Once a man dressed in black walked into the lodge of a great hunter. When he reached forward to clasp his hand, the hunter fell over as if dead, and could be revived only after extreme measures. The man in black was actually a Wood Spirit.

Links: Wood Spirits, Tree Spirits.

Stories: about Wood Spirits (Wakâtcûna): The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, The Completion Song Origin, The Twins Disobey Their Father, v. 2; mentioning trees or Tree Spirits: The Creation of the World, The Children of the Sun, The Boy who would be Immortal, The Pointing Man, The Abduction and Rescue of Trickster, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, Trickster Loses His Meal, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 2), Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Warughápara, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Red Man, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Spirit of Gambling, The Necessity for Death.

Themes: someone is confronted by a man dressed completely in black: The Pointing Man, Turtle's Warparty.

Notes:

[1] Fanny D. Bergen, "Some Customs and Beliefs of the Winnebago Indians," The Journal of American Folk-Lore, 9 (1896): 52-53.