(381) There as he was going about, there, unexpectedly, as he was going, something right by his side sang, saying,

(382) What are you packing Trickster?
It's your penis that you're packing!

"Howá!" he said. "What a bad one he is. Furthermore, what does this one mean to say? He himself has full knowledge of what I am carrying," he said. (383) Then again in a certain direction it said right by his side as he went along, again unexpectedly,

What are you packing Trickster?
A pair of his testicles!

he said. (384) "Howá! what thing is it that is saying this? He is watching me as I go around. I will pack my pack correctly," he said and he emptied it out. Then he overturned them. He placed them on his own back. Then he put his testicles next to his back. (385) Thus it was, and most unexpectedly again it was everywhere he went. Again, unexpectedly, it was right by his side:

What are you packing Trickster?
You are packing your testicles underneath!
You are packing your testicles underneath!

(386) "Howá! what a bad thing it is that teases me. He must have watched my pack," he said. Again he fixed his pack. He put the head of his penis on top. (387) Thus he did and quite unexpectedly he went forth. Again, unexpectedly, from his side,

What are you packing Trickster?
You are packing your penis.
Your penis head is on top,
Your penis head in on top!

(388) he said. "Howá! what is it that says this?" he said. He jumped towards it, but it ran away. "Ti ki ti ki ti ki ti ki," it said. It ran into a hollow tree. (389) It was a chipmunk that had done it. "You will die, you homely thing that said that. Hâhâ´, my younger brother, you may attend to him as he has teased you for a long time," he said. At some point, he took out his penis. (390) Then this he used to probe the hollow log, but he could not reach the end of it. Again he took out more of it and probed again. Again he did not reach the end with it. (391) Again he took out some more and unwound it. Again he probed into it. Again he could not reach the end. So now he took out all that remained of it. (392) The box was emptied. Again he did it, he probed into it. Thus it was. He could not reach the end. So then he came there and he probed as far as he could, but still he could not reach it. (393) "Howá!" he said. When he took it out, unexpectedly, the penis was brought out a little short on the end. "Hohó! what a great injury he has done me. What a shame! (394) I'll teach you!" he said. He kicked the log to pieces. There he tramped the chipmunk flat. Unexpectedly, there it was in a pile, all gnawed up. (395) "Hohó, what an important instrument his has deprived me of. Hâhâ´, what am I saying? I will make instruments for the people," he said. There the penis lay. He took up the part of the penis without the foreskin. (396) This one is what the people will ever call a 'pond lily'," he said. There in a lake nearby, there he threw it. Then again there he took one of the things gnawed off in the water and said, (397) "Henceforth, people will call these 'potatoes'," he said. Then he took one again and said, "This the people will call the 'turnip' henceforth," he said. (398) Then another one he took and said, "The people will ever call this 'artichoke'," he said. Then he took another one and said, "The people will ever call these 'ground beans'," he said. (399) Then he took another one and said, "These the people will ever call 'dog teeth'," he said. He took another one and said, "These also the people will ever call 'sharp claws'," he said. (400) He took another one and said, "This the people will ever call 'rice'," he said. He threw one into the water. Then there he took the end of the penis and said, (401) "This also the people will ever call 'water root'," he said. The square part he meant, the end. He meant what was left of the butt end of the penis, which was a little long.

(402) Then thus he did, and left his own box there. Just the way men's penises are now, his had become that way. That is why men's penises are so short. If Chipmunk had not gnawed to pieces this penis, (403) it is said that the first born would still be that way. The first borns would have to carry their penises on their back, it is said. If their penises were that way, it would not be good, so purposely, (404) Chipmunk was made to do it, it is said. That would not be good, so this is the reason why they did it to him. [1]

Commentary. "I'll teach you" -- the Hotcâk is hirapéresikdjanènâ, which literally means, "you will know." The nearest idiom in English is "I'll teach you."

"pond lily" -- Hotcâk siporora, translated with the more picturesque term of the XIXth century, "lily of the lake". Its buds look phallic when viewed head-on (see image below).

