The Story of the Lost Limb

  Predominant
Common
Elements 		Crow Crow 2 Hidatsa Oglala 1 Oglala 2 Dakota Arikara 1 Arikara 2 Hocąk Maya Mixe

Carib

(Lost Leg)
Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3
[1] A Bad Spirit, Long Arm is a bad spirit.       Long Arm     Fallen Star's father, a bad spirit,   Long Arm is a bad spirit of the Upper World. Long Arm is a bad spirit of the Upper World. The disloyal Hena A bad spirit   Seven Macaw, a bad spirit, A flying monster A certain female Tapir,
[2] whose stellar identity lies in the Big Dipper, One of the Twins is the last star of the Big Dipper (Dubhe ?).             is Dubhe of the Big Dipper.             who is the Big Dipper,   who later became the Hyades,
[3] rules (within) one of the cosmic domains Long Arm rules over an Above World       rules over an Above World.             is the leader (on earth) rules over an Underworld   rules over the epoch before the present creation. rules over the pinnacle of a mountain.  
[4] over certain animals native to that domain. populated by birds,                     of the brothers of Įcorúšika, who are foxes and coyotes, and populated by Waterspirits,   He is a bird, a Scarlet Macaw.    
[5] His subjects (also) include a group of bad spirits and over certain bad spirits       Because they had killed evil spirits             who are engaged in evil. specifically Bad Waterspirits. Also a witch   His subjects are a race of wooden manikins, Among his captives were a group of people who would come to disobey the Twins.  
[6] who live on earth. on earth       on earth,             They live on earth. living on earth   who live on earth. They had lived on earth.  
[7] These terrestrial subjects were adopted into his family. who were adopted by them.                     They were adopted by the good brothers of Įcorúšika. was a sister of the Bad Waterspirits. The brothers propose that Įcorúšika also marry her.   They adopted Seven Macaw as their sun and moon. They were made captive by the monster.  
[8] The adoptees came into conflict with two or more Brothers. These latter had come into conflict with two brothers,                 Long Arms attempted to seize Long Arms took These adoptees come into conflict with the three good brothers. She came into conflict with Įcorúšika.   The Heart of the Sky (Huracán) is resolved to destroy them, and appointed to carry this out are Some of these captives later came into conflict with the siblings. had her food spoiled by the Twins.
[X] The Brothers are the Hero Twins. the Twins.     The brothers are the Twins. the Twins         the Twins. one of the Twins, Long Teeth. Kunu is a forked man split at the waist.     the Twins. These siblings were Twins. The brothers are the Hero Twins.
[9] The subjects of the Bad Spirit resent what (one of) the Brothers had done to the adoptees. The Sky Spirits are angry about what the Twins have done to the adoptees.       are considered to be dangerous by Long Arm's subjects,           In the sky world the old woman says that the Twins have been killing holy things in the world below, and that is why they are captives. The fact that Įcorúšika took the best woman as his own wife angered his adopted brothers.         The Tapir resented the fact that the Twins had ruined her food.
[10] The subjects of the Bad Spirit persuade him to capture and kill the offending Brother. The Sky Spirits persuade Long Arm to capture and kill one of the brothers.       so they persuade Long Arm to capture one of them.             Hena persuades the other brothers to plot the captivity and death of Įcorúšika. The brothers persuade the woman to cause the capture and death of Įcorúšika.       She beat the boys, then fled into the woods.
[11] The captors intend to eat their captive. The captors intend to eat Curtain Boy.                       The captors intend to eat Įcorúšika.        
[12] The Brothers go out on a hunting trip. The Twins go out on a hunting trip.                       The brothers go out on a hunting trip. Įcorúšika hunts for the woman who betrayed him. The Twins are out hunting. The Twins were seeking shelter, but were turned away. The Twins chase after her.
[13] The Brothers lie down on the ground. The two brothers sleep outside.                 The Twins lay down on the ground. The Twins were laying on the ground.   Įcorúšika lies down in the woman's lodge.   The Twins are on the ground. The Twins fell asleep in an old maize granary.  
