The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother

translated by Oliver LaMère and Paul Radin

This story is a version of "Partridge's Older Brother."

Numbers in brackets, [n], refer to the page number of the typed text; numbers in parentheses, (n), refer to the page number of the original (English) text.

[1] (1) There was a village, the chief of which had ten children. The tenth was a girl. By another wife he had another boy and girl, of which the boy was the eldest. Once the old chief told them to fast, which they did. Then he told them they could eat, so they went hunting, after which a feast was given. At this feast the sister with the nine brothers saw her half-brother for the first time, and thought him very handsome.

She thought, "It happened that the man I like is my half-brother." It happened that she was free to marry (2) whomever she liked, except her brother. But she thought to herself, "I can marry whom I like as it is." So she told her brother that he was the man that she should marry.

He was greatly astonished at this proposal, and he thought the best thing would be not to remain in the country or that community. So he decided to go away, and went to his boat to row away. But she came to him and said, "If you hand me that oar, I can do the rowing." On looking back and thus seeing the cause of his having to leave, he said, "You are (3) the one I dislike, as I was going away." With that he killed her and threw her out of his boat, which he then shoved off.

[She reappeared] and said again, "I thought that you were tired. I could do the rowing," To which he replied, "Ah, you are the one that I dislike, so I was going away, but here you are again." And so saying, he killed her again and threw her out.

The fourth time she said, "I am disliked, that is why they do thus to me, but still I am here really with the intention of being of some help." To which he replied, "Ah, I am really trying to run away from this (4) bad thing, but perhaps this is the cause of her persistence," he said as he threw out her work bag with her. So he started [2] again, but when he got out on the waters she cried again, "Hey you, he certainly makes himself a difficult man to get; well, as you go maybe you will see your village again," she finished sarcastically, and did not appear in his boat again.

He had an arrow quiver from the back of a wolf which said, "Older brother, I had better go and look around." To which the man replied, "Alright." So the wolf went and soon after he killed a deer. "Younger brother, it is good." (5) All night it killed deer, and the next morning was in a quiet mood, so he said, "Well, younger brother, you seem very quiet." To which the wolf replied, "Say, older brother, there are many deer here, and I would like to stay here that I might lay up something for the future; and if ever I can help you in the future as you go your way, I will do it."

The man replied, "Alright, younger brother, it is good. You will lay something by, and I am willing. So don't worry about me as I will be back sometime."

As he camped for the second night, a black-hawk wing that he carried on his hat said, "I wish to go and look," so he let him go. Before long it had caught a duck, as there were many ducks around there. He cooked it, and the hawk went on killing many more for himself. The next morning he went and killed another for him, and then remained very quiet. So the man said, "Younger brother, is there anything bothering you that you are so quiet? The other time that my younger brother remained thus, it was because he wished to stay here."

"Yes, older brother, it is because I wish to stay here and I can help you at any time that you need help." To which the man replied, "Alright," (7) and that he would return there again. So he went on.

After he had slept all night, his otter-skin tobacco pouch said to him, [3] "Say brother, there are many fish here, let me go and try to catch one." So he let it go, and it went and caught some fish. "Say, older brother, here is some fish, so you had better eat some," it said. So he ate some fish, while the otter made noise in the water killing fish throughout the whole night. It, also, was very quiet the next morning. So the man said, "Why do you remain quiet? The others did the same and wished to remain. If you weren't to do so (8), why don't you say so, as I have no objections." To which the otter replied, "Ah older brother, that is just what I want, and I could help you if you ever need me. So the older brother said he would return there again later, "I am going over here to a village, and if I accomplish my mission, I will return here again."

He was going to marry the princess of that village, so that his sister would not bother him any more. So he said, "If I marry her, I will return again, soon." So indeed, when he did return there again [after] he [had] married the (9) princess.

He remained  there for a short while after he had married the princess, and hunted for them which was a great help. But he felt uneasy about his mother and [younger] sister. So he returned again. When he returned to his brother that he had left last, he said, "No sooner had you left, that the half-sister that had bothered you destroyed the whole village and is abusing our sister."

So they started on together that they might reach her in time. He took with him all his brothers that he had left on his way. (10) Then he got near home he left them, and went and lay in wait for the coyote who was abusing his sister by saying, "Sister I have returned to you," and then throwing ashes in her face.

