M24. The turtle is going to war. 43.-.46.50.
Theturtle goes to war and/or is captured. See M23 motif. Cf. motif K77 "Verlioka".
Kutene, Kurdalen, Menominee, Ojibwa, Chippewa, Potauatomi, Ojibwa Steppe, Illini (Peoria), Viandot, Seneca, Wavenok, Malesit, Blacklegs, Teton, Yankton, Omaha and Ponka, Oto, Osage, Iowa, Sheena, Pawnee, Navajo, Lipan.
The coast is the Plateau. Kutene [The turtle man cuts off the leader's head; says he is not afraid of a knife, arrow, ax; thrown into the water; shows a trophy head from there]: Boas 1918, No. 16:22-23; kordalen [after feasts with Pisces and other aquatic life The turtle announces that it will go hiking on a ne-perse; soon the Pisces turned back, the Salmon Chief said they needed water; the turtle went alone; climbed into the leader's tip, cut his sleeper's throat, took off her scalp; when the chief was buried, the Turtle was found; she says she is not afraid to be crushed on stones thrown into the fire; asks not to be thrown into the water; the Turtle they drag him to the water; one old man says that this is her element; when he hears this, the Turtle throws herself into the water; on the other side she shows the leader's scalp; she was not caught up; at home there is a holiday, a scalp dance; translator: ne- Perse are just as afraid of turtles as white people are afraid of mice]: Reichard 1947, No. 37:194-196.
The Midwest. Menominee: Bloomfield 1928, No. 91 [The turtle goes to war; rejects the Raven, the various Eagles and Hawks, the Thunder, takes the Turtles with him; there is a tree in the way of the warriors, they can't do it climb over, burn it; in a village of enemies, a turtle cuts off the heads of two sleeping young women; Turtles attack, women pack them in bags; a turtle is grabbed; he says people shoot each other a friend if they shoot him; he will pour boiling water on them if they cook it; pretends to be afraid of drowning; thrown into the water, escapes]: 293-303; Skinner, Satterlee 1915, No. II23 [Turtle Warrior scalps the leader, is captured; says he is not afraid of fire, boiling water; thrown into the river]: 392-393; Ojibwa [The turtle, along with all the Turtles, goes to war with the May Fly; is captured, released accompany the chief's son; they go across the sea to Manita and the Thunderbirds; on the way home, the Turtle leaves his comrade, and the chief's son brings one of the Thunderbirds]: Jones 1916, No. 4:369; chippewa [ The turtle goes to war; rejects the Bear, the Deer, takes the little turtles as comrades; they cut off the heads of the leader's two sleeping daughters; the turtle is caught; she promises to throw hot coals at the village, fill with boiling water if it is burned or boiled; blunt the axes if they cut it; thrown into the water; gives girls heads, revives them, marries]: Barnouw 1977, No. 36:151; Ojibwa [The turtle goes to war; rejects the Deer, the Thunderbird, takes little turtles as friends; the turtle is caught; she says that the enemies themselves will feel bad if they try to cut, cook or burn it; pretends that Afraid of water; she is thrown into the river, she is saved]: Radin 1914, No. 30 [also rejects the Bear]: 61-62; Radin, Reagan 1928, No. 27 (Southeast Ontario) [Turtle kills chief's daughter]: 124; kickapoo [Turtle goes to war; cuts off the head of the leader's daughter, caught; promises to burn enemies with hot coals, pour boiling water over her if she is burned, boiled; thrown into the pond; Otter chases her, she bites the Otter for testicles]: Jones 1915, No. 6:29-45; potauatomi [Snapping Turtle goes to war, takes other turtles with it; women threw them into baskets; only Box Turtle, left behind, escaped; people offer to burn, shoot with bows, cook the Turtle; it smiles every time; people think it will throw fire, arrows back at them, knock the cauldron over; they throw turtles into the water; they have a holiday]: Skinner 1924:356-358; Steppe Ojibwa [Turtle goes to war; rejects Owl, Raven, Hawk, takes little Turtles as friends; the old woman finds them by going to relieve themselves; people put turtles in bags that carry cooking; The turtle promises to throw hot coals at enemies, pour boiling water if it is burned or boiled; axes will break if it is cut; pretends to be afraid of being thrown into river; at night he gets out of the water, cuts off the heads of two sleeping girls, takes off their scalps; sings; the Otter starts catching her, the Turtle grabs her testicles; people hit the tambourine, but the Turtle knows it's not thunder; asking for help from real Groomers; hearing thunder, the Turtle releases the Otter]: Skinner 1919, No. 5:295-297; illini (peoria) [the story of the Turtle on the warpath ends with her they throw it into the water and she is saved; the second part (the Turtle's revenge when they try to grab her in the water) is attached to the Wolf cycle (after the Wolf enters the water)]: Michelson 1917:495.
