Wolf Clan Origin Myth

retold by Richard L. Dieterle

The Wolf Clan (Šųkcąk Hik'ik'árajera) belongs the Lower, or "Earth," Moiety, and is the friendship clan of the Bear Clan. When a Bear clansman is born, the Wolf people give them a name from their own clan. They alone can marry within their own clan. They are termed, after the Bear Clan,"minor soldiers," and when tribal expeditions cross a body of water, the Wolf Clan may be called upon to still the winds.¹ Radin could not discover what their clan function was otherwise; however, among other tribes scouts were called "wolves," which suggests that they may have had that function in some contexts. David Lee Smith (Thunderbird Clan) says, however, that "the Wolf Clan performed social welfare roles, administering public health and safety."²

Water is the sacred possession of this clan (as it is of the Waterspirit Clan), and it is considered impolite for visitors in a Wolf Clan lodge to look into any container of water. Nor is anyone allowed to sit on a log in a Wolf Clan lodge. Even if a man accidentally killed a Wolf clansman, were he to enter a clan lodge and sit upon a log, he would be pardoned. It is also an offense against manners to point out that a member of the clan looks like a wolf.³

The following are names given to people of the Wolf Clan:

	BAE 37: 248
	The Funereal Paint of the Wolf Clan

Some Wolf Clan names were given to members of the Bear Clan as an expression of the close friendship of these two clans.⁴ Since the Wolf Clan buried members of the Bear Clan, the relationship was probably reciprocal. The dead were painted with an oval stripe of blue paint on their foreheads, recalling the funereal paint used by the Waterspirit Clan.

It is said that in music the Wolf Clan alone had certain sticks which they played in time with the drums. These are the clan songs:

This body of mine that I am walking,
This body of mine that I am walking;
This body of mine that I am walking,
On the earth I am speaking.

This body of mine that I am walking,
This body of mine that I am walking;
This body of mine that I am walking,
In the waters I am speaking.

The Wolf Feast is held in the spring and the main course is boiled rice. There the origin myth is told and other clans are allowed to hear it.⁵

Here are the surviving versions of the Wolf Clan origins that have come down to us:

Version 1. "The ancestors of the Wolf gens were all wolves. At that time the Wolf people had no clothing, and they were ignorant of the use of fire. By and by they became Indians. At the creation Ma-‘-uⁿ-na made four brothers: Green Wolf, Black Wolf, White Wolf, and Gray Wolf. These four were the ancestors of the present Wolf gens. At the time of creation these four kinds of wolves were on the surface of the earth; but subsequently three kinds went beneath the earth, and are there now, appearing above ground only on rare occasions. The Gray Wolf represents the only species which remains above ground. When a father, if a member of this gens, named his sons in the former days, he called his first-born son Kéra-tcó-ra, ‘Clear Blue Sky,’ after the first mythical Wolf brother. This name refers to the day. The next son was named ‘Black Wolf,’ after the second mythical brother. This name refers to night. The third son was styled ‘White Wolf,’ and the fourth ‘Gray Fur’."⁶

Version 2. There were four wolves who had a lodge in the middle of the ocean. Each had fur of a different color, so they were called White Wolf, Blue Hair (Hįcoga), Gray Wolf, and Black Wolf. Each was married, and one of them had ten children, and the youngest of these and his wife crossed over to the land. When they arrived, they saw a footprint of a bear, and they said, "Our friend has passed by." It is because they met there that the Wolf and Bear Clans love one another. They observed how the humans lived, and when they returned to their home in the middle of the ocean, they asked if they might not go and live with the humans. This they were granted, and they started out a second time, swimming to the shore, and as they left they generated two waves in front of them. As they swam to the shore, they came singing. Because of the nature of these wolves, whenever the tribe comes to a stream and the wind is blowing hard, they call upon a Wolf clansmen to still the wind. Water is sacred to the Wolf clansmen.⁷

Version 3. The first wolf brothers arose from the very bottom of the sea, and as they came to the surface, they swam to the shore singing. There they found the footprints of bears, and they said, "Our friends have passed by." This is why the Wolf Clan and the Bear Clan are friends. They set out for the meeting place where a black hawk was gathering together the clans of the Hocągara. When they had come together, the black hawk said, "It is complete." But the howl of a wolf was heard in the distance, and someone remarked, "We had forgotten him." So they went out and brought him in.⁸

