The Thunderbird Clan is the Upper Moiety clan from which the chief was drawn. It was once a very large clan, perhaps comprising a quarter of the nation. The Warrior (Wonághire Wâkcik), Buffalo, Deer, and Elk Clans performed certain services for the Thunderbird Clan, probably in connection with the function of the chief. The Thunderbird Clan had to be consulted on all important matters pertaining to things of the air, from trees up. [1] When a clansman died his face was painted in a highly distinctive way: two stripes high on the forehead with numerous small dots forming a parallel line between the stripes and the eyebrows; a horizontal line across the mouth, a patch on the chin, and a thick horizontal line across the lower part of the throat. In early times a clansman was given a scaffold burial, but inhumation was practiced in more recent times, sometimes with an oak branch put in the ground at the head of the grave with a red stick hanging form it. Buried with the Thunderbird clansman is a special possession of the clan, the baldheaded warclub [inset], which is copied in miniature for this purpose. Fire is the sacred possession of the Thunderbird Clan and to ask for a fire brand from their fire is a breach of etiquette at the very least. Such requests are always refused, but the Thunderbird clansman is obliged to grant any substitute request whatever. The fire is generally the symbol of sovereignty, and the Thunderbird Clan's possession of it is an expression of their entitlement to the chieftainship of the tribe. This is also reflected in the Thunderbird feast, which is called the "Chief Feast."

The primary chief who is always selected from the Thunderbird Clan, has a single function: the furtherance of Life, in the form of peace and welfare. From this function, his clan is called the "Good Thunderbirds" (Wak'âdja pîga), as opposed to the Warrior (Wonághire Wâkcik) Clan, who are known as the "Bad Thunderbirds" (Wak'âdja ciciga). In keeping with this distinction, the Thunderbird chief never heads a warparty. [2] Every warparty had to be approved by the paramount chief. If a warleader proposed to take out a warparty and the chief thought this man to be lacking in the requisite spiritual blessings or in the necessary qualities of leadership, he would go to him with his peace pipe and ask him not to proceed with the venture. If this entreaty was ignored, the chief could go to the first night's encampment and lay his pipe across the path. The warleader would then be complelled to return, for to proceed under these circumstances would be sacrilegious. [3] The chief's lodge was in the center of the village (although some have said it was in the south), and it contained a sacred fire next to which only members of the Thunderbird Clan could sit. Whether they were a prisoner, a criminal, or even a dog scheduled for sacrifice, anyone fleeing to chief's lodge was granted asylum. Prisoners of war who broke away and ran to safety in the chief's lodge received immediate pardon from the tortures they might otherwise expect to endure, and were thereafter adopted into the tribe, specifically the Thunderbird Clan. People in trouble could also seek refuge with the chief. It was his duty to try to reconcile quarrels that arose within the tribe, and to try to seek forgiveness for crimes. If a murderer gave himself up, his hands would be tied behind his back and the chief would lead him to the lodge of the victim's family, where he would present his sacred pipe on behalf of the accused and if any member of the victim's family took a puff from it, even a little child, then the murderer would be forgiven. If the chief wanted particularly to save the perpetrator, a well-liked chief in the Thunderbird Clan would have his back painted blue, after which they would put two skewers in the flesh of his back and attach a rope to them. He would then present the pipe to the victim's relatives, and if they did not wish to pardon the murderer, they would close their lodge flap in his face. These extremes on behalf of the worst sinners were but a reflection of the belief and expectation that the chief loved everyone in the tribe from its greatest men to its tiniest child. If a person were to pass near to the chief's lodge, he would always invite that person in for some food. If anyone wished to borrow something from the chief, he would give it to him outright with no expectation of its return. Politically the chief was the paramount leader, and either he, or his representatives, would be present at every council. His edicts would be promulgated by a public crier appointed from the Buffalo Clan, who would report to him every morning. [4]

There are several publicly known versions of he Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth:

Version 1. Earthmaker awoke into existence and when he saw that he was alone, he wept, and his tears became the waters of our world. Whenever he wished that something existed, it would come into existence. He wished that the earth and everything presently on it would come to be, and it came into existence. Finally he decided to create someone who looked like himself. When he first molded this new being, Earthmaker talked to him but he did not answer. Then Earthmaker made a mind for him so that he could think, yet he still did not respond. So the Creator made a tongue for him, but he still said nothing. When Earthmaker put a soul into him, then he made some sounds, but he could not be understood. So Earthmaker breathed into his mouth and spoke to him - only then did he answer. Earthmaker was very pleased with the new creation, so he made three more like him. These four were the chiefs of the Thunderbirds and they were given charge to watch over the earth.

