The Woman who Married a Snake

Paul Radin's Text

(1) Once there was a Winnebago village in the east. The chief of that village had a daughter who was very handsome and kind. Most of the young men in the village had courted her and asked her to marry them, but she had always refused them. She however would always listen to their proposals, and then tell them in some nice way that she would not marry them. And whenever they spoke to her after that, she would always treat them politely.

Thus things went on for some time. She was the only child of the chief and her parents loved her very much.

One day she went out to pack wood, as was her custom; on the way back to the lodge she saw a man sitting close to the path on which she was walking, He was really not in the path at all, but nevertheless when she came near he moved aside to make room for her to pass. He did not once look up however.

The young man was as handsome as a man could very well be, and the young woman fell in love with him immediately. She sat down beside him and said, "Why did you move away? Is it because you didn't like me?" He answered, "No, I just wished to make room for you."

Then they sat there talking and she asked him where e came from. He told her that he had come from up the river and that he was the son of the Snake chief. He said that he had come for her as he wished to take her home with him and marry her.

She had heard of him by reputation as he was one of the great warriors belonging to another branch of the Winnebago living up the river. Therefore she consented and asked him when they were to go. He answered anytime; either the next day or on the evening (2) of that very day if she was willing. She said that she would first go home and get her things and then go to his home in the evening.

When she got home and began to get ready her parents asked her what she was doing. "You have never acted this way before, daughter. Are you going away?" they said. Then she told them that Snake Chief's son had come and that she wanted to go home with him and that she was going. The parents were highly pleased at this news because they knew that he was a well known chief.

Shortly after, she went away  to join the son of the Snake Chief. After that the people from the village up the river began to visit the other frequently, but nothing was heard of the young woman. Finally, they ordered a search for her and the chief, her father, went into mourning, After a time they found her clothes all in a pile at the entrance of a cave that was known as a snake's den. So there the chief went and wept. But no one was able to get her.

Thus some time passed. In the village there was a young man called "Black Leg" who was not very popular and whom everyone teased and made fun of. One day he said, "If the chief's daughter has really gone in there, I can get her out." But the people scolded him and said that it was no joking matter. He assured them, however, that he was not joking, but could get her out.

So finally they told the chief, and he came with some tobacco and offered it to him. Then the unpopular young man told the people to look for a deep place in a creek that was nearby. They did it, and finally they found the place that he meant.

He then stripped and dived down into the deep part of the creek, but he did not come up again. After awhile the water (3) began to roar and after a long time he came up. He had horns now and four legs and his body was just like that of a snake. Thus he appeared to the people that were watching. When he stepped out of the creek he became human again.

Then he entered the cave where he remained for some time. Finally a great number of snakes of all varieties came out of the cave. Finally he came out too, dragging the young woman along by her hair. Half of her body from the waist down had turned into a snake.

Then the young man told all those he had been blessed by snakes to sing their songs. This they did, and the more they sang their songs, the more did the snake portion of her body coil itself tighter until on the seventh day it fell off. Then they saw that her legs were doubled and head been pushed up under her body.

Soon however, she became restored to her former human shape. Then the chief offered her to Black Leg as his wife, but he refused saying, "I refuse to take her as my wife, but if you will give her to me as a sister I will gladly accept her." Black Leg was the chief of the snake spirits.

The one called "Snake Chief" was a member of the snake clan (that is of the snakes). When the woman had been restored to her human shape she told her people that the snakes were the happiest people in the world. They were very handsome and spent all their time in dancing and doing pleasant things. She said, however, that she had got very tired by the time she was saved, because her legs were doubled up under her.

Thus the young woman was saved. This is supposed to have happened recently.¹

The Old Retelling
(Now Superseded by the Original Radin Translation)

Commentary

"the chief" — given that the daughter was to marry the son of the Snake Chief, and marriage was inter-moiety, the woman's father was most likely the Thunderbird chief, that is, the chief of the village.