Version 4, by Joseph LaMère (Bear Clan). In the beginning the Wolf Clan people came from the water. Therefore their bodies are of water — i.e., their sacred possession is water. There were four male wolves and four female wolves, and as they came up from the sea and swam toward the shore, one after the other, they caused waves to go before them. Therefore, one of the clan names is "Wave." They first appeared as wolves and later on they became humans. After swimming to the shore they lay on their backs to dry themselves; and that also is a name, a female name, "She who Spreads Herself out to Dry," and another name is "He who Comes Up First." When they became human they built themselves a lodge and lived in it, but they had no fire. Then the Thunders came down and alit on a big oak tree that stood near their lodge. At first the Thunders were afraid of the Wolf people and they would not enter their lodge. That is why we have a name "He who is Afraid." They asked the Thunders to come into their lodge and they had great difficulty in persuading them. After they entered the Wolf lodge they wanted to go home again immediately, but the Wolf Clan people asked them to stay over for four days. From that fact a name has originated, "One who is Waited for by the Thunders." The Thunders stayed, but not in the lodge of the Wolf people. They built themselves one just outside their door. Then they built a fire in it. After the four days were over the Thunders went home.⁹

Version 5 (of the Thunderbird Clan). After the first four Thunderbirds had established their lodge, something strange was seen lurking outside the camp. The Thunderbirds agreed that they would simply leave it alone. Gradually it moved nearer to the camp and began to feed on deer bones. The Thunders took it into their lodge and made it the Dog or Wolf Clan. They took one of the dogs and gave him a message to take to Earthmaker, and dispatched it by killing him. The Thunderbird people were originally as powerful as the Thunderbirds of the heavens, and this is why their clan is first among those on earth. The Dog Clan, however, is the least of them.¹⁰

Commentary. "the ocean" in world mythology wolves are considered to be shape-changers. This aligns them with water, wind, and the moon. The shape-changing motif explains the strange association of the wolf (clansman) with water, as canines otherwise show no particular affinity for water.

An Oak Shattered by Lightning, 1899

"the Thunders took it into their lodge" — in the Wolf Clan version of the introduction of the clan into the nation, it is the Thunders who are diffident, but in the Thunders' counter-myth, they have to go out and bring the shy dog-wolf into their lodge. The Thunder Clansmen, here, and in their own foundation myth, declare that the Wolf Clan is the least among them, which suggests a certain tension between these two clans. This tension is probably "ideological" or mythological, rather than the aftereffects of a civil war. The sacred objects and things over which the Wolf Clan has special power are water, wind (in the context of water), and logs. These are all things associated with the thunderstorm, which is the essential expression of the nature and power of the celestial Thunders. In that context the Thunders completely control the (rain) water, and the (storm) winds. As to trees, the Thunders have been known to completely demolish the hardest of trees, the oak. The sacred possession of the Thunderbird Clan is fire, the opposite element to the water held sacred by the Wolf Clan. So the divine Thunders rather roughly treat the sacred objects of the Wolf Clan, which must cause a certain tension from the opposing world orientations expressed by each.

Comparative Material. "the Dog Clan, however, is the least of them" & "One who is Waited for by the Thunders" — that the Wolf Clan is the least among the clans is a notion held by the Fox nation: "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."¹¹ (See also the Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth.) This would be the real explanation of the names, "He who is Afraid," and most particularly, "One who is Waited for by the Thunders." On a couple of clan lists,¹² the Wolf Clan is given as the first among the clans in rank, which is clearly wrong. Radin says of this, "The position of the Wolf Clan, in spite of Morgan's and Dorsey's agreement does not belong in the place assigned to it by them. In all probability their main informant was a member of this clan who wished to give his clan a greater importance than properly belonged to it. There is no doubt but that in older times the Wolf clan played a far greater part in the affairs of the tribe than it does to-day, that it was ever the principal clan of the tribe is out of the question."¹³ The former prominence of the Wolf Clan, apparently, is built into its mythology. Among the Fox, "It is said that the Wolf gens was once divided into a Big Wolf and a Coyote, the former holding the higher position politically and socially, almost on par with the chiefs."¹⁴ In Hocąk thought the youngest member of a group is the most powerful, and the myths agree that the Wolf Clan was the last to appear. Therefore, mythologically, the Wolf Clan should have been the most powerful, but the facts on the ground cannot support the mythological expectations.

The Tlingit believe that dogs were once a race of human beings who were changed by their trickster figure, Raven, into animals because they ran too fast.¹⁵

Links: Earthmaker, Thunderbirds, Disease Giver, The Creation Council, Wolf & Dog Spirits.

