The Messengers of Hare

Version 1

by Jasper Blowsnake
translation based on the Interlinear of Oliver LaMère and Paul Radin


Jasper Blowsnake

Hocąk-English Interlinear Text


(5) Now, when he whom we call "Nephew" went to gather the spirits, he used a tanned buckskin, and tobacco as offerings to gather the spirits. He whom we call "Nephew" split the tobacco into four parts. Then he tied each up. And then he was going to ask them for pity. They would go to each of the assembled spirits in turn.

The first [messenger] was a young, white faced wolf, who was to pass beyond the great Island Weights, (6) who daily throw their breath upon us. And again the second one was a Walker on Light, a very white and awe inspiring one, that the Maker of Things, the Good Spirit, had placed above. They were all to walk forth. One like a cackling swan was released. Then the Maker of Things created a black furred, young one, swift of foot, with a basswood belt, thus he made him the leader, put in charge of things, as many as there were. He put him in charge of much Light-and-Life (Hąp), and under him the Maker of Things placed as many of the Good Spirits as there are below the earth. They went walking on.

The very first one who went out, came back. And as the medicine men went, so he went. Four times he went on the road. Then he came back to the middle of the lodge. He had left in youth, but returned with his head worn down by trees so that it looked like leggings, and there were but a few hairs here and there stuck only on his backbone. Then four times he kicked up the earth to the four directions, and said, "Hoho," he said, and shook himself. (7) As he went in the beginning, that way he returned. This one said, "Dearest Hare, this way your uncles and aunts will always truly call me. The great men to whom I have shown this Rite are about to touch your uncles and aunts. If one minds his rehearsals well, he will not fail to obtain this, whether he is male or female," he said.

 

Then truly, the Walker on Light who had gone back returned, just as he had left. He went in exactly that way. Four times he went on the road, in a circuit. Then he came back to the middle of the lodge. He had left in youth, but returned with his head worn down by trees so that it looked like stockings, and there were but a few hairs here and there stuck only on his backbone. He scratched up earth to the four directions with his foot, and he shook himself, and just as young as he was when he left, so he now returned. (8) Then he said, "Hare, your uncles and your aunts for whom you seek life, this way they will truly call me. If he thinks hard of one of the great men to whom I have shown it, and if he repeats it well, he will not fail to obtain it.

And again, as the one from below also came back. He had left a very young black furred one as he went in, but he came back with his head worn down by trees so that it looked like stockings, and there were but a few hairs here and there stuck only on his backbone. He also went towards our Medicine Road. Four times he returned to the center of the lodge. With his foot he scratched up the earth in the four directions, and then he shook himself, and as young as he had been when he left, this way he returned. Then he said, "Hare, your uncles and your aunts for whom you seek life, it would be good for anyone of them to contemplate it, it would be good for anyone of them to repeat it; (9) if he does so he will not fail to obtain this," he said.1


Version 2a (First Telling)

by Jasper Blowsnake


Hocąk-English Interlinear Text


(247) When the spirits had gathered together, then they did it. In order that He Whom They Call "Nephew" might make a path for those above, the very young one with wings returned to the middle of the lodge. (248) He came back very old. When he had left, he had been very nice, but now he was bald in spots, his feathers worn out. He shook himself as he went, and made himself that way again. And he said to him, "Should they mention me, they too will be able to do this way. If any of your uncles and aunts perform this ceremony well, if he thinks well, then he cannot fail," he said. He thanked the one whom they call "Nephew" for it.

(249) They sent that young one. The second one, he who sits on the edge of the island, the great Island Weight, they sent him that he might walk it. And again, the black furred one, a very fast one, had a basswood bark belt. Thus, when he returned, when the second one came in, he went to the center of the lodge. He was no longer like he once was. His head was bald like leggings, only his back had a little hair on it, and his skin had become wrinkled. His life had become full. And then he said to him, "Hare, you too may do thus if you will mention me. Anyone of the two of them (uncles and aunts) if he does it right as he has seen me do it, he cannot fail." He thanked him for it. Four times he scratched up the ground, pushing it in the direction of the four cardinal winds, and then he shook himself. As he had been, he now became that way again. (250) He went to the chief of all the good spirits under the earth, that is, he would walk to the end. The way he started was not the way that he returned. He returned very old with his head worn out. His skin was wrinkled, and he came in with only a little hair on his back like leggings. He arrived in the way that they all go. He came to the center of the lodge. He scratched up the ground, pushing it towards the four winds. Thus he did and he shook himself. Then in the way that he had left, that way he returned. And he said to him, "Hare, also in this way will they call on me. If your nephews and nieces keep this rite properly in their minds, if they do it well the way they have seen it, then they cannot fail to obtain just this."