"Black Leg" — this would be Hūsēpka in Hōcąk. Subsequent events show that he is a Waterspirit who has taken on a human form in order to live among the humans, something Spirits do from time to time. This name is not found on either of the rather short lists of names that we have for the Snake or Waterspirit clans. It is also not perfectly clear to what this might refer in the contexts of Waterspirits and snakes. Given that Wisconsin has many springs that emanate from dark caverns underground, it may be that the black leg reflects the fact that spring water is propelled (legs) from darkness.

"to roar" — a great disturbance of the water always precedes the emergence of a Waterspirit from the depths.

"he had horns, four legs" — when Black Leg dives into the river, he emerges as a being with four legs and horns, attributes ordinarily alien to snakes, even though his body is serpentine. Such a creature as described would ordinarily be called a "Waterspirit" (Wakjexi). Such a Serpent-Waterspirit is seen in the Ojibwe (?) illustration at the left. Their body, legs, and horns may assume the form of any animal,² sources mention Beaver Waterspirits (Rap Wákcexi), Elk Waterspirits (Hųwą́kcexi), Deer Waterspirits (Ca Wákcexi),³ and Bear Waterspirits (Hų̄c Wakcexi);⁴ but the serpent's body is the most common alloform.⁵ That Waterspirits take this form, hints at a close affinity between Snake Spirits and Waterspirits, even though most snakes are terrestrial and not aquatic. What the snake's body represents is the serpentine channels through which water travels, both above and below ground.

"a sister" — Black Leg is chief of the Snake Spirits. His Hōcąk clan affinity is obviously with the Snake Clan. Marriage is cross-moiety, and the chief who fathered the young woman, as we noted above, is of the Thunderbird Clan. She was, however, partially transformed into a serpent in her marriage to the son of the Snake Chief, the latter being, as we can now appreciate, Black Leg himself. "Sister" (hinųkwacábᵉra) means in Hōcąk, "our woman." Black Leg recognizes that though in origin a Thunderbird clansman, the chief's daughter had now been transformed into a serpent being, and was now incorporated into the Snake Clan. By being made the sister of the supernatural Snake Chief, the Hōcąk Snake Clan can now say that she is "our woman."

"the snake clan" — Radin adds parenthetically, "that is of the snakes." This is not the Hōcąk Snake Clan, but rather the "clan" or "tribe" of Snake Spirits. We learn from this that when the young suitor said he was the son of the Snake chief, he did not mean the human one residing in the nearby village, but the chief of the Snake Spirits who reside underground in the vicinity of the other village. As we later learn, this Snake chief is none other than Black Leg, who happens to have transformed himself into a human.

However, assuming the form of a human is not the only somatic transformation that he undergoes. When he emerges from the water, he has the guise of a Snake Waterspirit. The Waterspirit Clan puts itself forward as the chief of the Lower Moiety. By the Snake Chief being manifest as a Serpent Waterspirit, the divide between snake and Waterspirit is dissolved. In fact, it constitutes a de facto argument that the fundamental nature of Waterspirits is serpentine. This would enable the Snake Clan to lay claim to a share in the chieftainship, just as the Deer Clan does with respect to the chieftainship held by the Thunderbird Clan.

Comparative Material. Interesting parallels are found among the Nāgas (नाग) of India, who are deities often depicted as being serpents from the waist down. They reside in Pātāla (पाताल), the Underworld, recalling the cave of our story. In this realm, the Nāgas are exactly like the hedonistic Snake Spirits of our story:

the nāgas ... enjoy with gaiety the foodstuffs and the edibles they consume and the great beverages they drink. ... O brahmins, the forests, rivers, lakes, and lotus ponds, the cooing of the cuckoo and other sweet birds, the pleasing skies, the unguents and the continuous notes and sounds of musical instruments such as the lute, flute and Mṛdaṅga drums, O brahmins—all these and other beautiful things are enjoyed by virtue of their good luck by Dānavas, Daityas and Nāgas residing in Pātāla.⁶

So the underworld realm of the Nāgas is a place of gaiety and pleasure exactly like that of the depths of the cave where the Snake Spirits live. The association with water is found in the western Himalaya region, where the Nāgs are said to protect the water resources of the area.⁷

