§ 219. One of these gods in some respects answers to the whirlwind

zephyr of Greek mythology. It is the gentle whirlwind which is

sometimes visible in the delicate waving of the tall grass of the

prairie.[168]

By virtue of their medicine and tonwan powers the Heyoka render

aid to such men as revere them, in the chase, or by inflicting

and healing diseases, especially those resulting from the

gratification of their libidinous passions.

HEYOKA FEAST.

§ 220. Lynd gives an account of the Heyoka feast. He says:[169]

They assemble in a lodge, wearing tall, conical hats, being nearly

naked, and painted in a strange style. Upon the fire is placed a

huge kettle full of meat, and they remain seated around the fire

smoking until the water in the kettle begins to boil, which is

the signal for the dance to begin. They dance and sing around

it excitedly, plunging their hands into the boiling water, and

seizing large pieces of hot meat, which they devour at once. The

scalding water is thrown over their backs and legs, at which they

never wince, complaining that it is cold. Their skin is first

deadened, as I am creditably informed, by rubbing with a certain

grass; and they do not in reality experience any uneasiness from

the boiling water--a fact which gives their performances great

mystery in the eyes of the uninitiated.

§ 221. Dr. Brinton has confounded the Heyoka with the Wakinyan. The two

are distinct classes of powers, though there is some connection between

them, as may be inferred from the following stories in the Bushotter

collection.

§ 222. No Indian belonging to the Heyoka Society ever tells of his own

personal mystery. Such things are “wakaŋ,” and not even one man can be

induced to sing the Heyoka songs upon an ordinary occasion; because if

they sing one of those songs except at the proper time they say that

the Thunder-beings would kill the entire households of the offenders.

Therefore they object to singing the Heyoka songs and they do not like

to speak about them.

STORY OF A HEYOKA MAN.

§ 223. It is said that the people of the olden times knew when they

were about to die, and they used to dream about their deaths and how

they would be when the time drew near. One of those men said, “When the

first thunder is heard next spring, I and my horse shall die.”

For that reason his kindred were weeping from time to time, this

man who had dreamed of his death decorated the legs of his horse by

moistening light gray clay and drawing zigzag lines down the legs. In

like manner he decorated the neck and back of the horse, and he made

similar lines on his own arms. Then he would walk about the prairie

near the camp, singing and holding a pipe with the stem pointing toward

the sky.

When the leaves opened out in the following spring, the first

thundercloud was seen. Then the man said, “Ho, this is the day on

which I am to die!” So he tied up his horse’s tail in a rounded form,

put a piece of scarlet blanket around the animal’s neck, and spread a

fine blanket over his back, as a saddlecloth, with the ends trailing

along the ground. He painted himself and his horse just as he had been

doing formerly, and, taking the pipe, he walked round and round at

some distance from the camp, pointing the pipestem towards the clouds

as he sang the Heyoka songs. The following is given as a song of the

human Heyoka man, but it is said to have been sung originally by the

mysterious and superhuman Heyoka in the thundercloud:

Ko-la, o-ya-te kin, ko-la, wan-ni-yaŋg u-pe e-ye he+!

Ko-la, o-ya-te, kin, ko-la, wan-ni-yaŋg u-pe e-ye he+!

Ko-la, lo-waŋ hi-bu we!

Ko-la, će-ya hi-bu we!

O-ya-te waŋ-ma-ya-ka-pi ye.

He-he-he!

Ta-muŋ-ka śni ḳuŋ e-ye-ye he+!

In this song, “oyate” means the Thunder-beings; “kola,” the Heyoka

men here on earth, whom the Thunder-beings threatened to kill; “oyate

waŋmayakapi,” ordinary Indians who are not wakan; “He-he-he! tamuŋka

śni ḳuŋ,” i. e., “Alas! I hate to leave them (living Indians),” means

that the singer expects to be killed by the Thunder-beings.

The whole song may be rendered freely thus:

My friends, the people are coming to see you!

My friends, the people are coming to see you!

My friends, he sings as he comes hither!

My friends, he cries as he comes hither!

You people on earth behold me while you may!

Alas! alas! alas!

I hate to leave my own people!

On the day referred to the Heyoka man had not been absent very long

from the camp when a high wind arose, and the rain was so plentiful

that a person could not see very far. Then the Thunder-beings looked

(i. e., there was lightning) and they roared; but still the man and

his horse continued walking about over there in sight of the camp.

By and by there was a very sudden sound as if the trees had been

struck, and all the people were much frightened, and they thought that

the Thunder-beings had killed them. Some of the women and children

fainted from fear, and the men sat holding them up. Some of the people

thought that they saw many stars, and there seemed to be the sound,

“Tuŋ+!” in the ears of each person.

When the storm had lasted a long time, the Thunder-beings were

departing slowly, amid considerable loud roaring. When it was all over

the people ventured forth from their lodges. Behold, the man and his

horse had been killed by the Thunder-beings, so his relations were

crying ere they reached the scene of the disaster.

The horse had been burnt in the very places where the man had decorated

him, and his sinews had been shriveled by the heat, so he lay with each

limb stretched out stiff. The man, too, had been burnt in the very

places where he had painted himself. The grass all around appeared as

if the Thunder-beings had dragged each body along, for it was pushed

partly down on all sides. So the people reached there and beheld the

bodies.

As the men in former days used to know events beforehand, as has just

been told, it has long been the rule for no one to reveal his personal

mystery, which he regards as “wakan.”

HEYOKA WOMEN.

§ 224. Bushotter gave the following account of a female Heyoka who was

killed by lightning:

A certain woman whom I saw after she had been killed by lightning

belonged to the Heyoka Society. When she walked, she carried a

pipe with the mouthpiece pointing upward, as she thought that the

Thunder-beings would put the mouthpiece into their mouths, though

the act would immediately cause her death.

§ 225. “Women used to dream about the Thunder-beings, just as the

men did, and in those dreams the Heyoka man or woman made promises

to the Thunder-beings. If the dreamers kept their promises, it was

thought that the Thunder-beings helped them to obtain whatever

things they desired; but if they broke their promises, they were

sure to be killed by the Thunder-beings during some storm. For

this reason the Heyoka members worshiped the Thunder-beings, whom

they honored, speaking of them as wakan.”

§ 226. Some of the women sing, and some do not; but all let their hair

hang loosely down their backs, and their dresses consist of a kind of

cloth or a robe sewed down the middle of the back. Sometimes the cloth

is all blue, at other times half is red and half is blue. Some times

there is beadwork on the dress. Even the Heyoka women wear the long red

cloth trailing on the ground before and behind them, in imitation of

the young dandies of the tribe.

IYA, THE GOD OF GLUTTONY.

§ 227. Lynd speaks of the “vindictive Iya” as driving the hunters “back

from the hunt to the desolation of their lodges”.[170]

And Riggs has written:[171]

A people who feast themselves so abundantly as the Dakotas do,

when food is plenty, would necessarily imagine a god of gluttony.

He is represented as extremely ugly, and is called E-ya. He has

the power to twist and distort the human face, and the women still

their crying children by telling them that the E-ya will catch

them.

IKTO, IKTOMI, OR UNKTOMI.

§ 228. Ikto or Iktomi (in the Teton dialect) or Unktomi (in the Santee)

are the names now given to the spider by the Dakota; but the names

once belonged to a mythical character, who resembles in many respects

the Ictinike of the Omaha and Ponka, and the Ictciñke of the Iowa, Oto,

and Missouri tribes. “Ikto,” say the Teton, “was the first being who

attained maturity in this world. He is more cunning than human beings.

He it was who named all people and animals, and he was the first to use

human speech. Some call him the Waunća or Mocker, a name now applied

to the monkey.[172] If we see any peculiar animals at any place, we

knew that Iktomi made them so. All the animals are his kindred, and

they are obliged to act just as he commanded them at the beginning.”

§ 229. In enumerating the powers that delight in working ill to the

Indians, Lynd mentions Unktomi thus:

“The ubiquitous Unktomi tortures the Indians in their hunger by

bringing herds of buffaloes near the camp, which they no sooner

start to pursue than he drives away by means of a black wolf and a

white crow.”[173]

§ 230. Though Ikto was very cunning, he was sometimes deceived by

other beings. One day he caught the rabbit, and the latter was about

to fare hard, when a thought occurred to him. He persuaded his captor

to release him on condition that he taught Ikto one of his magic arts.

Said the rabbit, “Elder brother, if you wish snow to fall at any time,

take some hair such as this (pulling out some rabbit fur) and blow

it in all directions, and there will be a blizzard.” The rabbit then

made a deep snow in this manner, though the leaves were still green.

This surprised Ikto, who thought that he had learned a wonderful

accomplishment. But the foolish fellow did not know that _rabbit_ fur

was necessary, and when he tried to make snow by blowing his own hair,

he was disappointed.

§ 231. On another occasion, Ikto reached a stream which he could not

ford. So he stood on the bank and sang thus:

[Illustration [musical notation]]

Tó-kin ko-wá-ka-tan ma-ká-ni, e-chin´chin na-wá-zhin!

I stand, thinking often, Oh that I might reach the other side!]

Presently a long object passed, swimming against the current. When it

reached him it said, “I will take you across, but you must not lift

your head above the water. Should you notice even a small cloud warn

me at once, as I must go under the water.” Ikto was then told to give

the warning thus: “Younger brother, your grandfather is coming.” Before

the other bank was reached Ikto gave the warning, and so sudden was

the commotion that Ikto became unconscious. On recovering, he found

that the thunder was roaring, and the water was dashing high, but the

monster had disappeared.

It is shown in the section on Spider lore (§ 249) how the name Iktomi

has been transferred from the mythical character to the insect, who, in

turn, is invoked as “grandfather.”

ĆAŊOTIDAŊ AND HOḢNOĠIĆA.

§ 232. These powers have been scarcely differentiated; and some writers

speak of them as identical. They seem to have been of the nature of

bogies or boggarts. Says Lynd:[174]

Ćaŋotidaŋ draws the hungry hunters to the depths of

the wood by imitating the voices of animals, or by the nefarious

“_Cico! cico!_” (_i. e._, I invite you to a feast! I invite you

to a feast!) when he scares them out of their senses by showing

himself to them.

On the same page he distinguishes between the Ćaŋotidaŋ and

the Oḣnoġića thus:

“The stray lodge becomes the delight of the wild Ohnogica,”

implying that such lodges were haunted by this spirit for the

purpose of frightening any unwary traveler who ventured there

without a companion.

In Tah-koo Wah-kon (p. 75, note), Riggs speaks of the “Chan-o-te-dan or

Hoh-no-ge-cha. The former is a fabulous creature, dwelling usually in

the woods as the name indicates. The latter name would seem to give it

a place by the door of the tent.” With this we may compare the Omaha

invocation, “O thou who standest at the right side of the entrance!

Here is tobacco!” (§ 40). The name also reminds us of “The Dweller upon

the Threshold” in Bulwer’s “Zanoni.”

Riggs, in his “Theogony of the Sioux,” p. 270, writes thus of the

“Chan-o-te-na”:

This means, Dweller in the woods. Sometimes he is called

Oh-no-ge-cha, which would seem to assign him to a place in the

tent. Whether these are one and the same, or two, is a question in

dispute. But they are harmless household gods. The Chan-o-te-na is

represented as a little child, only it has a tail. Many Indian men

affirm that they have seen it, not only in night dreams, but in

day visions.

The name Hoḣnoġića or Oḣnoġića is called by the Teton, Uŋgnaġićala,

which is the name of the screech-owl. As the Ponka Indaȼiñga dwells in

the forest, and is said to resemble an owl, he must be identical with

the Dakota Ćaŋotidaŋ or Uŋgnaġićala. (See § 38.)

ANŬŊG-ITE.

