A young man and his friend once lived in a Hotcâk village near the Four Lakes. They were the best of friends and did everything together. The young man was of an age to fast, so he went out every day and cried to the spirits for a blessing. One day he dreamed and recieved a powerful blessing from a beautiful Waterspirit maiden, which he kept to himself. However, he told his friend that he had received a blessing from the spirits, and that they needed to go to the Four Lakes to receive it. So the two of them set off together. They were walking along the shore of the smallest lake (Nâsakutcitera, or Kegonsa Lake), when a light snow began to fall. They soon encountered the tracks of a giant raccoon which they followed right up to a hollow tree stump. When they looked up, they saw the raccoon looking back at them. He suddenly disappeared into the hollow stump, but now they had him cornered. The young man persuaded his friend to climb up to the top of the tall stump and shoot the raccoon, but when he got to the top and looked down, there was no raccoon -- unexpectedly, there was a very large catfish swimming in the water that had collected there. The young man standing at the trunk was getting extremely hungry and urged his friend, "Kill it and bring it down, I'll fix the fire." But his friend replied, "I cannot kill it -- it's a Spirit Fish that changed from being a raccoon. It would sacrilegious to kill it, let alone eat it." While he made the fire, the young man kept urging his friend to kill it. Finally, with great reluctance, his friend struck the fish with his club and threw it down by the fire.

The young man cooked the fish and ate it without a second thought, but his friend refused every entreaty to partake of this meal. After he had eaten, the young man suddenly became very thirsty. "I am overwhelmed by thirst," he said to his friend, "can you get me some water?" So his friend fetched a skin of water which the young man gulped down. A second and a third time he asked his friend to fetch more water, but no amount of water could quench his thirst. Finally, his friend said, "Why not go down to the lake and drink your fill?" So the young man went off, but quite some time passed without his return, so his friend went down to the shore to look for him. When he arrived at the lake, he saw nothing but a large catfish swimming in the lake. He called out to the fish: "My friend, you should have listened to me: I warned you because I knew this would happen!"

"My friend," the fish replied, "it is you who should have listened. I dreamt of two beautiful maidens who lived in this lake, and I thought we could go together to their beds and marry them, living in this lake forever. But you refused, so I must go alone. Nevertheless, I bless you with much Life."

Then with a great flurry of activity, he leapt from the first lake into the second; then from the second into the third; and finally with a great splash, he leapt into the fourth lake [pictured above]. There he found the beautiful maiden of his dream. There he lives even to this day. For this reason that fourth lake (Lake Mendota) is called Wâkcikhomîgra, "The Indian's Bed." [1]

Commentary. "the Four Lakes" -- the Four Lakes are located in the Madison area. The Big Knives numbered them from north to south, but the Hotcâgara count them in the reverse direction. The setting of the present story is the first lake from the south, Wâkcikhomîgra, called "Lake Mendota" by the whites, and "Fourth Lake" (De Djopera) by the Hotcâgara. [2] The second lake, now known as Lake Monona, is called Tci-hipokixake Xetera, "Great Teepee Lake." [3] The third lake, Waubesa Lake, is called Sahu Xetera (?), "Lake of the Great? Reed Stems." [4] The last lake, now known as Kegonsa Lake, is called Nâsâkutcitera, "Hard Maple Grove Lake." [5]

Comparative Material. There is a story of Hidatsa origins told by the Arikara which is similar to this story and the other related Hotcâk tales. Two starving hunters went out but found nothing until on their return trip they ran across a snake so large they could not see the end of it. One of them said, "This is a fish, so let us eat it," but the other warned that it was a snake (which is taboo to eat). Nevertheless, the other man began to cut off pieces of the snake and eat it anyway. They set up camp and slept through the night uneventfully. When he woke up, the man who had eaten snake meat found that his hands and legs had become spotted. Just the same, he thought this not a bad thing, as the women would admire his looks with these ornaments upon his flesh. They traveled all day, but the snake eater became tired and they had to bed down for the night. When he woke up the next day, the man was spotted all over. They attempted to reach home, but they got no further than the Missouri River when the man had gradually transformed into a snake save for his head alone. He gave instructions that he be aligned with the river. He told his friend that henceforth he would be a water monster, but that whenever the people wanted to cross the river, all they need do is offer a corn ball, and he would surface so that they could cross his back like a bridge. [6]

