(250) A man went hunting and left his wife at the lodge. And when he returned, as he came to the lodge, it was empty and one of the lodge poles had been pulled out. The man said, "Hohó, my wife must have been captured." Man that he was, there the man got angry, and then he ate in a hurry. After this he chased after them, (251) and where they stopped, he looked around, but he could not discern any place where they had killed someone. And again the man chased after him all day, chasing them fast, and then he trailed them right up to the lodge where they lived. As he went, he then saw their lodges and he sat down by their well. "And if one comes, I shall kill him," thus he thought.

And a woman came along. When he looked, he thought that she was similar to his wife. And so she dipped into the water and then he caught her, and it was his wife who was doing it. (252) "Hoho my dear wife, I was chasing you and had seen you. Let's go home right away." His wife said, "Wanâ´," she said, "I could go home right now were it not for the fact that I didn't bring my mocassins with me. I will go and get the mocassins." Then the woman went back. She went back to the lodge. In this case, when she got back, she told them about it. "A man, the one I'm married to, has come. I was drawing water and he was sitting there," she told them. (253) "Go talk to him. While you are talking to him by the wood pile (?) here, we will capture him."

Therefore, the woman went there. And then he spoke to the woman, "Let's go on immediately. It is very brushy over here so that if we go through there it will be good." And then they came. The men came. Then they captured him. And they bound him, binding his arms. (254) They drove a stake in the ground behind him. His hands were tied down. They drove it in back there. And again sitting with his legs stretched straight out before him, again they drove a stick in at his ankles, and all night he sat worrying. When he finished eating, then they went to kill him. And there on a little plain they killed him. His body was all cut to pieces. They cut his head off. (255) And then his arms and ribs were broken. And all the pieces they placed separately. Then they came back.

And again the person who was killed went away from that place. Thus, he had been very far off. Finally he returned, and when he returned, all of his body was scattered in this way. He didn't know where he would stop. Therefore, finally, a wolf had blessed him as a man who had been killed. He said, "I wonder if he knew," he thought. (256) When he thought, this one came very near him. "How could it be that I would not know of you? I have been wondering when you would think of me." And the wolf came and fixed him. And he gathered together all of his body, then Wolf (Cuñkdjoñkega) howled. Once he voiced it, his body became whole. And when he voiced it again the second time, then he almost moved. Then again when he voiced it a third time, then he moved. He almost got up and rushed about. (257) Then when he voiced it the fourth time, he got up and rushed about, and he said, "Ho ho ho ho!" and, "I am alive. You have caused me to rise." And then it was that Wolf said it and then stood up and talked to him, "Hâhâ my younger brother, you had blessed me when you were to leave. Hâhá, it is I. I wondered when you would come to think of me. But I always knew of you. And so I came here. Therefore, I was the cause of it, of fixing you. (258) And so you live." "Hâhâ my older brother, thus here in this village, here right away if you wish to kill, you may do so; but this man who brought you back here, you can also get revenge on him. Then you can also do it to him. And you can come and fight this village. Then he will be captured for you. And the man that did this to you will then be captured, then you will also do it to him." "Then too, he is not my equal. My dear older brother, White Wolf am I who speaks." (259) "And I bless you. And the man who did this to you was blessed by Gray Wolf, but he is not equal to me, and I myself am in charge. The white wolf also is not my equal. And then when you start home and get back to your lodge, then you will come and try him over. And now they themselves will capture him for you and together you will take him home. And then you also will do it to him. And he is blessed by a wolf, (260) but you will have young men, and furthermore, you will have wives, and you will always give them food. I have said it. And when you kill a deer, then cut it up for them to eat, and you call them and the wolves come there to eat it, and thus always, every day, then it is good enough. Therefore, everyone will think highly of you. (261) You always fed them and these stood steadfast by you, and for that reason they thought much of you. Everyone knows of your actions. And then if anything bad somewhere were to befall you, then they know your actions. And so then, you will not have gone through anything bad. Now then, everyone is always watching over you. This is because you did well for them. Therefore, now this that I am saying to you, I that am speaking to you, everyone is hearing." The end. [1]

Commentary. "if we go through there it will be good" -- since the area is brushy, they will be hard to track. The old growth forests used to have vast stands of trees with no undergrowth beneath them, making it possible to track someone through a forest.

