316 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. axn. 37 



of a lively kind all the time. From that place we went up to the 

 place where Earthmaker lived and there I saw him and talked to hun, 

 face to face, even as I am talking to you now. I saw the spirits too, 

 and, indeed, I was like one of them. 



From that place I came to this earth again for the third time, and 

 here I am. I am going through the same that I knew before. 



The concept of the sotil. — This concept is not clearly developed as a 

 separate entity among the Winnebago on account of their strong 

 belief in reincarnation. Their notion of the soul is merged in that 

 of the noncorporeal ghost who eventully comes to earth again. 



The Cosmological Ideas 



The cosmological ideas are of two types — those that are clearly of 

 a folkloristic origin and those that have been developed by shaman- 

 istic reinterpretations. To the former class belong all the creative 

 acts of the tricksters and culture heroes, like Walc'djuylc'aga and Hare, 

 and to the latter the systematic creation of the world by Earth- 

 maker. 



Wliat is probably the oldest form of the Winnebago cosmological 

 notions is that concerned with the general destruction of the bad 

 spirits by Hare and by such spirits as the Thunderbirds, Morning 

 Star, etc., and the removal of obstacles. Often the present character- 

 istics of the earth are formed accidentally, as, for instance, the origin 

 of the valleys, mountains, and lakes, as given in the myth of "Holv 

 One." Even in the thoroughly remodeled general origin myth, 

 Earthmaker is not conceived of as having purposely created the world. 



The Winnebago believed that there were four worlds, one beneath 

 the other, presided over, respectively, by Earthmaker, Trickster 

 (Wak'di'uyl-'aga), Turtle, and Hare. Hare rules over the world 

 on which man lives. There seems to be some confusion as to who 

 rules over the last earth, because it is also definitely stated that 

 Traveler (a Water-spirit) is in control of it. 



