Water monsters

[Eric]

Here's an address for a picture of the Cherokee water monster, Uk'tena:

http://www.ahalenia.com/malm/paintings/wcg/detailed/ukten.html

Some of what I read makes the Dakota Unktehi out to be "water oxen", and the
Winnebago wak'tcexi (Radin) seems to be like a water panther.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Linda A Cumberland" <lcumberl at indiana.edu>
To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2002 4:43 AM
Subject: Water monsters


> For what it's worth, I heard an animated account of a water monster in the
> lake at Ft. Qu'Apelle (Saskatchewan) from one of my Assiniboine
> consultants in the summer of 1998.  Told in English as we were
> picnicking by the lake, and having the quality of an urban legend (she
> didn't see it herself, but a classmate from Lebret School did when she
> sneaked out at night - scared her so badly she never sneaked out
> again...), the "monster" bore no resemblance to an alligator - it was
> huge, snake-like, and had antlers! This appearance was affirmed by the
> other Assiniboine listener (from accounts she had heard). The "sighting"
> would have been in the 1960s.  I haven't pursued the story, but the
> existence of the monster seems to be generally accepted in the area. Does
> anyone know of a tradition involving such an antlered monster?
>
> Linda
>
>
> > The Great Lakes Algonquian tribes all have water monster legends. Even
the
> > Cheyennes have one. I think it's safe to say that any identification of
this
> > water monster with alligators is a later, post-contact attempt to assign
an
> > English name to the monster. (That said, tho, in the earliest contact
times
> > apparently there *did* used to be alligators in the lowest stretches of
the
> > Ohio river, and there are known specific words for 'alligator' in Miami,
> > Shawnee, and Unami Delaware.)
> >
>