He caught the coyote, and put him in a sack, and placed it in [4] the top of the lodge where the smoke comes out.

Jesús Esteban San José		Abhinna Patel
A Coyote		A Grizzly Bear

His half-sister had turned herself into a grizzly-bear and had eaten all the people of the village. Therefore he killed and burned her, and pounded up her bones which he scattered over the site of the old village, and they all came back to life. Then he fixed up his sister, and his wife's people came to live with him, and they ate the things that were killed by his younger brothers. This was how the young man was blessed for his fasting.¹

Former Version (Retelling of the Story)

Commentary. "ten children" — this corresponds to the clans of the Hōcąk Nation:

This family structure is not found in the other version of this story (Partridge's Older Brother). However, the political oppositions are retained. In the other story the protagonist is clearly identified with the Waterspirit Clan. Although the spiritual Thunderbirds are in constant warfare with the Waterspirits, their counterparts in Hōcąk society, precisely because they call themselves "opposites" are in fact bound to one another in a special friendship relationship. This bond is ideally reflected in corresponding social standing in their respective moieties. The Thunderbirds are the clan from which the chief is chosen, and the Waterspirit Clan contends that it is the proper chief clan of the Lower Moiety. However, this is not universally recognized to say the least. It is also held that the Bear Clan is the chief clan of that moiety. The Bear Clan functions as police with certain roles and privileges on the warpath. Thus, they are called "soldiers" (mą̄́ną̄́pe). Their close friends, the "Little Soldiers," are the Wolf Clan. This pairing is expressed in negative terms: the rampaging grizzly and its offensive servant (or "dog") is quite clearly the Wolf Clan. In opposition to the pair, naturally, we would expect to find the counterparts of the Thunderbird and Waterspirit Clans. These are the protagonist and his sister of the chief's second family. Which is which may be a bit difficult to tell, although it seems appropriate that the hero, supposing him to represent the Thunderbird Clan, is constantly being chosen as the chief of whatever village in which he resides. This would mean that his sister is the Waterspirit Clan figure who is constantly being abused by the Bear Clan figure and his servant. The clear implication is that the Thunderbird Clan should intervene to rescue its "opposite," right the wrong done the Waterspirit Clan, and reëstablish all those who had been trodden down by the Bear Clan and its satellite. This might not be something that one might want to say explicitly out loud, but it can be said in a story that not too blatantly transparent.

Met, Mrs. Green Rainbow
A Woven Bag

"work bag" — this bag would contain all the tools used by a woman in her work: a digging stick, beads, needles, knives for cutting leather, and other tools. These articles represent what a woman does, in other words, they reflect her function. Since she stands for the Bear Clan, her work bag represents the function of the Bear Clan, its role as police. The Thunderbird figure considers aloud the possibility that the hubris of the Bear Clan derives from the power attached to its social function. If they were to get rid of this function, which is not found as such in other tribes, they might be rid of their problem.

"I can do the rowing" — here the canoe probably represents what in our times might be called the "ship of state." Whoever works the oar sets the direction and speed of the boat, which in symbolic terms, sets the course of the village. The implication is that the soon-to-be grizzly, the figure representing the ambitious Bear Clan, is attempting to commandeer the levers of government at the expense of the Thunderbird Clan itself.

"a difficult man" — this expression has an exact counterpart in "Partridge's Older Brother." There we find the Hōcąk words for this phrase. The Hōcąk for this is Wąk-cexi, where wąk means "man," and cexi means "difficult." This is a punning play on the near homonym Wakcexi, "Waterspirit." So who is the Waterspirit? In the other version of this story, it is the hero who represent that clan, whereas his sister, who in the astronomy allegory pursued there (but not here), she is Morning Star who has associations with the Thunderbirds. Here in our present story, it seems more likely that it is the embodiment of the Thunderbird Clan that is being recognized as a "Waterspirit" man in that he is defending the interests of his friendship clan. The victim being abused by her half-sister, the bear, is the representative of the Waterspirit Clan. So the myth is chartering an action: the Thunderbird Clan should rescue the sister Waterspirit Clan from the abuses of the Bear Clan, and rehabilitate all those whom the Bear Clan has suppressed.

