by a member of the Thunderbird Clan
recorded by Jasper Blowsnake
Original Texts: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
I
The Feast
| (1) | |
he different bands and groups of people, all of them without exception, if he who was chief directed the soldiers here, the chief had full control over them. The man was carried about the yard of the chief of the soldiers who were his servants. Always to his fireplace they go if they are going to ask for blessings, as many people as there are, they and their children, have for this purpose this rite, the Chief's Feast, where they boil for Earthmaker. The people are going to do something holy, if everyone places farther a little piece, if children, women, men, old people, whoever does this, (2) they will try to eat here and there some of everything.
Because it is given as a very great thing for the chief, because it has made for you a life, the clans, as many of them as there are, did it for the chief. Very great quantities of food were done, but for the chief they would do even more so. They made use of all the varieties of food: all the meats, vegetables, and berries.
In order that it was a good life, that way they did for their man when they had victuals at hand, when they gave the Chief's Feast, so that there wouldn't be any sickness. They wished for them that they might make life good, they were saying. Inasmuch as the feasters wished them to live, as many as there were, one by one, they had all of them pour out tobacco. (3) He himself poured out tobacco for Earthmaker. If Earthmaker knows of the tobacco, if he accepts it, and if they will live by that, so if Earthmaker smokes the tobacco, for that reason he will give them Life, since they did this, observing the practice of pouring out tobacco.
II
The Chief
The chief is one of that band who are called "the chief Thunderbird Clan." That chief, being the chief that he is, wards off anything bad in order that they might live. They would say something good to preach.
"Chief," they used to say to one another, "try to accomplish a difficult thing for your people; if you can accomplish a difficult thing for your village, your people will look up to you. (4) Have pity on your people and love them all. If someone is really poor, help him. Always give your people food, no matter who they may be, give them food. Whatever they ask for, give it to them. If some of your people get into trouble with one another, when your own tobacco lies in front, they will know from that that you own the chiefdomship. They will know that you are a chief. Having only your pipe, you will be lying there dead.
If your people are going to kill one of the dogs, if he gets loose and runs into your lodge, you must let them have some other thing from the feast instead. (5) It is holy, do not allow them to kill it in your lodge. Let the dog have his life. Any human being who has murdered a person, if he went into your lodge, let him have his life. Use absolutely all of everything that you've got to bail him out. Absolutely all of your family, as many as there are, should help, and do not think anything of your goods. If they're gone, you'll have some more again. Do it your way.
As many as there are, never leave any single person of your people unnoticed, even the children. Anyone at all, whoever asks something of you, never let them go away without getting it. You are the chief. Do something good for your people. When that's the way, you are a chief. Absolutely all of them will recognize that you are a chief of ours. (6) Even the children will know that you are the chief. Whoever sees you will say of you, "Our chief." Whoever addresses you, will say, "My chief," to you. If you do good for your people, they will be deferential to you. If you are not able to do good to any of your people, they will think of our very own chief that he is not a chief. They will not be deferential to you. The chief is as he ought to be, and be a good natured person to absolutely all the people. Everyone will know that you are chief. Even the chiefs of all the other tribes will have said of you, "That's a good chief," they would be saying to one another, it is said.1
Commentary. "Chief's Feast" — Paul Radin's Introduction: (318) "The chief feast, or, as it may more properly be called, the feast of the bird clans, is generally given once a year, sometimes in late spring. It was also given on certain other occasions for specific purposes. At the present time it is given by the members of the Thunderbird clan and the prevalence of the appellation “chief feast’’ would seem to indicate that it was at all times the feast of the Thunderbird clan. We ought then to expect to find clan feasts of the other members of the waŋgeregi division, namely, of the Warrior, Eagle, and Pigeon clans. No such feasts are given to-day, however, and the members of these latter three clans always speak of the chief or bird feast as their specific clan feast. As such it is also regarded by the members of the maⁿnegi division.
In the total absence of historical data it is quite useless to speculate about the significance of one feast sufficing for four clans, where in strict analogy to the feasts of the other clans we would expect to find one for each clan; yet the idea that naturally presents itself is that we are in reality dealing with one clan that has become split up into four subclans. Such a view has been expressed by J. O. Dorsey,2 but the data upon which he based his opinion seem to us highly (319) unsatisfactory. Apparently his statement is based upon the occurrence of four mythical ancestors. The similarity of the Winnebago social organization with that of the Dhegiha and Tciwere branches of the Siouan family, in which subclans seem to be found, appears to have influenced Dorsey considerably in making this assumption.
It is true that in their account of origins the Warrior clan speak of themselves as having sprung from the second of the birds mentioned in the origin myth of the Thunderbird clan and this statement permits us to infer that the other two clans bear a similar relationship to those four ancestral birds who, according to legend, alit on a tree near Red Banks. But this is, of course, merely a mythical account, and the data embedded in the clan myths must be used with the greatest caution in so far as they can be expected to throw any light on early conditions of social organization.
