The Children of Agni

Based from the "Ho-Chunk mythology" states this excerpt in the Wiki: RedHorn: "Red Horn (also known as 'He Who Wears (Human) Faces on His Ears') is found in the oral traditions of the Ioway, and Hocągara (Winnebago) (whose ethnology was recorded by anthropologist Paul Radin, 1908–1912). The Red Horn Cycle depicts his adventures with Turtle, the thunderbird Storms-as-He-Walks (Mą’e-manįga) and others who contest a race of giants, the Wąge-rucge or "Man-Eaters", who have been killing human beings whom Red Horn has pledged to help. Red Horn eventually took a red haired giant woman as a wife. Archaeologists have speculated that Red Horn is a mythic figure in Mississippian art, represented on a number of Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC) artifacts. Hall has shown that the mythic cycle of Red Horn and his sons has some interesting analogies with the Hero Twins mythic cycle of Mesoamerica."

Then based on "Red Horn" states this: Red Horn in archaeology: "Some images found in or near the SECC area may be of Red Horn, his companions, and his sons. Scattered throughout most of this area are relics of prosopic earpieces, which must have given the wearer an appearance strikingly like that of mythical Red Horn." "Other artifacts, such as the bilobed arrow, may shed light on an obscure name held by Red Horn in his youth, "He Who is Hit with Deer Lungs". Intricately carved effigy pipes have been recovered as well, one of which, nicknamed "Big Boy", has been widely identified with Red Horn."

"There also exist numerous depictions of a raptorial bird whose head has many human features. James A. Brown has argued that this "Birdman", who is often shown wearing prosopic earpieces, is also a form of Red Horn. Pictographs found in caves have also been related to Red Horn. Salzer contends that the scene of Panel 5 at the Gottschall Rockshelter represents Red Horn and his friends confronting the giants. At Picture Cave, discovered by Carol Diaz-Granados, there exists a pictograph the central figure of which wears prosopic earpieces, leading to the suggestion that he represents an early form of Red Horn." In the Ioway version of the Red Horn story, Wears Man-Heads in His Ears puts on a pair of prosopic earpieces which come to life. Prosopic ear ornaments have been found throughout much of the S.E.C.C. culture area in archaeological excavations and are called "Long-nosed god maskettes". They are typically made of either copper or shell, which were highly valued materials. Most wampum belts, for instance, are made of shells strung together. In contemporary Hotcąk the standard word for wampum is worušik, a word which also denotes earrings. It is a contraction of wa-horušik, "something suspended from the ears".

"This shows a linguistic "memory" of a time when at least certain earpieces were considered to be wampum. The S.E.C.C. artifacts have a high degree of uniformity except for the size of the nose, which may be either short or extraordinarily long and even crooked. The face is shield-shaped, and has a crown with a notch at its top center rim." "The mouth is just a short slit, but the eyes are perfectly circular and large in proportion to the head, giving them an owl-like appearance. The first of these was discovered in Big Mound within St. Louis in 1870, where they lay beside the skull in a grave. Since then nearly two score of these artifacts have been discovered in an area encompassing at least ten states. S.E.C.C. pictorial art shows figures with long-nosed god maskettes on their ears, recalling the appearance of Red Horn and his sons."

"One of these is a sculpted pipe bowl, nicknamed "Big Boy", showing a seated young man wearing short-nosed prosopic earpieces (discussed below). They came to be called "Long-Nosed God" mask(ette)s because they were correlated with depictions of what appeared to be a deity with a very long nose. One of these has in addition to a long nose, a bilobed arrow attached to his hair, and a single long braid, all characteristics associated with Red Horn." "On the other hand, such beings often have a curl at the end of their noses, either bending up or down, a feature not found on their maskette counterparts. In addition a great many prosopic earpieces have only a short nose. This has led Duncan and Diaz-Granados to develop a different theory to account for the variation in nose sizes."

"They believe that the prosopic earpieces represent the Twins, and that they were worn by war captives who were being assimilated into their new tribe. This is chartered by one surviving Twins myth, in which the wild brother has a very long nose in contrast to the normal nose of his domesticated brother. When the wild Twin is re-adopted into his family, the father trims the nose. Ex hypothesi, the size of the nose on the prosopic earpiece given to the adopted captive was trimmed to reflect the degree to which he had been assimilated."

