When Earthmaker made man, he was at first so weak that he could not defend himself against the evil spirits or the Giants. In order to help them, Earthmaker sent down Trickster whose foolishness did nothing to protect mankind from its enemies. He sent down others, but it was not until the descent of Hare that the enemies of humanity were finally put in check. This story takes place between the times of Trickster and Hare. This is the waikâ of the Thunderbird Warbundle (Warugháp).

Once there was a village in which there lived ten young brothers and their sister. This village was attacked by Giants, who not only massacred its inhabitants, but ate every one of them except the eleven siblings. These they spared that they might eat them when they were grown up. The surviving children all lived together in a long lodge with five fireplaces, with three doors each facing a different cardinal point, but none facing north. They spent their time hunting and fasting, but of their parents or where they had come from, they could remember nothing. The boys gave their sister every kindness and consideration: she did not have to work and her brothers even washed and combed her hair. She always slept opposite Kunu, her eldest brother. One night Kunu was awakened by the sound of a voice, as though someone were talking to his sister, yet he couldn't see anyone. He stayed awake all night, until just at daybreak, he fell fast asleep. When he woke up, his sister was asleep but no one was with her. The next night the same thing happened, and Kunu became convinced that whoever had been there had caused him to fall asleep at daybreak when he left. This happened a third and a fourth time, but on the morning of the fifth day, the sun came up, and Kunu was still awake. He could hear the sound of someone leaving, so he got up to see if any of his brothers had been about, but each of them was sound asleep.

That morning the brothers went out hunting by their usual common path, at the end of which it was their practice to separate. This day, however, the eldest brother had them all sit down for a smoke before going their separate ways. Kunu told them of everything that had happened and added, "I told you nothing because I was choked with shame at the thought it might be one of you with our own sister; but today I learned that it was in fact someone from the outside world." They were amazed, and concluded it must be some good spirit who had visited their sister in the night. Believing as they did that their sister was being blessed, they said nothing about the matter for fear of embarrassing her. Yet one day she announced to the brothers that she was pregnant. The brothers did not react with surprise, nor did they ask her how this had happened; rather they merely told her to take special care of herself. They made ready a lodge for her confinement, and in due course she moved in. As she set her things down her youngest brothers were putting the finishing touches on the interior. Then, unexpectedly, her mysterious husband thrust a wonderfully wrought iron cradle through the door, but when the brothers rushed outside to see who it was, no one was there. When it came time for her to give birth, the brothers left her lodge. She gave birth to a boy, and all his uncles came in and congratulated their sister. The youngest brother became so attached to his little nephew that he quit hunting altogether and spent all his time looking after him. Finally the boy was old enough to eat and did not have to be nursed.

One night Kunu was awakened by a noise that sounded like someone talking to his sister. Again he tried to stay awake, but at dawn his will was overpowered and he fell fast asleep. Everything happened just as it had before, except that on the fifth day Kunu saw his sister pick up her sewing bag and leave. The next morning the brothers took her departure in stride: she was, after all, only going with her husband to see his home. However, when she did not return that night, they became concerned. "We had better find out where she went," they said, so the next day Kunu went out following their trail. That night, when the other brothers came back from hunting, they discovered that their brother had not returned. The next day, the second eldest brother went out searching for his brother and sister, but he too failed to return. Each brother in turn went looking for the others until finally the only one left was the youngest. Now the youngest brother faced a dilemma: he had to find his lost brothers, yet he also had to take care of his nephew. He had been feeding the infant on boiled deer brains, but he had to find something else to sustain him now. So he put the child's cradle board against the wall and suspended above him a boiled deer tail which the child could reach at will. Then he set out after his brothers, but had not gone far when the child's crying made him return. Twice more this happened, but the fourth time he took off running so that when the child cried, he would be too far away to hear him. In time the youngest brother came to a place where he could see two villages, a large one and a small one. He entered into the smaller of the two where he came to the lodge of an old woman. He told her his story, but she already knew all about it. She said that his sister had been duped into thinking that the last spirit to visit her was the father of her child. He wasn't. This bad spirit killed all the young man's brothers and still held his sister in this very village. The worst news was that this bad spirit had completely seduced his sister so that she had wished to help her husband more than her brothers. The old woman went on to tell him about every trick that his brother-in-law would use to try to kill him and how he might circumvent them.