The Chinese have a parallel to the half-snake woman. Nüwa (女娲), who is generally portrayed as being a serpent from the waist down, is a creation goddess who made the first people and repaired the Pillars of Heaven (八柱). Nüwa married her brother Fuxi (伏羲), and the couple are often portrayed with intertwining snake bodies from their hips down, just as we saw with the Nāgas and Nāginis. Here the double helix formed by the reptilian intertwining may have more to do with the spinning of the cosmos both above and below the surface of the earth. Nevertheless, she created the human race out of clay or mud (wet earth), overcame the torrent of water that poured through the fractured sky when she repaired the Pillar of Heaven; and with her brother Fuxi, was able to escape in a boat a universal flood that wiped out the human race.⁸

Dr. Benjamen Preciado Solís		Nat Cent Mus of S Korea		Vase Painting
A Nāga and Nāgini. Bhuvanesvar, India		Fuxi and Nüwa		Erichthonios from a Vase Painting

A person whose body is serpentine from the waist down is found in the figure of Erichthónios (Ἐριχθόνιος) of Greek mythology, seen in the vase painting above. He has supernatural origins as the offspring of the smith god Hephaistos, and in being raised by the goddess Athena. He was said to have been the first king of Athens.

Jean d’Arras, Le livre de Mélusine, 1478

The Count Seeing Melusine in Her Chambers

A French tale with wide European distribution has interesting parallels to our story. In the version of Jean Arras (1398), Melusine marries Count Raymondin of Poitiers, but only on condition that he must never see her quarters on a Saturday. However, in time the count becomes suspicious as she always skips mass on Saturdays. So one day he peeks into her chamber while she is bathing and discovers that the lower half of her body has transformed into that of a serpent. After one of Raymondin's sons murders his own brother, he denounces Melusine for being a "serpent," whereupon, after giving him two magical golden rings, she transforms into a dragon and flies away.⁹

Links: Snakes, Waterspirits.

Stories: mentioning snakes: The First Snakes, Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief, Snake Clan Origins, The Omahas who turned into Snakes, A Snake Song Origin Myth, The Serpents of Trempealeau, The Story of the Medicine Rite, Rattlesnake Ledge, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Twins Disobey Their Father, The Two Boys, Wears White Feather on His Head, Creation of the World (vv. 2, 3, 4), The Magical Powers of Lincoln's Grandfather, Lakes of the Wazija Origin Myth, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, Waruǧábᵉra, The Green Man, Holy One and His Brother, The Man who was Blessed by the Sun, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, Turtle and the Merchant, The Lost Blanket, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth; mentioning a tribe of Snake people: The Seven Maidens; in which Waterspirits occur as characters: Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Traveler and the Thunderbird War, The Green Waterspirit of Wisconsin Dells, The Lost Child, River Child and the Waterspirit of Devil's Lake, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, Bluehorn's Nephews, Holy One and His Brother, The Seer, The Nannyberry Picker, The Creation of the World (vv. 1, 4), Šųgepaga, The Sioux Warparty and the Waterspirit of Green Lake, The Waterspirit of Lake Koshkonong, The Waterspirit of Rock River, The Boulders of Devil's Lake, Devil's Lake — How it Got its Name, Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Waterspirit of Sugar Loaf Mounds, Lakes of the Wazija Origin Myth, Waterspirits Keep the Corn Fields Wet, The Waterspirit Guardian of the Intaglio Mound, The Diving Contest, The Lost Blanket, Redhorn's Sons, The Phantom Woman, Įcorúšika and His Brothers, Great Walker's Warpath, White Thunder's Warpath, The Descent of the Drum, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy, Snowshoe Strings, The Thunderbird, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp (v. 2), The Two Children, The Twins Join Redhorn's Warparty, Earthmaker Sends Rušewe to the Twins, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, Waruǧábᵉra, Ocean Duck, The Twin Sisters, Trickster Concludes His Mission, The King Bird, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Great Walker's Medicine (v. 2), Heną́ga and Star Girl, Peace of Mind Regained, The Story of the Medicine Rite, How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Spiritual Descent of John Rave's Grandmother, The Boy who was Captured by the Bad Thunderbirds, The Shaggy Man, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, Ghost Dance Origin Myth I, The Sacred Lake, Lost Lake; mentioning caves: Big Eagle Cave Mystery, Blue Mounds Cave, Silver Mound Cave, Heną́ga and Star Girl, Little Human Head, The Waterspirit of Sugar Loaf Mounds, Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, A Giant Visits His Daughter, Kunu's Warpath, Soft Shelled Turtle Weds, The Story of the Medicine Rite.

