Short Version. Two friends went out to cut wood for arrows when they were set upon by an enemy warparty. They fought hard, but were greatly out numbered. First one was killed, and the other became so hard pressed that he tried to run, but he too was killed. Yet when they were struck with their fatal blows, it seemed to them that they merely stumbled. Their bodies were far apart, so their ghosts took awhile to find each other again. They had no idea that they had been killed, so they picked up the trail of the warparty and tried to renew the attack. First one of them struck an enemy on the back of his head, and immediately, that man became paralyzed. The other friend pushed a man, and he too could no longer walk. They had a good laugh at all this, and decided to return home.

The first friend walked into his lodge and told his wife that he was hungry, but she ignored him as if he were not there. When his friend spoke to his wife at home, she too did not answer him. So each set out for the other's lodge and met one another midway. The first told his friend, "I asked my wife for some food, but she would not feed me." The second said, "I did the same thing, but my wife ignored me like I was not there. I thought I would visit you to see if I could get something to eat at your place." They decided that they would lie down and take it easy for awhile. Just then they heard wailing, and the bodies of two men were brought in. One of them looked and said, "My friend, we have both been killed!" Then his friend wept openly.

The people gathered together that night and prepared a feast in honor of the two slain warriors. "My friend," said one of the ghosts, "let us now get something to eat." "Yes," replied the other, "for this meal was cooked for us." These two men came to be reborn among their own people, and when the time was right, they spoke of what they remembered of the feast at the end of their past lives. Thus began the rite of the Four Slumbers. The ghosts of Spiritland, they say, have a feast of four nights before they depart on their journey. [1]

Full Version. There once was a large village of those who are called Hotcâgara, and in it lived a chief. This chief said to his son, "Some day the people may suffer hardships and turn to you for guidance. Therefore, you should seek help from those beings called waxop'ini ("spirits")." Because his father had asked him, the young man began to fast, but this is all he did. His father had also told him that true friendship was a rare thing and that if he could form such a friendship he would be very fortunate. Indeed it was hard, but finally he became fast friends with another young man.

One day they called together a warparty. The chief's son thought to himself, "They said to tell no one of this, but how could I not tell my friend?" So when he saw him he said, "Real Men (wâkráregi) are at this very moment meeting assembling to go on the warpath. Even though they told me not to speak of it, I thought I should tell you. If we are to catch up with them, we must leave soon." After he told his friend where the assembly point was, he rushed home to get ready. They met at the rendezvous point, where the warleader addressed them: "Companions, this will be an easy path. My personal spirits have told me everything. The enemy will not have any idea of being in danger." The target of the warparty was not too far away, and the warleader soon sent forward his scouts. They reported back that indeed the enemy was not aware of their approach. The warbundles were brought forward, and they prepared themselves for battle by using their contents. The attack was highly successful, and both the chief's son and his friend did equally well: in fact, both together took the first war honor. Everyone said of them, "They have done well." The warleader proved to be excellent: the spirits had spoken the truth to him and he was victorious. Truly, he was shown the right path. As they returned, a runner was sent ahead that they might prepare a victory pole. When the warparty arrived they performed the Hokixere Dance where the scalps are made to sing their own songs. They gave the strong war whoop to notify the War Controllers that what they had promised to the warparty had indeed been accomplished. Everyone was full of joy, for the chief's son had done everything that the people had hoped, and his friend had equaled him in every way. "My beloved son," said the chief, "you have accomplished everything I had spoken to you about. Go now and try to get knowledge and blessings from some spirit, as now the people will look to you for leadership." And this he did, and in consequence he excelled greatly in war and was made chief in his own right.

One day he said to his friend, "It is right that I should now marry." Then his friend said, "I too long thought of marrying, and now that you are going to, so will I." Thus both friends wed and acquired their own lodges. There they lived apart from the main village. They were both held in the highest esteem by the people, who called them "our own brave warriors," and gave them special seats of distinction. The two friends were good men and deeply grateful for all the honors and courtesies bestowed upon them. The chief said to his friend, "Our goal in life should be to find some way to do good for the people after all that they have done for us." His friend concurred, saying, "This we must surely do. Tomorrow we should make our preparations."

