Ghost Dance Origin Myth II

by Jean Baptiste

retold by Richard L. Dieterle

John Baptiste

Hocąk Syllabic Text with an English Interlinear Translation

(14) This is the Ghost Dance waiką.¹ There was a town, and there a young man married a woman.² She was a good woman. He loved her greatly. Whatever kindness he could do for her, that he did. One day she fell ill. He asked as many doctors⁴ as there were to come, but they could do nothing. Then the holy one⁵ whom he had sought, failed. In the course of time, therefore, she died. At night, when they did the Ghost Lighting (Wanáǧi-atajáhira)⁶, a great many showed up. He was a good man. (15) Then many of them helped him.⁷ The man who had lost his wife had always associated in the most hospitable fashion with everyone. And then, on the second night, they came. Four times they did these things. They did it all night the fourth time, and early in the morning they performed the ghost games. Having completed that, everyone went home.⁸

The man whose wife had died got himself ready and went in the direction of the setting sun. They say of the dead that their souls go west.⁹ He thought¹⁰ he would go there in that direction when he followed his wife's soul. (16) ¹⁵In the course of time, after awhile, he became exhausted.¹¹ He used a cane. After awhile, finally, he could not do anything. Finally, after awhile, he began to crawl. Then he trailed her on his hands and knees, and he pealed off basswood bark, and with that he bandaged his knees. However, in the end, he became completely exhausted. And he found himself below a little knoll. Then from on top of the knoll, [he could see that] it was a most pleasant country. "That place, the very beautiful land, over there I am content to die," he thought. And this is what he did: (17) he rolled over, and as he crawled, he managed to inch himself along, that he did, and doing this, while he longed [for his wife], he laid there. There, after he did this, he thought only to die. ²⁴His eyes closed in sleep.^11a

Unexpectedly, a man spoke.¹² "Here I am, get ready to go," he said. When he opened his eyes, here standing before him was a terror inspiring man. With his clothes, the man made his body shaggy, and it was he who was doing this.¹³ And he was not able to get up. "Come here," he said, so then he jumped up and came,¹⁵ and followed him as they walked. There was an oval lodge. They went in there. There he said to him, "Grandson, you were making yourself pitiable, (18) but with my help there is nothing that you cannot achieve. Whatever I can do to help, that is what I'll do," he told him. Then he had him eat something. And he told him, "So you are going to arrive at this man, my friend, who will be ahead. And you are going to arrive on this side of a river where he will be. It is a great river. You will cross over this. If you arrive there and do this, you cannot possibly fail. Jump over it. You can do it."

⁴¹Then he started out again. And as he was going along, there unexpectedly, (19) he arrived at a river, great and swift.¹⁶ It was of the kind that was so swift that it churned about.¹⁷ He dreaded to jump it. The other side of the bank looked very small. It was a very small speck of green. It looked like a man's eyebrow.^{18 46}It was not a good jump. Now then, finally, there was what he must jump. He may have said in his thought, "Thus it will be anyhow," he thought. So he would jump, he thought. So when he undertook to die, he thought, "I died long ago!"¹⁹ Therefore, then, he ran and shut his eyes, and then he jumped. Then he reached the other side. He looked back at the water. (20) Once he had done it, he looked back to the other side, and he had done it, but he could see no water at all. After he had carefully looked around, unexpectedly, it was a little creek he has leapt by, and he had arrived by jumping it, and he had done it. The little stream that he had just seen, roiled about greatly. It had been an illusion.²⁰ [it was not so.]²¹ "And while one of the things was supposed to have been difficult, I did it in a way that was easy, so maybe I will do it," he thought. ⁵³"If things are like this, there is hope." What he set out to do, he would accomplish, he thought.

And he went on. (21) As he went along there, he came to an oval lodge, and entered into where they lived. He went in. Unexpectedly, there he was, one whom he had not seen on the way. Another was seated with him. There were two of them.^21a And again there he ate. There was a kettle from which they dished it out to him. There he ate. And again they said to him, "Grandson, we will concentrate our minds²² on what you are doing. It is difficult. It exerts your mind. You will succeed. So again go ahead to our friend who sits there, instead he will also tell you of one of these things. (22) And perhaps I can also help you," he told him.

And again he went on. Finally, again as he went along there, he came to an oval lodge, and again he went in. After he went in, unexpectedly, there were three men. There two of them sat. When he saw them, two of them had kept on. The three of them said, "This one will eat," thus they spoke to themselves. "Grandson, what you did as you went was difficult, but we are going t help you. Exert your utmost prowess. If you do what we are about to tell you, then you will accomplish it. If you fail, (23) you will make yourself very pitiable,"²³ he said to him. Then, after he had finished eating, he went on.

As he went along a hill appeared, and unexpectedly, there it was, a large gathering place. It was a town. He could not see the end of it. In time the sight vanished.²⁴ He arrived there. Then there was not a man anywhere. He saw not even a single one. They were all bark lodges. When he peeped into a lodge, the lodge would always be empty. There one of them was, and there he entered. There the four men sat. He saw among those who were there, (24) those very three who had already come. And there was another one, a fourth. And this other one, the fourth man, said, "Grandson, it is this to which you were going, but you are not going to be able to see your wife.²⁵ You are going to do what I set out for you. You will see.²⁶ Once night falls, they will dance. There you must never perform anything.²⁷ You must be on your guard. My friends and I will be together. If you accomplish anything of what you are doing, then you will obtain everything," he said.

(25) Then it was evening. Unexpectedly, a drum was struck.²⁸ It thundered. And so, here and there, they raised a shout. Very soon afterwards they struck it again. Again it increased. They struck up the cry again for a third time. When they did it for the fourth time, they said, "Now, it will be. The lodge isn't crowded yet," someone said, so they began. ⁹⁵They went to the only long house there,^28a located in the center of the village. "This one is in the dance lodge." There they went. They were placed in the middle. Just then, from the back of the lodge, he heard whispering.²⁹ (26) They were saying, "Wagisga is in pursuit of his wife. It is he himself. He is here on a fruitless task, and also he will accomplish nothing," they were saying. He heard them. They teased him saying, "Your wife has untied the marriage knot," they were saying. "Koté, I myself married her," someone said.

Then they started up the singing. It was tremendous.³⁰ Truly his relatives³¹ had also come to sing. They sang about him:

Wagisga's wife has come;
Many more will come.

they were singing. They teased him all night with songs. Finally, in the morning when the sun rose, everyone vanished. (27) Thus it was. Never at any time did he know anything of his wife's presence.

When he came to the lodge site, he went back in. When they got there, they thanked him. "Of course grandson, it was good, but the next one will be even greater. There you must strive mightily," they told him. It was evening again. Once more they sounded the drum. Again for a second time they struck it. They responded by yelling. For a third time it was struck, "Now let's go. It will be crowded."

They started again. When they got there, they had already started to tease him. (28) Whatever they said, and just as the things (words) were, they themselves (the ghosts) repeated it. They started again. Again the songs were more intense than before. By the time they had gotten done with the first one, they had made no headway. It became greater. Now this time they shoved his head, and pushed it down. They made their call greater. This time they put their hands on his head, and they pushed him down. While he sat undergoing this, it became daylight. Again they returned home.

They thanked him. "Grandson, it is good. This, however, will be greater. More will be left for you. There you must do your best." Then when it was evening, again right away, they had already sounded the drum. (29) They let out their shouts. At first it was not that much. It increased greatly. Right from the first, being better, he did a good deal. For the second time they struck it. They immediately started to leave. "Now we must go. It is going to be crowded," he said. So they soon arrived. After their arrival, they began to tease him again. This time his attendants could not doing anything, but they [the ghosts] could not do anything. Once more they started up the singing. Now this time he could hardly able to resist.^31a Then the earth also shook as it were, from the drum.³² Now this time they took hold of his blanket and continually tried to drag him. As they pulled away, they would always fall down. Finally, after much difficulty, it became daylight. (30) After the sun rose, again they suddenly disappeared. Again they had already gone home. "Hąhá grandson, this alone was the most wonderful thing. This will be the last one. You must do your utmost as we will not be able to do anything. Now this time eight of us attendants will be in place, but this will amount to nothing. If you try your utmost, only then will she remain," they said to him. It was already evening, and they had already struck the drum again. Then it was great. Then there the shouting roared to the world above. (31) "Now it's happening. It’s going to be crowded," he said. As soon as they got there, the village had grown rapidly. Every day, ghosts step into the trail.³³ Thus it is with deaths on earth. So thus it is.

¹⁵⁰When they got to the dancing lodge,³⁴ there were a very great many of them. Also he thought right then that they were almost trampling. Unexpectedly, his wife addressed him: "If you're goingto be indifferent, why did you come here, and to be thus indifferent here?" she said. At that moment, he almost looked. They started singing. It was great. The earth began to tremble. (32) Now this time they would liked to have pulled him around. His wife herself also did it to him. Her voice was always audible. He sat within his blanket, but they would jerk the blanket off him. At times they would repeatedly pile on top of him. He had eight attendants, but it was if not a man of them existed. At length, the light there increased. It was not like anything. They caught hold of him at his ankles, and were repeatedly dragging him at a run, and finally, only with great effort did morning come upon them. Because the sun appeared right away, [they said,] "Hąhá, now let us go on. And they said, (33) “Grandson, you've dome well! You have accomplished your objective.”

They arrived at the lodge there. Then he said,³⁵ "Grandson, this will never happen [again]. The Creator did not make things this way; nevertheless, I have blessed you. Since my friends blessed you first, I blessed you, therefore, thus you did. And you can take your wife home with you." And again he said, "You may go get her," he said, ¹⁷¹and they went to get her. They brought her to him.

And he said to him, "We have blessed you. You will be going home. And we have blessed you with this. The whole world will hear of it," (34) saying this, he gave him a drum. He made blue and making it out of blue clay, he painted it blue.³⁶ "If anyone is about to die, I will also bring his soul back. Again, if anyone's soul is likely to die, you will be brought back to you. Indeed, any soul that is likely to die, they will bring it to you,"³⁷ he said to them. ¹⁷⁸"And you can pour out for me as much tobacco as there is. I shall remember you,"³⁸ they said. "And you two are going home. They shall chase after you. They are wicked. Again, eight will go and take you there." Then he gave him ashes. "When they have overtaken you, throw some of this behind you," he told them. (35) "As soon as you get home, you should immediately make a lodge, and this is what you two will use," he said to them.

And after awhile, they pursued them. "Hohó, Wakisgá has taken our wife with him. Let's take her back," they said, and they doing it. When they came close to them, he cast some of the ashes behind him. "Ho, run away before he ruins someone's clothes," they said, and they ran back. They went on their way. Again, they kept doing it to them. When they would almost catch up, doing thus, they would quit them. Thereupon, the attendants also went back.