Northeast. Viandot [Turtle comrades - Otter, Skunk, Porcupine; The Turtle gets the Eagle's valuable feather but is grabbed; it pretends not to be afraid of fire and beatings; thrown into the river]: Walker 1995, No. 8:84-94; Seneca [The Turtle goes to war; refuses to comrade Moose and Bison because they are not running fast enough; takes Skunk, Porcupine, Rattlesnake; enemies - Seven Sisters and their mother; one sister dies from a Snake bite; the rest grab the Turtle; he says he is not afraid of fire; thrown into the river]: Curtin, Hewitt 1918, No. 6:92-95; Wavenok [Gluscabe trickster kills a whale; Uncle G. The turtle calls the birds to feast; cuts off the Eagle Chief's buttocks; the birds catch the Turtle; he pretends not to be cut to pieces, burned; thrown into the lake; the birds dive, get the Turtle, they are beaten to death]: Speck 1928:187-188; Malesite: Jack 1895 [Gluscap makes his Uncle Turtle a military leader; he is taken prisoner; he pretends to be happily climbing into the fire, as if he is cutting his throat with a knife; cries when he hears plans to drown him; he was thrown into the water, he escapes]: 193; Mechling 1914, No. 1 [Gluscap's nephew Turtle kills a bird; it turns out to be a leader; people want him hang, burn, he pretends not to be afraid; thrown into the water; then caught again, tortured, saved by Gluscap]: 22-27.
Plains. Blacklegs [A turtle warrior cuts off a woman's head, caught; he is offered to burn, crush him with stones, hang him; he pretends not to be afraid; thrown into the river; shows a scalp trophy out of the water]: Wissler, Duvall 1908, No. 18:160; teton: Wissler 1907, No. 4 (oglala) [The turtle goes to war; comrades Hot Coal, Grasshopper, Pemmican, Yellow Butterfly, Runner; they are all along the way disappear; A tortoise in captivity is not afraid of fire; thrown into the river, shows enemies a severed child's head out of the water]: 126-128; Yankton [Ash, Fire, Bubble, Grasshopper, Dragonfly, Fish, Turtle go to war; the ash was carried away by the wind, the fire went out in the river, the grasshopper's legs fell off, the dragonfly's head; People are going to throw fish and the Turtle into the fire; Fish spit hot water on others, both decide drown; thrown into muddy waters]: Zitkala-Å a 1985:159-163; Omaha, Ponka [The turtle goes to war; comrades the Red-breasted Turtle, Squirrel, Terochnik, Crest, Shiloh, Pest, Smut, Bison bubble; rejects Puma, Wolf; on the way The bubble breaks, the Red-breasted turtle cannot climb over the log; the woman picks up Terochnik, tries to rub the grain, hits her arm to blood, Terochnik triumphantly returns to the Turtle; another woman picks up the Comb, he pulls out half of her hair, comes back screaming that he brought a scalp; the third picks up Shiloh, it pierces her hand; the fourth - Pest, he hits her on the knee; now the Turtle goes to the enemies, is captured; says that whoever cuts it, cooks it, burns it will be crippled themselves; pretends to be afraid of water is thrown into the river, it turns out alive; the Snake and the Otter dive after her, the Turtle bites the Otter; two birds drink water, the Squirrel bites their goiters, the water fills the river again; the turtle and his comrades come home triumphantly]: Dorsey 1888b: 206- 208 (=1890:271-277); Osage [The Turtle goes to war; agrees to take the Wolf and the Deer with her, they run as fast as she does; asks the Bison to transport her across the river; he invites her to sit between horns - no, I'll fall; sit on my back - I'll fall too; climb into the anus; the turtle agrees, eats the Bison's guts; he dies across the river; the turtle hangs a refreshed bison on a tree above the river; Wolves they jump into the water when they see its reflection; enemies catch the Turtle; offer to cook, burn them; she promises to burn them with hot splashes, coals; pretends to be afraid of water; thrown into the river, runs away; at home wife smashes it with a rock]: Dorsey 1904c, No. 12:15-16; iowa [The turtle goes to war, takes Curant and Bone Shiloh with it; all three are captured; Courant hits the finger of whoever rubs it corn; Shyla is pricked; they are thrown away, injured people die from blood poisoning; The turtle is boiled and eaten]: Skinner 1925, No. 19:479-480; oto [The Biting Turtle reluctantly agrees to go