mother gave 
me some beaded bags, two boxes of maple sugar, etc. 
Before I had started out for Nebraska, when I was 
still living in Wittenberg, the boy came to me. I was 
then living with a woman, and she gave me many things 
that I was to take along with me to Nebraska and for 
which she hoped I would get horses in return. 

When I started, I stopped at Black River Falls. I 
went to a woman with whom I had once lived, in order 
to take her along with me, but she refused. I had gone 

27'The Sore Eye Dance, called more correctly the Society-of-those- 
who-have-been-blessed-by-the-Night-Spirits, is a secret society organ- 
ized something like that of the Medicine Dance but quite different in 
object. It is primarily a war ceremony and its nickname of Sore 
Eye Dance arose out of the fact that it was so frequently given 

after the return of a successful war party thatthe people attending 
it, got sore eyes from staying up so long. 

s Take a Trip to eee 

~ to see her when I was drinking heavily. I therotre 

had to goon alone. I had my gun with me. I arrived 
at Nebraska in midsummer. I arrived there very early 
in the morning, and there I met a man whom I had 
once known, a person who used to go around a good 
deal. There were many people present. We sat some- 
what on one side, and he and his wife drank with me. 
I told him what I had done, how I had counted coup 
on a Pottawattomie, and he shook hands and said that 
he too had counted coup and that he was going to wear 
a head ornament. Then they took me to the place 
where they lived, carrying all my things for me. 

The next day the Nebraska Winnebago were going to 
celebrate. There was to be a general gathering for a 
week. The people with whom I was staying joined the 
others at the gathering. At the gathering itself I met 
two men whom I knew and who recognized me. They 
shook hands with me. They were riding in a buggy, 
and when they left, they took me along. On the road 
they stopped, and we got out of the buggy and began 
drinking out of a jug containing four quarts of whisky 
which we had along with us. I joined them in the 
drinks. We then went back to the gathering, where 
I met an uncle of mine. To him I presented my gun, 
and he was delighted. 

The gathering itself was a very large one, and we 
danced every day. I also prepared myself and took 
part in the dance and gave away many things. I re- 
ceived in return two ponies, a harness, and a top-buggy. 
I remained there for some time after the celebration 

was over. Indeed, I even got married there. I kept 
on drinking all the time. It was then that a nephew of 
mine begged me to give him my buggy. A nephew has 
the privilege of asking his uncle for anything, and the 
uncle must give it. In return the uncle can compel the 
nephew to work for him at any time. 

Some time after that I went to visit an uncle of mine. 
He said, “Nephew, to-morrow they are going to have a 
Medicine Dance, and to-night they are going to have a 
trial performance.** Your aunt is going to buy pro- 
visions for the meal, and you may go along with her.” 
So I went along. When we got to town we drank, and 
on the following day it was rumored that the woman 
and myself were missing. The buggy in which we were 
riding was quite broken, my hat was gone, and my 
trousers ripped open. I immediately went back to the 
place I had come from, even though the Medicine 
Dance was being given. The woman, I heard, was still 
missing. I then went to the place at which I had been 
staying, and remained there all day. I got very tired. 
In the morning I mounted a horse and went to town. 
There I was arrested. I was asked what I was doing 
in the town. “I am not doing anything; I am merely 
visiting around.”’ Then the one in charge of the law 
said that I was to pay ten dollars and that if I did not 
do so, he would send me to prison. I therefore sold my 
horse for twenty dollars, and out of it I paid the ten 

28 The first part of the regular Medicine Dance is supposed to be 
merely a rehearsal for the following day when the main ceremony is 
given and is in consequence called the “trial” performance. 

- dollars. It was a good horse. Then the lawyer said, 
“You have committed many crimes, and you had bet- 
ter go to the place from which you came. If you 
stay here any longer, we will lock you up.” 

I left that same day. Two old men were going to 
Wisconsin, and I went with them. They did not know 
how to speak English, so they took me as their inter- 
preter. I left one of my horses in the pasture there. 
These men were very fond of whisky, and I bought 
whisky for them all along the route. After a time we 
arrived in Wisconsin, just at the cranberry-picking sea- 
son. I was drunk when we reached our destination. 
As we approached my home I told the old men that 
they should come and visit me. As I said it, I gave a 
whoop.

I was met by my father and mother and a woman 
who was living with me before I left. They were very 
glad tosee me. When I got home I found many people 
camping there. At the camp the woman fixed a bed 
for me, gave me some food, and told me to lie down 
with her. Instead, I went out and made inquiries about 
a woman with whom I had once lived. I found that 
she was still there. To her lodge I went, and with her 
I stayed that night. In the morning the other woman 
was angry. However, I continued staying with this 
new one. Late on the following night some one woke 
me up. ‘Come out,” the voice said. I went out with 
a blanket around me and found my former wife. She 
it was who was calling me. She said, “In the morning 
the annuity payment is to be paid in Necedah. I am 
going there to-night, and I want you to go with me.” 
“T haven’t any money,” I answered. “As though you 
ever had any money of your own when you wanted to 
do something!” I refused to go with her. She per- 
sisted, and finally I went back and lay down. After a 
while she followed me inside and hit me very hard and 
called me names. She kicked me and pulled my hair. 
“Tf I had anything with which to kill you, I would kill 
you.” Finally I got angry, and she stopped and went 
away. 

a 

ee ae ee ea 

a

During the cranberry-picking season I drank all the 
time, and after that chased the payments. I continued 
drinking. When the payments had all been made, I 
went to Black River Falls. I was entirely without 
money. I was supposed to go back to Wittenberg, but 
I didn’t have the fare. I went back to the Indians and 
stayed all night. In the morning I was sick. I was 
shaking from head to foot. When I tried to drink 
coffee, I would spill it; when I lay down, I used to see 
big snakes. I cried out and got up. Then when I 
wanted to go to sleep again, I thought I heard some one 
calling me. I raised the cover of my bed and looked 
around, but saw nothing. Whenever the wind blew, I 
thought I heard singing. I thought I heard imaginary 
people spit very loudly; I heard them and I could not 
sleep. As soon as I closed my eyes I began to see 
things. I saw things that were happening in a distant 
country. I saw ghosts on horseback, drunk. Five or 
six of them were on one horse, and they were singing. 
I recognized them, for they were people who had died 
long before. I heard the words of their song as they 
sang: 

“T, even I, must die some time, so of what value is 
anything, I think.” 

Thus they sang, and it made a good song. I myself 

learned it, and later on it became a drinking song known 
by many people. I like it very much. 

The next morning I rode on a train, and after a while 
we came to a town. Two days after this I stopped 
drinking and kept it up throughout the whole winter 
because I was unable to drink. I vomited every time 
I tried to drink beer. Throughout the winter I did not 
drink, and I kept this up until the following summer. 

ae ea 
Pi aoe nee 
a / ae ee? 

ve 
Ed ep.

Two years elapsed. At about that time we heard 
that the men who were responsible for the disappear- 
ance of the Pottawattomie had been discovered. One 
of those who had taken part in his murder had been to 
Nebraska and had there announced his deed in re- 
counting his acts of bravery at a Warrior Dance. Such 
was the rumor. This same man had also announced 
it at a funeral wake. It was in this way that the facts 
had come out. 