"otter" — in "Partridge's Older Brother," there are four animal brothers, all of whom are birds. Our version has a highly systematic order of just three brothers, as we can see from this table:

The story emphasizes the three realms of the Above World, Earth, and the Below World. Esoterically, it presents a compromise, made explicit elsewhere, in which the Upper Moiety remains intact, but the Lower Moiety is divided in two:

A moiety is a basic subdivision of a tribe. Among the Hōcągara it is necessarily composed of a set of clans. What particularly defines a moiety division is exogamy: no one marries within his or her own moiety. There is a single odd exception: the Wolf Clan may marry within its own clan, otherwise, it observes the strictures applying to the prohibition to marry within one's own moiety. The Thunderbird Clan has always had a special condescension towards the Wolf Clan, and we see in this story that they have been represented by a species of canine rather than a human. Among the Hōcągara, each of the two moieties were subdivided into two halves, forming a quadripartite system exemplifying the sacred number four.

The Upper Moiety was divided into the First Thunderbird Family and the Second Thunderbird (or Air) Family. The first consists of the Thunderbird Clan; the second consists of the Eagle, Hawk (Warrior), and Pigeon Clans.² The Thunder Clan stands to the other Bird Clans as the Thunderbirds themselves stand to the visible birds of nature. However, in both practice and in waiką́na, this division was largely symbolic and lacked the kind of dissension that arose among the clans of the Lower Moiety. The Lower Moiety was subdivided into the Land Family and the Water Family, corresponding in nature to terrestrial animals as opposed to aquatic animals, the amphibians being included in the latter. The Land Family clans are the Bear, Wolf, Elk, Deer, and Buffalo; the Water Family consists of the Waterspirit, Snake, and Fish Clans.³ In the present story, the Lower Moiety division is emphasized, and any division of a corresponding nature in the Upper Moiety is ignored.

"his brother " — this will have been the otter, who symbolizes the Lower World governed by the Waterspirits. His central place is reflected temporally, as he is the last to appear and the first to be reunited with the hero, who represents the Thunderbird Clan.

"had eaten all the people of the village" — one of the standard plans of a village was to have the Bear Clan Lodge facing opposite the Chief's Lodge. The chief was chosen from the Thunderbird Clan. Prisoners of war were held in the Bear Clan Lodge with a guard posted outside the entrance. However, anyone who could enter the chief's lodge would be given clemency and assimilated into the Thunderbird Clan. In light of the fact that the Chief's Lodge was just across the way from where the prisoner was held, this practice built up the Thunderbird Clan in numbers and strength. If the Bear Clan was exceptionally vigorous in its guarding of the prisoner, the Thunderbird Clan would lose a potential new member, and their candidate would be made to "play with fire," and, on occasions, literally eaten. So, one of the major complaints that the Thunderbird Clan had against the Bear Clan was its propensity to kill off prisoners of war who could otherwise have been assimilated into the Thunderbird Clan, as we have seen in the story of "Hare Visits His Grandfather Bear."

Hōcąk Parallels

The present story is clearly a version of "Partridge's Older Brother," although these stories sometimes sharpely diverge from one another in their esoteric meaning.

Both stories are pro-Waterspirit Clan and anti-Bear Clan, although they develop their political expression rather differently. In addition, "Partridge's Older Brother" has an astronomy allegory that tracks certain celestial events centered on the star Antares from December 1708 to December 1725. Given that waiką́ stories were sold often at a great price, there were often trimmed down versions of lesser value that could be offered that simply contained less esoteric information. If one stripped the astronomy out of "Partridge's Older Brother," the result would more closely resemble the story line of "The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother." However, the resultant political story has been developed somewhat more, creating a further divergence. Therefore, it seems more likely than not that "The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother" is a somewhat evolved edited version of "Partridge's Older Brother," which reached its present form perhaps a few decades after 1725.

An alternative view would cast "Partridge's Older Brother" as a version of a simpler variant of "The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother" that has had an astronomy "code" added to it, although prima facie this would seem to be much more difficult to effect.

