"Tewakâtcâkra (Ta-wah-cun-chunk-dah) -- Devil's Lake, "Sacred Lake," no bad meaning. Tradition -- Long ago -- a good Winnebago went on the bank of the lake, offering his devotions aloud and crying to the Supreme Being for twenty days, fasting -- when he saw an animal resembling a cat rise up to the surface, hearing the Indian's sorrow -- told him he would help him to live a long and happy life. He did long live. The prayer or worship was called "haah-tock-ke-nutch" (hâtáginatc). The animal was called Wock-cheth-thwe-dah (Waktcexira) -- with long tail and horns. Many others also saw this animal." [1]

Commentary. The animal, the Waktcexi, is now commonly known as a "Waterspirit." The faster would not have been praying to the Supreme Being (Earthmaker), but rather to the Waterspirit or other spirits who might respond at that locale.

What Jipson says about this is probably based upon what George has said above: "Devil's Lake, Sacred Lake. Many years ago a Winnebago was engaged in a fasting prayer for blessings on the bank of this lake, crying aloud to the Supreme Being for twenty days. He saw an animal resembling a cat rise up to the surface. The animal told him he would live a long, happy life and his prediction came true. The fasting prayer was called Hâ-tock-ki-nutch." [2]

Links: Waterspirits, Devil's Lake, Earthmaker.

Stories: in which Waterspirits occur as characters: Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Green Waterspirit of Wisconsin Dells, The Lost Child, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, Bluehorn's Nephews, Holy One and His Brother, The Seer, The Mulberry Picker, The Creation of the World (vv. 1, 4), The Sioux Warparty and the Waterspirit of Green Lake, The Waterspirit of Lake Koshkonong, The Waterspirit of Rock River, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, Old Man and White Feathers, The Diving Contest, The Lost Blanket, Redhorn's Sons, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Great Walker's Warpath, White Thunder's Warpath, The Descent of the Drum, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Snowshoe Strings, The Thunderbird, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (v. 2), The Two Children, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, Warughápara, Ocean Duck, The Twin Sisters, Trickster Concludes His Mission, The King Bird, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Great Walker's Medicine, V. 2, Peace of Mind Regained, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Shaggy Man, The Woman who Married a Snake (?), Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I; set at Devil's Lake (De Wákâtcâk): The Boulders of Devil's Lake, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, The Green Waterspirit of Wisconsin Dells, Traveler and the Thunderbird War (v. 1), The Lost Blanket.

Themes: a green (tco) Waterspirit inhabits Devil's Lake: River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells.

Pictures: of Devil's Lake: Scene 1, Scene 2, Balanced Rock, Color pictures (external link).

Notes:

[1] Thomas J. George, Winnebago Vocabulary, 4989 Winnebago (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, National Anthropological Archives, 1885). Informants: Big Bear of Friendship, Wisconsin, and Big Thunder.

[2] Norton William Jipson, Story of the Winnebagoes (Chicago: The Chicago Historical Society, 1923) 397.