That same winter, while I was living in the forest 
cutting wood, two men came to me one night. They 
were officers. ‘They mentioned a man’s name to me 
and asked me if I knew him. I said, “Yes.” “Well,” 
said they, “let us go to town. We want to ask you 
some things.” ‘They told me to get ready. I did so and 
rode in a wagon they possessed. Then the men asked 
me, “Did Peter kill this man? Do you know?” “I 
do not know,” I said to them. Then they told me 
from what source they had obtained the information 
and again asked me, “Did you ever hear anything 
about it?” “No,” I answered. “Did you know that 
this man was missing?” “I did hear that a man had 
been missing, but as I had not known him, I did not 
give the matter much thought,” I said to them. Then 

as et ee a “Se, 

one of the men said, “It has been discovered that Dae ‘= 
did it. Do you think that they are right?” “I don’t Ri) 
believe a word of it.” Then the man continued, “If 
you continue to say that you do not know anything — 
about this case, I will not let you go home. You shall 
go wherever Peter goes. We have found out that you 
were with him, and that is why we have come here. If 
you do not tell us, you will never come out of prison. 
Such is the penalty for what you have done. If you 
tell us, however, you can get away and you will be 
our witness and can return home.” “I want to get 
home, and whatever I can do to get home, I'll do. 
About this matter, however, I know nothing. You can 
speak about what you know and I about what I know. 
I do not want to be locked up,” I said. 

We had now come to town. There I was taken to a 
hotel and asked if I knew the murdered man’s brother. 
I said, “Yes.” We went inside, and there we found 
him. The man greeted me and said, “If you know any- 
thing about this affair and confess, we will not lock you 
up. You will be one of the witnesses. Even if it should 
turn out that you were one of them, we will not lock 
you up. I am not deceiving you. This man who is 
listening to-us agrees with me.” He continued: “Sam, 
I am acquainted with your father. He is a fine old 
man. Even if you were along with Peter, I will not 
have you locked up, if you confess. It is merely be- 
cause Peter is a bad man that I want to know it.” “He 
must be telling the truth,” said I to myself. “I’m 
going to tell.” I thought that in such a case they would 

- 7 am Acad for Murder 

let me go. SoI said: “Yes, I know all about it. I saw 
. Peter when he killed the man.” “Good,” said they. 
They thanked me. Then the officer took me outside; 
he took me to jail and said, “The train will soon be 
ready.” Then he went out. 

In the jail I found Peter. “What did they say to 
your” he asked. “They did not say anything,” I said. 
_ “They asked me many questions,” said Peter. “They 
asked me whether you had done it, and they said that 
if I told them, they would let me go home. I told them, 
however, that I did not know anything.” ‘They asked 
me very much the same.” I then said, “but I also told 
them that I did not know anything.” ‘That is good, 
for without witnesses they have only hearsay evidence 
and they will not be able to hold us,” said Peter. “Any- 
how, the man we killed was crazy and his brothers 
hated him. They used to ask me to kill him,” con- 
tinued Peter. 

Just then the officer came and said, “Boys, the train 
is due soon. Get ready.” When we were ready he took 
out some handcuffs and tied us together, and thus we 
went to the station. The white people looked at us in 
surprise, called out our names, and asked what the 
trouble was. Then the train arrived, and we boarded 
it. We rode all that night and arrived at our destina- 
tion in the morning. There the officer locked us up in 
prison. We did not know what to say. After a time 
I was taken out and brought to the courthouse. There 
they again questioned me, and a woman, a shorthand 
writer, took down my answers. I was then told to tell 

everything again in detail and that as soon as the time 
for the trial came, I would be freed. When I was 
through, they took me back and locked me up again, 
and the other man was taken out. When he returned, 
he had of course learned what I had done. He was 
very quiet. Then I said, “Well, you said you were 
asked to kill him and you also said that they, the 
brothers of the murdered man, asked others to kill him. 
If that is so, you did it because you were asked to do 
so, and you are not to blame. If we can find other 
witnesses to this fact, we will surely get out.” “Indeed, 
I spoke about the matter because they had locked us 
up alone. I did not like it. The boys were so boister- 
ous that I thought the others ought to be in jail, too. 
That is what I was thinking of when I spoke to the 
officers. Soon they will bring these others here, too, 
and when we are all here together, it will not be so 
lonesome.” Peter was glad of it. Soon the other two 

were brought, and the four of us made quite a good 
deal of noise talking.

tomie 

Now it was rumored at this time that the man we 
had killed had really been somewhat crazy. He was 
the oldest of three brothers. Their father had been a 
chief and had possessed much land. Other people had 
contributed very much money to buy the land. A num- 
ber of them lived there, and they had put in many 
crops. Then the father died, and the oldest son drove 
away all the people. He drove his two brothers away 
also. There were many horses, and he forcibly kept 
them as well as many other things. Whenever he heard 
that any of his brothers was using any of his horses, 
he used to scold him. When they argued with him, 
he threatened to shoot them. It was said that he-al- 
ways went around with his gun. For all these reasons 
his brothers disliked him, it is said, and used to ask 
the Winnebago to kill him. It was also said that all his 
white neighbors disliked him. He had over a hundred 
horses, and they grew wild in the woods. He did noth- 
ing all the time but watch them. They were too wild 
for him ever to get near them. The only use he ever 
made of them was to own them. Whenever the horses 
entered a field, they would destroy it completely, and 
if anything was ever said to him about the matter, he 

Crashing hunder 

wanted immediately to fight with those who protested. 
Whenever a person tried to buy one of them, he would 

Ty 

Sa 

ask an extravagant price, and whenever a horse was _ 

caught in depredations and he was asked to pay dam- 
ages, he threatened to shoot the people concerned. He 
was accustomed to go around barefooted with his gun, 
it was said. For all these reasons his brothers disliked 
him and asked some Winnebago to shoot him. These 
brothers also told the Winnebago how it would be pos- 
sible to kill him, for he belonged to that group of people 
who were regarded as invulnerable. It is said that 
when he fasted, he had gone without food for a whole 

winter; that he had not resumed eating until spring. 

In order to kill him, a wooden knife was required. 
This should be painted red. Then he was to be 
stabbed. This was the only way of killing him. 

Now we thought that with all this evidence against 
him, we would surely be acquitted.

We were waiting for the spring term of the court. 
We stayed in prison all winter. I was very tired of it, 
but I kept that.secret because otherwise the other men 
would be likely tomake fun of me. Sometimes I really 
felt like crying, but I acted as though I did not care at 
all. I was married at the time I had been imprisoned, 
and I hungered to see my wife and was in a terrible 
condition, but I told the others that I did not care in 
the least. The others were also married, and some of 
them showed their lonesomeness markedly. Occa- 
sionally one of our wives would visit us. The men said 
that I seemed the only one who did not apparently 
care. As a matter of fact, of course, I could hardly 
stand it, although I kept my condition quite secret. I 
only felt better when I wrote a letter to my wife, and 
then when she answered I felt very happy. 

We used to read one another’s letters, and whenever 
our wives wrote to us, we would tease one another 
about the contents. 

After a while the spring term of the court arrived, 
and we were happy. When the time for our trial came, 
however, we were told that our case had been bound 
over to the fall term. So we had to stay in prison all 
summer. When the fall term came, the case was bound 

MN 7 ——— me =< 

- ees, > 

Crashing Thon : 

over until the following spring. It was enough to cause 
one to say “Oh, my!” in impatience. During the win- 
ter we used to make bead work and compete with one 
another as to who could do the best. We made beaded 
finger-rings, and these were always purchased by some 
one. By selling these rings we thus made quite a good 
deal of money. We also made suspenders. I made 
thirty of them and sold them for seven dollars a pair. 
We thus had plenty of money and drank all the time. 
There were some prisoners locked up together with us 
whose terms were almost over, and these were allowed 
to go outside. They would buy us the whisky. We 
gambled, too, playing for money stakes. 

One day my wife came to visit me. I talked to her 
through the iron grating. I was allowed to talk to her 
for a long time. All I could do was to desire her. I 
wanted her badly. When the wives of the others came, 
they felt just as I did. 