The next day they took their canoe upstream to where the dogwood grew and cut all that they needed. As they started back, unexpectedly, a bird flew straight at them. The chief exclaimed, "The one who did this should pay a price: I'm going after it and shoot it." So he followed after the bird, but hadn't gone far when suddenly he was set upon by an enemy warparty. His friend cried out, "Hoho, my friend, the war-rush is upon you!" The chief dodged the attackers and mounted an arrow in his bow. "My friend," he call back, "we must fight with all our strength, for this is a large warparty bent on revenge!" "Yes," responded his friend, "let us stand and fight with all that we have got!" They fought long and hard, and when the sun reached its zenith, the friend felt himself stumble backwards. The chief saw him, and took him for dead, yelling, "My friend, I shall exact a high price from them for your life and limbs!" Then he let out a whoop and jumping out from his cover, shot one of the enemy dead. Then the enemy rushed out at him with a war cry, but he ran right towards them and killed another one outright. "Use all your powers," shouted the enemy chief, "this man has gone wild!" Just then the chief had his bowstring break, so he had to fall back. As he retreated, he stumbled, but instantly regained his footing. There, unexpectedly, he found his friend standing in front of him smiling. "Hâho, my friend! We have truly been in a fight today! Indeed, we have probably both been killed. Let's go look where we were and see if we can find our own bodies." So he took his friend to where he had seen him fall, and there they found his body with its limbs cut off and its head taken by the enemy. "My friend," the chief said, "they must have done the same thing to me. Let's go over to where I stumbled and see if my body is there." When they found it, he said, "Now they have done to us what we always do to them. Let's chase after these men who are taking part of us home with them and see what we can do to them." So they picked up the trail and soon caught up to a straggler. They gave him a good shove which made him stumble. He became so afraid that he could not get up. They laughed to see the flecks of foam on his lips. They went a bit farther and found another straggler. They gave him a good shove too, and he fell flat on his face. He was so overcome with fear that he couldn't move and just lay there. After having their fill of this entertainment, the chief said, "Let's return home now."

As they entered their village they both felt extremely hungry, and they parted company to see if they could get something to eat at their own lodges. When the chief got home he spoke to his wife, thinking that she could hear him, since his voice was plainly audible. "I'm famished," he said, "what do we have to eat?" Yet she said nothing, and generally acted as if he was not there. This just made him angry, and he stormed out of the lodge saying, "If that's the way you're going to act, I'll get a meal at my parent's place!" When he walked into his parent's lodge he expected that they would greet him as they always had, but oddly they just ignored him like he was not even there. "Mother," he said, "I came over here to get some food. When I was at my own place, my wife would not give me anything, even though I practically begged for food." Much to his surprise, his mother seemed to have turned a deaf ear to him. No matter what he said, they did not react to him at all. Finally, he said to himself, "Maybe it is better if I just go outside." As he was walking aimlessly around, he ran across his friend who seemed not at all happy. The chief said, "My friend, I tried hard to get food, both from my wife and from my mother, but they both acted like they didn't know that I was there." "The same thing happened to me;" said the friend, "I can't understand why they are treating us this way!" So the two of them decided to lay down somewhere out of the way. As they lay there on their stomachs, they were startled by the sounds of piercing screams and wailing. "Listen," said the chief, "it's the voice of the Death Announcer." "Woirakirakuni, how terrible! The chief and his friend have been killed! This must have happened early this morning!" the Death Announcer cried out. The chief said, "Friend, that is it -- we have been killed. Because we live now as invisible spirits, no one responds to us when we speak to them. Let's go to my lodge and see what is going on." So they went to the lodge just as the chief's wife was letting down her hair in mourning. So great was her grief that she fell prostrate on the ground, weeping. "You are right," said the friend, "we are dead and they have just now found our bodies. Let us go to my lodge and see what is going on." When they arrived there they found the same scenes of grief. "What can we do to return to the living?" said the friend. "I know," the chief replied, "that there must be some way."

