The Prophet is Accused of Untrue Predictions
Version 1

by Mark J. Green (Wą́nihegá)
translated by Bill Hall (Hų̄ka)

William Hall, ca. 1895

Currier & Ives, 1845
A Warrior with Raised Tomahawk Giving a Battle Cry

(41) The man who arrived said, "If anything happens they will help you with the work." He showed his tomahawk again and could not cry when he tried. He laid there looking at him. He was left handed. He made an exclamation of disgust [as] he tried again to swing it. As they were doing this, there was another man there. He was about to go home after the fourth time he [had] raised the tomahawk. Once again he raised it, but could not swing it nor cry. He was still standing there with tomahawk raised.

[He] looked around and there was the Prophet-Orator. He was sitting and [he] said [to him], "Goowah, if you can accomplish what you say, it would be good." Here again the Prophet-Orator reiterated there would be a year before the Indian attack. He went to every Indian dwelling and told all about everything that was to happen.

"I cannot be of help in this, what you said about me was right, I have failed in this predicament. What are you going to do about what they said?" He then said to him, "This thing you have done is not good." Then he dressed like a woman and stepped out.

This was done and morning came. Then early in the morning, after they had eaten, the soldiers arrived.¹

Version 2

The following is a passage from "The Woman Who Is Going to Stop the War, Version 1."

(30) As he got to the place, he sat at the door. Then abruptly he threw the door open. He ran inside and sat near the pillow. The old man was laying on his back. Then he grabbed him as he lay there. Then, he was unable to move, and he'd be unable to get his gun down. "This is what I thought you said. Someone who could use clothing or dress goods if they asked for them. You have caused the loss of a great many Indian's lives. I have taken this upon myself to put you to death, this is why I have come," he said to him, then he walked toward him, he took his tomahawk. Then he looked at him, he was laying there, he stepped to where he lay and raised his tomahawk. Then he looked at him, he stood looking at him, then he could not move. He stood there with tomahawk raised. Then, he was standing still near the side of the dwelling, later his arm got tired, and he said, "Kowa!" He then made himself sit properly.

He walked in the direction from which he had come and turned back quickly, and re-entered, stepped ahead a little more and again raised the tomahawk, again he could not move. Again he stood there, tomahawk raised. Again his arm got tired and [he] said "Kowa," and sat down.²

Commentary

"he laid there looking at him" — the "he" refers to the Prophet, as further developments show and v. 2 makes explicit.

Bear Tracks
Left Back Foot of a Black Bear	Right Back Foot of a Grizzly Bear

"left handed" — who was left handed? The excessive use of pronouns causes confusion. Nevertheless, this probably refers to the Prophet. In v. 2, which comes from "The Woman Who Is Going to Stop the War (v. 1)," the Prophet character is blended (confused with) the historical manumitted slave named "Ben," who defected to the Indian confederacy. In that telling, the figure lying down in the sacred lodge suddenly appears clothed in a bear costume. The odd thing about bears is that their right and left paws look as if they had been switched. The tale is told of primordial bears being attacked by the Good Spirits who wiped them all out except a single pair of cubs. The cub in panic put his moccasins on the wrong feet, and ever since bears have had their feet switched. Because of this ursine peculiarity, members of the Bear Clan during their feast (the Hų́cuwohą́) eat their meal with their left hands.³ One of the functions of the Blue Bear Subclan in particular, and to some extent the Bear Clan generally, is healing,⁴ particularly of war wounds, making every member of this Bear Clan subdivision a kind of minimalist medicine man. The Bear Clan is sovereign over all land and determine the site of camping grounds,⁵ as the Prophet did when founding his eponymous town. However, the primary function of a Bear Clansman is to be a mą̄́ną̄́pe, which is conventionally translated as "soldier," but is more appropriate rendered as "policeman."⁶ The Prophet, through his Precepts, has laid down and enforced his own law code, which associates him with mą̄́ną̄́pera. So the alignment of the Prophet with the Bear Clan in v. 2 is acknowledge here by making him left-handed. In addition, the fact that the Prophet's right eye was lost makes him look left-sided.

"could not swing it nor cry" — the preceding narrative does not make it clear just what was going on with the tomahawk. When the two warriors who entered the sacred lodge in order to kill the Prophet for having led them to defeat in the Battle of Tippecanoe, they suddenly found that they could neither give their war cry nor strike with their tomahawks. They had become paralyzed. This suggests an act of witchcraft.