Once we had a fight. We had been drinking and 
were disputing about a game. Afterwards we were 
quite humble about it. 

Shortly after this we found out that my wife had 
matried again. I did not feel like eating, but I tried 
hard to do so, because I thought that the others would 
notice it. Then I said to them, “I am glad to hear 
about this report that my wife has married again. 
When I get out of prison I will pay the one who has 
married her, for he is taking care of her until my re- 
lease. Indeed I have felt quite uneasy about her for 
some time. Now I feel quite relieved, for she is being 

provided for.” Thus I spoke. But the truth of it was 

that I was as angry as I could very well be. I made up 
my mind that I would take her away from whomsoever 
she might be living with. Then I thought that I would 
make her feel as sad as I could; I thought I would 
disfigure her, cut off her nose, then take her to the 
wilderness, give her a sound beating, and leave her 
there. I could not think of anything else all the time, 
and I believe that for a time I did not even taste food. 
I often felt like crying. At night I would not be able 
to sleep, for I could not forget the whole affair. Some- 
times I would dream of seeing her, and then in the 
morning I would tell the others about it and feel 
better. Throughout all this time I never thought of 
all those of my relatives who were really concerned for 
me. Not even that grateful was I. I only thought 
of the woman. 

Now the time for the next session of the court had 
arrived. It was the spring session. We were given a 
trial. They always took us to the court in handcuffs. 
We had each a lawyer. At the first hearing one of us 
was freed, the other three remaining in prison. Then 
the lawyers pleaded the case of the others, and two 
more were freed, I being one of these. The man who 
had actually done the killing was the only one who 
remained in prison.

ance with the Peyote 

When we were released we found our relatives wait- 
ing for us. My older brother was there, and with him 
I went home. We began to drink immediately. I was 
very happy, although when I was in prison I had felt 
that I would never drink again. We reached the 
Winnebago the same day. There I met a woman, and 
I cohabited with her that very night. I had been 
desiring that for a long time. Then I began to drink 
again. After a while I went to Black River Falls and 
there met my former wife, whom I immediately took 
back again. 

The Indians were just then celebrating their midsum- 
mer feasts. I went among them, took part, and drank 
a great deal. I considered myself a brave man and a 
medicine man; I thought myself a holy man, a strong 
one, and a favorite with women. I felt that I was in 
possession of many courting medicines. A brave man 
I felt myself; a fleet runner. I was an excellent singer 
of songs at the Brave Dance; *® I was a sport, and I 
wanted whisky every day. 

My mother and father had gone to the Missouri 
River, to the Winnebago living in Nebraska. They 
left me in charge of two horses and a wagon belonging 

29 A non-sacred war dance whose songs were very popular. 

My Release from okie 

to them for me to use. Later on, in the fall, when the 
cranberry season had started, I lived with three women. 
I never did any work, but simply went from woman to 
woman. Then the annuity payment was made, and I 
went around chasing the payment. I sold my horses 
and spent the money I had. 

About this time my father and mother asked me to 
come to Nebraska. I had been told that my father 
and mother had joined the peyote people and were 
eating peyote, and I did not like it. These peyote 
eaters were doing wrong, were wicked, and that is why 
I disliked them. Old Thunder Cloud, my brother-in- 
law, told us the following about them: 

“This medicine, the peyote,*° is one of the four spirits 
from below. That is why it is bad. These four spirits 
have always longed for human beings, and now they 
are getting ahold of them. Those who use the peyote 
claim that when they die, they will only be going on a 

80 The peyote is a small cactus common in the state of Chihuahua, 
Mexico, out of which from time immemorial an intoxicating drink 
has been prepared. The ancient Mexicans were well acquainted with 
it. For a number of centuries it has been the center of various 
cults all of which contained marked Christian features. It is only 
within the last fifty to seventy-five years, however, that some of 
these cults have spread into the United States. It is from some of 
the tribes now living in Oklahoma that the Winnebago borrowed it. 

The Winnebago either eat the peyote button in its dried state 
or drink a concoction prepared from it. The effects are various. 
Every one, however, seems to be agreed upon its causing wonderful 
color visions. The after effects vary with the individual. I have 
seen some practically in a state of stupor after eating a large quantity 
of the buttons, while others seem entirely unaffected and go on with 
their day’s work as though nothing had happened. 

The use of the Bible is an entirely new element introduced by the 

Winnebago. 

long journey. But that is not the truth, for when they 
eat peyote, they destroy their souls, and death to them 
will mean complete extermination. If I spit upon the 
floor, the saliva will soon dry up and nothing will re- 
main of it. This is what death will mean to them. I 
might go out and preach against this doctrine, but it 
would be of no avail, for I certainly would not be able 
to draw more than one or two people away from this 
spirit who lives below. Many will be taken in by this 
medicine; they will not be able to help themselves in 
any way. This bad spirit will certainly seize them.” 

For all these reasons none of us liked it. However, 
my parents sent me the money for the trip, and my 
brother and sisters told me to go. Just before I started, 
my youngest sister, the one to whom we always listened 
most attentively, said to me, “Older brother, do not you 
indulge in this medicine eating, in this peyote.” I 
promised, and then started out for Nebraska. 

When I arrived in Nebraska I met some people who 
had not joined the peyote eaters, and they said to me, 
“Your relatives are eating the peyote and that is why 
they sent for you, that you too might eat. Your 
mother, your father, and your younger sister, they are 
all eating it.” Thus they spoke to me. They also told 
me of a number of other bad things these peyote people 
were supposed to have done. I felt ashamed, and I 
wished I had not come in the first place. Immediately 
after that I told these people that I was going to eat 
the peyote. 

Soon after that I met my father, mother and sister. 

ee ee eee, en ay 

- They were glad to see me. Then we all walked to their 

home. My father and I walked by ourselves and he 
told me about the peyote. “It does not amount to any- 
thing, all this that they are doing. Yet those who par- 
take, stop their drinking. Sick people also get well. 
We were told these things and therefore joined. What 

_they claimed is true and your mother is practically well 

now; and so am I. They claim to offer prayers to 
Earthmaker, to God.” He stopped and then continued, 
“The peyote people are rather foolish for they cry 
when they feel very happy about anything. They 
throw away all the medicines that they possess and 
whose virtues they know. They give up all the bless- 
ings they received while fasting, give up all the spirits 
who blessed them. They stop giving feasts and making 
offerings of tobacco. They burn up all their holy things, 
destroy the war-bundles. They stop smoking and 
chewing tobacco. They are bad people. They burn 
up their medicine pouches, give up the Medicine Dance 
and even cut up their otter-skin bags.** They say they 
are praying to Earthmaker, to God, and do so standing 
and crying. They claim to hold nothing holy except 
Earthmaker, God; that everything they are giving up 
comes from the bad spirits, that the bad spirits de- 
ceived them. They claim that there are no spirits with 
the power of bestowing blessings and that there is no 
other spirit except Earthmaker, God.” Then I said, 

81 The most sacred object of the Medicine Dance. It is within 

the otter-skin bag that the shell is concealed with which the newly 
initiated members of the dance, as well as the regular members, are 

shot. 

“Say, they certainly talk foolishly.” I felt very angry 
at them. “You will hear them yourself for they are 
going to have a meeting to-night. Their songs are very 
strange. They use a small drum,” said my father. 
Then I felt a strong desire to see them. 

Finally we reached our home. That night there was 
to be a peyote meeting. At first I sat outside and 
listened to them. I grew very fond of them. I was a 
stranger in their country and the young members of 
the peyote religion were exceedingly friendly to me. 
They lent me money occasionally and treated me with 
tender regard. They did everything that they thought 
would make me feel good and in consequence I used 
to speak as though I really liked the ceremony. I 
was, however, only deceiving them. I only said it be- 
cause they were so good to me. I thought they acted 
in this way because the peyote was deceiving them. 