Comparative Material: The Ioway have a story much like this one. Once a chief's daughter fell in love with a young man, but he refused to marry her, so her father asked the Trickster Išjįki to help him avenge himself on the youth. Išjįki was to lead the young man into the wilderness, then abandoned him. That day Išjįki persuaded the young man to accompany him on an expedition to find kinnikinnick. They traveled across the Mississippi, but when the youth leapt ashore, suddenly Išjįki reversed the canoe, crossing back over and leaving the young man stranded. The young man wandered until he chanced upon a small lodge where food was being cooked; however, no one was present, so the boy ate nothing despite his hunger. He was there all night, but no one showed up, so the next morning he wandered about some more until once again he encountered a lodge where food was being prepared. Here again, no one was present. This time the boy was near starvation, so he resolved to eat some of the meat come what may. As he was eating he heard someone laughing. There was a dwarf, Maianwátahe, who said, "Go ahead grandson, eat your fill. You should have eaten yesterday. All that you came across had been prepared just for you." The next morning the two set out together. The dwarf fired his arrow blindly ahead of him so that it disappeared. When they finally arrived at the spot where the arrow had fallen, they discovered it embedded in the body of a slain deer. This they prepared for dinner. So it went the next day as well. Meanwhile, the boy's parents had given up on him as dead. They gave away all his property. He had three pets, a screech owl, a barred owl, and an eagle. They placed them in a canoe and set it adrift. In time the boat reached the opposite shore. The dwarf knew of all of this, and told the boy that he would find his pets by the water, so the next day they went to the river, and just as he had said, there were the three birds in the canoe. So he took up the birds and they went their way. They came to a tangle of grape vines where many mice lived. When the screech owl saw this, he said, "Master, this is the place that I would most like to live," so the young man set him free there. The owl promised him that if he needed his assistance, he would always be available. The next day they came to a place where countless rabbits could be seen. The barred owl said, "Master, this is the place where I would most like to live," and so the boy let him stay there, for which the barred owl promised his undying assistance whenever it was required. Then, traveling on, the next day they came to a stretch of woods where turkeys were to be seen everywhere. The eagle spoke up and said, "Master, this is the place where I would most like to live." So the young man let the eagle remain there. The eagle made the same promise of support as the others. Then the dwarf foresaw that the young man would need supplies and that he would find a canoe to take him on a long journey. They packed plenty of venison and soon found the canoe. Then the dwarf bid the boy goodbye, and assured him that if he was needed, the young man only need call upon him and he would appear. The boy paddled downstream and came upon a Giant and his equally large dog. The Giant called him over with the intention of eating him, but the boy tossed some of the venison out of his canoe, and said, "Try some of this!" While the Giant and his dog were preoccupied, the young man slew them both. That day he came to a lodge, and there inside was none other than the dwarf. The dwarf informed him that the next day would be even more difficult and gave him instructions on how to cope. His task was to paddle his canoe past a village of Giants without being captured. As he went along, he called to his pets, who answered immediately. The birds were reined to the canoe and moved it swiftly by the Giants' village, while they tried in vain to capture him using hooks. The next day he arrived at a village where he entered the last lodge on the outskirts where an old woman lived. She put him up, but then immediately went outside and yelled that a young man was there to court the chief's daughter. The chief gave him great hospitality, but when it came to food, all they had was frogs legs. The chief apologized, telling the young man that this is the only game left after the Giants in the area depleted the best game. However, they told him there was one lake full of game that was so inaccessible that even the Giants could not reach it. So later on the boy sent his pets out, and they killed a huge number of fowls of every description. The village was very happy. So in time he returned home with his new bride, stopping each night where his pets lived. At the last place they stopped, the dwarf gave him many presents of strong medicine. When at last he returned home, his parents had given him up for dead and were overjoyed to see him alive.⁴

