warningthismaybelong
kslater
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What follows is the opening Trickster tale in Paul Radin's book on the
Trickster in the Winnebago Culture. (They are a Siouxan speaking people
who inhabited Wisconsin & E. Nebraska). I have edited it hoping to keep
the essential elements, but who knows)
Once upon a time a chief deceided to go on the warpath and got
those who were going to join him to prepare a feast (lots of hard work),
but as the feast ended the Chief disappeared into his lodge where he
engaged in forbidden sexual intercourse with his wife, and everybody
found out, got disgusted and left. He did this three more times, but on
the fourth time didn't leave to have sex, so a war party developed, but
the numbers were fewer. They got into boats went a little way, and the
chief turned around around came back to the village and destroyed his
boat saying that only he was going on the warpath. More warriors
dropped out. With a small party he went but sood destroyed his war
bundle saying that only he was going on the warpath, (more dropped out),
finally he destroyed all his arrows, and everyone gave up on him. At
this point the chief is referred to as Trickster.
Going alone he finds a buffalo which he tricks and kills it, but
when he goes to eat it his left and right arms get into a serious fight
and his right arm wounds his left arm, and Trickster laments what he
did. Traveling on he meets a fellow who is carrying four tiny children
in a sack and has a club which when he hits a small hill kill a bear
when then he eats and shares a small portion with his chidlren.
Trickster asks the man to give him two of the children. The man at
first refuses saying Trickster will kill them. Trickster denys this,
says he will treat them well and the man give trickster two of the
children and the club which trickster uses to get bear meat. With the
children came lots o rules for their care, including only feeding them
rarely. Trickster ends up killing them by not following the rules. The
man warned trickster he would hunt him down and kill him if harm came to
the children.
The man hunts trickster to the ends of the earth, and trickster
saves himself by jumping into a very large body of water, and the man
gave up trying to kill trickster. Trickster says, "That such a thing
should happen to trickster, the warrior I never imagined. Why I almost
came to grief" The story continues with his adventures in the water
with some fish.
Some thoughts I had: 1) This story does not strike me as didactic, or
one parents would tell their children to teach them something. I've
read some Iroquoian stories adults did tell children and they were
pretty obvious what the moral was, like a story about some selfish
children who came to no good end etc. 2) My response is "The Trickster
is a Wuss". He brags about going on the warpath but does stuff that
makes this vow impossible to fulfill, and ends up not the hunter of
other humans but the hunted by another human. Instead of fighting, he
runs from this man, about whom we know only that he cares for children.
So, in terms of my current hypothesis that the trickster combines a
form of the con game with irony, we have the trickster running the con
that he is really a brave warrior, who is shown to be a coward by a
nurturant male.
The stronger hypothesis is, however, I dont know what in hell this
story is about.
Sherna Comerford
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kslater says:
> So, in terms of my current hypothesis that the trickster combines a
>form of the con game with irony, we have the trickster running the con
>that he is really a brave warrior, who is shown to be a coward by a
>nurturant male.
> The stronger hypothesis is, however, I dont know what in hell this
>story is about.
I tend to agree with the last hypothesis, and I'm quite sure it applies
to me as well. Our set of mainstream American cultures derive from a
different history and worldview. When we explain these stories in terms
of our own experience, I suspect we miss the point more often than not.
Of course, it *is* part of the folk process to take stories from other
times and peoples and coopt them into our own value set, and use them
for our own purposes. Isn't that what the Jesus Seminar thread is all
about? :)
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