His sister came into the lodge and set a bowl of dried liver before him, and said, "Brother, here is a little something you can eat." Her brother threw it at her and yelled, "I was raised by my brothers, and I'm not used to eating garbage like this!" After dinner that afternoon, she returned and said, "Your brother-in-law wishes to take a sweat bath. There is a stone on that hillside that he always uses. Make sure that you bring that down for him." The old woman had warned him of this stone: were he to pick it up, it would spontaneously roll with uncontrollable violence, and he would roll to his death with it. So he approached the stone from above and pried it loose with a pole so that it rolled harmlessly down the hill beneath him. He carried it to his brother-in-law's lodge, and went inside to inform him that the task was done. His brother-in-law just nodded, and told him he needed the bark off a particular tree to kindle the fire, so the young man set out to get it. Now the grandmother had warned him that were he to strip the bark, it would come crashing down upon him with lethal effect. So he approached the tree with his pole and used it to pry off the bark. Suddenly, the bark came tumbling down with a crash, but the young man had taken care to stay out of the way, so he was not buried. He took the bark to his brother-in-law, who once again merely nodded. Now the brother-in-law sent him to a particular place to get the sweat-lodge poles. Now these poles turned out to be large rattlesnakes, but the old woman had warned the lad about them as well. He took with him a pouch of tobacco and offered it to the snakes, whom the brother-in-law kept as slaves. They were overjoyed to receive the tobacco offering, for although the bad spirit fed them, he never gave them anything to smoke. It was those serpents that were to be the lodge poles. When he arrived at his brother-in-law's lodge, he took the snakes and stuck them in the ground head first, and they became the lodge poles. Soon the sweat bath lodge was completed. His brother-in-law told him to pick up the stone and set it in place. Had he done this the stone would have burned his hands severely, but he made an excuse to go and see the old woman. She applied a substance to his hands so that when he returned he was able to lift the stone in place without being burned. This made the brother-in-law angry and he said sarcastically, "You think you're smart, don't you? Well, I'm not going to bother with the bath after all!" He then went to bed. The boy went to his grandmother's place to sleep. Before they fell asleep, she explained to him what he could expect on the morrow and how to deal with it.

The next day his sister arrived to say that his brother-in-law wished to go hunting with him. He consented and they both went out looking for deer. The brother-in-law shot a big buck with enormous antlers. He told the boy to pack it for him. "How can I?" he replied, "I don't have a packing strap." The bad spirit got angry and said, "Don't be stupid, use your bow string!" Grandmother had warned him about this: the idea was that the bowstring would cut his head, but the young man took the precaution of concealing a whetstone beneath the hair over his forehead. Just as his grandmother predicted, the bad spirit stepped on the heel of the young man's moccasin but the boy only stumbled. The bowstring broke, and instead of being stabbed by the antlers, the whole pack dropped harmlessly to the side. Again the bad spirit was frustrated, and had to pack the buck back himself.