[14] The Bad Spirit causes one of the Brothers to pass through a hole leading to another cosmic domain. Long Arm reaches down and pulls Curtain Boy up through the hole in the sky, Long Arm pulls Curtain Boy through the hole in the sky. Spring Boy shoots himself through the hole.   Long Arm draws up one of the Twins through the hole in the sky, She sucks him up a whirlwind into the hole in the sky. Red Calf follows the whirlwind through the hole in the sky.     Long Arms snatches up Long Tooth through the hole in the sky. Long Arms snatches up Long Teeth through the hole in the sky.   The woman invites him to go to the back of the lodge where he falls through a hole in the earth Įcorúšika chases the woman down a hole in the ground,   A giant animal carried them away to the pinnacle of a high mountain.  
[15] This hole is not readily visible. which is almost impossible to see.       which is hard to see.               which was concealed from view. which is concealed from view as a post hole.   (There no one could see them.)  
[16] His other Brother(s) does not know where he has gone or what has happened to him. Spring Boy does not know where Curtain Boy went or what happened to him. Spring Boy can't find where Curtain Boy went.     The other Twins does not know where his brother has gone. Iron Hawk's wife shows up to swim with him, but she can't find him.     One of a pair of friends disappears.   He did not know where he had gone or what had happened to him,   His other good brothers do not know where he has gone or what happened to him.     The Twins did not know where they were or how they had gotten there.  
[17] The first Brother finds the hole through which his Brother had traveled.     Spring Boy spots the hole through which his brother went.   The other Twins sees a ray of light and is able to see the hole. Iron Hawk ferries an Uŋḣćéġila across a creek. With the help of his mother, he finds the spot where his father had disappeared. Fallen Star enters the heavens through the hole in the trapezium of the Dipper.   The other Twin shoots himself into the sky but Drinks Brains searched the whole sky and found the hole.         (They acquired arrows from material on the mountain top.)  
[18] The first Brothers transforms himself (into an animal or a little boy).     Spring Boy transforms himself into an arrow. Later, Spring Boy transforms himself into a little child.   He transforms himself into a little boy. Iron Hawk and his wife had transformed themselves into buffaloes. Red Calf transforms himself into a hawk.   He transforms himself into a mouse. by turning himself into an arrow. Later he makes himself into an ant. He shoots himself through the hole in the form of an arrow. He changed into a little boy,       When they join their grandparents, they transform themselves into little boys.    
[19] The Brother comes upon one village after another of birds.     Spring Boy comes upon one village after another of birds.       Red Calf comes upon one village after another of birds.               The Twins come to the tree where Seven Macaw feeds. They found themselves below a tree where the (avian) creature was perched.  
[20] The Brother was put up by an old woman at the last village.     Spring Boy was put up by an old woman at the last village.   He was put up by an old woman.   Red Calf was put up by an old woman at the last village.       and came to the lodge of an old woman.       The Twins join up with their grandmother and grandfather.    
[21] She told him that someone (his Brother) was to be eaten on the morrow.     She told him that a mischievous boy was to be eaten on the morrow.   She told him about his brother, who had been crucified.   She told him that a man in the form of a buffalo was to be eaten on the morrow.       Long Teeth was being cooked over a fire.   The Waterspirits intend to eat Įcorúšika.        
[22] He went with the woman to watch the spectacle.     He went with the woman to watch the spectacle.       He went with the woman to watch the spectacle.       The woman took him to watch the spectacle.       They went to retrieve Hunaphu's lost arm.    
[23] When the other Brother appeared, the first Brother recognized him,     When Spring Boy appeared, his brother recognized him.       When Red Calf appeared, his father recognized him.       When the other Brother appeared, the first Brother recognized him,            
[24] although no one else did.     He was not recognized by Long Arm.   He was not recognized.   He was not recognized by the people.       although no one else did.       The Twins went unrecognized.    
[25] The Bad Spirit encircled the Brother with bonds. Long Arm binds Curtain Boy by surrounding him with his arms.   Curtain Boy was bound by the arms of Long Arm.   The first Twin was bound   Red Calf was held in place by a Rock Woman (Uŋḣćéġila) attached to his hip.   He found his friend tied He was bound Long Teeth was bound with rope.   Įcorúšika is bound in irons. Įcorúšika chases her through the center of plants and trees. Hunaphu's arm was hung They were held on an inescapable rocky mountain top  
[26] The captive Brother is suspended high above the ground.         to a tree.       to a pole with the arm suspended above him. over the smoke hole of the lodge.         over Seven Macaw's fireplace. high in the air.  