Soon after that my parents returned to Wisconsin 
telling me that they would return in a short time. I 
was thus left alone with those of my relatives who were 
peyote followers. That is why they left me there. 
Whenever I went among the non-peyote people I used 
to say all sorts of things about the peyote people and 
when I returned to the peyote people I used to say all 
sorts of things about the others. 

I had a friend who was a peyote man and he said 
to me, ‘My friend, I wish very much that you would 
eat the peyote.” Then I answered him, “My friend, I 
will do it but not until I get accustomed to the people 
of this country. Then I will do it. What worries me 

~ most is the fact that they are making fun of you. 
_ Quite apart from that, however, I am not used to them.” 
I was speaking quite dishonestly. 

I was then staying at my sister’s place. She was a 
peyote follower and had gone on a visit to Oklahoma. 
After a while she returned. At that time I was staying 
with a number of women and from them I obtained 
money. Once I got drunk and was locked up for six 
days. After my sister returned she and her friends 
paid more attention to me than ever before. This was 
particularly true of her husband. I was given horses 
and a wagon. I was really treated very tenderly. I 
told them I believed in the peyote because they treated 
me so nicely. I knew that they did this because they 
wished me to eat the peyote. I, in my turn, was very 
kind to them. I thought I was fooling them and they 
thought they were converting me. 

We moved after a while to a place where there was 
to be a large peyote gathering. I knew that they had 
arranged for this in order to get me to join. Accord- 
ingly I spoke to my younger sister and said, “Sister, I 
would be quite willing to eat this peyote ordinarily, but 
I don’t like the woman with whom I am living just 
now and I think I shall leave her. Now I have been 
given to understand that among you, when married 
people eat the peyote they will always have to stay 
together. I shall therefore join you as soon as I have 
married a woman with whom I wish to stay perma- 
nently.” Then my brother-in-law came in and my 
sister told him what I had said and he spoke to me, 

Ly : —== a A Wy 

“You are right in what you say. However, the woman 
with whom you are staying is a married woman and 
you cannot stay with her any longer. This marriage 
of yours is null and void and we know that this is so. 
You had better join now. You are the same as if you 
were single, and we will pray for you as though you 
were single. After you have joined the peyote religion 
you may marry any woman you wish and whom you 
have a right to marry legally. So, do join to-night. It 

is best. For some time already have we been desirous — 

of your joining us but we never said anything to you 
about it. It is Earthmaker’s blessing, God’s will, that 
has made you think of this.” So he spoke to me. 

Cae 

ras 

i - ,

I sat inside the lodge with them. One man acted as 
leader and we were to do whatever he ordered. The 
various objects belonging to the ceremony—the two 
peyote buttons, the drum, the eagle-wing fan, and the 
small gourd rattle—were all placed before him. I 
wanted to sit in some place on the side for I felt that 
I might get to crying like the others. I felt quite 
ashamed of myself. 

The leader arose and talked. He said that this was 
an affair of Earthmaker’s and that he, the leader, could 
do nothing of his own initiative; that God was going to 
conduct the ceremony. He said the medicine, the pey- 
ote, was holy and that he would turn us all over to it. 
He further said, “I am a very pitiful figure in this 
ceremony so that when you pray to Earthmaker, pray 
also for me. Now let us all rise and pray to Earth- 
maker.” We all rose. Then he prayed. He prayed 
for the sick and he prayed for those who did not yet 
know Earthmaker. He said that they were to be 
pitied. When he had finished we sat down. The 
peyote was then passed around. They gave me five 
buttons and my brother-in-law spoke to me, “If you 
speak to this medicine, the peyote, it will give you 
whatever you ask of it. After that you must pray to 

Crashing ‘Phande a 

Earthmaker and then eat the peyote.” I, however, ate 
the peyote immediately for I did not know what to ask 
for and I did not know what to say in a prayer to Earth- 
maker. I therefore ate the peyote buttons just as they 
were. They were very bitter and had a taste difficult 
for me to describe. After eating them I wondered a 
good deal about what was going to happen to me. 
Soon I was given five more peyote buttons and these 
alsoI ate. They tasted rather bitter. I was now very 
quiet for the peyote had somewhat weakened me. I 
listened attentively to the singing and liked it very 
much. I felt as though I were partly asleep and quite 
different from my normal self. When I looked around 
and examined myself, however, I saw nothing wrong. 
I certainly felt different from my normal self. Before 
this I used to dislike the songs but now I liked them 
very much, particularly those the leader was singing. 
I liked listening to him very much. 

They were all sitting very quietly and doing nothing 
expect singing. Each man sang four songs and then 
passed the sacred objects to the next person. Each 
man held a stick and an eagle’s feather in one hand and 
a small gourd rattle, which he would shake when sing- 
ing, in the other. One of the participants did the 
drumming. In this manner the sacred objects would 
be passed along until they came back to the leader. 
The leader would then sing four songs and when he 
had finished these, place the sacred objects on the 
ground and rise and pray to Earthmaker. Then he 
called upon one or two to speak. These people all said 

_ that Earthmaker was good and that the peyote was 
good, and that whosoever ate the peyote would be able 
to free himself from the bad spirit. They said that. 
Earthmaker forbids us to commit sins. When this was 
over they sang again. 

After midnight I would every now and then hear 
some one cry. In some cases I saw a person go up to 
the leader and talk to him. He would stand up and 
pray with him. I was told what these people were 
saying. I was told that these people were asking others 
to pray for them for they were sorry for the sins they 
had committed and wished to be prevented from com- 
mitting them again. They cried very loudly. I was 
rather frightened, especially when I noticed that when 
I closed my eyes and sat still, strange things began to 
appear before me. I was not in the least sleepy. Then 
the light of morning came upon me. In the morning, 
when the sun rose, the ceremony stopped. All got up 
and prayed to Earthmaker and left. 

During the daytime I did not get sleepy in the least. 
My actions, however, were a little different from my 
usual ones. Then the people said, ““To-night they are 
going to have another meeting. Let us go over. They 
say that this is the best thing to do for then, you can 
learn the ceremony immediately. It is said that the 
souls of the members of the peyote ceremony wander 
all over the earth and the heavens. All this you will 
learn and see.” They continued, “At times the mem- 
bers die and remain dead all night and day. When in 
this condition they sometimes see Earthmaker, it is 

claimed.” Some say that the home of the bad spirit 3 

can also be visited when in this state. 
So that night we went to a meeting again. I doubted 
all their claims, of course, and thought that they were 

untrue. Nevertheless I went along. When we got near — 

I had already eaten some peyote for I had taken three 
in the day. Now near the place where the peyote meet- 
ing was to be held there was a regular Winnebago feast 
and to that I went instead. I found a long lodge and 

heard a terrific noise. An enormous drum was being. 

beaten. The sound almost raised me in the air so 
pleasurably loud did it sound to me. Not so pleasur- 
able had things appeared at the peyote meetings that I 
had lately been attending. There I danced all night 
and I flirted with the women. I left about day and 
when I reached the peyote meeting it was still going 
on. When I got back I was told to sit in a certain 
place and I was treated very kindly. There I again 
ate peyote. I also heard that they were going to have 
another meeting nearby on the evening of the same 
day. We continued eating peyote at the place where 
we were staying, which was the house of one of my 
relatives. Some of the boys taught me a few songs and 
they said, “Say, when you learn how to sing you will be 
the best singer, for you are a good singer as itis. You 
have a good voice.” I thought so myself.

