Skunk Brigade

Verde Valley & vicinity

Ewing Young

A Winnebago (Hotcâk) Legend

In a village long ago a woman gave birth to a girl with pure white hair. She grew up to be beautiful beyond compare, and because of her white hair, she was thought to be very holy. Men would often court her, but she showed no interest in them, preferring to gaze at her own reflection in still waters. She loved the smell of flowers and would rub their perfumed petals on her skin and hair.

One day a strange looking man showed up and was very keen to court her. She laughed at him, scolding him for his ugliness -- yet he was not a mere man, but one of the great spirits, Turtle. Turtle shed his wrinkled outer skin and appeared in all his glory. He decreed, "Since you rejected one of the great spirits, you shall be transformed into a lowly animal! When people see you, they will turn away from your repulsive odor." She began to shrink, and she became covered with little black hairs. The only trace left of her beautiful white hair was the furry white stripe down her back. She became the first of her race, the race of skunks (gûcge) who live to this day.

Skunks are nocturnal. They are best-known for their ability to spray a foul-smelling and sticky fluid as a defense against predators; this secretion comes from the anal scent glands. The odor of the fluid is strong enough to ward off bears and other potential attackers. The odor can be difficult to remove from a human's clothing.

Their chemical defense, though unusual, is effective, as illustrated by this extract from Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle: "Description - The size of this noxious odoured creature is similar to that of a housecat. It has a small, black head with a white stripe between the eyes and two broad white stripes which meet at the shoulders of its black back. The tail is black with a white tip or fringe."