The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth

The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth

Version 1

byJames Smith and Thomas Clay

retold by Richard L. Dieterle

Upon what our Father sat when consciousness came upon him no one knows. In his solitude, he began to shed tears, for nothing could be seen anywhere. He took a measure of the substance upon which he reclined, and of this he made the seed of earth. When he cast it down below, he looked upon it, and it took form like our earth. Yet its face was destitute of life, and was bereft of covering; neither had it peace, but spun around with uncontrolled violence. Then Earthmaker thought to himself, "I shall clothe my creation in hair of my own devising"; whereupon he plucked an herb from where he sat and cast it down upon the face of the earth, and when he looked thereon he saw that it was covered in grasses. Yet the earth was not quiet. He bethought himself, "Thuswise again shall I set my hand forth"; and he cast down a tree; but still he beheld an unquiet earth. So he created four spirit men — brothers — and set each at one of the cardinal points, and thought to himself, "Perhaps now the earth shall find its rest and anchor." Even so, it whirled about. Now Earthmaker made four great spirit beings, those that are called Wak'cexi (Waterspirits), and these he placed below the four corners of the earth and made them that they should be Island Weights. Then he scattered the Female Spirit, she who is the stones, over the whole of the earth; and when he beheld the earth, it had become quiet. The Day was without clouds and stood motionless in the sky as the vibrations of heat drifted before his eyes like spider webs, floating. Earthmaker set forth his hand and made lodgings for the denizens of the underworld, for the four-footed walkers of the land, and for the birds of the sky. Finally, he made the vermin that creep upon the earth. After he had thought of everything else, he had a last thought: he would create human beings. They were the weakest of all his creature, not even equal to a fly. Then he looked upon the whole of creation, and his thoughts became happy.

In time Earthmaker set his eyes upon the earth again, and he saw that his weakest creation was prey to all and on the verge of being rubbed out. He then created a being like to men, and he called him Wakjąkaga, "Trickster." Earthmaker spoke to his special creation and said, "Trickster, you are to go to earth. The creation that was my last thought is indeed pitiable and is so weak that the evil spirits may bring death to the whole of them. Go forth, then, Trickster, and show men how they may have life." Trickster descended to earth, but he did not do what Earthmaker had charged him to accomplished. He was as useless as an infant on all fours. He even did injury to Earthmaker's creation. So Earthmaker recalled him and seated him on his right hand.

Then Earthmaker fashioned another. This one he called "Turtle." He spoke to Turtle and told him, "The two-legged walkers that I created as my last thought are indeed pitiable and face complete annihilation. Go forth, therefore, and set everything in proper order." Turtle descended to earth with a special knife in his possession. When he came among men he did not set things in order, but taught them the arts of war and set them upon the warpath. Thus he made things worse, so Earthmaker recalled him to sit on his left hand.

Then he made a third one whom he called "Bladder." He said to Bladder, "The two legged walkers that I created as my last thought have become pitiable in every way. Therefore, try with all your strength to save them." When Bladder arrived on earth, he built a long lodge and created twenty younger brothers. These he sent over the face of the earth, but not a one of them came back alive. Thus Bladder, too, failed in his mission and Earthmaker recalled him, placing him on his left side.

Then Earthmaker made a fourth one whom he called, "He who has Human Heads as Earrings." He sent him down to earth, but this one failed as well. Therefore, Earthmaker took him back.

Then Earthmaker decided to try for the last time, and through the dint of his thoughts alone, he created Hare. Earthmaker said to him, "Hare, you are the last of them all, so you must try your utmost. If the evil spirits injure my creation, life on earth will not be good. Therefore, overcome these spirits." So Hare went to earth with the thought, "My brothers failed because they acted as they did. But I shall do what they could not." A woman went towards the spring with a pail and when Hare saw her, he entered inside her womb so that he might be born as a human being. As he sat within her womb he heard the cries of the oppressed human race. He sat there for a very long time and all the while the cry of the two-legged walkers went up and he heard it. He thought to himself, "Long have I been sitting here, yet my Father sent me here to aid the humans." He had been there for seven months. Finally, after the allotted time had passed, he came out. Not four days passed before his mother died.

During the day Hare sat quietly thinking of what he was to do. At night he would always go out. He traversed the whole world and returned before daybreak. As he rose at dark to go forth into the world, the light of him would illuminate the lodge. As he went out the third night, he put an end to many of the evil spirits. "Not again," he said, "will these evil spirits abuse my uncles and aunts." As he sat in the lodge during the day, his thoughts were good as he contemplated all that he had done and would do. That night he went out for the fourth time and traveled to the very edge of the earth. He killed all the evil spirits of the earth, then he drove those of the heavens into the west, and there killed them all as well. When he returned to his lodge at daybreak, he said to his grandmother, "I have now accomplished what my father sent me to do. Now my uncles and aunts will be as I am from now on." "But grandson," she replied, "it cannot be so. The world as our Father created it cannot be other than it is." Hare said, "You speak thus because you are related to the evil spirits that I killed." "No grandson," she answered, "it is ordained that where my body should fall in two, there they shall find a place in death. If there were no death, then the people would crowd the earth and starve. Therefore, they must die." Still Hare believed that she took the side of the evil spirits, but she continued, "Grandson, that is not so. Your heart is sore, but your uncles and aunts will obtain enough life. They will live their natural life span. Now you must do as I instruct you, if you want them to have life. Your uncles and aunts will follow you around the earth, but whatever you do, do not look back." So they traveled around the earth. Grandmother reminded him, "Now don't look back." Hare said to himself, "I wonder what she said," then he looked back just a little bit to his left to where he had come from, then unexpectedly, Grandmother's back caved in a little there. Then his grandmother yelled, "Oh my! Oh my! I told you not to do it, yet you did it anyway. Now death cannot be taken from the world!" They still forged on, even around the edge of the world where the ring of fire is found, there too they traveled. They united this fire and thereby assured that Hare's uncles and aunts would at least have a full and complete lifespan.

