The Blessing

by Mark J. Green (Wą́nihegá)
translated by Bill Hall (Hų̄ka)

William Hall, ca. 1895

In a kettle he cooked venison. One kettle he let him have, and then some tobacco, he let him have. This old man used to live by himself in a round muslin tent. His boys were there with him. One of them went to where the old man was, to a place there for them to get arrows. Whoever brought tobacco, he would give them some arrows and a bow. Some of the men brought him venison and some tobacco.

Then he would take some of the tobacco and pour it and then cry. Then at one time having done this four times, then later he (the Spirit) had compassion on him, and blessed him with good fortune. Whatever the blessing was, was to be shown in a dream. This then would be whatever he was blessed with.

Then one time, it was at night, his older brother was fasting, he dreamed he was planting a field.1

Commentary

"he let him have" — that is, someone, perhaps one of his sons, supplied him with that amount of venison. Further on we learn that he traded bows and arrows for tobacco and kettles of meat, so it could have been any random trader who is meant by "he" in this context.

"a round muslin tent" — round, as opposed to a tepee. Muslin is a cotton fabric not produced by Native America, so obtaining it was possible only through trade. The muslin does not weather well, so it was generally used as a tent liner. Its surface was especially good for painting.

"pour it and then cry" — this is "crying to the Spirits." The great divide between humans and Spirits was here, as among the ancient Greeks, the mortality of the human condition. The Spirits can be swayed by tobacco, inasmuch as it is as addictive for them as it is for humans; and human mortality evokes sympathy among them, and from pity, they are moved to grant those blessings over which they have control.

"to be shown in a dream" — this is rather unusual – normally, the vision in which he encounters the Spirit would reveal, from the Spirit's own lips, what his blessing is to be.

"his older brother" — most of these stories center upon the Shawnee Prophet and his older brother, Tecumseh. The Spirit had said that the nature of his blessing would be revealed in a dream, but he never said that it would be the supplicant's own dream, only that it would be a dream. It was Tecumseh who is likely the dreamer who would plant a myriad of seeds that would nourish the multitudes; but the blessing would accrue to his brother, the Prophet.

  
DeGolyer Library, SMU Unknown Artist
Tenskwatawa,
the Shawnee Prophet		 Tecumseh

"he was planting a field" — the first thing to note is that planting is entirely a woman's job. If the planter is the Prophet, this dream portends two things at tension with one another. Is he nourishing the people with his philosophy of restoration, in which the Indians are to return to their old ways and begin to prosper as they had before the advent of the white man; or does this mean that he has taken the seeds (offspring) of the Nations and by his blunder at Tippecanoe, caused them to be planted (dead) in the ground?

Comparative Material. somewhat similar is the Hebrew story of Joseph's dream. In the dream, the sheaf of wheat belonging to his eldest brother bowed down before Joseph's sheaf. Much later, it came to pass that during a famine, the brothers bowed down before Joseph to receive from him the grain sufficient to prevent their starvation.2

Links: Spirits (Waxopini).

Stories: about fasting blessings: Earthmaker Blesses Wagíšega (Wešgíšega), The Difficult Blessing, The Boy Who Became a Robin, The Boy who would be Immortal, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, The Seer, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, The Nightspirits Bless Jōbᵉną̄giwį̄́xka, Disease Giver Blesses Jōbᵉną̄giwį̄́xka, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, Black Otter's Warpath, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Aracgéga's Blessings, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Great Walker's Medicine, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Man who was Blessed by the Sun, Holy Song, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Plant Blessing of Earth, The Blessing of Šokeboka, Heną́ga and Star Girl, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Sweetened Drink Song, Ancient Blessing, A Deer Story.

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 Jōbᵉną̄giwį̄́xka, 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 Hocągara, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, The Boy who would be Immortal, The Thunderbird, Lake Wąkšikhomįgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name, The Waterspirit Guardian of the Intaglio Mound, Great Walker's Medicine, Šųgepaga, Earthmaker Blesses Wagíšega (Wešgíšega), The Man Who Would Dream of Mą’ųna, Heną́ga and Star Girl, A Man's Revenge, Aracgéga'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, The Man Who Lost His Children to a Wood Spirit, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, The Man who Defied Disease Giver, White Thunder's Warpath, Black Otter's Warpath, A Man and His Three Dogs, The Oak Tree and the Man Who was Blessed by the Heroka, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, The Diving Contest, The Plant Blessing of Earth, Holy Song, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Blessing of Šokeboka, The Completion Song Origin, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Nightspirits Bless Ciwoit’éhiga, Sunset Point, Song to Earthmaker, First Contact (v. 1), The Horse Spirit of Eagle Heights.

Notes

1 [No Title], Archives of Traditional Music (ATM), Indiana University, translation by William Hall, recording by Milford G. Chandler of Mark J. Green - vocals, bef. 1920, Black River Falls, Jackson County, Wisconsin. ATL 523.11 8742.13, Recording 11.SCY 177401:54, Collection number (collection identifier): 54-196-F, 12 of 87; A11-12; OTA 7694; APS 7256.

2 Genesis 37–50.