with the Spotted The turtle goes on a campaign; they reject the Hare, take the Skunk, the Squirrel, the Mortar, the Crest; when they approach the enemy camp, the Stupka asks to leave it in the bush, the Crest is closer to the dwellings; the Spotted Turtle is immediately grabbed they want to throw them into the fire; she asks to be allowed to sing first; says that the fire will spread throughout the camp; if cooked, she will fill the whole camp with boiling water; pretends to be drowned in the pond; She is thrown nearby three times, she laughs; when far away, she disappears, people think that the turtle has drowned; she screams that the water is her home; the chief tells the Big Belly to drink water; the Turtle asks the Squirrel for help; she shoots from a tree, water pours back from a hole in the monster's stomach; a Skunk, hiding in the bushes, stunned the woman with the stench, scalped her; the girl picked up the comb, he took the hair off her and her father's heads, she threw it away; the squirrel screams that the Comb had taken the scalp; the girl tried to pick up the Mortar with a pestle in it; the pestle stuck, she pulled, the mortar hit her forehead; the squirrel shouted that the Mortar took the scalp; hiding at the bottom, the Biting Turtle almost dragged the boy by the leg; the Squirrel offered to return home; The elk doubts that such slow-walkers could get scalps; the Spotted Turtle offers him race; The turtle arranges the other turtles, when the Moose comes to the finish line, the Turtle is already sitting there]: Curtis 1976 (19): 164-166; Shayens: Kroeber 1900, No. 31 [Turtle, Grasshopper, Skunk are coming to war; The grasshopper gets stuck in the mud; the turtle kills the leader, gets captured; pretends not to be afraid of fire; thrown into the pond; swims away with the leader's scalp; enemies scoop up the pond, finding only the leader's corpse]: 189; Marriott, Rachlin 1975 [Turtle, Skunk, Grasshopper, Snake, Cricket, Willow go to war; along the way, the Grasshopper lost his leg, Cricket stayed singing in the bushes, the Snake swam into the lake, Willow is stuck in clay; three those left at night cut off the head of the enemy leader; a woman finds raiders under a pot ready to dance with a scalp; Skunk and Porcupine run away; a turtle is thrown into the fire, he throws fire, a shell with since then in cracks; then he is thrown into the water, he drowns the two warriors who led him; the turtle comes back with two scalps; his sister dances with them; so we say that the turtle is smart, we give it to children raise a turtle so that they grow up the same]: 70-74; Pawnee: Dorsey 1904b, No. 74 (throw off) [like Oglal; takes Knife, Shiloh, Brush as comrades, rejects Hawk; in captivity is not afraid of hot coals, boiling water; teasing enemies out of water; people take a knife, awl, brush to use them]: 275-276; 1906, No. 147 (kitkehahki) [The turtle goes to war, taking Komar and Cricket; it is grabbed, the mosquito hides in the hearth, The cricket is in the hole; the turtle says that if it is thrown into the fire, it scatters it; pretends to be afraid of water; it is thrown into the water, it screams that it has deceived everyone; The cricket stays in the people's house, the Mosquito flies to the swamp]: 469-470).
The Great Southwest. Navajo [old Tortoise and Frog get a lot of Taos scalps; Taos catch them; they try to burn them, but the Frog pees, they want to cook them, but the Turtle breaks the cauldron; they're thrown into the river]: Haile 1938, No. 23:155; Klah, Gahni 1951:2, 17-18; O'Bryan 1956 [12 young men kill two Rock Dancers (JS); JS surround them; two brothers escape, the rest are killed; brothers hide under land, then went to the sea, the Changing Woman told them to ask for help from the Flintlock Knives; the Turtle and the Frog come; waiting for the JS at the spring, kill many, but are captured; the clubs bounce off Turtle shell, the Frog floods the fire into which they were thrown, the Turtle broke the pot in which they were cooked; then they were thrown into the river, they swam away; the old men Bear and the Snake come and kill the leaders of the JS; see motive F64]: 131-133; Parsons 1923b, No. 9:372; Lipan [The turtle goes to war, can't climb over a fallen tree; comes back, says it was in battle]: Opler 1940, No. 6:200-201.