Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part B - Legend of the Head of Gold

Legend of the Head of Gold

Characters:

• The father
• The mother
• The four sons
• In this story, the youngest son is the focus
• Wakantanka - according to Wikipedia, Wakantanka (or Wakan Tanka) is a Lakota term for something sacred or divine, usually translated is "The Great Spirit" or "The Great Mystery." It doesn't seem to refer to any single deity
• Wakantanka's friends
• The horse the youngest son escapes with

Plot:

1. A man and his wife have four sons, they are all very poor and it seems like the sons are wasting away because of that.
2. The man tells his wife that he does not want his youngest son to die of poverty, so they should take him to Wakantanka to be raised, and the woman agrees. They set off for the "Darkening Land" (I can't find an explanation for what that is online, but I think it's some kind of spiritual plane or underworld) to look for Wakantanka.
3. A stranger appears to them and asks what they're seeking. The man explains he is looking for Wakantanka to give him his youngest son, and the stranger says that he is Wakantanka, and agrees.
4. Wakantanka takes the boy to his house and tells him to look after the main house and his horses, but not to go inside the little house nearby. He gives the boy the keys and tells him he's going on a journey.
5. Wakantanka comes back that evening with some other men who came and sat down inside the house. They stay there a while until one says "The boy is good; that is enough." And they leave. Wakantanka says he is going on a journey again and tells the boy to watch the place.
6. After he has left, one of the horses says to the boy: "Friend, go into the little house where you are commanded not to look, and inside in the middle of the floor stands something yellow. Dip your head in that and make haste—we two are together. When he brings home a great many men, they will eat you, as they will eat me, but I am unwilling—we two shall share the same."
7. The boy goes into the little house and sees a round yellow thing in the middle of the floor, which he dips his head into. His head became golden and the little house was filled with light.
8. The boy leaves the house and gets on the horse, and they flee. They went fast, and after they had gone a great distance, Wakantanka appeared behind them and told them to stop.
9. The horse told the boy to take the egg he had and throw it behind them (where did he get the egg? we'll never know). The boy did so and the whole country became a see.
10. Wakantanka tried to follow, but he and his horse drowned.
11. The boy and the horse escaped and came to an area where people lived and stayed with them. Someone (Wakantanka or his friends, I don't know) came from behind to attack them, but he turned around and his head and his horse were made of gold. His attackers were thrown from their horses, and the few who survived were again thrown back by the boy.

An artistic rendering of Wakantanka (Source: Shanina Conway)

Story Source: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913).