This story is from the Arapaho. Two hunters ran across a clutch of eggs. One thought them to be those of a goose, the other said that they were snake's eggs. The one who thought they were goose eggs went ahead and ate them. He gradually grew very fat, then suddenly turned into a giant snake. His comrade placed him in a river. The snake promised him that if they offered him intestines, then he would see to it that they could cross the river without mishap. [7]

A similar story is known to the Pawnee. Two young brothers were out on a warparty and got lost. They collected some buffalo bones so that they could eat the marrow. Later when they set up camp, they shot a squirrel and roasted it over the fire. The elder brother decided to eat the marrow and the squirrel meat together, even though the younger brother said it was not a good idea. During the night the elder brother found that he was turning into a rattlesnake. He told his brother to put him in a hole near an embankment. In time the younger brother returned and embraced his brother who had remained in snake form. The brother visited him in a dream that night and told him what to do. He was successful on his warpath, and all others who came to the snake hole with offerings were also successful. [8]

Very similar to this Pawnee story is a Cherokee tale. Two hunters went out searching for game. They shot some squirrels, but they were under a taboo not to eat squirrel meat. One decided that he would anyway, despite the warnings of his friend. The one who ate the meat woke up in the middle of the night in agony, and his friend saw that he had turned half into a snake. The friend watched helplessly as the man completely metamorphosed into a serpent, and finally slithered away into the water. [9]

The Siouan Omaha have a similar tale. A group of 20 men returning from a warpath were searching for game, when one of their number put his ear to the ground and heard the thunderous sound of buffalo coming. Instead of the buffalo, a giant snake appeared and the leader shot it dead. All but the youngest of them ate the meat, which tasted as good as buffalo. During the night everyone save the youngest turned partly or wholly into serpents. They instructed him to put them on top of a high hill and to have their relatives visit them in the future. When their relatives came, the snakes crawled all over them, but did them no harm. One day, all the belongings of the 19 men disappeared from their village and the snakes were never seen again. [10]

There's an Arapaho story that's closer to the Hotcâk version. A group of hunters followed the tracks of some buffalo. The buffalo entered a cave where a stream ran through. The hunters followed them right out to the other side of the mountain, where they saw buffalo in abundance. They returned the way they had come, but found the entrance of the cave blocked completely by a Hintcäbit (Waterspirit). They tried to burn their way through it. As the fat melted and the meat cooked, one of the party, despite warnings from the others, ate of the delicious white meat. Eventually, they burned their way through. The first night, the man who had eaten Hintcäbit meat found that his arms had turned white. Every night thereafter, he became more and more white. Finally, he turned into a Hintcäbit. He promised his colleagues that if they tied pieces of cloth above the spring, he would ensure their victory on the warpath. They did this, and always returned victorious. [11]

The Hitchiti version shows some interesting similarities with the Hotcâk. One day two hunters were out and one of them came across a hollow log in the water. Inside he found two fish which he captured. His friend said, "They may not be fish," but the man went ahead and ate them. During the night he groaned and woke up his friend. "Shine a light on me and see what ails me," he requested. When the light fell on him it was seen that his legs were growing together to form the body of a snake. The victim told his friend to follow him the next morning and when he stopped, the friend should go home. By morning the man had turned completely into a snake and slithered off. Eventually he reached a pond and slid into it waters. His friend turned back and when he reached their village he told the man's mother that he had turned into a snake. She went to the pond to visit her son, and he emerged as a large serpent. He placed his head in her lap, and she wept. That was their last meeting. [11.1]