Earthmaker was pleased with his creations, so he made four more brothers just like them. The Creator parted the clouds of heaven and said to them, "Behold the earth. There shall I send you that you may live. And this plant I give you shall be a sacrament to you, and no other creature that I have created may have power over it, not even I." The plant he gave them was tobacco. "This too I give you," he said, "that it may be a grandfather to you and sit in the center of your lodge. In offerings to the spirits it shall be a mediator for you." What Earthmaker had given them was fire. The four Thunders brought the four brothers down to earth. As they descended, the elder brother said, "I shall call my first born son, 'Chief of the Thunders'' (Wak'andja hunga)." As they came closer to earth, it became very dark. The second brother said, "I shall call my first born girl, 'Dark' (Hok'awaswinga)." They landed by the strand of Within Lake at Red Banks on an oak whose branches bent with their weight. The third brother said, "I shall call my first born daughter, 'She who Weighs the Tree Down' (Nanazogewinga)." Then the four brothers came down to earth, but the Thunderbirds themselves did not touch ground. The fourth brother said, "I shall name my first born son, 'He who Alights on the Earth' (Madjidjega)." The first thing that they did was to make a fire.

Earthmaker created for the brothers those animals that they might eat and gave them two bows and arrows with which to hunt them. The two youngest brothers went out to the east and shot two young deer who were also brothers. They cut off the ends of the deer's tongues, and threw them with their hearts and some fat on the head of their grandfather Fire that he might have the first taste. The first to visit them were the War people (Wonághire Wâkcik). Then from the west came the four Pigeon brothers, and it is for this reason that they are called the youngest. Then all the progenitors of the clans showed up in this order: Earth, Deer, Snake, Elk, Bear, Fish, and Waterspirit. As they were preparing the venison, an insect alighted on the meat. Then the eldest brother said, "My first black dog will therefore be called, 'Wasp.' And just as the wasp scented the meat before all others, so shall a dog excel all other animals in scenting game downwind." The venison feast they consecrated to Earthmaker, throwing tobacco in the fire as an offering to him. Each of the clans took a brand from the fire for themselves, but Kunu (the eldest brother) declared, "Henceforth let every clan make its own fire, for we may not always lend it." In the summer when the grass is knee high, they made their home there at Red Banks.

In those days the Thunderbird clansmen were as powerful as the Thunders themselves: with blows from their warclubs they created the hills and valleys. One day a creature was seen chewing on deer bones. It worked its way closer and closer to human habitations. Finally it was admitted as one of the clans. This was the Dog or Wolf Clan, the least of the clans.

One day Kunu lay down, but never got back up. Four days they waited for him to arise, but he just lay here motionless. None of the brothers knew what was the matter. They fasted and blackened their faces in morning. They put him on a platform, and when the snow was knee deep, they went towards the rising sun. There they presented their pipe to the Island Weight of the east. "Grandfather," they said addressing him, "they say you know everything - - tell us what has happened to our brother Kunu." He had no answer for them, but referred them to the next Island Weight to the north. They went out each in turn until they finally arrived in the south. There, unexpectedly, they found all four Island Weights gathered together. They all spoke and said, "Grandsons your brother shall not rise again, for so Earthmaker has willed it for human beings that when they reach an age of death they shall die. He has made a village in the west for all the departed souls of your clan, and there he shall be chief. When the world ends, the souls of those who have acted properly will return to Earthmaker, for they originated from part of his body. Now you may go and bury your brother." After thanking the Island Weights for their help, the Thunder people went home to bury their brother. They painted his face and buried hi facing west with a thunderbird warclub at his side. Since food was necessary for his journey as was his pipe, both were placed with him in the grave. They put an oak branch at the head of the grave and upon it they caused to be affixed a red stick. With this club the departed soul can strike anything that should cross the path to Spiritland, and whatever is struck dead shall be thrown behind, eventually to come into the possession of one of his clansmen. All that he has left behind on account of his death - all the animals that he would have killed, all the things he would have acquired, all the victories that he would have won on the warpath - these he may give to his relatives. By these blessings the departed will ease the suffering of those he has left behind. [5]