That night the old woman told him, "Grandson, tomorrow the bad spirit will ask you to go hunting again. He will tell you to go forward to head off a deer, but after you get well into the timber, a blizzard will strike so that you will not be able to follow your own tracks back. On this difficult matter, I can't help you. Only the spirits who blessed you when you fasted can do anything for you." After that they went to sleep. First thing the following morning, his sister showed up and told him that her husband wanted him to go hunting with him. So the tenth son accompanied his brother-in-law on another hunt. They had been out until late afternoon when all of a sudden a bear came out of the forest, and seeing the hunters, bolted for the hills. The brother-in-law said, "Wait here while I chase him down - if we get separated you can always follow my tracks." Then it began to snow, and quite unexpectedly, it also became extremely cold. He was not prepared for this and had carried no extra clothing. As the snow fell fast, the tracks wee filled with snow and disappeared from view. Now the young man was lost and in danger of freezing. As he thought of his beloved nephew left alone to starve, he began to cry. Then, unexpectedly, he heard a voice speaking to him: "Don't you know me?" He turned and looked at him. It was a tall man that he had never seen before. "Who are you?" he asked. The man replied, "I'm your nephew, the one you left behind on the cradle board. Right this moment your brother-in-law is sitting by a warm fire cooking bear meat right on the other side of the hill. When you get to the other side, walk right up to the fireplace and help yourself to some of the meat. He won't like it, but just ignore him. He'll demand that you pack the bear back to his lodge, but you tell him to do it himself. This will make him even more angry, and he will tell you to do it or die. Tell him that he had better do it himself, because you owe him nothing. When he raises his club to strike you, call out, 'Wak'andja-tco-ga ("Blue Thunderbird"), my nephew, help me, I am about to be killed!' I will appear at once." So the uncle went over the hill and just as his nephew said, there was the bad spirit cooking bear meat in the fire. He walked right up and helped himself. "What do you think you're doing?" said the bad spirit, "put that down and pack the rest of the bear, we'll be heading back now." "Do it yourself," he said, "I'm busy eating." His brother-in-law picked up his warclub and said, "You'd better do it!" "Don't bother me!" was his reply. At this the bad spirit raised his club and yelled, "I'll kill you!" Just then the boy yelled, "Wak'andjatcoga, my nephew, help me, I am about to be killed!" Suddenly, Blue Thunder appeared in front of the bad spirit and demanded, "What were you going to do to the boy?" "Oh, nothing," replied the bad spirit, "I was just fooling around." "I'll fool around with you!" replied Blue Thunder angrily, whereupon he swung his own warclub down upon his head and it struck home with the noise of thunder, shattering the bad spirit into a thousand pieces. Others say that after he was struck, the spirit turned into an owl and flew away.

The nephew told his uncle, "I'll pack the bear home to grandmother's for you. As to my mother - she may have been seduced into doing what she did, but she is guilty of much. If you think that she has caused you so much hardship and suffering that you should take full revenge, I shall not concern myself in the slightest with what you decide to do." "I have indeed suffered much because of her," the uncle replied, "not so much for myself as for worry over you and my brothers. For this she must die." So Blue Thunder set off for the grandmother's with the bear, while his uncle went to the bad spirit's village. There he killed his sister and burned this village to the ground. When he returned to grandmother's place, he found his nephew cutting the bear into chunks for the old woman. When they were done, the nephew said, "Grandmother, I am going away to where I shall live." She replied, "Well, grandson, I too am going away. My home is far beneath the ground. I only came up here to help you in this crisis. Now that you are victorious, I shall descend to my subterranean home with the meat you have given me. The bear should last me almost as long as the world itself will endure. In reality, my grandsons, I am the spirit chief of the mice."