"Prophet-Orator" — this is Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee Prophet, the younger brother of Tecumseh.

"goowah" — in the present orthography, this would be rendered as guwa. This exclamation is clearly the same as the kowa of Version 2. In a parenthetical remark, Hall defines guwa as, "an exclamation expressing a confident speculation of a deed to be done." Something similar in today's English might be "Hell, yes!" Guwa seems to be the same as the kowa in v. 2, but there it seems to express frustration.

"what you say" — clearly the Prophet is speaking. However, none of the would-be assassins has said anything.

"there would be a year before the Indian attack" — the context had been that the warriors wanted to assassinate the Prophet because of their defeat at Tippecanoe, which had just happened. However, this remark would seem to contradict the idea that this is the context, a context clearly established in the more coherent v. 2. There is one way to explain this. The Prophet is making reference to the War of 1812, which began about 8 months later. During this war, the Indian confederacy did make some gains, but nothing like the successes achieved under the leadership of Little Turtle a couple of decades prior.

"I have failed in this predicament" — now we have returned to the idea that this confrontation occurred after the Battle of Tippecanoe (8 November 1811).

"this thing you have done is not good" — meaning his blunder at the Battle of Tippecanoe.

"he dressed like a woman" — presumably a disguise so that he would not be captured. However, this means of evasion carries with it an element of disgrace.

"the soldiers arrived" — it is not clear what is being argued here. Are they saying that the Prophet absconded before the battle? If so, why was he apologizing for the predicament that he now found himself in, and which requires his escape under disguise? It seems more likely that the arrival of the federal soldiers was after the battle, and was with the intent to burn Prophetstown to the ground.

"he could not move" — this strange paralysis indicates that the man whom he is trying to kill is actually holy or perhaps a witch. Who is this man who is sleeping in a sacred lodge? Given his supernatural power, we must conclude that it is the Prophet himself. This was made explicit in Version 1.

Comparative Material. The Hebrews have a similar story of the paralysis of a malevolent hand at 1 Kings 13:4-6 NLT (New Living Translation): "When King Jeroboam heard the man of God speaking against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him and shouted, “Seize that man!” But instantly the king’s hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn’t pull it back. At the same time a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out, just as the man of God had predicted in his message from the Lord. The king cried out to the man of God, 'Please ask the Lord your God to restore my hand again!' So the man of God prayed to the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and he could move it again."

Precept Austen: 1 Kings 13:6		CC BY-SA Cryptids Boy
Jeroboam's Arm Restored		A Skinwalker

The Navajo say that a certain class of shape-changing witches called "skinwalkers" (yee naaldlooshii): "use spells and charms to instill fear and control in their victims. Some of the tools at their disposal include fragments of human bone launched by blowguns, which can poison and kill the unfortunate victim, and human bone dust which can cause paralysis and heart failure. ... Alternately, some Navajos believe that if you make eye contact with a skin-walker, your body will freeze up with fear, and the skin-walker will use that fear to gain power and energy."⁷

We have a similar story of a paralyzed arm from the Limbu of eastern Nepal: "Later, Pipunem, from the village of Yoke, on the ridge, came upon a goat in his garden, feasting on his tomatoes. With one blow of his knife he struck it down. Unfortunately for him it was another of Pirtung’s animals that Muktuba, his grandson was scouring the village for, in tears. Pipunem lost the use of his arm. It remained flexed, he was totally unable to straighten it. The shaman of Yoke worked on it with no luck. He finally sent his client off to Pirtung with a pong of liquor, a large turned wooden bottle holding several liters. Pirtung took the pong, performed a ritual, and Pipunem was able to unbend his arm."⁸

Currier & Ives, 1865 (NMAH 325713)

Jeff Davis Fleeing in Women's Clothing

Concerning the Prophet escaping by dressing in women's attire, when Mark Green told this story ca. 1920, he will have had a well-known example attributed to Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America. "After fleeing Richmond, Davis was caught by members of Michigan and Wisconsin cavalry units at his camp outside Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10, 1865. As Davis tried to flee from the Union soldiers, he had grabbed his wife Varina’s overcoat instead of his own, resulting in a widespread Northern rumor that Davis had attempted to escape disguised as a woman. Shortly after the incident images of Davis appeared in Northern publications, picturing him dressed in petticoats, a hoop skirt, and a bonnet. This cowardly depiction of Davis’ flight further demoralized the Southern cause and shattered its president’s aristocratic reputation."⁹

Links: Witches.

