The Buffalo Clan is a member of the Lower or Earth Moiety. Because of their special relationship to the earth, they were the village criers, disseminating the decisions of the chief to the people. [1] Every morning the public crier reported for his instructions from the chief. [2] In villages, they had a special lodge located in the southeast. The Buffalo Clan had a friendship relationship with the Waterspirit Clan, and each clan buried the other's dead. [3] The following are some of the names given to members of the Buffalo Clan [4]:

Three clan songs are publicly known:

Finally you have cried. I heard you.
Finally you have cried. I heard you.
Finally you have cried. I heard you.
Finally you have cried. I heard you.

This earth you have made me hear.
Finally you have cried.
You have made me hear.
You have made me hear.

This day you have made me hear.
Finally you have cried.
You have made me hear.
You have made me hear. [5]

(For other buffalo songs, see the Buffalo Dance Origin Myth.) Sound and the ear have to do with the four quarters which are particularly expressed in the Buffalo spirit because the land itself is a buffalo. This may help explain why the function of the Buffalo Clan is to be the village herald for the chief.

The Buffalo Feast is given by the clan twice a year: once in the spring, when the grasses are well developed, and again in midwinter when they say the spirits awaken to turn over in their sleep. [6] Others say that a third feast is given in the fall. The feast is purely vegetarian, with special emphasis on maple sugar, s the Buffalo Spirits made it known that it is their favorite food. The host sends one of his relatives to notify the attendants and participants. The attendants build a long lodge, and in its center build an earth mound (mâwarup'uru), and set upon it the various instruments to be used in the Buffalo Dance. Kettles are put over the fire and the food boiled. Those giving the feast pour tobacco on the earth mound and ask for victory in war. Those who possess warbundles are seated and assume the role of various spirits. After describing the origin of the rites, the host sings the four songs of Hodjánoka:

Let him walk in the road;
Let him walk in the road.

Walk by, Hodjánoka;
Walk by, Hodjánoka.

Say, 'Walk by Hodjánoka'.

Hodjánoka, go towards;
'It is coming, it is coming';
Say it to them, say it to them.

Then the host announces that the Dancing Songs will be sung. After the dance (which is described elsewhere) the rite concludes. The effect is to gain longer life from the blessings of the Buffalo Spirits. [7]

(91) At a place called "Bad Lake" (De Cicik, Lake Michigan) were four Buffalo Spirits and the youngest one was clever. And they asked one another once, "What are [we] going to do?" And they began to exert their powers and knowledge and the youngest one got knowledge of the great clan gathering to be held, and they started out and appeared from the lake and they met the other clans at Red Banks. And the Elk was the usher at the long lodge and he placed the Buffaloes besides the Waterspirits. Therefore, they do not pass one another's words or requests. When they ask one another to do anything, the other never refuses. And at death the Buffalo and Waterspirits bury one another. If a Buffalo clan[sman] should die, they would paint a rainbow on one side of his face and brow, thus [MS text has crude illustration]. And they would tell the deceased their origination story thus, addressing him by the relative term. For instance, if it were a son, he would say, "My son! Our (92) ancestors originated and appeared in Bad Lake and they originated from the youngest of four Buffalo Spirits which are there. And as you proceed to the Spiritland, you shall walk in holiness and no devils will cross your path and you shall walk with sharp teeth. And you should not worry over anything you left behind but you should watch ahead of you as you walk forth." [8]

Commentary. "Lake Michigan" -- the name De Cicik refers to Lake Michigan, but somehow Radin at the time got the idea that this De Cicik is the Devils Lake of Sauk County, Wisconsin. [9] However, in Hotcâk this Devils Lake is De Wakâtcâk, "Holy Lake". Devil's Lake is strongly associated with Waterspirits, who were seen by the white settlers to be "devils", hence the English name for the lake. "Devils Lake" could then have been rendered back into Hotcâk as De Cicigera, "Lake of the Bad Ones". Such an odd feedback loop may account for the misidentification, as everywhere else the clans are said to have met at Red Banks which is on Green Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan.

"and at death the Buffalo and Waterspirits bury one another" -- the Buffalo clansmen are servants of the Thunderbird chief, since they play a role as public criers in disseminating his edicts and announcements. Thus the association of Buffalo and Waterspirits is at least partly an attraction of opposites, not only because of the opposition of Thunderbirds and Waterspirits, but because the Buffaloes are especially associated with land as opposed to the aqueous affinities of their friends. The buffalo more than any other animal, by their sheer numbers on the plains and their extensive range, seem to own the land itself. This is why the ground of earth is said to be a giant buffalo. The public crier, too, must cover all the ground in a wide range in order to disseminate his chief's message, so it is not surprising that he is chosen from the Buffalo Clan. The Waterspirit Clan is chief of the Lower Moiety, so by maintaining a friendship relation with them, they bridge the gap between the two moieties, and between those clans whose origins are from the most polar opposite beings. In the same way, the land, with which the Buffaloes have an identity, is intermediate between the supraterrestrial realm of the Bird Clans and the subterranean and subaquatic realms of the Lower Moiety clans. So friendship with the Waterspirit Clan is necessitated by the role of the Buffalo Clan as go-betweens.

Links: Buffalo Spirits, Waterspirits, Elk (II), The Creation Council, Devil's Lake.

