The Wolf Clan (Cûktcâk Hik'ik'áradjera) 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:

Some Wolf Clan names were given to members of the Bear Clan as an expression of the close friendshiip of these two clans. [4]

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. When Ma'una created this world he made four wolves: Blue Wolf, Black Wolf, White Wolf, and Gray Wolf. The names of Blue Wolf and Black Wolf refer to the day and night skies respectively. They were the ancestors of the present Wolf Clan. Originally, all four of these wolves lived on the surface of the earth, but later all except Gray Wolf went to live below ground, and now can only be seen on rare occasions. The offspring of the four wolves lived as animals, ignorant of both clothing and fire, but gradually they evolved into human beings. It is traditional in the Wolf Clan to name the first four sons after the first four wolves created by Earthmaker. [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 (Hîtcoga), 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 brother 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 Hotcâgara. 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 immediatley, 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. 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 affinity for water.

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 Hotcâk 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: about (the origins of) the Hotcâk clans: Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Story of the Thunder Names, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Wonághire Wâkcik 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, Wonághire Wâkcik 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, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Snake Clan Origins; 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, Warughápara, 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, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Cûgepaga, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Cûgepaga; 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 Raccoon Coat, Wodjidjé, The Big Eater, 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, Grandmother's Gifts, The Hotcâk Migration Myth, Bladder and His Brothers, The Old Man and the Giants, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, 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; 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, Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, The Messengers of Hare, Bird Clan Origin Myth, The Hotcâk 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, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Trickster's Tail, Old Man and White Feathers, cf. Fourth Universe; mentioning Thunderbirds: The Thunderbird, Warughápara, 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, 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 dog sacrifice: Redhorn's Sons, Disease Giver Blesses Djobenâgiwíñxga, see also Wolf & Dog Spirits; featuring Earthmaker as a character: 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, 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, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Fourth Universe, Cûgepaga, 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 Rucewe to the Twins, The Lame Friend, How the Hills and Valleys were Formed, The Hotcâk Migration Myth, The Necessity for Death, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, The War among the Animals, Lake Winnebago Origin Myth, Blue Mound, Lost Lake, The Hotcâgara Migrate South, The Spirit of Gambling, Turtle and the Giant, The Shawnee Prophet -- What He Told the Hotcâgara, The Hotcâgara 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 Blessing of Kerexûsaka; mentioning oak: Thunderbird 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, Warughápara, 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 drums: The Descent of the Drum, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, 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, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, Hog's Adventures; mentioning feasts: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (Chief Feast), The Creation Council (Eagle Feast), Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth (Eagle Feast), Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth (Waterspirit Feast), 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), He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (Buffalo Feast), The Blessing of Cokeboka (Feast to the Buffalo Tail), Snake Clan Origins (Snake Feast), Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief (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 Wagícega (Wecgícega) (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Big Thunder Teaches Tcap'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-Hotcâk War (Winter Feast = Warbundle 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 Herok'a (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), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse (unspecified); mentioning the Ocean Sea (De Djâ): Trickster's Adventures in the Ocean, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (v. 1), Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Trickster and the Children, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, Wears White Feathers on His Head, White Wolf, How the Thunders Met the Nights (Mâznî'âpra), 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 Thunderbird (a very wide river), Wodjidjé, 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 Hotcâk 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, 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 Herok'a, 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, Wonághire Uánkcik Clan Origin Myth, v. 2, 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.

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.

[5] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 192.

[6] J. Owen Dorsey, "The Social Organization of the Siouan Tribes," Journal of American Folk-Lore, 4 (1896): 2.140.

[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, 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. J. O. Dorsey, Siouan Sociology, Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology (Washington: United States 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.