(36)^{39 193}And when they neared the village, to their surprise, here they heard a sound of someone chopping wood, the echo being audible. They went towards it. To their surprise, she was crying. When they got there, unexpectedly, it was the man's mother who was doing it. To her surprise, her son had returned. She was afraid, inasmuch as he was with someone who was dead. Therefore, then and there, they spoke to her, telling her,⁴⁰ "Mother, go home and have ten young men who have not touched people; have ten young women come here, again ten of them, have them come. Have them bring some incense," and this they told her. She went home. After she told this at home, the others went over. (37) Then he had them build a lodge there. he had them build one with ten fireplaces. Then they burned incense. Then the two of them went in there. ²⁰⁷Then that night, right away they gave a dance. With the drum there, he did the songs that he was taught.⁴¹

Since then, that is the way they have been doing it.⁴² Therefore, the Indians are still doing it.⁴³ Where it came from, they are still performing it. They beat the water drums, and are deriving great pleasure. Still, at the present time, they are doing it. The one who did it, they called him Woksisga ("Stingy"). Therefore, it is the only one that they call the "Ghost Dance." It is a noisy dance. It is a holy feast.

It is the end thusfar of this one, the Ghost.¹

Commentary. What has this to do with the famous Ghost Dance that swept through Native American communities at the close of the XIXᵀᴴ century? This waiką shows that it is possible to retrieve ghosts from Spiritland, although not quite in conformity with the claims of its founder Wavoka. He believed that the widespread practice of the Ghost Dance would induce the return of the spirits en masse from the Beyond and that this ghostly army would drive the Big Knives into the sea. The present story suggests that the recalling of ghosts back to life was old hat to the Hocągara, especially in light of their belief in reincarnation. However, they also understood that the fetching of ghosts from Spiritland was contrary to the ordinances of Earthmaker, and that, as it clearly says in this waiką, it would never be permitted to occur again after Wagisga's feat. Nevertheless, as a medical rite, it allowed the practitioner to call back the soul of one who was at death's doorstep. This is as close as we present day mortals can come to calling a soul back from that distant land where the finally departed reside. This interpretation reinforces what was said in 1891 by both the Omaha and Hocągara, that the Lakota and Yankton had told them of a new messiah back in April, 1890, but that they could not credit his claims.² See the Messiah Letter of Wovoka.

"shaggy" (hį̄šék, emphatic: hį̄šéšek) — as Radin appreciated, the Spirits that the man encounters along the way to Spiritland are those of the four cardinal points. In the creation story, in what might be recognized as its standard form, the earth spun with the sacred circular motion imparted to it by Earthmaker's holy act of creation. In order to still the earth, Earthmaker cast down four Island Weights to anchor the earth and stablize it. These Island Weights were said to be Waterspirits. However, the Waterspirit Clan and the Bear Clan are rivals when it comes to authority over the Lower (Earth) Moiety, so it is not particularly surprising that an alternative view is that the four Island Weights were Bear Spirits. For this rivalry see "The Shaggy Man" and its Commentary. There hį̄šéšek, the emphatic of hį̄šék, "shaggy," is used to describe the fur of a bear. So the four mysterious men that Woksiska encounters on the way represent the four ursine Island Weights of the cardinal points. This feature suggests that this story has a Bear Clan tincture.

"Wagisga" — the name of the hero of this story is Wagis (the -ga being a definite article most often used to identify personal names). The word gis means, "to be or make circular or round," and wa- indicates an object, so that wagis means "something which has been made into a circle; a circular object." In the text (q.v.), a note above the question mark placed over the word wagisgajira says, "bead ornament worn around neck." So a wagisga (a word not attested elsewhere) is probably a bead necklace. For this to be true, it would have to have been the case that the -ga at the end of the name had been dropped. It seems inappropriate in any case, since a consonant takes -ka rather than -ga, so the name ought to have been Wagiska. We can modify the analysis by seeing the word as wa-gis-sga, "white circular object." To further complicate matters, we find the name at another place given as Wakisga. The word wąkis (warkees) was obtained by Col. Kinzie in 1828, and said to mean "earwheel." Perhaps this is just wagis, "a circular object." However, there also exists the word kis, which means "to wrap around," a meaning that fits a necklace well. The name might also be a compound from wa, "corn," and gis, "round," so that it might also mean "Round Corn," although the relevance of this in the present context is not clear.³ The sentence in which the name occurs is set out in parallel structure:

Wagisga	jira,
Beaded Necklace	who has come,
hicawína	kuruxe-hají-ną.
his wife	to pursue, he has come.

The last two syllables of each line come very close to rhyming. The last phrase, due to sandhi, has become kuruxajíną.

"ten" — with Wagisga and his wife, this made eleven coupled, one for each of the Hocąk clans.

"they burned incense" — to purify a lodge, or simply sweeten the air, the smoke of red cedar (juniper) was used as incense.

Juniper (Red Cedar)		Henry Merrell

"Woksisga" — we would not know what this means were it not for a very old "Winnebago Dictionary" compiled some time in the 1830's by the fur trader Henry Merrell (1804-1876). In his word list is woksis, which means "stingy." This was a word, no doubt, occasionally used to characterize Mr. Merrell. This is not really another name for Wagisga(ga), but rather a pun designed to explain the origins of a name whose meaning may not have been transparent. He could be called "Stingy" because he would not let death take away his wife.

Paul Radin's Notes and Commentary

p. 57

   1. Baptiste is simply imitating printed books in giving the myth this kind of a title. In fact, he arranges his words to imitate a book title. He has dêế in the middle of the page and at the very top, and wanaγí wací waik‘áⁿṇa all by itself on the next line. If it possessed a title at all it would have been The Origin Of The Ghost Dance.

   2. This is the proper and traditional manner for beginning a waiką́, a sacred myth. It is very instructive to notice how quickly and smoothly the author raconteur, whoever he was, comes to the core of the plot, the husband's pursuit of the ghost of his dead wife. In 1-3 the dramatis personae are given and the underlying and basic theme is stated, the husband's love for his wife. Her illness and death are described in three short, crisp, sentences (4-5a) and the Four Nights' Wake in another six (6-12). And thus he proceeds, we shall see, throughout. We go from one incident to the other naturally, without interruption and progressively. There are no supercharged climaxes. If we compare this opening with that of Text I, the difference between the two types of plot development emerges quite clearly. Rave does not even mention the main theme until sentence 187, that is, after more than one third of the story has already been told, and the heroes proceed on their quest only after more than half the story has been narrated, sentence 273. A whole series of incidents, units in themselves, intervene and it is difficult, at times, to understand how these are related to the main plot. Rave loves this broadness and voluminousness of treatment because it provides him scope for the delineation of the characters of his two heroes and enables him to build up to his final highly charged emotional climax, sentence 461. Cf. however, also the last paragraph of note 2 of Text I. Baptiste's style or, rather, the author-raconteur he was following, was the complete antithesis to this.

   3. -nąki is unquestionably -nąk-gi. The force of this -gi is by no means clear. It generally implies condition.

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   4. wąkdocewe were the practitioners who treated ordinary diseases.

   5. wakątcąk, lit. "real-holy-ones," were only called in as a last resort when all other measures had failed. They were supposed to be in control of the most powerful types of magic, good and evil, and to have received their powers from the most important spirits presiding over the curing of disease.

   6. wanąγi-hadajahira, is the general term for the whole series of funeral rites from the beginning of the Four Nights' Wake to the final rites at the grave. What is meant here is that the funeral rites will help the ghost of the deceased to find the road that leads to spiritland.

  7. This is probably Baptiste's touch. Attendance at a funeral had nothing to do with attitudes toward the deceased or the survivor. The same remark holds for the reason advanced in 8.

  8. This is, of course, not strictly true because many people would accompany the body to the grave. The point involved is that the husband is to be left alone so that he can start out in pursuit of his dead wife. Cf. also B. A. E. R. 37, pp. 140 ff.

   9. This is an explanatory gloss of Baptiste's.

   10. This hireje "he thought," must be a gloss of Baptiste's unless it is an error for hige "he did."

   11. This whole paragraph 15-23 is the traditional literary description of a person about to die, be it because he has been left behind in battle or that he has become exhausted from hunger. It appears in practically this precise form in a number of myths and tales. It must have become fixed and standardized many generations ago. It is consequently of considerable interest both linguistically and for what light it may throw on the growth and persistence of a specific style to comment on it. I shall therefore attempt to arrange the Winnebago so as to bring out the formal structure of this passage as well as the proper pauses and stresses. Since this text was not dictated to me by Baptiste himself, the pauses and stresses represent those of Lamere.

Sentences 15-23.

hago‧re‧´´ją /
hahi jige hokikuruc’akje //
hisagų kere’ųje //
hahi jige gadjąga / hąke wają je‧sganije //
gadjąga hahi kikurudi ’ųje //
jige hupo‧rora wowahasje // wa’ųje //
hįcge nijap-anąga rupo‧rora wawahasje //
je‧sge hiraitcakje //
nunige gadjąga hosge hokikuruc'akje //
e‧gi hoc’k-genįk.-hają kuhą-edja hije //
gadją / hoc’ok hihak.nįk.nąk.re mopįxdjįnįk wa'unąkje //
mopixdjįnįk.nąk.re e‧dja hahi tcep-hi pįra hireje //
howanqk.-hi-anąga
djasge hi-anąga

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kiwaxurutc hi-anąga
diranąk.-hijekiwaxurutc hi-anąga
’ųąk’ų rogųga e‧dja hįpje //
e‧dja hi-giji / hot’eracaną higireje

   Grammatical remarks to above passages. To begin with, there are no obsolete words or forms, i.e. none that would not be used today in the narrating of myths (waiką). What distinguishes this style from that used in many tales (worak) and from purely descriptive contemporary narratives as well as from the conversational style of today are, to mention the two most important traits, first, the actual connective-conjunctions used, the precision with which they are employed, the tendency to pile them up at the beginning of a sentence and certain types of word compound, and, second, the rigorousness with which syntactical rules are observed.

   In these nine short sentences the connectives hahi and gadją, gadjąga are used four times, and anąga, five times. In present-day conversational Winnebago hahi is strictly an adverb, gadjąga is semi-obsolescent, although Rave uses it frequently in descriptive narratives, gadją seems to have acquired a prevailingly temporal significance and anąga is infrequently employed, and then with the general sense of e‧gi, i.e. "and," instead of its old and proper meaning which is that of the Latin atque. As examples of the piling up of conjunctions we have, for example, hahi jige gadjąga; gadjąga hahi, nunige gadjąga. E‧gi, so common today, is used but once and then not at the beginning of a sentence, e‧dja, likewise common today at the beginning of a sentence and with a somewhat vague connotation, retains here its strict adverbial sense.

   As examples of special types of verbalized nouns or nominalized verbs, completely unknown in contemporary Winnebago, let me select two: wająje‧sganije and rogųga. The first consists of wają "thing," je‧sge "thus, so," -ni-, negative affix, and -je, hearsay past. The second consists of rogų "to wish, desire," and -ga, demonstrative meaning "that yonder," i.e., "the desired projected yonder."