But Hare thought to himself, "I know I did what grandmother forbade me, but until my uncles and aunts are like me, I shall never rest happy." Then at the far corner of the world where the sun rises, he entered a lodge and sat opposite the man there. The man knew what Hare intended, and told him, "Hare, there is nothing that I can say to you, but perhaps the next man after me will have something for you." So Hare thanked him and went on, traveling west. He entered a lodge there and greeted its occupant, but the man inside said, "Hare, there is nothing that I can tell you, but the one ahead of me, he may be able to say something." So Hare thanked him and went on his way, this time to the south. There he entered a lodge, but the man inside already knew what Hare wanted. "Hare," he said, "I know what you seek, but how can I say anything when those before me were silent? I am but the last of them." So Hare thanked him, and returned to his own lodge weeping for the fate of his uncles and aunts. Then he thought to himself, "To death all things must come." When he turned his thoughts to the high cliffs, the precipices crumbled and fell to the floor of the valley; when he turned his thoughts to the boulders on the earth, they cracked and fell apart; when he turned his thoughts to the denizens of the world below, they became motionless and their limbs stiffened. Even the birds of the air, when he gave thought to them, fell from the sky. Then he wrapped himself in a blanket and wept. "Not even the whole earth will be enough for us," he said.

When the people learned that Hare was despondent, they became afraid, and their prayers reached the ears of our Father. He told the first man that he had made, "Trickster, it has come to me that Hare is not feeling well. Therefore, go to him and bring him to us." So Trickster went to earth and appeared before Hare, telling him, "I have come to take you to our Father," but Hare remained wrapped in his blanket and did not even act as if Trickster were there. So he returned without Hare. Earthmaker turned to the second one that he had created and said, "You are to go down and try your utmost to bring Hare back to me. He is not feeling well." When Turtle got to Hare's lodge, he told Hare, "I have come to take you back," but Hare remained motionless and said nothing. So Turtle returned and told Earthmaker, "I sought to take him back, but he would say nothing about it." So Earthmaker turned to the third one that he had created, and said, "You are to bring Hare back, for he is not feeling well." So Bladder went before Hare and said, "I am to bring you back to our Father," but Hare made no response whatever, for indeed he was not feeling well. Bladder had to return without him. So Earthmaker turned to the fourth man that he had created and said, "Bring Hare back home, as he is not feeling well. Use your utmost powers to accomplish this." So He who Wears Human Heads as Earrings came before Hare and said, "Indeed, Hare, for a long time your heart has been sad, but now it is time for us to go home, so get up and come with me." This time Hare went with him, but when they reached Spiritland they did not go to Earthmaker's lodge, but the one opposite his, the lodge of the Thunderbird Chief [Great Black Hawk]. Before this lodge is a mound, and atop the mound is a small warclub painted red on one side. The Thunder Chief now grasped this club, and with Hare seated by his side, he shook the club just a little, but the noise was ear splitting, and so frightening that Hare felt sheer terror and almost ran out of the lodge. So frightening was this warclub that Hare, it is said, was completely freed of his sad thoughts. Thus they restored his spirits. Only then was he brought before Earthmaker.

When Hare entered the lodge of Earthmaker, the Creator spoke to him, saying, "Indeed, Hare, your heart must have been sad for your uncles and aunts, but I have good tidings for you. I shall now deliver over to you a very holy thing that will give life to your uncles and aunts. Behold," he said, and pointed to the south. When he looked, Hare saw a long lodge and many old people so ancient their hair had turned completely white. "Thus will your uncles and aunts be," said Earthmaker. "Much will be the noise they shall make in this ceremony, and I shall help them by banishing every manner of evil spirit from among their holy lodge. Now you shall return there and put this sacred thing before them; and you shall not be alone, but you will have the aid of your friends, Trickster, Turtle, Bladder, and He who Wears Human Heads as Earrings. Grandmother, too, will help you. If they show the devotion to do this rite correctly, they shall have more than one life, for I shall leave open the door to return to the living. After they die, they may choose to live in the Spiritland above or below, or they may choose to be reborn back where they came from." Thus he spoke, and so it was to be.

Hare returned to the earthly lodge of his grandmother and told her, "All that I had tried to accomplish for the human race, now I have brought it back with me." She replied, "Grandson, how can this be? How can your uncles and aunts be immortal like us, for the world was not created thus." "It is ordained that my uncles and aunts will choose life for themselves, and you will help me make it so," declared Hare. "Thank you, Grandson," she replied, "it is good." Then Hare thought, "I must make ready for Trickster." He sat down and began striking the drum and singing the sacred songs." Then Trickster suddenly appeared before him. Hare said, "I thought you would come, my friend, and indeed you have." Trickster said, "I knew your thoughts, so I came." The two of them went just outside the village and there they spent the whole day discussing the details of what they were to do. All day they talked, then they returned to the lodge. Hare thought, "My friend Turtle will also come," and just then, Turtle appeared before them. Turtle said, "I knew your thought, so I came." Then Bladder, too, came just when Hare thought of him. So Hare now concentrated his thoughts on He who Wears Human Heads as Earrings, and he also came. They held council together, and when they were done, they asked Grandmother to come over to them. She greeted them by placing her hands on each of their heads, and then she set her work before them. When she returned to where she was sitting, she spoke to them and said, "Now you will wish to know what it is that our Father meant when he said that I shall help you. Watch me and I shall show you." Then she opened her breast on the left side and they saw deep green leaves and something as white as a blossom that was shaped like an ear. Then she opened her right breast, and there they saw the white tassels and the ear of corn. "This is what our Father meant when he said I shall help you: for I give to your uncles and aunts corn that they may have abundant life." Hare thanked her very much, and all five of them went over and placed their hands upon her head in blessing. Then Hare went outside and walked to the east, and when he got there he turned west. Then Grandmother closed up her breast and said, "Grandson, I have done it." "It is good," he replied, and returned.