[27] Someone sympathetic to the captive brother tried to persuade the Bad Spirit to free him. Spring Boy tries to persuade Long Arm to free Curtain Boy.                       Otter tries to persuade the Waterspirit chief to free Įcorúšika.        
[28] The Bad Spirit refused to let him go. He will not let him go.                       He will not let him go.        
[29] Someone from the domain of water tried to persuade the Bad Spirit to free the captive. He asks a second time.                       Loon asks the Waterspirit chief to let Įcorúšika go.     The female Twin gave an incantation and urinated, but created only fruit trees.  
[30] The Bad Spirit refused a second time. Again Long Arm refuses to free Curtain Boy.                       Again the chief refuses to free Įcorúšika.     They cannot use these to escape.  
[31] One of the Brothers broke the captive's bonds. Spring Boy cuts the bonds holding his brother Curtain Boy.       Disguised as a spider, the second Twin broke his brother's bonds.       In his mouse form, he chews through the bonds holding his friend to the pole.   Drinks Brains cut the rope binding his brother.   Įcorúšika breaks his own bonds.     However, the boy Twin is able to generate vines thus freeing them,  
[32] One Brother shot the stone associated with the Bad Spirit.     Spring Boy first shot an arrow at Long Arm's stone, and it bled;       Red Calf shot an arrow at the Rock Woman, which shattered her into pieces.               One of the Twins had shot Seven Macaw, breaking his stone tooth; and breaking the power of the crag to imprison them.  
[33] One of the Brothers attacks those holding the captive, killing many of them (including the Bad Spirit). Spring Boy shoots Long Arm with an arrow, killing him.   then Spring Boy shot Long Arm himself dead.                   Įcorúšika attacks the Waterspirits with firebrands, killing many of them. Įcorúšika kills the witch-Waterspirit. later he dies. After the girl failed to hit the creature, the boy shot him to death. One of the Twins attacked the Tapir with a harpoon.
[34] The subjects of the Bad Spirit fled. His subjects all flee.                       The Waterspirits all flee.     The captives escaped.  
[35] The body of the captor(s) is burned with wood. The body of Long Arm is burned with wood.                       The Waterspirits are burned with firebrands.   The world and its wooden inhabitants are destroyed by a flood. The hot Hearthstones shoot out. The Twins burned the body of their captor.  
[36] The two Brothers escape.     The two brothers fled.   The Twins escape.   Iron Hawk and Red Calf fled as a buffalo and a hawk respectively.       Drinks Brains throws his brother over his shoulder and they dash for the hole.   Įcorúšika escapes.   Hunaphu eventually retrieves his arm and they return home.    
[37] The Bad Spirit attempts to prevent the flight of the Brothers by use of his hand.     Long Arm attempts to block the hole with his hand.   Long Arm attempts to black the hole in the sky to prevent their escape,           Long Arm chased after them with his hand.       Hunaphu tries to capture Seven Macaw with his hand.    
[38a] The Bad Spirit rips off the arm of a Good Spirit.               The Thunderbirds rip of the arm of a chief of the star people. Chief of the Buffalo People had his arm stolen.           Seven Macaw had torn off Hunaphu's arm.   The rope of the harpoon accidentally rips the leg off the other Twin.
[38b] One of the Brothers ripped off the Bad Spirit's arm.     Spring Boy rips off Long Arm's arm. The Twins cut Red Woman to ribbons, leaving only her hand. but one of the Twins cuts his hand off.         The Twins had ripped off both arms of Long Arms.

Drinks Brains cuts of Long Arm's hand.

  Įcorúšika struck Hena with his bow,        
[39a] He hung the arm up over a fireplace.               They put the arm in a pot of boiling water. The arm was suspended on a pole to which his friend was fastened. A fire was built at its base. The captive Twin was hung on a tree over a fire.         He hung the arm over the fireplace.    
