Themes and story types are probably not logically distinct categories, but in most cases it is possible to separate them. Nevertheless, the reader is encouraged to examine "A Catalogue of Story Types," in addition to the present page.
The themes of this collection do not well resemble their counterparts in Aarne-Thompson, and no attempt has been made to fit them into that mold. The reason for their divergence lies in the fact that most of the stories in this collection are myths, not folktales, a fact that makes a very big difference to their thematic content.
Note: This catalogue is not yet exhaustive. The process of adding themes to the list is ongoing, and new themes will occasionally be introduced when they are adduced from the material.
The Sacred Realm
Supernatural Beings
The Otherworld
Magical Powers, Wonders, and Supernatural Occurrences
Metamorphosis and Transformation
Sacrifice, Fasting, and Blessings
Man and Society
The Physical Body
Bodily Functions
Birth, Death, and Resurrection
Medicine
The Hotcâgara
Social Relations
Symbolism
Artifacts and Costumes
Virtues, Vices, and Taboos
Trickery and Humor
Games and Athletic Competitions
War, Combat, and Captivity
Hunting and Food
The Natural World
The Earth, Cosmos, and Time
Physical Objects
Natural Phenomena
Animals
Plants
someone in danger prays to Earthmaker for rescue: The Fatal House, The Wild Rose.
Earthmaker acts against those who are not doing right: The Fatal House, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, Turtle and the Giant, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Seven Maidens, The Origins of the Milky Way.
visiting Earthmaker: The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, 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.
Earthmaker appoints one being after another to accomplish a mission, but must recall each in turn save the last: The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Spider's Eyes.
the fallibility of Earthmaker: Creation of Man, v. 2, Bladder and His Brothers, v. 1, Lost Lake.
spirits meet in a council: The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, Black and White Moons, Holy One and His Brother, The Creation Council, The Children of the Sun, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Gift of Shooting, East Shakes the Messenger, The Descent of the Drum, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Petition to Earthmaker, The Boy who would be Immortal.
spirits come together to pool their resources to give humans power over their enemies: Warughápara, Maize Origin Myth, The Children of the Sun.
spirits come to earth in order to rescue humanity from enemies who threaten their existence: The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, Bladder and His Brothers, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Grandfather's Two Families, The Hare Cycle, The Hotcâgara Contest the Giants, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Raccoon Coat, Redhorn's Sons, The Redhorn Cycle, The Roaster, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Spirit of Gambling, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Trickster Cycle, Wodjidjé, Redhorn's Father, Turtle and the Merchant.
good spirits rescue women held by an evil spirit: Hare Gets Swallowed, The Spirit of Gambling, The Green Man, Iron Staff and His Companions.
a malevolent spirit chases after a group of women: The Woman Who Became an Ant, The Human Head, The Seven Maidens.
a spirit comes into existence as a fully mature human being but in a state of total amnesia: Morning Star and His Friend, The Mulberry Picker, Wears White Feathers on His Head, The Human Head.
a spirit-being comes from a stump or hollow log: The Spirit of Maple Bluff, Lake Wâkcikhomîgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name, The Were-fish, The Birth of the Twins, The Two Boys, The Dipper.
spirits can be followed by stepping in their first four footprints: Warughápara, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Chief of the Herok'a, Snowshoe Strings.
a young man leaves his uncle and mother behind and goes off to visit the father he has never met in the spirit abode where he lives: The Shaggy Man, The Children of the Sun, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head.
Trickster takes care of someone else's children, but causes their death: Trickster and the Mothers, Trickster and the Children.
Hare knocks out the teeth of an animal that threatened humans so that its kind ceases to pose a threat ever again: Hare and the Dangerous Frog, The Animal who would Eat Men, v. 1 (an elk), The Animal who would Eat Men, v. 2 (an eel).
Turtle has a sacred, double-edged knife: Turtle and the Giant, Redhorn's Sons, The Chief of the Herok'a, Turtle's Warparty, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Turtle.
Turtle jingles as he walks from the small bells tied to his leggings: The Chief of the Herok'a, Trickster Soils the Princess, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married.
Turtle interrupts his gambling game to go meet friends he says that he was expecting yesterday: Redhorn's Father, Trickster Soils the Princess, The Mulberry Picker, Morning Star and His Friend.
bad women ridicule Turtle for his appearance: The Skunk Origin Myth, The Chief of the Herok'a.
Turtle courts a chief's daughter with his friend, but is rebuffed by being pushed off her platform bed: Trickster Soils the Princess, The Mulberry Picker, The Father of the Twins Attempts to Flee.
Turtle carries a number of people on his body: The Hotcâk Migration Myth, Redhorn's Sons, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth.
Turtle overhears ordinary conversations at a remote distance: Redhorn's Father, Turtle's Warparty.
Turtle conceals himself completely except for the tip of his nose: Turtle's Warparty, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth.
Turtle agrees to avenge the losses of those who have petitioned his aid as a warrior: Trickster Soils the Princess, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Turtle and the Witches, Redhorn Contests the Giants.
Turtle leads a warparty out immediately, without any planning or approval: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn Contests the Giants.
Turtle attacks from below: Turtle's Warparty, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth.
Turtle remains submerged under water for a very long time: Porcupine and His Brothers, Redhorn Contests the Giants.
Turtle acts improperly to influence in his favor the outcome of a game of chance: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Spirit of Gambling, Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn Contests the Giants.
Turtle wrongfully tries to take the chief's daughter who has been given (as a prize) to someone else to marry: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth.