That night we went to the place where the peyote 
meeting was to be given. I was given a place to sit 
down and treated very kindly. ‘Well, he has come,” 
they even said to me when I came, “make room for 
him.” I thought they regarded me as a great man. 
John Rave, the leader, was to conduct the ceremony. 
He told of his conversion: 

John Rave’s Conversion to the Peyote Religion 

During the years 1893 and 1894 I was in Oklahoma 
among the peyote eaters. 

There one night, in the middle of the night, we were to 
eat peyote. I also ate some. Then later on in the night I 
got frightened for a living thing seemed to have entered 
me. “Why did I do it?” I thought. “I should not have 
done it for right at the beginning I have harmed myself. 
Indeed I should not have done it; I am sure it will injure 
me. ‘The best thing for me to do will be to vomit it up. 
Well, now I am going to try it.” After a few attempts 
I gave up. I thought to myself, “Well, now you have done 
it! You have been going around trying everything and now 
you have succeeded in doing something that will harm you. 
What is it? It seems to be alive and moving around in my 
stomach. If only some of my people were here! ‘That 

would have been much better. Now, no one will know 
what became of me; I have killed myself.” 

Just then the object within me seemed to be coming out. 
It seemed almost out and I put my hand in my mouth to 
feel it, but then it went back again. “Oh my! I should 
never have done it at the very start. Never again will I 
do it. I am surely going to die!” 

So we continued and then day dawned and I laughed. 
Before that I had been unable to laugh. 

The following night we were to eat the peyote again. I 
thought to myself, “Last night it almost harmed me.” 
“Well, let us eat the peyote again,”’ the people said and I 
answered, ‘‘All right, I'll do it.” So we ate seven peyote 
apiece. 

Suddenly I saw a big snake. I was very much fright- 
ened. Then another one came crawling over me. “My 
God! Where are these snakes coming from?” There at 
my back there seemed to be something also. So I looked 
around and saw a snake about. to swallow me entirely. It 
had legs and arms and a long tail. The end of its tail was 
like a spear. “O God! I am surely going to die now,” I 
thought. Then I turned in another direction and I saw a 
man with horns and long claws and with a spear in his hand. 
He jumped for me and I threw myself on the ground. He 
missed me. Then I looked back. This time he started 
back but it seemed to me that he was directing his spear at 
me. Again I threw myself on the ground and he missed 
me. There seemed to be no possible escape for me. Then 
it suddenly occurred to me, “Perhaps it is the peyote that 
is doing this to me? Help me, O Medicine, help me! It is 
you who are doing this and you who are holy! Not these 
frightful visions are causing this. I should have known 
that it was you, indeed, who were doing it! Help me!” 

[180 | 

a 

C Spas g Thode . : : 

fe 

VPA 

_ Then my suffering stopped. “As long as the earth shall 

last, that long will I make use of you, O Medicine!” 

This had lasted a night and a day. For a whole night 
I had not slept. 

_ Then we breakfasted and when we were through I said, 
“Let us eat peyote again to-night.” That evening I ate 
eight peyote. 

In the middle of the night I saw God. To God living 
up above, our father, I prayed. “Have mercy upon me! 
Give me knowledge that I may not say and do evil things. 
To you, O God, I am trying to pray. Do thou, O Son of 
God, help me too. This religion, let me know this religion!” 
Thus I spoke and sat very quiet. Then I beheld the morn- 
ing star and it was good to look upon; the light was good 
to look upon. I had been frightened during the night but 
now I was happy. Now as the light appeared it seemed 
to me that nothing would be invisible to me. I seemed to 
see everything clearly. Then I thought of my home and as 
I looked around there I saw the house in which I lived 
far away among the Winnebago. It was quite close to me. 
There at the window I saw my children at play and I saw 
a man going to my house carrying a jug of whisky. Then 
he gave them something to drink and the one who had 
brought the whisky got drunk and annoyed the people. 
Finally he ran away. ‘So this is what they are doing?” 
I thought to myself. Then I beheld my wife. She came 
out and stood outside the door wearing a red blanket. She 
was thinking of going to the flag pole and was wondering 
which road to take. “If I take this road I am likely to 
meet some people, but if I take the other, I am not likely 
to encounter any one.” 

Indeed it is good. They are all well—my brother, my 
sister, my father, my mother. I felt very good indeed. O 

[181 | 

Medicine, grandfather, most assuredly you are holy! All fei 

that is connected with you, that I would like to know and 
that I would like to understand. Help me! I give myself 
up to you entirely! 

For three days and for three nights I had been eating 
the peyote and not slept at all. Now I realized that 
throughout all the years that I had lived, I had never 
once known a truly holy thing. Now, for the first time, 
I knew it. Would that some of the Winnebago might also 
know it! 

Many years ago I had been sick and it looked as if this 
sickness were going to kill me. I tried all the Winnebago 
doctors and then I tried all of the white man’s medicines, 
all were of no avail. I thought to myself, “You are 
doomed. I wonder whether you will be alive next year?” 
Such were the thoughts that came to me. As soon as I 
ate the peyote, however, I got over my sickness. After 
that I was not sick again. My wife suffered from the same 
disease and I told her that if she ate the peyote it would 
cure her. She was afraid although she had never seen it 
before. She knew that I had used it and yet was afraid. 
Her sickness, however, got worse and worse and one day 
I said to her, “You are sick. It is going to be very diffi- 
cult but try the peyote anyhow. It will ease you.” Finally 
she ate it. I had told her to eat it and then wash herself 
and comb her hair and that she would get well. She got 
entirely well. I painted her face and took my gourd and 
began singing to her very much. Then I stopped. “In- 
deed, you are right,” she said, “for now I am well.” From 
that day to the present she has been well. Now she is very 
happy. 

A man named Black-waterspirit was having a hemorrhage 
at about that time and I wanted him to eat the peyote. 

he 

Well,” said he, “I am not going to live anyhow.” “Eat 

the peyote nevertheless,” I said, “and you will get cured.” 
Before that consumptives never were cured and now for 
the first time one was cured. Black-waterspirit is living to- 
day and is very well. 

Then there was a man named Walking-priest. He was 
very fond of whisky, chewed, smoked, and gambled. He 
was also terribly addicted to women. Indeed he did every- 
thing bad. I gave him some of the peyote and he gave up 
all the bad things he was doing. He had a very dangerous 
disease. He even had murder in his heart. To-day he is 
living a good life. Such is his desire. 

Whoever has any evil thoughts, let him eat the peyote 
and he will lose all his bad habits. It is a cure for every- 
thing bad. 

To-day the Winnebago say that only God is holy. One 
of the Winnebago told me this: “Really the life that I 
led was a very bad one. Never again will I do it. This 
medicine is good and always will I use it.” John Harrison 
and Squeaking-wings were prominent members of the Medi- 
cine Dance; they thought much of themselves, as did all 
the members of the Medicine Dance. They knew all the 
secrets of the ritual. Both of them were gamblers and 
were rich because they were gamblers. Their parents had 
acquired great wealth by giving medicines to the Winne- 
bago. These two men were very rich and believed that they 
had a right to be selfish with their possessions. Then they 
ate the peyote and ever since that time they have been 
followers of the peyote. They were very ill at one time and 
now they have been cured of their illness. Now if there 
are any men who can be taken as examples of the workings 
of the peyote, it is these three I have mentioned. Even if 
a man were blind and had only heard of these three men he 

f 

would realize that if any medicine is good it is this one. It — 

is a cure for all evil. 
Before I thought that I knew something but really I 
knew nothing. It is only now that I have real knowledge. 

