The Roaster

retold by Richard L. Dieterle

There was a large village in which a chief lived. At the outskirts of this village an orphan boy of no account lived with his grandmother. He never did anything except sit around the fire warming his chest. In time his chest became spotted from sitting so close to the fire. One day it was discovered that a maiden had disappeared without a trace from her menstrual hut. The town crier went about the village with a message: "If anyone has seen this girl they must say so. If any of you young men have eloped with her, you may marry her, but do not keep it a secret." When the orphan heard this, he said to his grandmother, "They act like she is still alive, but I know for a fact that she is dead." His grandmother became agitated: "An orphan boy with a spotted chest ought not to say such things. You are of no account and people like you never have such knowledge." So the orphan said nothing more. Not long afterwards, the same thing happened again, only this time two women disappeared from the same menstrual hut. The crier came forward with the same message, and the boy told his grandmother that the women were surely dead. Once again she scolded him. A third time it happened, but this time three women were missing from a single menstrual lodge. The village crier's pleas went unanswered, and the orphan told his grandmother that the reason was that the women were dead. His grandmother became alarmed and feared that they would interrogate him roughly to find out how he came by this opinion, so she told him to say nothing more about it. The next time no less than four maidens could not be found, and this time the crier announced a council where people could voice their opinions on what had happened. The orphan told his grandmother, "It is not an animal that is doing this, but someone in our village; and unless it is reported, the entire village will be eaten up." So his grandmother agreed to report it to the chief.

That very day, quite unexpectedly, someone appeared on a hill near the village and sang:

I would eat baked menses,
I would eat baked menses.

This caused alarm throughout the community. Grandmother went straight to the council which was held in the chief's lodge. The councilors were surprised to see her. The chief said, "Well grandmother, you have never attended a council before. You have not come for nothing, so you must have something to tell us." She told them what her grandson had said, and how she had scolded him. The chief responded, "You did wrong in not having your grandson report this to us." She told him, "The reason why I came here is the thing on the hill, that is why I did this." After she left, the chief summoned the grandson to his lodge. The boy appeared before the council and they gave him something to eat and asked him to tell them whatever he knew. The youngest son of the chief lived behind a partition in the same lodge where he had a bed. He peeked out from behind the partition. The orphan had brought his bow and arrows which had been made for him by his grandmother. The orphan quickly said, "It is your son who is doing this!" and he made a mad dash for the door. Then suddenly from behind the partition a large grizzly bear bolted through the lodge after the orphan. Despite the fact that everyone in the village was shooting at the grizzly, it attacked only the orphan, who fled beyond the outskirts of the village with the bear in hot pursuit. Finally, the boy turned and fired an arrow into the throat of the were-grizzly. He hit the grizzly twice more, then with his fourth shot he cleaved the bear's heart into four pieces, and that killed him. The villagers finally caught up. The orphan told them that they must burn the body up completely, or the were-grizzly would come back to life. Then the orphan returned to the chief's lodge with the news. The chief said, "Because of you our village has lived. My son grew into something bad and you have killed him. I will make you my son in his place and you will become chief. His things are now yours, and where he laid, you may lay." However, the young man knew that the grizzly could still come back to life, so he had everything the chief's son owned burned, and the lodge floor covered with new dirt. By his achievement and his adoption, the orphan had now become chief.