§ 233. Wonderful stories of beings with two faces are found among the

Dakota as well as among the Omaha. Lynd[175] states the belief of the

Dakota (_i. e._, those speaking the Santee dialect) that “women with

child are but torturing sports for the vengeful Anog-ite.”

In the Omaha legend of Two Faces and the Twins[176] the pregnant mother

of the Twins died as soon as she had gazed at Two Faces. In the Teton

legend of He-who-Has-a-Sword and Ha-ke-la, the latter is said to have

met a giant, Anuŋg-ite, or Two Faces, who pretended to be an Indian

woman nursing an infant. The infant had been stolen from its parents

by the Anuŋg-ite, who drew a rose brush across its face to make it

cry. As soon as this was done the Two Faces said, in a woman’s voice,

“A-wo! A-wo! A-wo!” that being the expression used by Teton women when

they wish to soothe crying infants.

§ 234. The Indians used to hear an Anuŋg-ite or Two Faces pass

along kicking the ground. When he kicked the ground with one foot bells

used to ring and an owl hooted, and when he kicked with the other it

seemed as if a buffalo bull was there, snorting as he does when about

to charge. At the next step a chickadee was heard, and when he moved

the other foot he made all kinds of animals cry out. The Indians had

heard this Anuŋg-ite and were afraid of him. Now and then when a

man who thought himself strong was alone when he met the Anuŋg-ite

the latter surprised him by catching him and throwing him into one of

his ears. These ears were so large that each could hold three men. No

person knew where the Anuŋg-ite made his abode, and no one cared to

follow him; no one dared to go out of doors at night. Now, there was

an old man and his wife who had a lodge to themselves, and their only

child was a willful boy. One night he was particularly ill-behaved, and

when his mother told him to do something he disobeyed her. So she said:

“I will put you out of the lodge and the Anuŋg-ite will toss you

into his ear.” She did not believe this, and merely said it to frighten

her son into obedience. Finding him heedless, she seized his arm and,

though he began to cry, pushed him out of the lodge and fastened the

entrance securely. The poor boy ran crying around the lodge, but soon

there was silence. The mother in turn began to cry, and went to seek

him, but she did not find him outside the lodge. The next morning she

and her husband, weeping, went to seek him among the people in the

neighboring camp, asking every one about him, but no one had seen him.

So they returned to their lodge, and they wept many days for their son.

One night the mother was weeping. Suddenly she heard some one say,

“Hiⁿ! hiⁿ! You said to me: Ghost, take that one. Hiⁿ! hⁿ!”

This was said often, and she noticed a rattling of small bells as the

being walked along. Just then she said: “Husband, I think now that a

ghost has taken my son.” The husband said: “Yes; you gave the boy to

the ghost, and, of course, the ghost took him. Why should you complain?

It serves you right.” Then the mother cried aloud, so that her voice

might have been heard at a distance. Then said she: “Husband, to-morrow

night I will lie hid by the wood-pile, and if the ghost comes I will

have a knife in my hand, and after I catch it by the leg I will call

to you. Be ready to come at once. You must aid me, and I will recover

my son, because I know that he threw him into his ear.” So the next

night she lay in wait for the monster. By and by something was coming,

crying out “Hiⁿ!” and making all kinds of birds and animals cry out

as it walked. She saw a very large being come and stand by the lodge.

He was very tall, his head being above the smoke-hole, down which he

peeped into the lodge. Suddenly the mother called to her husband, and

seized one leg of the monster with both hands. Then she and her husband

gashed the legs in many places, and, after tying a thong to one leg,

they pulled down the monster and bound him securely. They guarded him

till it was day. Then they beheld a hideous monster covered with thick

hair, except on his faces. They split his ears with a knife, and within

one they found their long-lost son, who was very lean and unable to

speak. He had a thick coat of long hair on him from his legs up to his

head, but his head and face were smooth. And he would have become an

Anuŋg-ite had he not been rescued. He did not survive very long.

After the parents had taken their son from the ear of the monster they

put many sticks of wood on a fire, and on this they laid the monster.

He soon was in flames, and they stood looking on. Many things were

sent flying out of the fire in all directions, just like sparks. These

were porcupine quills, bags, all kinds of feathers, arrows, pipes,

birds, axes, war-clubs, flints, stones for sharpening knives, stone

balls resembling billiard balls, necklaces of _tuki_ shells, flints for

striking tinder, flint hide-scrapers, whips, tobacco-pouches, all kinds

of beads, etc.[177]

PENATES.

§ 235. It has been supposed that the Dakotas had no penates or

household gods; but according to Riggs,[178] “such have come into the

possession of the missionaries. One of these images is that of a little

man, and is inclosed in a cylindrical wooden case, and enveloped in

sacred swan’s down.”

GUARDIAN SPIRITS.

§ 236. Each Teton may have his special guardian spirit. If such spirits

are remembered they confer great power on their favorites. The latter

may be surrounded by foes and yet escape, either by receiving great

strength, enabling them to scatter their enemies, or by being made

invisible, disappearing like a ghost or the wind. Sometimes it is said

that one is rescued by being turned into a small bird that flies off

in safety. (See §§ 122, 325.) This refers to those who “ihaŋbla” (have

intercourse with spirits) or who have guardian spirits (tawaśićuŋpi) as

servants. Bushotter’s stepfather has a guardian spirit who enabled him

to tell about lost animals, etc., and bad deeds, even when the latter

were committed in secret. So Bushotter and the other children of the

household were afraid to do wrong after they had been detected several

times by the aid of the guardian spirit.

BELIEFS ABOUT THE BUFFALO.

§ 237. In several of the Siouan tribes the buffalo is considered a

“grandfather.” He figures in the traditions of the Osage.[179] Gentes

and sub gentes are named after him. His image plays an important part

in the sun dance (§ 164).

§ 238. Miss Fletcher[180] mentions a prayer used during the White

Buffalo Festival of the Hunkpapa Dakota, in which are remembered the

“powers of the earth, wind, sun, water, and the buffalo.” And in her

article on “The Shadow or Ghost Lodge; a Ceremony of the Ogallala

Sioux,” she states that 2 yards of red cloth are (were) “lifted and

offered to the buffalo, with a prayer that good may (might) be granted

to the father” (i. e., of the dead child) “during the period of the

lodge-keeping.”[181]

§ 239. In her article on the “Elk Mystery of the Ogallala Sioux”[182]

is given an important note:

Among the Santees in past times, a man who should dream of buffalo

must announce it in the following manner: He takes the head of a

buffalo he has killed, carefully removes the skin, preserving it

as nearly whole as possible, and throws away the skull and the

flesh. He then restores the skin to its natural shape and lets it

cure. When this has taken place, a few feet square of earth is set

apart at the back of the lodge, the sods cut off, and the exposed

earth made fine. This is the “U-ma-ne.” Upon this earth a new

blanket, formerly a robe, is spread. The blanket or robe must not

belong to a woman. The buffalo head is placed in the center of the

blanket, and one side of the head (is) painted blue, and the other

(side) red. Upon the blue side, tufts of white swan’s down are

tied to the hair of the head. Sometimes small eagle feathers are

substituted, and, very rarely, large feathers. Upon the red side,

tufts of down-colored red are similarly tied. These decorations

look like “a woman’s sunbonnet,” as they cover the head and

fall to the shoulders. The pipe is only filled and presented to

the head. The feast kettle is hung over the fire. When all is

in readiness, the man who prepared the head thus addresses it:

“Grandfather! Venerable man! Your children have made this feast

for you. May the food thus taken cause them to live, and bring

them good fortune.” An Indian of remarkable intelligence, whose

father before him had been a priest of the higher class, explained

that in some religious festivals the buffalo and the earth were

spoken of as one, and (were) so regarded. “Therefore if any one

should revile or ridicule the buffalo, ever so softly, the earth

would hear and tell the buffalo, and he would kill the man.”

Bushotter furnished two articles on the buffalo, translations of which

are appended.

ORIGIN OF THE BUFFALO.

§ 240. The buffalo originated under the earth. It is said that

in the olden times, a man who was journeying came to a hill

where there were many holes in the ground. He explored them, and

when he had gone within one of them, he found plenty of buffalo

chips, and buffalo tracks were on all sides; and here and there

he found buffalo hair which had come out when the animals rubbed

against the walls. These animals were the real buffalo, who dwelt

underground, and some of them came up to this earth and increased

here to many herds. These buffalo had many earth lodges, and

there they raised their children. They did many strange things.

Therefore when a man can hardly be wounded by a foe, the people

believe that the former has seen the buffalo in dreams or visions,

and on that account has received mysterious help from those

animals. All such men who dream of the buffalo, act like them and

dance the buffalo (bull) dance. And the man who acts the buffalo

is said to have a real buffalo inside him, and a chrysalis lies

within the flat part of the body near the shoulder-blade; on

account of which the man is hard to kill; no matter how often they

wound him, he does not die. As the people know that the buffalo

live in earth lodges, they never dance the buffalo dance in vain.

THE TATAŊGNAŚKIŊYAŊ OR MYTHIC BUFFALO.

§ 241. It is said that a mythic buffalo once attacked a party of

Indians, killing one of them. The others fled and climbed a tree,

at which the buffalo rushed many times, knocking off piece after

piece of the tree with his horns till very little of it was left.

Then one of the Indians lighted some tinder and threw it far off

into the tall grass, scorching the buffalo’s eyes, and seriously

injuring his horns, causing the hard part of the latter to slip

off, so that the animal could no longer gore any one. But as he

was still dangerous, one of the men determined to fight him at

the risk of his own life, and so he slipped down from the tree,

armed with a bow and some arrows. He finally gave the buffalo a

mortal wound. Then all the men came down the tree and cut up the

buffalo after flaying him. They were about to carry off the body

of their dead comrade in a robe, when they were obliged to climb

a tree again because another mythic buffalo had appeared. He did

not attack them, but went four times around the body of the slain

man. Then he stopped and said, “Arise to your feet.” All at once,

the dead man came to life. The buffalo addressed him, saying,

“Hereafter you shall be mysterious, and the sun, moon, four winds,

day and night shall be your servants.” It was so. He could assume

the shape of a fine plume, which was blown often against a tree,

to which it stuck, as it waved repeatedly.

THE BEAR.

§ 242. The Assiniboin address prayers to the bear.[183] They offer

it sacrifices of tobacco, belts, and other esteemed objects. They

celebrate feasts in its honor, to obtain its favors and to live

without accidents. The bear’s head is often preserved in the

camp during several days, mounted in some suitable position and

adorned with scraps of scarlet cloth, and trimmed with a variety

of necklace collars, and colored feathers. Then they offer it the

calumet, and ask it that they may be able to kill all the bears

they meet, without accident to themselves, in order to anoint

themselves with his fine grease and make a banquet of his tender

flesh.

THE WOLF.

§ 243. Smet says, “The wolf is more or less honored among the Indians”

(_i. e._ the Assiniboin) “Most of the women refuse to dress its skin

for any purpose. The only reason that I could discover for this freak

is, that the wolves sometimes go mad, bite those they meet and give

them the hydrophobia. It is doubtless to escape this terrible disease

and to avoid the destruction of their game, that the Indians make it”

(the wolf) “presents, and offer it supplications. In other cases, he is

little feared.” The “little medicine wolf” is in great veneration among

the Assiniboin. As soon as an Indian hears his barks, he counts the

number; he remarks whether his voice is feeble or strong, and from

what point of the compass it proceeds. All these things are regarded as

good or bad omens. If the undertakings of the Indians result, as they

occasionally do, in success, after hearing the barking of the little

wolf, this animal is honored by a grand feast after the return of the

party.[184]

§ 244. That some of the Dakota reverenced the wolf is evident from the

fact that there is a society, called the Wolf Society, but known among

the white people as the Dog Society. That society has many beautiful

songs, according to Bushotter, and its membership is confined to young

men. All the wolf stories belong to this society. Three of these

stories follow this section.