From the place where the sun is not, from that place all those winged good spirits came. Also then they came from the direction of the east and the direction from where the sun is not. The leader of those from the north is seated there. Then in the place where the sun is there were all the animals from the earth; then the animals from under the earth came from the south and completely filled the lodge. As they sat there, they concentrated their minds upon the center of the lodge. In the center of the lodge the Light and Life lay there sparkling.2


Version 2b (Second Telling)

by Jasper Blowsnake


Hocąk-English Interlinear Text


Once the spirits had gathered together, (25) then they did it. A very white Walker on Light, a cackling swan, whom Earthmaker created in control of Light and Life from as many Walkers on Light as there are up above, he who would set out to walk upon light, went forth. Then four times he made a circuit of the lodge. (26) He made the Light and Life increase. With the toes on his feet not uneven, he smeared the edge of the fire with Light and Life. Then again the second one who made the fourfold circuit around the great Island Weights, he will have set out walking. A wolf with a very white face and very blue fur walked around the lodge four times. He made the Light and Life become greater. Then the one who made the fourfold circuit of the cardinal winds, he walked through it. He started out. Then again day broke when the third was sent to walk to the chief over the underworld who was put in control over as much (Light and Life) as there was. A young, dark haired one with a basswood belt, he walked around the edge of the fire four times. He caused the Light and Life to wax greater.

Then he started to leave, but just then the first one who started came in returning. (27) On his departure he was a very young one, but he came back very old, his head bald with his feathers pulled out. He started to make a circuit of the lodge, but stopped in the center. "Hare, for the life that you are seeking for your nephews and nieces, for this also they will call on me," he said. He scratched up the ground, pushing it away to the four winds, and when he had shaken himself, he returned to being clean. As young and handsome as he had once been, to that condition he returned. Then again the second one began to enter. He who was very young when he left was very old and advanced in the years of his life as he began to enter. His head was bald with a few hair on his back, and the hair of his feet was almost gone. As they go around the lodge (in the Rite today), (28) that way he went around and stopped at the center of the lodge. And he said, "Hare, your uncles and aunts for whom you are seeking a very full life, if they keep this ceremony (hoki'úna) properly in their minds, if they do it well and call on me, then they cannot fail," he said. And in the middle of the lodge he scratched the ground, pushing it towards the four winds and he scratched and when he shook himself, as young and handsome as the wolf was when he left, to that condition he returned. And now the third one returned, the very young bear from under the earth, he started to return to where he came from. His life showed its great age. His head was bald like leggings, and his skin had become wrinkled. He started to make a circuit around the lodge and stopped in the center. (29) "Hare, if one does it well, your uncles and aunts for whom you seek life cannot possibly fail in this. Also in this let them call upon me," he said. Then the father of all four of them made his return from under the earth and when he shook himself, he became very young just the way he left.3


Version 3

by Oliver LaMère


Preamble. The Chief of the Bear Clan is telling this story to his grandsons: "... the story I am going to tell you tonight has to do with industry and with our ways of living. You have seen from my stories that our people, the Winnebagoes, and, in fact, all other Indians, are great observers of the animals and birds, and from them we learn many fine lessons." 


(127) “Once, a long time ago, as my grandfather used to tell the story, the people were overcome by evil spirits and monstrous animals. There was sadness and sorrow over all the earth. Then the Great Spirit heard the cries of the people and sent a hero to them to destroy those bad things. This hero went about over the earth fighting with all the evil things that hurt the people. And there came a time when he was so victorious over all the great monsters that they would not come (128) back any more. But the people had lived so long in evil ways that they had forgotten how to keep themselves clean and strong in body and in mind.