One morning the young chief went out hunting, and killed an entire herd of buffalo. He packed back just the tongues, but his pack was so heavy no one could lift it. The young men went out and packed back the meat. The old chief was very pleased with his new son. The next day the young chief made an announcement: "All you young men — tomorrow morning I am going traveling, and if you want to join me meet me at the south end of the village." The next day they all assembled there. One of those coming along was the new chief's nephew, the son of one of his older sisters. The nephew was one of the tallest boys in the village, but the chief himself was the smallest. The nephew packed a kettle, as they expected to kill a lot of game. At noon they started out, and when they stopped to camp the chief told them that they would kill two bears and two deer. And just as he predicted, so they did. This happened for four consecutive nights. He directed them to keep the deerskins and to pack the meat, as they would be traveling for some time. On the next day they stopped to smoke. The nephew blazed a great oak tree there, stripping the bark from both the side whence they had come, and from the side in the direction that they were going. Some of the men began to wonder just what the chief was up to: was this a warparty, a hunt, or a visit to some other village? The next day, after killing more game, the chief directed his men to make moccasins out of the deerskin. At this point many of the men had misgiving about the expedition, as they had now gone quite far afield and it seemed that there would be no end to this trek. So many of them slipped away and returned to the village. Yet the chief was not angry, and said, "It is good. They can go back and help protect the village." The reason that he said this, was that he only wanted the strongest of men with him. For four days men defected from his expedition, but he said, "It is all right, they have not done anything wrong in leaving." Finally, there were only ten followers left, and twelve men in all counting the chief and his nephew; but these men were all enthusiastic, even though they did not know what their chief intended. Then at noon the next day, they stopped. The chief at last told them something: "When we get to the foot of that blue hill in the distance, we will prepare ourselves. We are to play games, and will need to make ourselves a few things." They were excited at the prospect. At midday on the fourth day he arrived there. They took their white deerskins and sewed them altogether, making one giant fabric. Then he had them cut twice eight poles, and they put them in the ground and made a giant Dakota style teepee. Then the chief caused to be painted on it all the animals, and all the birds, and all the spirits. Then they made lacrosse sticks. The chief sent others out to collect cattails from the marsh, and they brought back many. And the chief compressed them so tightly that they were able to fit bushels of them into the nephew's quiver. "In four days we will arrive at a village, and there we will gamble with them," the chief said. He picked two young friends — "big talkers" — to be the leaders in the games. The chief gave them both a new name: from now on they would be called "White Cloud." He selected two other friends to be the gamblers, and he gave them both the name "Winner." Then he said, "You will have the power to do whatever you will. If you wish to be mighty, then you shall be mighty. And when we gamble, we shall stake our lives against theirs, but we will demand that they put up two men and two women for every one of us. We shall kill the men, but spare the women so that we may take them as wives." Then by his miraculous power, he compressed the tent and the poles and all the lacrosse sticks and placed them in his nephew's quiver. They traveled for four days over flat land, but saw not a single object. Then finally they came to a lake with a nice sand beach and nearby they saw a big village of teepees.

They arrived at noon. The chief sent White Cloud to ask their chief where they might camp. When the villagers saw White Cloud coming, they remarked, "Look, a big fat fellow is coming towards us. What a delicious fellow he must be!" As he passed they stood downwind and sniffed the air. When White Cloud completed his mission, he reported back that they could camp where they were. The chief then gave the second White Cloud a gourd rattle and sent him to challenge them to a game. After he left, the village crier announced, "Hąho! Tomorrow we shall gamble!" And the peopled replied in unison, for they always spoke like a chorus, "I am looking forward to the soup." They spoke this way, for they were Giants and cannibals. So they met to discuss the contest. The Giants balked at the four-to-one odds, but the humans argued that if they lost the Giant would be able to eat them, whereas if the humans won they would gain nothing. The Giants objected to women being staked on the outcome, but the humans argued that since they would also be eating the human victims if they won, they should share in the hazards. The Giants agreed that this was fair. In the first game, the men named "Winners" competed against the Giants. They were too swift for them, and the Giants lost. They killed the Giants that had been staked, then burned them up using cattails as fuel. Although the Giant males were nearly four times the size of humans, their women were the same size as human women and very pretty as well. They were spared and taken was wives.

It was agreed that the next game would be the one called "Chips." The two Winners were chosen to play against the Giants a second time. The two sides sat opposite one another with chips in between them. The first Giant began to cough and to pound his chest. Then unexpectedly, he coughed up a live pheasant! Then Winner, recalling what the chief had said of their powers, proceeded to do the same thing: he coughed and pounded on his chest. Then to the amazement of all, he coughed up a carorup'eja, a kind of marsh-dwelling bird. The Giants spoke in chorus: "This is what they call a woodsplitter." It had gray eyes, and swished it tail up and down. The Giant lifted his bird forward, but it was blind and was not able to pick up a single chip. Then Winner put his bird forward, and the woodsplitter got a chip in his beak every time. So the Giants lost again. They were killed, then burned up so that even the bones were consumed. Once again the women were spared and taken as wives.

The Giants held another council in which two of their number stepped forward and reminded them that they had never come close to being beaten in a foot race. So it was decided with the humans that the next contest would be a race. The human side put forward the two White Clouds as their runners. The contestant were to race to an oak tree that grew at the northern end of the world. When the race began the Giants got such a lead that they disappeared over the horizon. Then the White Clouds said to one another, "It's about time!" Then they really began to run. They soon caught up to the Giants, and when they passed by they taunted them: "You are still dancing around in place — when are you planning to start running?" The White Clouds rounded the oak, but paused to put a pole in the ground which they inclined so that it pointed towards the sun. Then they came to the finish line, and all the Giants thought that they had merely doubled back and had not really won. Eventually, the Giant runners came across, and they confessed that they had been beaten. Again the humans took wives and after killing the Giants, burned them up completely.