Big Boy: "Big Boy", which was uncovered from the Great Mortuary of Craig Mound at Spiro, is a large effigy pipe weighing 11 lbs., 8 oz., probably made of bauxite. It is likely that it was originally a sculpture that was only later converted into a pipe bowl. This remarkable artifact was first illustrated in 1952. The figure is nude, with his hair arranged in an occipital bun and a long braid hanging over his left shoulder. His only body clothing is a cape draped over his back. The cape has a "spade" or feather design, leading most archaeologists to conclude that it was a feather cape, a mantle well known from many Native American cultures in historical times."

"However, it seems unlikely that it actually is a feather cape. The blanket ... is decorated with a "spade" design, which, considering the accuracy of detail and faithfulness of depiction in the rest of the pipe, is a detail that should be interpreted literally rather than figuratively. In this light, the "spade" design elements should be regarded as part of the blanket itself."

"It once bore a heavy coat of red ochre, some of which is still visible. He also wears a flat cap with a raised border around its top which has an "ogee" design in negative relief. Brown believes that this cap "appears to be a case for displaying a copper plate." The subject of the sculpture also wears a rich, triple-strand necklace of wampum beads. His most interesting feature, however, is a pair of prosopic ear ornaments, clearly of the Short-Nosed God type. Reilly, on the assumption that the SECC clay effigy pipes are of divine subjects, concludes, because of Big Boy's long red braid and prosopic earpieces, that he must represent "Morning Star" (by which he means Red Horn)."

"James A. Brown leans strongly towards this view, but voices a note of caution: All told, we have in this figure a remarkable combination of the very elements by which the Red Horn hero-deity of the Winnebago is identified in myth. Although this might suggest that the Red Horn identification can be extrapolated into deep antiquity, caution is dictated because of the inherent ambiguities attendant upon the sources of our information, to say nothing of the time spread involved. In a departure from the received opinion, Duncan and Diaz-Granados contend that the prosopic earpieces represent the Twins and were used by captives being adopted into the tribe. Consequently, they view Big Boy as a representation of such an adoptee, and not as Red Horn himself."

Picture Cave: "In Warren County, Missouri, there is a site appropriately styled "Picture Cave". As its name suggests, it contains a wealth of pictographs, including one that has been identified with the Hotcąk spirit Red Horn (Wears Faces on His Ears)." "Other pictographs in Picture Cave have been dated from about 915 AD to 1066 AD, although the age of the "Red Horn" pictograph has so far not been determined. It differs stylistically from the other pictographs in the cave and has a patina of silica which may suggest that it is older than the others."

"Almost solely on the basis of the prosopic earpiece, Duncan connects the main character of this scene with Red Horn. He describes the chief figure in the panel as "Morning Star (known by the Winnebago as Red Horn)", an identification which has now become universal among archaeologists (see the section above, "Red Horn as a Star"). He also believes that the Red Horn of Picture Cave is carrying the head of Morning Star, which he describes as an act of self-resurrection."

"Nevertheless, at one point Duncan says, with respect to the "Red Horn" pictograph, "This 'early' Braden style rendering conforms to the description of He-who-wears-human-heads-as-earrings, or Red Horn, after he wrestled with the 'giants'. Red Horn's head is described as being carried by one of his sons ... this is an unmistakable scene at Picture Cave that is finely and delicately rendered and includes a substantial use of white pigment."

Bird Man: "Another figure found in SECC artworks is a raptor with a largely human face, who is often depicted wearing prosopic earpieces. This werebird, known as "Birdman", is also thought by some to be a form of Red Horn."

Based from the website "symbols.com" details this on Red Horn: "The Red Horn symbol featured strongly in the Mississippian culture. The Mound Builders believed that Red Horn was one of the five sons of Earthmaker whom the Creator formed with his own hands and sent to earth to rescue mankind."

"Red Horn was a great hero and led war parties against the enemies of the people and supernatural monsters and demons from the Underworld including the Great Serpent and the Horned Panther. Red Horn legends of the Ho-Chunk and Winnebago tribes include adventures with Turtle and the thunderbird and battles against a race of giants."

"The above picture shows a Red Horn Symbol, a great hero in Mississippian mythology and known as “He Who Wears human heads as earrings” to the Sioux. His name is interesting as the Mississippians cut off the heads of their enemies as a trophy of their success. The severed head proves his prowess as a great warrior. The Warrior Symbol depicts a man carrying a head. This action was part of the culture of the Mississippians and the severed heads of enemies were displayed on 40 foot wooden pools during their Chunkey games."