§ 245. The man who met the ghost woman after fleeing from the two ghost

men[185] encountered a wolf, who pitied him and showed him the way to a

camp, where he was received and adopted into the tribe. This man always

remembered the wolf as a kind animal, and when he killed any game, he

threw a portion outside of the camp, as an offering to the wolf.

§ 246. There was once a handsome young Teton, whose wife’s father

disliked him and plotted against him. He dug a pit within his lodge,

covering it with skins. Then he invited his son-in-law to a feast.

The son-in-law met a wolf, whom he saluted, asking him the way to the

village. The young man was persuaded to recline on the skins, which

gave way, precipitating him into the pit. The father-in-law and his

two single daughters covered the skins with earth, and removed their

tent elsewhere on the morrow, when all the people started on a journey.

After some days, the wolf who had met the man went to the deserted

camping place in search of food. On reaching the place where the

accident (?) had happened, he heard a human cry. So he dug away the

earth, removed the skins, and found the man, whom he recognized. The

wolf pitied him, and said, “As you did not kill me when we met, you

shall now be saved.” So he howled, and very soon many wolves appeared.

They found a lariat, which they lowered into the pit, and by grasping

the other end with their teeth, they pulled the man up. He was very

grateful, promising never to harm a wolf. Just then a weeping woman

appeared, gazing in surprise at the man, as he was very thin, looking

like a ghost. She was his wife, and her heart was soon made glad when

he told her of his rescue.

§ 247. Once upon time a man found a wolf den, into which he dug to

get the cubs. The mother came, barking, and she finally said to him,

“Pity my children;” but he paid no attention to her. So she ran for her

husband, who soon appeared. Still the man persevered. Then the wolf

sang a beautiful song, “O man, pity my children, and I will instruct

you in one of my arts.” He ended with a howl, causing a fog. When the

wolf howled again the fog disappeared. Then the man thought, “These

animals have mysterious gifts,” and he tore up his red blanket into

small pieces, which he put as necklaces on the cubs, whom he painted

with Indian red, restoring them to their place in the den. Then the

grateful father exclaimed, “When you go to war hereafter, I will

accompany you, and bring to pass whatever you wish.” So they parted as

friends. In the course of time the man went on the war path. As he came

in sight of a village of the enemy, a large wolf met him, saying, “By

and by I will sing and you shall steal their horses when they least

suspect danger.” So they stopped on a hill close to the village, and

the wolf sang. After this he howled, making a high wind arise. The

horses fled to the forest, many stopping on the hillside. When the wolf

had howled again, the wind died away, and a mist arose; so the man took

as many horses as he pleased.

HORSES.

§ 248. These are well named “Cŭñka wakaⁿ (Śuŋka wakaŋ)” for they are

indeed wakaŋ. Consequently the Dakota have the Cŭñg olowaⁿ (Śuŋg

olowaŋ) or Horse Songs, and they pray to the horses (ćewićakiyapi). If

any one paints a horse in a wakaŋ manner, when he has no right to do

so, he is sure to pay the penalty: he will encounter misfortune of some

sort, or he will fall ill, or he will be slain by a foe, or he will

have his neck broken by being thrown from a horse.

SPIDERS.

§ 249. The Teton pray to gray spiders, and to those with yellow legs.

When a person goes on a journey and a spider passes, one does not

kill it in silence. For should one let it escape, or kill it without

prayer, bad consequences must ensue. In the latter case, another spider

would avenge the death of his relation. To avoid any such misfortune,

when the spider is encountered, the person must say to it, “Iktómi

Tuŋkaŋśila, Waʞiŋyaŋ niktepe lo,” i. e., “O Grandfather Spider, the

Thunder-beings kill you!” The spider is crushed at once, and his spirit

believes what has been told him. His spirit probably tells this to the

other spiders, but they can not harm the Thunder-beings. If one thus

addresses a spider as he kills it, he will never be bitten by other

spiders.

§ 231. One of the Dakota myths tells how Unktomi killed himself,

causing his limbs to shrivel up till they assumed the appearance of

spiders’ limbs.

SNAKE LORE.

§ 250. Some Dakota will not kill snakes by hitting them. He who

violates the law in this respect will dream horrible dreams about

various kinds of snakes; and occasionally it happens that such a man

has a horse bitten by a snake. The Siŋteḣla taŋka, or the Ancient of

Rattlesnakes, was one of the enemies of the Thunder-beings.

“There are some things about which it is most unlucky to dream. Snakes

are said to be terrible; they seek to enter a man’s ears, nose, or

mouth” (i.e., in the dream); “and should one succeed, it is a sure sign

of death. ‘No good comes from snakes.’”[186]

THE DOUBLE WOMAN.

§ 251. In the olden times there was what they called “Wiŋyaŋ

nuŋ-papi-ka,” or the The Double Woman, consisting of two very tall

females who were probably connected by a membrane. They wore horned

headdresses decorated with feathers, and bunches of feathers hung from

the right shoulder of one and from the left shoulder of the other.

Instead of heel tags, each female had a turtle trailing from the heel

or quarter of one moccasin, and a feather from that of the other. In

the sketch as given by Bushotter there is a pale blue stripe around

the bottom of each skirt, and half of each trailing feather is of

that color. Each body, above the top of the blanket, is painted with

blue dots on a yellow ground. There is a blue stripe across the right

shoulder of the woman on the right, and one across the left shoulder

of the other woman, each stripe curving downward towards the opposite

side. (See Pl. L.)

They dwelt in a lodge on a very high black cliff. They were always

laughing immoderately, as if they were strangers to sorrow. On pleasant

evenings they stood on a hill, where they amused themselves by

swinging. Should any Indian see them, when he reached home he vomited

something resembling black earth, and died suddenly. These women were

skillful dancers, and they used to reflect rays of light by means of

their mirror, just as the young Indian men do in sport. They jumped

many times and sang this song:

[Illustration [musical notation]]

Će´-paŋ-śi ku-wa´-ni-to´ Tu´-wa le´-ći śi´-na mi´-ćo-ze´.

]

“Cousin, please come over here! Some one waves a robe over in this

direction at me. Ha! ha! ha!” Then they walked about. No one knew from

what quarter the Double Woman was coming, and how the two lived was a

mystery. There are many tall women found now among different Indian

tribes who imitate the behavior of the Double Woman.

John Bruyier and other Teton at Hampton, Va., regard this story of the

Double Woman as manufactured by Bushotter. But this character figures

in two Santee myths in Rev. S. R. Riggs’s collection, about to be

published by the Bureau of Ethnology.[187] (See § 394.)

[Illustration:

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. PLATE L.

[image]

THE DOUBLE WOMAN.]

DEER WOMEN.

§ 252. Deer women of the Teton resemble the Wolf women of the Pawnee.

Both tempt unwary youths whom they encounter away from the camp in

solitary places. Should a youth yield to the woman’s solicitations the

result will be a sad one. As soon as he leaves her she will resume her

natural shape. The youth will appear as if drunk or insane, and he will

reach home with difficulty. His health will become impaired, and he

will soon die. So now the hunters avoid any female that they see on the

way. They hate the Deer women. The Deer women never speak, but in all

other respects they resemble Indian women.

DWARFS OR ELVES.

§ 253. Dwarfs or elves are probably referred to in the following;

This [_i. e._ the object sought by Lewis and Clarke’s party] was

a large mound in the midst of the plain, about N. 20° W. from the

mouth of Whitestone River, from which it is 9 miles distant. The

base of the mound is a regular parallelogram, the longest side

being about 300 yards, the shorter 60 or 70; from the longest

side it rises with a steep ascent from the north and south to the

height of 65 or 70 feet, leaving on the top a level plain of 12

feet in breadth and 90 in length. The north and south extremities

are connected by two oval borders, which serve as new bases, and

divide the whole side into three steep but regular gradations

from the plain. The only thing characteristic in this hill is

its extreme symmetry, and this, together with its being wholly

detached from the other hills, which are at the distance of 8 or

9 miles, would induce a belief that it was artificial; but as the

earth and loose pebbles which compose it are arranged exactly

like the steep grounds on the borders of the creek, we concluded

from this similarity of texture that it might be natural. But the

Indians have made it a great article of their superstition; it

is called the Mountain of the Little People, or Little Spirits,

and they believe that it is the abode of little devils in the

human form, of about 18 inches high, and with remarkably large

heads; they are armed with sharp arrows, with which they are very

skillful, and are always on the watch to kill those who should

have the hardihood to approach their residence. The tradition

is that many have suffered from these little evil spirits, and,

among others, three Maha Indians fell a sacrifice to them a few

years since. This has inspired all the neighboring nations, Sioux,

Mahas, and Ottoes, with such terror that no consideration could

tempt them to visit the hill.[188]

BOGS.

§ 254. Bogs are very mysterious. There are various strange objects

covered with thick hair which remain at the bottom of a bog. These

objects have no eyes, but they are able to devour anything, and from

their bodies water is ever flowing. When one of these beings wishes,

he abandons his abode and reclines under ground at another place; then

there is no water issuing from the place where he used to lie, but

a spring gushes forth from the new resting place. The water of this

spring is warm in winter, but as cold as ice in summer, and before

one dares to drink of it he prays to the water, as he does not wish

to bring illness on himself by his irreverence. In the olden days one

of these strange beings was pulled up out of a bog and carried to the

camp, where a special tent was erected for him. But water flowed all

around him, which drowned almost all of the people. Then the survivors

offered him food, which he held as he sat motionless, gazing at them.

The food disappeared before the spectators were aware of it, though

they did not see the being eat it.

TREES.

§ 255. The Dakota prayed to trees, because it was reported that in

former days a tree had sung at intervals. A man claimed to have

witnessed this, and from that time they have been regarded as

mysterious.

CUSTOMS RELATING TO CHILDHOOD.

§ 256. The Teton sing on account of the unborn child, and set up a pole

inside the lodge, at the part opposite the entrance, fastening eagles’

down to the top of the pole, just as they do when a boy has advanced

toward manhood.

§ 257. Soon after birth they paint the face of the infant, whether it

be a boy or a girl, with vermilion, in the “Huŋka” style.[189]

Should they neglect to do this, it is said that the infant would become

blear-eyed or it would suffer from some kind of sickness.

§ 258. When the navel string is cut, a small bag is made of deerskin,

cut in the shape of a small tortoise, known as patkaśala. In this

bag is placed a piece of the navel string and sweet-smelling leaves,

with which the bag is filled. The infant has to carry this bag on its

back. Part of the navel string is buried, and when the child is large

enough to get into mischief they say, “He is hunting for his navel

string.”

§ 259. Prior to the naming of the infant is the ceremony of the

transfer of character. Should the infant be a boy, a brave and

good-tempered man, chosen beforehand, takes the infant in his arms and

breathes into his mouth, thereby communicating his own disposition to

the infant, who will grow up to be a brave and good-natured man. It is

thought that such an infant will not cry as much as infants that have

not been thus favored. Should the infant be a girl, it is put into the

arms of a good woman, who breathes into its mouth.

§ 260. Twins are a mystery to the Teton, who believe that they are of

superhuman origin, and must come from Twin-land. As they are not human

beings, they must be treated very politely and tenderly, lest they

should become offended and die in order to return to Twin-land.

In his MS. Teton vocabulary, sent to the Bureau of Ethnology in July,

1890, Dr. J. M. Woodburn, Jr., recently physician at Rosebud Agency,

S. Dak., makes the following statement which seems worthy of notice:

“Twins are lucky as regards themselves only; the mother is looked upon

as unfortunate. The twins may die, but they are sure to be born again

into separate families. No ordinary human being can recognize them as

twins after the new births; but twins themselves are able each

to recognize the other as his fellow-twin in a previous state of

existence. Medicine men often claim that their supernatural powers are

due to a previous existence as twins.” (See §§ 267, 287.)