The Giants held another council and voted to play lacrosse with the humans, and so it was agreed. The White Clouds were again chosen to be among those to play, and the humans painted their bodies completely red. The Giants showed up naked with their bodies painted completely black. In the game, the best Giant player was a yųgiwi (princess). They passed the ball to her, but as she struggled with the chief for possession, her face became hot and flushed red. Then the chief took the ball away from her. When her mother saw this she scolded her severely: "You wanton thing, you will bring destruction upon your own brothers." She thought that the princess lusted after the chief. The humans won the game, and the chief claimed the princess as his bride, and the other woman staked on the outcome went to his nephew. The princess was of unusual beauty: she had yellow hair, white complexion, and her eyes were gray. They again burned the Giants up completely. Now the Giants decided to challenge the humans to the game at which they were most skilled. In this game a man jumped as high as he could, then drove himself into the ground. The man who was buried deepest in the ground was the winner. The princess told the chief, "The man that the Giants will send against you is very good, but he has never landed in the ground any deeper than his ankles. I, on the other hand, have landed as deep as my thighs, so let me compete in your place." But the chief declined. The Giant mounted the hill and jumped from a flat stone, and when he landed, he embedded in the ground past his ankles. Then the chief jumped. As he fell through the air a streak of flame trailed after him, and flecks of fire shot from his sides, and when he landed he made a great crater, and in the explosion countless animals flew through the air and landed across the landscape. So they did as they had before when they had won. The chief later that evening had a revelation that the Giants would attempt to flee, so he sent his nephew to their village in the dead of night, and he placed great bundles of cattails between their teepees and set them afire. No Giant escaped alive.

Then the princess asked her husband, "Why did I become hot whenever I got near you when we played lacrosse?" He replied, "It was because you were in opposition to me." When they arrived back home, the chief told everyone: "We went to defeat the Giants because I knew that they were going to launch a retaliatory raid to avenge the menses roaster." The chief and the princess had a son who grew to be quite large. In those times people were all small, but because they married Giant women, in time some people were large and others were small. Large people today merely take after their Giant ancestors. The chief then announced: "We are now going home. I was not created by the Creator for this purpose. I came here because I took pity on this village, for I knew that the Giants would attack it and that it would be very difficult." Then he, his wife, and his child ascended to the heavens. And as he did so, he trailed fire behind him, for he was a comet-meteor. When comet-meteors come to earth, people rejoice since game animals become more plentiful. The comet-meteorite controls the animals.¹

Commentary: In the original manuscript the Hocąk word is translated as "comet," but it is clear from the myth that these fiery celestial objects strike the earth and leave craters. Hence the hyphenated name, since comets are being grouped with meteorites. His ability in the myth to compact things into very small spaces is an expression of the very great power that is compacted into the seemingly small space of the meteor or comet. When they strike the earth, their true power is made manifest and all that is compacted becomes expanded.

It was the general practice in North America that when a woman had her menstrual period, she retreated to a special hut or lodge away from the main living quarters. Women in this condition were considered ritually polluted and a danger to military objects such as weapons and warbundles. Menstruation is associated with the moon owing to a rough correspondence in cycles. The wife of the Meteor Spirit is lunar: her face is white like that of the moon, and the gray mare on the moon are her gray eyes, her yellow hair is the myriad of stars that surround her. She is cool and possessed of the diminishing powers of the feminine, and therefore is in opposition to the fecund, hot, and expanding powers of the Meteor Spirit. She is the principle of menstruation and infertility; he is the principle of seed and fecundity. In his comet aspect, he travels long and slowly across the night sky just as his counterpart does on his grand but slow epic march to his affair with the Giants. The night sky with its spirit-constellations that revolve around the pole star is an image of the Dakotah teepee under whose canopy the Comet Spirit sleeps.

Links: Meteor Spirit, Were-Grizzlies and Other Man-Bears, Giants, Pretty Woman, Bird Spirits, Gourd Rattles.