“So this hero went about the earth again to invite all the animals of the land and the birds of the air and the beings of the water to come to a great gathering. At that time they were each to give some power to make the people better. The Eagle and the Swan were sent to the upper regions with this invitation, and the Bear and the Wolf were sent as runners over the earth and lower regions. Each went forth young and in the very prime of life, but when they returned they were old and weary. The Eagle and the Swan had lost the small feathers from their heads and were bald, while their wing feathers were so worn and thin that they could hardly fly. The Bear and the Wolf returned so old that their fur had all been worn off, and they came hobbling in with the aid of cedar staves. They came and stood before (129) the hero, saying, ‘To this age will the people come if they receive your teachings and perform them.’

“After saying this, each one shook himself vigorously and became as he had been before, young and strong and in the prime of life. This was to show us that when we grow old and die, after a life of industry and usefulness, our souls, or spirits, may become young again in another life outside of or beyond the bodies we now have.

“Then all the animals began coming toward the gathering place, exerting their best powers in order that the people might gain some benefit and learn how to lead better lives.4  Continued at "Otter and Beaver Create Progeny."


Commentary. Version 1. "Nephew"— a formulaic reference to Hare. Since Hare was born of a human virgin, all people are his aunts and uncles, and he is to them a nephew. The avunculate in Hocąk culture is an extremely strong bond, so Hare is literally born to defend mankind to the death.

"Island Weights" — they occupy the four cardinal points, and are so-called because they hold down the earth, which would otherwise spin or rock incessantly as it did when it was first created. Some contend that they are Bear Spirits, whereas most others maintain that they are Waterspirits.

"their breath" — this refers to the four cardinal winds which are here implied to emanate from the Island Weights at the edge of the world.

"white" — the color of holiness.

"wolf" — the word for wolf here, kiniké, is an old and rare word.

"Walker on Light" — a ritualistic name for a bird.

"black furred" — in this variant, the animal is never otherwise identified. In another story, the chief of the Bear Spirits, named "Black Fur" (Hįsepka), sends forth an avenging bear out of a spring, which suggests an underworld origin. In version 2b it is clear that the dark furred one with a basswood bark belt is a bear.

"the medicine men" — these are the men of the Medicine Rite.

"four times he went on the road" — that is, when he entered the lodge, he circled around the inside four times. This is the standard procedure in the rite, the "road" being the ritual path around the central fireplace. In a deeper sense, this pathway represents the Road of Life and Death for which the Medicine Rite is the guide.

"that way he returned" — that is, he returned to his youth. Old age is seen as an impurity which is shaken off the way wolves shake water off their coats. For shaking, see below.

"to obtain this" — restoration of life, which is here homologized to rejuvenation.

Version 2a. "the great Island Weight" — this is one of the few places where one of the great Island Weights is recognized as a bear.

"he arrived in the way that they all go" — on the interstitial page 249/250 to the interlinear text, Radin has this clarifying note: "When the parties returned, the first was "crying swan" heghwainąke, the 2nd wolf (šųkcąk), 3rd bear. Then the spirits began to come. The one in the east brought the good fowls of the air, the north likewise, the west brought the earth-spirits, & the south, the good spirits under the earth. In the north side, sat the fowls, on the south, the animals on & under the earth, — to the center of the tent they concentrated their thoughts."

"your nephews and nieces" — Radin almost always translates hitegenįk-waraga and hi'ųninįk-waraga as, "your uncles and your aunts"; but as he himself shows elsewhere,5 the "little (nįk) uncles and aunts" are the nephews and nieces, although the latter is a source of great confusion, with Marino giving hiuni and hiuninįk as both meaning "aunt" and Radin giving hi'uniniñk as meaning "wife of the paternal brother," which is very likely wrong. In one sentence Radin actually translates hi'ųninįk as "nieces," but translates the preceding word, hitekenįk, as "uncles."6

"the place where the sun is not" — the place where there is no sun is the land above the Arctic Circle where for a time during the winter the sun does not rise above the horizon. On this account, it is often thought of as a place of ill-omen.

"where the sun is" — south. This is merely in contradistinction from the north (see immediately above).

Version 2b. "the fourfold circuit around the great Island Weights" — this is another way of describing the circuit made around the lodge. This is the Creation Lodge of the Medicine Rite where the four great Island Weights sit each at their own cardinal point. So making a circuit is to pass each of these four in turn.