   As an example of rigorous consistency in adhering to syntactical rules, let me take sentences 20-22. hihak.nik.nąk.re wa’unąkje “mopixdjinįk.nąk.re” . . . howanąk.-hi-anąga . . . diranąk.-hije‧sge "all around (this little knoll) . . . (beautiful) it was, 'In yonder very beautiful spot (/ would like to die)' . . . so he rolled over . . . he crawled thus." Here the sitting position of the husband, in Winnebago, -nąk-, is expressed five times, in a nominalized adverb, a noun and in three verbs and the Winnebago diminutive affix -nįk-, twice, once with the nominalized adverb and secondly with a noun. As an indication of how unaccustomed modern Winnebago are to such extensive use of the positional affixes was Lamere's difficulty in understanding the forms howanąk.-hi-anąga and diranąk.hije-sge. The syllabary is very defective here. It reads ho-wa-na-giya-na-ga [Ao w n Kiy n K] and di-ra-na-gi je‧sge [ti L n Ki de rKe]. These words Lamere dictated to me as howaną ki-anąga and diranągi je‧sge. Howaną could conceivably be interpreted as howa-, "toward," plus aorist -ną, which would, however, have little meaning here and ki- would be quite meaningless. Diraną, could conceivably be analyzed as dira

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and -ną. This would fit in here well enough. But -gi cannot follow -ną and has no meaning independently. The short of the matter is that Lamere was so unaccustomed to such forms that he failed completely to understand them. He was also misled by hi-anąga and hi-je‧sge which are not used frequently today.

   11a. The -ąk- in hicdja nuwįc.-ąkje, is the affix denoting the reclining position, to indicate that the man is now stretched out on the ground. In the preceding sentences -nąk- was used to indicate that, because of his weakness, he was no longer able to stand and was in a half sitting position.

   12. Sentence 24 is a stereotype found in many accounts of fasting experience just before the appearance of a spirit.

   13. That is, a spirit. The next two paragraphs identify him easily. He is one of the spirit-deities of the four cardinal points. They play a special, though negative, role in connection with the first appearance of death and this is why, unquestionably, they appear here. What the hairiness signifies I do not know.

   14. egi here is e "to say," and -gi, a suffix with weak conditional connotation as the je‧gų following it demonstrates.

   15. Until he has overcome his first obstacle the young man is represented as without will-power or faith in escaping death or succeeding in his enterprise. This is not accidental. The theme of the emergence of initiative and faith is to be carefully developed. Cf. 46-53.

   15a. dewoiraki, 41. Cf. also 21a. In the syllabary Baptists first wrote de with one e and then added another e thinking, apparently, that this was the demonstrative dee, "this." Lamere dictated it as dee-. This, however is a pure folk etymology.

   sasak.nąki, 42. The syllabary has sa-sa-kna-ki [rA rA Kn Ki] which Baptiste rendered as "swift as it could be." Lamere dictated it as sasak.nąki, i.e. sasaknąk-gi, apparently implying that we have here the positional suffix -nąk- "sitting or extended in general." But Baptiste's translation does not justify this. The form should, I feel certain, be construed as sasak.no-gi, where -no-, also nǫ, is the potential affix, not used in ordinary Winnebago today (1908-1913) but not uncommon in the literary language.

  hat'ąp.ra, 43. "The jumping over." Nominalized verbs are frequently used with practically the same force as our infinitives.

   moro, 44. The word for "land, earth" today is mą, but an older form mo- occurs in texts. I have, however, no other instance of moro. [There are several instances where moro means "bank, shore." — RD]

   tcąt'į-ąkje, 44. -ąk-. positional suffix "lying."

   tcorakje, 45. This is a puzzling form. It seems best to interpret it as tco, "green," -ra, "the," -ak lying position, and have it in agreement with the -ąk-, in 44, 51a (twice) and 54. -rak means nothing as far as I know.

   t'era, etc., 48. Lit. "he seized the to die."

   -jare, 48. Completed past action.

   nąk-hadjire-, etc., 49. nąk, "to run," hadji, "to come on," re, "to go." This is a characteristic type of verb composition, still widely used today.

   niconąk, 51, 51a. -nąk- has become fused with certain stems and has completely lost its primary meaning.

p. 61

   hadjadjera, 51a. Relative clauses are regularly expressed in Winnebago by suffixing the definite article and the demonstratives to the verb, -dje-, positional suffix, "standing," to agree with the -dje- of wa’ųdjeje of 51.

   Sentence 52a. The dubitative significance is given by the -guni of wa'ųguni. Winnebago has two dubitatives, -cguni, implying vague probability and -guni definite probability.

   hąnąge, 52a. The syllabary reads ha-na-ke [A n Ke] and it was translated as "he thought to himself." Lamere dictated hanąge. Baptiste's translation is evidently a very free one but seems to have satisfied Lamere. The stem here would be haną, for -ge could be taken as the conditional suffix. I have no idea what it can possibly mean. It is just barely possible that what we have here is ha-nąk.ge, an orthographical mistake for ha-ąk.ge, where ha is the verb "to say," -ąk-, positional suffix and that it means "he said to himself."

   winąji "take courage," 53. Etymologically this verb is very interesting, wa-, indef. pl. obj., hi-, "with," nąji, "to stand erect."

   16. The description of this stream is a stereotype and the metaphors in it are all fixed and traditional.

   17. This whirling of the water generally precedes the symbolic offerings of spirits, particularly the so-called waterspirits. This and other passages are definitely reminiscent of the idealized accounts of fasting experiences. They are probably reflections of the fact that this myth has been secondarily reinterpreted as an origin myth for a ritual which is supposed to have been bestowed on fasters by certain spirits. Cf. the clearly intrusive passage further on, 171-178.

   18. Traditional metaphor used in myths to describe infinitesimally small objects.

   19. A proverb still used today implying that the worst has already happened so one might as well risk anything.

   20. hosge which I have translated as "illusion" means primarily "tricky, deceptive, negation."

   21. In terms of rhetorical pauses and stresses, 41-54 are as follows:

e‧gi jige reje //
e‧gi ’ų-hahi-gadją ///
dewo´´iraki e‧dja hirahije /
nįxedexdjį-hiją sakdjįje //
djasge sasak.nąk.gi je‧sgeje //
bopinipinije ///
hat’ąp.ra gitcexije ///
ak.ra morora tcowexdjį tcąt’į-ąkje //
tcowexdjį tcorakje //
wąkcik tcexanisge tcąt’įje //
hąke hat’ąp pįnije ///
gadjąga ’ųdja’ų djagu hat’ąp.ikdjaneje //
ejare hire-giji ///

p. 62

je‧gų djasgegi herekdje hire-giji //
je‧gų hat’ąp.ikdje hireje //
je‧gų t’era rusje /
s’iredją. tcejare hireje ///
e‧´´sge gadjąga nąk.-hadjire-anąga
hicdja nųwic.-anąga
je-gų t’ąp.-hireje //
gadją ak.edja kirinąkje //
nira-horuxutcje //
ak.edja-horuxutc rehikdjege wa’ųgadją. //
hįke ni wają hadjanije //
pįhi wesįwį-gadją ///
dewo‧´´raki nicanąk xonųxdjįnįk.-hiją hat’ąpdjį hu-anąga
wa’ųdjeje //
nicanąk.nįk.ąka bopinipininįk.ąkje
xedexdjį hadjadjera / hosge wa’ųje //
e‧gi wająra-hiją wotcexi-giji /
wowat’ek.nįk meje‧sge hanąge (?) wa’ųguni hireje //
je‧gų-giji /
winąjije //
djagu ’ų-ąk-ga ruxuruk.ikdjane hireje ///

  21a. This detail identifies the old man still further with the spirit-deities of the four cardinal points. Cf. Text V, The Origin Myth of the Medicine Rite.

   22. This is the essential condition for establishing communication with the spirit-deities. Here they are putting themselves in this state in order to appeal to Earthmaker and help the young man.

   hidjadjegi, 59. hidja, "there"; -dje-, "it stands"; c’ųcawąk.re, 60. -cawąk-, positional affix, 2nd sing., "lying form"; -re, demonstrative "this."

   In 61 we have three forms of the second singular personal pronoun; ne, the independent form; -ni- (hida-ni-dje), infixed objective form used with intransitive and other types of verb and cu- (curuxuru-, etc.) used with instrumentals in ru-.

   nąk.ra, 63. A very unusual construction. nąk is the verb to sit, often used idiomatically in the sense of to exist. To be translated with the preceding word as our friend who is (here).

   hokewecireje, 65. -cire, "to tell," used almost exclusively in composition.

   hanąk.wije, 65. First plural of nąk.

  widanije, 65a. wi-, pl.

   e jige-higų can also be analyzed as ejigų, 66. e, "he that," -ji, intensive. Baptiste uses -ji quite extensively.

   23. Here again, in wanądjodjąisge, we have the typical phraseology used in fasting.

   24. Traditional stereotype to describe a large village.

   25. That is, you have reached your destination, the village of the dead, and, naturally, you will want to see your wife, but she will not be present.

p. 63

   This sentence can only be properly understood in the light of the sentence that follows.

   26. That is, you will see her to your loss, because you will see her because you have disobeyed our instructions.

   ’unicikdjanahare, 83. ’ų, "to do," -ni-, obj. form of 2nd sing., -ci-, "to ask," -ha, 1st sing., -re, dem. pl.

   ragicaną, 83. ra-, "you," subj. sing., gi, "to do," -caną, aorist.

   27. Compare this prohibition with the one in text I. Haniniji, 86. To be analyzed as ha-ni-niji. The first -ni- is 2nd sing. obj. pron., the stem being hani, "to possess, take care of."

   28. The verb "to strike," gitcgą, used here, is primarily a literary word. Literally it means, "to bring something about by striking." What I have rendered freely as "the sound spread" is, literally, the tciwį, "noise immediately it took place."

   28a. hijąki can best be interpreted as hiją-ąk-gi, i.e. "one-lying position-there-was."

   29. The young man is seated and the narrator is very careful in the next few sentences to affix -nąk- to the verbs relating to him, wanąkje, wa’ųnąkcaną, wa’ųnąk-gadją, anąkje, wanąxgųnąkje, etc., kuruxadjiną, 98, ruxa is an obsolete verb. Dji, "to come," i.e., "pursuing, he has come."

   rajitc, 102. ra-, instrumental prefix, "with the mouth." If the teasing had been done by certain actions it would have been rujitc.

   anąkje, 103. The verb "to say," e, becomes a in the plural. Since, however, like so many e it also changes to a under certain conditions, it is impossible to know here whether this is the a plural or the a that goes back to e. Baptiste, however, translated this form as a plural. Cf. 104.

   30. The effect of dance music is always described in this fashion.

   31. Lamere was uncertain about Baptiste's orthography here and dictated wigizok. It must be, however, wogizok, which, here, means "specifically." It has many meanings besides this.

To have relatives brought in here and to have them sing about the young man, presumably about his achievement in arriving at the village of the dead, is a nice touch that a Winnebago audience would deeply appreciate.

   31a. This is Baptiste's translation. The literal rendering would be "not anything thus it was." How that can be taken in Baptiste's sense, I do not quite see. Yet Lamere had no objection to make. Cf. note 34.

   32. This is another of the graphic descriptions of the effect of music. It was found repeatedly in narratives, old and new.