This Ponca tale overlaps our own story at several points. In their version, a grizzly is surrounded and killed. One of the families took the bearskin home, and their eldest girl tanned the hide. However, as she tanned it she kept saying, "E¢a+!" (like a bear). When the children met to play games, she would put on the grizzly skin and pretend to attack them. She did this three times, but on the fourth occasion, she actually turned into a grizzly bear and killed all the children except her younger sister. Then she turned on the village, and killed all of them. She and her sister lived in a den, but every morning the grizzly sister let her go back to the village to forage for food. One day she met her four brothers who had escaped the carnage by having been on a hunting trip. They laid plans for their collective escape, telling her to meet them on the morrow. When she went on her morning forage, they came together and fled. The grizzly followed them over hill and dale, when she caught up to them she would say, "As you have made me suffer not a little, you all shall surely die!" They picked up and fled again. They put thorns on the path, and they slowed the grizzly down, but eventually she would catch up. Then they cut across a dense forest, and this slowed the grizzly down, but eventually she again caught up to them. Next one of the brothers made sharp thorns like awls, and these pierced the grizzly's feet, yet in time she was able to catch up. Now the fourth brother made a chasm in the ground, and when the bear made an attempt to jump across it, it widened, and she fell into the gap. The brothers surrounded her and shot her dead. Then the ground closed up over her and became as it had been before.⁵

A Kickapoo tale has some weak resemblances to our story. A young man came across an eagle and a tarantula disputing possession of a deer carcass. The boy arbitrated to their satisfaction, so they gave him the power to transform into an eagle or a tarantula and offered to support him in the future. Then the young man acquired as pets a jaybird, an redbird, a panther, an owl, and a screech owl. These all agreed to be his helpers. He went along in the company of his friends, until they reached a nice country where the panther said, "My friend, this is a good place for me to hunt." The young man replied, "Then you shall live here, my friend." Then they went on some more, and each time they came to good country, one of his pets did as the panther and was rewarded with that place as his hunting grounds. Finally, he arrived at a lodge where lived an old woman and her granddaughter. That night he slept with the young woman. However, it happened that at this village a ten-headed manitou habitually carried off maidens and held them in captivity. One day he carried off the young man's betrothed. Disguised in eagle form, he met with her in the Giant's domain. The next day he fought the manitou and with the spiritual aid of his animal friends, he slew him. He brought all the dead captive women back to life and married his betrothed.⁶

Links: Otter, Bear Spirits, Were-Grizzlies and Other Man-Bears, Black Hawks, Hawks, Wolf & Dog Spirits, Coyote.

Stories: about fasting blessings: Earthmaker Blesses Wagíšega (Wešgíšega), The Difficult Blessing, The Boy Who Became a Robin, The Boy who would be Immortal, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, The Seer, The Nightspirits Bless Jobenągiwįxka, Disease Giver Blesses Jobenągiwįxka, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, Black Otter's Warpath, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Aracgéga's Blessings, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, Great Walker's Medicine, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Man who was Blessed by the Sun, Holy Song, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Plant Blessing of Earth, The Blessing of Šokeboka, Heną́ga and Star Girl, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Sweetened Drink Song, Ancient Blessing, A Deer Story; mentioning otters: Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, Otter and Beaver Create Progeny, The Fleetfooted Man, The Dipper, The Two Children, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Turtle's Warparty, The Origins of the Milky Way, Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Kunu's Warpath, Įcorúšika and His Brothers, The Chief of the Heroka, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men (v. 2), Wojijé, Holy Song II, Morning Star and His Friend, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, The Story of the Medicine Rite; 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 Roaster, 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, The Roaster, 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 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; mentioning black hawks: Hawk Clan Origin Myth (v. 2), The Dipper, The Thunderbird, Partridge's Older Brother, Waruǧábᵉra, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Morning Star and His Friend, The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, The Stench-Earth Medicine Origin Myth, Heną́ga and Star Girl, Keramaniš’aka's Blessing, The Race for the Chief's Daughter; mentioning hawks: Hawk Clan Origin Myth, Old Man and Wears White Feather, Holy One and His Brother, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Thunderbird, Partridge's Older Brother, Creation Council, Waruǧábᵉra, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, The Magical Powers of Lincoln's Grandfather; 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 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), Roaster (woodsplitter), 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), The War of Indian Tribes against White Soldiers (little white bird) — see also Thunderbirds, and the sources cited there.

