292 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. ann. 37 



his mind once and for all that if Earthniaker did not bless him he 

 would die during his fast. "It is true," he said to himself, "that no 

 one has ever heard of anyone being blessed by Earthmaker, but 

 nevertheless I will either obtain a blessing from him or die in the 

 attempt." 



As time passed on his wife gave birth to a male child. Then the 

 man said, "We will offer up our son to Earthmaker," and the woman 

 consented. So they sacrificed their son to Earthmaker. Then 

 they placed the body of the child on a scaffold and wept bitterly. 

 "Surely," he said to himself, "Earthmaker will bless us to-night." 

 And indeed during the night he came to him. Wegi'ceka felt positive 

 that it was he. He wore a soldier's uniform and a cocked hat and 

 he was pleasing to the sight. Wegi'ceka looked and wondered 

 whether it was really Earthmaker. Then this person took a step 

 forward toward Wegi'ceka. "Indeed it must be," he thought. 

 Then he took another step in his direction and uttered something. 

 Wegi'ceka looked and saw that it was not Earthmaker but a pigeon. 

 The spirits had fooled him. His heart ached, but, undaunted, he 

 again fasted, and after a while Earthmaker seemed to come to him 

 and say, "Man, I bless you. For a long time you have wept and 

 made yourself pitiable. I am indeed E^arthmaker." Wlien Wegi'- 

 ceka looked again he beheld something pleasing to the sight and he 

 liked it. The clothing the man wore was pleasing and Wegi'ceka 

 now felt certain that this person was Earthmaker. He looked at 

 him again and it seemed to him as if Earthmaker was getting smaller 

 and smaller, and as he looked for the fourth time he saw that he had 

 been looking at a little bird all the time. Then his heart ached all 

 the more, and he cried even more bitterly than before. Then for the 

 third time Earthmaker blessed him and spoke to him. "You have 

 tried to 'dream' of Earthmaker and you have worried yourself to 

 death. Behold, I am Earthmaker and I will bless you and you will 

 never be in want of anything. You will be able to imderstand the 

 language spoken by strange tribes and you will never be wanting in 

 the goods of life." Then he looked up for the first time, but when he 

 saw the individual who had spoken to him he thought that there 

 was something wrong. Soon he saw that the one who had spoken 

 to him was a bu"d. 



Then for the last tune he tried to "dream" of Earthmaker. He 

 did not eat anytliing and positively resolved to die if Earthmaker 

 did not appear to him. He felt bad, for he thought that all the bad 

 birds (spirits) were laughing at him. 



He fasted, and soon Earthmaker, far above, heard his voice and 

 said, "Wegi'ceka, you are weeping bitterly. For your sake, I will 

 come to the earth." Then Earthmaker told Wegi'ceka that when he 

 (Wegi'ceka) looked at him he would see a ray of light extending from 



