300 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. anx. 37 



warpath)." The son therefore refused it, and went out to fast 

 again. Then the spirits blessed him again and again he went to 

 his father and asked to accompany liim to the wilderness and see 

 what blessings he had obtained. When they came to the wilder- 

 ness '" they found two wild cats ( already stuffed) standing there 

 and facing in opposite directions. Then the old man told his son 

 again not to. accept this blessing because it would be too powerful,-" 

 but the young man said, "This is the last blessing that I am going 

 to get," and accepted it. 



(What follows was obtained at a later time from the same informant 

 and relating to the same blessing.) 



The first blessing K'erexHi°'sak'a received was from the Thunder- 

 birds. They dropped a flute and two feathers from heaven. But 

 these he refused. The second blessing was also from the Thunder- 

 birds. This tune they told him to go to a certain place where he 

 could see them himself. He went there and found four men sitting 

 there broiling meat. They gave him a piece of meat. It was only 

 when he fasted for the fourth time that he was blessed with a war- 

 bundle. 



WHAT Ci. OBTAINED IN HIS FAST 



I never fasted much. I only fasted three times and I don't believe 

 that I ever fasted for more than two days at a time. However, I 

 never was blessed with anything (i. e., any object). I knew, how- 

 ever, that I came from the home of the Thunderbirds (i. e., that I was 

 a reincarnated Thunderbird). My spirit father and mother^' were 

 Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds are beings whose glance can 

 penetrate any object. For that reason I also can do it. For 

 instance, I have seen a man through a tree. This I did once during a 

 thunderstorm when a man had sought shelter behind a tree. 



" Whenever the word " wilderness' ' is used all that is meant is an uninhabited place far away from the 

 village. 



» By ' 'too powerful' ' the old man means that the feasts, offerings, etc., that would be necessary for so 

 gieat a blessing would be quite beyond the means or the ability of the young man. It is to be remembered 

 that the bestowal of a blessing does not in itself insure its efficacy, but that this can only be assured if the 

 proper offerings and the proper emotional attitude accompany its subsequent use. Evidently the old 

 man did not foel that the young fellow would be equal to the task. I have been told by many of the older 

 Winnebagoes that when the old system was still intact the older people always made it a point to warn 

 impetuous youths against taking upon themselves responsibilities that they might possibly not be able 

 tofulfdl.a very excellent de\ice, it seems to me, fornot multiplying thechanceof failures and consequently 

 the necessity of explaining them. However , one need not believe that this was the reason lor their caution. 



2" He says "spirit father and mother " because when he lived with the Thimderbirds he was, of course, a 

 spirit. It is quite impossible to determine whether he means that he was a human being who was living 

 among the spirits as a spirit or whether he was a spirit who had desired to become reincarnated as a human 

 being. Originally, of course, there were no human beings, but only spirits, of whom a portion became 

 permanently transformed into human beings. However, even very powerful shamans never claim more 

 than three reincarnations, so that he can obriously not be referring to this primitive condition and is either 

 referring to the fact that he is a Thunderbird residing temporarUy on this earth, or— and this would be the 

 more common form— a human being who lived for some time as a Thunderbird and then returned to earth. 

 In the latter case one would expect him to obtain great blessings in his fast, and the fact that he did not 

 and had nevertheless such great powers suggests that he is really a reincarnated Thunderbird. 