The Creek tribe has several versions of this tale. Two friends went out hunting together. One of them said, "I wish I could have some fish." No sooner had he said this, than water dripped down on him from a nearby tree, and the sound of splashing could be heard above. He climbed the tree and at its top were a number of fish swimming about. These he threw down. The other man advised him not to eat them, but he went ahead anyway. Later on the man who had eaten the fish turned into a snake, one with horns. He could still talk, however. "Tell my kinsmen to meet me at this spring." He then jumped into the water, which began to bubble as if it were boiling. In time his kinsmen who were members of the Deer Clan came to see the spot where he disappeared. When they had all assembled there, the snake came, but as he approached he brought with him a great tidal wave of water, and all his kinsmen were swept away. Some think that they all became water snakes. [11.2]

There are other Creek variants. Two hunters went out one day, and the first said, "Look, there are some good eggs along the bank, let's get them," but the other hunter said, "No, they might be something bad." A little later, the first hunter said, "There is a nice fish in a stump, let's eat it." The other hunter replied, "No, it may be something bad." The next day the first hunter brought one of the eggs back and ate it. During the night, the one who ate the eggs began to make squeaking sounds, and the other hunter woke him up, only to find that he had become a snake from the waist down. By morning the man had turned completely into a snake save for his head. He told his friend, "Since this has happened to me, you must leave me behind. Before you go, clear a spot and form me into a circle. I have come home, as it was once told." [12]

Another Creek variant relates how two hunters were out on an expedition and when they stopped for the night, the one said to his companion, "If you mix together the brains of a black snake, a black squirrel, and a wild turkey and eat them, you will turn into a snake." The other man was apt to try anything, so he went ahead and ate such a concoction. During the night he said, "Friend, you were right, I am turning into a snake." Very quickly he began to metamorphose. He instructed his friend to set him in a nearby pond. In time the friend brought the victim's parents and the snake came out and entwined itself around them, weeping from its eyes, but mute of voice. They all wept, but there was nothing that could be done, so they parted ways. This kind of snake is called a 'tie snake'. [12.1]

In another Creek variant, two men go on the warpath, but decide to turn back when one of them becomes sick. The sick man began to crave fish, so his friend went off hunting. Some time later, the sick man noticed that in a nearby blow over tree, there was a puddle, and in it there was a nice sized fish swimming about. So he caught it and ate some of it. When his friend returned, he was offered some fish, but declined and told the sick man that he might as well finish it off. Later that night, the sick man awoke his friend and complained of a strange feeling, so his friend looked him over under a torch and found that he had turned into a snake from the waist down. The snake man instructed his friend on what to do. That morning he had turned completely into a serpent. His friend, acting on his instructions, led him down to a spring, and when the snake man jumped in, the spring turned into a large water hole. Some time later the man returned with the snake man's relatives. The snake emerged from the middle of the pond and slithered on shore, laying his head on his mother's lap. Then he swam around in the water, but suddenly turned and seized his youngest sister and dragged her down into the depths. Ever after people avoided this pond, which was also noted for being infested with hoards of snakes. [12.2]

The Cheyenne version is very similar to the Creek. Two friends went out on an extended hunting expedition where they stumbled upon two giant eggs. One was intent upon eating them, but the other refused all attempts by his friend to take his share. "These eggs are too large to be natural," he would say. The next morning, when they woke up, the one who ate the eggs was sick and they noticed that the skin of his legs had become like that of a snake. The morning after that, his legs had fused. Now, however, he knew what he needed, as he was suffering from acute thirst. So the two of them traveled to a lake, where he spent the day in great delight, jumping out of the water like a fish. That morning he had turned into a snake except for his arms and head, which remained human. He now had a clear idea of his mission, so the friends traveled to the Mississippi River. The next morning, he had turned completely into a serpent, with two horns on his head, and red dots under his eyes. "This is where I shall reside," he said. "And I shall completely fill the river bed. Anyone who wishes to cross over should make offerings to me and he will receive a blessing. However, tell my relatives that they must not come here." He disappeared into that great river, and his friend traveled back home. Even though they had been warned, his relatives attempted to see him, but when they got near the river, a great plume of fire shot up from where he had last been seen, so they reluctantly turned back. [13]

Links: Raccoons, Waterspirits.

