Of the proper name of the Giantess called "Pretty Woman" nothing is as yet known. The woman called by this name is one of the wives of the great spirit, He who has Human Heads for Earrings, better known as Hecútcga, "Redhorn." He has the further odd attribute of being identical with both his own father and his own son in a mystical unity that we might also infer in the case of the Greek Demeter and her own daughter Persephone. [1] Thus the Giantess known as Pretty Woman is sometimes said to be the mother of Redhorn [2], and sometimes his wife [3] -- but in all cases it is clearly the same woman.

She is a distinguished member of the tribe of Giants who go by the Hotcâk name Wangerútcge, "Man Eaters." They were confronted by the great spirits who came to contest them in various sports, with the victors winning the right to kill those of their opponents who had been wagered on the outcome. The centerpiece of these Olympiads was the game of lacrosse. This game was played so that one player was matched particularly against another. Redhorn would always be matched against the best player on the other team, and this player was always a Giantess with red hair [4], although in some accounts her hair was orange ("red-yellowish") [5], or even yellow. [6] Although a Giantess, she was of normal stature. [7] She is a yûgiwi (or princess), the daughter of the Giant's chief. As far as her feelings for Redhorn were concerned, and to the great detriment of the Giants, it was love at first sight. She was particularly charmed by the miniature human heads that animate Redhorn's earlobes. They would wink, stick out their tongues, and generally make funny faces, which made her laugh and lose her concentration on the game. Consequently, the Giants lost at great cost to themselves, but although their team was killed as a result, Pretty Woman was spared and taken to wife by Redhorn. [8]

However, Pretty Woman's culinary preference presented a problem. Redhorn (under the name "Young Man") set before her two bowls of the best bear meat and ordered her to eat it, but she couldn't stomach it. She jumped up and dashed out the door, but as fleet of foot as she was, she fell under the mysterious power of never being able to gain any distance on the lodge. Finally she began vomiting, until at last she vomited up an ice cube. This had been the cause of her cannibalism, and once it was gone, she assumed a normal diet. [9]

Redhorn was already married to She who Wears a White Beaver Wrap, but she and Pretty Woman knew each other before hand. [10] In time she bore Redhorn a child who looked exactly like his father, except that the miniature heads were located on the boy's nipples (or shoulders, as some say).. Pretty Woman's co-wife, She who Wears a White Beaver Wrap, gave birth to Redhorn reincarnate, a child with red hair and heads on his earlobes. When the enemy killed Redhorn and his friends, these two children were spared. When they grew up they recaptured the heads of Redhorn and his colleagues. They asked Pretty Woman and her co-wife to sleep with Redhorn's head, but they said, "How can we? He is nothing but a skull." So the sons found other means to revive the dead men. [11] In time Pretty Woman's son got married, but his brother remained a bachelor because of his great holiness.

A similar woman was a champion lacrosse player for the tribe of Giants who played against Wodjidjé, the Meteor Spirit. She too was a princess, but her hair was yellow, her eyes were gray, and her complexion was pale white. [12] She is obviously a lunar figure and ends up marrying Wodjidjé, whose nature is solar. She seems clearly modeled on Pretty Woman, and might reflect another tradition on her life.

Links: Redhorn, Sons of Redhorn, Turtle, Giants, The Meteor Spirit, Gottschall.

Stories: featuring Pretty Woman (or a Giant princess with red or yellow hair): Redhorn's Sons (red hair), Redhorn Contests the Giants (red hair), Redhorn's Father (red hair), The Hotcâgara Contest the Giants (red-yellowish hair), The Roaster (yellow hair), Morning Star and His Friend; featuring Giants as characters: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, Morning Star and His Friend, White Wolf, Redhorn's Father, The Hotcâgara Contest the Giants, The Roaster, Grandfather's Two Families, Redhorn's Sons, The Human Head, Turtle and the Giant, Sun and the Big Eater, The Big Eater, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Ocean Duck, Wears White Feathers on His Head, cf. The Shaggy Man.

Themes: a being has red hair: Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn's Father, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (vv. 1 & 2), The Hotcâgara Contest the Giants, Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, A Wife for Knowledge, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle; a Giant (Wángerútcge) princess has her game disturbed by her attraction to a hero: Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Roaster, Redhorn's Father.

Notes:

[1] Carl Kerényi, Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter (New York: Schocken Books, 1977 [1967]) 31-33.

[2] W. C. McKern, "A Winnebago Myth," Yearbook, Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, 9 (1929): 215-230.

[3] Paul Radin, Winnebago Hero Cycles: A Study in Aboriginal Literature (Baltimore: Waverly Press, 1948) 123-129.

[4] Ibid.; McKern, A Winnebago Myth, 215-230.

[5] Thomas Foster, Foster's Indian Record and Historical Data (Washington, D. C.: 1876-1877) vol. 1, #3: p. 3 col. 1. Told by Little Decorah [picture], a member of the Thunderbird Clan.

[6] Paul Radin, "The Roaster," [unpublished] Winnebago Notebooks (American Philosophical Society Library) #2.

[7] Paul Radin, "Redhorn's Sons," Notebooks, Winnebago IV, #7, Freeman #3860 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1908-1930) Story 7a.

[8] Radin, "Redhorn's Sons,"; Radin, Winnebago Hero Cycles, 123-129. John Harrison, The Giant or The Morning Star, translated by Oliver LaMere, in Paul Radin, Notebooks, Winnebago III, #11a, Freeman Number 3892 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) Story 8, pp. 92-117.

[9] McKern, A Winnebago Myth, 215-230.

[10] Radin, "Redhorn's Sons," 9.

[11] Radin, Winnebago Hero Cycles, 131-132.

[12] Radin, "The Roaster," Notebook #2.