Stories: featuring featuring Wojijéga (the Meteor Spirit) as a character: The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Wojijé, The Raccoon Coat, The Green Man; mentioning Rock Spirits: The Big Stone, The Green Man, The Creation of the World, The Commandments of Earthmaker, The Seer, Wojijé, The Raccoon Coat, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Hare Kills Flint, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, A Woman Turns into a Rock, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle; featuring Giants as characters: A Giant Visits His Daughter, Turtle and the Giant, The Stone Heart, Young Man Gambles Often, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn Contests the Giants, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father, Morning Star and His Friend, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Old Man and the Giants, Shakes the Earth, White Wolf, Redhorn's Father, The Hocągara Contest the Giants, Grandfather's Two Families, Redhorn's Sons, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Thunder Cloud is Blessed, Little Human Head, Heną́ga and Star Girl, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, Sun and the Big Eater, The Big Eater, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Origins of the Milky Way, Ocean Duck, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Wears White Feather on His Head, cf. The Shaggy Man; featuring Pretty Woman (or a Giant princess with red or yellow hair): Redhorn's Sons (red hair), Redhorn Contests the Giants (red hair), Redhorn's Father (red hair), The Hocągara Contest the Giants (red-yellowish hair), Morning Star and His Friend; featuring white faced (lunar) women: The Woman Who Became an Ant, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy; dealing with menstrual pollution: Hare Kills Wildcat, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, The Red Man, Bluehorn's Nephews; featuring were-bears as characters: The Were-Grizzly, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Spotted Grizzly Man, Brass and Red Bear Boy, Partridge's Older Brother, Turtle's Warparty, The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, Wazųka, Porcupine and His Brothers, The Shaggy Man; mentioning grizzly bears: Blue Bear, Brass and Red Bear Boy, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Were-Grizzly, The Spotted Grizzly Man, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Wazųka, Little Priest's Game, The Story of How Little Priest went out as a Soldier, Mijistéga’s Powwow Magic and How He Won the Trader's Store, Migistega's Magic, The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, The Two Boys (giant black grizzly), Partridge's Older Brother, The Chief of the Heroka, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Dipper (white grizzly), Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, The Creation of Man (v. 9), The Creation of Evil, cp. The Woman Who Fought the Bear; about Bird Spirits: Crane and His Brothers, The King Bird, Bird Origin Myth, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Wears White Feather on His Head, Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Thunderbird, Owl Goes Hunting, The Boy Who Became a Robin, Partridge's Older Brother, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, The Foolish Hunter, Ocean Duck, Earthmaker Sends Rušewe to the Twins, The Quail Hunter, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Hocąk Arrival Myth, Trickster Gets Pregnant, Trickster and the Geese, Holy One and His Brother (kaǧi, woodpeckers, hawks), Porcupine and His Brothers (Ocean Sucker), Turtle's Warparty (Thunderbirds, eagles, kaǧi, pelicans, sparrows), Kaǧiga and Lone Man (kaǧi), The Old Man and the Giants (kaǧi, bluebirds), The Bungling Host (snipe, woodpecker), The Red Feather, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Waruǧábᵉra, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Black and White Moons, The Markings on the Moon, The Creation Council, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Earthmaker Blesses Wagíšega (Wešgíšega), The Man Who Would Dream of Mą’ųna (chicken hawk), Hare Acquires His Arrows, Keramaniš’aka's Blessing (black hawk, owl), Heną́ga and Star Girl (black hawk), The Stench-Earth Medicine Origin Myth (black hawk, kaǧi), Worúxega (eagle), The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men (eagle), The Gift of Shooting (eagle), Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, Hawk Clan Origin Myth, The Hocąk Migration Myth, Blue Jay, The Baldness of the Buzzard, The Abduction and Rescue of Trickster (buzzards), The Shaggy Man (kaǧi), The Healing Blessing (kaǧi), The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth (kaǧi), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Įcorúšika and His Brothers (Loon), Great Walker's Medicine (loon), The Spirit of Gambling, The Big Stone (a partridge), Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks, The Story of the Medicine Rite (loons, cranes, turkeys), The Fleetfooted Man, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 4) — see also Thunderbirds; mentioning blind people: A Raccoon Tricks Four Blind Men, Raccoon and the Blind Men, Hare Visits the Blind Men, The Raccoon Coat, Big Eagle Cave Mystery, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Owl Goes Hunting; mentioning oak: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, The Oak Tree and the Man Who was Blessed by the Heroka, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Children of the Sun, Turtle's Warparty, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, Old Man and Wears White Feather, Waruǧábᵉra, The Creation Council, The Man Who Would Dream of Mą’ųna, Young Man Gambles Often, Morning Star and His Friend (v. 2), Sun and the Big Eater, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Little Human Head, The Shaggy Man, Wears White Feather on His Head, Peace of Mind Regained, The Dipper (leaves); mentioning lacrosse (kísik): Redhorn's Father, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Morning Star and His Friend, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Redhorn's Sons, The Hocągara Contest the Giants, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, The Shaggy Man, How the Thunders Met the Nights.

