36 
MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 16. 
we try, however, to control this belief by comparing different 
versions of the same myth, this belief does not seem justified. 
As a matter of fact, among the Winnebago I have called an 
informant’s attention to the difference between his version and 
another one obtained and he expressed no surprise, saying that 
there were different ways of telling this particular myth, depend- 
ing upon the band in the Medicine-Dance to which he belonged. 
Such instances as this make it seem probable that the Indian 
does not really postulate a tribal version, but one associated with 
much smaller units. Among tribes living in definite village groups 
we might expect to have a myth vary from village to village; 
among other tribes from camp to camp or even from family 
to family. The question that we have to answer then is how, 
in myth collections obtained to-day, we are to interpret our 
variants. Let us first discuss intertribal variants. 
There seems to be little doubt that a number of distinct 
myth -centres existed in North America, between which dif- 
fusion has taken place from time immemorial. In addition to 
these large centres there also grew up smaller areas with charac- 
teristic ways of telling certain myths and with a marked tendency 
toward grouping together certain episodes, toward using certain 
motifs and dramatis personae, and even, it may be said, toward 
employing a definite type of plot elaboration. It is with these 
smaller centres and the variability within them, that we wish to 
deal specifically. Dixon has summarized the data for one such 
area in his paper entitled “The Mythology of the Central and 
Eastern Algonkins,” and as it is of considerable importance for 
our discussion, we will quote it in extenso . 1 
“At the outset we may divide the whole mass of these 
tales into two parts — those which form a more or less connected 
series recounting the birth and adventures of the two brothers, 
ending with the deluge and the re-creation of the world; and, 
on the other hand, those other tales which recount the exploits 
of the culture-hero alone, some of which are of the trickster 
type. 
“Taking this more or less connected cycle, we may separate 
it, for purposes of comparison, into four portions — the origin 
1 Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XXII, pp. 6-8. 