Version 2. Four brothers descended from heaven and landed on a tree at Nîjahe ("Cliff Place"?). They first flew around the world going sunwise, then they repeated the journey traveling on earth and ended up at De Rok ("Within Lake" = Green Bay). There they built lodges. While they were engaged in the project, the oldest brother behaved as if he had been struck dumb, and stood motionless. Then he spoke up, and asked the second eldest brother how they should proceed. He replied that being younger he would hardly know more than his seniors; nevertheless, he asked his next youngest brother. This brother gave much the same reply, and asked the youngest who replied, "Yes I do know something," whereupon he took a stick form the oak tree on which he was sitting and started a fire by spinning it like a drill. This fire was brought to earth where it blazed up nicely.

Whenever the brothers encountered something that they had never seen before they gave it a name, and eventually they named everything. When they were ready to eat, the second brother merely reached out and there was an animal in his grasp. They were innocent of any knowledge of tools or utensils, so they cooked their meat by skewering it on sharp sticks. The eldest one invented utensils and made the first clay pot. As they were living around Within Lake, other clans came by to get their fire from the Thunders. It was then that the practice of exchanging women in marriage between the Upper Moiety and the Lower Moiety first began. The eldest brother married someone from the Waterspirit Clan, and the second brother married someone from the Bear Clan. The second brother was the founder of the Warrior (Wonághire Wâkcik) Clan.

The Thunder clansmen do not claim to be descended form Thunderbirds, but because they caused fog and drizzle whenever they went about, just like Thunderbirds, they called themselves "Thunders." As they traveled towards Red Banks the eldest brother invented the names to be used for members of the Thunderbird Clan based upon things that happened along the way. However, one day at dawn the eldest brother died. None of the others understood what had happened, but eventually they came to understand. His soul went west, blazing a trail for all who were to come after. He therefore became the chief of the village of the dead. [6]

Version 3. Earthmaker created four brothers, Kunu, Henu, Haga, and Nangxi, and made them Thunderbird chiefs. He handed over to them two special gifts: tobacco and fire. Then he opened the sky for them so that they could see the earth upon which they were to live. They flew down from the heights of heaven and alighted upon the branches of a tree at Red Banks (Mogacutc) on the shore of Within Lake (Green Bay). They jumped to the ground and walked towards the east where they made their first camp ground. There too they started the first fire. One brother went out to hunt with the bow and arrows that Earthmaker had given them. He came back with a deer. They had no utensils or pots, so they roasted the meat over the fire on sharp sticks.

Other clans soon joined the Thunderbirds at this campsite. The first to arrive were the Warrior people, who came from the west. Then the remainder came in this order: Deer, Snake, Elk, Bear, Fish, Waterspirit, and Buffalo clans. They formed the Hotcâgara nation. They took their fire from the Thunderbird people. The upper clans married women from the lower clans, and the men of the lower clans married women from the upper clans. The members of the upper clans were chiefs. With clay mixed with slippery elm bark they made cooking vessels. They formed a village by making lodges from poles and stripped bark. They made a council lodge in which each clan had its place.

In the beginning the Thunderbird people were so powerful that they created the hills and valleys by putting dents in the earth with their clubs. They planted the tobacco that had been given them, and they put its crushed leaves into the fire as an offering to Earthmaker, and Earthmaker gave his blessing to the Hotcâgara. [7]