When he got to the door, Hare stopped and said, "This is the way it will be," and he threw eight yellow female snakes so that their heads were turned towards the east and their tails to the west. They were to be the side poles of the lodge. He tied the poles together with rattlesnakes. He placed a male snake on his right, and black female snake on his left. They formed the door. At the back of the lodge on the west side, he made doors of green female snakes. Then he took a stalk of reed-grass, under which we were to live, and with this he wrapped the lodge completely. Then he went inside with another stalk of reed-grass, which he threw to his right, and it became a set of white mats spread out. Then he threw down to the right a bearskin rug, and it extended the length of the lodge. Then he caused a white deerskin to extend the entire length of the right side of the lodge. He then made a door of a living mountain lion who was to drive away any evil spirits who might try to enter. On the west side, he made a door out of a great buffalo bull. When he looked into the lodge it was full of light, and the animals roared and bellowed.

Then Hare went back and got the others. The set out for the lodge following Grandmother. When they got there, the lion was truly terrifying, and snapped his teeth. They went inside and walked around the lodge until they came back to the place where they had entered, and there they sat down.

Then he summoned before him the public criers. The two who were to traverse the earth were a bear and a wolf. The messengers to the world above were two kaǧi, the common kaǧi (the crow) and the shrieking kaǧi (the raven). When the two animals returned, they were so old that they had lost all their fur and had to support themselves on staffs. The two birds had been gone so long that the feathers that grew over their eyes had drooped over them and their wing feathers had worn off. They reported to Hare that they had caused many life giving objects to be placed within the lodge, and they told him, "Whenever your uncles and aunts speak your name, they shall do so in praise." "It is good," said Hare. "This is the mission that I had intended for you, and I thank you in the name of my uncles and aunts."

Then all of them assembled in front of the lodge. Trickster, being the oldest, was to enter first, but the animals inside scared him off. The other three were also afraid, but then the youngest opened the door for them and led them in. They walked around the inside of the lodge until they returned to the door. Then Hare said, "Eldest brother, this will be your seat here in the east." Then he went north, where the second brother sat; then he went to the west, were the third brother sat; then he went to the south where the fourth brother sat. Then Hare himself assumed his seat. Then the other spirits came in, followed by the first humans. Four humans were seated in the east, and four were seated each with one of the four brothers of Hare. The people were of the Bird Clan, the Bear Clan, the Wolf Clan, and the Snake Clan. The fourth of these they were to teach and initiate. Hare rose to speak: "My friends, we are assembled here to help my uncles and aunts who have become most pitiable. You are to teach them the life they are to live, and which they will pass down the generations. That is what I ask of you. Those who sit in the east will carry on with all that is to be done and said."

Then one in the east stood up and said, "We are the friends of the uncles and aunts of Hare, and we are to teach them the meaning of life so that they may pass it on to future generations. Today is the first day that we are to discuss these things with them. From now on they shall have life." Then each of the other four said, "What the one ahead has said, we say." Then Hare rose and spoke: "My friends, that is what I want for my uncles and aunts. This lodge I built for them, and as long as they follow the precepts taught in the Creation Lodge, they will be invulnerable. It is for this that a seat has been made for them here, and they may be seated there whenever they want." All night they taught the initiate until the sun touched the tree tops. Then the spirits left and half the light in the lodge went with them. As they left, each pushed down the posts of the lodge so that it would be firmly anchored.

Then Hare spoke to his grandmother and said, "I will be sitting ready for anyone who performs this ceremony that we have so well taught them. My heart will feel sore when my uncles and aunts come to me in tears, but I will ascend above and whoever performs this rite as we have well taught them, then they shall be as I am. Now look upon me, grandmother." And when she looked at him, he was just as a small boy. "This is how they shall be," said Hare, "just as I am now." Then Hare said to her, "Look at me again." When she saw him, we was now a full grown man. Then Hare told her to look at him again, and what she saw was a man of middle age. When she looked the fourth time, it was as if a swan were perched on his head, and he stood there in the east supported by a cane. "Well, grandmother," he said, "if anyone performs this rite as it should be done, then they will live this way."

Then Grandmother said, "Not only will your uncles benefit from this rite, but so will your aunts. Now look at me, grandson." When he looked, she was so young that her hair looked like a shawl. "Look again, grandson," she said, and when he did, she had become transformed into a middle aged woman, her hair nearly turning gray. Then Hare said, "Yes, grandmother, this is what I meant." Finally, she told him to look at her again, and when he did, she had changed into an old woman, her hair was entirely dried up, and there was a the hollow in the nape of her neck. She was so old that she looked like a duck gazing at the sun. She stood trembling, her chin like a poker whose tip had been burnt off. Then Hare said, "This is what I meant when I said that you were to help me. I thank you, as this is what I wanted for my uncles and aunts."¹