They returned to the chief's lodge where someone was preparing food. They had such strong hunger that they could hardly stand it. The man who was preparing the food now spoke: "Our young chief and his friend have been slain in battle. Yet it is good to fall in action, for such as these never lose consciousness. Therefore, they must be listening to us. As I offer tobacco, one of our warriors will tell a war story, then the departed will be fed." At this point a warrior stands up and tells of one of his exploits. The host resumes, saying, "May the portion of their lives that they have not used be given to the living. This is why we are doing this. Here, then, is the food. Here it is, the food you did not live to eat. Here too is that water you did not drink, and the tobacco you did not smoke. Behold the messenger that I give you and the pipe into which you may place it. She to whose happy village you are going will not fail to receive this pipe. And here is what you left behind you. Surely you intended this for your fellow clansmen that they might better their lives. I have completed my remarks, so here is your food." The two friends ate everything, as by now they were ravenously hungry.

As they lay there on their stomachs, the chief's friend began weeping. "My friend," said the chief, "I know that you are weeping because you wish to be back among the living, but I tell you that I know a way that we can accomplish it. However, I don't think you can succeed, as it is very difficult." He replied, "Friend, you are certainly correct -- I yearn to return to the living. I loved the great deeds that we performed and wish we could do them again. Whatever you can do, I will certainly be able to do myself."

The relatives of the two dead friends gave the Four Slumbers Rite to the dead men, and on the fourth night of the slumbers, the host gave the friends instructions for their journey to Spiritland: "Greetings, my beloved chief! On this the fourth night we give you the messenger put in our hands by Earthmaker himself that the spirits might accept it with gratitude. Here is the messenger with whom you will work." At this point he offers them tobacco, then continues: "Four times you will start your campfires. We ask you that when you are on this road that you remember us by sending back to us all those things of your lives that you did not use: all the attacks against the enemy, even against the center of his village; all the years that you would have lived, we ask that you leave them for your clansmen. When you come to the Spirit Woman (Hinûkxop'ini), ask her that there be no other funeral held by us any time soon. Now enough has been said." Then they ate together for the last time. They painted the post over the graves, then walked around them. The man at the head of this procession now recounted his war exploits: "When I went on the warpath with my chief, I was given an excellent man -- may this man now support my chief on his journey. On another occasion when I went to war with my chief, there between the fighting lines I scalped an enemy. He said that I had done well. In another fight I captured an enemy, a man I destined to carry the chief's fire for him." As daylight came, the chief told his friend to cease his weeping, "For we shall be born again."

At the first light they got up and set out for the west. After traveling for some distance they came to the first village. There the people rushed out to greet them with a whoop. "This is the way to the chief's lodge," they said, and they ushered them to it. Inside, the chief of the ghost village asked them, "What did your relatives say to you before you left?" The chief replied, "They said that they wished to have those things of our life that we left behind unused, and wished to have the years that we did not finish living ourselves." "You have spoken the truth," he said, "and so shall it be." They were led to the dance lodge where the ghosts said, "Let's sing the Four Slumbers for them!" The chief warned his friend, "Whatever you do, do not get up to join them in their dance or we will fail in our objective." The drum was sounded, and the women sang in chorus as they moved about. Great was the joy, and the singing reverberated to the four corners of the world. Yet, despite the temptation, the two friends remained seated all night without joining the dance. Finally, daylight was upon them. Again, on the second night they were in the dance lodge. This time the jubilation exceeded even that of the night before. Many times they were urged to join in, and it was difficult not to dance and sing with them. However, they once again made it to sunrise. The next night the noise and jubilation were even more intense than the night before. This time the women expressed consternation: "It is such great fun to dance with men, yet here you two just sit. It is not nice at all to leave us without dancing partners!" The chief's friend began to waver, and said, "This really is fun." "I warned you," sad the chief, "that you would like it, but you must persevere." "I know I said that I would listen to you, but ..." The chief interrupted: "Do not falter now or we will fail!" Just then they were rescued by the rising of the sun. As the fourth night approached, the chief did everything he could to encourage his friend. That night talking could be heard everywhere, as a great multitude of people gathered in the dance lodge. The people began the dance and were much more boisterous than before. "How can you just sit there?" they demanded to know. The friend started to get up, but the chief rebuked him: "Sit down! Sit there and remain quiet. Use your utmost powers so that we do not fail!" Indeed it was difficult, and they had to use all their resources to overcome the temptations of the other ghosts, but their efforts were rewarded with the first rays of dawn. "We have done it!" exclaimed the chief, "it is good."

