HELP! I need to be cleansed

"Help! I Need to be Cleansed!" -- A Winnebago

When reading the Winnebago Trickster narrative of Chew Me And You Will Defecate, I was compelled to ask: What was the function of the narrative? Was the storyteller giving his audience a moral lesson regarding "what happens when one defies nature even in a minor fashion" as suggested by anthropologist Paul Radin, or, was the storyteller warning his hearers that we live in a moral universe and that eating forbidden fruit has consequences?

Now unknown to most, the Winnebago were dualists. That is, they viewed existence in terms of what was moral and what was material. This dual view of existence was manifested in a dual social structure called a "moiety." When one is born, one becomes a member of either the Above People whose role in life is to maintain the spiritual health of the tribe, or a member of the Below People who role is to maintain the material health of the tribe.

Because the story is all about the moral consequences of eating the forbidden fruit, the story teller most likely was a member of the Above People. It was his moral duty to inform his people that they all were rule breakers. They had all been defiled by figuratively eating the forbidden fruit in the garden and in need of cleansing.

This propensity for man to break rules is revealed in the life of a mythical hero the Winnebago called Trickester. Now Trickester could easily be tricked because he lived a life without boundaries. In this story the storyteller is attempting to inform his hearers that they as a people all have a moral problem, that of ignoring boundaries, of eating forbidden fruit.

The story begins with Trickster aimlessly walking around when he hears a voice saying, "He who chews me will defecate."

Chew Me and You Will Defecate

As he went wandering around aimlessly he suddenly heard someone speaking. He listened very carefully and it seemed to say, "He who chews me will defecate; he will defecate!" That was what it was saying. "Well, why is this person talking in this manner?" said Trickster. So he walked in the direction from which he had heard the speaking and again he hears, quite near him, someone saying: "He who chews me, he will defecate; he will defecate!" This is what was said.

"Well, why does this person talk in this fashion"? said Trickster. Then he walked to the other side. So he continued walking along. Then right at his very side, a voice seemed to say, "He who chews me, he will defecate; he will defecate!" Well, I wonder who it is who is speaking. I know very well that if I chew it, I will not defecate." But he kept looking around for the speaker and finally discovered, much to his astonishment, that it was a bulb on a bush. The bulb it was that was speaking. So he seized it, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and then swallowed it. He did just this and then went on.

"Well, where is the bulb gone that talked so much? Why, indeed, should I defecate? When I feel like defecating, then I shall defecate, no sooner. How could such an object make me defecate?" Thus spoke Trickster. Even as he spoke, however, he began to break wind. "Well this, I suppose is what it meant. Yet the bulb said that I would defecate and I am merely expelling gas. In any case I am a great man even if I do not expel gas!" Thus he spoke.

As he was talking he again broke wind. This time it was quite strong. "Well, what a foolish one I am. This is why I am called Foolish One, Trickster." Now he began to break wind again and again. "So this is why the bulb spoke as it did, I suppose." Once again he broke wind. This time it was very loud and his rectum began to smart. "Well, it surely is a great thing!" Then he broke wind again this time in so much force that he was propelled forward. "Well, well, it may even make me give another push, but it won't make me defecate," so he exclaimed defiantly.

The next time he broke wind, the hind part of his body was raised by the force of the explosion and he landed on his knees and hands. "Well, go ahead and do it again! Go ahead and do it again!" Then, again, he broke wind. This time the force of the expulsion sent him far up in the air and he landed on the ground, on his stomach.

The next time he broke wind he had to hang on to a log, so high was he thrown. However, he raised himself up and after a while, landed on the ground, the log on top of him. He was almost killed by the fall. The next time he broke wind, he had to hold on to a tree that stood nearby. It was a popular and he held on with all his might yet, nevertheless, even then, his feet flopped up in the air.

Again, and for the second time, he held on to it when he broke wind and yet he pulled the tree up by the roots. To protect himself, the next time, he went on until he came to a large tree, a large oak tree. Around this he put both arms. Yet, when he broke wind, he was swung up and his toes struck against the tree. However, he held on.

After that he ran to a place where people where living. When he got there, he shouted, "Hurry up and take your lodge down, for a big war party is upon you and you will surely be killed! Come let us get away! He scared them so much so that they quickly took down their lodge, piled it on Trickster, and then got up on him themselves. They likewise placed all the little dogs they had on top of Trickster. Just then he began to break wind again and the force of the expulsion scattered the things on top of him in all directions. They fell apart from one another. Separated, the people were standing about and shouting to one another; and the dogs, scattered here and there, howled at one another. There stood Trickster laughing at them till he ached.