Version 2 (§2 of the V.23 Text of the Hare Cycle)

translated by Richard L. Dieterle

Hocąk Syllabic Text with an Interlinear English Translation

(144) After they (the council of the animals) all went home, Hare did it. Two dogs he made. Then he made the Medicine Dance. He placed a stone there. The chief of the sweat lodge said, "Well, it is made poor. There is no soup there. I am sending it away and I am sending here shell beads." The chief of the sweat lodge said, "Well then, they are speaking. I have erected as many trees as there are." He spoke to them, "Again, as many plants as there are, and (145) again as many stones are there are, and this earth as well, and the lake waters, I poured them forth. These I made." Then he sang, "Grandmother sings it there," he said singing. These were the Black Root Songs. Having done thus, the stem was unlike anything.²

Version 3 (Omaha Period, 1895)

by Joseph LaMère

"The rabbit founded the Medicine Lodge, and the grandmother came and showed the people the advantage of following the rites and rules of the Medicine Lodge. The people looked at her, she was a young woman; a second time they looked at her, she was a mature woman; a third time they looked at her, she was an old woman; a fourth time they looked at her, she was very, very, very old. All the animals came, snakes came and thrust their heads in the ground and twisted their tails, and made the framework of the Lodge. The otter came and helped. Blue paint [is] what the otter likes.

Nekorohįgre hawéną,
Nekorohįgre hawéną, žegų́.^nt

The drum, the rock, stones, the snake, the otter, grass, seeds, all helped.

Then came the bad spirits — great creatures underneath all the animals we see, et cetera — the rattlesnake, the bear, these lived in caves and they came [giving] men poisons, by which he could kill others. Herein is the bad part of the Medicine Lodge; the people don't pull together, they are all afraid of each other — disease, consumption, etc. can all be brought about by the appeal to these spirits."³

Version 4

by Jasper Blowsnake

Jasper Blowsnake

Hocąk-English Interlinear Text

(233) Earthmaker created the naked people, as many as there were, and when he created them, he made them with a full and fixed life. (234) Immediately, he heard their voices, and when he heard their voices, he heard them singing. Again for a second time he heard their voices. He heard them singing. For a third time he heard their voices. Once more (it had happened), so he thought, "What's the matter?" Standing with hands extended and speaking to him, they had directed their minds there to Earthmaker above, but he had not looked toward them. When he heard their voices for a fourth time, these were intensely crying out to him. Addressing their minds intensely in the direction of Earthmaker there, they addressed their minds most piteously to him. "How could it be?" he wondered, "since I thought that I had made them sufficient in life." When he thought this, he looked down. When he looked down, there most truly they say that Herešgúnina with all who are his attendants, with all the evil spirits who are his helpers — all those on earth and from above, as many as there were who had sharp teeth, as many as there were who had sharp claws, the ones they say are from under the earth — as many of the evil spirits (herešgúnina) as existed did thus to us. (235) "Some of us tried to establish a village, but they live upon us. Then we tried to obtain food, we did not reach the lodge standing up. For this reason we are acting this way — crying — and standing with our thoughts toward Earthmaker as we cry." He knew he was speaking the truth. He thought for that reason that nothing would be left moving. He tried to improve his creation. He pondered the matter. Then he knew he was going to create him. From below what he was seated on, he created with his own hands a man, the very first one (of his kind). He took him and made him much better, improving his mind. He made a good man. Then he dispatched him to earth. He imparted to him what he would send him for. He was sent to make things better on earth. When he permitted him to be sent, when he came from above, he came as a body which was in motion, his limbs reposed whistling through the air. "How far must I have come?" he thought. He suddenly flipped over. He suddenly lost consciousness. He came to. He came to consciousness stretched out on his back on the ground.

(236) He started out travelling the earth. Afterwards, he did not accomplish anything of what he was to do. Now every kind of vicious little animal began to plague him. He sat down and began to think. This one knew that he had not accomplished what he was to do. Once Earthmaker realized this, he did something. Up above where we see the sky, there he placed a Light and Life, puting one in control of it. He was named "Turtle"; that is who he was. He (Earthmaker) took hold of him. He worked him over so that in no part of his body could death be placed. Thus he did, and he let him have a weapon. Then he let him go and he came to earth. There they did much lethal violence. When he came there, this one thought what a fun game they were playing. "Well, for just a little while I'll go along with them," he thought, so he went with them there and liked it. Together with them he trampled on our bodies as he went along, but he realized that he was doing no good. Earthmaker knew of it. He created Hare. He came and took him, placing him between his legs, and he talked to him. (237) He said, "This is the last time you will be going. And if you don't succeed, then I'll have to fix over the creation," he said, and then he pointed to where the great evil ones of Herešgúnina were. He encouraged him. "If you do not succeed, it will not be good," he said to him. "The first two that I sent failed, so exert your strength," he told him. He dispatched him from above towards the earth. As he came from above, he thought repeatedly about his coming. "What would be the best thing to do?" he thought.

He recognized her, our sister who was approaching her menstrual period. As he came to Our Grandmother, he entered her (the virgin's) womb. As he sat there feeling crowded, he worried. As he sat, he heard voices; sitting there he became anxious. As a result, after seven months, he emerged. As he emerged, he forcibly shoved himself out of his mother. She never had the name "mom." His grandmother took him and raised him. When the morning came, she took him and fondled him, and (238) as she received him gladly, he turned towards her. When the light of the second morning came, she took him and fondled him, and he stood and smiled all over at her. When the light of the third morning came, she took him and after she fondled him, he stood up and was about to talk. They stood around nice and quiet and were happy. The fourth time the daylight came, she took him and fondled him. He stepped forward and walked over to the opposite side and sat down. When he talked for the first time, "How are my uncles and aunts getting along, grandmother?" he said. "Grandson, they are doing well." He stood for four days, and when he moved around the lodge, his movements were clever. He heard our voices. He asked about us: "Grandmother, why are my uncles and aunts saying that?" "Hąhą́, grandson, they're just in the habit of talking this way for nothing," she said. For the fourth time he asked about us. Then she told him, (239) "Grandson, the reason why your uncles and aunts are saying it is that they are in a pitiable condition. The reason why they are saying this, it is said, is that Herešgúnina and his attendants, as many as there are, as it happens, were treating all of them badly. They were making themselves pitiable for Life is why they said it. When they try to hunt for food, they don't reach home, is why they are saying it. The great (evil) ones of Herešgúnina prey on the villages and the lines of dwellings where they live, is why they say it." "Grandmother, why didn't you tell me a long time ago?"

