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Native American Legends: Veeho (Weeho, Wihio)

Name: Veeho
Tribal affiliation: Cheyenne
Alternate spellings: Weeho, Wihio, Vihio, Veho, Ve'ho'e, Vihuk
Pronunciation: similar to veh-ho or wih-ho
Also Known As: "White-Man," Old Man Spider
Type: Culture hero, Transformer, trickster
Related figures in other tribes: Old Man (Blackfoot), Nanabozho (Anishinabe), Glooskap (Wabanaki), Wisakecahk (Cree)

Veeho is the spider trickster of the Cheyenne tribe. Though he is associated with spiders and his name means "spider," Veeho has the form of a man in every Cheyenne tale we know of. In some stories, Veeho plays the role of the clever and benevolent trickster/transformer hero, but in most stories, he is merely a silly and foolish character who behaves as inappropriately as possible by Cheyenne social standards. The literal meaning of Veeho's Cheyenne name is "Spider." It is given as "White-Man" in some older translations, but this is a misleading translation-- the Cheyennes named white people after Veeho, not vice versa!

Veeho Stories

*Veeho's Eyeballs * Veeho The Eye Juggler:
    Cheyenne legends about Veeho losing his eyeballs.
*Sun Teaches Veeho A Lesson:
    Cheyenne legend about Veeho trying to steal the Sun's pants.
*How Wihio Got Tongue:
    Cheyenne legend about Wihio getting the better of Coyote.

Recommended Books of Veeho Stories
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Tales of the Cheyennes:
    Collection of Cheyenne legends and folktales.
American Indian Trickster Tales:
    Compilation of more than a hundred Veeho and other trickster stories from many different tribes.
Use discretion sharing these with kids as some of the stories contain adult humor.
Algonquian Spirit:
    Excellent anthology of stories, songs, and oral history from the Cheyenne and other Algonquian tribes.

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Additional Resources

 Cheyenne mythology
 Cheyenne Indians
 Cheyenne pronunciation
 Wyoming Indian history
 People of the Plains
 Algonquian languages



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