Now he proceeded onward. He seemed to have gotten over his troubles. "Well, this bulb did a lot of talking," he said to himself, "yet it could not make me defecate." But even as he spoke he began to have the desire to defecate again. "Well, what a braggart it was! I suppose this is why it said this." But even as he spoke he began to have a desire to defecate, just a very little. "Well, I suppose this is what it meant. It certainly bragged a good deal, however."

As he spoke he defecated again. "Well, what a braggart it was! I suppose this is why it said this."

As he spoke these last words, he began to defecate a good deal. After a while, as he was sitting down, his body would touch the excrement. Thereupon he got to the top of the log and sat down there but, even then he touched the excrement. Finally he climbed up on a log that was leaning against a tree. However, his body still touched it so he climbed higher up. Higher and higher he had to go. Nor was he able to stop defecating. Now he was on top of the tree. It was small and quite uncomfortable. Moreover, the excrement began to come up to him.

Even then, however, he touched it so he climbed higher up. Higher and higher he had to go. Now was he able to stop defecating. Now he was on top of the tree. It was small and quite uncomfortable. Moreover, the excrement began to come up to him. Even on the limb on which he was sitting he began to defecate. So he tried a different position. Since the limb, however, was very slippery he fell right down into the excrement. Down he fell, down into the dung. In fact he disappeared in it, and it was only with great difficulty that he was able to get out of it. His raccoon-skin blanket was covered with filth, and he came out dragging it after him…Then still blinded by the filth, he started to run. He could not see anything. As he ran he knocked against a tree.

The old man cried out in pain. He reached out and felt the tree and sang: “Tree, what kind of tree are you? Tell me something about yourself!” And the tree answered, “What kind of tree do you think I am? I am an oak tree. I am the forked oak tree that used to stand in the middle of the valley. I am that one.” It said. “Oh, my, it is it possible that there might be water around here”? Trickster asked. The tree answered, “Go straight on.” This is what it told him. As he went along he bumped against another tree.

He was knocked backward by the collusion. Again he sang: “Tree, what kind of tree are you? Tell me something about yourself!” “What kind of tree do you think I am? The red oak tree that used to stand at the edge of the valley, I am that one.” “Oh my, is it possible that there is water around here”? asked Trickster. Then the tree answered and said, “Keep straight on,” and so he went again.

Soon he knocked against another tree. He spoke to the tree and sang: “Tree, what kind of tree are you? Tell me something about yourself!” “What kind of tree do you think I am? The slippery elm that used to stand in the midst of the others, I am that one.” Then Trickster asked, “Oh my, is it possible that would be some water near here?” And the tree answered and said, “Keep right on.”

On he went and soon he bumped into another tree and he touched it and sang: “Tree, what kind of tree are you? Tell me something about yourself?” “What kind of tree do you think I am? I am the basswood tree that used to stand on the edge of the water. That is the one I am.” “Oh my, it is good,” said Trickster.

So there in the water he jumped and lay. He washed himself thoroughly. It is said that the old man almost died that time, for it was only with the greatest difficulty that he found the water. If the trees had not spoken to him he certainly would have died. Finally, after a long time and only after great exertion, did he clean himself, for the dung had been on him a long time and had dried. After he had cleansed himself he washed his raccoon-skin blanket.

Then he realized what he had done. "Oh, my, what a stupid fellow I must be! I should have recognized this. Here I have caused myself great pain."

Now if the story represents an evolutionary bottom-up explanation as to how pre-humans became moral beings, then the story ceases to be satire specifically aimed at exposing the human condition. Rather, it is a story attempting to explain how man moved from a state of nature to becoming a cultural being knowing that the thoughts in his mind were a product of man's interaction with his physical environment.

For the missionary who believes in a historical Fall, then Winnebago sages are declaring, long before any missionary arrived on the scene, that every Winnebago was aware of a sin problem that defiled the soul. The satirist, in this case, is declaring: "We live in a moral universe in which all mankind breaks the rules and then suffers the consequence."

This was the personal testimony of one Winnebago who declared, “So are we Winnebago. We like all that is forbidden. We are like Blow-himself-away (Trickster) who did not heed the warning." And as he went along, life became more intolerable.

Convictions:

In the words of psychiatrist Carl Jung, it is "Only out of disaster can the longing for a savior arise."
Like the Winnebago who testified that, "Like Trickster, we like all that is forbidden," the Bible’s description of the human condition is similar: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6).
When Isaiah compared mankind to “sheep” he was not comparing “sheep” to their good qualities, but rather to their foolishness, stupidity, and lack of sense. Sheep are prone to go astray from the shepherd. For these Winnebago sages,Trickster manifested the same qualities.

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