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Native American Legends: Spotted Tail
Name: Spotted Tail
Alternate spellings: Spotted-Tail
Tribal affiliation: Hidatsa
Native names: Tsitaxaxi, Ciidaxaxi
Pronunciation: tsee-dah-kha-khee
Type: Native hero
Spotted Tail was a comic hero of Hidatsa folklore. A kinsman of
First-Maker,
he had a rivalrous but good-natured relationship with the
creator god, in which they played pranks and tried to one-up each other; this was considered the basis of the
real-life "joking relationship" certain clan cousins had with one another in Hidatsa society. Stories about
Spotted Tail and First-Maker were often humorous in nature,
but not scandalous or dark like some Siouan trickster tales.
Recommended Books of Related Native American Legends
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Indian Legends from the Northern Rockies:
Anthology of folklore from the Mandan, Hidatsa, and other Northern Plains tribes.
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Additional Resources
Hidatsa legends
Hidatsa language
Indians in North Dakota
Great Plains region
Siouan Indians
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