Turtle is killed: The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Redhorn Contests the Giants.
each son of Earthmaker is appointed to rule over his own paradise: Cosmography, Trickster Concludes His Mission, The Cosmic Ages of the Hotcâgara.
the Twins rescue Turtle from certain death: The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth.
the Twins disobey the commands of someone with fatherly authority over them: The Twins Get into Hot Water, The Twins Disobey Their Father, The Two Boys, The Lost Blanket, The Two Brothers.
the oldest brother anounces that he is so great a spirit that his brothers have nothing to fear: Holy One and His Brother, Turtle's Warparty, Îtcohorucika and His Brothers, Bladder and His Brothers.
a doorway is unexpectedly found in the side of a hill which serves as a lodge for a powerful spirit: He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, The Shaggy Man, Bluehorn's Nephews, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Thunderbird and White Horse.
a powerful spirit lives in a cave: Big Eagle Cave Mystery, Blue Mound Cave, Silver Mound Cave, The Woman Who Married a Snake, The Human Head.
some of a group of brothers are Stellar Spirits and others are animals: Sun and the Big Eater, The Big Eater, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Grandfather's Two Families.
powerful spirits eat snakes (even though they are sacred): The Twins Disobey Their Father, The Two Boys, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Dipper.
the human incarnation of the sun eats enormous amounts of food: Sun and the Big Eater, Grandfather's Two Families.
a spirit has faces on each earlobe: Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, Redhorn's Father, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Morning Star and His Friend, The Hotcâgara Contest the Giants.
a spirit has four arms: Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, The Forked Man.
a spirit is of a red color: Wears White Feathers on His Head, The Red Man, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Man who was Blessed by the Sun.
a man uses flint growing out of his arm to kill (or behead) someone: The Man with Two Heads, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, Hare Kills Sharp Elbow, The Children of the Sun, The Man with Two Heads.
boys playing with spirit children, killing them, and having the spirit chief revive them: The Shaggy Man, The Mulberry Picker.
an evil spirit uses snow as a weapon: Holy One and His Brother, Warughápara.
an evil spirit throws hot coals upon someone: Wolves and Humans, The Raccoon Coat.
someone about to be killed cries out to a spirit to whom he is related, and is saved: Porcupine and His Brothers, Warughápara, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Seven Maidens.
someone aided by a spirit friend is left for dead by his colleagues, only to be saved by his friend and brought back alive to the grief of those who left him for dead: Warughápara, The Dog that became a Panther, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion.
wearing the skin of a spirit bird: Holy One and His Brother, Hare Acquires His Arrows, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Boy who Flew, The Lost Blanket.
a Bird Spirit escapes his pursuers through the smoke hole of his lodge: The Markings on the Moon, Crane and His Brothers.
a human marries a spirit: The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy (a Thunderbird, a Nightspirit, and two Waterspirits), The Thunderbird (a Thunderbird), How the Thunders Met the Nights (a Nightspirit), The Shaggy Man (a Bear Spirit), White Wolf (a Wolf Spirit), The Woman who Married a Snake (a Snake Spirit), The Human Head (a Louse Spirit), He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (Buffalo Spirit).
a cradle for a newborn is thrust through the lodge flap (by the mother's mysterious spirit husband): Warughápara, The Shaggy Man, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head.
gifts are thrust through the flap of the lodge by someone that is not seen: The Shaggy Man, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Red Feather.
a human is transformed into a Thunderbird (or vice-versa): Warughápara (human > Thunder), The Man who was a Reincarnated Thunderbird (Thunder > human).
a human joins up with the Thunderbirds: The Thunderbird, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Warughapara, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Dipper.
a mortal is an affine of the Thunderbirds: The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Thunderbird, Warughápara, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed (v. 3).
a human is a reincarnated Thunderbird: The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga, The Man who was a Reincarnated Thunderbird.
Thunderbirds capture a boy who is out looking for material with which to make arrows: Hare Acquires His Arrows, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds.
the Thunders seek to eat a human being: The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, Bluehorn's Nephews, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds.
a man injured by the Thunderbirds regenerates (in four days): Warughapara, Redhorn's Sons, The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, Bluehorn's Nephews.
a hero kills Thunderbirds and uses their feathers to make arrows: The Twins Disobey Their Father, Hare Acquires His Arrows.
handling a thunder weapon adversely affects bystanders: The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Hare Visits His Grandfather Bear, Hare Kills Sharp Elbow, The Stone that Became a Frog.
a small bird's call causes the Thunderbirds to come forth thundering: Turtle's Warparty, The Quail Hunter.
someone kills Thunderbird nestlings and makes use of their feathers: Hare Acquires His Arrows, The Lost Blanket, The Twins Disobey Their Father.
Thunderbirds are reduced to using grass or weeds when they smoke their pipes: The Thunderbird, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Dipper.
Thunderbird people are ignorant of tools: The Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, How the Thunders Met the Nights.
Thunderbird people roast meat over the fire on sharpened sticks: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (v. 3), How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Dipper.
walking like the Thunders: The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, Kunu's Warpath.
Storms as He Walks leads scouts by walking in the air: The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Kunu's Warpath.
in order to get wives (from the Nightspirits) the Thunders must fly over a region where they are attacked: The Dipper, How the Thunders Met the Nights.
the war between Thunderbirds and Waterspirits: Traveler and the Thunderbird War, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, The Lost Blanket, Ocean Duck, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Warughápara.
a mortal causes a Thunderbird to triumph over a Waterspirit (or vice-versa): Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Lost Blanket.
powerful spirits (who are brothers) set out for the Mississippi where they kill a Waterspirit: Trickster Concludes His Mission, The Two Children, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, Bluehorn's Nephews.
many objects float to the surface of a lake just before a Waterspirit rises from the depths: The Seer, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth.
a Waterspirit demands a human sacrifice: The Seer, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, Old Man and White Feathers.
someone is offered to a Waterspirit: The Shaggy Man, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, White Thunder's Warpath, Warughápara, Old Man and White Feathers, The Seer.
a Waterspirit kills a human: The Shaggy Man, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, Warughapara, The Two Children, The Waterspirit of Lake Koshkonong, The Waterspirit of Rock River, The Seer, The Twin Sisters, The Sioux Warparty and the Waterspirit of Green Lake, The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells, The Lost Blanket.
a Waterspirit sucks under men in canoes: The Waterspirit of Lake Koshkonong, The Waterspirit of Rock River, The Sioux Warparty and the Waterspirit of Green Lake.
a Waterspirit takes a child: The Lost Child, The Two Children, Old Man and White Feathers.
a man is captured by Waterspirits: Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Holy One and His Brother, Redhorn's Sons, The King Bird.
a human lives with Waterspirits: The Mulberry Picker, The King Bird, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Old Man and White Feathers.