Stories: about giant raccoons: Bladder and His Brothers; featuring raccoons as characters: The Spirit of Maple Bluff, The Were-fish, Bladder and His Brothers, The Raccoon Coat, Raccoon and the Blind Men; featuring (spirit) fish as characters: The Man who went to the Upper and Lower Worlds, The Were-Fish, The Greedy Woman, Wolves and Humans, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, The Great Fish, The Spirit of Maple Bluff, The King Bird, Fish Clan Origins, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Trickster's Adventures in the Ocean, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, Hare Visits the Bodiless Heads; about man-fish: The Were-fish, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, The King Bird, The Greedy Woman, The Spirit of Maple Bluff; about two male friends: Wazûka, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, The Lame Friend, Worúxega, The Fleetfooted Man, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Spirit of Maple Bluff, Hare Kills Sharp Elbow; involving tree stumps: The Twins Cycle, The Two Brothers, The Two Boys, The Pointing Man, The Were-fish, The Spirit of Maple Bluff; set around the Four Lakes: The Spirit of Maple Bluff, The Masaxe War, The Sky Man.

This is a close transformation of the stories, The Spirit of Maple Bluff, and The Were-fish.

Themes: a person who fasts receives blessings from the spirits: The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, The Nightspirits Bless Djobenagiwíñxga, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, Redhorn's Sons, The Boy Who Became a Robin, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, The Seer, Maize Comes to the Hotcâgara, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, The Boy who would be Immortal, The Thunderbird, Great Walker's Medicine, Cûgepaga, Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega), A Man's Revenge, Aratcgéga's Blessings, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Man who was Blessed by the Sun, The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, The Man who Defied Disease Giver, White Thunder's Warpath, A Man and His Three Dogs, The Diving Contest, The Plant Blessing of Earth, Holy Song, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Blessing of Cokeboka, The Completion Song Origin, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga, The Horse Spirit of Eagle Heights; hunters track an animal that turns out to be a spirit being: The Spirit of Maple Bluff (raccoon), The Were-fish (raccoon), Bird Clan Origin Myth (bear), The Wild Rose (wolf), The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter (deer); a group of men hunt a raccoon and in the process are led to a spirit being: The Were-fish, Bladder and His Brothers; hunters corner an animal hidden from view, but when they go to take it, they find another kind of animal in its place: The Spirit of Maple Bluff, The Were-fish, The Boy and the Jack Rabbit; an animal spirit transforms himself from one kind of animal into another: The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse (Thunderbird > horse), Bear Clan Origin Myth (bear > blackbird > bear), White Wolf (wolf > dog), A Man and His Three Dogs (wolf > dog), The Dog that became a Panther, The Were-fish (raccoon > fish), The Spirit of Maple Bluff (raccoon > fish); creatures turn into fish: The Were-fish, Hare Visits the Bodiless Heads, The Greedy Woman, The King Bird, The Man who went to the Upper and Lower Worlds; a spirit-being comes from a stump or hollow log: The Spirit of Maple Bluff, The Were-fish, The Birth of the Twins, The Two Boys, The Dipper; a man becomes the sort of thing that he has eaten: The Were-fish, The Omahas who turned into Snakes; a man who is metamorphosing into a fish (or other water creature) suffers from so extreme a thirst that he must live in water: The Were-fish, The King Bird, The Spirit of Maple Bluff; a Waterspirit tells a young man that another man close to him will have immortal life in the Waterspirit's company, but this comes to be denied because the other man fails to abide by the conditions of the blessing: The Seer.