Then based from Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine details this: THE ORIGIN OF THE SATANIC MYTH. [[Vol. 2, Page]] 394: "Before the creation of Adam, two races lived and succeeded each other on Earth; the Devs who reigned 7,000 years, and the Peris (the Izeds) who reigned but 2,000, during the existence of the former. The Devs were giants, strong and wicked; the Peris were smaller in stature, but wiser and kinder. Here we recognize the Atlantean giants and the Aryans, or the Rakshasas of the Ramayana and the children of Bharata Varsha, or India; the ante- and the post-diluvians of the Bible. Gyan (or rather Gnan, true or occult Wisdom and knowledge), also called Gian-ben-Gian (or Wisdom, son of Wisdom), was the king of the Peris.*

"He had a shield as famous as that of Achilles, only instead of serving against an enemy in war, it served as a protection against black magic, the sorcery of the Devs. Gian-ben-Gian had reigned 2,000 years when Iblis, the devil, was permitted by God to defeat the Devs and scatter them to the other end of the world. Even the magic shield, which, produced on the principles of astrology, destroyed charms, enchantments, and bad spells, could not prevail against Iblis, who was an agent of Fate (or Karma)."

Quranic exegesis: "According to many Classical scholars, based on the reports of the Sahaba, before Iblis was expelled from heaven, he was called Azazil. Quranic exegesis offers two different depictions of Iblis. One with Azazil beginning as a noble angel who later loses his position, while the other counts him as an ignoble jinn, who works his way up to heaven. According to whose interpretations legitimated by the authority of Ibn Abbas, Azazil was the leader of angels and sent by God to terminate the jinn, who lived on earth before humanity...."

Based on Iblis states this excerpt: As an Angel: "As an angel, Iblis is described as an archangel, the leader and Imam (teacher) of the other angels, and a guardian of heaven. At the same time, he was the closest to the Throne of God. God gave him authority over the lower heavens and the earth. Iblis is also considered the leader of those angels who battled the earthly jinn. Therefore, Iblis and his army drove the jinn to the edge of the world, Mount Qaf."

In the Islamic version states this: "In the first version, before Iblis was cast down from heaven, he used to be a high-ranking angel (Karub) called Azazil, appointed by God to obliterate the original disobedient inhabitants of the earth, who were replaced with humans, as more obedient creatures."

"...According to whose interpretations legitimated by the authority of Ibn Abbas, Azazil was the leader of angels and sent by God to terminate the jinn, who lived on earth before humanity."

Here based on the description of the God of fire is shown to have "red braided hair" in the same manner of the Ancient Egyptians. In Egypt they call it a "Sidelock of Youth".

Here is what it states: "The sidelock of youth (also called a Horus lock, Prince's lock, Princess' lock, or side braid) was an identifying characteristic of the child in Ancient Egypt. It symbolically indicates that the wearer is a legitimate heir of Osiris. The sidelock was used as a divine attribute from at least as early as the Old Kingdom."

"In earlier depictions, the sidelock can be seen with short hat-like hairstyles in, for example, mortuary cults. Later it was usually attached to an almost shoulder-length wig, which was worn in three styles: curled, straight, or in tresses. Based on the connection between sidelocks and children, Egyptologists coined the term "sidelock of youth". They are worn by both mortal and divine children."

"The name "sidelock of youth" is not entirely accurate, since it is usually a braid rather than a lock, with its end twisted into a spiral. In Middle Kingdom depictions, the end is rolled to the front."

"The sidelock was generally worn on the right. In reliefs it can be depicted on the left or the right, since otherwise the lock would not be visible on a figure in profile facing left. A strand of hair was separated off from the side of the skull, itself further separated into three individual braids. The braided portion was held in place by a clasp at its point of origin. Thereafter there were several different possibilities, such as the triple braided sidelock, whose three strands converged in a spiral."

"Only in a few cases was it gathered with a clasp at its point of origin and ended with a spiral but left as a loose lock of hair in between. Further types of divine sidelock are also known. The Horus lock, like the sidelock, was braided from three strands of hair, which seem to terminate in a claw-like shape and are connected with the goddess Mafdet in Egyptian mythology."