He continued: "Now my friend, we are to go to another village which they say lies on this road. This is the village of the Thunderbird Clan where we will have to use our utmost powers, since their dance is the most fascinating. If we fail, we will have to stay right there and give up on being reborn." "Rest assured, my friend," he replied, "I do yearn to return to our life and our home, so I will listen to you. But help me all you can." "I will," answered the chief. They set out on the road west again and after traveling some ways, they came to a most picturesque village, more beautiful than any they had ever seen anywhere. The people there also came out to greet them and to lead them to the lodge of their chief. "Greetings," the spirit chief said, "Earthmaker must think very highly of you, as you have proven worthy of reaching us. However, now you must exert your utmost powers, grandsons. Just as you have proceeded through villages before, so pass through this one the same way. Exert all your powers and succeed, for only then will you be your own masters." "My friend," said the young man, "listen to what he has said to us. The dancing here will be the most enticing, so exert your utmost powers, or we shall never return to where we started." They entered the dancing lodge where they found a great many people. The ghosts began to dance, and loud wee their shouts, for this was the Thunderbird Dance, and they who were doing it were very wákâtcâk (holy). That first night the chief gave encouragement to his friend and they made it through the night. "Now my friend," he said, "this next night will be even more difficult, so exert all your powers." Late that evening, the friends were led once gain to the lodge for another night of festivities. They began the Thunderbird Dance anew, but this time its spirit was so powerful the friend started to rise, but he was checked by the chief: "Be still my friend, and endure. Soon the light will rescue us." Only with great difficulty did they make it to morning. After a respite, they were led to the dance lodge for the third time after darkness fell. They struggled mightily against the powerful spirit of the dance, and many times they were almost carried away by it, but the chief's steady purpose held him and his friend in check. When morning came the chief said, "Now my friend tonight will be the fourth night, and it will be the most difficult, so remain steadfast!" That night came all too soon, and they were once again in the dance lodge. This time the music and the dance seemed overpowering, and the chief's friend tried to struggle to his feet, but he chief restrained him, and said, "My friend, do not do this, for if you do we shall never make it back!" They struggled all night against their impulses until finally the first rays of dawn shown upon them. The chief exclaimed, "It is good my friend, we have triumphed!"

Indeed, now the road stretched out before them, and as they walked upon it, it turned to the east. As they made their way, the chief said, "As wonderful as was the village we left, still more so will be the one to which we shall come. We will really be put to the test there! So keep in mind how sore was your heart when first you knew of your own death, and how, weeping, you vowed that you would do anything to regain life. So exert yourself to the utmost." "Indeed I shall," he replied, "for even now I feel sore at heart to think that I shall never see our old life again." At last they came to the village in the east. In no way at all could this village be faulted. It was perfect in every way, and its people were wonderful to behold, so perfect was their form. The women there were beautiful beyond compare. These ghosts were Earthmaker's people (Mâ'ûnra wâkcik-wanína). "Greetings!" they said, as they came out to meet them, "come this way and we'll take you to the lodge of our chief." When they entered, the chief spoke to them encouragingly: "Grandsons, this is the last village that you will come to before you reach the place where Earthmaker resides. Pass through here just as you did the other villages, and your reward will be great. Only by overcoming the temptations to stay here will you become masters of your own destinies, for whoever reaches the abode of Earthmaker wins the right to return anywhere on earth in whatever form of life so ever he will." They were greatly encouraged by his words. "My friend," said the chief, "do your utmost, for if we succeed, we could, if we wished, choose even this village in which to live." "You speak the truth, friend," he replied, "I shall try very hard to take heed of what you say." As they entered the dance lodge, the people began to pour in. These were not ordinary people, but were unusually good looking. The friend thought to himself, "I wouldn't mind living eternally among these beautiful people. Indeed, this very village I may choose to live in." "Do not give in, my friend," said the chief, for if we endure, we can direct our steps to our father, Earthmaker." Yet the friend became almost obsessed with the thought that he would like to live among these people, so it was with the greatest difficulty that they made it to morning. That day the two friends rested from their temptations. The next night the people who filed into the dance lodge were even better looking than those of the night before. The music was pleasurable and exciting beyond compare. The friend exclaimed, "This place is good enough for me," and started to get up. The chief restrained him, and said, "No, my friend, however good this place is, the one to which we are headed is better by far; so get a hold of yourself and remain seated." "Yes, my friend," he replied, "I am trying hard to listen to you." That night they barely made it to dawn. The third night was an even greater struggle: many times the chief had to restrain and encourage his friend. It was a great struggle just to make it to sunrise. "My friend," said the chief, "we have done well; but tomorrow will be the most difficult night we have yet faced. Therefore, use all of your strength to resist, and remember how sore your heart is from longing for life." The friend replied, "What ;you say is true. I shall be resolute, for I really do wish to return to the living." Nevertheless, when they fourth night came, the people wee so wákâtcâk that they and their music could find no equal even in the most powerful imagination. When the singing and dancing began, the friend said, "Everything is so wonderful here, why not join them in dance?" "It is indeed wonderful here," said the chief, "but this is the last night, so hold back!" As the night wore on, the friend became even more enchanted with everything around him, until it seemed to him that there was no way he could turn his back upon the intoxicating panorama swirling around him. "Forgive me," declared the friend, "but I cannot resist any longer -- I am going to join in!" "Don't do it!" yelled the chief, "don't do it! It is almost light, then we can do whatever we wish." Indeed it was all the chief could do to restrain his friend, but at long last the sun rose on them and they had still held out. "Hoho, my friend," exclaimed the chief, "you have done well. Behold, there lies the road to Earthmaker stretched out before us, and at its end, the lodge of our Father!"

