BADIN] RELIGION 287 



the newer deities. He is both a great deity and a guardian spirit. 

 That he developed out of the indefinite "folklore-spirits" is abun- 

 dantly attested by the role he plays in the myths. 



Morning Star is preeminently associated with war. 



Disease-giver. — This is but an approximate translation of his name 

 in Wimiebago, which is hocere^W" wahira. He is a very peculiar 

 figure, being described as an anthropomorphic figure, dealing out 

 death from one side of his body and life from the other. He is pre- 

 eminently a guardian s])irit who onlj^ appears to the bravest and 

 holiest f asters. His specific blessings seem to be connected with war 

 and the curing of disease. 



He appears in none of the myths and in but few of the ceremonies. 

 He plays a ver\- important role in the war-bundle feasts. 



It is rather difficult to explam his origin. He seems hardly to be a 

 deity of the people and can best be understood, it seems, if we regard 

 him as largely a construction of the shaman. Certain of his char- 

 acteristics may have been borrowed from some neighboring tribe. 



Thunderiird. — Thunderbird is another of the older folkloristic con- 

 ceptions that has been remodeled and reinterpreted by the shamans. 

 He might be said to be the most popular of Winnebago deities. He 

 is found everywhere — in the oldest myths, the clan origin myths, 

 and the newest myths; he is a clan ancestor, a poptdar guardian 

 spirit, and a popular deity. In contradistinction to practically all 

 of the other deities, he is regarded as easily approachable by man. 



To the popular mind he is distinctly theromorphic in form, causing 

 lightning by the flashes of his eyes and thunder by the flapping of 

 his wings. In some of the versions of the clan origin myth we still 

 find this conception. In the hands of the shamans he became an 

 anthropomorphic deity, characterized by baldness and the wearing 

 of bay wreathes. SometMng of the older conception stiU clings to 

 him, however, for he frequently acts as a bird and the flashing of his 

 eyes still causes lightning. His baldness itself is an archaic feature, 

 because the Thunderbird originally was supposed to be a kind of 

 eagle. 



Many representations of the Thunderbird can be foxind on various 

 articles and in the effigy mounds. 



He blesses men with practically everj-thmg, but particularly with 

 victory on the warpath. 



Water-spirit. — -The meaning of the Wumebago word for this deity, 

 wal-'tcexi, is mikno-svn. The translation "Water-spirit" does not 

 claim to have anything to do with the real meanmg of the word, but 

 it was preferred by the Wimiebago because this deity is always pic- 

 tured as a water monster. 



He is one of the okler folkloristic conceptions and has not been 

 very greatly reinterpreted by the shamans. The Thmiderbu-d is sup- 