And when she parted from them, Blue Thunder spoke to his uncle: "Now I too must go back to where I came from, as my mission on earth is done, I shall return to my father who sent me here." But the uncle would not hear of it: "Where you go, I shall not fail to go as well," he said. The nephew felt sorry for his uncle but had to tell him, "This cannot be. The Creator did not crate you to live among us; nor would my father approve of it. However, we can appear to you in dreams whenever you fast, or when we descend to earth." "Nephew, do not leave me here alone," he pleaded. "Uncle," he replied, "how can I do what Earthmaker does not allow? If you stay behind, I shall grant you great war powers, for it lies in our hands to give the greatest blessings on the warpath; and more - I shall give you and your descendants lives of great length and prosperity, for these powers too are ours to give. When you want food, all you shall have to do is reach outside your lodge and an animal will be there for you. All these blessings shall come to you if you but stay upon the earth." But the uncle would not be dissuaded from accompanying his beloved nephew wherever he should go. "Very well, then," the nephew said, relenting, "all you need do is step in my first four footprints and you shall be able to follow after me." As Wak'andjatcoga strode forth, his uncle carefully walked in his tracks, then, unexpectedly, he found himself ascending into the air, walking into the heavens behind his nephew. They traveled all the way to the western horizon, where the country began to look like the Wazidja (his native land). There they stopped before a stand of oak trees. The nephew took his uncle and rubbed him between his palms, and as he did so the boy became smaller and smaller until he had reduced him to a Thunderbird egg. Then Blue Thunder placed him in a nest in the fork of the nearby oak. "Uncle, be at ease here and do not be impatient," he said, "for in four days I shall return to see how you have fared." Then Blue Thunder went off to see his father. His father knew of all that had transpired, but when his son arrived, he asked him, "So what have you been doing all this time?" Blue Thunder replied, "Father, I have brought my uncle up here with me." "Well, where is he then?" inquired the father. "I left him in an oak tree not too far away. I will visit him in four days." "It is into according to right that you have brought him here - nevertheless, inasmuch as it is done, I suppose we can live with it." Then in four days Blue Thunder returned to the oak tree and there saw the egg. His uncle's bill protruded from it just like a chicken as it hatches. "Uncle," he said, "be patient for a little longer. I will again return to you in four days." When he returned again, he found that his uncle had just hatched. "You are doing well, uncle," he said, "just be patient and I will be back in four days." When he returned, there was his uncle standing at the edge of the nest. "Be patient still, uncle," he said, "in four days I will come to take you to my father's lodge." Four days past, and the nephew was uncle again back at the oak tree, when he found his uncle full grown and perched upon the summit of the tree. "Uncle," he said, "you have became greater than I expected: your plumage exceeds any of ours and you even look stronger than any other Thunderbird." He leapt off the tree in a single bound, and at his feet lay his bow and arrows all set out for him. He picked her up and set out with his nephew for the lodge of his father, Great [Black] Hawk, Chief of the Thunderbirds. After a few days, uncle and nephew decided to go hunting. Now in those times the Thunderbirds ate manly snakes and other animals that lived under the ground and wave; but the uncle took his nephew out to shoot pigeons, which they roasted over an open fire. One day the uncle shot at a pigeon, but the arrow flew by its intended target and landed in a spring. When he pulled the arrow out, it had chalk all over its point. He decided to use it to paint his face. When he rejoined his nephew, Blue Thunder saw the chalk on his face and became quite animated - "Uncle, where did you find that?" "What?" he replied. "The white stuff on your face," he answered. "It's beaver spore, from the very large kind of beaver. You can promise half this beaver to Great Black Hawk and the other half to his people." "Nephew," he said, "I saw no beavers anywhere, so I can hardly promise anything." Nevertheless, when they got back, the nephew enthusiastically told everyone of what his uncle had found. Great Black Hawk took a large party of hunters out and flushed the beaver out of his hole and killed it. Then they held a great feast. Thereafter, the uncle and his nephew hunted these beaver regularly, and also killed leeches and various kind of worms as well.

Despite all this, a council was convened of the major Thunderbirds. It was decided that although he had indeed made a great contribution to their welfare, someone who was earthborn could hardly live forever among them. They had not set a time definite for his departure, but when some of the young Thunderbirds heard of this, they decided the sooner the better. So they hatched a plan to cause his death and make it look like a hunting accident. In the past the Thunderbirds had tried to kill a Waterspirit that lived by a lake under such precipitous banks that he was shielded from their thunder weapons. Nevertheless, they used to go to the lake just look at him. The young Thunderbirds hoped to get the uncle to come out with them to see the Waterspirit, then push him off the cliff into the water. They approached Blue Thunder and told him that they were all going out to look at the Waterspirit and that he should bring his uncle just in case he might be able to do something. The nephew thought it was a great idea, and had no trouble persuading his uncle to come away. When they got there, the uncle looked over the edge to catch a glimpse of the famous Waterspirit when, suddenly, he was violently shoved from behind. As the cliffs were a sheer drop, the uncle fell to his death. The Thunderbirds walked off leaving his nephew to his grief.

For four years he returned to the lake to mourn his uncle, his grief as sharp as it was the day he was killed. One day he found a wing feather drifting in the water by the shore. He picked the feather up and took it with him. When he got home he rubbed the feather between his hands until it became a new Thunderbird egg. He put this in the fork of a nearby oak tree and said, "Uncle, I will be back in four days." Then he went home. There his father told him, "We can't have this earthborn uncle of yours living here forever. You'll have to return him to the place where you found him. I grant that he may have in exchange anything that he wants from us." Blue Thunder agreed to do his father's bidding when the time was right. After four days, the nephew returned to find his uncle with his bill protruding through the eggshell. Four more times he returned, each after four days, and just as before, his uncle gradually matured into a Thunderbird. Finally, his uncle leapt from the top of the tree to join him on the ground. However, now he was neither so strong nor so handsome as he was before, but looked like an ordinary Thunderbird. The nephew told him how Great Black Hawk had insisted that no human being could live forever among the Thunderbirds. "Uncle," Blue Thunder said, "I grieved incessantly for you, and now that you are revived, we shall avenge ourselves upon them who cost me so many tears. In my father's lodge hang the warclubs of the Thunders, our most prized possessions. My father has said that you may take anything you choose, so take one of these. They are many and various, and some are magnificent works of art; but do not choose any of those, rather pick the one that hangs right by the door, even though it is the shabbiest warclub of the whole set. This will make them pay in tears for our own grief."