§ 261. When a child is able to walk, they say that “He kicks out the

teeth of his elder brother” (or “sister,” as the case may be). The

teeth of the elder child which have been shed, probably the first set,

are buried under the entrance to the lodge so that other teeth may come

in their place. Whoever steps over the spot where the teeth have been

buried will soon have other teeth in his mouth.

PUBERTY.

§ 262. Among the Oglala Dakota, according to Miss Fletcher,[190] the

rites incident to the puberty of girls take place on the fourth day of

the sun-dance festival. In a note on page 260 of the Peabody Museum

Report, vol. III, the same authority says:

Through the kindness of Rev. A. L. Riggs I learn that among the

bands of Eastern Sioux living near Fort Sully, Dak., a feast,

called the reappearance of the White Buffalo Skin, is held for the

consecration of a girl on her arriving at puberty. The feast is

sacred and costly, and not everyone can afford it. Those who have

once made the feast become the privileged guests at every such

feast, occupy the feast tent, and are served first. A prominent

feature in the feast is the feeding of these privileged persons,

and the girl in whose honor the feast is given, with choke

cherries, as the choicest rarity to be had in the winter. The

feast can be held at any time. Bull berries, or, as the Dakotas

call them, “rabbits’ noses,” may be substituted, or finely pounded

meat mixed with fat, in case no berries are to be had. In the

ceremony, a few of the cherries are taken in a spoon and held over

the sacred smoke, then fed to the girl. The spoon is filled anew,

incensed as each person is fed. As each one is given the cherries,

he is addressed thus: “Wi-ća-śa-ya-ta-pi wo-yu-te de ya-tiŋ kte,”

[Transcriber’s note: the last hyphen in “wo-yu-te” was at the end of a

line; the word may have been “wo-yute” or “wo-yu-te”.]

i.e., “You will eat this chief’s food.” The eaters are not chiefs;

they only partake of chiefs’ food.

§ 263. Initiation to manhood took place in one of two ways: (1) By the

wohduze ceremony, or, (2) by the bear dance, as witnessed by Long.

The former has been referred to in §§ 122-125 of this article; the

latter has been described by Long[191] as

a ceremony which they are in the habit of performing when any

young man wishes to bring himself into particular notice, and it

is considered a kind of initiation into the state of manhood.

There is a kind of flag made of fawn skin dressed with the hair

on, suspended upon a pole. Upon the flesh side of it are drawn

certain figures indicative of the dream which it is necessary the

young man should have dreamed before he can be considered a proper

candidate for this kind of initiation. With this flag a pipe is

suspended by way of sacrifice. Two arrows are stuck up at the foot

of the pole, and fragments of painted feathers, etc., are strewed

upon the ground near it. These pertain to the religious rites

attending the ceremony, bewailing and self-mortification. The

young man who has had the dream acts the bear in this dance, and

is hunted by the other young men; but the same man can not act the

bear more than once in consequence of his dreams.

§ 264. Miss Fletcher says:[192]

The maturity of the sexes is a period of serious and religious

experiences which are preparatory by their character for the

entrance of the youth or maiden into the religious and secular

responsibilities of life, both individual and tribal. Among

the tribes which hold especial public ceremonies announcing

the maturity of a girl, these rights are held not far from the

actual time of puberty, and indicate the close of childhood and

entrance of the person into the social status of womanhood. The

public festival has, however, been preceded by private religious

rites. With young men the religious training precedes and follows

puberty, and the entrance is publicly announced by the youth

joining in the dangers and duties of tribal life. According to the

old customs, a young man did not take a wife until he had proved

his prowess, and thus became enrolled among the manly element,

or braves, as they are sometimes spoken of. The initial fasts of

warriors have been mistaken sometimes for ceremonials of puberty.

GHOST LORE AND THE FUTURE LIFE.

MEANING OF WANAĠI.

§ 265. The word “wa-na-ġi” means more than “apparition.” The living

man is supposed to have one, two, or more “wanaġi,” one of which

after death remains at the grave and another goes to the place of the

departed. The writer has been told that for many years no Yankton

Dakota would consent to have his picture taken lest one of his “wanaġi”

should remain in the picture, instead of going after death to the

spirit land. The Teton Dakota apply the name of “ghost” or “shadow” to

the lock of hair cut from the forehead of the deceased and kept for

some time by the parents; and till that lock is buried the deceased is

supposed to retain his usual place in the household circle.

§ 266. Lynd[193] says that to the human body the Dakota give four

spirits:

The first is supposed to be a spirit of the body, which dies with

the body. The second is a spirit which always remains with or near

the body. Another is the soul which accounts for the deeds of the

body, and is supposed by some to go to the south, by others to

the west, after the death of the body. The fourth always lingers

with the small bundle of the hair of the deceased, kept by the

relatives until they have a chance to throw it into the enemy’s

country, when it becomes a roving spirit, bringing death and

disease to the enemy in whose country it remains. From this belief

arose the practice of wearing four scalp feathers for each enemy

slain in battle, one for each spirit.

§ 267. “Some Sioux claim a fifth scalp feather, averring that there is

a fifth spirit, which enters the body of some animal or child after

death. As far as I am aware, this belief is not general, though they

differ in their accounts of the spirits of man, even in number.

Some of these metempsychosists go so far as to aver that they have

distinct recollections of a former state of existence and of the

passage into this. The belief, as before stated, does not appear to be

general.” (See §§ 260, 287.)

§ 268. With regard to the place of abode of the four spirits of each

man--though they believe that the true soul which goes south or west

is immortal--they have no idea, nor do they appear to have any

particular care as to what may become of them after death. It may be

remarked, that the happy hunting grounds, supposed to belong to every

Indian’s future, are no part of the Dakota creed--though individual

Dakota may have learned something like it from the white men among them.

ASSINNIBOIN BELIEFS ABOUT THE DEAD.

§ 269. The Assinniboin “believe that the dead migrate toward the

south,[194] where the climate is mild, the game abundant, and the

rivers well stocked with fish. Their hell is the reverse of this

picture; its unfortunate inmates dwell in perpetual snow and ice and in

the complete deprivation of all things. There are, however, many among

them who think that death is the cessation of life and action and that

there is naught beyond it.[195]

“The Assinniboine believe that their dead go to a country in the south,

where the good and brave find women and buffaloes, while the wicked or

cowardly are confined on an island, where they are destitute of all the

pleasures of life. The corpses of brave men are not deposited in trees,

but on the ground, as they will help themselves, and they are covered

with wood and stones to protect them from the wolves.”[196]

GHOSTS NOT ALWAYS VISIBLE.

§ 270. The ghosts of the departed are not always visible to the living.

Sometimes they are heard but not seen, though in the lodge with a

mortal. Occasionally they become materialized, taking living husbands

or wives, eating, drinking, and smoking, just as if they were ordinary

human beings.

DEATH AND BURIAL LORE.

§ 271. As ghosts visit the sick at night it is customary to drive them

away by making a smoke from cedar wood, or else cedar is laid outside

the lodge. Sometimes a piece of cedar is fastened up at the smoke-hole.

(See § 42.) One Teton story shows how a female ghost disliked a bad

odor and fled from it. When they hear a ghost whistling, some one

leaves the lodge and fires a gun. Before death the lodge is surrounded

by ghosts of deceased kindred that are visible to the dying person.

All the dead man’s possessions are buried with him; his body is dressed

in good clothing. The favorite horse is decorated and saddled, and to

this day various articles belonging to the deceased are fastened to

him. The horse is shot and part of his tail is cut off and laid near

the head of the burial scaffold, as it is thought that in such a case

the ghost can ride the ghost of the horse and use all the articles

carried by that animal.

§ 272. _Why the Teton stopped burying in the ground._--Long ago the

people buried some men on a hill and then removed camp to another

place. Many winters afterwards a man visited this burial place, but

all traces of the graves had disappeared. So many men came and dug

far down into the hill. By and by one said, “A road lies here.” So

they dug in that direction and made a fire underground. And there they

found a tunnel large enough for men to walk in by stooping, with many

similar intersecting ones. They followed the main one and finally came

to a place whither a strange animal, the Waḣaŋksića, had dragged the

corpses. For this reason the Lakota became unwilling to lay their dead

in the ground, so they began to bury on scaffolds which could not be

reached by beasts of prey. At the present day the Teton gives three

reasons for not burying in the ground: (1) Animals or persons might

walk over the graves; (2) the dead might lie in mud and water after

rain or snow; (3) wolves might dig up the bodies and devour them.

§ 273. _Importance of tattooing._--In order that the ghost may travel

the ghost road in safety it is necessary for each Lakota during his

life to be tattooed either in the middle of the forehead or on the

wrists. In that event his spirit will go directly to the “Many Lodges.”

The other spirit road is said to be short, and the foolish one who

travels it never reaches the “Many Lodges.” An old woman sits in the

road and she examines each ghost that passes. If she can not find the

tattoo marks on the forehead, wrists, or chin, the unhappy ghost is

pushed from a cloud or cliff and falls to this world. Such is the lot

of the ghosts that wander o’er the earth. They can never travel the

spirit road again; so they go about whistling, with no fixed abode.

§ 274. If a quiet and well-behaved person dies his ghost is apt to be

restless and cause trouble, but the ghost of a bad person who dies a

natural death is never feared. The ghost of a murdered person is always

dangerous.

§ 275. If a ghost calls to a loved one and the latter answers, he or

she is sure to die soon after. If some one is heard weeping outside of

a lodge, it is a sign that a person dwelling in that lodge is doomed

to die. If a sister dies, she has a strong desire to return and carry

off a beloved brother. So in the event of a death in the family a gun

is fired or medicine is thrown on a fire to raise a smoke. If one who

is alone encounters a ghost, the latter will be apt to pull his mouth

and eyes until they are crooked. This danger is encountered only by one

who has dreamed of a ghost. He who has been harmed by a ghost always

faints, and it is long before he revives. Mothers scare bad children by

saying, “Well, wait a bit and I will tell a ghost to come and carry you

off.” Some one who has dreamed of ghosts will draw one on a skin, etc.,

to frighten the children. Such a person is said to draw his own ghost

just as he will appear in future. No one else dares to draw a ghost.

(See § 299.)

CEREMONIES AT THE GHOST LODGE.[197]

§ 276. When a son dies the parents with a knife cut off some hair

from the top of the head, just above the forehead, placing the hair

in a deerskin cover. Then they set up three poles, fastened together

at the top and forming a sort of tripod. A cord hung over the top of

these holds up the white deerskin pack containing the hair of the

deceased. This hair is called the ghost or shade (or wa-na-ġi) of the

dead person. The deerskin pack hangs horizontally from the poles and

the skin is worked with porcupine quills in many lines, and here and

there are various kinds of red and blue circular figures sewed on it.

All the sod had been cut away from the ground beneath the pack, and on

this bare or virgin earth they put a bowl and a drinking vessel, each

ornamented with porcupine work. Three times a day do they remember the

ghost, for whom they put the choicest food in the bowl and water in the

drinking vessel. Every article is handled carefully, being exposed to

the smoke of sweet-smelling herbs. The pack said to contain the ghost

is put in the ghost lodge with the knife which he used during life.

[Illustration: FIG. 192.--The ghost lodge.]