Waterspirits lay a man on his back and bind him down: The Thunderbird, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers.
a group of brothers plots with a Waterspirit against the youngest (who is the most favored): The Shaggy Man, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers.
a group of young men plot to trick one of their number into falling victim to a Waterspirit: Warughápara, The Shaggy Man, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers.
a Waterspirit that has been killed for food is called a "beaver" by spirits: The Thunderbird, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Warughápara, The Twins Disobey Their Father, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Bluehorn's Nephews.
a hero shoots two Waterspirits in the heart: Holy One and His Brother, The Thunderbird.
a powerful spirit burns down the abode of a Waterspirit: Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, The Lost Blanket, The Two Children.
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, Lake Wâkcikhomîgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name.
in human form, Waterspirit women are extraordinarily beautiful: The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Mulberry Picker, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (v. 2).
traveling by riding atop a water monster (or Waterspirit): Ocean Duck, Hare Gets Swallowed.
two Waterspirits sleep while basking in the sun: Holy One and His Brother, The Thunderbird, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty.
a green (tco) Waterspirit inhabits Devil's Lake: River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells, Devil's Lake -- How it Got its Name.
a powerful being kills an Island Weight: Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, Cûgepaga.
good people (and spirits) completely annihilate a race of bad spirits except for two, whom they allow to live (so that they do not undo the work of the Creator): Grandfather's Two Families, Sun and the Big Eater, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Redhorn's Father, Morning Star and His Friend, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle.
long eared monsters: The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth.
flame throwing monsters: The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Two Boys.
men whose bodies are (partly) covered with pieces of flint: Bluehorn's Nephews, Hare Kills Flint, Hare Gets Swallowed, The Children of the Sun, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Red Man, The Chief of the Herok'a.
in order to get him to take refuge in his lodge, a great spirit causes another spirit to think that someone dangerous is pursuing him: Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, Bluehorn's Nephews.
powerful spirit beings act somewhat dim witted: How the Thunders Met the Nights, Hare Kills Sharp Elbow, The Thunderbird, Partridge's Older Brother, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, The Dipper.
an evil spirit thinks that he has detected the presence of his enemy, but his partner dissuades him: The Raccoon Coat, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Holy One and His Brother, The Thunderbird.
an evil spirit unexpectedly appears to humans and is believed by them to be one of their own relatives: The Quail Hunter, The Big Stone.
a hero drives evil subterranean spirits deeper into the lower world: Trickster Concludes His Mission, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, v. 4, The Necessity for Death.
good spirits try to intercede with bad spirit allies to save the life of a captured human: Îtcohorucika and His Brothers, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds.
an old man is told by a Giant that his grandsons are challenged to a contest, but he keeps forgetting to tell them until the Giants (attempt to) club him, then he remembers by repeating it all day long: Sun and the Big Eater, Grandfather's Two Families, Bladder and His Brothers, v. 4 (old man > youngest brother).
a Giant (Wángerútcge) princess has her game disturbed by her attraction to a hero: Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Roaster, Redhorn's Father, Morning Star and His Friend, Redhorn's Sons.
marriage to a Giant: The Stone Heart, A Giant Visits His Daughter, Young Man Gambles Often, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Roaster, Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn's Father, White Wolf.
certain spirits help the Giants in a (lacrosse) game with human lives at stake because they have married Giant women: Redhorn's Father, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Morning Star and His Friend, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Redhorn's Sons.
a hero and his friends are killed because the Giants are victorious in a wrestling match: Redhorn Contests the Giants, White Wolf.
the Giants massacre an entire village, but spare at least one child to eat later in life: Warughápara, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Old Man and the Giants.
Giants have ice in the pit of their stomachs: Young Man Gambles Often, Redhorn's Father, The Stone Heart.
Giants cease eating men after they vomit up an ice cube: Young Man Gambles Often, Redhorn's Father.
humans (or good spirits in human form) eating Giants: The Shaggy Man, Ocean Duck.
the heads of Giants are found to be full of wampum: Young Man Gambles Often, Turtle and the Giant.
lilliputian people with great hunting skills: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Red Man.
a newlywed goes to the home of her husband to live among his kind, a race of Animal Spirits: The Wild Rose (wolves), The Woman who Married a Snake, The Shaggy Man (bears).
a hungry young man accidentally finds his way to the lodge of the daughter of a spirit and soon marries her: The Old Man and the Giants, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle.
(removing a tent pole and) entering another world through a hole in the ground: Îtcohorucika and His Brothers, The Seduction of Redhorn's Son, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Redhorn's Sons, Iron Staff and His Companions.
animals enter Spiritland through a spring: Trail Spring, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter.
a fruitless visit to the upper and lower worlds: The Man who went to the Upper and Lower Worlds, The Lost Blanket, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers.
after his death, the brother of a holy spirit goes west to rule over a Spiritland village of the dead: Holy One and His Brother, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth.
a human being physically travels to Spiritland without having died: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Snowshoe Strings, The Thunderbird, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Warughápara, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Shaggy Man, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Aratcgéga's Blessings, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Lost Blanket, The Twins Get into Hot Water, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Petition to Earthmaker, The Boy who would be Immortal, Thunder Cloud Marries Again, Rainbow and the Stone Arch, v. 2, Trickster Concludes His Mission.
a traveler on the road to Spiritland comes to what appears to be an impassible obstacle, but when he forges ahead, he succeeds in overcoming it: The Journey to Spiritland, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II.
four spirit beings help those who travel to Spiritland: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, The Lame Friend, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Petition to Earthmaker.
a man travels west following a departed loved one in order to prevent him/her from residing forever in Spiritland: Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Holy One and His Brother, 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, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth.
ghosts try to snatch away a living man's blanket: Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Difficult Blessing.
ghosts chase after someone: The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Human Head, Little Fox and the Ghost.
ghosts are averse to ashes: Ghost Dance Origins II, Hare Steals the Fish.
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, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Snowshoe Strings.
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), The Four Slumbers Origin Myth.
a messenger leads a man to Spiritland: The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, The Foolish Hunter, Aratcgéga's Blessings, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief.
a messenger summons an evil doer to Spiritland where he is reprimanded: The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, The Foolish Hunter.
otherworld journeys inside an animal skin sack: How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons.
a mortal is returned to earth from the spirit village that he is visiting: Warughápara, The Thunderbird, The Shaggy Man, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Snowshoe Strings, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, White Wolf, The Foolish Hunter, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Petition to Earthmaker.