And so when morning appeared, he started out walking toward the east. And so they say, he planned to kill one of the great ones. He put him in Our Grandmother here, pushing him deep below. Then he came forth. And again when it became day, he began walking in the direction of the north. Here in this direction, he planned to kill one of the great ones of Herešgúnina. He put him in Our Grandmother here, pushing him deep below. (240) He pushed him down so that his back could not protrude at all. Then he came forth. When he came forth it became light as he started to walk again for the third time. He started to walk toward the west. He planned to kill one of the great ones of Herešgúnina. He pushed him down so that his back could not protrude at all. Then when he went forth, when the fourth morning dawned, he started to walk in the direction of those who are in the south. And there he planned to kill this great one, one of those of Herešgúnina. He put him in Our Grandmother here, pushing him deep below. He put him so that not even his back protruded, in such a way had he pushed him below. As he walked over Our Grandmother, over every part of her, he reached so far as the very edge of the surrounding waters where waves strike. As he walked over Our Grandmother, the whole of her, he did not miss any part of her. He pushed down below everyone of Herešgúnina's, as many as there were. Then he did it. (241) He proceeded to make a road towards the east. Four times he started travelling it. Thus he did, and then afterwards he came back. Then he said to his grandmother, "Grandma, now then, the lifespan of my uncles and aunts will be the same as mine," he said. "Grandson, you speak the truth," she told him. As he looked at his grandmother, her back was beginning to cave in. I trusted grandmother to be sure to tell me the truth, but perhaps she also could have a mind similar to them, as that is what she has just told me," he thought. The spirit of He Whom We Call "Nephew" was not well. Therefore, what sleeping cover he had, he took and proceeded to lay with his back towards the lodge entrance. He kept thinking as he lay there, "Cakó, the various spirits, everyone of them, will bring about death equally to all of them," he thought. The thoughts that Earthmaker had put into him — what he had come for, the way to accomplish it — then these thoughts about what he would do came to his mind. (242) His grandmother sat there thinking and thinking. He (the Creator) loved them. What the one he had made was to accomplish and the great things that the Creator had made, he had measured out. Finally, when he got really angry, he said, "Maybe they will continue on here; maybe I will be stamped down!" he thought. Finally, he thought that when he accomplished what he had planned, he might not do it well.

She did this: she took up her work bag and began to handle it. And she was frightened. She tried to appease him. She did this: "My own dear little grandson, what you had spoken was right. The Creator made it in this fashion, he created making it small, and should they, the descendants, do as they please, in time they'll be overcrowded. (243) There again, for that reason, the pitiable things that they are doing would be even more pronounced. Earthmaker made it that way. If they did not have death, in time they would be very miserable. I shall make this way visible, my dear little grandson, as you are going to show your uncles and aunts a rite. In this they will not fail, my dear little grandson. That you might arise is why I am saying this." She spoke and then he secretly looked at her. She was a woman just coming into adulthood, thus it is said. He did not get up. Again for the second time she said, "My dear little grandson, that I might cause you to get up is why I said it, but you do not arise," she said and he looked at her. Facing east, so they say, she had become a middle aged woman. Then the hairs on the back of her neck became white. Facing east he looked at her. "Perhaps something is happening to her," he thought. (244) He didn't get up. And again she said, "My dear little grandson, that you might get up is why I said it, but you do not do it," she said, and he looked at her again. She had almost reached her lifespan, and had only a few black hairs left on her neck. "Something is going to happen and perhaps she might show me more," he thought. He did not get up. For the fourth time she again said, "Grandson, to induce you to get up is why I said it, but you did not get up," so she was saying. When he looked towards the east, she was shaking nervously, her lifespan almost reached, her body was like a flea's. Her arms were like pipe stems. It was as if she had a swan on her head. She was bald, with a hollow in the soft part of her neck. Her hair was soft and thin. He Whom We Call "Nephew" threw off whatever he had for a cover, and pushed it aside. He pushed to the north the evil clouds, all of them that there were. (245) He made the light nice. He made it appear quiet, still, and nice. Then he greeted his grandmother four times. After he greeted her four times, He Whom We Call "Nephew" was of such a fullness of life that it looked as if he was wearing a swan. His body was like a flea's, his arms were like pipe-stems. Facing east, shaking nervously, he placed a staff under his chin. Hąhą́ grandmother, thus it will be. This is how I have made it visible to my uncles and aunts. My uncles and aunts will not fail. And this is how I myself have made it visible. With this they will not fail. They will use this Life."