The Indians always have observed the custom of smoking pipes and eating

while sitting in the ghost lodge. At the back of the lodge they prepare

a seat and in the middle they set up two poles similar to those erected

outside the entrance to the tents. Before they eat in the lodge, they

sacrifice part of the food. Whenever they move the camp or single tent

from one place to another all these sacred objects are packed and

carried on a horse kept for this special purpose. This horse is called

“Wanaġi taśuŋkewakaŋ,” i.e., “The ghost’s horse.” This horse has his

tail and mane cut off short; the hair on the body is shaved very close;

his body is rubbed all over with yellow clay. Some one then rubs paint

on the fingers, touching the rump gently several times, as well as the

forehead and around the neck and breast. A feather is tied to the end

of the tail. On his back they place a saddlecloth and a saddle, each

ornamented with porcupine quills. The horse must mourn--i.e., keep his

hair short--as long as the ghost remains unburied; but as soon as the

hair is removed from the pack and buried the horse’s hair is allowed to

grow long again. As soon as the people stop to encamp the ghost lodge

is set up before any of the others. The articles which are kept there

remain for a specified time, perhaps for several years, during which

period certain ceremonies are performed. At the end of the allotted

time comes the ghost feast, the Waéćŭŋpi or Wakíćaġápi, when the ghost

pack is opened and the ghost taken out and buried. Then all the people

assemble, setting up their tents near the ghost lodge. The kindred

of the deceased weep and bring food to the place. All this food has

been boiled. They set up in the ground some forked sticks, such as

are used for digging wild turnips, and straight poles are laid along

the forked sticks. On the poles are hung moccasins, and in the space

between the forked sticks are piled blankets, buffalo robes, calico,

untanned skin bags, tanned bags, porcupine quills, wild turnips, and

fruits.[198] These are distributed by women, and the people spend the

time pleasantly. They also give presents to the young women. If the

deceased was a male and a member of an order of young men, all who

belong to it are invited to a feast (there was a similar custom among

the Ponka, in 1872), where they sing songs. When they stop singing

they sit with bodies erect, but with bent head and stooping shoulders.

Then the parents of the dead youth enter the lodge, weeping as they

pass around the circle, and each one places both hands on the head

of each guest, because the son, who regarded the men as his friends,

is no longer present. If the deceased is a female, only the women

assemble, except some men who lead the singing. If horses take part in

the ceremonies, their manes and tails are shaved short, and they, too,

receive gifts. Here and there one of the kindred of the deceased gives

away all his property, and then the bag is opened and the hair or ghost

is taken out and buried. From this time the parting with his parents

is absolute. They think that, until the hair is buried, the deceased

is really present with the household, and that when this burial takes

place he dies a second time. After this burial the kindred put on their

usual clothing, and while they weep for the dead at intervals they are

at liberty to anoint and decorate themselves according to fancy.

Another account of Bushotter states that when they prepare for the

ghost feast they redden the sack containing the hair and hang the war

bonnet of feathers on the three poles at right angles with the ghost

sack. They wish to remember his deeds in war, so they also stick one

end of his war spear in the ground, with its top leaning against the

tops of the three poles. His shield is suspended from one of the poles.

The three pipes on the shield in a colored sketch prepared by Bushotter

denote that on so many expeditions the deceased warrior carried a war

pipe. The red stripes declare how many of the enemy were wounded by

him, and the human heads show the number of foes that he killed. The

half-moon means that he shouted at his foes on a certain night. Once

he threw aside his arms and engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle with a

foe; this is shown by the human hand. The horse-tracks indicate that he

ran off with so many horses. If his name was Black Hawk, for instance,

a black hawk was painted in the middle of his shield.

All these things are arranged before they open the bag containing the

hair. Then they enter the lodge, and there they open all the things

that they have brought. The kindred of the deceased are the only ones

to enter the lodge, and when they see the hair taken from the sack

they scream suddenly for a minute or two. It is at this time that they

distribute the gifts. Food has been boiled in many kettles, and is

now divided among the people not the kindred of the deceased, who are

scattered around the ghost lodge, and some food is usually given to the

young men of the order to which the deceased belonged.

A woman who attends to collecting the food, calico, bags, clothing,

etc., turns to the four posts of the scaffold in succession, and utters

one of the following sayings or prayers at each post: “If the ghosts

eat this, may I live long!” or “May the ghosts eat this, and I obtain

many horses!” or “If my nephew (or niece) eats this, may someone give

me many presents!” This woman is careful to put the best part of the

food on the bowl or dish, under the scaffold near the head of the

corpse.[199] Should any one eat before the food has been put aside for

the ghost, all the ghosts become angry with him, and they are sure to

punish him; they will make him drop his food just before it reaches

his mouth, or they will spill the water when he tries to drink, and

sometimes they cause a man to gash himself with a knife.

GOOD AND BAD GHOSTS.

§ 277. Some ghosts are beneficent, but most of them are maleficent.

They know all things, even the thoughts of living people. They are glad

when the wind blows. Bushotter’s younger brother was crazy at one time,

and a doctor or peźuta wićaśa said that the sickness had been caused by

a ghost.

INTERCOURSE WITH GHOSTS.

§ 278. Lynd says: The belief in the powers of some Dakotas to call

up and converse with the spirits of the dead is strong in some,

though not general. They frequently make feasts to those spirits

and elicit information from them of distant friends and relatives.

Assembling at night in a lodge, they smoke, put out the fire, and

then, drawing their blankets over their heads, remain singing

in unison in a low key until the spirit gives them a picture.

This they pretend the spirit does; and many a hair-erecting

tale is told of the spirit’s power to reveal, and the after

confirmation.[200]

GHOST STORIES.

A few ghost stories of the Teton collection will now be given.

§ 279. _The ghost husband._--A young Lakota died just before marrying

a young girl whom he loved. The girl mourned his death, so she cut her

hair here and there with a dull knife, and gashed her limbs, just as

if she had been an old woman. The ghost returned and took her for his

wife. Whenever the tribe camped for the night the ghost’s wife pitched

her tent at some distance from the others, and when the people removed

their camp the woman and her husband kept some distance behind the main

body. The ghost always told the woman what to do; and he brought game

to her regularly, which the wife gave to the people in exchange for

other articles. The people could neither see nor hear the ghost, but

they heard his wife address him. He always sent word to the tribe when

there was to be a high wind or heavy rain. He could read the thoughts

of his wife, so that she need not speak a word to him, and when she

felt a desire for anything he soon obtained it for her.

§ 280. _The solitary traveler._--Once a solitary traveler was overtaken

by a tremendous thunderstorm near a forest. So he remained there

for the night. After dark he noticed a light in the woods, and when

he reached the spot, behold, there was a sweat lodge, in which were

two persons talking. One said, “Friend, some one has come and stands

without. Let us invite him to share our food.” The listener fled

suddenly, as they were ghosts, and they pursued him. Though he looked

behind now and then, he could not see them; so he ran with all his

might towards a hill, and escaped from them. As he was ascending a

divide of the Bad Lands, all at once he heard the cry of a woman.

He was very glad to have company for the rest of the journey; but

no sooner had he thought about the woman than she appeared by his

side, saying, “I have come because you have just wished to have my

company.” This frightened the man, but the ghost woman said, “Do not

fear me, else you will never see me again.” So they went on silently

till daybreak. Then the man looked at her, but her legs could not be

seen, though she was walking without any apparent effort. Then the

man thought, “What if she should choke me?” Immediately the woman

disappeared like the wind. (See § 245).

§ 281. _The ghost on the hill._--One day, when the people were hunting

the buffalo, a strange man appeared on a hill. He wore a winter robe,

with the hair outside. When he was descending the hill the people

became alarmed, but he continued to advance. The young men rushed to

meet him, taking bows and arrows. They could not see his face. They

tried to shoot him, but each arrow passed by him on one side or the

other. So they finally fled, as he was a ghost.

§ 282. _The Indian who wrestled with a ghost._--A young man went alone

on the warpath. At length he reached a wilderness, encountering many

difficulties, which did not deter him from his undertaking. One day,

as he was going along, he heard a voice, and he thought, “I shall have

company.” As he was approaching a forest he heard some one halloo.

Behold, it was an owl. By and by he drew near another forest, and as

night was coming on he had to rest there. At the edge of the forest he

lay down in the open air. At midnight he was aroused by the voice of a

woman, who was wailing, “My son! my son!” Still he remained where he

was, and continued putting wood on the fire. He lay with his back to

the fire, placing his flint-lock gun in readiness before him. He tore a

hole in his blanket large enough to peep through.

Soon he heard the twigs break under the feet of one approaching, so he

peeped without rising. Behold, a woman of the olden days was coming.

She wore a skin dress with long fringe. A buffalo robe was fastened

around her at the waist. Her necklace was composed of very large

beads, and her leggins were covered with beads or porcupine work. Her

robe was drawn over her head, and she was snuffling as she came. The

man lay with his legs stretched out, and she stood by him. She took

him by one foot, which she raised very slowly. When she let it go it

fell with a thud, as if he was dead. She raised it a second and third

time. Still the man did not move himself. Then the woman pulled a very

rusty knife from the front of her belt, seized his foot suddenly, and

was apparently about to lift it and gash it, when up sprang the man,

saying, “What are you doing?” Without waiting for a reply he shot at

her suddenly, and away she went, screaming “Yuŋ! yuŋ! yuŋ!

yuŋ! yuŋ! yuŋ!” Then she plunged into the forest and was

seen no more.

Once again the man covered his head with his blanket, but he did not

sleep. When day came he raised his eyes, and, behold, he saw a human

burial scaffold, with the blankets, etc., ragged and dangling. He

thought, “Is this the ghost that came to me?” On another occasion he

came to a forest where he had to remain for the night. He started a

fire, by which he sat. Suddenly he heard some one making the woods

ring as he sang. The man shouted to the singer, but the latter paid

no attention to him. The man had a small quantity of wasna (grease

mixed with pounded dried buffalo meat and wild cherries) and plenty

of tobacco. So when the singer, who was a male ghost, came to him and

asked him for food, the man replied, “I have nothing whatever;” but the

ghost said, “Not so; I know that you have some wasna.” Then the man

gave some of it to the ghost and filled the pipe for him. After the

meal, when the ghost took the pipe and held it by the stem, the man saw

that his hand had no flesh, being nothing but bones. As the ghost’s

robe had dropped from his shoulders to his waist all his ribs were

visible, there being no flesh on them. Though the ghost did not open

his lips as he smoked, the smoke was pouring out through his ribs. When

he finished smoking the ghost said to the man, “Ho! we must wrestle

together. If you can throw me, you shall kill a foe without hindrance,

and steal some horses.” The young man agreed to the proposition; but

before beginning he gathered plenty of brush around the fire, on which

he put an armful. Then the ghost rushed at the man, seizing him with

his bony hands, which pained the man, but this mattered not. He tried

to push off the ghost, whose legs were very powerful. When the ghost

was brought near the fire, he became weak, but when he managed to pull

the man towards the darkness, he became very strong. As the fire got

low the strength of the ghost increased. Just as the man began to grow

weary the day broke. Then the struggle was renewed. As they drew near

the fire the man made a desperate effort, and with his foot he pushed

a firebrand suddenly into the fire. As the fire blazed again, the

ghost fell just as if he was coming to pieces. So the man won, and the

ghost’s prophecy was fulfilled; he subsequently killed a foe, and stole

some horses. For that reason people have believed whatever the ghosts

have said.

§ 283. _The man who shot a ghost._--In the olden time a man was

traveling alone, and in a forest he killed several rabbits. After

sunset he was in the midst of the forest, so he made a fire, as he

had to spend the night there. He thought thus: “Should I encounter

any danger by and by, I have this gun, and I am a man who ought not

to regard anything.” He cooked a rabbit and satisfied his hunger.

Just then he heard many voices, and they were talking about their own

affairs, but the man could see nobody. So he thought, “It seems that

now at length I have encountered ghosts.” Then he went and lay under

a fallen tree, which was at a great distance from the fire. He loaded

his gun with powder only, as he knew by this time that they were really

ghosts. They came round about him and whistled, “Hyu, hyu, hyu!” “He

has gone yonder,” said one of the ghosts. They came and stood around

the man, just as people do when they hunt rabbits. The man lay flat

beneath the fallen tree, and one ghost came and climbed on the trunk of

that tree. Suddenly the ghost gave the cry uttered on hitting an enemy,

“Aⁿ-he!” and he kicked the man on the back. But before the ghost

could get away, the man shot at him and wounded him in the legs; so

the ghost gave the male cry of pain, “Au! au! au!” And finally he went

off crying as females do, “Yuŋ! yuŋ! yuŋ!” And the other

ghosts said to him; “Where did he shoot?” And the wounded one said: “He

shot me through the head and I have come apart.” Then the other ghosts

were wailing on the hillside. The man decided to go to the place where

they were wailing. So, as the day had come, he went thither, and found

some graves, one of which a wolf had dug into so that the bones were

visible, and there was a wound in the skull.