Magical Powers, Wonders, and Supernatural Occurrences
the remains of a dead man speak to, bite, and chase after someone: The Human Head, Little Fox and the Ghost.
a person endows an inanimate object with the power of speech and orders it to speak for him/her while he/she escapes: Ocean Duck (an arrow), The Human Head (a doll), Hare Kills Wildcat (acorns), cf. Hare Visits His Grandfather Bear (piles of dung).
someone runs away at full speed, but despite running for some time, they find themselves only a short distance from where they started: Redhorn's Father, The Father of the Twins Attempts to Flee, The Two Boys.
Grandmother's back caves in: Earthmaker Creates the World and Gives Turtle and Hare Their Missions, The Necessity for Death, v. 1, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, vv. 1, 4, The Creation of Man, v. 6.
a being is invulerable: Worúxega, The Canine Warrior, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Man who was a Reincarnated Thunderbird, Battle of the Night Blessed Men and the Medicine Rite Men.
a spirit being cannot be killed because his death lies outside his body: Ocean Duck, Partridge's Older Brother, The Green Man.
a being is vulnerable in a highly unusual way: River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, Snowshoe Strings, The Green Man, Partridge's Older Brother, The Dipper, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension.
certain beings are thought to be invulnerable (but may not be): The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, The Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I, Great Walker's Warpath, Partridge's Older Brother.
as part of a blessing, a spirit orders the beneficiary to kill him and make magical use of his body: White Wolf, The Seer, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Elk's Skull.
an empty hide comes to life: White Wolf, Midjistéga, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother.
solitary children feed themselves on an inexhaustible boiled deer tail: The Chief of the Herok'a, Warughápara, The Red Man.
one small morsel of food when put in a kettle becomes sufficient to feed everyone present: Ocean Duck (bean), The Chief of the Herok'a (deer tail), The Red Man (deer tail), The Raccoon Coat (kernel of corn), Wodjidjé (kernel of corn), Redhorn's Father (bean).
food is magically created from something inedible: Midjistéga, Potato Magic.
a woman is placed in an arrow quiver: Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister.
Trickster is taught a magical command to cause something to expand, but when he uses it, it works against him: The Elk's Skull, A Mink Tricks Trickster.
a spirit makes his dish grow larger: Kunu's Warpath, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth.
an inanimate object expands upon command: Kunu's Warpath, Wodjidjé, The Raccoon Coat, The Elk's Skull, A Mink Tricks Trickster, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth.
inanimate things automatically respond to human commands: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse (corn plant), The Old Man and the Giants (boat), Wodjidjé (metal boat), The Raccoon Coat (metal boat), Big Eagle Cave Mystery (canoe), The Sky Man (knots), Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (everything), cf. How the Thunders Met the Nights (pontoon boat).
striking an object to make it move faster in the water: Wodjidjé (a boat), Ocean Duck (Waterspirit).
an old man has a disc shaped object which when rolled makes him the fastest man in any race: Sun and the Big Eater, Grandfather's Two Families.
a body of water is created by tears falling from above: The Creation of the World, Lake Winnebago Origin Myth, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Holy One and His Brother, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed (v. 1).
setting water ablaze by striking it with a weapon: Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Redhorn's Sons.
walking on water: Bear Clan Origin Myth (v. 3), Bird Clan Origin Myth, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Chief of the Herok'a, Redhorn's Sons.
someone dives into a body of water and disappears into its depths: The Red Feather, The Birth of the Twins, The Two Boys, The Two Brothers, The Woman who Married a Snake, The Shaggy Man.
ascending to heaven in a storm: The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension, Fourth Universe, The Man Who Fell from the Sky, cf. Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp.
ascending to heaven with a clap of thunder: Fourth Universe, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp, The Man Who Fell from the Sky.
leaving for the heavens by rising up through the smoke hole of a lodge: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Markings on the Moon.
someone is able to exert supernatural power upon an object by concentrating his mind upon it: Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, The Petition to Earthmaker, The Messengers of Hare, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Blessing of Kerexûsaka.
a person (or spirit) aids someone in a task by concentrating his mind upon it: Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Petition to Earthmaker, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter.
a spirit causes someone to fall asleep: Hare Visits the Bodiless Heads, Warughapara, Brave Man.
a hypnotic command for enemies to sleep works on the fourth utterance: Brave Man, Hare Visits the Bodiless Heads.
hypnotic commands issued at a distance: The Birth of the Twins, The Two Boys, The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, Brave Man.
someone is charmed to sleep: Trickster Takes Little Fox for a Ride, Brave Man.
a woman sings a song that brings the buffalo to her: The Woman Who Became an Ant, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister.
even though it is cold enough to freeze a man, two people (one of whom is a spirit) have the supernatural power to stay warm: White Wolf, How the Thunders Met the Nights.
a group of women spirits can command the wind to blow: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Dipper.
having the power to control the winds and/or the weather: Deer Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth (vv. 1, 5), Blue Bear, The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Chief of the Herok'a, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 2, East Shakes the Messenger, South Seizes the Messenger, The Dipper.
a powerful spirit sweeps away evils to the bad place (the arctic north): North Shakes His Gourd, The Descent of the Drum, V. 2, East Shakes the Messenger, South Seizes the Messenger, The Four Steps of the Cougar.
a man continues to function without his head: The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Man with Two Heads, The Children of the Sun, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 1a), The Red Man, The Chief of the Herok'a.
a man goes about the heavens with a severed head in his possession: The Markings on the Moon, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Man with Two Heads, The Children of the Sun.
a severed head in a fireplace is not dead: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Red Man, The Children of the Sun.
a man reunites the still living head and body of his relative: The Red Man, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Man with Two Heads, The Children of the Sun, The Chief of the Herok'a.
an heroic spirit recaptures a man's head or scalp and restores the victim's unity by throwing it exactly in its correct position on his body: Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Children of the Sun, The Man with Two Heads.
the severed head of an enemy chatters it teeth: The Children of the Sun, Wears White Feathers on His Head.
a severed head speaks: The Human Head, The Red Man, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head.
a spirit has so much speed that he tears down trees trying to come to a stop: Sun and the Big Eater, Grandfather's Two Families.
a seer makes true predictions down to unusual details: The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, Witches, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Fox-Hotcâk War, How Little Priest went out as a Soldier, A Prophecy, The Claw Shooter.