Themes: a human marries a spirit: The Daughter-in-Law's Jealousy (a Thunderbird, a Nightspirit, and two Waterspirits), The Thunderbird (a Thunderbird), How the Thunders Met the Nights (a Nightspirit), The Shaggy Man (a Bear Spirit), White Wolf (a Wolf Spirit), The Star Husband (stars), Little Human Head (a Louse Spirit), Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (Buffalo Spirit), The Phantom Woman (Waterspirit); a newlywed goes to the home of her husband to live among his kind, a race of Animal Spirits: The Wild Rose (wolves), The Shaggy Man (bears); someone goes out searching for a missing person who was dear to them: Waruǧábᵉra, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, A Man's Revenge, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Old Man and Wears White Feather, Snowshoe Strings, Brass and Red Bear Boy; someone dives into a body of water and disappears into its depths: The Red Feather, The Birth of the Twins, The Two Boys, The Two Brothers, The Shaggy Man; a man is transformed when he dives into the water from a particular place: Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Diving Contest, The Nannyberry Picker; a powerful spirit lives in a cave: Big Eagle Cave Mystery, Blue Mounds Cave, Silver Mound Cave, Heną́ga and Star Girl, Little Human Head, The Waterspirit of Sugar Loaf Mounds; 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), 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), Whiskey Making (grizzly, dog, turkey, blackhawk, owl), 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 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 is transformed from the waist down into a cold blooded creature: The King Bird.

Notes

¹ Paul Radin, "The Young Woman who Married a Snake," Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) Winnebago IV, #7j: 1091-1093 (typescript with corrections), Winnebago IV, 8x: 1-3 (corrected text).

² Paul Radin, The Evolution of an American Indian Prose Epic. A Study in Comparative Literature, Part I (Basil: Ethnographical Museum, Basil Switzerland, 1954) 82.

³ W. C. McKern, Winnebago Notebook (Milwaukee: Milwaukee Public Museum, 1927) 108. For Beaver Waterspirits, see also "Story of the Flood and the Origin of the Spirit Home" ("Holy One and His Brother"), in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Freeman #3897 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) Winnebago V, #24: 1-51, 24.

⁴ RS [Reuben StCyr ?], "Snowshoe Strings," in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) Notebook #60: 4-33 [20].

⁵ See, for instance, "Hinacax Ruwiná," in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) Winnebago III, #2, Section 7: XV-XVI.

⁶ Brahma Purana, Chapter 19.

⁷ Gerrit Lange, "Western Himalayan Nāgs as Guardians of Water Resources," Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature & Culture, 11 #3 (2017): 361–378; Gerrit Lange (2024). "Chapter 7: Creating a Landscape through Myths. The Journey of Naiṇī or Nāginā Devī, a Nine-fold Western Himalayan Hindu Goddess," in Julia Hegewald, and Marion Gymnich (eds.), Images and Stories of the Origin(s) of the World and Humankind (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2024) 178–204.

⁸ Mae Hamilton, "Chinese Goddess Nuwa," Mythopedia (electronic text), 1 December 2022 (viewed 30 April 2026).

⁹ Jean d’Arras, Le livre de Mélusine, 1478. Boria Sax, The Serpent and the Swan: Animal Brides in Literature and Folklore (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press/ McDonald & Woodward, 1998).