Then he did it. He was going to build a lodge for the spirits. Eight upright tent poles were to be brought. (246) And he grabbed the breast of Our Grandmother and threw the breast towards the east, and he threw the upright lodge poles to the east as well. He made them come and bend together and then in the south he put that with which to firmly tie together the lodge poles. He threw these to the east, and the little walking-spirit soldiers became these things with which to tie. And proceeding to the other side, he had first made these, the crawling soldiers to do it, to be the tiers. On the other side where the sun does not set, there at that side he made these, the blue racers and the rattlesnakes, the objects with which to tie things. I mean that it reached there. Here on the south side, these, the bullsnake and the timber rattler, became the things used to tie them. I mean that it reached there. He placed the green snake (grass snake) straight above on the top of the lodge, facing east. He made the snake, the green one, with a female, each into a door post. (247) The male was put on the right side. And he brought the glistening backed (reed matting) and stood it up and he sent it, leaving it in the east. He shut off the light, and then he enclosed the north side with a black haired animal. He made the seats good for the spirits. On the south side, having sent and left a white haired kind of animal there on the side, he enclosed one side of the lodge. Having made seats for the spirits, then he called his friends and the four of them sat down together. Trickster, Turtle, Hare, and Our Grandmother, that many, the four of them, sat together.⁴

Version 5

by Oliver LaMère

The Winnebagoes believed in a supreme being whom they called Mą'una or Earth-maker. He it was who created the earth and all that is on it. The following story of creation by Oliver Lamere is an authentic version of the old Winnebago belief. — Norton William Jipson (1923)

(409) The Creator was lying flat on his back, when he became conscious. He sat up and looked about Him, and saw nothing, and as He sat there looking, He was aware that He was alone, so He wept and after a few moments He looked below Him and saw that the tears which had dropped from His cheeks had become the seas, as they are now; and he thought how much greater anything could be if He wished it to be, as the seas were even formed without His wish, so He thought He would create an earth; therefore He took from His body a piece of earth and rolled it into a ball in the palms of his hands, and then He threw it below Him, and it became the earth, but it revolved around and around.

So He wondered how He should stop it, and He first thought He would make it hair, as He called the grass, trees and all other growths which cover the earth; but this did not stop it, so He took from there He sat a large boulder or stone and this he threw down to weight the earth, but the velocity of the fall caused it to burst into a thousand pieces, even when it had gone half way to the earth; so the Creator created four spiritual beings and these he placed in the four direction of the earth: east, west, south and north. But still the (410) earth revolved; so He erected four more spiritual beings and He pierced them through the earth from the west to the east and this stopped the earth's revolution. The four spiritual beings that were placed in the four directions of the earth were empowered to govern the winds and they were also empowered to bless mankind their particular kind of power or strength.

Then He created all things and placed the humans here on earth in the midst of them. He placed all forms of animal life, and at the head of each species or kind He placed a Manitou to govern that particular kind, and in addition to the animal Manitous He placed the Thunder Being to govern the wars, and the Water Monster to govern the waters of the earth.

After a time the cries of the people came up to Him and He saw that great monsters were destroying the people. So he sent one of His sons to appear on earth and destroy the monsters, and he came with power to perform his mission, but he seemed to be distracted by trivial and foolish matters, and neglected his duty; therefore he was called the "Foolish One." It is said that was the beginning of foolish acts on the earth.

The Creator sent another one, and he was called the "Turtle" and was a great warrior. He destroyed a great many monsters but he delighted in warfare and finally wandered off and made war on the people; so he failed, and that was the origin of wars.

The Creator sent another one who was called the "Bladder," but he was a failure. His weakness was the result of inactivity and boastfulness.

The fourth one was the Hare who came and sat at a spring of water where one of the daughter of the earth was wont to go and get water. Here he waited and the woman conceived him. While yet in his mother's womb he heard the cries of his people and for that reason he was born in seven months, and at his birth his mother was injured to such an extend that she died, leaving him an orphan with his great mother the Earth, (411) who reared him. As a child when he went out, he went around the lodge and cleared all that portion of the bad things; and the next time he went out he went as far as the clearing around the lodge and cleared all that portion of the bad things and monsters.

The third time he went over half of the earth, and the fourth time he went over all the earth and destroyed all the monsters, and he compelled the bad birds with sharp claws to go higher in the air, and the tramped into the earth all that destroyed the people.

Then he desired an everlasting life for the people, but the Creator had willed it otherwise, so he was instructed to organize a lodge, which, when the rituals were rightly performed, would lead the people to a everlasting spiritual existence. So he gathered together all the spirits of the earth, the upper and the lower regions, and with the combination of these powers he originated the medicine lodge and the great Mother Earth added as her gift the corn and tobacco plants that the people may use in their prayers to the Great Spirit and minor spirits which the Great Spirit had created to govern the minor things of the creation. The tobacco plant was made for man's personal use and especially for the purpose of appeasing the spirits, and the spirits could have the pleasure of a smoke only when the tobacco was offered to them by the people. Even the Earth-maker Himself would not take the tobacco after He had created it unless it was offered to Him by the humans, because it was made for that purpose alone.

In the precepts of the Medicine Lodge, one is taught to be modest and ever heed the counsels of the elders in the lodge, and to look after the welfare of all people and the helpless, and to ever hold in reverence the Creator and His creation, and all the various minor spirits or forces which go to make up life.⁵

Commentary. Version 1. "Grandmother's back caved in" (Version 1), "her back was beginning to cave in" (Version 4) — the caving in of Grandmother's back is a representation of the digging of a grave. For the connection between looking back and the grave, see the Comparative Material below.

"she opened her breast" — one of the reasons why maize is said to come from Grandmother's breast is that maize is planted in conical mounds. For more on the symbolism of the breast in this context, see the Commentary on "Grandmother's Gifts."

Version 2. "two dogs he made" — these animals, who seem to preceed the creation of the Medicine Rite, are likely symbolic animals, and may stand for artefacts used in the rite. On the other hand, they may also be animals for the sacrifice, as dogs were employed as substitutes for human offerings.

