It seems to be proper to allow this wakan object to take the precedence
in our arrangement, as he does really in respectability. The literal
signification of the name is probably lost, though it may, perhaps,
signify extraordinary vital energies.
In their external form, the Onktehi are said to resemble the ox, only
that they are of immense proportions. This god has power to extend his
horns and tail so as to reach the skies. These are the organs of his
power. The dwelling place of the male is in the water, and the spirit
of the female animates the earth. Hence, when the Dakota seems to be
praying, chanting or offering sacrifices to the water or to the earth, it
is to this family of the gods that the worship is rendered. They address
the male as grandfather, and the female as grandmother. Hence, also, it
is probably, that the bubbling springs of water are called the “breathing
places of the wakan.”
Though not the same in form, and though destitute of the trident, the
horse, and the dolphin, yet, because he rules in the watery worlds as
Neptune did in the Mediterranean sea, it may not be out of place to
denominate him the Neptune of the Dakotas.
This god has power to issue from his body a wakan influence which is
irresistible even by the superior gods. This missive influence is termed
_tonwan_, which word will frequently recur as we proceed. This power is
common to all the Taku-Wakan. This tonwan influence, it is claimed, is
infused into each medicine-sack which is used in the medicine dance.
One of these gods, it is believed, dwells under the Falls of St. Anthony,
in a den of awful dimensions, and which is constructed of iron.
A little to the left of the road leading from Fort Snelling to Minnehaha,
in sight of the fort, is a hill which is used, at present, as a burial
place. This hill is known to the Dakotas as “Taku wakan tipi,” the
dwelling place of the gods. It is believed that one of this family of
divinities dwells there.
Not many years since, at the breaking up of the ice in the Mississippi
river, it gorged and so obstructed the channel between the falls and
Fort Snelling, that the water in a few hours rose very high. When the
channel was opened by pressure, of course, the rush of water “carried
all before it.” A cabin which stood on the low bank under the falls, was
carried away with a soldier in it, who was never heard of afterwards. It
is universally believed by the worshippers of the god in question, that
the occurrence was caused by one of these gods passing down the river,
who took the soldier for his evening meal, as they often feast on human
spirits—_wicanagi_.
On the morning of July 4, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux, Robert Hopkins,
a missionary of the American board to the Dakotas was drowned in the
Minnesota river. It was the general belief and talk among the Dakotas,
who were acquainted with the facts, that this god destroyed his life
and ate his soul—nagi—because he had spoken against his worship in the
medicine-dance.
It is related that as some Indians were once passing through Lake Pepin,
they suddenly found themselves aground in the middle of the lake. Their
god had risen to the surface, and they were lifted from the water on his
back! Instantly they were enveloped in clouds, and a terrific tempest
arose which chilled them with fear. Eagerly they offered their prayers
and sacrifices to their venerable grandfather, when the wakan monster
began “slowly to beat his drum the sound of which was the present
thunder, while his eyes glistened like two moons. Soon the blows fell
quicker and lighter, and the god chanted as follows:
“Wakan de homni, waye.
Wakan de homni waye.
Tipi de wankahe waye.
Wakan de homni waye.
Tipi de wankahe waye.
Wakan de homni waye.”