Stories: mentioning the Buffalo Clan: Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, The Hotcâk Migration Myth; about (the origins of) the Hotcâk clans: Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Bird Clan Origin Myth, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Story of the Thunder Names, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Pigeon Clan Origins, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth, The Elk Clan Origin Myth, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Snake Clan Origins, Fish Clan Origins; about the Creation Council: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, Tobacco Origin Myth, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, Bear Clan Origin Myth, Elk Clan Origin Myth, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, Deer Clan Origin Myth, Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Origin of the Winnebago Chief, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, Snake Clan Origins; about the Waterspirit Clan: Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, The Ice Hole; about buffaloes and Buffalo Spirits: He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, Bluehorn Rescues His Sister, Bluehorn's Nephews, Redhorn's Father, The Woman who became an Ant, Buffalo Dance Origin Myth, The Blessing of Cokeboka, The Creation of the World (v. 3), The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Red Feather, Wazûka, Holy One and His Brother, Old Man and White Feathers, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse; mentioning elks: Elk Clan Origin Myth, The Animal who would Eat Men (v. 1), The Elk's Skull, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, Deer Clan Origin Myth, The Creation Council, Hotcâk Clans Origin Myth, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Origin of the Hotcâk Chief, Little Fox and the Ghost (v. 2), The Great Fish; See The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits; mentioning teeth: The Animal who would Eat Men, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, Hare and the Dangerous Frog, The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits, The Two Boys, The Birth of the Twins, The Twins Disobey Their Father, Wears White Feathers on His Head, The Dipper, Wolves and Humans, The Commandments of Earthmaker, The Children of the Sun, The Green Man, Holy One and His Brother, Partridge's Older Brother, The Brown Squirrel, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge of the Medicine Rite, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, East Shakes the Messenger, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, White Wolf; set at Red Banks (Mógacútc): The Creation Council, Annihilation of the Hotcâgara II, The Great Lodge, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, vv. 1, 2, 3, 5, Bear Clan Origin Myth, vv. 2a, 3, 8, The Winnebago Fort, Blue Bear, Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth, The Hotcâk Arrival Myth, The Creation of Man, v. 10, Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth, v. 2, Pigeon Clan Origins, fr. 1, Eagle Clan Origin Myth, Elk Clan Origin Myth, v. 1, Deer Clan Origin Myth, v. 1, Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief, Gatschet's Hotcank hit'e ("St. Peet", "Hotcâk Origins"), The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, v. 1, The Seven Maidens, Big Thunder Teaches Tcap'ósgaga the Warpath; set at Lake Michigan (De Cicik): The Hotcâk Arrival Myth, The Annihilation of the Hotcâgara I, v. 3, Gatschet's Hotcank hit'e ("Hotcâk Origins"); mentioning feasts: Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (Chief Feast), The Creation Council (Eagle Feast), Wonághire Wâkcik Clan Origin Myth (Eagle Feast), Waterspirit Clan Origin Myth (Waterspirit Feast), Bear Clan Origin Myth (Bear Feast), The Woman Who Fought the Bear (Bear Feast), Grandfather's Two Families (Bear Feast), Wolf Clan Origin Myth (Wolf Feast), The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits (Buffalo Feast), Buffalo Dance Origin Myth (Buffalo Feast), He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle (Buffalo Feast), The Blessing of Cokeboka (Feast to the Buffalo Tail), Snake Clan Origins (Snake Feast), Blessing of the Yellow Snake Chief (Snake Feast), The Thunderbird (for the granting of a war weapon), Turtle's Warparty (War Weapons Feast, Warpath Feast), Porcupine and His Brothers (War Weapons Feast), Earthmaker Blesses Wagícega (Wecgícega) (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Big Thunder Teaches Tcap'ósgaga the Warpath (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), White Thunder's Warpath (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), The Fox-Hotcâk War (Winter Feast = Warbundle Feast), Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth (Warpath Feast), Kunu's Warpath (Warpath Feast), Trickster's Warpath (Warpath Feast), The Masaxe War (Warpath Feast), Redhorn's Sons (Warpath Feast, Fast-Breaking Feast), The Girl who Refused a Blessing from the Wood Spirits (Fast-Breaking Feast), The Chief of the Herok'a (Sick Offering Feast), The Dipper (Sick Offering Feast, Warclub Feast), The Four Slumbers Origin Myth (Four Slumbers Feast), The Journey to Spiritland (Four Slumbers Feast), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse (unspecified).

Themes: the youngest offspring is superior: The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, Young Man Gambles Often, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Twins Cycle, The Two Boys, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Children of the Sun, The Creation of the World, V. 12, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Îtcorúcika and His Brothers, The Raccoon Coat, Wodjidjé, How the Thunders Met the Nights, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, Sun and the Big Eater, Bear Clan Origin Myth (vv. 4, 7), Snake Clan Origins, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, Snake Clan Origins, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth.

Notes:

[1] Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 195.

[2] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 162.

[3] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 195.

[4] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 198. All names were collected by Radin unless otherwise noted (as below).

(D) J. O. Dorsey (National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, 1893) 4800 Dorsey Papers: Winnebago 3.3.2.

(F) Thomas Foster, Foster's Indian Record and Historical Data (Washington, D. C.: 1876-1877) vol. 1, #1: p. 4, coll. 3-4.

(L) Nancy Oestreich Lurie, "A Check List of Treaty Signers by Clan Affiliation," Journal of the Wisconsin Indians Research Institute, 2, #1 (June, 1966): 50-73.

(R) Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 198.

[5] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 197.

[6] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 299; Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Winnebago I, #3: 94.

[7] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 296-298.

[8] Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Winnebago I, #3: 92-93. Published in Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 197.

[9] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 197 nt 23.