The Big Water Snake or Horned Snake is a well-known mythological creature among the Blackfoot people prominently featured in many stories that have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. As is common in oral tradition, each tribe, community, and elder tells a slightly different version of the story so that there are many variants to each plot. Many of the stories about the Big Water Snake are sacred to the Blackfoot. They are not shared with individuals outside of the community, and often they can only be told at a specific time of the year.
Earl Willows, a Blackfoot storyteller, shared a story about a warrior who turned into a horned snake. Two warriors were coming back home from a raid and having found nothing to eat, they were very hungry. They decided to make their camp for the night in an empty den. Upon awakening the next morning, they discovered a huge snake sleeping in front of the den, as they had occupied its lair overnight. The men decided to kill it, so they piled wood around the snake and burned it alive. The smell of burning meat tempted one of the warriors, and—ignoring his companion’s warning—he ate a piece of the snake’s flesh. After this incident they resumed their journey home.
The next morning the warrior who did not eat any of the flesh found that his companion had become a horned snake. The snake said, “I want you to give my personal belongings to my parents. I will continue my journey home with you, but you must keep some distance between us or I might not have pity for you and harm you” (Willows, 2009). The warrior did as the snake asked and soon they arrived at a big river. The snake said that this would be his new home and instructed his companion to go to their village to tell his family what had happened. They should bring him some food, he further instructed, and he would greet them. The parents prepared the food, and together with the warrior, they went to see their transformed son. When they came to the river, a huge snake slid toward them and narrated his story. Then he asked them to leave since he could not control himself and was afraid he would hurt them. The three of them left the river and never went back.
Another version of this story is recorded in The Blackfoot Papers by Adolf Hungry-Wolf, a German-born writer immersed in Blackfoot culture and teachings. In a chapter on painted lodges, he recounts the story of two warriors named Flint Knife and Weasel Calf, the latter of whom is also turned into a snake. The plot of the story is very similar to Earl Willow’s version, with the exception of several modified details and the ending. At the closing, the origin of the Big Water Snake tipi design is disclosed. Flint Knife has a dream while visiting his friend-snake in which he sees the snake they had killed in human form. “This is my lodge. Look at it carefully and paint yours the same when you get home,” instructs the snake, and he then teaches the warrior appropriate songs and rituals (Hungry-Wolf 2006, 370).
The story of the warrior turning into a horned snake is also told among other Plains peoples, although elements of the individual versions differ. For example, in one version the man transformed into a snake asks his companion to bring him four things and in exchange he grants his friend the power of invincibility, while in another version the snake settles in a cliff above the river instead of directly at the river. Nevertheless, the story is included in the Hidatsa, Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Pawnee folklore traditions.
Jana Marešová
See also Animal Tales; Horned Serpent
Further Reading
Clark, Ella Elizabeth. 1966. Indian Legends from the Northern Rockies. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Duane, O. B. 1998. Native American Myths & Legends. London: Brockhampton Press.
Hungry-Wolf, Adolf. 2006. The Blackfoot Papers: Volume Two: Pikunni Ceremonial Life. Skookumchuck, BC: The Good Medicine Cultural Foundation.
Willows, Earl. 2009. “Earl Willows Tells the Story of the Warrior That Ate the Horned Snake.” November 24. https://www.blackfootdigitallibrary.com/publication/earl-willows-tells-story-warrior-ate-horned-snake. Accessed June 10, 2015.