"chief of the sweat lodge" — this title at first looks as if it might apply to the stone (which is the central feature of the sweat lodge). However, the chief goes on to recount all the things that he created in connection with the lodge, and this role belongs uniquely to Hare. Therefore, the chief of the sweat lodge must be Hare.

"shell beads" — this is wampum, which often functioned as currency, except that it had no standard value.

"these I made" — the trees are the lodge poles, the plants are the lodge walls which are woven together; the earth is shaped and defined for the lodge, the stones are heated and used to make steam; and water is what is poured upon the stones.

"Grandmother" — Hare's grandmother is Grandmother Earth.

"Black Root Songs" — in Hocąk this is Nąnecų-Sep-Nąwą. I do not know what a "black root" is, but apparently it is something that bears like to eat, since the Bear Clan has the name "Black Root Woman" (Nąnecųsepwįga).

"the stem" — this apparently means the foundation of the Medicine Rite, or perhaps the erection of the sweat lodge for this rite.

Version 3. ^nt — the text has, Ne-ko-ro-hing-re ha-we-ne, then ditto marks on the succeeding line which are followed by je-go. This appears to be a song, with žegų meaning, "thus." The word hawéną means, "we have gone through." I have not been able to determine the meaning of ne-ko-ro-hing-re.

"great creatures" — a reference to Waterspirits, who live below the earth and have the power to produce poisons that can be obtained only from their bodies.

Version 4. "the naked people" — this is an eliptic way of referring to the original people that Earthmaker created, since they were made without clothing.

"what's the matter?" — in the CW translation, Radin has, "But then (the singing stopped) and he thought to himself, 'What's the matter?'." However, there is no indication of negation or cessation of singing in the text. The text translated literally, says, "Again, so, 'What's the matter?' he thought." It must be that they were singing a plaintive song, and Radin's own subsequent translation clearly confirms this.

"he had not looked toward them" — this does not mean that he was deliberately turning his back on them (like Yahweh sometimes does), but at that time he merely had his attention directed elsewhere.

"Herešgúnina" — this is the Hocąk counterpart to Satan.

"they live upon us" — in the interlinear text Radin clarifies this with a note at the top of the page: "referring to the line of the camp." In other words, they live among the lodges of the humans, interfering in their daily lives.

"a man" — although he is not named here, this is Wakjąkaga, known as "Trickster." The difficulty is that there are men beseeching Earthmaker for aid, and his response is to create Trickster, which contradicts the claim that Trickster is the first man. We would have to suppose that Earthmaker had created him long before, but held him in suspended animation.

"Light and Life" — the term hąp, whose primary meaning is "light," is used in the Medicine Rite to mean "life."

"in no part of his body could death be placed" — in other words, he was invulnerable. This, of course, is a reflection of the fact that turtles are enclosed in an armor of shell.

"a weapon" — this weapon is Turtle's signature double-edged knife.

"approaching her menstrual period" — meaning her first ever menstruation. She is a virgin.

"the surrounding waters" — the ocean is called te-ją-ra, "the encircling lake," being concieved to be like the Greek Okeanos. The expression hogígįx ni-, "the surrounding waters" is a descriptive reference to the same body of water. Inasmuch as the Ocean Sea surrounds the earth, we are being told that Hare traversed the whole of Our Grandmother, even to the shore of the ocean.

"a road towards the east" — since the path westward is the way of death and the departed, a road towards the east is the opposite, a road towards the new rising sun, towards birth and resurrection. This is the Road of the Medicine Rite.

"she has just told me" — not in words, but in the action of her back caving in.

"He Whom We Call 'Nephew'" — this is Hare. Inasmuch as he was of virgin birth, all human beings are his aunts and uncles. Therefore, he is the nephew (hecųšge) of all humans.

"he (the Creator) loved them" — Radin in CW translates this as, "She loved them (Hare and the humans)," but it could equally well be translated as "he loved them," referring to Earthmaker. The next sentence is translated in CW as, "(She thought of) what he (Hare) had done and what he was to accomplish and of how much the creator had created she had received (how limited it was)."

"to the north the evil clouds" — the north, in solar symbolism, is a place of evil since at certain times of the year above the Arctic Circle, the sun does not shine at all, plunging the land into perpetual night, a delight to darkness loving spirits. Elsewhere (East Shakes the Messenger), these "evil clouds" are said to be "small, thin, white clouds," that is, cirrus clouds. They are formed by strong winds, which are inauspicious. Once cirrus clouds pass from the sky, fair weather almost always ensues.

"threw the breast toward the east" — Radin remarks, "that is, the ground was levelled."⁷ Grandmother is the earth. Part of the reason that maize is said to come from Grandmother's breast is that it is planted in a conical mound; so any mound of earth can be characterized as "Grandmother's breast" especially if it is connected with sustenance literally or figuratively. The word meaning "the breast," mągera, forms an interesting assonance with mąǧera, "the crops"; and they both begin with the syllable mą, which means "earth." The Creation Lodge of the Medicine Rite, whose construction is here described, can be seen as a sustainer of Light and Life just as the maize crop or mother's milk insures physical survival.

"that with which to firmly tie together the lodge poles" — Radin comments: "that is, the sinew with which to tie the vertical poles."⁶ In CW he notes parenthetically that this is sinew made from basswood bark.

"little walking-spirit soldiers" — the interlinear text identifies them as rattlesnakes. They are being used as sinews to tie the vertical poles together.

"the crawling soldiers" — the interlinear text identifies them as snakes. They are being used as sinews to tie the side poles together. The "other side" to which this sentence refers is west.

"where the sun does not set" — this is the north with reference to the Arctic summer where there are days when the sun never sets. This is the positive way of referring to the north, which is also a land where at times the sun never rises. This latter fact makes the north unpropitious.