"The sidelock of youth was used by the children of the pharaohs, not only to show them to be children, but also to indicate their connection to the youthful Horus. Like them, the young Horus had worn the sidelock as the heir apparent of his father Osiris. In accordance with the mythological precedent, the children of the king, as his designated heirs, received the Horus lock as an indication of the special duties that were bound up with that status."

"In iconography, royal children were depicted naked and sucking on their finger, with their heads shaved entirely bald except for the sidelock. Amenhotep I, as well as Thutmoses III, reused the special form of the Middle Kingdom, which is connected with their revival of the imagery of the Middle Kingdom more generally. Again in the Late Period, the Middle Kingdom depiction of the sidelock was revived."

"With the beginning of the New Kingdom, the lock of youth achieved central significance as a special symbol of the princes and princesses of the 18th Dynasty. Particularly notable is the connection of the lock of youth with princesses, who as children of the reigning king were also seen as probable heirs and therefore were also depicted with the Horus lock."

Then based from the description of the God of fire having this style of the Egyptian Sidelock. In the Rig Vedas, it is mentioned in book 7 chapter 46 verse 4 stating “slay us not, nor abandon us, Oh Rudra let not thy noose, when thy art angry, seize us….” R.V. book 1 chapter 114 verse 1 states “To the strong Rudra bring we these our praise to Him the Lord of heroes with the braided hair….” Verse 5 “Him with the braided hair we call with reverence down, the wild boar, the red dazzling shape….”

Here is an excerpt from the Red Horn story: "The adventures of Red Horn are set out in a set of stories known as the "Red Horn Cycle".The Red Horn Cycle depicts his adventures with Turtle, the thunderbird Storms-as-He-Walks (Mą'e-manįga) and others who contest a race of giants, the Wąge-rucge or "Man-Eaters", who have been killing human beings whom Red Horn has pledged to help. In the episode associated with this name, Red Horn turns himself into an arrow to win a race. After winning the race Red Horn creates heads on his earlobes and makes his hair into a long red braid called a he, "horn", in Hocąk. Thus he becomes known as "Red-horn" (he-šucka) and as "He who Wears (Human) Faces on His Ears" (įco-horúšika)."

Based from the Website "hotcakencyclopedia.com" states this on the "The Sons of the Earth Maker" by Richard L. Dieterle.

"Mą’ųna, "Earthmaker," is said to have four or five sons.¹He did not have these sons in the usual manner: they were not conceived of woman, and therefore they have no mother. Nor were they really conceived in any other way, as from the body of Earthmaker (as far as can be told). Nevertheless, they were created directly by Earthmaker, and it is on this grounds that they are said to be the sons of Earthmaker. All other beings, with one notable exception, are the products of the natural processes of reproduction."

"The very first man that Earthmaker created turned out to be defective: he had but one leg, either the other broke off, or his two legs were fused together.²This being Earthmaker cast away. He is known asHerešgúni(-na/-ga),and he became the chief of the evil spirits. He is never spoken of as the "son of Earthmaker," perhaps because he was disowned. The first ordinary human being, who was not in anyway a spirit(waxop'ini),was also created directly by Earthmaker.³Some say that he was even created from the flesh of Earthmaker himself.⁴However, as he is not a spirit being, he had much the same status as animals, who were also created directly by Earthmaker. The true sons of Earthmaker are, like their progenitor, human in form, but spirit beings in their powers.

The first of these spirit-humans that Earthmaker created wasWakjąkaga,"Trickster." Since he was the first created, he is often called simplyKunu,"First Born." He, and all the other sons of Earthmaker, were created for a purpose, as were indeed all spirit beings. The sons of Earthmaker were given the task of ridding the world of the many animals and spirits who were preying upon human beings.⁵Trickster's nature was not suited to the task. He was an affable and unserious person, whose foolish nature delighted in tricks of all kinds. Therefore he was not able to take seriously his duties. Earthmaker recalled him and gave him rule over a celestial paradise for the departed.⁶

Earthmaker's second son wasKecągéga,"Turtle." He too lacked a properly serious nature. He misdirected his conquests: he seduced women, bragged about real and imaginary exploits, and introduced war, not upon those whom he was sent to destroy, but among the humans, those whom he was sent to rescue.⁷As a result, he was counterproductive, and had to be recalled. Earthmaker gave him an underworld paradise where those killed in action may live a happy afterlife."