Themes: great spirits come to earth in order to rescue humanity from enemies who threaten their existence: The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, Bladder and His Brothers, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Grandfather's Two Families, The Hare Cycle, The Hocągara Contest the Giants, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Raccoon Coat, Redhorn's Sons, The Redhorn Cycle, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Spirit of Gambling, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Trickster Cycle, Wojijé, Redhorn's Father, Turtle and the Merchant; a boy has a burnt : White Wolf; an old woman scolds her orphan grandson for being presumptuous even though he later turns out to be the most capable person in the village: White Wolf, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Brass and Red Bear Boy, The Red Feather; a human turns into a (spirit) animal: How the Thunders Met the Nights (Thunderbird), Waruǧábᵉra (Thunderbird), The Dipper (hummingbird), Keramaniš’aka's Blessing (blackhawk, owl), Elk Clan Origin Myth (elk), Young Man Gambles Often (elk), Sun and the Big Eater (horse), The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Were-Grizzly, Partridge's Older Brother (bear), The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother (bear), Porcupine and His Brothers (bear), The Shaggy Man (bear), Wazųka (bear), The Spotted Grizzly Man (bear), Brass and Red Bear Boy (bear, buffalo), White Wolf (dog, wolf), Worúxega (wolf, bird, snake), Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (buffalo), The Brown Squirrel (squirrel), The Skunk Origin Myth (skunk), The Fleetfooted Man (otter, bird), A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga (otter), The Diving Contest (Waterspirit), The Woman who Married a Snake (snake, Waterspirit), The Omahas who turned into Snakes (four-legged snakes), The Twins Get into Hot Water (v. 3) (alligators), Snowshoe Strings (a frog), How the Hills and Valleys were Formed (v. 3) (earthworms), The Woman Who Became an Ant, Hare Kills a Man with a Cane (ant); a challenger comes shaking a gourd rattle: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Grandfather's Two Families, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Redhorn Contests the Giants, White Wolf; someone pounds on his chest and coughs up birds: The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn's Sons; a Giant pounds on his chest and coughs up birds that he intends to use as dice: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn's Sons; birds used as implements in a game of chance: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Spirit of Gambling, Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn Contests the Giants; turtles used as implements in a game of chance: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn Contests the Giants; racing to the end of the world and back: Old Man and Wears White Feather, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Green Man, Young Man Gambles Often, Morning Star and His Friend (v. 2), Sun and the Big Eater, The Big Eater; contestants race to an oak tree at the edge of the world and back: Old Man and Wears White Feather, Young Man Gambles Often, Morning Star and His Friend (v. 2), Sun and the Big Eater, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse; in a foot race one runner derides the other by suggesting that he is practicaly standing still: Sun and the Big Eater, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse; someone has a very pale complexion: The Woman Who Became an Ant, Big Eagle Cave Mystery, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle; a Giant (Wągerucge) princess has her game disturbed by her attraction to a hero: Redhorn Contests the Giants, Redhorn's Father, Morning Star and His Friend, Redhorn's Sons; red as a symbolic color: The Journey to Spiritland (hill, willows, reeds, smoke, stones, haze), The Gottschall Head (mouth), The Chief of the Heroka (clouds, side of Forked Man), The Red Man (face, sky, body, hill), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse (neck, nose, painted stone), Redhorn's Father (leggings, stone sphere, hair), The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father (hair, body paint, arrows), Wears White Feather on His Head (man), The Birth of the Twins (turkey bladder headdresses), The Two Boys (elk bladder headdresses), Trickster and the Mothers (sky), Rich Man, Boy, and Horse (sky), The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits (Buffalo Spirit), Bluehorn Rescues His Sister (buffalo head), Wazųka (buffalo head headdress), The Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth (horn), The Brown Squirrel (protruding horn), Bear Clan Origin Myth (funerary paint), Hawk Clan Origin Myth (funerary paint), Deer Clan Origin Myth (funerary paint), Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (stick at grave), Pigeon Clan Origins (Thunderbird lightning), Trickster's Anus Guards the Ducks (eyes), Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (scalp, woman's