"chief over the underworld" — in The Road of Life and Death, Radin "translates" this sentence as, "He was a waterspirit and had been placed in control of an abundance of life so that when he walked life would be spread by him." No word denoting Waterspirits exists in this passage (qv the original text). It is a reasonable conclusion to suppose that this is the Waterspirit who anchors the center of the earth. But it is made clear that the messenger, as opposed to those to whom he has been sent, is a black bear (see the next entry below). In The Culture of the Winnebago, Radin treats "chief under the earth" (mąkúhąregi hųgé) as the direct object, but the verb "he left" (re-) has to be supplied by what he treats as the next sentence. The resultant translation is, "Then the third one left, the one who was to speed along to the awesome beings (the Waterspirits), all of whom had been placed in control of life-and-light." (sentence *220 — sentence *221 is skipped). The sentence doesn't exactly say this, but it does correct the error in The Road of Life and Death where the impression is left that it is the messenger himself who is a Waterspirit and chief over the underworld.

"dark haired one" — a presumed reference to the black bear. The chief of the Bear Spirits is named "Black Fur" (Hįsepga) (see The Woman Who Fought the Bear). He sends forth an avenging bear out of a spring, which suggests an underworld origin. Later on, this messenger is explicitly said to be a bear.

"he had shaken himself, he returned to being clean" — the process of shaking is often seen in sacred stories when someone is brought back to life again. The most conspicuous examples are found when one of the Twins shakes the other and he comes back from his "sleep." The shaking we see here is that typical of animals when they shake water off their coats. The end product of this process is called kárapiésge, "neat, clean, perfect." In other words, shaking is a process of purification, and it is through a kind of purification that entitlement to resurrection arises. When someone is struck with a shell and undergoes ritual death, they first lie upon the floor quivering and shaking (kiri), before they return (kirije) to life, whose essence is a shimmering and resplendent (kirije) light. Impurity is being-out-of-place, and those who walk the Road of Life and Death appear to end at the terminus of a straight path; but the members of the Rite have a circular road, where their participation in the Rite has been like a purification process whose end is a new beginning, a return to being once again kárapiésge.

"very young bear" — the Hocąk is hųjerá wacekjįžą, "the bear, a very young one." Radin persists in calling him a "water spirit," perhaps because he confused the word wacekjįžą with Wakcexižą, "a Waterspirit." This statement shows that the messenger with the dark fur and basswood belt is a bear. See above under "dark haired one."

"the father of all four of them" — this is not translated in the interlinear (nor is any word in this sentence). The Road of Life and Death omits this sentence, and the episode that it relates, altogether. The latter has, "Then he kicked up the earth in the four directions, scratched and shook himself. As he had been before he had started, that young he became once more. ..." (the diaeresis marks are in the book). The Hocąk for this expression is a single word, jajijobíhike, which comes from jaji-hijobihike by elision. The first part of the compound means, "daddy," and the second, "the four, all four of them." Whoever this being is, he has not been mentioned before. Also, the account mentions, hitherto, only three messengers: the swan, the wolf, and the bear. It is not only a puzzle as to how we get four beings of whom another is the father, but who this father is. All we know is that he too comes from under the earth. Is he then the father of all four of the Island Weights, the Waterspirits represented in the Rite? If so, then he must be the chief of the Waterspirits and the central Island Weight. The problem with this hypothesis is that in an episode of The Descent of the Drum, there is the implication that he is unable to leave his post to attend the Creation Lodge of the Medicine Rite and must transfer his blessings onto the drum that is consecrated to the Rite. Therefore, solutions to this puzzle remain problematic; nevertheless, the last hypothesis is likely true.

Version 3. "a hero" — this hero is Hare. He was the last of five demigods created directly by Earthmaker (the Great Spirit) to show humans how to live in the way intended by the Creator. He was successful. As his name suggests, his body took on the form of a rabbit or hare.


Links: Hare, Island Weights, Wolf & Dog Spirits, Swans, Bird Spirits, Waterspirits, Bear Spirits.


