BADiN] THE CLAN WAE-BUNDLE FEASTS 473 



are finished then it wUl be time for us to eat." Warriors who are 

 sitting within the lodge, we send forth our greetings to you." (War- 

 bundle song.) 



Then a man sitting opposite the seat of the host gets up and 

 speaks. 



First guest's address to the young peopZe.^" War-bundle owners, 

 young men, those who are the proxies of spirits, are about to use a 

 song for you and start a dance in your behalf; and when they do it, 

 get up and try to obtain war powers by dancing. Women, you should 

 also try to obtain war powers for your brothers by dancing. Now 

 we are not able to obtain (the number of men) that our ancestors 

 used to obtain in the beginning. Then, if in a speech they asked 

 for them, as many men as there were around would immediately 

 begin to dance. Not one of them would remain in his seat. Young 

 women, they used to act in that way in order to obtain life also. 

 All night they would dance and not a siagle one would tire of it. 

 We encourage you to do thus; that is why I am sajdng this. That 

 the obtaining of life may be easy, is the reason they told us this. 

 Because I believe it Qikewise) is the reason I am telling it to you. 

 War-bundle owners who are seated here, I greet you all." 



Host's second speech. — "War-bundle owners who are sitting here, 

 I greet you all. 



' ' Our grandfathers knew that one of a different tribe '^ had had a 

 vision and obtained material for use (in life). They tried to obtain 

 it and (finally) asked him to pity them. The medicine was called 

 hinujjgwa'roni."" They made the heart of the man of tliis other 

 tribe (Hit^e'nuT^k'e) sad.'" (He had obtained it in the following 

 manner) : A woman fasted " and one of the Water-spirits whom the 

 Creator had placed there for all eternity, a Water-spirit for keeping 

 (the earth) quiet," blessed her with the power he had been placed 

 in charge of. The Water-spirit had himself die and the woman there 



" Literally, "fast movements" in reference to the fast-eating contest tliat takes place during the feast. 



"8 This is not a Winnebago tale. 



6' My interpreter could not translate the name of this medicine into English. He thought that it might 

 mean "wicked woman medicine," hut this is extremely doubtful. 



"I. e., at the idea of parting with it. What tribe is iheant by "Hitte'nu^k'e/'it has been impossible to 

 find out. The word, I believe, means " those whom we can speak with " in reference to the fact that their 

 language was intelligible to the Winuebago. I was definitely assured that neither the Oto, Iowa, or 

 Missouri were meant. I have sometimes surmised that the Winnebago may be referring to the Mandan, 

 whose language, from the little I have seen of it, is surprisingly close to that of the former. All that the 

 older Winnebago could tell me about the Hit-'e'nur,k'e was the fact that many years ago they had been in 

 contact with a tribe speaking a language similar to their own. 



" Literally, " to thirst onescU to death," the ritualistic expression for fasting. 



" He is referring to one of the four beings whom Earthmaker had placed at the four ends of the world to 

 prevent it from moving continually, as related in the origin myth of tlie Medicine Dance and of the Thunder- 

 bird clan. 



186823°— 22 31 