"the blue racers and the rattlesnakes" — the snakes are the black snake (wákąsébera) and the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (kšekéra), their dark color suggesting the negative characterization of the north, and the poisonous nature of the rattlesnake aligning it with the evil spirits. Radin translates the words wákąsébera kšekéra together as "the black rattlesnakes," but the standard way of rendering this would be as, kšekesepera. Of the wákąsébera, literally "the black snake," Gatschet says that it "attacks people; lives in water." Miner identifies the wakąsép as the blue racer snake (Coluber constrictor foxi), in contrast to Dorsey who says that the wakąsébara is the blacksnake (Coluber constrictor constrictor).⁸ The two varieties are so closely related that they will often interbreed where their ranges overlap. However, the blacksnake is not found farther northwest than Ohio, and consequently is not a Wisconsin snake. Therefore, Miner's identification is correct. The blue racer is a long, slender snake, that is black on its sides and belly, but which has a very dark blue sheen on its back. It is very aggressive and will attack humans if provoked in any way. While no mention is made of its being a water snake, it does have the ability to climb trees, although it rarely does so. It will shake its tail when threatened, creating a strange buzzing sound. So in this respect, it is similar to the rattlesnake. Although the snake is not poisonous, its bite is said to be very painful.⁹

"the bullsnake and the timber rattler" — again Radin translates wakǫsérejerá wákązíra as a single expression, in this case meaning, "the long yellow snake." The standard way to express "the long yellow snake" would be wakązira serecera. However, in fact we have two kinds of snakes listed. The wakąsérejerá Gatschet identifies as the bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer), which is Wisconsin's longest heavy-bodied snake, which is consistent with the Hocąk name, which means "long-snake." This is also known as the pine snake. The wákązíra, "the yellow snake," is the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). However, there is another snake also called wakąsérejerá, and that is the pine snake, more commonly known as the fox snake (Pantherophis vulpinus). This serpent is indeed strongly associated with the rattler, since when alarmed it imitates this poisonous snake by rapidly shaking its tail in the leaf debris creating the impression that its tail has a rattle. The pine snake is also found in yellow varieties.

"the green snake" — this snake is also known as the "grass snake" (Opheodrys vernalis). Radin has translated wakącóra as "the blue snake," but co covers the spectrum of color from green through blue. That it is the green, or grass, snake is attested by both Dorsey and Miner.¹⁰

"black haired animals" — a reference to bearskin.

"a white haired kind of animal" — a reference to white deerskin which is used in sacrifices to the spirits.

Version 5. "Manitou" — an Algonquian word meaning "Spirit," more widely familiar to midwesterners in the early XXᵀᴴ century than alternative words.

"Water Monster" — that is, a Wakcexi or Waterspirit.

"Foolish One" — this is Trickster.

Comparative Material. The neighboring Menominee people also have a medicine rite founded by Manabush (Hare). "When Manabush left the Indian people he said, 'My friends, I am going to leave you now; I have been badly treated — not by you, but by other people who live in the land about you. I shall go toward the rising sun, across a great water, where there is a land of rocks. There I shall take up my abode. Whenever you build a mitawikomik (medicine lodge) and are there gathered together you will think of me. When you mention my name I shall hear you. Whatever you may attempt in my name shall come to pass; and whatever you may ask, that I will do.' He then got into a canoe and disappeared over the great water toward the rising sun."¹¹

Hare is told that he must not look behind him or he will ratify the existence of death in the world of mankind. The association of death and looking backwards is found in Indo-European myths. The ferryman of the dead among the Greeks and other peoples, has a head that faces backwards, so that as he rows the dead to their final abode, he never looks forward.¹² Since space and time are usually treated as analogues, what is forward in space is the future, and what is behind is the past. The ferryman of the dead reflects the fact that although the souls are going to the Otherworld, yet their life is nothing but a past — there is no future for the dead. Thus we find that when Orpheus retrieves Eurydice from the dead, he must not look back at her as they leave Hades.¹³ To do so would mean that she is one of the things that are irretrievably in the backward or past time, and this is the very definition of death. So when Orpheus does look back at her, she ceases to have a future or forward time. Thus Hare must not look back at his uncles and aunts who follow after him, or he condemns them forever to belong to that backward or past time. If this is true, then why is it that they do not all find themselves dead? The reason is that Hare is attempting to complete a circuit. As the Greeks appreciated, the circle is perfect, in part because it has no beginning or end. Thus, in some sense, it is infinite. Thus, keeping to the analogy between space and time, since Hare is trying to affect time, he must complete a circuit of the entire world to give mankind an infinite lifetime, the spatial world corresponding to the temporal world. They have completed part of the journey around the world, which means that they have completed part of a lifetime. When Hare then looks back, he has made any further forward time nonexistent, and thus terminated the length of the human lifetime at the point at which he looked back. This cannot be undone, but it can be circumvented as Earthmaker will allow that while people die, they can be reborn. For another instance of the backward looking head, see The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head.

Links: The Sons of Earthmaker, Earthmaker, Herešgúnina, Island Weights, Hare, Earth, Thunderbirds, Waterspirits, Day, Snakes, Buffalo Spirits, Turtle, Bladder, Redhorn (He who Wears Human Heads as Earrings), Trickster, Great Black Hawk, Hawks, Bird Spirits, Kaǧi, Wolf and Dog Spirits, Rock Spirits.

Links within the V.23 Hare Cycle: §1. Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, Version 2, §3. Hare Establishes the Bear Hunt, Version 1.

The first part of this story is retold in The Creation of the World (v 1).

Part of this waiką is a version of the story The Necessity for Death.