284 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. an.\. 37 



base their test of the existence of a spirit on the presence or absence 

 of corporeality; in other words, upon such sense perceptions as sight 

 and hearing. It is because we Europeans do insist that the presence 

 or absence of corporeality is the test of reality or unreality that we 

 have been led to make the classification into personal and imper- 

 sonal. But the Winnebago apparently does not insist that existence 

 depends upon sense perceptions alone. He claims that what is 

 thought of, what is felt, and what is spoken, in fact, anything that 

 is brought before his consciousness, is a sufficient indication of its 

 existence and it is the cjuestion of the existence and reality of these 

 spirits in which he is interested. The question of their corporeality 

 is of comparative unimportance and most of the questions connected 

 with the personal or impersonal nature of the spirits do not exist. 



It is clear that if comparatively little stress has been laid by the 

 Winnebago on the personahty of the spirits, it will be difficult to 

 define them precisely except by their names, by their attributes, and 

 by the nature of the blessings wliich they bestow on man. Wlaat 

 seems to stand out most prominently in the attitude of the Winnebago 

 toward their spirits is the intense belief in the reality of their exist- 

 ence, which is due first to what might be called the "emotional 

 authority" for their existence, and secondly, to the fact that the life 

 values of man are intensely real and the spirits are theoretically in 

 control of these life values. 



To the average Winnebago the world is peopled by an indefinite 

 number of spirits who manifest their existence in many ways, being 

 either visible, audible, felt emotionally, or manifesting themselves 

 by some sign or residt. From a certain point of view, all the spirits 

 demonstrate their existence by the result, by the fact that the bless- 

 ings they bestow upon man enable liim to be successful, and this holds 

 just as much for the spirit who manifests himself in the most in- 

 tangible, emotional manner as for that one who is visible to man. 



In all those areas where a well-developed ritualistic organization 

 exists a fairly large number of theromorphic and antliropomorphic 

 spirits is found. In many cases these are real deities. This is true 

 for the Winnebago. Exactly how definite and distinct this thero- 

 morphic and antliropomorphic nature of the spirits is will depend 

 largely on the individual history that the spirit has undergone. 

 Where tricksters and anunal heroes have become spirits or deities 

 their theromorphic nature is marked. Other deities, like Earth- 

 maker, Disease-giver, the Thunderbirds, etc., have become markedly 

 antlu-opomorphic, owing to the reinterpretations and remodeling of 

 the shamans. Often enough the reinterpretations are not thorough 

 and we find deities of an apparently mixed type. 



Those who care to get a detailed description of the various deities 

 of the Winnebago should read the various prayers found in such 