"potatoes" -- Hotcâk do,or "Indian potato", which actually denotes the groundnut, Apios americana Medikus. For the details on this plant, see the extensive commentary on it in The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head. When its tuber grow extensively they take on an enlongated phallic shape and the beans are in a pod (see the picture below).

"turnip" -- Hotcâk dokéwehira, which means "the one of hunger". This is actually the prairie turnip, Pediomelum esculenta. See the extensive remarks on this plant in Orion Mythology. As can be seen from the picture below, its phallic character is exemplified by its root system.

"artichoke" -- Hotcâk pâxira, Helianthus tuberosus, the Jerusalem artichoke. This is called pâge in Omaha-Ponca, and kisusit ("long tapering") by the Pawnee. As suggested by the Pawnee name, the tubers of this plant have a phallic shape (see below).

"ground beans" -- Hotcâk hónikmodjára, the Falcata comosa. Called maka ta omnicha, "beans of the ground" by the Dakota; hîthiabe by the Omaha-Ponca; atikuaru, "ground beans" by the Pawnee. "The pods produced from the petaliferous flowers on the upper leafy branches of the vine are 15 mm. to 20 mm. long and contain four or five dark, mottled, diminutive beans about the size of lentils. No attention is paid to these small aerial beans, but the large subterranean beans were eagerly sought as an article of food on account of their agreeable taste and nutritive value." [2] It is in fact the aerial bean pods that are phallic (see below).

"dog teeth" -- Hotcâk cûk hira, whose identity is unknown. However, since teeth are enlongated, especially those of the canine genera, it too probably looks phallic. Is this the Northern Clintonia (Clintonia borealis)? The friendship tribe of the Hotcâgara, the Menominee, have this to say about it, "My informant said this is the plant that the dog uses to poison his teeth, so that he can kill his prey. Should the dog bite a human, then it would be necessary to take the same herb and put it on the bite to draw out the poison." [3] The Menominee name was not given. The Clintonia is illustrated below.

"sharp claws" -- Hotcâk wacak parasara, another unknown plant. If the claws refer to a feature of the plant, then their enlongated character would also make them phallic.

The Mutilation Paradox also seems to apply here. The paradox is that the symbolic function of the organ is not diminished by its loss, but rather augmented. The penis as it existed in Trickster's time was so unmanageable that it was difficult for it to function as a generative organ. The act of reducing it to a manageable size results in a great deal of generation, and the pieces of the penis now become a dozen plants. When the penis is mutilated, its function, generation, becomes augmented. The whole is an expression of sacrifice, in which people destroy something of value so that its function may be augmented. (For more on the Mutilation Paradox, see 1, 2.)

Images. Here are pictures of the various plants created from Tricksters dismembered penis.

Siporora , the pond lily (lily of the lake)	Do, the Indian potato	Dokewehira, the prairie turnip	Pâxe, the Jerusalem artichoke

Hónikmodjára, the ground bean	Clintonia, Cûk hira, the dog tooth ?

Comparative Material. The Ponca have a very close version in their own trickster cycle, here summarized by Radin:

Ictinike is ridiculed by chipmunk for carrying his penis on his back. Chipmunk takes safety in hole and Ictinike tries to force him out with penis. Parts of his penis are eaten. Ictinike transforms parts into food plants. [4]

This can be seen as essentially the same story.

In an Arapaho tale, Nih'âtcâ (the trickster) tells his penis, which is of huge proportions, to snake its way into the tipi of the chief and insert itself into his daughter. The penis does as it is told, but it is so large that the girl bleeds profusely. When her parents light the fire, they see what is happening, and the chief gets a knife and chops Nih'âtcâ's penis into pieces. That is why today the human penis is no longer than it is. [5]

The Pomo of California have a trickster figure in Coyote who creates living things from his stomach. He burns the earth, then descends and eats the roasted meat of his victims, but this makes him thristy. He foolishly drinks ocean water and becomes sick. He vomits up the contents of his stomach, and this forms Clear Lake. The meat in his stomachs becomes all the creatures the live in its waters. [6]