In my former life I was like one blind and deaf. My heart — 

ached when I thought of what I had done. Never again 

will I do it. This medicine:alone is holy, has made me — 

good and rid me of all evil. The one whom we call God 
has given me this. That I know positively. Let them 
all come here; men and women; let them bring with them 
all that they desire; let them bring with them their diseases. 
If they come here they will get well. This is all true; it is 
all true. Bring whatever desires you possess along with 
you and then come and eat or drink this medicine. This 
is life, the only life. Then you will learn something of 
yourself. Come with your disease for this medicine will 
cure it. Whatever you have, come and eat this medicine 
and you will have true knowledge once and for all. Learn 
of this medicine yourself through actual experience. 

If you just hear about it you are not likely to try it. 
If you desire real knowledge you must partake of it for then 
you will learn of things that you had never known before. 
In no other way can you ever get happy. I know that 
all sorts of excuses will run through your head for not 
partaking of it, but if you wish to learn of something good, 
try it. Perhaps you will think to yourself that it will be 
too difficult and this will seem a good excuse for not trying 
it. Why, however, should you do this? Even if you par- 
take of only part of the good claimed, yet I know that you 
will say to yourself, “Well, this life is good enough.” After 
you have taken it for the first time, it will seem as if you 
were digging a grave for yourself with it, that you were 
about to die. Indeed you will be wondering what was going 

ae 
ee 
a 
f 

ag 

oa iba 

sly es 

_ to happen to you. The coffin will be set before you and you 
will see your own body. If you wish to inquire further 
about where you are going you will discover something that 
you had, not known before. Two roads there are, one lead- 
ing to a hole in the earth and the other extending above. 
You will learn something that you had not known before. 
Of the two roads, one is dark, the other is light. You must 
choose one of these while you are alive and you must decide 
therefore whether you wish to continue in your evil ways or 
whether you intend to abandon them. These are the two 
roads. The peyote people see them. They claim that only if 
you weep and repent will you be able to attain knowledge. 
Do not, as I said before, listen to others talking about 
this medicine, but try it yourself. That is the only way 
to find out. No other medicine can accomplish what this 
has done. If, therefore, you make use of it, you will live. 
People who have eaten peyote throw aside all the evil cere- 
monies that they performed before. Only by eating the 
peyote will you learn what is truly holy. That is what 
I am trying to learn myself. 

It is now twenty-three years since I ate the peyote and 
I am still doing it (1912). Before that, my heart had been 
filled with murderous thoughts. I wanted to kill my 
brother and my sister. It seemed to me that my heart 
would not feel good until I killed one of them. All my 
thoughts were fixed on the warpath. That is all I thought 
of. Now I know that this was all caused by the evil spirit 
that possessed me. I was suffering from a disease. I even 
desired to kill myself; I did not care to live. That feeling 
too was caused by this evil spirit dwelling within me. Then 
I ate the peyote and became attached to them and I wanted 
them to live. 

This the medicine had accomplished. 

When John Rave had finished I ate five peyote. 
Then my brother-in-law and my sister came and gave 
themselves up. They asked me to stand there with 
them. I did not like it, but I did it nevertheless. 
“Why should I give myself up? I am not in earnest 
and I intend to stop this as soon as I get back to 
Wisconsin. I am only doing this because they have 
given me presents,” I thought. “I might as well get 
up, however, since it doesn’t mean anything to me.” 
So I stood up. The leader began to talk and I sud- 
denly began to feel sick. It got worse and worse and 
finally I lost consciousness. When I came to, I found 
myself lying on my back. Those with whom I had 
been standing were still there. As a matter of fact, 
I had regained consciousness as soon as I fell down. 
I felt like leaving the place that night but I did not 
do it. I was quite tired out. ‘“Why have I done 
this?” I said to myself. “I promised my sister that I 
would not do it.” So I thought and I tried to leave 
but I couldn’t. I suffered intensely. At last day — 
dawned. Now I thought that they regarded me as 
one who had had a trance and had seen something. 

Then we went home and they showed me a passage 
in the Bible where it said that it was a shame for any 
man to wear long hair. I looked at the passage. I was 
not a man learned in books, but I wanted to give the 
impression that I knew how to read so I told them to 
cut my hair. I was still wearing it long at the time. 
After my hair was cut I took out a lot of medicines, 
many small bundles of them. These and my shorn hair 

_ I gave to my brother-in-law. Then I cried and my 

ae, 

brother-in-law also cried. He thanked me, told me 
that I understood and that I had done well. He told 
me that Earthmaker alone was holy; that all the bless- 
ings and medicine I possessed were false; that I had 
been fooled by the bad spirit. He told me that I had 
now freed myself from much of this bad influence. My 
relatives expressed their thanks fervently. 

On the fourth night of my stay they had another 
meeting and I went to it again. There I again ate 
peyote. I enjoyed it and sang along with the others. I 
wanted to be able to sing immediately. Some young 
men were singing and I enjoyed it so I prayed to Earth- 
maker and asked him to let me learn to sing right away. 
That was all I asked for. My brother-in-law was with 

me all the time. At that meeting all the things I had 

given my brother-in-law were burnt up. 

Now the fact that my brother-in-law had told me 
that I understood, had pleased me and I felt good 
when daylight came. As a matter of fact, I had not 
received any knowledge at all. I thought, however, 
that this was the proper way to act, so I did it. After 

that, I would attend meetings occasionally and I looked 

around for a woman whom I cared to marry perma- 
nently. Before long that was the only thing that I 
would think of when I attended the meetings.

On one occasion we were to have a meeting of men 
and women and I went to it with a woman, the one 
with whom I thought I would go around the next day. 
That was the only reason I went with her. When we 
arrived at the meeting, the leader asked me to sit near 
him and there I was placed. He urged me to eat many 
peyote and I did so. Now the leaders of the ceremony 
always place the sacred objects in front of themselves. 
The sacred peyote was also placed there. Now the one 
this particular leader placed in front of himself this 
time was a very small one. “Why does he have a very 
small one?” I thought to myself. However, I did not 
think of this matter long. 

It was now late at night. I had eaten a lot of peyote 
and felt rather tired. I suffered considerably. After a 
while I looked at the peyote, and there I saw an eagle 
standing with outspread wings. It was as beautiful a 
sight as could well be observed. Each of the feathers 
seemed to have a mark. The eagle stood there looking 
at me. I turned my gaze, thinking that perhaps there 
was something the matter with my sight, but then when 
I looked again the eagle was still present. Again I 
turned around and when I looked at the spot where 
the eagle had stood, it was gone and only the small 

Ss 
a 

z. 
Aes 

ity 

peyote remained. I then watched the other people, 

but they all had their heads bowed and were praying. 

Suddenly I saw a lion lying in the same place where 
before I had seen the eagle. I watched it very closely 
and when I turned my eyes for the least little bit, it 
disappeared. “I suppose all those present are aware 
of this and I am just beginning to find out,” I thought. 
Then I saw a small person at the same place. He wore 
blue clothes and a shining brimmed cap. He had ona 
soldier’s uniform and was sitting on the arm of the 
person who was drumming, scrutinizing everybody. 
He was a little man but perfect in all proportions. 
Finally I lost sight of him. I was very much surprised 
indeed. I sat very quietly. “So this is what it is,” I 
thought. “This is what they all probably see and 
which I am just now beginning to find out.” 

Then I prayed to Earthmaker, to God: 

“This, your ceremony, let me hereafter perform!”

As I looked again I saw a flag. I looked more care- — 
fully and I saw the house full of flags. They had the 
most beautiful marks on them. In the middle of the 
room there was a large flag, a living one. It was mov- | 
ing. In the doorway there was another one not entirely 
visible. I had never seen anything so beautiful in all 
my life before. 