All that we can say now is that the chief feast will have to be considered as belonging to all the four bird clans. But this is not to be interpreted to mean that an amalgamation of four historically distinct feasts has taken place, nor that, on the other hand, the four clans were originally subdivisions of one unit."3
"the soldiers" — māną̄́pē, the title given members of the Bear Clan one of whose functions was to act as the tribal police force. Having control over them meant that he had the power of law and order at his command. The Bear Clan lodge where prisoners were housed under guard, was located right opposite the chief's lodge.
"his servants" — the role of the Bear Clan was to execute the commands of the Thunderbird Chief, to ensure proper discipline within the tribe, and to control prisoners taken in war.4 Since they were the essential executive arm of the chief, they were also his spokesmen. They were the village criers (wijája) who went about making known the commands of the chief.5* The chief never gave orders to the people directly, but informed the Bear Clan who then spoke on his behalf.6 The Bear Clan would also announce through the village any upcoming council meeting.7 A Bear Clan guard would be stationed by the chief's lodge. When the chief woke up in the morning, it was time for the whole village to arise. It was the duty of the Soldier to announce that the chief was awake and that it was time for everyone to get up.8
"Earthmaker" — Ma’ų́na, as his name implies, is the creator of the earth and all its constituents. His character is a projection of that of the chief himself. The chief, who is taken from the Thunderbird Clan (ideally), does not participate in war or killing of other human beings. His function as arbiter in disputes is a further reflection of his role as a source of peace. He stands in opposition to the War Chief, who maintains a bellicose psychological orientation. The Peace Chief has the power to block military expeditions by laying his peace pipe across the path of the Warleader as he leads his warparty out of the village. This is usually done if the Peace Chief deems the warpath ill considered or the Warleader insufficiently blessed by the Spirits. Earthmaker governs the universe in much the same manner. His antithesis is Herešgúnina, who, owing to an accident in his creation, has but one leg. He is known esoterically as the Sun. Herešgúnina, like the War Chief, is about trouble; whereas Earthmaker harms nothing and seeks the peace and stability of his creation. Earthmaker is otiose, and is not expected to appear to fasters seeking blessings; but it does seem to be a premise of the Chief's Feast that Earthmaker might bless its participants with Life. In like manner, the Peace Chief endeavors to furnish the less fortunate with supplies to mitigate their poverty, and intervenes to spare the lives of those who seek sanctuary at his fireplace, making the chief's actions a secular equivalent to Earthmaker's blessings of Life. The two are obvious counterparts, so it is logical that the Chief's Feast be devoted to Earthmaker.
"if everyone places farther a little piece" — apparently everyone tried to contribute a small amount of food to the feast, rather than just the members of the Thunderbird Clan, or the Upper Moiety. In other words, it was a potluck feast.
"Thunderbird Clan" — Radin says in a footnote: "Unfortunately, it was not possible to obtain a full and detailed account of this feast. As in type, however, all the clan feasts are identical, this deficiency can be made up in part by comparing it with those feasts like the snake, bear, and buffalo that have been obtained in considerable detail."9
"he will give them Life" — this confirms what was said above, that Earthmaker would bless the participants with Life. Here we are told that the effectual agent to obtain this blessing was tobacco, so that everyone showing up for the feast should be prepared to pour tobacco out for Earthmaker. In primordial times, Earthmaker declared that control over tobacco was to be restricted entirely to humans and no one else, including even He himself. Given the addictive character of tobacco, all the Spirits craved to have it, and when given them was received with much gratitude. By a great outpouring of tobacco, the participants in the Chief's Feast could better hope for longevity and prosperity emanating from the gratitude of Earthmaker himself.
"the chief Thunderbird Clan" — the Upper Moiety has four clans known collectively as the "bird clans." They have a pecking order:
In a small village where there may be no eligible Thunderbird Clan member who can be a chief, the head of the village may be drawn from the Eagle Clan. Little is known of the Pigeon Clan. The Hawk Clan, which is more commonly styled the "Warrior Clan," is the most antithetical to the Thunderbird clansmen. They are as strongly war oriented as the Thunderbird Chief is peace oriented. The members of the Thunderbird Clan themselves take pride in their warrior prowess as much as any other clan. Thomas Foster, who obtained his information in the early 1850s, has this to say about the relationship between the two divisions of the Bird Clan:
Those named from the Thunders or Elements, who "kindled the fire," are said to have the most power, and they claim to be superior to the others. ... Those belonging to the First Thunder Family or Elemental Family are not slow to remind even the Second Thunder Family, or Visible-Bird Family, of their right of precedence ... if two whose names are of the First and Second Thunders, get into a dispute with each other, the former will sometimes end the argument contemptuously by saying, "Why, you are nothing but a feather of mine," and some will go so far as to say, "you are nothing but the fuzz of my feathers;" and even the children learn early to retort in this wise.10
So the pecking order was both strong and well-defined. The Thunderbird Clan had the same precedence in the Upper Moiety as the Chief has over society in general.