When they arrived home, Great Black Hawk told the uncle in front of all the assembled Thunderbirds, "As compensation, you may choose whatsoever thing we possess." So the uncle walked up and down the line of warclubs hanging on the wall. Then he stopped at the door and picked the club that hung there. "It would not be right for me to reward your generosity by picking the best warclub you have, so I will be happy with the shabbiest one you own," he said. Then all the Thunders hung their heads in grief and wept bitter tears at its loss. Then Great Black Hawk took the uncle to the center of the lodge where he presented him a bowl from which to drink. As he drank deeply from the bowl he heard a myriad of people crying out, begging for their lives. "What you heard," said Great Black Hawk, "were the voices of all those you will kill on the warpath with this club. It was their brains that you drank." Then the nephew took his uncle and rubbed him between his palms, and unexpectedly, the uncle found himself once again in human form. His nephew escorted him back down to earth, and told him, as they parted, "You may see me whenever you wish."

Now that he was on earth, he joined a tribe of Indians and led them on the warpath. He found that by means of this club he could kill anyone. Soon thousands of people had fallen to this super-weapon, which caused much concern among the Thunders. They complained to Great Black Hawk: "How can we let him go on like this? Soon he will destroy all mankind, then who among the creatures that Earthmaker created shall we call a "human being"? Great Black Hawk shared their concern: "We must recall that club. Summon my son." When his son appeared, Great Black Hawk told him, "Blue Thunder, you must bring back our warclub before creation is irreparably damaged. You may give him a copy and whatever blessings other spirits may wish to give him in recompense." When Blue Thunder returned to earth and found his uncle, he announced, "You must surrender your warclub to the Thunders. It is possessed of too much power to be used here on earth. We shall grant you this copy and other spirits may add what they can to it." Then the nephew summoned spirits form the air and the earth, and from the subterranean deep to stand before his uncle. The nephew caused to be made a copy of the warclub, and gave it to him there. He also caused to be fashioned a flute that sang in the voice of the Thunderbirds. "This is its virtue," he said, "it will enable you to summon the power of the Thunders to help you in battle." The raptors spoke to him and said, "We shall add our powers as well. You will be able to find the enemy and even see him in darkness. In return for this, we shall eat the flesh of the slain." The serpents meandered forth and declared, "We shall endow you with the power of concealment so the enemy cannot discover your ambush." The spirits from below rose up to him and gave him powerful paint medicines. "If you paint yourself with these," they said, "you shall be stronger than your enemies. You will be able to outrun them, and if they try to track you, the medicine paints will confound your scent in their nostrils." And each of these spirits left behind a token and embodiment of these powers which are gathered together in the sacred warbundle of the Thunderbird Clan. [1]

Commentary. The warbundle contains the remains of the body of a northern raven, which the Hotcâgara identify with the crow (kaghi). In addition there is a rattlesnake hide, which embodies the powers granted by the serpent. There are several cane flutes that are used to summon the powers of the Thunderbirds. There are two copies of the famous warclub in the bundle. No mention is made of the paints here [2], but other warbundles are said to have them, and this one probably did at some point in its history.

The "beavers" spoken of in the story are actually Waterspirits. The "leeches" are elsewhere said to be turtles, and "worms" are probably snakes, as Thunders are known to eat this taboo animal (see How the Thunders Met the Nights).