two (groups of) holy men contest one another with supernatural power: The Claw Shooter, Battle of the Night Blessed Men and the Medicine Rite Men, Great Walker and the Anishinaabeg Witches, The Tap the Head Medicine.
a rejected sister prophesies that her brother will never see his village again: The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, Partridge's Older Brother.
an aquatic creature eats cervids whole: The Waterspirit of Rock River, The Great Fish.
talking fish: The Greedy Woman, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, Redhorn's Father, Trickster's Adventures in the Ocean.
birds are called by a warparty to drink up a lake in which their enemies are hiding: Turtle's Warparty, Porcupine and His Brothers.
a small item set on or driven into the ground by a great man cannot be lifted by anyone else: The Twins Visit Their Father's Village (packs), The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension (warclub), The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara (a warclub), Wodjidjé (a dog), The Raccoon Coat (a dog), The Roaster (a pack).
shooting claws: The Claw Shooter, Battle of the Night Blessed Men and the Medicine Rite Men, Redhorn Contests the Giants.
Earthmaker forms the "arrow" (shell) of the Medicine Rite by taking a piece of blue sky and rolling it together with white clouds: The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men, The Gift of Shooting
someone excretes shells (or wampum): The Markings on the Moon, The Human Head.
someone pounds on his chest and coughs up birds: The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn's Sons, The Roaster.
someone hears a disembodied voice and only later discovers its source: Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp.
a voice, which appears to be disembodied, speaks to Trickster: Trickster Loses Most of His Penis, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb.
a boy has a burnt chest: White Wolf, The Roaster.
a little boy is made chief: Young Man Gambles Often, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, Ocean Duck.
cannibal were-grizzles: The Were-Grizzly, The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, The Roaster, Were-grizzles and Other Man-bears, Partridge's Older Brother.
Metamorphosis and Transformation
a great spirit changes his form in order to deceive someone: The Skunk Origin Myth (Turtle), The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Man with Two Heads, The Children of the Sun, The Baldness of the Buzzard, Trickster's Tail, Trickster Gets Pregnant, The Elks Skull, Trickster Soils the Princess, Old Man and White Feathers, The Seven Maidens.
a spirit assumes the form of another person: Old Man and White Feathers, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Trickster and the Mothers.
a spirit turns into a person of radically different age: Morning Star and His Friend, The Messengers of Hare, The Dipper, Old Man and White Feathers, The Chief of the Herok'a.
as someone is about to be killed, someone changes into the kind of person that his opponent cannot bring himself to kill, and is thereby spared: The Dipper (a baby), Old Man and White Feathers (a beautiful woman).
a spirit transforms himself into a symbolic representation of what is destined to happen in the future: The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Peace of Mind Regained, The Messengers of Hare.
someone impersonates a man whom he has killed, but the man's mother is suspicious of the impersonator: The Green Man, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp.
a spirit presents himself in an ugly guise: The Skunk Origin Myth, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse.
two (spirit) women twist the mouth and deform the face (and other body parts) of a sleeping man: Snowshoe Strings, Old Man and White Feathers;
a repulsive looking, but holy person, is transformed into an attractive person after gaining the support (or rejection) of his or her lover: The Red Feather, The Skunk Origin Myth, The Chief of the Herok'a, Old Man and White Feathers.
a man is transformed when he dives into the water from a particular place: Old Man and White Feathers, The Woman who Married a Snake, The Diving Contest.
a man who has been turned into a spirit invites his friend or relative to visit him at the place where he was transformed: The Omahas who turned into Snakes, The Were-fish (v. 1).
a human turns into a (spirit) animal: How the Thunders Met the Nights (Thunderbird), Warughápara (Thunderbird), The Dipper (hummingbird), Keramanic'aka's Blessing (blackhawk, owl), Elk Clan Origin Myth (elk), Young Man Gambles Often (elk), Sun and the Big Eater (horse), The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Were-Grizzly, Partridge's Older Brother (bear), The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother (bear), Porcupine and His Brothers (bear), The Shaggy Man (bear), The Roaster (bear), Wazûka (bear), White Wolf (dog, wolf), Worúxega (wolf, bird, snake), He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (buffalo), The Brown Squirrel (squirrel), The Skunk Origin Myth (skunk), The Fleetfooted Man (otter, bird), The Diving Contest (Waterspirit), The Woman who Married a Snake (snake, Waterspirit), The Omahas who turned into Snakes (four-legged snakes), The Twins Get into Hot Water, v. 3 (alligators), Snowshoe Strings (a frog), How the Hills and Valleys were Formed, v. 3 (earthworms), The Woman Who Became an Ant, Hare Kills a Man with a Cane (ant).
as a punishment, a spirit decrees that someone be transformed into an animal: The Skunk Origin Myth (skunk), The Brown Squirrel (squirrel), How the Hills and Valleys were Formed, v. 3 (worm), Old Man and White Feathers (owl), Warughápara (owl), The Chief of the Herok'a (owl), Hare Kills a Man with a Cane (ant).
someone can transform himself into a buffalo at will: The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle.
a woman struck with a bow turns into a frog: Snowshoe Strings, The Woman Who Became an Ant.
a spirit turns into an arrow and shoots himself from his own bow: The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, V. 2, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head.
a man becomes the sort of thing that he has eaten: Lake Wâkcikhomîgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name, The Were-fish, The Omahas who turned into Snakes.
a being is able to enlarge himself: Hare and the Grasshoppers, Hare Kills a Man with a Cane, V. 1, The Canine Warrior.
future offspring of the same species can be generated from a small piece of a devoured animal: Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite.
a human is covered with tufts of animal hair: The Skunk Origin Myth, The Shaggy Man.
someone traveling long distances assumes successive animal forms as each becomes fatigued, until he finally reaches his destination: The Thunderbird, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Witches, The Journey to Spiritland.
an evil spirit is turned into an owl: Old Man and White Feathers, Warughápara, The Chief of the Herok'a.
people turn into birds: Warughápara (owl, Thunderbird), Worúxega (eagle), The Thunderbird (blackhawk, hummingbird), The Dipper (blackhawk, hummingbird), Keramanic'aka's Blessing (blackhawk, owl), The Hotcâk Arrival Myth (ravens), The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I (turkey), The Quail Hunter (partridge), The Markings on the Moon (auk, curlew), The Fox-Hotcâk War (goose), The Fleetfooted Man (water fowl?), The Boy Who Became a Robin (robin).