   33. This and the following sentence are glosses of Baptiste. They contain some interesting forms.

   direxdjinąkje, 147. The verb "to grow" is dide, 1st sing., dicere, 2nd. -nąk to agree with tcinąk.nąka where -nąka is the dem. -ga, sitting form.

   hidja-honąjįąkje, 148. -ąk-, walking form of the positional affix. It is identical with the lying form.

   mąnąk.re, 149. Baptiste translated "in this world," mą. means both "earth, world, trail." -nąk.re, sitting form of demonstrative -de.

p. 64

   34. The climax of the action in terms of rhetorical pauses and stresses is as follows:

Sentences 150-163:

hahire-giji /
howacinąkga e‧dja gadjąga rokonaxdjįje //
tcowe wanąje-hiraną. /
je‧cge higų-hahire-giji /
dewe´´raki hitcawina weje //
“djagu‘ų wadoraγįkdjanihe-giji /
degi horawac'’ų-anąga hadji wadoraγįcanąkje” eje? //
tcowe hidja-horuxutc.nąje //
nąwąra djirehire-giji /
rokonaje //
manąk.re hixgąxgąje ///
gadjągacge rudi gipįres’aje ///
hitcawįnacge ewa’ųxdjįje //
hoicip hora tcąt’įnihes’aje //
wa’įnąk.edja minąk nunige wa’įracge
nące hires’aje ///
hagairacge hawasųtc hirawis’aje //
wirakarara haruwǫk winunige hįke
wąkcik hidja wiraną’įranije ///
gadjąga hąp.-hidjana hare-giji /
wają je‧sge-hanije /
siką-hidjacge harukos.ire-anąga rudinuwąk hires’age‧cge /
’ųnjik'ų hatcągere´´xdjį hahąp.ireje /
wira haγep-huje ///

Lamere dictated wanąje although Baptiste's orthography here is quite clear. Apparently, he did not recognize the stem which is, in fact, quite rare. The -ną- of hiranąje‧cge, 150, implies customary action, the -je is the inferential past, -cge, uncertain probability. Kdjanihe, 151, "will have," is the verb compound howa'ų, literally "toward he did," both verbs are conjugated -ną-, 152. Cf. note 15a. Sentence 161 rendered literally is "treated them as if they were no people." From hare-giji, 162, on I am giving Baptiste's free translation. Cf. note 31a. rudi- "to pull," nuwąk "to run."

   35. This same motif is found in all myths dealing with visits to spiritland and to Earthmaker.
   In this passage and the next paragraph our myth approximates more and more to a typical fasting experience.

   36. Blue is the sacred color as well as the color symbolical of life.

   37. That is, so that by the performance of the ghost dance you can keep the soul here.

   38. That is, accept it and grant the request. This is the official theory of the function of tobacco.

p. 65

   39. Sentences 193-207 unquestionably do not belong to the original myth but represent what was added in order to adapt it as an origin myth. 

   40. Only such individuals were permitted to take part in the building of any sacred structure.

   41. There is no mention of such songs in the myth but the founder of a new rite always received songs as gifts from the spirit-deities who had blessed him.

   42. A gloss of Baptiste's.

   43. Meant sarcastically. Baptiste was a complete sceptic although, for a time, he was a peyote member.

Comparative Material

Indo-European

The most famous parallel story is the Greek tale of "Orpheus and Eurydice." Orpheus was a famous singer and lyre player said to have come from Thrace. Not long after Orpheus married the beautiful Eurydice, she was set upon by a certain Aristaios, from whom she fled, but in the course of her flight, she passed by a snake who struck her ankle with a poisonous blow. From this she died and entered the realm of Hades. Orpheus, overcome by grief, set out on the path to the underworld that he might retrieve his wife. All the monsters on his path were seduced to inaction by the mesmerizing beauty of his lyrical music. Indeed, even the mistress of the underworld, Persephone herself, was overcome with the pathos of the sweet music of grief. She gave in, and allowed that Orpheus might take Eurydice back to the world of the living, but on this path, he was not to look back at her as she followed behind. For reasons that may only be guessed at, as he approached the end of his journey, he looked back at Eurydice, and in an instant, Hermes took her hand and led her away to the netherworld.⁴

Siouan

The Siouan Assiniboine tribe has a rather divergent version of this story. It's an episode in the Birth of the Twins myth, and although it takes place in the underworld, the people there are never described as being departed souls. A man went off to hunt, leaving his pregnant wife at the lodge. Before he left, he warned his wife that there might be a visitor, but she was not to look at him. Sure enough, this visitor arrived, and she offered him food. He said that he could only eat it off her belly. When she placed it there, he took a knife and cut open her belly and pulled out her twin sons, casting them aside. He ran around the lodge poles with her, then jumped into the fire. When the husband returned, he realized what had happened, and in like fashion entered the underworld by jumping into the fire. Eventually, he came to a lake on the other side of which was a large village. He entered the tent of an old woman. She warned him that these people would try to kill him by magical means. He spent the night, but they failed to kill him. Next they tried to kill him by inducing him to swim in a lake. He disappeared and was presumed dead. However, he returned to the old woman's lodge that night. She warned him that next they would try to cook him, and that day they did just that. However, he had instructed the woman on what to do, so she collected his bones, then yelled, "Grandson, you have been sleeping a long time, so wake up!" He arose alive. Then he instructed her to get together with his wife, and when the sun shone directly into the tent, to hold up his clothes. Then he went to his enemies, and when the sun shone directly into their tent, he seized the sun itself, and used it to kill everyone of his enemies. He returned to where his clothes were, then he took his wife home.^4.1

Algonquian

The Menominee, the friendship tribe of the Hōcągara, have a similar story: "A devoted Menomini husband insists on being buried with his dead wife. On seeing tracks leading westward from the grave he rises and follows them. He encounters and successfully passes a swaying bridge over a torrent, a threatening dog, and a tempting strawberry. He reaches a place of many houses; all seem unoccupied save one large one where an old man resides. The latter questions the husband on the purpose of his visit; then offers assistance. At night the old man drums for the dancing dead; he secures the woman’s soul in a tube and gives it to the man with instructions. On the way home the woman begs to be released but her husband is firm. Holding the tube he leaps into the burial fire burning at the grave. A nearby mourner hears faint voices in the grave, whereupon it is opened and discloses the couple. They go through a purification ceremony during which the wife protests, but from which they emerge wholly restored."⁵

Among the Algonquian tribes, the Ojibwe also have a version of this tale. A woman's husband died, and to communicate with his departed spirit, she lifted up a wigwam pole and spoke into the hole. She called out, "Come back and take care of your son," but he replied that she must see to that herself. She laid the wigwam pole pointing west, and at night went that direction in pursuit of her husband. She successfully overcame the many obstacles on the path of the souls, and arrived at the keeper of brains. He told her to go to Djibweabuth, and if he consented to release the soul, then he would restore his brain. She went on until she met Nokomis, who agreed to intercede on her behalf. He guided her to Djibweabuth, who agreed to release the soul. He put her husband's soul into a little box, and on her way back, the keeper placed his brain in another box. When she reached home, she built a sweathouse, and placed the two boxes inside. As the steam rose up from the hot stones, so too did her husband rise up from the dead. Thereafter, they led normal lives.^5.0

The Ottawa also have a version of this story. A young man fell in love with a woman who soon afterwards died. The man was inconsolable. He was told by elders that if he wanted to fetch her from the land of souls, he must head south. His own land was covered in snow and ice, but as he went south, it became warmer and warmer, the flowers were in bloom, and the tree covered in leaves. Eventually, he reached a lodge where a man stood in front of its entrance. This man told him that he was the guardian of the entrance into the land of souls, and that he would be allowed to enter. When he entered the lodge, he found himself in another world, where everything was beautiful beyond compare, but as he walked, he discovered that he could step right through the trunks of trees. Everything there was but an image. He reached a lake, and there was not only a canoe, but beside it another in which the beloved was seated. They paddled across the great lake through huge waves that were capsizing canoes of others. On the opposite shore, the Master of Life told him that he had a destiny to fulfill back in the world of the living, and that in time he would be able to reunite with his beloved. There he fell asleep, and when he awoke, he was back in his own lodge. It had been as if it were all a dream.^5.0.0

The Shawnee have a version. A man and his sister had a strong bond, but his sister fell ill and died. In his grief, he resolved to seek her in the direction of the setting sun. After many months he came to where the sky and earth meet, and finding an opening, he ascended to heaven. On the way, he met an old grandfather, who instructed him on what to do. First he applied medicine that transformed him into a spirit, then told him that he must capture his sister's soul at a dance, and put her in the hollow of a reed, then plug it with his little finger. After a long sojourn among the spirits, he finally encountered his sister, and as instructed, placed her in the reed. He then set course for the old man, and reaching his abode, was given a medicine that made him and his sister into flesh and blood again. The old man revealed that there was a trap door nearby, and that they could ascend from there right down to their own village. Once back in the village, he taught his people all the ceremonies and dances revealed to him by the heavenly grandfather.^5.1

The Blackfeet also have a version of this Orpheus story. A man loved his wife very much. They had a baby boy. The mother took ill one day, and soon after died. The man left the baby with his mother, and set off aimlessly towards the Sand Hills. There he dreamt of an old woman who told him that his wife had come by her place, but that she, the old woman, had but little power compared to the next woman on the path that he will encounter. So after he awoke, he set out on that path. The next day, he encountered the second woman, who told him how he might reach the ghost village and what he should do to enter it. A departed relative came to fetch him. Once he reached the village of the dead, the ghosts there tried to frighten him, but he persisted. The ghost chief met him and told him what he must do to succeed. They held a feast, but when presented to his relatives, they knew he was not a ghost on account of his pungent odor. The chief burnt sweet pine as incense, and that cured the problem. They told him that if he could endure four nights, then they would give him a sacred Worm Pipe and let him return to the living with his wife. After three days had passed, they gave him his wife who carried with her the Worm Pipe. They were to be escorted by his relatives on the return journey for four days, but for the whole journey, the man was not allowed to open his eyes. When he arrived, he was to have a sweat bath made and was to cleanse himself thoroughly. He was cautioned not to assault his wife ever, for that would lead to her return to the dead. Eventually, they reached the village. There the wife sat on a little knoll, and when she was encountered, she told her people what they must do. After they had been purified, they met the people, and the man told of his adventure and of the sacred Worm Pipe which ever after belonged to the band of Piegans called the "Worm People". One day the man's wife did not respond to his request, so he picked up a brand as if to threaten her, but she vanished into thin air never to be seen again.⁶

The Micmacs have a tale of the same type. Long ago a man fell ill and seemingly died. However, he later revived, and told everyone of how he was released from the Land of the Dead by its chief so that all might know where they would go after death. On hearing of this, a group of men were determined to make an expedition to that land to see it for themselves. A man who recently lost his son, was determined to go there, and the rest agreed to accompany him. After a vast trek during which many died on the way, they finally reached their destination. However, to their surprise and dismay, they were confronted by a terrifying giant of a man who declared that he was the guardian of the Land of the Dead. He threatened them all with death for their arrogant trespass, but the man who had lost a son spoke up and moved the guardian's heart to pity. He decided that they would gamble, and the living men staked all that they had, and the guardian of the dead put up tobacco, corn, and some varieties of fruit. The men won, and that is why we possess these things today. The man's son came forth, but he was invisible. The guardian cupped him in his hands, and reduced him to the size of a nut, which he placed in a small bag. He instructed them to build a wigwam and lay the son out there, after which he would regain his living body. So they returned to their own land, and the people were amazed at what they brought and told, and immediately set about making the wigwam as instructed. The father entrusted the soul of his son to a woman while he himself joined in the festivities. The woman, overcome by curiosity, opened the bag, and the soul slipped away to the Land of the Dead. The father, when he found out, died of chagrin.^6.1