Stories: about seers: The Seer, The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension, Witches, The Shawnee Prophet — What He Told the Hocągara, A Prophecy About the End Time, A Prophecy, Great Walker and the Ojibwe Witches, The Shawnee Prophet Predicts a Solar Eclipse, The Road to Tippecanoe, A Prophecy About the First School, Winnebagos Go to See the Prophet, The Prophet Visits the Hōcągara, The Journey of the Prophet’s Acolyte, The Woman Who Is Going to Stop the War (v. 1), Hōcągara and Other Tribes Camp with the Prophet, The Prophet Warns of the Consequences of Indian Fratricide, The Claw Shooter, Waruką́ną, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Old Man and His Medicine Bag, The Diving Contest; about the Shawnee Prophet: The Shawnee Prophet — What He Told the Hocągara, The Shawnee Prophet Predicts a Solar Eclipse, The Shawnee Prophet and His Ascension, The Road to Tippecanoe, Winnebagos Go to See the Prophet, The Prophet Visits the Hōcągara, A Prophecy About the End Time, The Journey of the Prophet’s Acolyte, The Woman Who Is Going to Stop the War (v. 1), Hōcągara and Other Tribes Camp with the Prophet, The War of Indian Tribes against White Soldiers, The Prophet Warns of the Consequences of Indian Fratricide, The Old Man and His Medicine Bag; mentioning witches or warlocks: The Witch Men's Desert, The Witch's Bandolier, The Thunder Charm, The Wild Rose, The Seer, Turtle and the Witches, Great Walker and the Ojibwe Witches, The Claw Shooter, Mijistéga’s Powwow Magic and How He Won the Trader's Store, Migistéga’s Magic, Mijistéga and the Sauks, Migistéga's Death, The Mesquaki Magician, Whiskey Making, The Tap the Head Medicine, Keramaniš’aka's Blessing, Battle of the Night Blessed Men and the Medicine Rite Men, The Magical Powers of Lincoln's Grandfather, The Hills of La Crosse, The Shawnee Prophet — What He Told the Hocągara (v. 2), Įcorúšika and His Brothers, Thunder Cloud Marries Again, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle, Potato Magic, The Old Man and His Medicine Bag, Young Rogue's Magic.

Themes: a medicine man is able to paralyze the arm of a warrior who is wielding a tomahawk against him: The Woman Who Is Going to Stop the War (v. 1).

Notes

¹ "The Prophet is Accused of Untrue Predictions," Archives of Traditional Music (ATM), Indiana University, translation by William Hall, Original Typescript (Black River Falls: ca. 1960-1970) D5-6, recording by Milford G. Chandler of Mark J. Green - vocals, bed. 1922, Black River Falls, Jackson County, Wisconsin. ATL no. 526.5 8742.6 trs. 2, Recording 41.SCY 180503:12, Collection number (collection identifier): 54-196-F, p. 44 of 87; OT 7695; APS accession number 7206.

² "The Woman who would Stop the War," Archives of Traditional Music (ATM), Indiana University, translation by William Hall, Original Typescript (Black River Falls: ca. 1960-1970) C3, recording by Milford G. Chandler of Mark J. Green - vocals, bed. 1922, Black River Falls, Jackson County, Wisconsin. ATL no. 525.3 8742.27, tr. 1, Recording 30.SCY 179301:38, Collection number (collection identifier): 54-196-F, p. 30 of 87; OT 7694; APS accession number 7246.

³ The McKern Papers on Hocąk Ethnography, 202.

⁴ Walter Funmaker, The Winnebago Black Bear Subclan: a Defended Culture (Ph. D. Thesis, University of Minnesota: December, 1986 [MnU-D 86-361]]) 48. Informant: One Who Wins of the Bear Clan. Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 177-179. W. C. McKern, Winnebago Notebook (Milwaukee: Milwaukee Public Museum, 1927) 258.

⁵ Thomas Foster, Foster's Indian Record and Historical Data (Washington, D. C.: 1876-1877) vol. 1, #1, p. 4, col. 4.

⁶ Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 177-179.

⁷ Cryptid Wiki > "Skin-walker," electronic text, viewed: 29 August 2026.

⁸ Philippe Sagant, "The Shaman's Cure and the Layman's Interpretation," Kailash: A Journal of Himalayan Studies, vol. 14, #1-2 (1988): 5-40 [20-21].

⁹ The Smithsonian Institution > National Museum of American History > "The Confederacy in Petticoats," Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection, ID Number: DL.60.3487.