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Legendary Native American Figures: Thrown Away

Name: Thrown Away
Tribal affiliation: Assiniboine, Hidatsa, Arapaho, Sauk, Menominee
Also known as: Thrown-Away, Bad Boy
Native names: Mahaash/Mahash/Ma-hash (Hidatsa), Wahinak'weakit (Menominee), Fåtcasigo (Creek).
Type: Hero, magical twin
Related figures in other tribes: Wild Boy (Caddo), Spring Boy (Crow), Long Teeth (Arikara)

 Thrown Away is a young hero from the legends of the Midwestern and Plains people. Thrown Away and his brother Lodge Boy were twins (considered a powerful and dangerous occurrence in many cultures of this region) and were also ripped from their mother's womb, another portentous event. Consequently, Thrown Away and his brother had strong magical powers. In most versions of the story, a Two Face or other vicious monster (or sometimes a violent relative) kills Thrown-Away's pregnant mother while his father is out hunting. The villain leaves one of the unborn children in the lodge, and throws the other one out the door into the yard or into a spring of water. Because of their magic, both children survive, but Lodge Boy (who was thrown inside the lodge) is found by his father and raised in civilization, while Thrown Away (who was thrown outside the lodge) is not found and grows up in the wilderness. Eventually Thrown Away reunites with his brother, avenges his mother's death, and goes on to have monster-slaying adventures. In some versions of the epic Lodge Boy is a moral person while Thrown Away is wicked; in others, Thrown Away is wilder and more uncivilized, but both are generally benevolent heroes.

Thrown Away Stories

*Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away:
    Hidatsa legend about the two mythical brothers.

Recommended Books of Related Native American Stories

From the Heart of the Crow Country:
    Legends, traditional stories, and oral history narrated by a Crow elder.
Myths and Traditions of the Crow Indians:
    Classic collection of Crow legends and folklore.

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Additional Resources

 Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief
 Crow myths
 Fox-Sauk language
 Assiniboine language
 Montana Indians
 Plains Native American language
 Siouan language family



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