Caddoan

There is a Pawnee tale that is very much like the present story. Once there was a man who lived with his wife and infant child. He was very much in love with his wife, but she died. He became sick with sorrow and often visited her grave. One night he looked up from his bed and there stood the form of his wife. She told him that she could take him to a place where he would not be unhappy. She said they should come with her, but he did not want to die. The man persuaded his wife's ghost that she should return and live with him. She instructed him to make a sleeping place for her which would be surrounded by a curtain. This curtain must not be parted for four days. At the end of four days she emerged alive again. They all lived happily together, until the man married a bad tempered woman as his second wife. This woman told the other wife that she was "nothing but a ghost." As a result, the first wife simply disappeared. The next night the man and his child died in their sleep.⁷

Yuchi

The Yuchi tribe also has this story, here summarized by Gayton: "Four husbands go west in search of their dead wives. They pass under the rising and falling sky by assuming animal forms. In the land of the dead an old woman acts as their hostess and advisor. She plants corn, beans, and squash which ripen magically. She gives the men tiny portions of this food to eat; it proves to be inexhaustible. Gourds are given to the men to hold their wives’ souls. The old woman protects them from the dead who assemble to dance, and who complain of the odor of living people. She captures the souls, puts them in the containers which are not to be opened until home is reached, and tells the men to go to sleep. The men wake near their home. One is impatient and opens his gourd. Wind rushes out. The others do as they were bidden and are successful."^7.2

Muskogean

The Coushatta (Koasati) also have a story of this type. When a woman with children died, her two brothers were determined to find her soul and bring her back. They set out on a long journey until they reached where the sky meets the earth. There they ascended to the sky world. Each night they slept at a different lodge, and the person living there told them how to overcome the obstacles they would face the next day on their journey. Finally, they reached the place where Never Dying lives. He greeted them, and gave them watermelon to eat, but would not allow them to keep the seeds. The next day, he took them to a telescope where they could see their own village below. Never Dying put their sister in a jug, and told them to let him know when they wanted to return. After four nights they told him they were ready. They went to sleep, but when they woke up, found themselves in their own home. Their sister's spirit, still in the jug, complained of her cramped quarters, so they took the jug and placed it in the shade of a tree and unscrewed the lid just a little. Then they heard no more from their sister. When they opened the jug, they found that it was empty.^7.3

The Alabama tribe has this parallel, summarized by Gayton: "They go west until they reach the horizon: there the sky is moving up and down. They pass under it by assuming animal shapes. Thereafter they pass four obstacles with the assistance of an elderly man or woman who offers them inexhaustible food and provides them with a corncob and gourd container. On reaching the land of the dead the chief there gives them watermelons to eat; the travelers want the seeds, but are refused. They are shown their home which is directly beneath them under the sky. When the dead assemble to dance the men throw the corncob at their sister; she falls and is put in the receptacle. The chief tells the men to go to sleep; they wake to find themselves at home with the gourd and plant seeds beside them. Though they had been warned not to open the gourd bottle as yet, they hear the woman crying and open it slightly. Later they look in it only to find it empty. Had these men succeeded, the dead could always have been brought back."⁸

Iroquoian

The Hurons also have a version of this story: "A brother travels toward the sunset in search of his sister. He successfully crosses the bridge. With the help of an old man in the land of the dead he secures the woman from among the dancers and brings her home in a pumpkin. His failure to restore her to life is caused by another person who peeps at the corpse during the restoration ritual."⁹

The Cherokee also know this story. The Sun used to stop by her daughter's place near the zenith of the sky to have lunch. The Sun disliked humans because every time they looked at her, they grimaced. Consequently, she sent a torrent of rain to earth and the humans were forced to find some way to kill the Sun for the sake of their own preservation. The Little Men worked their magic and sent serpents to ambush the Sun when she stopped by her daughter's place, but Rattlesnake attacked the wrong woman, and killed the Sun's daughter. The Sun hid away in her daughter's house, grieving, and the whole world went dark. So the Little Men sent a delegation to the Ghost Country in the Darkening Land. They were equipt with a box and a set of wands. They were to strike her with the wands, then seal her in a box, which they were not to open under any circumstances until they had arrived home. This they did, and they packed her in the box and headed home. She kept pleading to open the box for one reason or another. Finally, she called out that she was suffocating, so they decided to open the box just a little to let in some air, but when they did so, something fluttered out into the sky. They dismissed this, since it was too small to be her. When they arrived back, they opened the box only to find that it was empty. She had flown the coop in the form of a Redbird, who the people now know to be the daughter of the Sun. The Sun fell back into grief, and once more her tears flooded the world, but the young people made a dance in honor of her, and she soon came to smile again.^9.0

Uto-Aztecan

There is a Comanche version of this story. A man's wife died, and out of his overpowering love for her, he resolved to follow her west. He mounted his horse and set out for what proved to be a long journey. Finally after crossing mountains, he was reduced to proceeding on foot. He finally arrived in the realm of the dead where the children skipped around him saying, "There's a raw one!" He found his wife living in her father's lodge. She was content to remain in the land of the dead, but her love for him was great. Her father settled the matter and instructed the couple on how to proceed. He told the man that he must never touch his wife before coming to the place where the buffalo reside. There she must eat a buffalo kidney, which will restore her to flesh and blood. Once she eats this, he will be able to live with his wife as before, save for one condition: he must never strike her. They went ever eastward until they came to the plains where the buffalo roam. He killed a buffalo and fed one of its kidneys to his wife, who was immediately restored to life. They were overjoyed and soon reached their own village. As spring gave way to summer and then autumn, they were laying together in their lodge when the man attempted to pull a buffalo robe over them, but his hand slipped, and he struck his wife in the head. "You struck me on my head, so now I must return to the dead," she cried, and faded into oblivion.^9.1

The Shoshone parallel is set in heavenly paradise reached via the Milky Way. It is much closer to the Greek Orpheus myth. "At the trail fork were many berries which people ate. On the way he passed a spring but did not bathe because only those who are really dead do so. His relatives lived near one anoother in a row of tipis. Ap: (father), who resembled a man, was at this camp. While returning, he was told not to look back at his wife, who wore a necklace of hoofs. He looked back and his wife disappeared. He returned to life."^9.2

From southern California, we have this tale from the Gabrielina, summarized by Gayton: "[A boy and a girl] marry, but the young woman is soon killed by the crone who raised her. The grieved husband after waiting three days at the grave sees a whirlwind rise from it and travel south. He follows it although his wife’s voice tells him to go back. As he refuses she agrees to help him. She [the whirlwind] picks him up, and thus they pass over an immense sea. Arrived at the land of the dead the man and his earthly smell are the subject of unfavorable comment from the spirits, whom he is unable to see. He is given four tests, which he performs so successfully that the spirits agree to let him take his wife back. The couple must remain continent three days. On the return trip the woman first appears as a wraith, on the second day she is plainly visible, on the third day completely normal. Unable to resist temptation the man embraces his wife only to find a rotten log in his arms. He wanders about sadly for the rest of his life.^"9.3

The Taos of New Mexico also have a story of this type. Yellow Corn Girl and Blue Corn Girl were sisters who were living together. One day a witch made Blue Corn Girl so sick that she died. Yellow Corn Girl was so devastated that she slept by her sister's grave. On the fourth night Blue Corn Girl came out of her grave with a big pack on her back and told her sister that she was going north. So they headed out, and every day when they paused their journey Yellow Corn Girl would see a rabbit by the roadside in place of her sister. At night she would reappear, and they would start out anew. They came to rivers of ash, or which were otherwise black, from which Yellow Corn Girl was forbidden to drink. Every time day broke, Yellow Corn Girl would find a rabbit resting by the roadside. Finally, they came to a red river, and the people on the other side built a bridge for them to cross. These ghosts held a grand dance to celebrate. When day broke, all Yellow Corn Girl could see is rabbit holes where the houses had been. By now Yellow Corn Girl was extremely thirsty, and yelled down one of the holes, "Sister give me water to drink!" Her sister stretched her hand out with a gourd of water, and Yellow Corn Girl seized hold and pulled her out. It was a rabbit. So Yellow Corn Girl put the rabbit in her dress, and traveled back, although she did not encounter any of the rivers they had crossed before. On the way back, she wept, and she encountered a łachina man. She asked him if he could restore his sister, and he said that he knew what to do. She was to put the rabbit on the grave of her sister, and cover it with a white dance kilt. It would rain, and she was forbidden to go out or even look at what was happening at the grave site. She did as she was told, and when it rained, lightning struck tearing the kilt to pieces. At that very moment, her sister emerged restored to life.^9.3.1

The Cora of Nayarit in southern Mexico have a similar story. "At one time they could be released from this abode, but owing to the imprudence of one man, this privilege was lost. This person one day made a trip to the coast to procure salt, leaving his wife to take care of the house. After a short absence he returned, in time only to see her disappear in the mucchita [a place for departed souls], whither the spirits had beckoned her. His sorrow was boundless, for he loved his wife dearly. At last his tears and sighs touched the heart of the keeper of the souls, who told him to watch for his wife one night when she appeared in the dance, and wound her with an arrow; she would then recognize him and return home; but he warned him not to speak a loud word, or she would disappear forever. The man did as he was told, wounded his wife on the leg, and had the joy to see her return home. Musicians and singers were called in, and a grand feast was held to celebrate the event; but, overcome with excitement, the husband gave vent to a shout of joy. The next moment the warning of the keeper was verified — a ghastly corpse had taken the place of the wife. Since then no other soul has been allowed to rejoin the living."^9.4