Stories: mentioning the Wolf Clan: Bear Clan Origin Myth, The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, Little Priest's Game, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 3), The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth; about (the origins of) the Hocąk clans: Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Story of the Thunder Names, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Hawk 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, Snake Clan Origins, Fish Clan Origins; about the Creation Council: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Tobacco Origin Myth, Hawk Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Elk Clan Origin Myth, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Buffalo Clan Origin Myth, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Origin of the Winnebago Chief, Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Snake Clan Origins; mentioning the Thunderbird Clan: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, Origin of the Hocąk Chief, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, The Creation Council, Waruǧábᵉra, The Greedy Woman, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, The Thunderbird; about the creation of the world: The Creation of the World; Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (v. 1), How the Hills and Valleys were Formed, Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, Šųgepaga, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Šųgepaga; relating to dogs or wolves: The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, A Man and His Three Dogs, White Wolf, Wolves and Humans, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, Worúxega, The Dogs of the Chief's Son, The Dog that became a Panther, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Wild Rose, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Canine Warrior, The Dog Who Saved His Master, The Raccoon Coat, Wojijé, The Big Eater, Why Dogs Sniff One Another, The Healing Blessing, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Trickster Loses His Meal, Sun and the Big Eater, Redhorn's Sons, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Hog's Adventures, Holy One and His Brother, The Messengers of Hare, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Grandmother's Gifts, The Hocąk Migration Myth, Bladder and His Brothers, The Stench-Earth Medicine Origin Myth, The Old Man and the Giants, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, Kunu's Warpath, Morning Star and His Friend, Black Otter's Warpath, Black Otter’s Sacrifice to a Thunder, Chief Wave and the Big Drunk, Peace of Mind Regained (?); mentioning Gray Wolf: The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, The Man Whose Wife was Captured (v. 1); about black dogs: The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, The Dogs of the Chief's Son, Wolves and Humans; mentioning white wolves or dogs: White Wolf, The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, Worúxega, The Messengers of Hare, Wolves and Humans, A Man and His Three Dogs, Grandmother's Gifts, Peace of Mind Regained (?); mentioning (spirit) bears (other than were-bears): White Bear, Blue Bear, Black Bear, Red Bear, Bear Clan Origin Myth, The Shaggy Man, Bear Offers Himself as Food, Hare Visits His Grandfather Bear, Grandmother Packs the Bear Meat, The Spotted Grizzly Man, Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, Brass and Red Bear Boy, Redhorn's Sons, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, The Messengers of Hare, Bird Clan Origin Myth, The Hocąk Migration Myth, Red Man, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Two Boys, Creation of the World (v. 5), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Brown Squirrel, Snowshoe Strings, Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, Lake Winnebago Origin Myth, The Spider's Eyes, Little Priest's Game, Little Priest, How He went out as a Soldier, Morning Star and His Friend (v. 2), How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Trickster's Tail, Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Warbundle Maker, cf. Fourth Universe; mentioning Thunderbirds: The Thunderbird, Waruǧábᵉra, 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 Hawk 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, Heną́ga and Star Girl, 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 Hocąk Chief, The Spirit of Gambling, Black Otter's Warpath, Aracgéga's Blessings, Kunu's Warpath, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, Black Otter’s Sacrifice to a Thunder, The Glory of the Morning, The Nightspirits Bless Ciwoit’éhiga, The Green Waterspirit of the Wisconsin Dells, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Big Stone, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Song to Earthmaker, The Origins of the Milky Way; mentioning dog sacrifice: Redhorn's Sons, Black Otter's Warpath, Black Otter’s Sacrifice to a Thunder, Brass and Red Bear Boy, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Disease Giver Blesses