As they walked along the road to Earthmaker, they passed people coming back. Even though they had passed the tests, in the end they had chosen the village of ghosts. One of these gave a whoop as he passed, yet he had no head, for he had been killed on the warpath. Several such people they passed on their way. "You must still exert all the power you have, my friend, as these people passed through many tests but did not return to the living." After some time they came to a great lodge with an attendant standing in front of it. A voice inside said, "Show them in." The attendant pulled the flap open and the two friends entered in. There they were, face to face with Earthmaker, who said to them, "Few are they who reach my lodge, although many have tried. Now you are masters of your own destiny -- the choice of life is yours." With a sweeping motion of his hand, he parted the sky and the clouds therein. "Behold! The first village of Spiritland, with all its wonders and enticements. There you may choose to live forever. And look over there -- there is the second village, a place of wonder that many could not resist. This too may be your home, if you but choose it. And over there, the third village that you passed through -- all its allurements are yours if you say the word. Behold the last and most wondrous of the villages, wherein my own people live: all its wonders, its ecstasies, its intoxications, and its beauties are yours to partake to the farthest reaches of time, if you but ask to have them." Yet the two friends did not speak for any of them. Then Earthmaker spread before their eyes the whole of the world, and said, "Behold whence you first came!" And they saw all the earth stretched out before them, all the forests and deserts, the hills and valleys, the lakes and great ocean; and every animal, each kind the Creator had created; and they saw every race of man and every speech reached their ears. Below were villages at peace, and still others where men engaged in heroic warfare. Then Earthmaker spoke, and said, "My dear children, there too is even the village whence you came. You may choose any form of life to live through -- animal or man -- for I grant that you are in charge of your own life and destiny. There it all is, choose as you will." The chief turned to his friend and said, "All we have striven for is now in our grasp. You wished fervently to go back to where we originated, and now we can do it." "My friend," he replied, "let it be just as we said from the beginning: let us return to our own beloved village." The chief said to Earthmaker, "This then is our choice." Then Earthmaker spoke to them a final time and said, "It is good. As you have chosen, so shall you walk this road back.

So the two friends started on their way back. Soon they came upon their own village. "Shall we then be born of the same family and be true brothers?" asked the chief. The other replied, "Let us be born into different families so that all we lived before we can live again. We shall recognize each other and become friends again." "So be it," the chief replied, "we shall be born into different families and discover one another all over again. This is our final decision." And in the course of time the chief was born into the Thunderbird Clan, born to a chief; and his friend was born into his former clan. Even as mere infants being carried on their mothers' backs, they recognized each other. When they grew older they became friends, and when they were of age, they found anew the warpath they had traveled in their previous lives.