When spirits become human, they are required to be born again. So it is when a human becomes a spirit being like a Thunderbird: he too must begin at the beginning and pass through the stages of maturation, however greatly they may be accelerated. However, such a human remains always out of place, as indeed does a spirit reborn as a mortal. At some point they must die or transform themselves and return to where they belong. All this is a corollary to the widespread -- perhaps universal -- idea of ritual pollution. Mary Douglas analyses pollution and impurity as a kind of being-out-of-place. [3] The process of moving an agent out of his normal place has the effect of augmenting his power. In some places in the world, chiefs are required to commit incest and other acts that would make normal people nothing but impure. The result of this is a great increase in their power. [4] The same should be true of spirits that become human and of humans that become spirits. In the case of the uncle, when he became a Thunderbird he was no ordinary exemplar, but a Thunderbird exceeding all others in perfection and possessed powers of hunting that even powerful Thunders lacked. Nevertheless, in the opinion of all but his nephew, he was clearly out of place. The idea is perhaps when we subtract the power of the human restored to earth from the power of the Thunderbird that he was in the heavens, the remaining power was what was found in the Thunderbird Warclub. Some of that power has been transferred to the Thunderbird Warbundle, but in the end there is no way to retain such powers without upsetting the proper order and balance of the world. It is a kind of pollution which demands purification.

Comparative Material: In a Navaho story, Sun shows the Twins every kind of wealth and asked them if they had not come to him to get any of these items. In every case they rejected the resplendent things and told him they had not come for these. Instead, they pointed to what looked like an ordinary bow and arrows and told him that they had come for this weapon. This was really the lightning weapon. They intended to use it to slay one of their own relatives, Yeitso the One-Walking Giant. However, Sun declared that the weapon was too terrible to give over permanently to the people of earth, so the Twins could use it only for a short time. After passing a guessing contest, the Twins were lowered to earth with the new weapon. [5]

Links: Thunderbirds, Great Black Hawk, Black Hawks, Waterspirits, The Thunderbird Warclub, Trickster, Earthmaker, Hare, Bird Spirits, Mice, The Wazidja, Snakes.