Themes: a person who fasts receives blessings from the spirits: The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, The Nightspirits Bless Jobenągiwįxka, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, Redhorn's Sons, The Boy Who Became a Robin, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, The Seer, Maize Comes to the Hōcągara, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, The Boy who would be Immortal, The Thunderbird, Lake Wąkšikhomįgra (Mendota): the Origin of Its Name, The Waterspirit Guardian of the Intaglio Mound, Great Walker's Medicine, Šųgepaga, Earthmaker Blesses Wagíšega (Wešgíšega), The Man Who Would Dream of Mą’ųna, A Man's Revenge, Aracgéga's Blessings, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, The Man who was Blessed by the Sun, The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, The Man Who Lost His Children to a Wood Spirit, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, The Man who Defied Disease Giver, White Thunder's Warpath, Black Otter's Warpath, A Man and His Three Dogs, The Oak Tree and the Man Who was Blessed by the Heroka, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, The Diving Contest, The Plant Blessing of Earth, Holy Song, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Blessing of Šokeboka, The Completion Song Origin, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Nightspirits Bless Ciwoit’éhiga, Song to Earthmaker, First Contact (v. 1), The Horse Spirit of Eagle Heights; a sister entertains an illicit love for her brother: Partridge's Older Brother; a woman abuses someone with whom she is living: Partridge's Older Brother, The Quail Hunter, Snowshoe Strings, The Red Man, The Chief of the Heroka, Bluehorn's Nephews, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Were-Grizzly; a sister, from whom a young man is fleeing, keeps mysteriously appearing in his boat even after he ejects her: Partridge's Older Brother; a rejected sister prophesies that her brother will never see his village again: Partridge's Older Brother; frustrated love: White Flower, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Twin Sisters, The Phantom Woman, Old Man and Wears White Feather, Partridge's Older Brother, The Stone Heart, Snowshoe Strings, Trickster Soils the Princess, Sunset Point, The Message the Fireballs Brought, Rainbow and Stone Arch; 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, The Roaster, 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, 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; an empty hide comes to life: White Wolf, Mijistéga and the Sauks, Migistéga’s Magic; several animal brothers of a human help him in his escape and return to his village: 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, The Roaster, 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 Hōcągara Contest the Giants, Morning Star and His Friend, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Seven Maidens, Šųgepaga, The Reincarnated Grizzly Bear, The Blessing of a Bear Clansman, Shakes the Earth, The Stone Heart, Thunder Cloud is Blessed; cannibal were-grizzlies: The Were-Grizzly, The Roaster, Were-Grizzlies and Other Man-Bears, Partridge's Older Brother; 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), Porcupine and His Brothers (bear), The Shaggy Man (bear), The Roaster (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); someone kills his own kinsman: The Chief of the Heroka (wife), The Red Man (wife), Worúxega (wife), The Man Whose Wife was Captured (v. 2) (wife), Bluehorn's Nephews (mother), The Green Man (mother), Waruǧábᵉra (mother), Partridge's Older Brother (sister), The Were-Grizzly (sister), Crane and His Brothers (brothers), White Wolf (brother), The Diving Contest (brother), The Twins Get into Hot Water (grandfather), The Chief Who Shot His Own Daughter (daughter), The Birth of the Twins (daughter-in-law), The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle (daughter-in-law), Snowshoe Strings (father-in-law); ground up bones of evil spirits are used to resurrrect their victims: Partridge's Older Brother, Grandfather's Two Families, The Sons of Redhorn Find Their Father.

Notes

¹ Paul Radin, "The Woman who Loved Her Half-Brother," Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) Notebook #1: 1-11 (English only). For a typed English copies, see Winnebago IV, #8e/f and Winnebago IV, #8t.

² Thomas Foster, Foster's Indian Record and Historical Data (Washington, D. C.: 1876-1877) vol. 1; #1, p. 4, coll. 1, 1. This is also confirmed by Radin (Thunderbird Clan informant): Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 161 [= 191] and nt 1.

³ Foster, Foster's Indian Record, 1; #1, p. 4, coll. 1, 1.

⁴ Alanson Skinner, "Traditions of the Iowa Indians," The Journal of American Folklore, 38, #150 (October-December, 1925): 427-506 [441-446].

⁵ Nudáⁿ-axa, "The Bear-Girl," in Rev. James O. Dorsey, "¢egiha Texts," Contributions to North American Ethnology, 6 (1890): 292-293. 

⁶ Kickapoo Tales, collected by William Jones, trs. by Truman Michelson. Publications of the American Ethnological Society (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1915) IX: 45-53.