[40a] One of the Brothers recovered the arm of the Good Spirit, who is made whole.               Star Boy recovers the arm and reunites it with the Chief. The rescuer also recovers the arm and returns it to the Chief of the Buffalo People.6           Hunaphu, with the aid of the grandparents, recovers his arm and reunites it to his body.    
[41] He cast the hand into the sky where it forms stars in Orion.     He casts it into the sky where it forms the Hand Constellation (Orion). Her extended hand was left in the sky as the Hand stars (Orion).2 This is the Hand asterism known as "Orion."     The Hand stars (Orion) are this missing arm. 5     This hand is now seen as a constellation of stars which form its image.   and he turned into a red fox (the smoking star ?). The three good brothers are the Belt of Orion (?). The three Hearthstones shot up into the sky where they formed a new constellation (Orion).   The leg forms the Belt stars of Orion.
[42] The Brothers return to earth from the Otherworld. The Twins descend through the hole in the sky back to earth.   The two of them escape by riding arrows back down through the hole in the sky.   The Twins return to earth from the the sky.   Birds lower the two in a nest through the hole in the sky. 4     The Twins were helped back to earth by Spider Woman.7 The Twins returned to earth.8   Įcorúšika returns to earth.   The Twins return home.    
[43] The Brothers allow certain subjects of the Bad Spirit to live within the cosmic domain of the Middle World (earth). The Twins allow the birds, the subjects of Long Arm, to live on earth.       "... the people in the sky were like birds, they could fly about as they pleased. Since the opening was made in the heavens they may come down to earth."3               Įcorúšika allows Loon (and Otter), who were Waterspirits and nephews of the Chief of the Bad Waterspirits, to live on earth.   The wooden manikins who were the subjects of Seven Macaw became monkeys. The captives on the mountain top were able to descend back to the ground. Those who had obeyed the Twins remained human, but those who did not became lesser animals.  
[44] The Brothers are celestial bodies (stars). The Twins are stars (Evening Star, and the last star of the Big Dipper).1                          Įcorúšika and his two loyal brothers are stars (the Belt Stars of Orion ?).9 The brothers are the sun and the moon (and Huracán is Orion ?)10 The brother and sister became the sun and the moon respectively.11 The one-legged Twin became the Pleiades.12

1 Plenty Hawk, "1. Lodge Boy and Thrown Away," in Robert H. Lowie, "Myths and Traditions of the Crow Indians," Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 25, part 1 (New York: Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, 1918) 74-85.
2 Timothy P. McCleary, The Stars We Know: Crow Indian Astronomy and Lifeways (Prospect Hills, Illinois: Waveland Press, 1997) 51-57.
3 Bear's Arm, "3. The Sacred Arrow," in Martha Warren Beckwith, Myths and Hunting Stories of the Mandan and Hidatsa Sioux, Publications of the Folk-Lore Foundation (Poughkeepsie: Vassar College) #10 (1930): 22-52 [42]. Cf. another version in which the brothers are Atùtish and Mahash, who are themselves raised by the brothers Long Tail and Spotted Body. Mahash rescues his brother by turning into an ant. Washington Matthews, A Folk-tale of the Hidatsa Indians, 136-143 [136-139] = The Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, The United States Geological and Geographical Survey, Miscellaneous Publications, No. 7 (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1877) 63-70.
4 Martha Warren Beckwith, "Mythology of the Oglala Dakota," The Journal of American Folklore, 43, #170 (October-December, 1930): 339-442 [386-389]. Julian Rice, Ella Deloria's Iron Hawk (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1993) Lakota: 38-48, ss. 218-336; English: 78-90.
5 The Sixth Grandfather, Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt, ed. Raymond J. DeMallie (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984) 404-409. Ronald Goodman, Lakota Star Knowledge: Studies in Lakota Stellar Theology (Rosebud Sioux Reservation: Siñte Gleska University, 1992) 27.
6 Ella Deloria, Dakota Texts (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006) 133-137.
7 Lillian Brave (One Kernel of Corn Woman), "63. Long Teeth and Drinks Brain Soup," in Douglas R. Parks, Traditional Narratives of the Arikara Indians. Volume 2, Stories of Other Narrators: Interlinear Linguistic Texts. Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians, 4 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991) 2:693-715 [711-714].