Stories: mentioning Thunderbirds: The Thunderbird, 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, The Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, 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 the Thunderbird Clan: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Origin of the Hotcâk Chief, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, The Creation Council, The Greedy Woman, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth (v. 5), The Thunderbird; 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, Trickster Loses Most of His 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, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge; mentioning Great Black Hawk: Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Thunderbird, The Lost Blanket, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Redhorn's Sons, The Nightspirits Bless Tciwoit'éhiga; mentioning black hawks: The Dipper, The Thunderbird, Partridge's Older Brother, The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Morning Star and His Friend, The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, Keramanic'aka's Blessing, The Race for the Chief's Daughter; mentioning hawks: The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Partridge's Older Brother, The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, Holy One and His Brother, The Thunderbird, Old Man and White Feathers, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Creation Council, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, The Race for the Chief's Daughter; mentioning pigeons: Pigeon Clan Origins, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth V. 1, 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 Earthmaker blessing or rescuing a person: The Wild Rose, Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega), The Seven Maidens, The Stone Heart, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins; about journeys to and from Spiritland: The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Journey to Spiritland, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Lame Friend, Holy One and His Brother, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, The Foolish Hunter, The Thunderbird, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, White Wolf, The Twins Get into Hot Water, The Two Brothers, The Lost Blanket, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Man who went to the Upper and Lower Worlds, The Petition to Earthmaker, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Thunder Cloud Marries Again, The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, Aratcgéga's Blessings, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Man Whose Wife was Captured; mentioning snakes: The First Snakes, The Woman who Married a Snake, Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief, Snake Clan Origins, The Omahas who turned into Snakes, A Snake Song Origin Myth, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Twins Disobey Their Father, The Two Boys, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Creation of the World (vv. 2, 3, 4), The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Green Man, Holy One and His Brother, The Man who was Blessed by the Sun, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, Turtle and the Merchant, The Lost Blanket, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth; mentioning mice: The War among the Animals, Trickster Takes Little Fox for a Ride, Hare Kills Wildcat, Ocean Duck, The Two Boys, The Lost Blanket; in which owls are mentioned: Owl Goes Hunting, Crane and His Brothers, The Spirit of Gambling, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, The Chief of the Herok'a, Partridge's Older Brother, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Keramanic'aka's Blessing, Old Man and White Feathers, The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I, The Green Man; mentioning the Thunderbird Warclub: The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Thunderbird, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, cf. Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth; mentioning Warbundles: The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons (Thunderbird), Redhorn's Sons (Thunderbird), The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty (Thunderbird), The Warbundle of the Eight Generations (Thunderbird), Wanihéga Becomes a Sak'î (Thunderbird), Cûgepaga (Eagle), The Masaxe War (Eagle?), The Blessing of a Bear Clansman (Bear), The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits (Buffalo), The Blessing of Kerexûsaka (Sauk), A Man's Revenge (enemy); 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, The Creation of the World (vv. 1, 4), The Sioux Warparty and the Waterspirit of Green Lake, The Waterspirit of Lake Koshkonong, The Waterspirit of Rock River, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, Devil's Lake -- How it Got its Name, Old Man and White Feathers, The Diving Contest, The Lost Blanket, Redhorn's Sons, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Great Walker's Warpath, White Thunder's Warpath, The Descent of the Drum, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, 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, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, Ocean Duck, The Twin Sisters, Trickster Concludes His Mission, The King Bird, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Great Walker's Medicine, V. 2, Peace of Mind Regained, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Shaggy Man, The Woman who Married a Snake (?), Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I; about Bird Spirits: Crane and His Brothers, The King Bird, Bird Origin Myth, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Wears White Feathers on His Head, Old Man and White Feathers, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Thunderbird, Owl Goes Hunting, 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 (kaghi, 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, 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, Keramanic'aka's Blessing (black hawk, owl), Worúxega (eagle), The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men (eagle), The Gift of Shooting (eagle), 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 Fleetfooted Man, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 4) -- see also Thunderbirds; mentioning livers: White Wolf (deer), The Green Man (raccoon); 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), Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, 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: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, 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, 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 sweat lodges or sweat baths: The Twins Get into Hot Water, The Lost Blanket, The Green Man, Bladder and His Brothers, v. 1, Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, The Thunderbird, Snowshoe Strings, The Red Man, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Birth of the Twins, v.2, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, The King Bird, The Human Head, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, White Wolf, The Shaggy Man, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, The Dipper, The Two Boys, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, v. 2, The Cave of Herok'a; mentioning the Wazidja: The Hotcâk Migration Myth, Trickster and the Geese, The First Fox and Sauk War, The Hotcâgara Migrate South, The Cosmic Ages of the Hotcâgara, Deer Spirits, The Creation of Man; mentioning springs: Trail Spring, Vita Springs, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Bear Clan Origin Myth, vv. 6, 8, Bird Clan Origin Myth, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, Bluehorn's Nephews, Blue Mound, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, The Lost Child, Old Man and White Feathers, The Wild Rose, The Omahas who turned into Snakes, The Two Brothers, Snowshoe Strings, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Mulberry Picker, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, The Two Boys, Wazûka, The Man Who Fell from the Sky, Turtle and the Witches.