Stories: featuring Hare as a character: The Hare Cycle, Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Necessity for Death, The Mission of the Five Sons of Earthmaker, Hare Acquires His Arrows, Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, Hare Kills Wildcat, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, Hare Kills Flint, Hare Kills Sharp Elbow, Hare Visits His Grandfather Bear, Grandmother Packs the Bear Meat, Hare Visits the Bodiless Heads, Hare Visits the Blind Men, Hare Kills a Man with a Cane, Hare Burns His Buttocks, Hare Gets Swallowed, The Hill that Devoured Men and Animals, Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, Grandmother's Gifts, Hare and the Grasshoppers, The Spirit of Gambling, The Red Man, Maize Origin Myth, Hare Steals the Fish, The Animal who would Eat Men, The Gift of Shooting, Hare and the Dangerous Frog, Thunder Cloud is Blessed, The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, The Petition to Earthmaker; pertaining to the Medicine Rite: The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Journey to Spiritland, Holy Song, Holy Song II, Maize Origin Myth, The Necessity for Death, Hog's Adventures, Great Walker's Warpath; mentioning Island Weights: The Creation of the World, The Island Weight Songs, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, East Shakes the Messenger, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, North Shakes His Gourd, Wolves and Humans, Šųgepaga, Traveler and the Thunderbird War (v. 2), The Lost Blanket, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (v. 1), The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, South Seizes the Messenger, Earthmaker Sends Rušewe to the Twins, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Petition to Earthmaker; mentioning (spirit) bears (other than were-bears): White Bear, Blue Bear, Black Bear, Red Bear, Bear Clan Origin Myth, The Shaggy Man, Bear Offers Himself as Food, Hare Visits His Grandfather Bear, Grandmother Packs the Bear Meat, The Spotted Grizzly Man, Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, The Woman Who Fought the Bear, Brass and Red Bear Boy, Redhorn's Sons, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, The Wolf Clan Origin Myth, Hocąk Clans Origin Myth, Bird Clan Origin Myth, The Hocąk Migration Myth, Red Man, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Two Boys, Creation of the World (v. 5), Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Brown Squirrel, Snowshoe Strings, Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, Lake Winnebago Origin Myth, The Spider's Eyes, Little Priest's Game, Little Priest, How He went out as a Soldier, Morning Star and His Friend (v. 2), How the Thunders Met the Nights, The Race for the Chief's Daughter, Trickster's Tail, Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Warbundle Maker, cf. Fourth Universe; relating to dogs or wolves: The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, A Man and His Three Dogs, White Wolf, Wolves and Humans, The Wolf Clan Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, Worúxega, The Dogs of the Chief's Son, The Dog that became a Panther, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, The Wild Rose, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, The Resurrection of the Chief's Daughter, The Canine Warrior, The Dog Who Saved His Master, The Raccoon Coat, Wojijé, The Big Eater, Why Dogs Sniff One Another, The Healing Blessing, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Trickster Loses His Meal, Sun and the Big Eater, Redhorn's Sons, Trickster, the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Meadow Lark, Hog's Adventures, Holy One and His Brother, Pete Dupeé and the Ghosts, Grandmother's Gifts, The Hocąk Migration Myth, Bladder and His Brothers, The Stench-Earth Medicine Origin Myth, The Old Man and the Giants, Rich Man, Boy, and Horse, Kunu's Warpath, Morning Star and His Friend, Black Otter's Warpath, Black Otter’s Sacrifice to a Thunder, Chief Wave and the Big Drunk, Peace of Mind Regained (?); mentioning white wolves or dogs: White Wolf, The Gray Wolf Origin Myth, The Old Man and His Four Dogs, The Man Whose Wife was Captured, Worúxega, Wolf Clan Origin Myth (vv. 1, 2), Wolves and Humans, A Man and His Three Dogs, Grandmother's Gifts, Peace of Mind Regained (?); mentioning swans: The Green Man, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head; mentioning basswood: The Children of the Sun, Redhorn's Father, Bear Clan Origin Myth (v. 3), The Big Stone, The Fox-Hocąk War, Hare Burns His Buttocks, The King Bird, Hare Kills Wildcat, Turtle's Warparty, The Birth of the Twins, Ghost Dance Origin Myth II, Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb, Mijistéga’s Powwow Magic and How He Won the Trader's Store.

