Traveler is a famous Waterspirit, the son of the youngest of the four great Island Weights. His father, who was chief of the Waterspirits, ruled from Long Lake (Pigs Eye Lake?) downstream from St. Paul, Minnesota. He was originally called "Chief's Child," but later won the name "Traveler" from his many journeys around and under the earth. [1] He saved the Waterspirit race from extinction by meeting a Thunderbird prince in single combat. In one version he shot him down with a rainbow, yet it was only by the aid of a human whom he had blessed, that was able to triumph over his opponent. [2] After his victory he was able to gain charge over the whole earth. He went to live at Devils Lake (De Wákâtcañk, "Holy Lake"), a lake with no bottom, said to be "a window for the earth." [3]

On one occasion he assumed human form in order to be strengthened by fasting. With the help of Turtle he obtained a human princess for his wife whom he took to his father's spirit village to live. [4]

Links: Waterspirits, Island Weights, Thunderbirds, Turtle, The Waterspirit of Green Lake.

Stories: featuring Traveler as a character: The Mulberry Picker, Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Lost Blanket; in which Waterspirits occur as characters: Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Green Waterspirit of Wisconsin Dells, The Lost Child, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, Bluehorn's Nephews, Holy One and His Brother, The Seer, The Mulberry Picker, Brave Man, The Creation of the World (vv. 1, 4), The Waterspirit of Green Lake, The Waterspirit of Rock River, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, Devil's Lake -- How it Got its Name, Old Man and White Feathers, Redhorn's Sons, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Great Walker's Warpath, White Thunder's Warpath, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Snowshoe Strings, The Thunderbird, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (v. 2), The Two Children, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, Warughápara, The Girl who Refused a Blessing from "Disease-Giver," Ocean Duck, The Twin Sisters, Trickster Concludes His Mission, The King Bird, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Shaggy Man, The Woman who Married a Snake (?), Ghost Dance Origin Myth I; mentioning Thunderbirds: The Thunderbird, Warughápara, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Ocean Duck, Traveler and the Thunderbird War, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Quail Hunter, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Redhorn's Sons, The Dipper, Brave Man, The Stone that Became a Frog, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Big Stone, Origin of the Hotcâk Chief, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed (v. 1 and v. 2), The Spirit of Gambling, The Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, The Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, The Man who was a Reincarnated Thunderbird, Aratcgéga's Blessings, The Twins Disobey Their Father, Kunu's Warpath, Turtle's Warparty, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, The Thunder Charm, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, Bird Clan Origin Myth, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga; set at Devil's Lake (De Wákâtcâk): Devil's Lake -- How it Got its Name, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Green Waterspirit of Wisconsin Dells, Buffalo Clan Origin Myth.

Genealogy: Traveler Genealogy.

Notes:

[1] Paul Radin, The Evolution of an American Indian Prose Epic, Part I (Basil, Switzerland: Ethnographical Museum, 1954) 47-48.

[2] Paul Radin, Primitive Man as Philosopher (New York: D. Appleton Co., 1927) 179-185. "The Struggle between the Son of the Thunderbird and the Son of the Waterspirit," in Paul Radin, Notebooks, Winnebago III, #11a, Freeman Number 3892 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1909?) Story 10, pp. 126-139.

[3] Radin, The Evolution of an American Indian Prose Epic, 47-48.

[4] Paul Radin, "Wuwukihge," [unpublished] Winnebago Notebooks (American Philosophical Society Library) #45.