Again I prayed to God. I bowed my head and closed 
my eyes and began to speak. I said many things that 
I would ordinarily never have spoken about. As I 
prayed I was aware of something above me and there 
He was, He to whom I was speaking, God. That which 
we call the soul, that it is which is God. This is what 
T felt and saw. The one called Earthmaker, God, is a 
spirit and He it was I felt and saw. At least this is 
what I learned. I instantly became their spirit; I was 
their spirit or soul. Whatever they thought of I imme- 
diately knew. I did not have to speak to them and get 
an answer to know what their thoughts were. Then I 
thought of a certain place far away, and immediately 
IT was there. I was my thought. 

I looked about and watched the people around me 
and then when I opened my eyes I was myself in body 
again. From now on thus it shall be, I felt. This is 

3 ¢ 

_ the way they are and I am only now beginning to find 
4 out. ‘All those who heed God must be thus. I shall 
not need any more food for am I not my spirit? I shall 
have no more use of my body; my corporeal affairs are 
over.” Thus I felt. 

Then all stopped and left the lodge, for it had begun 
to dawn. Some one spoke to me. I did not answer, 
for I thought they were just fooling and that they were 
like myself, that therefore it would be unnecessary for 
me to speak to them. So instead of speaking I an- 
swered with a smile. “They are just saying this to 
me because they realize that I have only now found 
out,” I thought. That was why I didn’t answer. I did 
not speak to any one until noon. Then I had to leave 
the house to urinate and some one followed me. It 
was my friend. He said, “My friend, what troubles 
you that makes you act as you do?” ‘Well, there’s no 
need of your saying anything, for you know it before- 
hand,” I said. After saying this I got over my trance 
and was restored to my normal condition. My friend 
had to speak to me before I knew his thoughts. I 
became like my former self. 

Then I spoke to him and said, “My friend, let us 
hitch up the horses and then I will go wherever you 
like, for you wish to speak to me and I also want to 
speak to you.” I continued, “If I were to tell you all 
that I have learned, I should never be able to stop, so 
much have I learned. Yet I shall gladly tell some of 
it.’ “Good,” said he. He liked what I tcld him very 
much. “I am anxious to hear what you have seen,” he 

Z

Now ever since that time, no matter where I am, I 
always think of this religion. I still remember it and 
I think I shall remember it as long as I live. It is 
the only holy thing that I have become aware of in 
all my life. 

After that, whenever I heard of a peyote meeting, 
I went to it. 

My thoughts, however, were still always fixed on 
women. “If I were married legally, perhaps these 
thoughts would leave me,” I thought. Whenever I 
went to a meeting, therefore, I tried to eat as many 
peyote as possible, for I was told that it was good to 
do that. I always prayed to Earthmaker as I sat there. 
Such were my thoughts. “If I were married,” I 
thought, “then I should be able to put all my thoughts 
- on this ceremony.” I sat with my eyes closed, very 
‘quiet. 

Suddenly I saw something. It was an object all tied 
up. The rope with which this object was tied up was 
long and the object itself was running around and 
around in a circle. A road was present in which it 
ought to have gone, but the object was so tied up that 
it was unable to reach it. The road was an excellent 
one. Along its edge grew blue grass and on each side 

grew many varieties of pretty flowers. Serecbsineieee “ 

flowers sprang up all along its path. Far off in the 
distance appeared a bright light. There a city was 
visible, of beauty indescribable. A cross was in full 
sight. The object tied up would always just fall short 
of reaching the road. It seemed to lack sufficient 
strength to break loose from whatever it was that was 
holding it. Nearby lay something that would have 
given it sufficient strength to break its fastenings if it 
were only able to get there. 

I looked at what was so inextricably tied upsand I 
saw that it was myself. I was forever thinking of 
woman. “This it is with which I am tied,” I thought 
to myself. ‘Were I married I would have strength 
enough to break my fastenings and be able to travel in 
the good road.” Then daylight came upon us and the 
ceremony stopped. 

Then I thought of a man I used to know, an old 
peyote man. He always spoke kindly to me. I went 
over to see him. I-thought that I would tell him what 
had happened to me. He was very glad and told me 
that I was speaking of a very good thing. Then finally 
he said, ““Now I shall tell you what I think is a good 
thing for you to do. You know that if an old horse is 
balky, you cannot break him of this habit; even if 
you had bought him and tried to break him, you would 
not succeed. If, indeed, you had succeeded, it would 
only be after very hard work. However, if you had a 
young horse, you could train it in any way you wished. 
So it is in everything. If you marry a woman who has 

_ been in the habit of getting married frequently, it 
_ would be difficult for her to break herself of the habit 
_ she loved. You are not the one she loves. If you 
_ marry her, you will lead a hard life. If you wish to get 
-Inarried, take your time. There are plenty of good 
women. Many of them are at government schools and 
have never been married. I think you would do best 
if you waited for some of these girls. They will re- 
_ turn in the middle of summer. So don’t think of any 
_ of these women you see around here, but wait until 
then and pray to God patiently. That will be the best, 
I think.” I liked what he told me and thanked him. 
I decided to accept his advice, and I did not look 
around for women after that. I was to wait for about 
three months and during that time I paid strict at- 
_ tention to the peyote ceremony. 
On one occasion while at a meeting, I suffered great 
_ pain. My eyes were sore and I was thinking of many 
_ things. “Now I do nothing but pay attention to this 
ceremony, for it is good.” Then I called the leader 
over to me and said to him, “My elder brother, here- 
after I shall only regard Earthmaker as holy. I will 
make no more offerings of tobacco. I will not use any 
more tobacco. I will not smoke, nor will I chew to- 
_ bacco. I have no further interest in these things. 
_ Earthmaker, God, alone do I desire to serve. Never 
again shall I take part in the Medicine Dance. To you 
dol give up myself completely. I intend to give myself 
up to God’s cause.” Thus I spoke tohim. “It is good, 
younger brother,” he said to me. Then he had me 

AWAY te 

stand up and he prayed to God. He asked God to : 
forgive me my sins. se 

The next morning I was taken home. My eyes were 
sore and I could not see. They took me back to my 
house and there they put a solution of the peyote in 
my eyes and I got well in a week. ; 

One night when I was asleep I dreamed that the 
world had come to an end. Some people God took 
while some belonged to the bad spirit. I belonged to 
the bad spirit. Although I had become a peyote man 
I had not as yet been baptized. That was why God 
did not take me. All those who belonged to God were 
marked, but I was not. I felt very bad about it when 
I woke up, even although I had only dreamed it. I 
felt very bad indeed. I wanted them to hurry and 
have another peyote meeting soon. I could hardly 
wait until I reached the place where the next meeting 
was to take place. I immediately told the leader what 
I wanted and asked him to baptize me and he baptized 
me in the morning. After that I felt better. 

Then I went to work and I worked with a railroad 
work gang. I was still working when the time for the 
midsummer celebration approached. I always went to 
the peyote meeting on Saturday nights. 

The old man was right in what he had told me. The 
girl students returned in the summer. Shortly after 
they returned, a man, a friend of mine, who had gone 
around with me, asked me if I wanted to get married. 
“Yes, I do,” I answered. Then he said, “Listen, I have 
been thinking of something. What kind of a woman do 

a 

eo . 

-. you wish to marry?” I told him what I had in mind. 
‘Then he said, “Come home with me. I have a younger 

sister; I want her to marry a good man; I would like 
to have her marry you.” Then I went home with him. 
When we reached his home and discussed the matter, 
the girl gave her consent. The parents also consented. 
So there I got married, and what I expected has taken 
place and I have lived with her ever since. On one 
occasion, after she was used to me, she told me this: 
Before she had married, she had determined that, if 
she ever got married, she would not care to marry a 
very young man. “I wanted a man who ate peyote and 
who paid attention to the ceremony.” Such a man she 
desired and such a person she said I was. She loved 
me and she was glad that she had married me. This is 
what she had asked God for in her prayers. “And 
indeed it has happened as I wished,” she said. She be- 
lieved that it was the will of God that we had done this. 
Together we gave ourselves up to the peyote at a meet- 
ing. From that time on we have remained members 
of the peyote religion.