Penutian

A parallel is found in a Coyote story of the Sahaptian tribes, told by Livingston Farrand: "Coyote's married daughter was accidentally burned to death. Her husband moved away, and left Coyote alone. One night, as Coyote was sleeping, his daughter came and talked to him. "I have just come to see you," she said. "I am going on to where the dead people live. You cannot go with us, because you are alive, and we are dead." Coyote said that he would follow her. "You can come along if you throw yourself into the fire," the girl told him. Coyote threw himself into the flames; but as soon as he felt the pain, he jumped out again. He was so badly blistered, however, that his daughter allowed him to go along. "You will never see us again," she told him, "but you will hear us later. There is nothing to eat on the trail. You must stick your hand in your mouth. That will satisfy you." The girl led the way, and Coyote followed her voice. It often led him into rocks and trees. There was the noise of laughter ahead of him, and Coyote followed the sound. Though it was daylight, Coyote could see nothing. They talked only when evening came, and then Coyote would follow the sound. They traveled for five days. At the end of that time Coyote could almost see them. In five days more they would be like people to him. When they finally arrived at the land of the dead, they feared they would have to bar him from it, because he was alive. They made him sleep at some distance from the others. The land of the dead was very close to the sea. All about him Coyote saw all kinds of eggs. They gave him a bag full of holes in which to gather eggs. He filled the bag, and saw that all the eggs fell through the holes. Therefore he did not even tie it up. When he came back to his daughter, he had nothing at all. The girl then said to him, "Next time fill up the bag; and even if it falls together, as if there were nothing in it, be sure to tie it up. Then it will be full." — "That is what I thought," replied Coyote. He went back to gather more eggs. He filled the bag and tied it up. He threw it on his back, but it seemed as though there were nothing in it. Soon, however, it grew heavy; and when he reached the house, it was quite full. Henceforth it became his duty to gather eggs. Though he heard people talk, he could not see them. He would laugh over their jokes, and they would talk about him. They said that they would put themselves into a bag, which he was to carry home. When they were ready, they told him to start. He traveled over five mountains. The girl said to him, "Father, now we are going home. Four of the mountains will be easy to climb, but the fifth one will be hard. You will hardly be able to climb it, but do not under any circumstances open your pack. When you have reached the other side of the last mountain, untie the bundle, and there will be people in it. When later others die, they too will come back in a little while." Coyote promised not to untie the bag. "I may be able to cross the mountains in two days," he said. He threw the pack on his back and started on his journey. This time he had a little food with him. He crossed three mountains, and the load began to get heavy. He heard the people laugh and talk, and he was very glad. He crossed the fourth mountain, and now there was only one more to climb. He started to climb it, and managed to get within a few feet of the top. He was very tired, still he forced himself to go about four feet more, but that was as far as he could go. Though he had only about six feet to travel, he opened his pack. Those in the pack then said to him, "Father, now we must go back, and you will have to go home. Henceforth when people die, they will be dead forever." Then Coyote cried, and said, "I shall not be the only one to mourn a child. All people shall do the same as I. When a person dies, they shall never see him again." Thus he said, and went home. That is the end."¹⁰

The Klikitat have a Coyote story of this type. Coyote had two children, a male and a female, who died. He was overcome with grief, and decided to search for them. He went to the ends of the earth where he ascended to the heavens. Finally, he came to a river, where he saw people on the other side. He called out to them, but they did not react. So he defecated his two sisters, and asked for advice. They  told him to crawl underwater and speak to them there. So he submerged himself and spoke, and immediately they responded, and all of a sudden, he magically appeared among them on the other side. There he saw his two children. They were both puzzled to see each other. After having spent some time there, they told him that he should head home. He was to pack all the people there and take them with him. They warned him not to look back when he heard voices saying they were catching up to him. So he packed all the people and headed back. Each day of his journey he heard voices saying that they were catching up, but he did not look back. On the fifth day, the voices became much closer, and finally Coyote swung his pack around and loosened it. Immediately, it burst apart, and his children and many others turned back. Coyote could not stop them, so he packed up the people who remained, and eventually reach home. When he opened the pack, it was empty.^10.0

There is another such myth from the distant Tachi Yokuts of California summarized by Kroeber. "A woman dies. Her husband stays by her grave. She arises from the ground and for six nights he follows her on her Journey to the island of the dead. He cannot cross the bridge to the island until permitted by the chief of that country. A bird, darting up to frighten him into falling off, fails. He sees the people dancing. During the night he is with his wife. In the morning she is a fallen tree. After six days the chief sends him home. He is told not to show himself for six days. After five days he comes out from concealment and tells the people his experiences. In the morning a rattlesnake bites him and he dies. From him the people learn that the island is continually filling up with the dead. They are taken to bathe, when a bird frightens them and many turn to fish and birds. In this way room is made on the island for others that die."^10.00

The Modoc and Klamath versions are very similar and can be summarized together: "The Creator is the hero; he journeys with an only child, his daughter, to the afterworld. They travel toward the sunset, passing many temptations en route. The father must keep his eyes closed. In the dance house he is spoken of as raw. The dead appear at night, and dancing about him, become angered. The Creator wishes to re-people the earth; he collects some of the bones in a basket. On his first attempt to return to earth with them the bones escape; the second time he succeeds and takes his daughter with him."^10.01

Athabascan

The Tlingit tribe is the farthest north of any tribe having a story of this type.^10.1 A man recently married lost his beloved wife. He was beside himself with grief and resolved to follow after her once she had been buried. He set foot on the death road, and after walking many days came to a very scenic lake. He shouted to the people passing by in canoes, but they acted as if they had not heard him. So he whispered to himself his frustration, and this they heard as shouting, so they came for him. On the other side, he saw his wife. They went together into a house where a meal was prepared, but his wife warned him not to eat the ghost food or he would never return. They resolved to leave immediately, and were taken by the Ghost Canoe to the end of the death road at the other side of the lake. They eventually arrived home, and when he entered his father's lodge, his wife proved to be invisible. When she ate, they could see the spoon rise up and down, but could see nothing of her. After a long tenure as a shadow, the wife told her husband that she would become substantial again as she had been in life; but she was overheard by a jealous nephew, and he lifted the curtain behind which they laid, and instantly there was a rattling of bones. The husband had died, and he and his wife returned together to Ghost Land.^10.2

The Kwakiutl have a similar story. A young man, in despair, hanged himself. His father was beside himself with grief, and vowed to travel to the land of the ghosts to see if he could retrieve him. As he traveled, he could hear the sound of beating batons and realized that the ghosts were giving a celebration in welcome of his son. He followed the sound and soon came upon the scene of the ghost house, so he peeped in. Just then, Mouse Woman approached him and warned him to be gradual in his efforts and wait for the fourth beat of the batons, for any sudden attempt by him to seize his son would end in failure. The father walked in and was nearly overwhelmed by the scene. Then when his son came near, he could not resist the temptation, and rushed over and grabbed hold of him. Then all went dark, and he held there in his hands nothing but sea foam. Thus he lost his son a second time.¹¹

The Hupa of California have a version of this story. "The home of the dead is in the under-world toward the west. The trail is broad from much use and leads directly down. ... The road leads to a river where there is a fish weir with guardian water gods at either end. There is a split canoe for the crossing of the spirits. Beyond are the houses of the departed. Life in that world is not to be desired. The spirits live on dead salmon and other unfit food. They are much given to brawls and fights. Dampness and darkness reign there. A story is told of one man who did succeed in following a much beloved wife, escaping the guarding gods by causing them to sleep with powerful medicine. He brought back his wife, but she was no longer able to enjoy the world of light."^11.0

The Sarcee version of this story, like the Hōcąk, is an origin myth of a Ghost Dance. A young man went off to visit for a time, and in his absence a young woman died in his village, and was buried in a tree. The village struck their tents and moved on. When he returned, there was just one small tent left standing, and he entered within. His clothes were wet, and as he took them off, he threw them in a corner and said, as if he had a wife, "Dry that." Suddenly a young woman appeared, and said, "Alright." She wrung them out and hung them up to dry. She then announced, "I'll be your wife." Thus they were married. There was one proviso: he must never say, "I wish you were a ghost!" One day he was cooking up buffalo meat for his friends, when the tent became full of smoke. He asked his wife to adjust the smoke hole, but she could not rid the tent of the smoke. He became angry and said, "I wish you were a ghost!" He regretted it, and she allowed that if he did not fall asleep that night, all would be well. However, despite his efforts, he nodded off. When he awoke he discovered that nothing was left of his wife and child but bones. After their loss, he set out on a long journey. Finally, he came to the tents of the shades. He was met by a shade who escorted him to the chief's tent. The chief informed the man that his wife had passed by there four days ago. The man followed her trail, until the fourth night when he reached the fourth village of the shades, and there he found his wife and child. She was living with her father. Later his father-in-law began to dance what we now know as the Ghost Dance. When he had completed his first round, the heads of the shades materialized; when he danced the second time, they materialized to their chests; when he danced a third time, they materialized down to their waists; and when he danced the fourth and last time, they completely returned to their human form and substance. Thus the man regained his wife, and the Sarcee learned the Ghost Dance.^11.00

A similar story is found among the Navaho, here summarized by Gayton: "A man waited four nights at his wife’s grave. Then something departed from it which he followed four days; during the day it disappeared in cracks in the rocks. In the afterworld the dead were found dancing: the woman was welcome, the man called a “ghost.’’ Counter to instructions he built a fire during the day and saw skeletons lying about with torn blankets. Terrified, the man ran home pursued meanwhile by his wife. A ceremony was made by animals during which the man was not to look at his wife. He broke the tabu and saw her as a skeleton once more."^11.1

Wakashan

The Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) also know a story of this type. In this tale, a young woman follows her dead husband across a vast body of water to the land of the ghosts, where she gives birth to a child. The young woman attempts to return to the world of the living with her baby, but when she gets back, her own mother violates a taboo which causes the baby to turn into a skeleton, so the young woman returns to the realm of ghosts with her baby. It is because of this incident that we came to know of the other world of ghosts.¹²

Salishan

The Upper Chehalis people have four variants of this story which can be summarized together. Bluejay lived with his sister. One day she eloped with a ghost. Bluejay became lonely and sought after his sister. After a long journey he came to the river that divided the realm of the living from the dead. He shouted across the river for someone to pick him up in a canoe, but could get no reply. He was becoming sleepy and yawned, whereupon he could hear his sister's voice from the opposite side. She called out that she would send her husband in a canoe to pick him up. When the canoe arrived, it had a bunch of bones but no oarsman. When he yawned again, his sister told him to get in the canoe, but to keep his eyes closed. Only then was he able to cross over. During his visit, he noticed sets of bones here and there, and when he saw them, he gave them a good kick. These were actually dead people sleeping. He had made quite a nuisance of himself, and his hosts were happy when he decided to go home. However, they warned him that he would have to pass through a number of prairies that were on fire. They would give him water enough to secure a path through them, but he must be judicious in using it. Then he left, and sure enough, he encountered a prairie on fire, and used a great deal of water in working his way through it. Finally, he reached a flaming prairie but ran out of water while trying to cross it. As a result, he died in the flames. So he came back, and on his return, everything seemed normal to him, but that was only because he was now dead.¹³

The Kalispel (Pend d’Oreille) have a Coyote story of this type. Coyote's daughter fell ill and died. In his grief he wandered about until he came to a river. He could hear gambling going on across the river, so he called for someone to pick him up, but got no answer. He was tired and yawned, and eventually he saw a canoe headed in his direction. Inside was the very daughter who had died. The canoe, however, was a wreck. He got in anyways and was instructed to keep his eyes closed. As they traversed the river, he opened one eye, only to see the canoe start to sink. His daughter told him to keep his eyes shut or they would sink. He obeyed, and they reached the other side. He slept that night in his daughter's lodge, but the next morning he went over to where they were gambling. He joined in the game, and surprisingly, he eventually won all the tokens. At the very moment of his victory, all his opponents fell over, transfigured into skeletons. His daughter gave him a bag, and told him not to open it until after he had scaled the hill. However, true to form, before he reached the top, he opened the bag, and out rushed a child. He ran after the child but could not catch him. This happened every time he went back to the bag. Finally, he looked in the bag and found that it was empty. So he went back. He called to his daughter on the other bank of the river, and she yelled back that when he opened the bag that it was his own grandchildren who escaped; and had his opponents won the gambling game, life would have conquered, and there would now be no death.^13.1