(23) Yes, the coming of the younger brothers. "What will we speak?" "Hotcâk we will speak." "You are right, that we will speak." "What shall we eat?" "If we see an animal, we will eat it." "I will go and look. I have brought a deer here. We will eat it." They built a fire. They broiled it, cooked it, and ate it. (24) Then they heard something. They listened to it. They started to head out. And two persons came. "Yes, you that sit opposite to me, what relation will you be to me?" "What should I be to you?" "You shall be my chief." "Listen, some are saying something." "Well, our friends have come." "You that sit opposite, yes indeed, as long as we shall live, we shall tend the fire for you." (25) "Listen, our friends are speaking." "Yes, sit opposite me." They sat down. "You, Waterspirit Clan, my friend, have a seat." "What relation will you be to me?" "What should I be to you?" "You shall be my chief." "Good." "Listen, a dog is howling. (26) Let's wait for him." Thunderbird waited for him. "Let us call him." "Yes, my friends, the two legged walkers, we will teach them something." The Hotcâgara, thus they will ever say. If some people live, thus they shall say. "Listen, someone has said something." Two people came. "It shall be called 'the Buffalo Clan'." [8]

Version 5 (by Frank Ewing, Witcáwa(x)cép [Eagle] Clan). God created eagles and places them [four spirit beings] below him. Four brothers were derived from them and came from a lake called Dérok (Green Bay) at Red Bank. When they came down they alighted on an oak tree, each one on a different branch. (Frank belongs to the second one that came down.) Then they were to name each other. After they got through naming, they commenced to eat the things that they were to eat thereafter. On their journey to a place where they were to meet some others, i.e. a gathering, where all the Winnebago originated at Red Banks. These were the other spirit clans at Red Banks, and they were all to take human form there. These spirits all belonged to the earth. After the four brothers had lived on earth awhile and had children, they went home. [9]

Version 6 (fragmentary). "The Earthmaker made the Thunder-bird clan first, and after he made them they flew down and alit on a tree." [10]

Version 7 (in the form of notes). "[The] Thunder tribe, four men and four women, brothers and sisters, were first created. They had no children until they came to this world. They came from heaven. The Creator told them that He would not call them 'Indians' but 'Ho-can-gra'. 'You shall call yourselves 'Ho[-can-gra]' and shall speak Ho[-cank].' Five families: Thun[der], Bear, Spirit, Wolf, [...]." [11]

Commentary. "fire" -- fire is the sacred possession of the Thunderbird Clan because it is the symbol of sovereignty. This story sets out nicely two of the reasons for this. One of them is that the fire is the means by which the sacrifice is sent to the spirits. This makes the fire especially sacred, and those who own it have something spiritual that cannot be rivaled by any other kind of clan possession. The second is that the fire is located in the center. The center is the place of control where all the cardinal points converge. Whoever controls the center, therefore, controls the cardinal points, which is to say everything. The light of the fire itself has the power of radiation, and so reaches out simultaneously to all the cardinal points in relation to which it is the center. In the Deer Clan Origin Myth, light is replaced by sound, since the latter also has this same property of radiation from a center in all directions. The Deer Clan uses sound in its mythology to help establish a "partial sovereignty".

"Earth" -- the only clan unaccounted for is the Buffalo Clan. That clan has the function of the village crier, a man who must roam about the land of the village giving out the commands of the chief. Therefore, this clan is connected to the expanse of the earth. The earth itself is said in the creation myth to be a buffalo, a fact which cements the identity of the clan with the earth. That the buffalo should have been selected as the earth derives from the fact that the vast buffalo herds seem to traverse the whole of the land from one end to the other, and therefore seem to have a singular claim to occupying it.

There exists a rather more euhemerized story (still a waikâ) of the origin of the Thunderbird Clan and the Bird Clan generally. It describes how a single boy was a sole survivor of his clan, but was taken into Hotcâk society and became the progenitor of the Thunderbird Clan. Since it resembles more the stories of the annihilation of the Hotcâgara, it does not belong with the present set of myths.

In the story The Thunderbird, we are told that the Thunderbird clansmen at least formerly had the ability to control the rain, and this was due to intermarriage with the celestial Thunderbirds. [12]

Comparative Material. The following origin myth comes from the closely related Oto. It is the Origin Myth of the Eagle Clan: "At one time we lived in heaven, way up in heaven, many, many years ago. After a while we grew tired of living up there. Four men, they say, said: "Now let us try and get away from here and find another world." The oldest was hkgsnu, the second hkna, the third hdka, and the fourth was hnkdiyigs. They found a hole and they came down to this earth. [From the incidents of their descent, they gave themselves names.] While they were walking, they came on bear tracks. They thought: "We were here first, but we don't know." The four men stopped and saw the tracks. They followed the tracks and came to them [Bear gens]. They met. Bear had his pipe. Eagle had his. So they smoked. Eagle smoked his pipe; Bear smoked Eagle's. They were friends. So they are friends today. Since that time they have been living together." [13]