"he returned" -- it was the belief of the Hotcâgara that those who were killed in action had the special privilege of going before Earthmaker himself and choosing to be reborn according to their own inclinations. At this point in the story, he is returning from Spiritland and discovering his own remains.

"a wolf had blessed him as a man who had been killed" -- the word wañkcik t'ehirera may not mean "as a man who had been killed", but simply "the man who was killed". The former implies that it was because he was killed that he was blessed by a wolf.

"you would think of me" -- some spirits in giving their blessings stipulate that all their benefactor needs do is think of them and they will appear to aid them. It seems that the man who was killed had not thought of his spirit protector until this very moment.

"you had blessed me when you were to leave" -- this means that when the human who had been dismembered was living with his brother in the spirit world (as wolves), he had blessed his older brother Wolf before he departed to live among the humans. Spirits often depart for life among the humans either because they have accepted an offering from them, or because they have some important mission to perform for the sake of humanity. Being reborn as a human clouds memories of a past life, although those with great spiritual power are usually capable of recovering many of these memories. This fact may explain why he took so long to think of this brother.

"he is not equal to me" -- because Wolf outranks Gray Wolf, the fact that the latter has blessed the enemy warrior will avail him nothing, since Wolf's blessing is preeminent.

"the wolves come there to eat it" -- in other words, in exchange for the revenge and immense prosperity that Wolf is giving his brother as a blessing, his brother must kill a deer for the wolves to eat every day without fail.

Links: Wolf & Dog Spirits, Ghosts.

Stories: relating to dogs or wolves: The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, A Man and His Three Dogs, White Wolf, Wolves and Humans, The Wolf Clan Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, Worúxega, The Dogs of the Chief's Son, The Dog that became a Panther, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Wild Rose, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Canine Warrior, The Raccoon Coat, Wodjidjé, The Big Eater, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Trickster Loses His Meal, Sun and the Big Eater, Redhorn's Sons, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Hog's Adventures, Holy One and His Brother, The Messengers of Hare, Grandmother's Gifts, The Hotcâk Migration Myth, Bladder and His Brothers, The Old Man and the Giants, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, Kunu's Warpath, Morning Star and His Friend, Peace of Mind Regained (?); having Wolf as a character: Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, A Man and His Three Dogs, Redhorn's Sons, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Dogs of the Chief's Son, Kunu's Warpath, Morning Star and His Friend, The Origins of the Milky Way; mentioning white wolves or dogs: White Wolf, The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, Worúxega, The Messengers of Hare, Wolf Clan Origin Myth (vv. 1, 2), Wolves and Humans, A Man and His Three Dogs, Grandmother's Gifts, Peace of Mind Regained (?); mentioning Gray Wolf: The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, Wolf Clan Origin Myth (vv. 1-2); about journeys to and from Spiritland: The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, 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.

Themes: someone is abducted and led off into captivity: The Captive Boys, A Man's Revenge, Bluehorn's Nephews, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Bladder and His Brothers, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, The Green Man, Brave Man, The Chief of the Herok'a, Cûgepaga, Hare Gets Swallowed, The Raccoon Coat, Wodjidjé, Wolves and Humans, The Woman Who Became an Ant, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Boy who Flew, Testing the Slave; someone goes out searching for a missing person who was dear to them: The Woman who Married a Snake, Warughápara, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, A Man's Revenge, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Old Man and White Feathers, Snowshoe Strings; men fight one another over women: Iron Staff and His Companions, The Green Man, A Man's Revenge, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister; the howling of a spirit wolf four times brings someone back to life: White Wolf, cf. The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter; someone returns from the dead: Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, The Shaggy Man, The Two Brothers, The Two Boys, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, White Wolf, The Red Man, The Chief of the Herok'a, Warughápara, The Lost Blanket, The Old Man and the Giants; a man who has been killed sees his own dead body: The Lame Friend, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth (full version); a spirit is quoted as he gives someone a blessing: Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega), Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Nightspirits Bless Djobenagiwíñxga, Disease Giver Blesses Djobenâgiwíñxga, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Aratcgéga's Blessings, The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, Great Walker's Medicine, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Plant Blessing of Earth, The Completion Song Origin, The Man who was Blessed by the Sun, Thunder Cloud is Blessed, The Difficult Blessing, The Blessing of Cokeboka; some part of what a man kills must be left for an Animal Spirit according to an agreement made between them: The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion (the headless bodies of humans), White Wolf (deer livers);