a young man turns into a bird and flies off through the smoke hole in his lodge: The Boy Who Became a Robin, The Markings on the Moon, The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I.
a hero floats down upon his enemies in the form of a feather: The Thunderbird, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, Partridge's Older Brother.
someone is transformed from the waist down into a cold blooded creature: The Woman who Married a Snake, The King Bird.
creatures turn into fish: Lake Wâkcikhomîgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name, The Were-fish, The King Bird, Hare Visits the Bodiless Heads, The Man who went to the Upper and Lower Worlds, The Greedy Woman.
a man who is metamorphosing into a fish (or other water creature) suffers from so extreme a thirst that he must live in water: Lake Wâkcikhomîgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name, The Spirit of Maple Bluff, The Were-fish, The King Bird.
a person's body turns into a plant: Fourth Universe (white flower), White Flower (white flower), The Boy who would be Immortal (tree), The Woman who Became a Walnut Tree, Aratcgéga's Blessings (inverse: log > human), cf. The Wild Rose, Deer Clan Origin Myth (v. 2).
a Waterspirit has vegetation growing out of his body: The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells (trees for fur), Snowshoe Strings (grass growing from his face).
Grandmother (Earth) causes the first maize plant to grow form her left breast: Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Grandmother's Gifts.
a person obsessively craves for himself what a tree possesses, and as a consequence is transformed into a tree: The Boy who would be Immortal, The Woman who Became a Walnut Tree.
an old man is, or becomes, a rock: The Raccoon Coat, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Seer, The Big Stone.
a person turns to stone: The Twin Sisters, The Seer, The Raccoon Coat.
someone is, or becomes, a star: The Seven Maidens, The Dipper, Turtle and the Witches, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Grandfather's Two Families.
men turn into clouds: Bladder and His Brothers, The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension.
Sacrifice, Fasting, and Blessings
a dog is killed in order to send it as a messenger to one of the great spirits: Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Disease Giver.
a sacrificial meal ("Fast Eating Contest") whose object is to insure that none of the enemy will escape alive: Turtle's Warparty, Redhorn's Sons, Kunu's Warpath.
summoning the spirits to take an opponent as a sacrifice: Ocean Duck, The Shaggy Man, Bluehorn's Nephews.
someone volunteers to offer himself to a spirit: The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons (Thunderbirds), Redhorn's Sons (Thunderbirds), The Seer (Waterspirit).
a person is killed so that his skin can be used to make a sacred bundle: The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle.
burying something sacred in purified ground in conjunction with tobacco offerings: The Twins Disobey Their Father, Disease Giver, cf. The Two Boys (negation).
someone fasts to achieve human immortality: The Necessity for Death, The Boy who would be Immortal.
someone fasts a long time without receiving a blessing: The Seer, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega), The Boy Who Became a Robin, The Nightspirits Bless Djobenagiwíñxga.
only when someone breaks his fast does he receive a blessing from the spirits: The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, The Man with Two Heads.
excessive fasting leads to adverse consequences: The Boy who would be Immortal, The Boy Who Became a Robin.
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, Lake Wâkcikhomîgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name, 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.
someone must stay awake for a long time in order to receive a blessing: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Snowshoe Strings, Keramanic'aka's Blessing.
a man rejects a blessing because it is too powerful: The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, Keramanic'aka's Blessing.
a spirit has a (fasting) dream of a human: White Wolf, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Thunderbird.
two girls dream (have a fasting vision) of a particular spirit: The Markings on the Moon (v. 2), Old Man and White Feathers.
a young man, who later turns out to be holy, is criticized by his elders for not conducting his puberty fast: The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Moiety Origin Myth.
false promises of blessings from a spirit: The Greedy Woman, The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, The Nightspirits Bless Djobenagiwíñxga, Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega), The Diving Contest.
a creature sings a song from the water that promises a blessing in exchange for a favor: The King Bird, The Greedy Woman.
blessings from Buffalo Spirits: The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, The Blessing of Cokeboka, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth.
spirits bless a man with an artifact: Warughápara (warbundle, warclub), The Warbundle of the Eight Generations (warbundle, flute), The Blessing of a Bear Clansman (warbundle), The Thunderbird (warclub), The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds (warclub), Paint Medicine Origin Myth (magical paint), Disease Giver Blesses Djobenâgiwíñxga (flute), Ancient Blessing (pot, ax, spoon).
a spirit blesses a man with knowledge of a sacred dance: Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth.
a spirit blesses a man with knowledge of sacred songs: Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega), Holy Song, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, The Island Weight Songs, A Snake Song Origin Myth, The Completion Song Origin, The Sweetened Drink Song, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman.
a witch blesses someone with (things of) power: Great Walker and the Anishinaabeg Witches, Keramanic'aka's Blessing, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle.
powerful beings give a human a charm which they say will bring him benefits: White Wolf, The Lost Child, The Thunder Charm, Witches, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle.
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 Man Whose Wife was Captured, 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.
because of what was done to the body of a primordial spirit, a human organ has the form and shape that it does today: Turtle's Warparty (testicles), Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks (anus), Trickster Loses Most of His Penis (penis).
a man's organ acts as though it had a will of its own: Trickster's Penis, Trickster's Buffalo Hunt, Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks.
someone inflicts harm on one of his own organs because it seems to have a contrary will of its own: Trickster's Buffalo Hunt, Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks.
someone talks to his own organs as though they were people: Trickster's Penis, Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, Trickster Loses Most of His Penis.
an organ of the body is removed and left somewhere (for safekeeping): Ocean Duck (heart), The Stone Heart (heart); The Raccoon Coat (heart), The Green Man (heart), Hare Kills Wildcat (an eye).
someone has a very pale complexion: The Woman Who Became an Ant, Big Eagle Cave Mystery, The Roaster, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle.