Notes:

[1] Charles E. Brown, Lake Mendota Indian Legends (Madison: State Historical Museum, 1927) 2-3. However, this is based on an earlier article, "Indians Tell How 4 Lakes Got Names," The Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday, July 16, 1922. There it is said, "The complete original legend that gave rise to the Indian names of the Madison four lakes has been discovered, through efforts of a Chicago historian [Norton Jepson ?], working in cooperation with the Wisconsin Historical society, according to Miss Louise Phelps Kellogg, research associate. For years historians and people interested in folklore have tried to get from the Winnebago Indians the stories of the four lakes region. But for some reason, only disjointed, conflicting and incomplete stories could be obtained. It was finally discovered that the branch of the Winnebagoes which lived in this section had migrated to Nebraska. It was from the Nebraska Winnebago, through a half-breed to whom the men of the tribe talked freely, that the story was secured."

[2] Mary Carolyn Marino, A Dictionary of Winnebago: An Analysis and Reference Grammar of the Radin Lexical File (Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, December 14, 1968 [69-14,947]) ssvv wâk, p. 415; mîk, p. 323. This was corrected from Brown's Wonk-sheek-ho-mik-la. For De Tcopera, see James Davie Butler, "Taychoperah, the Four Lakes Country," Wisconsin Historical Collections, 10 (1885): 64-89 [64-65].

[3] Marino, A Dictionary of Winnebago, sv kixa, p. 300. This was corrected from Brown's Tchee-ho-bo-kee-xa kay-te-la.

[4] Marino, A Dictionary of Winnebago, ssvv sa, p. 382; hu, p. 263. This was corrected from Brown's Sa-hoo cha-te-la.

[5] Marino, A Dictionary of Winnebago, sv nâ, p. 327. This was corrected from Brown's Na-sa-koo-cha-te-la.

[6] Alfred Morsette, sr., "The Young Man Who Became a Snake," in Douglas R. Parks, Myths and Traditions of the Arikara Indians (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996) Story 15a, pp. 207-209.

[7] Black Horse, "The Man who became a Snake," in George A. Dorsey and Alfred L. Kroeber, Traditions of the Arapaho (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997 [1903]) Story 78, pp. 150-151.

[8] George Bird Grinnell, Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1961 [1889]) 171-181.

[9] "The Snake Man," in James Mooney, History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (Asheville, North Carolina: Bright Mountain Books, 1992 [1891/1900]) Story 57, pp. 304-305.

[10] Lewis Spence, "Myths of the North American Indians" (London: George G. Harrap & Company, 1916) 273-275.

[11] Cleaver Warden, "The Man who became a Water Monster," in Dorsey and Kroeber, Traditions of the Arapaho, Story 76, pp. 145-146.

[11.1] "17. The Man Who Became a Snake," in John Reed Swanton, Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians, Bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 88 (1929): 97-98.

[11.1] "25. The Man Who Became a Snake," in John Reed Swanton, Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians, Bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 88 (1929): 32-33.

[12] Earnest Gouge, "The Young Man who Turned into a Snake," from Totkv Mocvse: New Fire, The Creek Folktales of Earnest Gouge, translated by Margaret McKane Mauldin and Juanita McGirt, edited by Jack B. Martin and Margaret McKane Mauldin (August, 2002), Story 2. Original texts taken from Earnest Gouge, Creek texts, with English titles and occasional English translations by John R. Swanton (Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution, National Anthropological Archives, 1906-1930) Manuscript 4930.

[12.1] "23-24. The Man Who Became a Snake," in Swanton, Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians, 30-32. In the second version (24), the snake has antlers. The fifth version in this collection (27), has the man eating an egg which turns him into a snake. It ends as the others.

[12.2] "26. The Man Who Became a Snake," in Swanton, Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians, 33-34.

[13] Mary Little Bear Inkanish, "The Waters Beneath: the Great River Monster," in Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin, American Indian Mythology (New York: New American Library, 1968) 71-75.