"Wolf Clan, the least of the clans" -- the Fox also preserve this notion of the Wolf Clan in their own nation. Jones says of them, "These are a lower grade of people. They cannot be chiefs. They can be councilmen, and can be warriors, but they must be of a lower class, and they cannot rise to distinction. The chief gentes or royal gentes call them their waiters." Of the Thunders, on the other hand, "A member of this gens can be chief, can be a councilman, and can lead a war party ..." [14] For more on these social distinction in the context of the Hotcâgara, see Wolf Clan Origin Myth Comparative Material.

Parallel Stories. The tribal origin myth of the Iroquois, told from the Tuscarora perspective, has interesting parallels with our Hotcâk story. After Sky Holder created humanity, he decided to create one group of men who would have superior virtue. He brought down six pairs. Each pair became one of the tribes of the Iroquois: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and the Seneca. The last pair became separated and ended up in North Carolina. Sky Holder himself stayed with them and taught them many useful things. For this reason the Tuscarora are his Chosen People; however, the Onondagas say they have this honor because they possess the Council Fire. The clans gained their names from the animals that they habitually hunted: Deer, Wolf, Tortoise, and Eel. However, the Turtle Clan has a very different origin. One year long ago the water in which the mud turtles were living dried up. So the mud turtles set out to find a new home. A particularly fat mud turtle was having a hard time moving, so he cast off his shell. Eventually, he changed almost everything until he had transformed himself into a man. This man was the founder of the Turtle Clan. [15]

The Cherokee also attribute to the Thunderbirds the introduction of fire to the earth. They say, however, that the Thunders shot lightning into a hollow sycamore tree on an unaccessable island. Several animals tried to obtain it, but in the end only the water spider could extract it from the sycamore. [16]

Links: Thunderbirds, Black Hawk, Eagle (II), Earthmaker, Ghosts, Island Weights, The Creation Council, Bird Spirits, Tobacco, The Thunderbird Warclub.