"Earthmaker therefore found it necessary to create his third son,Wadexúga,"Bladder." Bladder created numerous brothers, some say as many as twenty. He declared that no spirit was his equal and that they had nothing to fear. Yet all his brothers were killed.⁹Bladder was puffed up with his own sense of power, but was not serious enough about it to exercise proper leadership. Although he did succeed in killing One Legged One, the human form of Herešgúni, he never took the initiative to kill any other. Thus he was also recalled, and Earthmaker appointed him to rule over the lowest subterranean paradise."

"Some say, although there is no universal agreement on this point, that Earthmaker next created Human Heads as Earrings, better known asHešúcka,"Redhorn."¹¹His role in the mission to rescue humanity is obscure, and he was probably introduced into the set at a recent date in order to make them five in number to correspond to the cardinal points (the four quarters plus the center). Redhorn had miniature heads in his earlobes. They detracted from his seriousness by constantly sticking their tongues out at people, winking at them, and generally making funny faces.¹²Redhorn had some success against the Giants, but later was actually killed by them.¹³After the passing of many years, his sons were finally able to revive him.¹⁴Nevertheless, he too was recalled by Earthmaker, although nothing is said of his ruling over any kind of paradise."

"The last (fourth or fifth) son of Earthmaker isWašjįgéga,"Hare" or "Rabbit." Although Hare was created directly by Earthmaker, he caused himself to be ingested by a woman so that he could be born as a human being.¹⁵Therefore, he called all of humanity his uncles and aunts. This gave him the requisite seriousness of purpose to persevere in his mission. In the end he succeeded. It is said of those enemies of humanity that he did not destroy outright, that those of the air he pushed higher into the sky, and those of the earth he pushed lower into the ground.¹⁶However, since he looked back at his grandmother Earth during the course of a ritual in which this act was proscribed, he caused death to enter the world and became responsible for the permanence of human mortality.¹⁷This tragic outcome caused him to fall into depression, from which he was cured by Great Black Hawk.¹⁸Earthmaker then allowed him to establish the Medicine Lodge whose rite created the fullest life possible for human beings.¹⁹Earthmaker granted Hare rule over this earth and over the present cosmic age."

Based from the same Website states this about RedHorn: 

"Redhorn is one of the major spirits who descended to earth to aid the human race against its spiritual enemies. Originally, he was held in disrepute in his native village, where he was called "Struck with Deer Lungs," since the rumor had it that his eldest brother always threw deer lungs at him. Humans came to know him as "Redhorn," but among the spirits he is known by the name "Wears (Man) Faces on His Ears."¹He is also known by this name among the Ioway, a tribe closely related to the Hocągara.²This name derives from the living faces on his earlobes (Hocąk), or earbobs that come to life when he places them on his ears (Ioway).Elsewhere, he is given yet another name, "Red Man" (Wąkšucka), on account of the fact that his entire body is red from head to toe. Under the names "Only One Horn" (Hežąkiga) and "Without Horns" (Herokaga), he and his sons are chiefs over the lilliputian hunting spirits known as theHerokaand the "Little Children Spirits."

"The Son of Earthmaker. Redhorn is one of the five great soteriological spirits fashioned by the Creator’s own hands, sent to earth to make the world safe for the least endowed of Earthmaker’s creation, the “two-legged walkers”. The first spirit to be sent down to earth to help mankind was Trickster (Wakjąkaga), whose foolishness made it necessary to recall him. Earthmaker next sent down Bladder (Watexuga), whose arrogance led to the loss of all but one of his 20 brothers, so he too was recalled."

"Then Earthmaker made Turtle (Kecągega) and charged him to teach the humans how to live, but Turtle brought them war, and was in his turn recalled. The fifth and last of these heroes dispatched by Earthmaker was Hare (Wašjįgega), who conquered all the bad spirits who had preyed on humanity. By accident, however, he introduced death, but made up for it by creating the Medicine Lodge, by whose discipline members could achieve immortality. Earthmaker made Hare in charge of this earth, and to each of the other three spirits he gave an otherworldly paradise to govern. The penultimate savior figure in this series was Redhorn. He had quite nearly succeeded, but was killed in a wrestling match with the enemies of the human race. Although later revived, he too was recalled, although the reasons for his failure are obscure. One source suggests that it was a lack of gravitas."

