In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

menominee The Origin of the Spirit Rock Introduction by Marianne Milligan This version of the Spirit Rock story was told by Charles Dutchman (Naehcīwetok) to Leonard Bloomfield in 1920 or 1921 and was originally published in both Menominee and English in his 1928 Menomini Texts.1 Bloomfield stayed for several weeks with Dutchman and his wife, Louise, who lived on the Menominee Reservation located in northeastern Wisconsin. In the preface to the texts, he states that they ‘‘were my chief informants and became my close and parental friends’’ (xi). He goes on to say that Naehcīwetok was ‘‘a man of abounding vitality and humor, yet given to philosophic speculation’’ (xi). Versions of this story can be found in several collections of Menominee tales. Bloomfield’s texts include two versions of the story.The one that Bloomfield titles ‘‘The Origin of Spirit Rock’’ (I will refer to this version as b1) is significantly shorter than the one presented here, titled ‘‘The Origin of Spirit Rock: Second Version’’ (b2). A version of the story with the title ‘‘The Search for Maeqnapos’’ is found in Walter Hoffman’s The Menomini Indians.2 In addition, there are two versions in Alanson Skinner and John V. Satterlee’s Folklore of the Menomini Indians, titled ‘‘The Men Who Visited Maeqnapos’’ (ss1) and ‘‘The Legend of Spirit Rock’’ (ss2).3 The story of Spirit Rock is a story that is still told by elders and is often taught in schools on the reservation.4 The main plot of the story involves a group of young men who go to visit Maeqnapos, the culture hero. ss2 differs slightly in that it is Maeqnapos’s brother whom they visit. In all the versions except one, they go because Maeqnapos comes to one of the young men in a dream or a vision and asks the young man to visit him and bring along some friends. If they come, Maeqnapos promises to give them whatever they ask for. In ss1 the young men ask that Maeqnapos renew the power of the medicines that he had given human beings long ago since the medicines had lost their potency. In the Hoffman version and b1, they ask for hunting medicine . In b2 and ss2, the young men ask for different things: to be a good hunter, to be a fast runner, to learn the power of medicines, to be a war leader, and to be attractive to women. In each version, the last young man (or last two in ss1) asks to live forever. Maeqnapos changes this last one into a rock, called a Spirit Rock, since it is the only thing he knows that will last as long as the earth. 412 menominee In ss1 as well as b2, kettles of food and tobacco magically appear in Maeqnapos ’s house while the young men are there. The young men and Maeqnapos eat and drink their fill and then smoke the tobacco. The narrator in ss1 says that the offerings made by members of the Medicine Lodge appear in Maeqnapos’s house. In b2, the narrator simply says that any offering made on earth by human beings comes to Maeqnapos’s house. All the versions begin and end in much the same way except ss2. It begins with the statement that there is a Spirit Rock on the reservation and no one ‘‘passes it without depositing an offering of tobacco’’ (487).5 The narrator then gives three explanations for the existence of this Spirit Rock. First, he says that when the Menominee first came to their reservation, one of the chiefs noticed that when he passed a certain rock at night, it made noises as if haunted by a spirit. This rock was identified as the Spirit Rock. The second explanation is that there once was a man who was tired of his mortal existence even though he was a good hunter. He discovered that he could live forever if he became a rock, and he did. The third, which the narrator identifies as the most widely accepted explanation, is the story of the men who go to visit Maeqnapos. One thing to note while reading the story is that Maeqnapos is the nephew of human beings.Therefore, he usuallyaddresses people as his aunts and uncles, and people usuallyaddress him as their nephew. However, ‘‘aunt’’ and ‘‘uncle’’ are also used as general terms of address to...

Share