Once there was an old man who was a member of the Medicine Rite. Because of his years in the Rite he had become very powerful. Whenever the Rite was performed, he would demand the seating of highest honor, and if it was not accorded him, he would seize it by force. If someone resisted him, he would tell the man that he was destined to die, and to die at a very precise time. And at that very time, the man would die. Several attempts were made on his life in revenge. However, he possessed weapons of unique power that he would shoot at his enemies. Some were claws, and others were feathers stripped to the quills. These he would shoot, and if he hit a man, that man would not live to reach his own lodge. Sometimes he killed people for no apparent reason.

People became perplexed as to what they could do to defend themselves. In time they came offering tobacco to a very holy young man. He was Hotcâk. He possessed an unusual power which was manifested in what was called "the Herok'a Shout." He had obtained this blessing from Herok'a himself. He gathered together his arrows and set out to confront the old man. The old man knew of it, and when the young man arrived, he shot claws at him; nor did he miss, but struck him with these instruments of evil over and over again. Yet nothing happened to the young man. He picked up the claws and said to the old man, "These, I believe, are yours. Here, take them back." He sat down opposite the fireplace from the old man. Suddenly, he made the Herok'a Shout directly into the center of the fire, then launched an arrow at the old man. When the arrow struck him, the old man lurched forward and fell dead into the fire.

The powers that this old man had are still held by certain members of the Medicine Rite. [1]

Commentary. "the Herok'a Shout" -- no description of this is given. In any case, it is certainly different from the Herok'a Breathings, rendered as, "ahahe-ahahe".

"launched an arrow" -- no mention is made of his having taken a bow, and the word "shot" is not used to indicate the means by which the arrow was propelled. This invites us to entertain the idea that he simply threw the arrow rather like a dart.

Links: Herok'a, Witches.

Stories: pertaining to the Medicine Rite: The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Messengers of Hare, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, Keramanic'aka's Blessing, Maize Origin Myth, The Necessity for Death, Peace of Mind Regained, The Island Weight Songs, Hog's Adventures, Great Walker's Warpath, Great Walker's Medicine, V. 2, Great Walker and the Anishinaabe Witches, The Petition to Earthmaker, A Snake Song Origin Myth, The Completion Song Origin, The Sweetened Drink Song, A Wife for Knowledge, The Diving Contest, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle; featuring the Herok'a as characters: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Red Man, The Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Human Head, Morning Star and His Friend, Redhorn's Sons, The Origins of the Milky Way; about seers: The Seer, The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension, Witches, The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, A Prophecy, Great Walker and the Anishinaabe Witches, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Diving Contest; mentioning witches or warlocks: The Witch Men's Desert, The Thunder Charm, The Wild Rose, The Seer, Turtle and the Witches, Great Walker and the Anishinaabe Witches, Midjistéga, The End of Midjistéga's Life, The Mesquaki Magician, The Tap the Head Medicine, Keramanic'aka's Blessing, Battle of the Night Blessed Men and the Medicine Rite Men, The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, v. 2, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Thunder Cloud Marries Again, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle, Potato Magic; pertaining to the Medicine Rite: The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Journey to Spiritland, Holy Song, Maize Origin Myth, The Necessity for Death, Hog's Adventures, Great Walker's Warpath, see also Other Stories from Jasper Blowsnake's account of the Medicine Rite.

Stories from Jasper Blowsnake's account of the Medicine Rite (The Road of Life and Death) in notebook order: The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, V 1, Keramanic'aka's Blessing, The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle, The Blessing of Kerexûsaka, Historical Origins of the Medicine Rite, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge of the Medicine Rite, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 1, The Creation of the World, V. 12, The Creation of Man, V. 8, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Journey to Spiritland, V. 4, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 2, Testing the Slave, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 2, The Descent of the Drum, V. 1, The Commandments of Earthmaker, The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men, V. 2, East Shakes the Messenger, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, V. 4, The Messengers of Hare, V. 2, North Shakes His Gourd, Grandmother's Gifts, South Seizes the Messenger, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Messengers of Hare, V. 1, The Island Weight Songs, The Petition to Earthmaker, A Snake Song Origin Myth, The Completion Song Origin, Great Walker's Medicine, V. 2, Great Walker and the Anishinaabe Witches, The Diving Contest, The Sweetened Drink Song, The Plant Blessing of Earth, Tobacco Origin Myth, V. 3, The Tap the Head Medicine, Tobacco Origin Myth, V. 4, Peace of Mind Regained, The Journey to Spiritland, V. 5, A Wife for Knowledge, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, V. 2, The Descent of the Drum, V. 2, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 1, Death Enters the World.

Themes: shooting claws: Battle of the Night Blessed Men and the Medicine Rite Men, Redhorn Contests the Giants; a seer makes true predictions down to unusual details: The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, Witches, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Fox-Hotcâk War, How Little Priest went out as a Soldier, A Prophecy; two (groups of) holy men contest one another with supernatural power: Battle of the Night Blessed Men and the Medicine Rite Men, Great Walker and the Anishinaabeg Witches, The Tap the Head Medicine.

Notes:

[1] Paul Radin, The Road of Life and Death: A Ritual Drama of the American Indians. Bollingen Series V (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973 [1945]) 156.