"Then Earthmaker (Mą’ųna) sent down another son, He who Wears Human Heads as Earrings. He went around talking to people, but they would always fix on his earrings which were actual, living, miniature human heads. When these little heads saw someone looking at them, they would wink and make funny faces. In the end, He who Wears Human Heads as Earrings could not accomplish the mission either.³

"Unlike all the other soteriological spirits, Redhorn is not assigned a paradise over which to rule; and the Medicine Rite omits any mention of Redhorn from its account of the sons of Earthmaker.⁴These facts indicate that Redhorn may have been a recent addition to the role.Meeker even suggested that a certain notable Piegan contemporary of the same name may have simply been elevated to divine status.⁵More recently, Lankford held a similar view: "... Redhorn was a recent addition to the Winnebago pantheon diffused possibly from the Blackfoot tribe."

"Redhorn's Adventures. The adventures of Redhorn are set out in a set of stories known as the "Redhorn Cycle." The Redhorn Cycle depicts his adventures with Turtle, the Thunderbird Storms-as-He-Walks (Mą’e-manįga) and others who contest a race of Giants, theWąge-rucgeor "Man-Eaters", who have been killing human beings whom Redhorn has pledged to help. In the episode associated with this name, Redhorn turns himself into an arrow to win a race.After winning the race Redhorn creates heads on his earlobes and makes his hair into a long red braid called ahe, "horn", in Hocąk. Thus he becomes known as "Red-horn" (He-šucka) and as "He who Wears (Human) Faces on His Ears" (Įco-horúšika). In one episode an orphan girl who always wears a white beaverskin wrap is pressured by her grandmother to court Redhorn. Despite the girl's adamant refusal, the grandmother insists. She eventually relents and goes off to find Redhorn, who is surrounded by other girls. She teases him, and unexpectedly, he smiles at her. The other girls were jealous, they push and shove her and tell her "You don't know anything."

"Redhorn and his friends prepare to go on the warpath and are camped just outside the village. During this time the women bring the warriors moccasins and the she brings a pair to Redhorn, who accepts them. When the warriors return from battle, they play a prank and have the sentries proclaim that Redhorn and one of his friends are dead. The grandmother begins to cut the hair of the orphan girl, as if she were already Redhorn's wife. When he comes into view and it is apparent that he is not dead, the grandmother laments "I have wrecked my granddaughter's hair." The victors dance for four days, and many of the young men approach Redhorn to recommend their sisters to him. He takes no interest, and asks instead, "Where does the girl in the white beaverskin wrap live?"At night Redhorn shows up at the girl's lodge and lays down next to her. Her grandmother throws a blanket over them and they are married.⁷In another episode, with their lives staked on the outcome, the giants challenge Redhorn and his friends to playkisik(lacrosse).⁸The best giant player was a woman with long red hair just like Redhorn's.The little heads on Redhorn's ears caused her to laugh so much that it interfered with her game and the giants lost, but Redhorn married the girl with the red hair.⁹The giants lost all the other contests as well. Then they challenged Redhorn and his friends to a wrestling match in which they threw all but Redhorn's friend Turtle. Since Redhorn and his fellow spirits lost two out of the three matches, they were all slain."

"Redhorn as a Star.There is a little known myth of great importance that identifies Redhorn as a star. Ten brothers lived together in a longhouse. The eldest, Kunu, had four arms. The youngest brother was called "Wears Faces on His Ears" (Įcorúšika), because he had living human faces on each of his ears. By dancing all night and performing the hunting rite by which game is seduced, they were able to gain wives for themselves. However, the second brother, Hena, was jealous because his youngest brother had gotten the fattest woman (hinųk šį), so he persuaded his other brothers, all except Kunu and the next youngest, to join him in a plot to rid themselves of Wears Faces on His Ears. They brought him to the lodge of a beautiful woman who in reality was a Waterspirit (Wakcexi). She persuaded him to go to the back of her lodge, where he fell through a trap door into the underworld. There he was made captive by the Bad Waterspirits (Wakcexi-šišik). Loon and Otter were the nephews of the Waterspirits. Each made an impassioned plea to free the young man, but the bad Waterspirits were determined to eat him, so Loon and Otter left the underworld for the earth where they have lived ever after. Wears Faces on His Ears broke his chains as though they were made of string, then grabbed a fire brand and began to club the Waterspirits to death and to set their realm aflame. He tracked down the woman who had tricked him and chased her through the underworld, where she tried to hide as a tubercle on a weed. Just the same, he found her out and killed her. When he returned to earth, he discovered that in his absence the rebel brothers had abused his two loyal brothers. The disloyal brothers had in reality been foxes and coyotes. When Wears Faces on His Ears struck Hena with his club, he was transformed into a fox.Thus, the wicked brothers lived as animals thereafter. Wears Faces on His Ears and his two loyal brothers were stars."