Themes: the Giants massacre an entire village, but spare at least one child to eat later in life: How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Old Man and the Giants; 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, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy; a lover sneaks into a lodge every night, but conceals his/her identity: Partridge's Older Brother; a group (of brothers), a few at a time, go out looking for one of their number who is missing, but each searcher disappears in turn: Wodjidjé, Bladder and His Brothers, Big Eagle Cave Mystery; a cradle for a newborn is thrust through the lodge flap (by the mother's mysterious spirit husband): 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 Red Feather; a group of brothers goes down a common hunting trail and split up when they reach the end: The Quail Hunter; a man devoted to an infant tries repeatedly to leave the infant behind alone while going out, but must return to comfort him: The Birth of the Twins; children are given deer tails to eat: The Redman, The Chief of the Herok'a, The Birth of the Twins, The Two Boys; solitary children feed themselves on an inexhaustible boiled deer tail: The Chief of the Herok'a, The Red Man; in the course of his travels, a man enters a lodge where he finds a grandmother who helps him: The Seduction of Redhorn's Son, Ocean Duck, Trickster Gets Pregnant, Trickster Soils the Princess, Wodjidjé; 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, 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; 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), 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); The Red Man (wife), The Chief of the Herok'a (wife), The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion (wife); a mortal is an affine of the Thunderbirds: The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Thunderbird, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed (v. 3); a young man follows the detailed instructions of a wise woman and as a result succeeds in a difficult mission: He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Trickster Soils the Princess; an evil spirit uses snow as a weapon: Holy One and His Brother; 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: The Old Man and the Giants; snakes are used as poles in the construction of a lodge: The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth; people turn into birds: Worúxega (eagle), The Thunderbird (black hawk, hummingbird), The Dipper (black hawk, hummingbird), Keramanic'aka's Blessing (black hawk, 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); 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), The Chief of the Herok'a (owl), Hare Kills a Man with a Cane (ant); a human turns into a (spirit) animal: How the Thunders Met the Nights (Thunderbird), The Dipper (hummingbird), Keramanic'aka's Blessing (black hawk, 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); a human has an easy time hunting something that the spirits find hard to get: He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, The Thunderbird, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds; powerful spirits refer to strong animals by names denoting smaller and weaker animals: How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Twins Disobey Their Father, The Two Boys, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Thunderbird, The Lost Blanket, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, Redhorn's Sons (cf. the inverse theme, Buffalo Spirits calling grass "bears" in, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle); 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, The Twins Disobey Their Father, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Bluehorn's Nephews, a spirit causes someone to fall asleep: The Brave Man, Hare Visits the Bodiless Heads; someone about to be killed cries out to a spirit to whom he is related, and is saved: Porcupine and His Brothers, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Seven Maidens; an evil spirit is smashed to pieces by a club: The Red Man, Hare Kills Flint, Hare Kills a Man with a Cane, The Big Stone; spirits can be followed by stepping in their first four footprints: How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Chief of the Herok'a, Snowshoe Strings; a human joins up with the Thunderbirds: The Thunderbird, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Dipper; a human is transformed into a Thunderbird (or vice-versa): The Man who was a Reincarnated Thunderbird (Thunder > human); a group of young men plot to trick one of their number into falling victim to a Waterspirit: Îtcohorucika and His Brothers, The Shaggy Man; someone is offered to a Waterspirit: The Shaggy Man, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, White Thunder's Warpath, Old Man and White Feathers, The Seer; a Waterspirit kills a human: The Shaggy Man, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, 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 man injured by the Thunderbirds regenerates (in four days): Redhorn's Sons, The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, Bluehorn's Nephews; using body paint stored in a warbundle: The Red Man, White Thunder's Warpath, Paint Medicine Origin Myth; someone goes out searching for a missing person who was dear to them: The Woman who Married a Snake, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, A Man's Revenge, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Old Man and White Feathers, Snowshoe Strings; a bird(-man) is regenerated from a single feather: Bird Origin Myth, The Red Feather; a man injured by the Thunderbirds regenerates in four days: The Adventures of Redhorn's Sons, Bluehorn's Nephews; 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, The Lost Blanket, The Old Man and the Giants; a human becomes a Thunderbird: How the Thunders Met the Nights; 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: The Dog that became a Panther, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion; a nephew avenges the quasi-death of his uncle: The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Man with Two Heads, The Children of the Sun, Bluehorn's Nephews; spirits bless a man with an artifact: 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); the Chief of the Thunders rewards a human with the Thunderbird Warclub for killing a Waterspirit: The Thunderbird, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds; a warclub is a threat to creation: Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth; a mortal is returned to earth from the spirit village that he is visiting: 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; spirits come together to pool their resources to give humans power over their enemies: Maize Origin Myth, The Children of the Sun; 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.

Genealogy: Thunderbirds (+ Blue Thunder).

Notes:

[1] Paul Radin, "Winnebago Tales," Journal of American Folklore, 22 (1909): 288-300. E. W. Lenders, "The Myth of the 'Wah-ru-hap-ah-rah,' or the Sacred Warclub Bundle," Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 46 (1914): 404-420. Told by Joseph LaMère, Bear Clan, to Radin in the summer of 1908 and to Lenders in Aug.- Sept., 1909.

[2] Radin, "Winnebago Tales," 288.

[3] Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger: an Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966) 35-40.

[4] Douglas, Purity and Danger, 94-113.

[5] Aileen O'Bryan, Navaho Indian Myths (New York: Dover Publications, 1993 [1956]) 81-82. These stories were collected by the author in 1928 from Old Man Buffalo Grass.