Otter and Beaver Create Progeny
by Oliver LaMère
Version 1
Continued from "The Messengers of Hare, Version 3"
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."
(129) “The Otter, with his mate, started from the seas at the east, and the Beaver, with his mate, came from the lakes and rivers of the north. At first they came under the waters, but, knowing that the people could not imitate them in this, they then swam upon the surface. Then they dived down four times, and each time, as they came up, there came with them a
|
|
||
| Ken Thomas | Sheila Newenham, Illinois Department of Natural Resources | ||
|
"Otters live in families, they and have taught the Indians many useful things, for an otter is strong and cunning and has great courage." | "Beavers like otters live in families. They are wise and industrious in their ways, and the Indian learned many useful lessons from them." |
(130) young one of their own kind. So there were four young Otters and four young Beavers. Finally they all landed on an island in the great lake where the father of each family dived back into the water and brought up a large whitefish to feed his young. Then all the Otters and Beavers went on to their destination.
“Grandsons, all this was to teach us that we should live in families, and that (131) the mother should care for the young and that the father should seek food and protect his family. Thus do the Otter and the Beaver teach us, for the Otter is strong, courageous, and very cunning, while the Beaver has great wisdom and industry. You know that he cuts down trees, moves timbers, and builds dams in the rivers to make ponds; and that he makes his lodge out in the deep water, safe from the wolf (132) and the fox, with his food stored securely under the water and the ice. Tonight I have told you of only the Otter and the Beaver, but as you grow older and have sharper eyes you will learn the whole story of what each of the animals did at that great gathering to help the people to do better."1
Version 2
(359) Then they [Otter and his wife] went out walking on the water of the Ocean Sea, and as big as it was, it became like what could fit on a little plate. Then after he had been walking, he came ashore. He placed the stopping point there. Again he got ready, making himself frail from holiness. Then he did this: he dove into the water. When he and his woman got to come out, there could be seen four children between them. So he did this, and then the male turning back in the water, scooped something up. Once he had come out, he laid down a gray fish-chief that he had in his mouth.2
Commentary
 |
| Ellen Edmonson and Hugh Chrisp |
| A Lake Whitefish |
"whitefish" — said to have an excellent taste, the lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) were available to the Hōcągara when they had access to the shore of Lake Michigan from Red Banks.
 |
| Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources > Washington Dept. of Nat. Res. |
| A Beaver Lodge |
"he makes his lodge out in the deep water" — this lodge has an entrance from under the water, and can only be accessed by aquatic animals.
"frail from holiness (xóxe)" — those who become holy usually do so from fasting, which can make them physically frail. However, the ultimate effect is to strengthen their supernatural powers.
"gray" — since many fish are silver, this may seem unremarkable; but in this context, the gray is probably meant to indicate age and therefore rank.
Comparative Material.
Stories: mentioning otters: Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Fleetfooted Man, The Dipper, The Two Children, Baldheaded Warclub Origin Myth, Spear Shaft and Lacrosse, Turtle's Warparty, The Origins of the Milky Way, Redhorn's Sons, Redhorn Contests the Giants, Kunu's Warpath, Įcorúšika and His Brothers, The Woman who Loved Her Half Brother, The Chief of the Heroka, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men (v. 2), Wojijé, Holy Song II, Morning Star and His Friend, A Waterspirit Blesses Mąnį́xete’ų́ga, The Story of the Medicine Rite; mentioning beavers: Hare Retrieves a Stolen Scalp, White Wolf, Old Man and Wears White Feather, The Dipper, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, The Chief of the Heroka, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men, Turtle and the Merchant.
Themes: walking on water: Bear Clan Origin Myth (v. 3), Bird Clan Origin Myth, How the Thunders Met the Nights, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Chief of the Heroka, Redhorn's Sons, Partridge's Older Brother.
Notes
1 Oliver LaMère and Harold B. Shinn, Winnebago Stories (New York, Chicago: Rand, McNally and Co., 1928) 127-132. Informant: Oliver LaMère (Bear Clan).
2 Jasper Blowsnake's Account of the Medicine Rite, in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, n.d.) Freeman #3876, Winnebago II, #6: 166-169 (the original handwritten interlinear text); Freeman #3886, Winnebago III, #6: 357.65-361.86 [359]. 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]) 255-257.
