SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF WINNEBAGO INDIANS. 
25 
part in discussions of totemism. There are two distinct sources 
for the determination of this relationship, data obtained in reply 
to direct questioning, and that contained in some miscellaneous 
myths and in the origin myths. Part of the oral data is merely 
a reflex of the origin myths, but part is not. The value of this 
“unwritten” material lies in the fact that it represents the popu- 
lar, exoteric attitude, the attitude that, on the whole, is not 
the result of conscious rationalization, and also in the fact that 
this exoteric view may very likely have been the basis for the 
esoteric interpretation. 
The most prevalent view of the relationship of the individual 
to his clan animal is that of descent from an animal, transformed 
at the origin of the human race into human beings^ This view 
is expressed in some of the origin myths and reflects the general 
conversation with individuals. Direct descent from an animal 
was never postulated. The definition of the term “animal” is, 
however, very difficult. The Indians themselves seem to make 
a distinction between the animal of to-day and the animal of 
the heroic age. The main characteristic of the animal of the 
heroic age was his power of transformation into human form 
and vice versa. Although he has lost this to-day, he is neverthe- 
less descended from this animal. The human beings are, 
however, descended from precisely the same “animals,” so 
that it might be well to bear in mind that descent from the 
transformed animal does not mean descent from the animal of 
to-day. This view is more systematically expressed in some 
places. According to one miscellaneous myth, the existing human 
beings and animals were descended from the same being, who 
once possessed infinite powers of transformation now into 
human, now into animal shape. At one time, presumably the 
beginning of our present creation, these “beings” either consciously 
or unconsciously exhausted all their “transforming” power, and 
the form into which they changed themselves, human or animal, 
remained fixed for all time. The existing animals have never 
succeeded in regaining their power of transformation, and among 
human beings this power has only been vouchsafed to those 
few who have obtained it as a special gift from some spirit. 
Even then, however, it is ludicrously incomplete, as compared 