ASSINNIBOIN BELIEFS ABOUT GHOSTS.

§ 284. Smet says:[202]

The belief in ghosts is very profound, and common to all these

tribes. Indians have often told me that they have met, seen, and

conversed with them, and that they may be heard almost every night

in the places where the dead are interred. They say that they

speak in a kind of whistling tone. Sometimes they contract the

face [of a human being whom they meet] like that of a person in an

epileptic fit.[201] The Assinniboines never pronounce the name

of Tchatka [i.e., Ćatka, or, Left Hand, a former chief] but

with respect. They believe that his shade guards the sacred tree;

that he has power to procure them abundance of buffalo and other

animals, or to drive the animals from the country. Hence, whenever

they pass they offer sacrifices; they present the calumet to the

tutelary spirits and manes of Tchatka. He is, according to their

calendar, the Wah-kon-tangka par excellence, the greatest man or

genius that ever visited their nation.[202]

PRAYERS TO THE DEAD, INCLUDING ANCESTORS.

§ 285. Riggs says[203] that the Dakota pray to the spirits of their

deceased relatives. [See §§ 67-71.] And in his account of the

Assinniboin, Smet says:

The Assinniboines esteem greatly a religious custom of assembling

once or twice a year around the graves of their immediate

relatives. These graves are on scaffolds about 7 or 8 feet above

the surface of the ground. The Indians call their dead by name and

offer to them meats carefully dressed, which they place beside

them. The ceremony of burying the dead is terminated with tears,

wailings, howlings, and macerations of all present. They tear the

hair, gash the legs, and at last they light the calumet, for that

is the Alpha and Omega of every rite. They offer it to the shades

of the departed and entreat them not to injure the living. During

their ceremonious repasts, in their excursions, and even at a

great distance from their graves, they send to the dead puffs of

tobacco smoke and burn little pieces of meat as a sacrifice to

their memory.

§ 286. Before consulting the tutelary spirits [see § 34] or

addressing the dead, they begin by kindling the sacred fire.

This fire must be struck from a flint, or it must reach them

mysteriously by lightning, or in some other way. To light the

sacred fire with a common fire would be considered among them as a

grave and dangerous transgression.[204]

METAMORPHOSES AND THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS.

§ 287. They believe in transformations, such as are described in

Ovid, and they think that many of the stars are men and women

translated to the heavens. They believe in the transmigration

of souls. Some of the medicine men profess to tell of what

occurred to them in bodies previously inhabited for at least six

generations back. [See §§ 260, 267.]

EXHORTATIONS TO ABSENT WARRIORS.

§ 288. Among the Teton it has been customary for those remaining at

home to make songs about the absent warriors, calling them by name, as

if they could hear the speakers. This Dakota custom agrees with what

has been recorded of the Omaha.[205]

Bushotter has told of another Teton custom. The kindred of a slain

warrior make songs in his honor, and sing them as they mourn for his

death.

MYSTERIOUS MEN AND WOMEN.

§ 289. Lynd says:

Certain men profess to have an unusual amount of the wakan

or divine principle in them. By it they assume the working

of miracles, laying on of hands, curing of the sick, and

many wonderful operations. Some of these persons pretend to a

recollection of former states of existence, even naming the

particular body in which they formerly lived. Others assert their

power over nature, and their faculty of seeing into futurity, and

of conversing with the deities. A third class will talk of the

particular animals whose bodies they intend to enter when loosed

from their present existence [§§ 260, 267, 287]. In endeavoring

to sustain these pretensions they occasionally go through

performances which are likely to deceive the ignorant throng.[206]

Pond wrote thus of the Dakota wakaŋ men:[207]

They do not spring into existence under ordinary operations of

natural laws, but, according to their faith, these men and women

(for females, too, are wakan) first arouse to conscious existence

in the form of winged seeds, such as the thistle, and are wafted

by the * * * influence of the four winds till they are

conducted to the abode of some Taku Wakan, by whom they are

received into intimate communion. They remain there till they

become acquainted with the character and abilities of the class of

gods whose guests they happen to be, and until they have imbibed

their spirits, and are acquainted with all the chants, feasts,

dances, and rites which the gods deem necessary to impose on men.

Thus do some of them pass through a series of inspirations with

different classes of divinities, till they are fully wakanized

and prepared for human incarnation. They are invested with the

invisible wakan powers of the gods, their knowledge and cunning,

and their omnipresent influence over mind, instinct, and passions.

They are taught to inflict diseases and heal them, discover

concealed causes, manufacture implements of war, and impart to

them the ton-wan power of the gods; and also the art of making

such an application of paints that they will protect from the

powers of the enemies. This process of inspiration is called

“dreaming of the gods.” Thus prepared and retaining his primitive

form, the demi-god rides forth on the wings of the wind over

* * * the earth, till he has carefully observed the characters

and usages of the different tribes of men; then, selecting his

location, he enters one about to become a mother, and, in due

time, makes his appearance among men. * * * When one of these

wakan men dies he returns to the abode of his god, from whom he

receives a new inspiration, after which he passes through another

incarnation as before, and serves another generation. In this

manner they pass through four incarnations, * * * and then

return to their original nothingness.

§ 290. There are different persons who regard themselves as wakaŋ,

says Bushotter. Among these are those who practice medicine, those who

act as Heyoka, those who boil for the grizzly bear feasts, those who

take part in the mystery dance, those who foretell the future, those

who detect wrong-doers and find what has been lost or stolen, and those

who do various things in a cunning manner. It happens thus to them:

A man hears a human voice during the day and he does what the voice

directs to be done, or on a certain night a tree converses with him,

and the two talk about their own affairs, and what the tree tells him

to do, that he does, so he says, or, it orders him to keep some law or

custom as long as he lives. Among these superstitious notions are the

following: Some men direct the pipe to be handed around the lodge from

the left side to the right, and others vice versa. Some men dare not

gash a firebrand with a knife; and should a visitor do so heedlessly,

they say that he “cuts his finger.” Others will not kill a swallow,

lest thunder and hail ensue. Some do not allow a knife to be passed

above a kettle.

§ 291. The wakan men claim that they are invulnerable. To prove this

they assemble at stated intervals, having painted themselves in various

styles. Each one has a flute suspended over the chest by a necklace.

They wear long breechcloths, and march in single file. Two men armed

with bows and arrows rush suddenly towards the waken men and shoot

at them; but instead of wounding them they merely bend the arrows!

Sometimes the men fire guns at them, but the bullets fall to the

ground, and when they are examined they are flattened! No visible mark

of a wound can be found on the bodies of these wakan men, though when

they were hit by the bullet or arrow blood pours from their mouths.

After they wash off the paint from their bodies their flesh becomes

tender and is vulnerable. This is the excuse urged when an ordinary

person succeeds in wounding a wakan man. It is supposed that the wakan

men rub themselves with some kind of medicine known only to themselves,

making them invulnerable, and that perhaps the bullets or arrows are

rubbed with the medicine prior to the shooting. It is also supposed

that the playing of the flute aids in rendering them invulnerable. (See

§ 306, etc.)

§ 292. Bushotter names two kinds of Dakota doctors--the Mato wapiya,

or Grizzly Bear doctor, who is very wakan, and the Peźuta wapiya,

or Peźuta wićaśa, the doctor who prescribes roots. The person

who practices medicine claims to have had interviews with the spirits,

but he never reveals what the spirits have told him, though he says

that immediately after the revelation made him by the spirit he begins

to act according to its directions. And in some cases of sickness

this doctor takes the flesh of the patient into his mouth and makes a

sucking sound while inhaling, and from the patient’s side he pretends

to remove something. When he has made the sucking sound after taking

the flesh into his mouth, or when he has taken blood or something else

from the side of the patient, he spits it from his mouth. Then he sees

the patient’s mother, whom he tells what is the cause of the disease,

and whether the patient will recover or die. Such doctors pretend to

have within themselves one of the following: A small red hawk, a common

woodpecker, a real buffalo, a rattlesnake, or a grizzly bear. And when

one of these doctors kicks on the ground there is heard something

within him, singing in a beautiful voice; and so the people believe

what the doctors say about diseases.

§ 293. When the doctor has sucked the patient’s flesh a long time

without removing anything, he asks a favor of the mysterious being

dwelling within himself, and then that being cries out often, and the

doctor succeeds in his efforts. It is by the aid of these mysterious

beings that the doctors are enabled to practice medicine. In the

olden time one of the doctors was very mysterious. Once, when he was

practicing, a bowl of water was set down before him. He vomited into

the bowl and a water-snake appeared in it. But when the doctor opened

his mouth again the snake glided gently into it and disappeared down

his throat. Such exhibitions by the doctors have been observed by

the Indians, who are constrained to believe what the doctors claim

for themselves. And because they believe that the doctors are very

mysterious, the latter are able to gather together many possessions

as pay for their services. Therefore the men and women doctors try to

excel one another in their skill, as it pays them so well.

§ 294. A “peźuta wicaśa” told Bushotter to say to his step-father

that his son, Bushotter’s younger brother, had been made crazy by a

ghost. The doctor came and fumigated the patient, and after he felt a

little better he sucked at the boy’s chest and drew out some blood.

He resumed the operation, and then declared that there was in the

boy’s side a flat object resembling a serpent, the removal of which

would insure the boy’s recovery. The doctor was promised a horse if he

would attend the patient until he cured him. Acting by his directions,

Bushotter’s elder brother caught a large catfish, of the species called

“howasapa,” and handed it to his step-father, who offered a prayer and

marked the fish with a knife on the top of the head. After this the

fish was cooked, and the sick boy ate it and recovered his health. It

was after this that the same boy was cured by invoking the Dawn and

offering sacrifice, as related in § 215.

GOPHER LORE.

§ 295. Scrofulous sores on the neck under the jaw are said to be caused

by gophers. These animals can shoot at persons in a magical way with

the tip of a species of grass, wounding them very mysteriously, the

injured person being unconscious of the harm done till some time has

elapsed. The place swells, splits open, and becomes very bad, affecting

even the face of the sufferer. Few doctors can cure it. He who can

relieve the patient pretends to extract pieces of grass from the neck,

and then the person begins to recover. The people are so afraid of

gophers that they go around the camp with their hands over their jaws.

No one dares to go near a gopher hill except he or she be a mysterious

person. Such a one can go near it and even touch it with impunity, as

he has different remedies at his command.

CAUSES OF BOILS AND SORES.

§ 296. Whoever gets into the habit of eating the large intestine of

cattle, known as the taśiyaka, is sure to “be hit by a śiyaka,” _i.

e._, he will have a boil.[208] Śiyaka is the name of the grebe or

dabchick, but what connection there is between the bird and the boil

has not been learned. The boil will be on some covered part of the

body, not on the hands or face. The Teton fear to go outside of their

lodges at night lest the cause of boils be blown to them. If a man eats

the liver of a female dog, or if a woman eats that of a male dog, the

face of the offender will break out in sores.

RESULTS OF LYING, STEALING, ETC.

§ 297. Warts betray a bad person, one given to stealing. If the skin of

the hard palate peels off, it is said that the person is untruthful.