Many things are said under the influence of the 
peyote. The members get into a kind of trance and 
speak many things. On one occasion they had a 
peyote meeting which lasted two nights. I ate many 
peyote. The next morning I tried to sleep. I suffered 
a great deal. I lay down in a very comfortable position. 
After a while a fear arose in me. I could not remain 
in that place, so I went out into the prairie, but here 
again I was seized with this fear. Finally I returned 
to a lodge near the one in which the peyote meeting 
was being held, and there I lay down alone. I feared 
that I might do something foolish to myself if I re- 
mained there alone, and I hoped that some one would 
come and talk to me. Then some one did come and 
talk to me, but I did not feel any better. I went in- 
side the lodge where the meeting was taking place. 
“T am going inside,” I told him. He laughed, “All 
right, go in.” I went in and sat down. It was very 
hot and I felt as though I was going to die. I was 
very thirsty, but I feared to ask for water. I thought 
that I was certainly going to die. I began to totter 
over. 

I died and my body was moved by another life. I 
began to move about and make signs. It was not my- 

self doing it and I could not see it. At last it stood up. 
The eagle feathers and the gourds, these it said, were 
holy. They also had a large book there. What was 
contained in that book, my body saw. It was the Bible. 
The sacred objects were not holy, but they were good 
ornaments. My body said that if any one paid atten- 
tion to God’s ceremony, he would be hearkening to what 
the Bible said. God’s Son said that He was the only 
way. This means that one can only live from the word. 
My body spoke of many things and it spoke of what 
was true. It spoke of all the things that were being 
done by the Winnebago and that were evil. It spoke a 
long time and then stopped. Not I, but my body stand- 
ing there, had done the talking. I should be confessing 
myself a fool if I were to think that I had said all this, 
my body told me. 

After a while I returned to my normal condition. 
Some of the people present had been frightened think- 
ing that I had gone crazy. Others, on the other hand, 
liked it. It was discussed a good deal; they called it 
the “shaking” state. It was claimed that the condition 
in which I had been was not part of God’s religion. I 
was told that whoever ate a lot of peyote would, through 
the peyote, be taught the teachings of God. God’s 
ways and man’s ways are different. Whoever therefore 
wished to help this religion must give himself up to it. 
If you eat a good deal of the peyote and believed that it 
could teach you something, then it assuredly would do 
so. That, at least, is the way in which I understand 
this matter. 

BSS 

Once we had a meeting at the home of a member who 
was sick. The sick would always get well when a meet- _ 
ing was held in their home and that is why we used to 
hold them there. At this particular meeting I got into 
the shaking condition again. My body told us how our 
religion was an affair of God’s and how even if one 
knew only a portion of it, one could still partake of it. 
Thus it spoke. ‘God, His Son, and His Holiness, these 
are the three ways of saying it. Even if you know one 
of these three, it means all. Every one of you has the 
means of opening the road to Earthmaker. It is given 
to all of you. With belief you can open the door to 
God. You cannot open it with knowledge alone. How 
many letters are there to the key, to the road? Three. 
What are they? ‘There were many educated people 
present, but none of them said anything. “The first 
letter must be K.” If, therefore, a person said K, that 
would be the whole of it. “But let me look into the 
Bible and see what it means,” said the body. Then 
the body took the Bible and began turning the leaves. 
The body did not know where the passage was itself. 
Finally in Matthew, Chapter 16, it stopped. There it 
speaks about it. ‘Peter did not give himself up,” it 
says. “For a long time he could not give up his own 
knowledge.” There, in that passage, it says Key. 
That is the work of God. At least, so I understand it. 
He made use of my body and acted in this manner in 
the case of the peyote. 

At one meeting O. L. spoke about the old stories. 
He spoke as follows: 

[200 | 

_ The old people often spoke of the Trickster, but we 

_ never knew what they meant. They told us how he 

i 

ee eae eee 
x Nv AY ‘ 
% \ det 

a PN oe 

shih ie ila ac laid 

_ wrapped a coonskin blanket around himself and went to 

a place where all the people were dancing. There he 

danced until evening and then he stopped and turned 

around. No one was to be seen anywhere and then he 
realized that he had mistaken for people dancing the noise 
made by the wind blowing through the reeds. 

So do we Winnebago act. We never look before we act. 
We do everything without thinking. We think we know 
all about it. 

The Trickster was walking around with a pack on his 

_ back. As he walked along, some one called to him: “Say, 

we want you to sing.” “All right,” said he. “I am carry- 
ing songs in my pack and if you wish to dance, build a 
large lodge for me with a small hole at the end for an 
entrance.” When it was finished, they all went in and the 
Trickster followed them. Those who had spoken to him 
were birds. He told them that while dancing they were 
not to open their eyes, for if they did, their eyes would 
become red. Whenever a fat bird passed the Trickster, 
he would choke it to death, and if it cried out, he would 
say, “That’s it! That’s it! Give a whoop!” 
, After a while, one of the birds got somewhat suspicious 
and opened its eyes just the least little bit. He saw that 
the Trickster was choking all the birds. “He is killing 
us all,” said the bird. “Let all who can, run for their 
lives.” Then he flew out through the top of the house. 
The Trickster took the birds he had killed and roasted 
them, but he did not get a chance to eat them, for they 
were stolen from him. 

So are we Winnebago. We like all that is forbidden. 
We say that we like the Medicine Dance; we say that it 

[2or] 

is good and yet we keep it secret and forbid people to wit- 
ness it. We tell members of the dance not to speak of it 
until the world shall come to an end. They are afraid to 
speak of it. We, the Winnebago, are the birds, and the 
Trickster is Satan. 

Once, as the Trickster was going along the road, some 
one spoke to him. He listened, and he heard it say, “If 
any one eats me, all bad things will come out of him.” 
Then the Trickster went up to the one talking and said, 
“What is your name?” “My name is Blows-himself-away.” 
The Trickster would not believe it; so he ate the thing. 
After a while he blew himself away. He laughed. “Oh, 
pshaw! I suppose this is what it meant.” As he went 
along it grew worse and worse and it was only after the 
greatest hardship that he succeeded in returning home. 

So are we Winnebago. We travel on this earth all our 
lives and then when one of us tastes something that makes 
him unconscious, we look upon this thing with suspicion 
when he regains consciousness. 

From that time on I go about everywhere telling 
every one that this religion is good. Many other 
people at home said the same thing. Many, likewise, 
have joined this religion and are getting along nicely. 

On one occasion after I had eaten a good deal of 
peyote, I learned the following from it; that all I had 
done in the past had been evil. This was plainly 
revealed to me. What I thought was holy, and by thus 
thinking was lost, that I now know was false. It is 
false, this giving of pagan feasts, of holding the old 
‘Winnebago things holy, such as the Medicine Dance 
and all the other customs. 

Crashing Thundee ee 

ok 
te

I have written about all these matters and I have 
spoken out very clearly in all I have told you. I talked 
to the older people when you first asked me to get this 
information for you, but they refused to do it. I 
thought I would write down and tell you all these 
things so that those who came after me would not be 
deceived.*? Then you asked me to obtain this informa- 
tion for you and in this I was aided by my brother and 
by O. L. 

Before I joined the peyote I went about in a most 
pitiable condition, and now I am living happily and my 
wife has a fine baby. 

This is the work predestined for me to do. This is 
the end of it. 

32 This is the reason I gave when trying to induce the Winnebago 
to give me information.