Jobenągiwįxka, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, see also Wolf & Dog Spirits; mentioning Earthmaker: 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, Earthmaker Blesses Wagíšega (Wešgíšega), The Man Who Would Dream of Mą’ųna, 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, Hawk Clan Origin Myth, Fourth Universe, Šųgepaga, The Fatal House, The Twin Sisters, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Elk Clan Origin Myth, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Bear 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 Rušewe to the Twins, The Lame Friend, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed, The Hocąk Migration Myth, The Necessity for Death, Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, The War among the Animals, Lake Winnebago Origin Myth, Blue Mounds, Lost Lake, The Hocągara Migrate South, The Spirit of Gambling, Turtle and the Giant, The Shawnee Prophet — What He Told the Hocągara, The Hocągara 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 Creation of Evil, The Blessing of Kerexųsaka, Song to Earthmaker, The Blessing of the Bow, The Stench-Earth Medicine Origin Myth, The Origin of the Cliff Swallow; mentioning oak: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, The Oak Tree and the Man Who was Blessed by the Heroka, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Children of the Sun, Turtle's Warparty, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, Old Man and Wears White Feather, Waruǧábᵉra, The Creation Council, The Man Who Would Dream of Mą’ųna, Young Man Gambles Often, Morning Star and His Friend (v. 2), Sun and the Big Eater, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Roaster, Little Human Head, The Shaggy Man, Wears White Feather on His Head, Peace of Mind Regained, The Dipper (leaves); mentioning drums: The Descent of the Drum, The Friendship Drum Origin Myth, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Buffalo's Walk, The Spirit of Maple Bluff, Tobacco Origin Myth (v. 5), Young Man Gambles Often, Trickster and the Dancers, Redhorn's Father, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, The Elk's Skull, Ghosts, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Great Walker's Medicine, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 1b), Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, Trickster and the Geese, Turtle's Warparty, Snowshoe Strings, Ocean Duck, Įcorúšika and His Brothers, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, Hog's Adventures, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts; mentioning feasts: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (Chief Feast), The Creation Council (Eagle Feast), Hawk Clan Origin Myth (Eagle Feast), Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth (Waterspirit Feast), A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga (Mąką́wohą, Waną́cĕrehí), Bear Clan Origin Myth (Bear Feast), The Woman Who Fought the Bear (Bear Feast), Grandfather's Two Families (Bear Feast), Buffalo Clan Origin Myth (Buffalo Feast), The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits (Buffalo Feast), Buffalo Dance Origin Myth (Buffalo Feast), Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (Buffalo Feast), The Blessing of Šokeboka (Feast to the Buffalo Tail), Snake Clan Origins (Snake Feast), Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief (Snake Feast), Rattlesnake Ledge (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 Wagíšega (Wešgíšega) (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Big Thunder Teaches Cap’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-Hocąk War (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Šųgepaga (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), The Man Whose Wife was Captured (v. 2) (Warbundle Feast, Warpath Feast), Black Otter's Warpath (Warpath 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 Heroka (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), The First Snakes (Snake Feast), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse (unspecified), Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts (unnamed); mentioning the Ocean Sea (Te Ją): Trickster's Adventures in the Ocean, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (v. 1), Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Rounded Wood Origin Myth, The Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Trickster and the Children, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, Wears White Feather on His Head, White Wolf, How the Thunders Met the Nights (Mąznį’ąbᵋra), Bear Clan Origin Myth (vv. 2a, 3), Redhorn's Sons, Grandfather's Two Families, Sun and the Big Eater, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 4), The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father (sea), The Dipper (sea), The Thunderbird (a very wide river), Wojijé, The Twins Get into Hot Water (v. 1), Redhorn's Father, Trickster Concludes His Mission, Berdache Origin Myth, Thunder Cloud is Blessed, Morning Star and His Friend, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed.