Stories from Jasper Blowsnake's account of the Medicine Rite (The Road of Life and Death) in notebook order: The Shell Anklets Origin Myth (v. 1), Keramaniš’aka's Blessing, The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle, The Blessing of Kerexųsaka, Historical Origins of the Medicine Rite, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge of the Medicine Rite, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, East Enters the Medicine Lodge (v. 1), The Creation of the World (v. 12), The Creation of Man (v. 8), Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 4), East Enters the Medicine Lodge (v. 2), Testing the Slave, South Enters the Medicine Lodge (v. 2), The Descent of the Drum (v. 1), The Commandments of Earthmaker, The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men (v. 2), East Shakes the Messenger, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth (v. 4), North Shakes His Gourd, Grandmother's Gifts, South Seizes the Messenger, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Island Weight Songs, The Petition to Earthmaker, A Snake Song Origin Myth, The Completion Song Origin, Great Walker's Medicine (v. 2), Great Walker and the Ojibwe Witches, The Diving Contest, The Sweetened Drink Song, The Plant Blessing of Earth, Tobacco Origin Myth (v. 3), The Tap the Head Medicine, The Claw Shooter, Tobacco Origin Myth (v. 4), Peace of Mind Regained, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 5), A Wife for Knowledge, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth (v. 2), The Descent of the Drum (v. 2), South Enters the Medicine Lodge (v. 1), Death Enters the World.


Themes: animal messengers are sent out to invite spirits to a council: Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth; a swan is sent to the upper world as a messenger: The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head; something is of a (symbolic) pure white color: White Bear, Deer Spirits, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 4), White Flower, Big Eagle Cave Mystery, The Fleetfooted Man, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, Worúxega, The Two Boys, The Lost Blanket (white spirits), Skunk Origin Myth, Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, White Wolf, A Man and His Three Dogs, The Brown Squirrel, The Man Who Fell from the Sky, Bladder and His Brothers, White Thunder's Warpath, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Dipper, Great Walker's Medicine (v. 2), Creation of the World (v. 12), Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Descent of the Drum, Tobacco Origin Myth (v. 5), The Diving Contest, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, Grandmother's Gifts, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Completion Song Origin, North Shakes His Gourd, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, Thunder Cloud is Blessed, Peace of Mind Regainedd; a spirit turns into a person of radically different age: Morning Star and His Friend, The Dipper, Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Chief of the Heroka; a spirit transforms himself into a symbolic representation of what is destined to happen in the future: The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Peace of Mind Regained; someone is able to exert supernatural power upon an object by concentrating his mind upon it: Hare Establishes Bear Hunting, Hare Recruits Game Animals for Humans, The Boy who was Blessed by a Mountain Lion, The Petition to Earthmaker, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Blessing of Kerexųsaka.


Notes

1 The original interlinear is found in Jasper Blowsnake, Jasper Blowsnake's Account of the Medicine Rite, in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Winnebago III, #1: 3-7. The corrected text is a typescript in Jasper Blowsnake, Jasper Blowsnake's Account of the Medicine Rite, in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Winnebago II, #5: 5-9. For a loose English translation, see Paul Radin, The Road of Life and Death: A Ritual Drama of the American Indians. Bollingen Series V (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973 [1945]) 82-84.

2 Jasper Blowsnake, Untitled, in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Freeman #3887 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Library, n.d.) Winnebago II, #7, 247-251. See also the revised phonetic text at Jasper Blowsnake, Untitled, in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Freeman #3888 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Library, n.d.) Winnebago II, #2: 449-456. This was published as a Hocąk text with numbered sentences followed by an English translation in Paul Radin, The Culture of the Winnebago: As Described by Themselves. International Journal of American Linguistics, Memoirs, 3 (1950): 24-25 (ss 213-238). A free translation into English can be found in Radin, The Road of Life and Death, 307-309.

3 Jasper Blowsnake, Untitled, in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Freeman #3890 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Library, n.d.) Winnebago III, #4: 25-29. This was published as a Hocąk text with numbered sentences followed by an English translation in Radin, The Culture of the Winnebago, 25-26 (ss *213-*238). A free translation into English can be found in Radin, The Road of Life and Death, 307-309.

4 Oliver LaMère and Harold B. Shinn, Winnebago Stories (New York, Chicago: Rand, McNally and Co., 1928) 127-132. Informant: Oliver LaMère (Bear Clan).

5 Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 82.

6 Radin, The Culture of the Winnebago, 46 (s *226).