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 being has curly hair: Redhorn's Father, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle.
two people look (almost) exactly alike: The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Children of the Sun, The Green Man, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Redhorn's Father, Big Eagle Cave Mystery.
someone has to guess the identity of a person from among a group of people all of whom look exactly alike: Redhorn's Father, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle.
somatic dualism: The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, Disease Giver, The Chief of the Herok'a, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Wears White Feathers on His Head, The Red Man, The Forked Man, The Man with Two Heads.
blindness: The Raccoon Coat, A Raccoon Tricks Four Blind Men, Raccoon and the Blind Men, Big Eagle Cave Mystery, Thunderbird and White Horse.
internal stones: How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Big Stone.
someone's rectum is prepared for a very special function: Trickster's Tail, The Bungling Host.
anal shame: Trickster Soils the Princess, Ocean Duck, Mink Soils the Princess.
Trickster defecates uncontrollably after taking a natural laxative: Trickster Soils the Princess, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb.
someone defecates on a blanket: Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, The Human Head.
someone soils a princess: Trickster Soils the Princess, Mink Soils the Princess.
someone uses flatulence as a weapon or deterrent against animals: Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, The Bungling Host.
someone flatulates with superhuman force: Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, The Bungling Host.
eating something has predictably dire consequences: White Wolf, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb.
Birth, Death, and Resurrection
multiple births: The Birth of the Twins, The Twin Sisters, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Man with Two Heads, The Children of the Sun, The Two Boys, The Lost Blanket, The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension, The Two Brothers.
death enters the world for the first time: Holy One and His Brother, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Necessity for Death, The Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Death Enters the World, Deer Clan Origin Myth.
someone who is exhausted, struggles to reach the summit of a hill, where (s)he is content to die: Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Bluehorn's Nephews, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister.
an evil spirit, who is an in-law of a young man, tries to kill him in the wilderness by causing him to die of exposure to the cold: Warughápara, The Old Man and the Giants.
because the spirits make clear that it is a necessity, a man volunteers to die: Redhorn's Sons, The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, The Man who Defied Disease Giver.
a man under risk to his life states the proverb that he is already dead: The Boy who Flew, Testing the Slave.
someone travels to each of the four corners of the world seeking help from the spirit who resides there in averting death from his relatives, but each spirit in turn confesses that he can do nothing: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Death Enters the World, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth.
when someone who had been missing for a long time returns to his village, he finds that they are in mourning over his presumed death: Ocean Duck, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy.
someone is disconsolate over the death of a relative: White Flower, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Blessing of Kerexûsaka, The Lost Child, The Shaggy Man, Holy One and His Brother.
a woman expresses grief for her slain husband by altering her hair: Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn and His Brothers Marry, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth.
a man who has been killed sees his own dead body: The Lame Friend, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth (full version), The Man Whose Wife was Captured.
a great spirit's human friend sacrifices his life for him only to be revived later: Redhorn's Sons, The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, Hare Kills Sharp Elbow.
the reviving sweat bath: The Shaggy Man, The King Bird, The Red Man, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Dipper, Snowshoe Strings, The Old Man and the Giants.
a person who has died longs to come back to life: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth.
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, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, Warughápara, The Lost Blanket, The Old Man and the Giants.
a man dies in the water, but when he is later revived, his qualities have improved: The Shaggy Man, The Red Feather.
persons brought back from the dead are more attractive in appearance than before their death: The Red Feather, The Shaggy Man, Partridge's Older Brother.
a man brings back to life the young woman he loves: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II.
the howling of a spirit wolf four times brings someone back to life: The Man Whose Wife was Captured, White Wolf, cf. The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter.
ground up bones of evil spirits are used to resurrrect their victims: Partridge's Older Brother, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, Grandfather's Two Families.
someone is brought back from the dead when a man gathers together all his bones and voices calls of alarm over them: Redhorn's Sons, The Raccoon Coat, White Wolf.
in order to win a woman that he loves back from the dead, a man must endure supernatural temptations: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II.
ghosts annoy a hero so that, by reacting to them, he will thereby fail to retrieve his (future) wife from among them: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II.
two friends who are killed in action are reborn in their own village: The Lame Friend, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth.
something is caused to live again on earth by being thrown to the side (or over the shoulder) by a spirit (or ghost): Redhorn's Father, The Journey to Spiritland.
bringing someone back to life by picking them up and putting them on their feet: The Twins Disobey Their Father, The Two Boys, The Shaggy Man.
death viewed in positive terms: The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Necessity for Death, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Death Enters the World.
a bird(-man) is regenerated from a single feather: Warughápara, The Red Feather, Bird Origin Myth.
platform burials: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Holy One and His Brother, Little Fox and the Ghost, Snowshoe Strings.
a tree (branch) at the head of a grave: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, The Boy who would be Immortal.
someone is blessed with a medicine: Fourth Universe, Great Walker's Medicine, The Seven Maidens, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Seer, A Snake Song Origin Myth, Young Man Gambles Often, The Elk's Skull, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, The Sweetened Drink Song.
a Waterspirit is killed and his body is used as medicine: Great Walker's Warpath, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Seer.
a man is cured when someone spits on his own hands and rubs them on the wound: Redhorn and His Brothers Marry, The Raccoon Coat.
a doctor successfully extracts an arrow from someone's body by shaking it while he pulls it out: Holy One and His Brother, Redhorn and His Brothers Marry.
an old person informs a young man living with him that in a nightmare he was told that a certain animal should be killed and made into a Sick Offering for him or he would die: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Dipper.
bear oil is used to create steam in a reviving sweat bath: The Red Man, The Dipper, The Old Man and the Giants, Snowshoe Strings.
animals begin as humans, then turn into humans again when they establish a Hotcâk clan: Wolves and Humans, Elk Clan Origin Myth, Great Walker's Warpath.
clan names arise from incidents attendant upon the founding of the clan by its Animal Spirit progenitors: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, v. 1, Story of the Thunder Names, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Wonághire Uánkcik Clan Origin Myth, v. 2, Bear Clan Origin Myth, vv. 2a, 4, 7, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, vv. 1, 4, Snake Clan Origins.
the Hotcâgara are the first human beings: The Hotcâgara Migrate South, The Creation of Man (v. 2).
Hotcâk is the first language: Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, The Creation of Man (v. 2).
the Hotcâgara are the parent tribe from which other (Siouan) tribes separated: Oto Origins, Quapah Origins, Ioway & Missouria Origins.
the Hotcâk nation arrives from another (warmer) place: The Hotcâk Migration Myth, The Hotcâk Arrival Myth, The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells.
four brothers, each of whom founded a Hotcâk clan, are associated with a different color: Bear Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Eagle Clan Origin Myth., Pigeon Clan Origins.
bear people eating with their left hands: Bear Clan Origin Myth, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, Hare Visits His Grandfather Bear.
the Hotcâgara arrive in the Wazidja by crossing a great body of water: The Hotcâk Migration Myth, The Hotcâgara Migrate South, The First Fox and Sauk War, The Hotcâk Arrival Myth.