At a greater remove, creation from human dismemberment is a theme known among the Indo-Europeans. A set of myths follow a paradigm in which the two first people, called "Man" and "Twin," participate in the first sacrifice. Man kills Twin and creates from his body the entire physical world. [7]

The Trickster tale has some interesting points in common with the Pandora's Box myth of the Greeks, although some of these points are correlated by opposition:

In both cases we have primordial figures exceeding the bound of propriety and suffering a loss as a consequence. In one case it is for the better and a multiplicity of good things are created; but in the Greek story, the punishing consequence is a multiplicity of evil things.

Links: Trickster, The Sons of Earthmaker, Chipmunks.

Links within the Trickster Cycle: §16. A Mink Tricks Trickster, §18. The Scenting Contest.

Stories: featuring Trickster as a character: featuring Trickster as a character: The Trickster Cycle, Trickster Gets Pregnant, Trickster's Warpath, Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, Lake Winnebago Origin Myth, The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Trickster Soils the Princess, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Trickster Concludes His Mission, The Abduction and Rescue of Trickster, The Elk's Skull, Trickster and the Mothers, The Markings on the Moon, The Spirit of Gambling, The Woman who Became an Ant, The Green Man, The Red Man, Trickster Takes Little Fox for a Ride, Trickster Loses His Meal, Trickster's Tail, A Mink Tricks Trickster, Trickster's Penis, The Scenting Contest, The Bungling Host, Mink Soils the Princess, Trickster and the Children, Trickster and the Eagle, Trickster and the Geese, Trickster and the Dancers, Trickster and the Honey, Trickster's Adventures in the Ocean, The Pointing Man, Trickster's Buffalo Hunt, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, Trickster Visits His Family, The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, The Petition to Earthmaker, Warughápara, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge; about Trickster's penis: Trickster's Penis; mentioning chipmunks: Black and White Moons.

Themes: a voice, which appears to be disembodied, speaks to Trickster: Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb; animals insult Trickster as he sojourns on earth: Trickster's Warpath, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, v. 4; someone talks to his own organs as though they were people: Trickster's Penis, Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks; someone takes shelter in a hollow log (in order to escape enemies): Brave Man, The Man with Two Heads, The Shaggy Man, Redhorn's Father, The Spirit of Maple Bluff, The Thunder Charm; rodents gnaw on parts of people's bodies: Ocean Duck, Hare Kills Wildcat; 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).

Notes:

[1] Paul Radin, The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology (New York: Schocken Books, 1956) 38-40. The original text is "Wakdjukaga," in Paul Radin, Notebooks, Freeman #3897 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, ca. 1912) Winnebago V, #7: 381-404.

[2] Melvin Randolph Gilmore, Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region, Thirty-Third Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1911-12 (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1919) 60-61, plate 18.

[3] Huron H. Smith, "Ethnobotany of the Menomini Indians," Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, 4, #1 (Dec. 10, 1923): 1-174 [38, plate 14, fig. 3].

[4] Radin, The Trickster, 128, #11. The Ponca trickster cycle is found in James Owen Dorsey, Cegiha Texts, in Contributions to North American Ethnology (Washington, D. C.: 1890) vol. 6.

[5] Cut Nose, "Nih'âtcâ Diminishes the Penis," in George A. Dorsey and Alfred L. Kroeger, Traditions of the Arapaho (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997 [1903]) Story 31, pp. 64, 483.

[6] S. A. Barrett, "A Composite Myth of the Pomo Indians", Journal of American Folk-lore, XIX (1906) 37. Summarized in A. L. Kroeber, "Indian Myths of South Central California," Univeristy of California Publications, American Archaeology and Ethnology, 4 (1907), #4: 169-250 [186 nt. 1].

[7] Hermann Güntert, Der arische Weltkönig und Heiland (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1923); Bruce Lincoln, Priest, Warriors, and Cattle: A Study in the Ecology of Religions (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981) 75-77.

[8] Hesiod, Work and Days 60-105; Theogony 570-616.