"Without any reference to this story, much has been said about the stellar identity of Redhorn. In 1945, many years after his field work,Paul Radin suggested that Redhorn might be identical to the Morning Star (of Venus), known to the Hocągara asWiragošge Xetera, “the Great Star”.¹¹Most archaeologists have accepted this suggestion.¹²However, just three years later, he was less certain, saying only that Redhorn was “either evening- or morning-star,”¹³and in 1954 he changed his position yet again, asserting that Redhorn, “probably is identical with the Evening Star.”¹⁴After an extensive discussion of the problem, Lankford summed up by saying, “It appears that the safest conclusion for this study of Morning Star traditions is to accept the Winnebago divinities [Redhorn, Blue Horn, the Twins] as possibly stellar figures but to allow them to remain without a celestial name, in so far as ethno astronomy is concerned.”¹⁵Nevertheless, the very end of our story identifies Redhorn, in his form as Wears Faces on His Ears, as a fixed star, probably Alnilam of Orion. The one star that is shining most greatly of the trio, it is he. The greatly shining white one, and the blue one, and the red one; andĮcohorúšikawas the yellowish one. And the other ones, his older brothers, are also stars. They are the trio that are bunched together [the Belt Stars of Orion?]."

Morning Star, of course, is not a fixed star.Their lack of identity is confirmed in another story in which Man Faces on His Ears coexists with Morning Star.¹⁷The connection between fixed stars and living beings on the ears finds a parallel in another Hocąk story in which Polaris (the North Star) has hummingbirds as earrings.¹⁸

Red Man, Chief of the Heroka. In the Redhorn Cycle, when a human chief offers his daughter as a prize in a race, all the fastest spirits in creation show up to compete. Nevertheless, a completely unknown person wins the race by turning himself into the fleetest of all things, an arrow, and shooting himself ahead of all the other competitors. The victor declares that he goes by the name “Redhorn”, but that the spirits know him as “Wears Man-Faces on His Ears”. The episode shows that Redhorn has a mystical identity with the arrow."

"There are two unpublished stories that reveal Redhorn’s sagittary nature. The first is “Chief of the Heroka”, and the other is its variant, “The Red Man”. In “Chief of the Heroka”, a great hunter lived with his wife and two small children. He told his wife to avoid his deer traps, but she ignored him, and whenever she went out, she was caught in one of the traps. No trap in which she was caught ever worked again. Finally, he had to shoot his own wife to save his family from starvation. He sent his two children to where his other sons lived, and on the way, the children saw the signs in the sky that their father had been overcome by their mother’s brothers. On the way, the little boy was kidnapped by a group of berdaches who had the power to change their size. He made good his escape and joined his sister and brothers. In time the little boy grew up and married a beautiful woman. His mother-in-law would send him on impossibly dangerous missions in order to kill him, but every time he emerged victorious. Among the spirits participating in the feasts that were held afterwards were Turtle and the Forked Man, who had two bodies joined at the waist. The young man allowed his sister to choose her husband from among the assembled spirits, and she picked the Forked Man.The old woman had a nightmare, and when she awoke, she said that the young man must play the gamewegodiwawith them.¹⁹He agreed. The young man with his spirit friends sat on the edge of a cliff while the old woman walked out into the thin air. She and her daughters gave a loud shout, and a gale force wind issued from above, yet the young man and the good spirits held fast. After four such attacks, the good spirits triumphed. The sons of the old woman were the ones who were making the wind. The young man, now in the form of Without Horns (Herokaga), stood on the water and told his brothers to make the “Herokabreathings.”