"having only your pipe, you will be lying there dead" — at the top of page 4, connected to this sentence by a line, is the following note by Radin: "i.e. if they found you with weapons at your side then they would say that you were trying to live for yourself, but if they found you only with your pipe (?) in an attitude of [un]selfish (?) self defense then they would say he died trying to save us." The context here is not perfectly clear. It is reasonable to suppose that only external enemies in war would be inclined to kill a chief. If this is the context to which this comment applies, then it means that no matter what the circumstances, the chief ought not to take up arms less people think that he is only doing so to protect himself. By presenting only his peace pipe to the enemy, he makes it clear that he has no selfish motive, and is willing to die for the principle of peace, and the protection that peace would afford his community.
"one of the dogs" — dogs were often treated with great affection and had the status of being members of the family circle. At dinner, for instance, a plate was set out for the dog in the family dining area.11 Dogs have high status because of their role in hunting, especially in hunting bears, and their effectiveness as guard dogs in detecting the approach of enemies. Dogs, because of the extent of their humanity, are often used where circumstances would otherwise demand a human sacrifice. This role is particularly important in withholding disease from humans, the Spirits could be expected to receive a suitable substitute in recompense for the human life that was spared.
"who has murdered a person" — Radin says,
The Thunderbird chief always acted as intercessor between wrongdoers and their avengers. Even in so extreme a case as the murder of a clansman, he would always attempt a reconciliation by which the life of the murderer might be spared. If necessary, the chief would mortify himself, and with skewers inserted in his back have himself led through the village to the home of the nearest kinspeople of the murdered person.12
at a note at the top of page 5 of the Hōcąk text, Radin says:
The murderer is then taken to the place where the crime had been committed & if the goods are accepted then the murderer is turned loose. If there is some delay about accepting the goods, the people who brought them torture the whoever in what is known as the sun (or run?) dance. [Connected by a line to "whoever" is a further comment:] If the goods were not taken at all and the murderer killed[,] the band with whom he had taken refuge would feel insulted and would take the first occasion to attack them.
McKern also gives an account of how murder was adjudicated.13 The murderer and his clansmen would go to the lodge of the chief where they would paint the murderer's face blue, and bind him. Then all of them would go to the murdered person's lodge with gifts in tow. The chief lights his pipe and presents it to the leader of the offended clan. The leader of the murderer's clan recites how is clan originated, and declares that he wants peace. The offended clan's chief says, "thus it is," and also recites his clan's origin story. Ideally, he then declares that he does not want trouble, and that it is said how those who forgive are spared disease (as divine compensation). When the offended clan accepts the wergild, the murderer is untied and set free. At this point, the murderer might be killed on the spot if feelings ran high, but then the victim's clan would not receive the gifts.
"you'll have some more again" — it was the general practice for hunters, at least on occasion, to give to the chief some of what they had killed. The same was true of other goods and services. So the chief would usually accumulate a good store of food and goods of various kinds. With this stockpile the chief would then be able to give away great quantities of the goods in his possession. This welfare system insured that solitary widows and orphans, or others suffering from poverty, could be sustained by the beneficence of the chief. The entire welfare system was grounded on respect and compassion, so it was crucial that the chief inspire a great deal of respect, otherwise the entire system of distribution was under threat.
Links: Earthmaker, Wolf and Dog Spirits.
Notes
1 Jasper Blowsnake in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Library, n.d.) Notebook 76: 1-6, interlinear text with partial English translation.
2 James O. Dorsey, Siouan Sociology, 15th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 241.
3 Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1923) 318-319.
4 Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 177-179.
5 W. C. McKern, Winnebago Notebook (Milwaukee: Milwaukee Public Museum, 1927) 156. It had been suggested by some of Radin's sources that the function of the Buffalo Clan was to be criers. However, Radin himself records in one of his notes that Charley White of Buffalo Clan had never heard of his clan being criers. Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Freeman #3862 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Winnebago I, #3: 92. McKern had informants from the Buffalo Clan, but he never says that they had this function.
6 McKern, Winnebago Notebook, 159.
7 McKern, Winnebago Notebook, 184.
8 McKern, Winnebago Notebook, 59.
9 Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 319 nt 4.
10 Thomas Foster, Foster's Indian Record and Historical Data (Washington, D. C.: 1876-1877) vol. 1; #1, p. 4, coll. 4.
11 Nancy Oestreich Lurie, "Dog Children among the Winnebago," Lore, 2, #2 (1952): 54-56; Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 403; Amelia L. Susman, Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society #21095, 1938-1939) Book 2: 2-3. Her informant was Sam Blowsnake.