Stories: about (the origins of) the Hotcâk clans: Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Story of the Thunder Names, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Buffalo Clan Origin Myth, The Elk Clan Origin Myth, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Snake Clan Origins, Fish Clan Origins; mentioning the Thunderbird Clan: Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Origin of the Hotcâk Chief, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, The Creation Council, Warughápara, The Greedy Woman, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth (v. 5), The Thunderbird; mentioning Thunderbirds: The Thunderbird, Warughápara, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, Thunderbird and White Horse, Bluehorn's Nephews, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed (vv. 1, 2), The Man who was a Reincarnated Thunderbird, The Thunder Charm, The Lost Blanket, The Twins Disobey Their Father, Story of the Thunder Names, The Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, Brave Man, Ocean Duck, Turtle's Warparty, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Quail Hunter, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Redhorn's Sons, The Dipper, The Stone that Became a Frog, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Origin of the Hotcâk Chief, The Spirit of Gambling, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Aratcgéga's Blessings, Kunu's Warpath, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga, The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Big Stone, The Origins of the Milky Way; mentioning eagles: The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, The Hotcâk Migration Myth, Trickster and the Eagle, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men, The Gift of Shooting, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite; mentioning pigeons: Pigeon Clan Origins, Warughápara, The Twins Disobey Their Father, The Lost Blanket, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Bird Origin Myth, Origin of the Hotcâk Chief, The Creation Council, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, The Creation of Man V. 2, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Gottschall: A New Interpretation; about Bird Spirits: Crane and His Brothers, The King Bird, Bird Origin Myth, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Old Man and White Feathers, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Thunderbird, The Boy Who Became a Robin, Partridge's Older Brother, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, The Foolish Hunter, Ocean Duck, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Quail Hunter, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Hotcâk Arrival Myth, Trickster Gets Pregnant, Trickster and the Geese, Holy One and His Brother (blackbirds, woodpeckers, hawks), Porcupine and His Brothers (Ocean Sucker), Turtle's Warparty (Thunderbirds, eagles, kaghi, pelicans, sparrows), Kaghíga and Lone Man (kaghi), The Old Man and the Giants (kaghi, bluebirds), The Bungling Host (snipe, woodpecker), The Red Feather, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Warughápara, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Black and White Moons, The Markings on the Moon, The Creation Council, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega), Hare Acquires His Arrows, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, The Hotcâk Migration Myth, Blue Jay, The Baldness of the Buzzard, The Abduction and Rescue of Trickster (buzzards), The Shaggy Man (kaghi), The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth (kaghi), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers (Loon), Great Walker's Medicine (loon), Roaster (woodsplitter), The Spirit of Gambling, The Big Stone (a partridge), Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 4) -- see also Thunderbirds, and the sources cited there.; making reference to the baldheaded warclub: Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Morning Star and His Friend, Wears White Feathers on His Head; about the creation of the world: The Creation of the World; Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Cûgepaga; mentioning Island Weights: The Creation of the World, The Island Weight Songs, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, East Shakes the Messenger, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, North Shakes His Gourd, Wolves and Humans, Cûgepaga, Traveler and the Thunderbird War (v. 2), The Lost Blanket, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, South Seizes the Messenger, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Messengers of Hare, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Petition to Earthmaker; making reference to cosmic ages: The Cosmic Ages of the Hotcâgara; about the Creation Council: Tobacco Origin Myth, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Elk Clan Origin Myth, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Buffalo Clan Origin Myth, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Origin of the Winnebago Chief, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Snake Clan Origins; about entitlement to chieftainship: Origin of the Hotcâk Chief, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, Snake Clan Origins; mentioning trees or Tree Spirits: The Creation of the World, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Children of the Sun, The Boy who would be Immortal, The Commandments of Earthmaker, The Woman who Became a Walnut Tree, The Old Woman and the Maple Tree Spirit, The Pointing Man, The Abduction and Rescue of Trickster, The Baldness of the Buzzard, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, Trickster Loses His Meal, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 2), Warughápara, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Red Man, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Spirit of Gambling, Peace