When the Teton doubt a man’s word, they ask him to open his mouth and

let them see his hard palate. He who makes a practice of eating the

calves of the legs of any species of animal will have a cramp in the

muscles of his own legs. When one wishes to extract the marrow from a

bone, he takes care not to split the bone in two, lest his own legs

should be in frequent pain, or he should become lame.

SECRET SOCIETIES.

§ 298. The Dakota use “ihaŋbla” or “ihaŋmda” as the Omaha and Ponka do

“iȼa‘eȼĕ,” to describe the mysterious communications received from the

animals and spirits (§§ 8, 43-52).

Among the Siouan family of Indians there are societies, religious

in character, which are distinguished by the name of some animal.

Each society has a ritual composed of chants and songs to be sung

during different parts of the ceremonies, having words describing

in simple and direct terms the act which accompanies the music.

These musical rituals, it is often claimed, have been received in

a mysterious or supernatural manner, and are therefore regarded

as possessing a religious power * * * Some societies admit

women to membership, through their own visions, or occasionally

by those of their husbands’, but more generally by means of the

visions of male relatives. * * * Membership in these

societies is not confined to any particular gens, or grouping of

gentes, but depends upon supernatural indications over which the

individual has no control. The animal which appears to a man in a

vision during his religious fasting determines to which society

he must belong.[209]

§ 299. Those having visions or revelations from ghosts are called

Wanaġi ihaŋblapi kiŋ. It is such persons who can draw

pictures of ghosts with impunity. It is also said that the only persons

who have their faces drawn awry by the ghosts are the members of this

order. (See § 275.)

§ 300. Bushotter’s step-father belongs to the Tataŋg ihaŋblapi kiŋ, or

the Society of those who have Revelations from the Buffalo, answering

to the Omaha ┴e iȼa‘eȼĕ-ma (§§ 43, 50). In one of his visions he saw a

buffalo with cocklebur down in his hair, so the man subsequently put

such down in his own hair in imitation of the buffalo. One night he saw

(probably in a vision) a bison going toward the south with a hoop on

his head. So the man painted a small hoop red all over and wore it on

his head, giving his nephew the name Ćaŋgleśka waŋyaŋg mani, He Walks

In-sight-of a Hoop.

§ 301. Some Dakota belong to the Hećiŋśkayapi ihaŋblapi kiŋ, or the

Society of those who have Revelations from Goats. Goats are very

mysterious, as they walk on cliffs and other high places; and those who

dream of goats or have revelations from them imitate their actions.

Such men can find their way up and down cliffs, the rocks get soft

under their feet, enabling them to maintain a foothold, but they close

up behind them, leaving no trail. Members of the Wakaŋ waćipi, or the

Order of the Mystery Dance, commonly called the medicine dance, are

also reckoned among the mysterious or “wakaŋ” people (see § 113). One

of Bushotter’s texts relates to this order. Another of his articles

tells of the Miwatani okolakićiye kiŋ or The Mandan Society, which used

to be called Ćaŋte ṭiŋza okolakićiye, or Society of the Stout Hearted

Ones. It is now known as Kaŋġi yuha, Keeps the Raven. For a notice of

this order, see §§ 194, 195.

§ 302. The report of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and

Ethnology for 1884 contains an article on the Elk Mystery or Festival

of the Oglala, a division of the Teton Dakota (pp. 276-288). Those who

have visions of the elk are the Heḣaka ihaŋblapi kiŋ. Bushotter has

recorded articles on different societies as follows: Big Belly Society,

Iḣoka and Tokala (animal) Societies, Dog Society, Kaṭela or Taniġa iću

Society, Grizzly Bear Dance, and Night Dance; but we have no means of

learning whether any or all of them are composed of persons who had

visions of animals.

FETICHISM.

PUBLIC OR TRIBAL FETICHES.

§ 303. Among these may be included the Bear Butte, referred to in §

137; and any white buffalo hide, such as has been described in “The

White Buffalo Festival of the Uncpapas.”[210]

Smet gives a description of a gathering of all the Assiniboin, and a

religious festival lasting several days:

Offerings are placed on perches that are fastened to the tops

of posts supporting certain buffalo skin lodges. A tall pole is

erected in the middle of the circle (it is between 30 and 40 feet

high), and to it they fasten the medicine bags, containing the

idols, their arrows, quivers, trophies won from their enemies,

especially scalps. Men, women, and children join in raising and

planting the pole, amid the acclamations of the tribe.[211]

PRIVATE OR PERSONAL FETICHES.

§ 304. Smet also tells us that “A Sioux chief has his war wakaŋ, the

colored picture of the Russian general, Diebitsch.”[212] In speaking of

the Assinniboin, the same author states:

Each savage who considers himself a chief or warrior possesses

what he calls his wah-kon, in which he appears to place all his

confidence. This consists of a stuffed bird, a weasel’s skin,

or some little bone or the tooth of an animal; sometimes it is

a little stone or a fantastical figure, represented by little

beads or by a coarsely painted picture. These charms or talismans

accompany them on all their expeditions for war or hunting--they

never lay them aside. In every difficulty or peril they invoke

the protection and assistance of their wah-kon, as though these

idols could really preserve them from all misfortunes. If any

accident befalls an idol or charm, if it is broken or lost, it is

enough to arrest the most intrepid chief or warrior in his

expedition, and make him abandon the most important enterprise in

which he may be engaged.[213]

We may also reckon among the personal fetiches the wohduze of each

warrior (see the Armor god, §§ 122-5), and perhaps the use of the

initipi or sweat lodge, and the wild sage or Artemisia, by each of

which personal purification is supposed to be effected.

ORDEALS OR MODES OF SWEARING.

§ 305. While there are no oaths or curses as we have them, the Teton

can invoke higher powers. Thus one may say: “The Thunderers hear me”

(Waʞiŋ´yaŋ namáḣuŋwe ló, The Flying one really hears me!), and if he is

lying the Thunderers or one of their number will be sure to kill him.

Sometimes the man will put a knife in his mouth, and then if he lies he

will be stuck by a knife thereafter, and death must follow. Or, he will

say, “The horse heard me” (Śuŋ´kawakaŋ´ namáḣuŋ we ló), knowing that

the penalty for falsehood will be certain death from a horse that will

throw him and break his neck. When one says, “The Earth hears me” (Maká

kiŋ lé namáḣuŋ we ló), and he lies, he is sure to die miserably in a

short time, and his family will also be afflicted.

Smet says:[214]

The objects by which an Assinniboine swears are his gun, the skin

of a rattlesnake, a bear’s claw, and the wah-kon that the Indian

interrogates. These various articles are placed before him, and

he says, “In case my declaration prove false, may my gun fire

and kill me, may the serpent bite me, may the bears tear and

devour my flesh, and may my wah-kon overwhelm me with misery.”

In extraordinary and very important affairs, which demand formal

promises, they call upon the Thunder to witness their resolution

of accomplishing the articles proposed and accepted.

SORCERY AND JUGGLERY.

§ 306. As among the Omaha and other Siouan tribes, so among the Dakota

do we find traces of the practice of sorcery, and there is a special

word in the Dakota dictionary: “ḣmuŋġa, to cause sickness or death,

as the Dakotas pretend to be able to do, in a supernatural way--to

bewitch--kill by enchantment.” The syllable “ḣmuŋ” seems to convey the

idea of humming, buzzing, or muttering.

Jugglery or sleight-of-hand performances are resorted to by the

mysterious men and women. (See §§ 64-66, 291-4.) Some of these

practitioners claim to possess the art of making love-charms, such

potions being sold to women who desire to attract particular men of

their acquaintance. When a woman obtains such a medicine, she uses it

in one of two ways. Sometimes she touches the man on his blanket with

the medicine, at others she persuades the man to give her a piece of

chewing gum, which she touches with the medicine. Then she seizes him,

and he can not escape from her, even should he wish to leave her. So he

is obliged to marry her.

OMENS.

BODILY OMENS.

§ 307. Ringing in one ear signifies one of two things. Some one will

come without his family, and he must be entertained, or you will hear

news. The direction whence the person or news will come is shown by the

ear that is affected.

If the eye twitches involuntarily some one will weep. If any other part

of the body twitches involuntarily some one will hit the person there

or he will be stabbed or shot there. If the palm of the hand twitches

often he will soon strike some one, or else he will become angry. When

a woman has a son sick somewhere, or if he has been killed on the way

home, her breasts are often very painful.

If one sneezes once his special friend or fellow, his son or his wife

has named him; so the sneezer calls out, “My son.” If he sneezes twice

he exclaims, “My son and his mother!”

ANIMAL OMENS.

§ 308. When whip-poor wills sing together at night, saying, “Hohiŋ,

hohiŋ,” one says in reply, “No.” Should the birds stop at once it

is a sign that the answering person must die soon. But if the birds

continue singing the man will live a long time.[215]

The uŋgnaġíćala (gray screech owl) fortells cold weather. When the

night is to be very cold this owl cries out, so the Teton say, just as

if a person’s teeth chattered. When its cry is heard, all the people

wrap themselves in their thickest robes and put plenty of wood on the

fires.

The Ski-bi-bi-la is a small gray bird, with a black head, and spotted

here and there on the breast. It dwells in the forest, and is said to

answer the person who calls to it. When this bird says, “Glí huŋ wó,”

i.e., “Has it returned?” the people rejoice, knowing that the spring

is near. When a boy hears this bird ask the question, he runs to his

mother and learns from her that he must reply, “No; it has not yet

returned.” The reason for giving this reply has not been obtained.

When the people first hear the cry of the night hawk in the spring,

they begin to talk of going to hunt the buffalo, because when the night

hawks return the buffalo have become fat again, and the birds bring the

news, for they never cry in vain.

OMENS FROM DREAMS.

§ 309. There are some animals which are esteemed as bringing

better fortunes than others. Hawks are lucky. Bears are not so

good, as the bear is slow and clumsy, and apt to be wounded; and

although savage when cornered, is not as likely as some animals to

escape harm. Among some tribes in this family of Indians to dream

of the moon is regarded as a grave calamity.[216] See § 30.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 84: Say, in James’s Account of Long’s Exped. Rocky Mts., Vol.

I, 268.]

[Footnote 85: Shea, Amer. Cath. missions, p. 25.]

[Footnote 86: Lynd, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 2, p. 63.

Compare these seeming contradictions with those observed among the

Omaha and Ponka, especially §§ 21-24.]

[Footnote 87: Ibid, pp. 64-65.]

[Footnote 88: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 3, p. 34.]

[Footnote 89: Riggs, Tah-koo Wah-kon, pp. 56, 57.]

[Footnote 90: Riggs in Am. Antiq., Vol. II, No. 4, p. 265; and in Am.

Philolog. Assoc. Proc., 1872, pp. 5, 6.]

[Footnote 91: Riggs, in Am. Antiq., vol. II, No. 4, p. 266. Pond, Minn.

Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 3, p. 33. Smet, op. cit., 120, note.]

[Footnote 92: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2.]

[Footnote 93: Lynd, Ibid., p. 67.]

[Footnote 94: Am. Antiq., vol. V, 149.]

[Footnote 95: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. I, pt. 2, pp. 67, 68.]

[Footnote 96: Ibid., pt. 3, p. 33.]

[Footnote 97: Riggs, Tah-koo Wah-kon, p. 61, et passim.]

[Footnote 98: Rept. Peabody Museum, vol. III, p. 276, note.]

[Footnote 99: Lynd, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 2, p. 72.]

[Footnote 100: Lynd, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 2, pp. 72,

76, 77.]

[Footnote 101: Smet, Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 92.]

[Footnote 102: Ibid., p. 134.]

[Footnote 103: Lynd, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 2, p. 67.]

[Footnote 104: Lynd, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, p. 80.]

[Footnote 105: Riggs, in Am. Antiq., vol. II, p. 266.]

[Footnote 106: Riggs, Tah-koo Wah-kon, p. 62. See Maza or Iron names of

Indians in the author’s forthcoming monograph on Indian Personal Names.]