Proto-Hotcâgara arrive at Red Banks in the form of ravens: Hotcâk Arrival Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth.
the clan progenitors generate waves of water as they arrive on earth: Bear Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth (v. 2).
one of the Hotcâk (sub)clans originated from another tribe: Snake Clan Origins, Pigeon Clan Origins, Fish Clan Origins, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Fourth Universe.
a particular clan was claimed to have been the last to arrive at the Creation Council: Snake Clan Origins, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth.
a Hotcâk (sub)clan was founded by a single foreign man: Fourth Universe, Bird Clan Origin Myth.
the Hotcâgara as the People of Turtle: Hotcâk Migration Myth, The Creation of Man.
the Hotcâgara encounter Giants: The Hotcâgara Contest the Giants, The Stone Heart.
a boy lives alone with his grandfather: Old Man and White Feathers, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Dipper.
a brother and sister live alone together: The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Green Man, The Mulberry Picker.
a girl grows up with numerous (nine or ten) brothers as her only siblings: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Human Head, The Shaggy Man, Warughápara, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy.
a large group of brothers (usually ten) live alone together: Sun and the Big Eater, The Big Eater, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, The Quail Hunter, Bladder and His Brothers, Wodjidjé, The Race for the Chief's Daughter.
brothers meet by chance and decide to lodge together: Trickster Gets Pregnant, Turtle's Warparty, Porcupine and His Brothers, Crane and His Brothers.
although a group of brothers moves their village, abandoning one of their number for dead, a loyal sister remains behind until the missing brother returns: The Shaggy Man, Kaghíga and Lone Man.
a sister entertains an illicit love for her brother: The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, Partridge's Older Brother.
a sister, from whom a young man is fleeing, keeps mysteriously appearing in his boat even after he ejects her: The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, Partridge's Older Brother.
a person's life will be spared if and only if she can tell a stranger what his true biological relationship is to her: The Woman Who Became an Ant, The Human Head.
a schism develops between one clique of brothers and the oldest and youngest pair: Îtcohorucika and His Brothers, Crane and His Brothers.
a father is too demanding of his son: Moiety Origin Myth, The Boy Who Became a Robin.
a powerful man becomes tyrannical: Wazûka, Manawa Village Origin Myth, Bluehorn's Nephews, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Iron Staff and His Companions.
a chief's young son bullies everyone to the embarrassment of his father: The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, Iron Staff and His Companions.
someone kills his own kinsman: The Chief of the Herok'a (wife), The Red Man (wife), Worúxega (wife), Bluehorn's Nephews (mother), The Green Man (mother), Warughápara (mother), Partridge's Older Brother (sister), The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother (sister), The Were-Grizzly (sister), Crane and His Brothers (brothers), White Wolf (brother), The Diving Contest (brother), The Twins Get into Hot Water (grandfather), The Birth of the Twins (daughter-in-law), The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle (daughter-in-law), Snowshoe Strings (father-in-law).
someone kills a close female relative for her betrayal of him or his uncle: Bluehorn's Nephews (mother); Warughápara (sister), The Red Man (wife), The Chief of the Herok'a (wife), The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion (wife).
a chief gives away his daughter as a prize for achievement: The Red Feather, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Thunderbird and White Horse.
a chief offers his daughter in marriage in exchange for the hide of a very rare and beautiful animal: The Red Feather, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse.
a hero wins a girl but decides to let one of his brothers marry her: The Raccoon Coat, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Redhorn and His Brothers Marry, The Seduction of Redhorn's Sons, Kunu's Warpath.
a man procures brides through intimidation: The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, Bluehorn's Nephews, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Thunder Cloud Marries Again.
a woman faced with the choice of marrying an evil spirit or death, runs away: The Woman Who became an Ant, The Human Head, Bluehorn's Nephews, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister.
Trickster wants to have sex with a princess (yûgiwi): Trickster's Penis, Trickster Soils the Princess.
marriage to a yûgiwi (princess): The Mulberry Picker, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Big Stone, Partridge's Older Brother, Redhorn's Sons, The Seduction of Redhorn's Son, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, The Roaster, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, White Wolf, The Two Boys, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Shaggy Man, The Thunderbird, The Red Feather, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, The Birth of the Twins, V. 3, Trickster Visits His Family, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, Redhorn's Father, Old Man and White Feathers, Morning Star and His Friend, Thunderbird and White Horse, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, Shakes the Earth, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga.
polygamy: Bladder and His Brothers (v. 2), The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Green Man, Wazûka, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Markings on the Moon, Redhorn's Sons, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, Hare Kills Sharp Elbow, Hare Gets Swallowed, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, The Spirit of Gambling.
a woman runs away from her polygamous betrothed out of fear: Wazûka, Bluehorn's Nephews, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister.
a suitor rendezvous with a young woman at a spring where she draws water: The Wild Rose, Wazûka, The Stone Heart.
(three or) four young women, one of whom is a princess, encounter a suitor while they are bringing wood to an old woman's lodge: Redhorn's Father, Morning Star and His Friend, Trickster Soils the Princess, The Mulberry Picker, The Two Boys, The Father of the Twins Attempts to Flee.
a lover sneaks into a lodge every night, but conceals his/her identity: Warughápara, Partridge's Older Brother.
the wilderness as a lover's tryst: White Flower, Trickster Soils the Princess.
frustrated love: White Flower, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Twin Sisters, The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, Old Man and White Feathers, Partridge's Older Brother, The Stone Heart, Snowshoe Strings, Rainbow and Stone Arch.
spirits take pity on women deprived by death of their lovers: White Flower, The Twin Sisters.
a woman takes the initiative in courtship: The Seduction of Redhorn's Son, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Trickster Gets Pregnant, Redhorn and His Brothers Marry, Old Man and White Feathers, (see also, Redhorn's Father).
a woman abuses someone with whom she is living: Partridge's Older Brother, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, The Quail Hunter,