of Mind Regained, The Necessity for Death; mentioning oak: Wolf Clan Origin Myth, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Children of the Sun, Turtle's Warparty, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, Old Man and White Feathers, Warughápara, The Creation Council, Young Man Gambles Often, Sun and the Big Eater, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Roaster, The Human Head, The Shaggy Man, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Peace of Mind Regained, The Dipper (leaves); mentioning tobacco: Tobacco Origin Myth, Hare and the Grasshoppers, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth (v 2), How the Thunders Met the Nights, Grandmother's Gifts, The Thunderbird, Peace of Mind Regained, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, The Dipper, The Masaxe War; in which fire plays a role: The Creation Council, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Four Steps of the Cougar, East Shakes the Messenger, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, North Shakes His Gourd, The Descent of the Drum, V. 2, see Young Man Gambles Often (Commentary); featuring Earthmaker as a character: The Creation of the World, The Creation of Man, The Commandments of Earthmaker, The Twins Get into Hot Water, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Lost Blanket, The First Snakes, Tobacco Origin Myth, The Creation Council, The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Journey to Spiritland, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Seven Maidens, The Descent of the Drum, Thunder Cloud Marries Again, The Spider's Eyes, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Fourth Universe, Cûgepaga, The Fatal House, The Twin Sisters, Elk Clan Origin Myth, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, The Masaxe War, The Two Children, Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Petition to Earthmaker, The Gift of Shooting, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Stone Heart, The Wild Rose, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Lame Friend, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed, The Hotcâk Migration Myth, The Necessity for Death, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, The War among the Animals, Lake Winnebago Origin Myth, Blue Mound, Lost Lake, The Hotcâgara Migrate South, The Spirit of Gambling, Turtle and the Giant, The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, The Hotcâgara Contest the Giants, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Bird Origin Myth, Black and White Moons, Redhorn's Sons, Holy Song, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, Death Enters the World, Man and His Three Dogs, Trickster Concludes His Mission, Story of the Thunder Names, The Origins of the Milky Way, Trickster and the Dancers, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, The Blessing of Kerexûsaka; set at Red Banks (Mógacútc): The Creation Council, Annihilation of the Hotcâgara II, The Great Lodge, Bear Clan Origin Myth, vv. 2a, 3, 8, The Winnebago Fort, Blue Bear, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, The Hotcâk Arrival Myth, The Creation of Man, v. 10, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, v. 2, Pigeon Clan Origins, fr. 1, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Elk Clan Origin Myth, v. 1, Deer Clan Origin Myth, v. 1, Buffalo Clan Origin Myth, Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief, Gatschet's Hotcank hit'e ("St. Peet", "Hotcâk Origins"), The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, v. 1, The Seven Maidens, Big Thunder Teaches Tcap'ósgaga the Warpath; set at De Rok, "Within Lake" (Green Bay): Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Story of the Thunder Names, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, v. 1, 2, Deer Clan Origin Myth, v. 1, Bear Clan Origin Myth, v. 4, The Seven Maidens, Ioway & Missouria Origins, Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief, Great Walker's Warpath, The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I, v. 2, The Fox-Hotcâk War, v. 2, The Creation Council, Gatschet's Hotcank hit'e; mentioning feasts: The Creation Council (Eagle Feast), Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth (Eagle Feast), Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth (Waterspirit Feast), Bear Clan Origin Myth (Bear Feast), The Woman Who Fought the Bear (Bear Feast), Grandfather's Two Families (Bear Feast), Wolf Clan Origin Myth (Wolf Feast), Buffalo Clan Origin Myth (Buffalo Feast), The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits (Buffalo Feast), Buffalo Dance Origin Myth (Buffalo Feast), He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (Buffalo Feast), The Blessing of Cokeboka (Feast to the Buffalo Tail), Snake Clan Origins (Snake Feast), Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief (Snake Feast), The Thunderbird (for the granting of a war weapon), Turtle's Warparty (War Weapons Feast, Warpath Feast), Porcupine and His Brothers (War Weapons Feast), Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega) (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Big Thunder Teaches Tcap'ósgaga the Warpath (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), White Thunder's Warpath (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), The Fox-Hotcâk War (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth (Warpath Feast), Kunu's Warpath (Warpath Feast), Trickster's Warpath (Warpath Feast), The Masaxe War (Warpath Feast), Redhorn's Sons (Warpath Feast, Fast-Breaking Feast), The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits (Fast-Breaking Feast), The Chief of the Herok'a (Sick Offering Feast), The Dipper (Sick Offering Feast, Warclub Feast), The Four Slumbers Origin Myth (Four Slumbers Feast), The Journey to Spiritland (Four Slumbers Feast), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse (unspecified).