This is the waikâ the Hotcâk tell about the journey to Earthmaker. This must any man do who would live again. This is why the Hotcâgara encourage one another to go on the warpath, and this is why they say it is good to die in battle. Such is the ambition of every Hotcâk warrior. [2]

Commentary. Short Version. That the two friends belong to different moieties is suggested by their residence in separate halves of the village circle.

Full Version. The bird who struck against the chief's son as they were out cutting dogwood is conventionally understood to be a transformation of an enemy warrior, a metamorphic power that Hotcâk warriors were also thought to possess. [3] The odd contradiction between the realization by the two friends that they have been killed in action and their ignorance of this fact when they return home is found in the original of both versions, which I have followed closely. The paradox might be resolved if we suppose that ghosts have memories unlike those of living people.

The Hotcâgara have an important place in their conceptual system for bodily wholeness and therefore for the value of the perfection of the body. Because of his lameness, Earthmaker threw away the first man that he had created, and this man was the chief of devils. Evil comes from defect. Those killed in action enter the other world just as they are, which usually meant that they were at least without their head, as the old style of warfare dictated the taking of heads for spiritual reasons, particularly associated with accentuation of personal and tribal powers. Therefore, those killed in action will not quite fit into a ghost village of perfect people, the people of Earthmaker, the opposite of the physically defective Herecgúnina, chief of the devils. Therefore, to become whole, those killed in action had a strong incentive to make it to Earthmaker and realize their rebirth. Thus, because they always do this, they become cyclical heroes, devoted to war more than ordinary people. Therefore, they can resist the temptations of Earthmaker, the temptations of Life, because ironically and paradoxically, the very thing that renders them defective -- war -- is the only thing that can render them whole again. But this is just the paradox of sacrifice: only by destruction can creation be effected.

Links: Ghosts, Earthmaker, Tobacco, The Spirit Woman.

Stories: about two male friends: Wazûka, The Lame Friend, Worúxega, The Fleetfooted Man, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Lake Wâkcikhomîgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name, The Spirit of Maple Bluff, Hare Kills Sharp Elbow; featuring ghosts as characters: The Journey to Spiritland, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Holy One and His Brother, Worúxega, The Human Head, Little Fox and the Ghost, The Lame Friend, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Hare Steals the Fish, The Difficult Blessing, A Man's Revenge, Thunder Cloud is Blessed; mentioning the War Controllers: The Masaxe War, A Man's Revenge; mentioning Spirit Woman: Brave Man Gambles; about journeys to and from Spiritland: Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Journey to Spiritland, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Lame Friend, Holy One and His Brother, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, The Foolish Hunter, Warughápara, The Thunderbird, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, White Wolf, The Twins Get into Hot Water, The Two Brothers, The Lost Blanket, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Man who went to the Upper and Lower Worlds, The Petition to Earthmaker, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Thunder Cloud Marries Again, The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, Aratcgéga's Blessings, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Man Whose Wife was Captured; in which dancing plays a role: Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Midjistéga, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Trickster and the Dancers, Wolves and Humans, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, The Blessing of Kerexûsak; mentioning tobacco: Tobacco Origin Myth, Hare and the Grasshoppers, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth (v 2), How the Thunders Met the Nights, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Grandmother's Gifts, The Thunderbird, Peace of Mind Regained, The Dipper, The Masaxe War; mentioning drums: The Descent of the Drum, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Spirit of Maple Bluff, Tobacco Origin Myth (v. 5), Young Man Gambles Often, Trickster and the Dancers, Redhorn's Father, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Elk's Skull, Ghosts, Great Walker's Medicine, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 1b), Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, Trickster and the Geese, Turtle's Warparty, Snowshoe Strings, Ocean Duck, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Hog's Adventures; mentioning feasts: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (Chief Feast), The Creation Council (Eagle Feast), Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth (Eagle Feast), Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth (Waterspirit Feast), Bear Clan Origin Myth (Bear Feast), The Woman Who Fought the Bear (Bear Feast), Grandfather's Two Families (Bear Feast), Wolf Clan Origin Myth (Wolf Feast), Buffalo Clan Origin Myth (Buffalo Feast), The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits (Buffalo Feast), Buffalo Dance Origin Myth (Buffalo Feast), He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (Buffalo Feast), The Blessing of Cokeboka (Feast to the Buffalo Tail), Snake Clan Origins (Snake Feast), Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief (Snake Feast), The Thunderbird (for the granting of a war weapon), Turtle's Warparty (War Weapons Feast, Warpath Feast), Porcupine and His Brothers (War Weapons Feast), Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega) (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Big Thunder Teaches Tcap'ósgaga the Warpath (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), White Thunder's Warpath (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), The Fox-Hotcâk War (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth (Warpath Feast), Kunu's Warpath (Warpath Feast), Trickster's Warpath (Warpath Feast), The Masaxe War (Warpath Feast), Redhorn's Sons (Warpath Feast, Fast-Breaking Feast), The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits (Fast-Breaking Feast), The Chief of the Herok'a (Sick Offering Feast), The Dipper (Sick Offering Feast, Warclub Feast), The Journey to Spiritland (Four Slumbers Feast), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse (unspecified).