8 Alfred Morsette, "4. Long Teeth and Drinks Brain Soup," in Douglas R. Parks, Traditional Narratives of the Arikara Indians. Volume 1, Stories of Alfred Morsette: Interlinear Linguistic Texts. Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians, 4 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991) 1:22-43 [1:39-43].
9 Paul Radin, "Intcohorúcika," Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Library) Notebook #14.
10 Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, trs. Dennis Tedlock. Revised Edition (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996 [1985]) 71-74, 77-81.
11 Frank J. Lipp, The Mixe of Oaxaca: Religion, Ritual, and Healing (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991) 75-76. Julia Guernsey, Ritual and Power in Stone. The Performance of Rulership in Mesoamerican Izapa Style Art (Austin: University of Texas Press 2006) 112.
12 Edmundo Magaña and Fabiola Jara, "The Carib Sky," Journal de la Société des Américanistes, 68 (1982): 105-132 [113-115, s. v. Epietembo]. Walter E. Roth, An Inquiry into the Animism and Folklore of the Guiana Indians, in the 30th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, (Washington:  U. S. Government Printing Office, 1915 [1909]) 134-135.

A Bad Spirit, Seven Macaw, a bad spirit, Fallen Star's father, a bad spirit,
whose stellar identity lies in the Big Dipper, who is the Big Dipper, is Dubhe of the Big Dipper.
rules (within) one of the cosmic domains rules over the epoch before the present creation.  
over certain animals native to that domain. He is a bird, a Scarlet Macaw.  
His subjects (also) include a group of bad spirits His subjects are a race of wooden manikins,  
who live on earth. who live on earth.  
These terrestrial subjects were adopted into his family. They adopted Seven Macaw as their sun and moon.  
The adoptees came into conflict with two or more Brothers. The Heart of the Sky (Huracán) is resolved to destroy them, and appointed to carry this out are  
The Brothers are the Hero Twins. the Twins.  
The Brothers go out on a hunting trip. The Twins are out hunting.  
The Brothers lie down on the ground. The Twins are on the ground.  
The first Brothers transforms himself (into an animal or a little boy). When they join their grandparents, they transform themselves into little boys.  
The Brother comes upon one village after another of birds. The Twins come to the tree where Seven Macaw feeds.  
The Brother was put up by an old woman at the last village. The Twins join up with their grandmother and grandfather.  
He went with the woman to watch the spectacle. They went to retrieve Hunaphu's lost arm.  
The Twins went unrecognized. The Twins went unrecognized.  
The Bad Spirit encircled the Brother with bonds. Hunaphu's arm was hung  
The captive Brother is suspended high above the ground. over Seven Macaw's fireplace.  
One Brother shot the stone associated with the Bad Spirit. One of the Twins had shot Seven Macaw, breaking his stone tooth;  
One of the Brothers attacks those holding the captive, killing many of them (including the Bad Spirit). later he dies.  
The body of the captor(s) is burned with wood. The world and its wooden inhabitants are destroyed by a flood. The hot Hearthstones shoot out.  
The two Brothers escape. Hunaphu eventually retrieves his arm and they return home.  
The Bad Spirit attempts to prevent the flight of the Brothers by use of his hand. Hunaphu tries to capture Seven Macaw with his hand. The Thunderbirds rip of the arm of a chief of the star people.
The Bad Spirit rips off the arm of a Good Spirit. Seven Macaw had torn off Hunaphu's arm.  
He hung the arm up over a fireplace. He hung the arm over the fireplace. They put the arm in a pot of boiling water.
One of the Brothers recovered the arm of the Good Spirit, who is made whole. Hunaphu, with the aid of the grandparents, recovers his arm and reunites it to his body. Star Boy recovers the arm and reunites it with the Chief.
He cast the hand into the sky where it forms stars in Orion. The three Hearthstones shot up into the sky where they formed a new constellation (Orion). The Hand stars (Orion) are this missing arm. 5
The Brothers return to earth from the Otherworld. The Twins return home.  
The Brothers allow certain subjects of the Bad Spirit to live within the cosmic domain of the Middle World (earth). The wooden manikins who were the subjects of Seven Macaw became monkeys.  
The Brothers are stars. The brothers are the sun and the moon (and Huracán is Orion ?)