Parts of version 1 are told in greater detail in the Tobacco Origin Myth, The Creation of the World (v. 2), and The Wolf Clan Origin Myth (v. 6).

Themes: being carried (off) by a bird: The Abduction and Rescue of Trickster, The Baldness of the Buzzard, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Boy who Flew, Hare Acquires His Arrows, The Old Man and the Giants; Thunderbird people are ignorant of tools: How the Thunders Met the Nights; Thunderbird people roast meat over the fire on sharpened sticks: How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Dipper; obtaining meat by merely reaching out and having an animal come to hand: Bear Offers Himself as Food; having a role in starting the first fire: Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Deer Clan Origin Myth (v. 2); clan names arise from incidents attendant upon the founding of the clan by its Animal Spirit progenitors: 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; Earthmaker gives humanity control over tobacco (to compensate for its powerlessness): Tobacco Origin Myth, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth (v. 2); the youngest offspring is superior: The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, Young Man Gambles Often, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Twins Cycle, The Two Boys, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Children of the Sun, The Creation of the World, V. 12, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, The Raccoon Coat, Wodjidjé, How the Thunders Met the Nights, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Sun and the Big Eater, Buffalo Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth (vv. 4, 7), Snake Clan Origins, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, Snake Clan Origins; platform burials: Holy One and His Brother, Little Fox and the Ghost, Snowshoe Strings; a tree (branch) at the head of a grave: The Boy who would be Immortal; death enters the world for the first time: Holy One and His Brother, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Necessity for Death, Death Enters the World, Deer Clan Origin Myth; 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; 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: Death Enters the World, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth; four spirit beings help those who travel to Spiritland: The Lame Friend, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Petition to Earthmaker; red as a symbolic color: The Journey to Spiritland (hill, willows, reeds, smoke, stones, haze), The Gottschall Head (mouth), The Chief of the Herok'a (clouds, side of Forked Man), The Red Man (face, sky, body, hill), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse (neck, nose, painted stone), Redhorn's Father (leggings, stone sphere, hair), The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father (hair, body paint, arrows), Wears White Feathers on His Head (man), The Birth of the Twins (turkey bladder headdresses), The Two Boys (elk bladder headdresses), Trickster and the Mothers (sky), Rich Man, Boy, and Horse (sky), The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits (Buffalo Spirit), Bluehorn Rescues His Sister (buffalo head), Wazûka (buffalo head headdress), The Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth (horn), The Brown Squirrel (protruding horn), Bear Clan Origin Myth (funerary paint), Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth (funerary paint), Deer Clan Origin Myth (funerary paint), Pigeon Clan Origins (Thunderbird lightning), Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks (eyes), Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (scalp, woman's hair), The Race for the Chief's Daughter (hair), The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy (hair), Redhorn's Sons (hair), Redhorn Contests the Giants (hair), The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle (hair), A Wife for Knowledge (hair), He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (hair), The Hotcâgara Contest the Giants (hair of Giantess), A Man and His Three Dogs (wolf hair), The Red Feather (plumage), The Man who was Blessed by the Sun (body of Sun), Red Bear, Eagle Clan Origin Myth (eagle), The Shell Anklets Origin Myth (Waterspirit armpits), The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty (Waterspirits), The Roaster (body paint), The Man who Defied Disease Giver (red spot on forehead), The Wild Rose (rose), The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth (warclub), Îtcorúcika and His Brothers (ax & packing strap), Hare Kills Flint (flint), The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head (edges of flint knives), The Mulberry Picker (leggings), The Seduction of Redhorn's Son (cloth), Yûgiwi (blanket).

Notes:

[1] Oliver LaMère, "Clan Organization of the Winnebago," Publications of the Nebraska State Historical Society, 19 (1919): 86-94 (92). Oliver LaMère was a member of the Bear Clan.

[2] Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 160-168.

[3] LaMère, "Clan Organization of the Winnebago," 88-89.

[4] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 159-163. LaMère, "Clan Organization of the Winnebago," 89.

[5] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 164-168; a better translation exists in Sam Blowsnake (Thunderbird Clan), Crashing Thunder. The Autobiography of an American Indian, ed. Paul Radin (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983 [1926]) 33-40.

[6] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 169.

[7] Charles E. Brown, Wisconsin Indian Place Legends (Madison: Works Progress Administration, 1936) 4-5.

[8] "Clan Origin Myth," in Paul Radin, [unpublished] Winnebago Notes, Winnebago V, #8, Freeman number 3881 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) 23-26.

[9] Frank Ewing, Untitled, in Paul Radin, [unpublished] Winnebago Notes, Winnebago I, #7a, Freeman number 3881 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1908) 125-127.

[10] John Rave (Bear Clan), "Thunderbird Clan," in Paul Radin, [unpublished] Winnebago Notes, Winnebago I, #7a, Freeman number 3881 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1908) 17.

[11] Papers of Alice Fletcher & Frances La Flesche, MS 4558: Research of Alice Fletcher & Frances La Flesche, Series 26 & 27: Other Tribes, 1882-1922 [26], Box 31 (Washington, D. C.: National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, n.d.).

[12] Paul Radin, "The Thunderbird," [unpublished] Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Library) #16. Interlinear Hotcâk and English on unnumbered pages. Told by James St. Cyr (Thunderbird Clan?), who obtained it from an unidentified Frenchman.

[13] William Whitman, Origin Legends of the Oto, The Journal of American Folklore, 51, #200 (Apr. - Jun., 1938): 173-205 [187].

[14] William Jones, Ethnography of the Fox Indians, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 125 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1939) 74.

[15] Ella Elizabeth Clark, Indian Legends of Canada (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1960) 3-4.

[16] "The First Fire," in James Mooney, History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (Asheville, North Carolina: Bright Mountain Books, 1992 [1891/1900]) Story 2, pp. 240-243.