272 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. ann. 37 



from his mouth. Then they said to me, 'You have killed him. 

 Even so great a spirit as this you have been able to kill. Indeed, 

 nothing will ever be able to cross your path.' Then they took the 

 'bear' I had killed and cut him into small pieces with a knife, 

 piled these in the center of the lodge, and covered them with some 

 dark material. 'Now,' they said, 'you must again try your powers.' 

 I asked them for the articles that I would have to use and they gave 

 me a flute and a gourd. Then I made myself holy. All those who 

 had blessed me were present. I walked around the object that lay 

 piled up in the center of the lodge and breathed upon it. This I 

 did for the second time and all those within the lodge breathed 

 together with me. Four times I did this and then the spirit-grizzly 

 bear got up and walked away in the shape of a human being. 'It 

 is good,' they said. 'He has restored him to life again. Surely he 

 is holy.' After a while they said to me again, 'Just as you have 

 done here, mil you always do below. Wlienever you wish to, you 

 will be able to kill a person or restore him to life. Most assuredly 

 you have been blessed.' 



"Then they placed a black stone in the shamans' lodge that stood 

 above. There again they made a trial of my powers. There I blew 

 four times on the stone and I blew a hole through it. For that 

 reason, if any person has a pain and he lets me blow upon it, I can 

 blow it away. It makes no difference what kind of a pain it is. My 

 breath was made holy by the spirits. 



"The spu-its on the earth and those under the earth also gave me 

 a trial of my powers. They placed an old rotten log before me. I 

 breathed upon it four times, and spat water upon it and it got up 

 in the shape of a human being and walked away. 

 . "My ability to spit water upon the people whom I am treating I 

 received from an eel, from the chief among the eels, one who lives 

 in the center and in the deepest part of the ocean. He is absolutely 

 white and he is the one who blessed me. Whenever I spit water it 

 is inexhaustible, because it comes from him, the eel. 



"Then I came to this earth again. They, the spirits, all gave me 

 advice l)efore I left them. Wlien I came upon this eai'th I entered 

 a lodge and there I was born again. As I said, I thought that I was 

 entering a lodge, but in reality I was entering my mothej-'s womli. 

 Even in my prenatal existence, I never lost consciousness. Then I 

 grew up and fasted again and again, and all those spirits who had 

 blessed me before sent me their blessings again. I can dictate to all 

 the spirits that exist. Whatever I say will come to pass. The 

 tobacco you (the patients) offer me is not to be used by myself. It 

 is really intended for the spirits. 



" Sph'its, a person is sick and he offers me tobacco. I am on earth 

 to accept it and to try to cm-e him. 



