Earthmaker

Earthmaker (Mą'ųna, 'Earth-maker') is the creator and supreme spirit of the Ho-Chunk. In Radin's recorded origin myth he awakens alone in empty space, and his tears form the primal waters before he calls light and the earth into being and shapes the first human from clay in his own likeness, giving tobacco to humanity as his special gift. Confronted with the suffering of human beings preyed upon by evil spirits, he fashions a series of culture-hero spirits with his own hands and sends them to earth to make it safe — Trickster, Bladder, Turtle, Redhorn, and Hare — assigning the survivors dominion over the earth and over otherworldly realms.

Domains

• creation
• sky
• tobacco
• supreme being

Powers

• World-creation

Epithets

• Mą'ųna Ho-Chunk · Ma'una · nameEarth-makerPaul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (1923) (secondary)

Relations

• creator of: TricksterFashioned Trickster, the first of the saving spirits, and sent him to teach humans how to live.Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'Trickster' / 'The Sons of Earthmaker' (secondary)
• creator of: BladderCreated Bladder, his third son among the saving spirits.Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'The Sons of Earthmaker' (secondary)
• creator of: TurtleMade Turtle, gave him a knife, and charged him to make the earth good.Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'Earthmaker Creates the World and Gives Turtle and Hare Their Missions' (secondary)
• creator of: RedhornSent Redhorn down as one of the spirits fashioned to save humanity.Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'The Redhorn Cycle' / 'The Sons of Earthmaker' (secondary)
• creator of: HareFashioned Hare, the fifth and last of the saving spirits, and put him in charge of this earth.Radin, Winnebago Hero Cycles (1948); Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'The Hare Cycle' (secondary)

Sources

• existence: Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (1923), BAE 37th Annual Report (secondary); Richard L. Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'Earthmaker' (secondary)