[Footnote 107: Riggs, in Am. Antiq., vol. II, p. 267.]

[Footnote 108: Contr. N. A. Ethn. vol. VI, pp. 357-358.]

[Footnote 109: Missions and Missionaries, p. 136.]

[Footnote 110: Am. Antiq., vol. V, p. 149.]

[Footnote 111: Rept. Peabody Museum, vol. III, p. 297.]

[Footnote 112: Pond, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll, vol. II, pp. 35-38.]

[Footnote 113: Lynd, Ibid., pt. 2, pp. 71-77. Riggs, in Amer. Philolog.

Assoc. Proc, 1872., p. 6.]

[Footnote 114: A picture of “Wah-Menitu, the spirit or god in the

water,” is given on p. 161 of Lloyd’s translation of Maximilian,

London, 1843.]

[Footnote 115: According to Omaha tradition, two buffalo gentes are of

subaquatic origin. See Om. Soc., pp. 231-233.]

[Footnote 116: From an unpublished text of Bushotter.]

[Footnote 117: The Thunderers in the Omaha myth have hair of different

colors. One has white hair, the second has yellow, the third, bright

red, and the fourth, green hair. See Contr. N. A. Eth., vol. VI, p.

187.]

[Footnote 118: Pond, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 2, 41-42.]

[Footnote 119: Pond, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 3, p. 43.

Riggs, Tah-koo Wah-kon, pp. 62-64.]

[Footnote 120: Missions and Missionaries, p. 143.]

[Footnote 121: Smet. op. cit., p. 134.]

[Footnote 122: Maximilian, Travels in North America, p. 197.]

[Footnote 123: Riggs, Tah-koo Wah-kon, pp. 69, 70.]

[Footnote 124: Rev. E. Ashley, MS. letter to Dorsey, March 24, 1884.]

[Footnote 125: Riggs, in Am. Antiq., vol. II, No. 4, p. 270.]

[Footnote 126: Pond, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt 3, p. 53.]

[Footnote 127: Ibid., pt. 2, p. 73.]

[Footnote 128: Riggs, Tah-koo Wah-kon, pp. 70, 71.]

[Footnote 129: Am. Antiq., Vol. II, No. 4, p. 270.]

[Footnote 130: Riggs in Am. Antiq., Vol. II, p. 268.]

[Footnote 131: Mourning and War Customs of the Kansas, in Am.

Naturalist, July, 1885, pp. 676, 677.]

[Footnote 132: That is, the Takuśkaŋśkaŋ.]

[Footnote 133: Geikie, in his Hours with the Bible (New York: James

Pott. 1881), Vol. I, p. 55, has the following quotation from Das Buch

Henoch, edited by Dillmann, Kap. 17, 18: “And I saw the cornerstone of

the earth and the four winds which bear up the earth, and the firmament

of heaven.”]

[Footnote 134: Note that both the Takuśkaŋśkaŋ, the “Something that

Moves,” and the Wakiŋyaŋ or the Thunder-beings, are associated with

war.--J. O. D.]

[Footnote 135: Rept. Peabody Museum, Vol. III, p. 289, and note 1. The

use of the number twelve in connection with the ceremony of the Four

Winds finds a counterpart in the Osage initiation of a female into the

secret society of the tribe; the Osage female is rubbed from head to

foot, thrice in front, thrice on each side, and thrice behind, with

cedar needles.--J. O. D.]

[Footnote 136: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 3, p. 44.]

[Footnote 137: Op. cit., p. 136.]

[Footnote 138: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 3, p. 71.]

[Footnote 139: Ibid., p. 79.]

[Footnote 140: Ibid., p. 81.]

[Footnote 141: Ibid., p. 84.]

[Footnote 142: Am. Antiq., vol. II, p. 268.]

[Footnote 143: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 1, pp. 55.]

[Footnote 144: Hovey on “Eyah Shah” in Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Proc.,

vol. XXXIV, Buffalo Meeting, 1886. Salem, 1887, p. 332. Also in Am.

Antiq., Jan., 1887, pp. 35, 36.]

[Footnote 145: Mr. Hovey appears ignorant of the fact that the Kapoźa

(“Kaposias”) are a division of the Mdewakantonwan. The latter had six

other divisions or gentes.]

[Footnote 146: Riggs, Tah-koo Wah-kon, p. 69.]

[Footnote 147: Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 138.]

[Footnote 148: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 3.]

[Footnote 149: Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Montreal meeting, Vol. XXXI,

p. 580.]

[Footnote 150: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. II, pt. 2.]

[Footnote 151: Miss Fletcher, in Rept. Peabody Museum, vol. III, p.

284, note.]

[Footnote 152: Compare Miss Fletcher, in Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci.,

1882, p. 581.]

[Footnote 153: Miss Fletcher says, in Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1882,

p. 580, “The people camp in a circle, with a large opening at the east.

In 1882 over 9,000 Indians were so camped, the diameter of the circle

being over three-quarters of a mile wide.”]

[Footnote 154: Miss Fletcher’s account (Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci.,

p. 582) names the fourth day as that on which they sought for the sun

pole.]

[Footnote 155: Miss Fletcher (Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1882, p. 580)

states that “the tent set apart for the consecrating ceremonies, which

take place after sunset of the first day, was pitched within the line

of tents, on the site formerly assigned to one of the sacred tents.”]

[Footnote 156: The author heard about this medicine in 1873, from a

Ponka chief, one of the leaders of a dancing society. It is a bulbous

root, which grows near the place where the sun pole is planted.]

[Footnote 157: With this compare the Omaha act, uiȼaⁿ, in the Iñke-sabĕ

dance after the sham fight, Om. Soc., in 3d. Ann. Rept. Bur. Ethn., p.

299.]

[Footnote 158: See Miss Fletcher, Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1882, p.

582.]

[Footnote 159: See § 28, the Kansa ceremony of the waqpele gaxe, and

Om. Soc., in 3d An. Rept. Bur. Ethn., pp. 234, 297.]

[Footnote 160: Contr. N. A. Ethn., vol. VI, 470, 12-15; and Om. Soc.,

p. 296.]

[Footnote 161: Miss Fletcher states that the sun pole is carried to the

camp on a litter of sticks, and must not be handled or stepped over.

Op. cit., p. 582.]

[Footnote 162: See Miss Fletcher’s account, Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci.,

1882, p. 584.]

[Footnote 163: Miss Fletcher, _op. cit._, p. 583.]

[Footnote 164: The famous pipestone quarry was near the Big Sioux river

in Minnesota.]

[Footnote 165: Concerning Dakota Beliefs, in Proc. Amer. Philol.

Assoc., 3d An. Session, 1872, p. 5.]

[Footnote 166: Theogony of the Sioux, p. 269.]

[Footnote 167: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, p. 44.]

[Footnote 168: Compare the Maⁿnaⁿhiⁿdje sub-gens of the Kansa tribe,

and part of the wind gens, as the [K]aⁿze gens of the Omaha, Kansa and

Osage may be associated with the Takuṡkaŋśkaŋ of the Dakota.]

[Footnote 169: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, pp. 70, 71.]

[Footnote 170: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, p. 67.]

[Footnote 171: Theogony of the Sioux, p. 270.]

[Footnote 172: With this compare the belief of some African tribes that

the monkey has the gift of speech, but fears to use it lest he should

be made a slave.]

[Footnote 173: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, p. 66.]

[Footnote 174: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, p. 66.]

[Footnote 175: Ibid., p. 66.]

[Footnote 176: Cont. N.A. Ethnol., vol. VI, pp. 207-219.]

[Footnote 177: Translated from the original MS. in the Bushotter

collection. Tuki is the Teton name for a univalve shellfish said to

come from the Great Lakes.]

[Footnote 178: Tah-koo Wah-kon, p. 71.]

[Footnote 179: Osage Traditions, in 6th An. Rept. Bur. Ethn., pp. 379,

380. Am. Naturalist, February, 1884, pp. 113, 114, 133. Ibid, July,

1885, p. 671, Om. Soc., in 3d An. Rept. Bur. Ethn., pp. 228, 233, 244,

247.]

[Footnote 180: Rept. Peabody Museum, vol. III, p. 264. Note how in

the sun dance the sun, the four winds, and the buffalo are referred

to (§§ 147, 164, 167, 173, and 181, and Pl. XLVIII), and ceremonies

are performed connected with the earth, such as mellowing the earth

(§§ 146, 155, and 176) and the “Uuȼita,” in which they shoot into the

ground (§ 170).]

[Footnote 181: Op. cit., p. 297.]

[Footnote 182: Op. cit., p. 282, note.]

[Footnote 183: Smet, Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 139.]

[Footnote 184: Smet, Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 140.]

[Footnote 185: See Ghost Lore, § 280.]

[Footnote 186: Miss Fletcher, Elk Mystery of the Ogalalla Sioux, in

Rept. Peabody Museum, vol. III, p. 281, note.]

[Footnote 187: Contr. to N. A. Ethn., vol. IX, Dakota Grammar, Texts,

and Ethnography. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1893. pp. 131,

141, 144, 148.]

[Footnote 188: Lewis and Clarke, Expedition, ed. Allen, Dublin, 1817,

vol. I, pp. 65, 66.]

[Footnote 189: See “Calumet Dance,” in Om. Sociology, 3d Am. Rept. Bur.

Ethn., p .280.]

[Footnote 190: Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Montreal meeting, 1882, p.

583.]

[Footnote 191: Skiff Voy. to Falls of St. Anthony, in Minn. Hist.

Coll., II, pt. 1, pp. 18-19.]

[Footnote 192: Rept. Peabody Museum, vol. III, pp. 277, 278.]

[Footnote 193: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, pp. 68, 80.]

[Footnote 194: A similar belief has been held by the Athapascans now on

the Siletz reservation, Oregon. This has been published by the author

in The American Anthropologist for January, 1889, p. 60.]

[Footnote 195: Smet, Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 142.]

[Footnote 196: Maximilian, Travels in North America, p. 197.]

[Footnote 197: Read in this connection the article by Miss Fletcher on

“The Shadow; or, Ghost Lodge: a Ceremony of the Ogallala Sioux,” Rept.

of Peabody Museum, vol. II, pp. 296, 307.]

[Footnote 198: These things are probably given by the kindred of the

deceased, but Bushotter has not so informed us.]

[Footnote 199: In one of his papers Bushotter says that it is the

mother of the deceased person who deposits the food under the scaffold

and utters the prayers. John Bruyier, a half-blood Teton from Cheyenne

River Agency, South Dakota, never heard the petition about the horses,

for if parents obtained horses after the death of their son, they gave

them away.]

[Footnote 200: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, p. 69.]

[Footnote 201: Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 140.]

[Footnote 202: Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 204.]

[Footnote 203: Am. Antiq., vol. V, 1883, p. 149.]

[Footnote 204: Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 243.]

[Footnote 205: Om. Sociology, Third Ann. Rept. Bur. Eth., p. 325.]

[Footnote 206: Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pt. 2, p. 70.]

[Footnote 207: Pond, in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, vol. VI, pp. 652.

1857.]

[Footnote 208: See Contr. to N. A. Ethn. vol. IX, pp. 146, 149.]

[Footnote 209: Miss Fletcher: Elk Mystery of the Ogallala Sioux; in

Ann. Rept. Peabody Museum, 1884, pp. 276, 277.]

[Footnote 210: Miss Fletcher in Rept. Peabody Museum, Vol. II, pp.

260-275.]

[Footnote 211: Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 136.]

[Footnote 212: Ibid., p. 46.]

[Footnote 213: Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 141.]

[Footnote 214: Ibid., p. 143.]

[Footnote 215: This is also an Omaha belief.]

[Footnote 216: Miss Fletcher, “Elk Mystery of the Ogalalla Sioux,” in

Rept. Peabody Museum, Vol. III, p. 281 note.]