"They uttered,ahahe, ahahe, and as they pulled their empty bow strings back and forth, their opponents fell over dead. The young man,Herokaga, became chief over the village that was once ruled by the slain brothers. In timeHerokagahad a daughter, and when it was time for her to be married, he set up an ordeal designed to test the worth of her suitors. Finally, a Forked Man succeeded, and the couple set out for his home up above where he lived with his grandfather. One day as she was looking into the fire, she saw a head that was made red by the heat, yet it had tears rolling down its cheeks. The head explained that she was his granddaughter and that the old man there had beheaded him and placed him in the fire. She lifted the head out of the fire and put it in a white deerskin. When the Forked Man returned home, the head explained to him all that had happened. The husband demanded that his grandfather tell him where the headless body was, and they went out and found the body wandering around Red Hill. They brought it back and made a sweat bath in which the head was reattached to the body. Once he emerged whole again, he cursed the old man to become an owl. The grandfather whose head was reattached, is the chief of theHeroka.His son is the chief of the Little Children Spirits who have the same power as the Heroka."

"From this story we learn that the elder man is chief of theHeroka, but his son, even though his name is Without Horns (Herokaga), is chief over the Little Children Spirits. Both sets of spirits are able to kill with empty bows, just as though they themselves were the arrows. In “The Red Man”, the older man kills his wife because he has caught her making love with a bear. The man who killed him, rather than being turned into an owl, is killed by Trickster and Hare. With a stroke of his club, Hare shattered him into a thousand pieces of flint.The man known to us as “chief of theHeroka”, in this story is brought back to life and called “Red Man” (Wąkšucka), since his body is entirely red in color.²¹Who is Red Man, chief of theHeroka? It would be left to speculation were it not for a story parallel to the Redhorn Cycle, where it is said of Redhorn, “'Without Horns' (Heroka) they call certain beings, he (Redhorn) was their chief; his sons were the chiefs of beings called 'childish people', they say.”²²Therefore, it is Redhorn who is Red Man, chief of theHeroka, and his sons are chiefs of the Little Children Spirits. Both of these are tribes of lilliputian hunting spirits, whose spiritual essence is the arrow, and whose symbol is the bow."

"From another unpublished story,“The Baldheaded War Club”, we learn more about Redhorn and the Heroka. Trickster (Wakjąkaga) acquired an enormously powerful war club, and to fulfill his role as a savior of mankind, called together a war party to attack the evil spirits who had lorded it over humanity. The members of this select war party were Turtle, Wolf, Sleets as He Walks, Great Black Hawk, Redhorn, Otter, Loon, and the Twins (Flesh and Ghost). Under Trickster’s leadership, all kinds of foolish mistakes were made, so a different war leader stepped forward at the critical moment when they were being charged by the evil spirits.

Then the war leader said, “Now then, attendants! I will help you,” and at the war leader’s forehead stood a single horn, and it was very red. This he took off and struck the water with it, and the water burned like fuel, and there all the bad things were burned up. Then the leader said, “Now then! from henceforth you will no more call me “One Horn”. Here the humans are being abused and here I have used my horn, therefore, the humans shall ever call me, “Without Horns”, because I have caused myself to be without any,” he said. That is why they call themHeroka, meaning “ones without horns."

"In this variant, Redhorn is first named “One Horn” (Hejąkiga),²⁴then “Without Horns” (Herokaga), a name which elsewhere is given to his son. This is merely a reflection of the cross-generational identity of Redhorn and his sons. In one story the son of Redhorn is called by one of Redhorn’s old lovers by the name “Redhorn”;²⁵and in another story, the father of Redhorn is Wears Man-Faces on His Ears, another form of Redhorn himself.²⁶

Thehe, "horn", in the namesHe-jąki-ga("Only One Horn"),He-roka-ga("Without Horns"), andHe-šuc-ka("Redhorn"), can be understood in these sagittary terms. In the myth known as"The Brown Squirrel", the hero of the story terrorizes a bad spirit by constantly pointing a red cedar horn at him.The horn is usually called "the red protruding horn" (he-pųjoge-šujera). However, once it is simply calledhe-pųjogera, "the protruding horn."²⁷At the very end of the myth the bad spirit is turned into a brown squirrel and told, "Humans you tried to abuse, so ever after will boys shoot you with protruding horns (he-pųjogera).”²⁸Therefore, arrows are horns, and paradigmatically,red horns. Consequently, the nameHešucka(“Redhorn”) not only refers to his red braid or “horn”, but to his mystical identity with the arrow. It is also the reason why the race over whom he is chief is called “without horns”, since they fire their bows without the need of an arrow. In a race, the Redhorn is triumphant over all the spirits, for he himself is the arrow he shoots to victory."