hair), The Race for the Chief's Daughter (hair), The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy (hair), Redhorn Contests the Giants (hair), Redhorn's Sons (hair), The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle (hair), A Wife for Knowledge (hair), Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (hair), The Hocągara Contest the Giants (hair of Giantess), A Man and His Three Dogs (wolf hair), The Red Feather (plumage), The Man who was Blessed by the Sun (body of Sun), The Man Whose Wife was Captured (v. 2) (body of the Warrior Clan Chief), Red Bear, Eagle Clan Origin Myth (eagle), The Shell Anklets Origin Myth (Waterspirit armpits), The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty (Waterspirits), The Man who Defied Disease Giver (red spot on forehead), The Wild Rose (rose), The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth (warclub), Įcorúšika and His Brothers (ax & packing strap), Hare Kills Flint (flint), The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head (edges of flint knives), The Nannyberry Picker (leggings), The Seduction of Redhorn's Son (cloth), Yųgiwi (blanket); marriage to a Giant: The Stone Heart, A Giant Visits His Daughter, Young Man Gambles Often, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn's Father, White Wolf; cannibal were-grizzlies: The Were-Grizzly, The Woman who Loved her Half-Brother, Were-Grizzlies and Other Man-Bears, Partridge's Older Brother; anthropophagy and cannibalism: A Giant Visits His Daughter, Turtle and the Giant, The Witch Men's Desert, The Were-Grizzly, Grandfather's Two Families, Redhorn's Father, Hawk Clan Origin Myth, The Lost Blanket, Young Man Gambles Often, White Wolf, The Shaggy Man, The Twins Get into Hot Water, Partridge's Older Brother, The First Fox and Sauk War, The Fox-Hocąk War, The Hocągara Contest the Giants, Morning Star and His Friend, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Seven Maidens, Šųgepaga, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Shakes the Earth, The Stone Heart, Thunder Cloud is Blessed; contests with the Giants: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Redhorn's Father, White Wolf, Young Man Gambles Often, Little Human Head, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Redhorn's Sons, Morning Star and His Friend, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, Sun and the Big Eater, The Big Eater, The Hocągara Contest the Giants, The Old Man and the Giants, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Shakes the Earth, The Origins of the Milky Way, The Shaggy Man, Grandfather's Two Familiess; the bodies of Giants wagered in a game, are burned up using cattail floss as fuel: The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Redhorn's Father, Grandfather's Two Families; intimate contact with women during their menses: Hare Kills Wildcat, Young Man Gambles Often; hunters kill so much game that they can only pack the tongues: Redhorn's Father, The Twins Visit Their Father's Village, The Nannyberry Picker, cf. Grandfather's Two Families; hunters kill an entire four cornered herd of buffalo: The Twins Visit Their Father's Village, The Nannyberry Picker; hunters kill an entire herd of animals: Redhorn's Father, The Twins Visit Their Father's Village, Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Nannyberry Picker, Snowshoe Strings, Morning Star and His Friend, The Two Boys; a small item set on or driven into the ground by a great man cannot be lifted by anyone else: The Twins Visit Their Father's Village (packs), The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension (warclub), The Shawnee Prophet — What He Told the Hocągara (a warclub), Wojijé (a dog), The Raccoon Coat (a dog); marriage to a yųgiwi (princess): The Nannyberry Picker, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, The Big Stone, Partridge's Older Brother, Redhorn's Sons, The Seduction of Redhorn's Son, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, Soft Shelled Turtle Gets Married, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, White Wolf, The Two Boys, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Shaggy Man, The Thunderbird, The Red Feather, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, The Birth of the Twins (v. 3), Trickster Visits His Family, The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother, Redhorn's Father, Old Man and Wears White Feather, Morning Star and His Friend, Thunderbird and White Horse, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, Shakes the Earth, The Nightspirits Bless Ciwoit’éhiga; good and bad spirits play the game, See who can Dive Deepest into the Earth: The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, The Green Man; an orphan rises from obscurity to become chief: The Red Man, Partridge's Older Brother, The Red Feather, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, The Chief of the Heroka, The Nannyberry Picker.

Notes

¹ Paul Radin, "The Roaster," Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) Notebook #2.