Themes: two boys (or young men) out cutting wood are attacked: The Lame Friend, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds; descriptions of human warfare: The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I, Annihilation of the Hotcâgara II, The First Fox and Sauk War, Great Walker's Medicine, How Little Priest went out as a Soldier, Wazûka, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension, Big Thunder Teaches Tcap'ósgaga the Warpath, The Fox-Hotcâk War, Great Walker's Warpath, The Lame Friend, White Thunder's Warpath, The Osage Massacre, A Man's Revenge, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion; when a Hotcâk warrior's friend is killed in action, he rushes recklessly upon the enemy, killing a number of their warriors: Wazûka, The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I; two friends are both killed in action: The Lame Friend, Wazûka; men who are killed by an enemy warparty do not realize that they are dead: The Lame Friend, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty; a man who has been killed sees his own dead body: The Lame Friend, The Man Whose Wife was Captured; a woman expresses grief for her slain husband by altering her hair: Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn and His Brothers Marry; head hunting: Big Thunder Teaches Tcaposgaga the Warpath, A Man's Revenge, How Little Priest went out as a Soldier, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, Young Man Gambles Often, The Dipper, Porcupine and His Brothers, Turtle's Warparty, Ocean Duck, The Markings on the Moon, Wears White Feathers on His Head, The Red Man, The Chief of the Herok'a, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Man with Two Heads, Brave Man, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, Redhorn's Sons, Fighting Retreat, The Children of the Sun, The Were-Grizzly, Winneconnee Origin Myth; ghosts chase after someone: Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Human Head, Little Fox and the Ghost; two friends who are killed in action are reborn in their own village: The Lame Friend; a ghost is instructed to say that it will not be soon that others of his clan shall follow: The Journey to Spiritland (v. 3); people are tempted by the dead to give into their purposes, but (could) succeed by following the advice of a friendly spirit and resisting with their utmost power: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Human Head, Snowshoe Strings; in order to return a soul to life from Spiritland, a hero must avoid joining in the festivities of the ghosts: Ghost Dance Origin Myth II; people make alot of noise in order to divert someone from his goal: Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Trickster and the Geese, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn Contests the Giants; a person who has died longs to come back to life: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter; death viewed in positive terms: The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Necessity for Death, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Death Enters the World; visiting Earthmaker: The Journey to Spiritland, The Lame Friend, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Lost Blanket, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Twins Get into Hot Water, The Petition to Earthmaker, Trickster Concludes His Mission, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins; a warrior shows devotion to his fallen friend by attacking the enemy until he himself is killed: Wazûka.

Notes:

[1] Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 106-107.

[2] Paul Radin, "The Two Friends Who Became Reincarnated: The Origin of the Four Nights Wake," The Culture of the Winnebago as Described by Themselves (Baltimore: Special Publications of the Bollingen Foundation, #1, 1949) 12-46. Informant: John Rave (Bear Clan). This story is discussed in Claude Lévi-Strauss, "Four Winnebago Myths," Structural Anthropology, vol. 2, trs. Monique Layton (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976) 198-210. The original text is in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Notebook 43, 1-62.

[3] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 38-39, nt 16.