Themes: wolves are associated with water: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Wild Rose; four brothers, each of whom founded a Hocąk clan, are associated with a different color: Pigeon Clan Origins, Bear Clan Origin Myth (vv 4, 7), Eagle Clan Origin Myth; a group of spirit animals sort into four different colors: The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Brass and Red Bear Boy, The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs; having the power to control the winds and/or the weather: Deer Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth (vv. 1, 5), Blue Bear, The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Chief of the Heroka, East Enters the Medicine Lodge (v. 2), East Shakes the Messenger, South Seizes the Messenger, The Dipper; the clan progenitors generate waves of water as they arrive on earth: Bear Clan Origin Myth (v. 3); clan names arise from incidents attendant upon the founding of the clan by its Animal Spirit progenitors: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (v. 1), Story of the Thunder Names, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Hawk Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth, vv. 2a, 4, 7, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Snake Clan Origins; friendship between wolves and bears: Bear Clan Origin Myth; a particular clan was claimed to have been the last to arrive at the Creation Council: Snake Clan Origins, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth; a dog is killed in order to send it as a messenger to one of the great spirits: Disease Giver.

Songs. Bladder, Song about the Older Brother (v. 2), Bladder, Song about the Older Brother (v. 3), Buffalo Dance Songs, Clan Songs, Bear Clan, Clan Songs, Bear Clan, Song for Returning, Clan Songs, Bear Clan, Song for Starting Out, Clan Song, Bear Clan, Song of the Youngest, Clan Songs, Buffalo Clan, Clan Songs, Buffalo Clan, The Four Songs of Hojanoka, Clan Songs—Deer Clan, Clan Songs—Wolf Clan, Clan Songs—Wonáǧire Wąkšik Clan, The Crawfish's Song, Duck Song, Farewell Songs, The Four Services Songs, Grandfather Sparrow's Rain Songs, Grizzly Bear Songs, Hare's Song to Grasshopper, Hare's Song to the Wągepanįgera, Hare's Song to Wildcat, Hawk's Song, Heroka Songs, Holy Song, Holy Song II, Little Fox's Death Song, Little Fox's Death Song (for the Warpath), Little Fox's Tail Song, Love Song I (female), Love Song II (female), Love Song III (female), The Mouse Song, Nightspirit Songs, The Quail's Song, Redman's Song, Slow Song of the Heroka, Soldier Dance Songs, Song for Calling the Buffalo, Song from the Water, Song from the Water (King Bird), The Song of Bluehorn's Sister, Hocąk Text — The Song of Sun Caught in a Net, The Song of the Boy Transformed into a Robin, Song of the Frog to Hare, Song of the Thunder Nestlings, The Song of Trickster's Baby, Song to Earthmaker, The Song to the Elephant, The Sun's Song to Hare, Three Warrior Songs, Turtle's Call for a Warparty (v. 1), Turtle's Call for a Warparty (v. 2), Turtle's Four Death Dance Songs, Twins, Ghost's Song (v. 1), Twins, Ghost's Song (v. 2), Twins, Ghost's Song (The Two Brothers), Twins, the Songs of Ghost and Flesh, Twins, Song of the Father-in-Law, Victory Song, Wailing Song, Warrior Song about Mącosepka, What a Turtle Sang in His Sleep, Wolf-Teasing Song of the Deer Spirits. Songs in the McKern collection: Waking Songs (27, 55, 56, 57, 58) War Song: The Black Grizzly (312), War Song: Dream Song (312), War Song: White Cloud (313), James’ Horse (313), Little Priest Songs (309), Little Priest's Song (316), Chipmunk Game Song (73), Patriotic Songs from World War I (105, 106, 175), Grave Site Song: "Coming Down the Path" (45), Songs of the Stick Ceremony (53).

Notes

¹ Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 190, 192.

² David Lee Smith, Folklore of the Winnebago Tribe (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997) 9.

³ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 190.

⁴ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 192-193. All names, unless otherwise indicated, come from the Reverend James Owen Dorsey's vocabulary list.

(D) Dorsey's Winnebago Vocabulary List.

(F) Thomas Foster, Foster's Indian Record and Historical Data (Washington, D. C.: 1876-1877) vol. 1, #1: p. 4, coll. 3-4.

(L) Nancy Oestreich Lurie, "A Check List of Treaty Signers by Clan Affiliation," Journal of the Wisconsin Indians Research Institute, 2, #1 (June, 1966): 50-73.

(Rb) The name was given in English (Andrew Robbe, personal communication, 2/16/09). "I know for a fact that I do descend from the wolf clan, although which branch family, I do not know. As for my name, I think it could be interpreted in two ways. There is a old story that I was told as a child by my adopted grandparents about a certain warrior who had a great ability to shield himself from harm by not allowing anything negative said or done to him to affect his heart. But this warrior had a great difficulty allowing anyone inside of his own heart." (Robbe, p.c., 2/18/09)

⁵ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 192.

⁶ J. Owen Dorsey, "Winnebago Folk-Lore Notes," Journal of American Folk-Lore, 4 (1896): 140. Source: James Alexander, Wolf Clan.

⁷ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 191-192.

⁸ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 192.

⁹ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 190-191. The original text (it was told in English) is in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Freeman #3862 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Winnebago I, #3: 75-79.

¹⁰ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 166.

¹¹ William Jones, Ethnography of the Fox Indians, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 125 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1939) 74.

¹² Lewis Henry Morgan, Ancient Society Or, Researches in the Lines of Human Progress from Savagery Through Barbarism to Civilization (London: MacMillan & Company, 1877) 157. Rev. James Owen Dorsey, Siouan Sociology. 15^th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1893-1894 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1897) 240-241.

¹³ Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 143-144.

¹⁴ Jones, Ethnography of the Fox Indians, 74.

¹⁵ Paul Radin, The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology (New York: Schocken Books, 1956) 107. Tlingit trickster tales are collected in J. R. Swanton, Tlingit Myths and Texts, Bureau of American Ethnology (Washington, D. C.: Bureau of American Ethnology, 1909) Bulletin 39, 416-419.