Hokan

The Pomo have a version that pertains more to the dance. Here is a summary by Grayton: "a man lay four days and nights on his brother’s grave, then followed the risen ghost eastward to a woodland meadow. There the ghost people noticed his strange smell. In the dance house they taught him their dance. He came home, told all the people of his strange experience and taught them the dance."¹⁴

The Shasta version is a Coyote myth. Coyote's son died, so he was intent on going to the land of the dead to retrieve him. He came to the land of the dead and declared that he wanted his son back. He hit upon the idea of burning wild parsnip, and this was enough to induce the dead to give him up. He took his son back to their home. The boy told him that under no circumstances was anyone to hit him or even scold him. Five years later, someone scolded the boy, and he promptly disappeared to the land of the dead. Coyote once again followed him and lit the fire of wild parsnip. This time the ghosts told him to return home and that in two days he could come back for his son. So he returned home, but as he slept he himself died. And indeed he did return for his son, but only as a ghost. Thus it is that sine then no one has ever visited the land of the dead except as a ghost.^14.1

The Karok have a rather inverted version of this story. Two women took on a lover, but soon after he died, leaving them devastated. An Aikneich bird took pity on them, and agreed to lead them to where their lover now resided. On the way, they met a pale woman who said she looked the way she did because she had no bones, as none of the people they were going to visit have bones. Indeed, there was a pile of bones left there by the dead. The women reached the village, but had to reside in the woodshed because the people there didn't like people who had bones. They were told that their lover would be at a dance, so they went there and were able to find him, but he refused to go back with them because he had no bones. An old woman with whom they were staying reiterated that he could not return with them. However, she gave them a strip of smoked salmon, and said that if they wiped that on the lips of someone who had died, it would revive them, but when it ran out, people would begin to die again. It took them ten days to return. For a long time, thanks to the salmon they brought with them, no one died.

The Carrier Indians of British Columbia have a version of this story. When a medicine man's wife died, he resolved to accompany her to the land of the dead, so instead of having her cremated, he had the both of them buried. They traveled the wide smooth road of the ecliptic which passed through beautiful country. He forbade his wife to eat of the berries that were in abundance alongside the road, nor to drink from the sping it crossed. They came to a great precipice, but the road down it was easy, although the dead who wished to return could never find it. On the other side of a river were two adjacent villages, one of black houses, and another of red houses. The black houses belonged to the dead, and the red houses belonged to robins, who go about the world during the day, but return here at night. The wife yawned, and immediately a black canoe of the dead set out for them. The husband shouted, and the robins sent out a red canoe, and the two canoes arrived simultaneously. The wife wanted to get into the black canoe, but the husband insisted that they board the red one. In a red house they were hosted by an old woman who warned them not to eat the food when they went to the black side. The old woman accompanied them to a black house where they were offered food, but passed all of it to her. They returned to the old woman's house, where she told them about the road to take on their return. The next day they set out, and following a faint trail, came upon a huge serpent that spanned the river. It undulated up, and when it receded down again, they rushed across its back to the other side. They set out again on the broad road, and ended up in their grave. He called out to the people, and they dug them out. However, in time it became evident that all was not normal with his wife. The seasons had become flipped for her: in the winter she dressed lightly and hunted for berries and salmon, but in the summer she was covered in furs and mittens, and insisted on a large and hot fire. When she died a second time, he did not follow after her. It was this medicine man who gave us valuable knowledge of the realm of the dead.^17.1

Zuñi

The Zuñi also have such a story, here summarized by Gayton: "A young man kills the good sister, his sweetheart, by mistake. He mourns continually at her grave. On three successive nights she rises and tells him to leave, but finally agrees to help him. The youth plants prayer sticks, etc., and ties to the girl’s forehead eagle down which will remain visible during the day. They start westward on the fourth night. Each night the girl becomes visible and the pair rest until she disappears at dawn. They pass through painful lava beds, a cactus patch, and cross a chasm where the man is assisted by Squirrel and his wife. They reach a large lake where an elderly couple greet the girl. She descends a ladder into the lake from which emerge sounds of shouting and laughter. At night the lake is illuminated, and the beautifully dressed dead pass in and out. The girl is seen dancing. The youth, looking on in despair, is pitied by Owl. Owl obtains the girl and restores her to the man on condition that continence is maintained until they reach home. On the fourth day the lad kisses the girl as she is sleeping. Instantly she is transformed into an owl and flies off toward the west. Her lover loses his mind. This is why the dead cannot be brought back: a necessary condition to prevent overcrowding of the world."¹⁹

Polynesian

The Hawaians tell a similar tale: "Hiku was led to the house of Kawelu by a charmed arrow. After living with the maid for some time, the youth deserted her, leaving her so stricken that she shortly died of grief. Filled with remorse, Hiku set out to seek her soul in the nether world, gaining access to that region by having himself let down through the entrance on a long vine or swing. When Kawelu had been induced to climb onto the swing with her mate of the upper world, he quickly gave the signal and his friends above pulled away. To prevent the frightened spirit from escaping, Hiku put it in a coconut shell. Coming to her dead body, he forced the spirit into the great toe of the left foot, and then up and up into the body by massaging. “Gradually, as the heart was reached, the blood began once more to flow through the body, the chest began gently to heave with the breath of life, and soon the spirit gazed out through the eyes."^19.1

A similar story is found in the Society Islands. "Heipua (Wreath of Flowers), the lovely, dwells in seclusion on the island of Porapora, guarded by a monster of the sea. To her, drawn by her famed beauty, comes the son of the god Tane, Tinihauarii (The exalted chief of peace) the golden, god 'of the dark night, that flies through the heavens, that shines in the heavens ... , the golden rays of Tane that give light to the rainbows.' The god falls in love with Heipua and dwells with her, leaving her to return to the heavens from time to time. Finally he can continue his earthly association with her no longer and is drawn away into the heavens, to return no more. Heartbroken, Heipua dies, and her body is laid upon a bed of flowers. Her released spirit flies to the upper world. At its entrance she is warned of the dangers that lie ahead of her, but told that if she goes on and on, turned aside neither by temptations nor dangers, she will find her lover. After passing by many alluring houses of pleasure and terrifying dangers that beset her, she comes at last to the house of the 'keeper of the way that leads to the habitations of the gods.' Here she is told how she may lead her lover back to earth and outwit Hina, queen of the heavens, who also desires him. Heipua hides in a nest of flowers, awaiting Tehauarii. When he comes she leaps upon his shoulders. With all her might she holds his head down and facing earthward, so that his face cannot be turned back by the wind and they are swept on by the wind till they pass out of the heavenly world. 'The two spirits descended hand in hand to earth, one to take the form of man, the other to return into the lovely body that lay upon the bed of flowers. Heipua awoke to see by her side Tinihauarii, chief of the dark and the light'."^19.2

Here is a Maori analogue. Once a great athlete, Hutu, threw his spear near the door of the noblewoman Pare. Her heart had been won by Hutu, so she invited him in, but he declined and walked away. Pare felt rejected and humiliated, and hanged herself. Hutu was overcome with remorse, and set out for the underworld to retrieve her soul. Eventually, he came to the Great Lady of the Night who rules over the Land of Shades. He won her over with a valuable gift. She told him how to retrieve Pare and warned him not to eat the food of the dead or he would never return. He descended into the lower world, but found that Pare would not reveal herself. He thought to seduce her through prowess in games that she like to watch, but she never appeared. Finally, he trimmed a tree and used its stalk, bent to the ground, to launch himself and a man on his back, high into the air. This brought her out, and she asked to ride on his shoulders. However, this time they launched with such force that the cables caught on the opening of the sky, and Hutu and Pare climbed up and back to earth. They went to where her body lie, and Pare reëntered her body and came alive again.^19.3

Japanese

The story of Izanagi and Izanami from Japan has many similarities to our story. Izanagi was greatly devoted to his wife, Izanami, who, unfortunately, died. Izanagi followed his wife into the underworld of Yomi. There he was told that she could not return with him since she had already eaten the food of the underworld. However, Izanagi's pleading moved the gods of the underworld to relent, although they set a condition. The process of release was long, and during this time he was not allowed to look at his wife. Nevertheless, Izanagi could not restrain himself from violating this taboo, and when he looked upon Izanami, she was partially decomposed. Izanami and other ghosts of Yomi pursued Izanagi, who escaped to the surface and sealed the entrance to the underworld with a giant boulder.²⁰

Links: Ghosts, Earthmaker, Cosmography.

Stories: mentioning ghosts: The Journey to Spiritland, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Holy One and His Brother, Worúxega, Little Human Head, Little Fox and the Ghost, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, The Lame Friend, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, Hare Steals the Fish, The Difficult Blessing, A Man's Revenge, Thunder Cloud is Blessed, Two Roads to Spiritland, Sunset Point, The Message the Fireballs Brought, Whiskey Making; about journeys to and from Spiritland: The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Journey to Spiritland, Sunset Point, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Lame Friend, Two Roads to Spiritland, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Holy One and His Brother, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, The Foolish Hunter, Waruǧábᵉra, 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 Rušewe to the Twins, The Man who went to the Upper and Lower Worlds, The Petition to Earthmaker, Wears White Feather on His Head, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Thunder Cloud Marries Again, The Shawnee Prophet — What He Told the Hocągara, The Friendship Drum Origin Myth, Aracgéga's Blessings, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Man Whose Wife was Captured; mentioning the Ghost Dance (Wanąǧí Waší): Ghost Dance Origin Myth I; in which dancing plays a role: Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Mijistéga and the Sauks, Mijistéga’s Powwow Magic and How He Won the Trader's Store, Little Priest's Game, How Little Priest went out as a Soldier, Migistéga’s Magic, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Įcorúšika and His Brothers, Trickster and the Dancers, Wolves and Humans, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, The Blessing of Kerexųsaka, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Black Otter's Warpath; 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, Wolf 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, 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, Little Red Bird's Story; mentioning basswood: The Children of the Sun, Redhorn's Father, Bear Clan Origin Myth (v. 3), The Big Stone, The Fox-Hocąk War, Hare Burns His Buttocks, The King Bird, Hare Kills Wildcat, Turtle's Warparty, The Birth of the Twins, The Messengers of Hare, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, Mijistéga’s Powwow Magic and How He Won the Trader's Store; 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, 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), Wolf Clan Origin Myth, 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.

This waiką has many points of convergence with the worak The Man who Defied Disease Giver.

Themes: someone is disconsolate over the death of a relative: White Flower, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Blessing of Kerexųsaka, The Lost Child, The Shaggy Man, Holy One and His Brother, Sunset Point, The Message the Fireballs Brought; someone goes out searching for a missing person who was dear to them: The Woman who Married a Snake, Waruǧábᵉra, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, A Man's Revenge, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Old Man and Wears White Feather, Snowshoe Strings, Brass and Red Bear Boy; a man travels west following a departed loved one in order to prevent him/her from residing forever in Spiritland: Holy One and His Brother, Snowshoe Strings; a human being physically travels to Spiritland without having died: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Sunset Point, Snowshoe Strings, The Thunderbird, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Star Husband, White Wolf, Waruǧábᵉra, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Shaggy Man, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Aracgéga'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), The Friendship Drum Origin Myth, Trickster Concludes His Mission; four spirit beings help those who travel to Spiritland: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, The Lame Friend, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Petition to Earthmaker; a person (or spirit) aids someone in a task by concentrating his mind upon it: Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Petition to Earthmaker, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter; a traveler on the road to Spiritland comes to what appears to be an impassible obstacle, but when he forges ahead, he succeeds in overcoming it: The Journey to Spiritland, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts; someone who is exhausted, struggles to reach the summit of a hill, where (s)he is content to die: Bluehorn's Nephews, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, The Healing Blessing, The Stench-Earth Medicine Origin Myth; someone's death would be caused by looking at someone whom spirits have forbidden to be seen: The Creation of Man (v. 4), The Man who Defied Disease Giver; in order to win a woman that he loves back from the dead, a man must endure supernatural temptations: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Sunset Point; ghosts annoy a hero so that, by reacting to them, he will thereby fail to retrieve his (future) wife from among them: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter; people make a lot of noise in order to divert someone from his goal: The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Trickster and the Geese, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn Contests the Giants; people are tempted by the dead to give into their purposes, but (could) succeed by following the advice of a friendly spirit and resisting with their utmost power: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Little Human Head, The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Sunset Point, Snowshoe Strings; ghosts try to snatch away a living man's blanket: The Difficult Blessing; in order to return a soul to life from Spiritland, a hero must avoid joining in the festivities of the ghosts: The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Sunset Point, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts; a young hero (becomes depressed and) sits in silence with a blanket over his head: Turtle's Warparty, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Necessity for Death, Moiety Origin Myth; a man brings back to life the young woman he loves: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Sunset Point; someone returns from the dead: The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, Sunset Point, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, White Fisher, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, The Shaggy Man, The Two Brothers, The Two Boys, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, White Wolf, The Journey of the Prophet’s Acolyte, The Red Man, The Chief of the Heroka, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, Waruǧábᵉra, The Lost Blanket, The Old Man and the Giants; a spirit gives someone something to cast at her pursuers that will prevent them from catching her: Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, The Wild Rose; ghosts chase after someone: The Four Slumbers Origin Myth, Little Human Head, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Little Fox and the Ghost; ghosts are averse to ashes: Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Hare Steals the Fish.

Notes

¹ John Baptiste, "The Man who Brought His Wife back from Spiritland," in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Freeman #3897 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) Winnebago V, #8:1-2 (syllabic text with interlinear English translation by Jean Baptiste); Winnebago V, #8:14-37; Winnebago V. #5:3-60. A Hōcąk text followed by an English translation by Oliver Lamere and Paul Radin is found in, "The Man who Brought His Wife back from Spiritland," in Paul Radin, The Culture of the Winnebago: As Defined by Themselves (Baltimore: Special Publications of the Bollingen Foundation, #1, 1949) 47-65. This story is discussed in Claude Lévi-Strauss, "Four Winnebago Myths," Structural Anthropology, vol. 2, trs. Monique Layton (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976) 198-210.

² Walter James Hoffman, The Menominee Indians, in the Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1892-1893 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896) 14:2:816.

³ Marino, A Dictionary of Winnebago, 404 s.v. wa, 225 s.v. gis.

⁴ Apollodorus 1.3.2; Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica; Ovid, Metamorphhoses, 10.1-85, 11.1-84; Vergil, Metamorphoses, 4.453-527; Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, 2.7. Carl Kerényi, The Heroes of the Greeks (London: Thames and Hudson, 1974 [1959]) 284. Åke Hultkrantz, The North American Indian Orpheus Tradition, in Statens Etnografiska Museum, Monograph Series 2 (Stockholm, the Museum, 1957): 69ff.; Guy Lanoue, “Orpheus in the Netherworld in The Plateau of Western North America: The Voyage of Peni,” Orfeo e l'Orfismo, ed. A. Masaracchia (Rome: Gruppo Editoriale Internazionale, 1993) 447-485. A. H. Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," Journal of American Folklore, 48, #189 (1935): 263-293.

^4.1 "16. Lodge Boy and Throw Away's Father," in R. Harry Lowie, The Assiniboine (New York: The Trustees, 1909) 168-169.

⁵ Louis Bloomfield, Menomini Texts (Amer. Ethn. Soc., Publ. 12, 1928) 125-129. Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 274.

^5.0.0 "5. The Island of the Blessed; or, the Hunter's Dream," in Henry R. Schoolcraft, Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States, Vol. I (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1854) 321-323.

^5.0 Diamond Jenness, The Ojibwa Indians of Parry Island, Their Social and Religious Life, Bulletin 78, Anthropological Series #17 (Ottawa: National Museum of Canada, 1935) 109.

^5.1 Josiah Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies (Philadelphia: W. Moore, 1849) 2:239-240.

⁶ George Bird Grinnell, "Origin of the Worm Pipe," in Blackfoot Lodge Tales. The Story of a Prairie People (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1892) 127-131.

^6.1 Father Christian le Clercq, New Relation of Gaspesia, With the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians, try. William F. Ganong (Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1910) 208-213.

⁷ "The Ghost Wife," George Bird Grinnell, Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1961 [1889]) 129-131.

^7.2 Günter Wagner, Yuchi Tales (Amer. Ethn. Soc., Publ. 13, 1931), 82-89; Frank G. Speck, Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians (Univ. Pennsylvania Museum, Anthro. Publ., I:1-1154, 1909) 144-146; Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 273.

^7.3 John R. Swanton, Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians (Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 88, 1929) 189-190.

⁸ Swanton, Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians, 141-144. Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 273.

⁹ Brebeuf in Edna Kenton, The Indians of Norih America: from the Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Thwaites Edition (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1927) 258-260. Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 274.

^9.0 "The Daughter of the Sun," in James Mooney, History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (Asheville, North Carolina: Bright Mountain Books, 1992 [1891/1900]) Story 5: 252-254.

^9.1 Åke Hultkrantz, The North American Indian Orpheus Tradition: Native Afterlife Myths and Their Origins ([Place Unknown]: Afterworld Press, 1957) 17-18.

^9.2 Julian Haynes Steward, Northern and Gosiute Shoshoni (Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1943) 287.

^9.3 Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," [270]. Hugo Reid, "Indians of Los Angeles County," The Los Angeles Star, 1852. Reprinted by Arthur M. Ellis (Los Angeles, 1926) 40-44; Ruth Benedict, "Serrano Tales," Journal of American Folklore, 39 (1926): 1-17 [8].

^9.3.1 Elsie Clews Parsons, Taos Tales (New York: The American Folk-lore Society, J. J. Augustin, 1940) 27-28; for a longer version, see 23-27.

^9.4 Hubert Howe Brancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America, 5 vols (San Francisco: the History Company, 1886) 3:530, citing Jose Ortega, Apostolicos afanes de la Compañia de Jesus (Barcelona: Por Pablo Nadal impressor, en la calle de la Canúda, 1754) 23-24. Bancroft refers to Nayarit, which is not a tribe but a vast territory in southern Mexico. In this story he mentions the other world land of Mucchita which is a Cora word and concept, as we see mentioned here: "The Cora also say that the souls that rest in the place of the dead called Mucchita can be seen during the day in the form of flies and at night in their own form," Alfredo López Austin, Los Mitos del Tlacuache Caminos de la Mitología Mesoamericana (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas) 160 nt. 12, citing J. Dahlgren, Barbro, Grupo cora, Sierra del Nayar, Jesús María, Nayarit, proyecto para diorama. Planeación e Instalación del Museo Nacional de Antropología, México, SEP-INAH-CAPFCE, Octubre de 1961, copia mecanoscrita, fol. 47.

¹⁰ Livingston Farrand, "16. The Origin of Death," in Franz Boas (ed.), Folk-tales of Salishan and Sahaptin Tribes, Memoirs of the American Folk-lore Society, Vol. XI (Lancaster, Pa., New York, American Folk-lore Society, 1917) 178-179.

^10.0 Melville Jacobs, Northwest Sahaptin Texts, University of Washington Publications in Anthropology 2, #6 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1929) 227-231.

^10.00 A. L. Kroeber, "Indian Myths of South Central California," University of California Publications, American Archaeology and Ethnology, 4 (1907), #4: 169-250 [Story #24, p. 247]. See the similar story of the Yokuts in Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 263-293 [267-268].

^10.01 Jeremiah Curtin, Myths of the Modocs (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1912) 39-44; Leslie Spier, Klamath Tales (Manuscript). Summary by Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 274.

^10.1 Hultkrantz, The North American Indian Orpheus Tradition, 7.

^10.2 John R. Swanton, Tlingit Myths and Texts, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 39 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1909) 87. The Returned from Spirit Land, 249-250.

¹¹ Franz Boas, Kwakiutl Tales (New York: Columbia University Press, 1910) 2:446-447.

^11.0 Pliny Earle Goddard, Life and Culture of the Hupa (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1903) 74.

^11.00 Diamond Jenness, The Sarcee Indians of Alberta, Bulletin 90, Athropological Series #23 (Ottawa: National Museum of Canada, 1938) 97-98.

^11.1 Willard W. Hill, Navaho field notes, 1933-1934. Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 271.

¹² Franz Boas, Bella Bella Tales, American Folk-Lore Society, Memoires, 25 (1932) 1-178 [142, 143]; Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 282.

¹³ Thelma Adamson, Folk-tales of the Coast Salish (New York: The American Folk-lore Society, G. E. Stechert and Co., Agents, 1934) 21-29.

^13.1 Edward S. Curtis, The North American Indian (Norwood, Mass.: Plimpton Press, 1911) VII.95-97.

¹⁴ S. A. Barrett, Pomo Myths (Bulletin of the Public Museum of City of Milwaukee, 15 (1933): 1-608 [379]; Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 270.

^14.1 Roland B. Dixon, "Shasta Myths," #6. Origins of Preople and of Death, Journal of American Folk-lore, 23, #87 (January-March, 1910): [13-14].

^17.1 Hagwilgate, "9. The City of the Dead," in Diamond Jenness, "Myths of the Carrier Indians of British Columbia," The Journal of American Folklore, v. 47, #184-185 (April-September, 1934): 143-145.

¹⁹ Frank Hamilton Cushing, Zuni Folk Tales (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931). Gayton, "The Orpheus Myth in North America," 272.

^19.1 E. S. Craighill Handy, Polynesian Religion (Honolulu, Hawaii: The Museum, 1927) 82.

^19.2 Handy, Polynesian Religion, 82-83.

^19.3 Handy, Polynesian Religion, 81. Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, trs. Willard Trask. Volume 76 of the Bollingen Series (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964) 367-368.

²⁰ "Izanagi and Izanami. Shinto deity." Encyclopaedia Britannica, electronic text, viewed: 29 April 2025.