Chapter 21

[7] _Hârps-te-nâh_. The first-born daughter of a Dakota is called _Winona_; the second, _Hârpen_; the third, _Hârpstinâ_; the fourth, _Wâska_; the fifth, _Wehârka_. The first-born son is called _Chaskè_; the second, _Hârpam_; the third, _Hapéda_; the fourth, _Châtun_; the fifth, _Hârka_. They retain these names till others are given them on account of some action, peculiarity, etc. The females often retain their child-names through life.

[8] _Wah-pah-sâh_ was the hereditary name of a long and illustrious line of Dakota chiefs. Wabashaw is a corrupt pronunciation. The name is a contraction of _Wâ-pa-hâ-sa_, which is from _Wâ-ha-pa_, the standard or pole used in the Dakota dances and upon which feathers of various colors are tied, and not from _Wâ-pa_--leaf, as has been generally supposed. Therefore _Wâpasa_ means the Standard--and not the "Leaf-Shaker," as many writers have it. The principal village of these hereditary chiefs was _Ke-úk-sa_, or _Ke-ó-sa_,--where now stands the fair city of Winona. _Ke-úk-sa_ signifies--The village of law-breakers; so called because this band broke the law or custom of the Dakotas against marrying blood relatives of any degree. I get this information from Rev. Stephen R. Riggs, author of the Dakota Grammar and Dictionary, "_Takoo Wakan_," etc. _Wapasa_, grandfather of the last chief of that name, and a contemporary of _Cetan-Wa-kâ-wa-mâni_, was a noted chief, and a friend of the British in the war of the Revolution. _Neill's Hist. Minn._, pp. 225-9.

[9] _E-hó, E-tó_--Exclamations of surprise and delight.

[10] _Mah-gâh_--The wild-goose.

[11] _Teé-peé_--A lodge or wigwam, often contracted to "_tee_."

[12] Pronounced _Mahr-peé-yah-doó-tah_--literally, Cloud Red.

[13] Pronounced _Wahnmdeé_--The War Eagle. Each feather worn by a warrior represents an enemy slain or captured--man, woman or child; but the Dakotas, before they became desperate under the cruel warfare of their enemies, usually spared the lives of their captives, and never killed women or infants, except in rare instances under the _lex talionis_. _Neill's Hist. Minn._, p. 112.

[14] _Mah-tó_--The polar bear--_ursus maritimus_. The Dakotas say that in olden times white bears were often found about Rainy Lake and the Lake of the Woods in winter, and sometimes as far south as the mouth of the Minnesota. They say one was once killed at White Bear Lake (but a few miles from St. Paul and Minneapolis), and they therefore named the lake Medé Mató--White Bear Lake, literally--Lake White Bear.

[15] The _Hó-hé_ (Ho-hay) are the Assiniboins or "Stone-roasters." Their home is the region of the Assiniboin River in Manitoba. They speak the Dakota tongue, and originally were a band of that nation. Tradition says a Dakota "Helen" was the cause of the separation and a bloody feud that lasted for many years. The _Hóhés_ are called "Stone-roasters," because, until recently at least, they used _wa-ta-pe_ kettles and vessels made of birch bark in which they cooked their food. They boiled water in these vessels by heating stones and putting them in the water. The _wa-ta-pe_ kettle is made of the fibrous roots of the white cedar interlaced and tightly woven. When the vessel is soaked it becomes water-tight. [_Snelling's_] _Tales of the North-west_, p 21, _Mackenzie's Travels._

[16] _Hey-ó-ka_ is one of the principal Dakota deities. He is a giant, but can change himself into a buffalo, a bear, a fish or a bird. He is called the Anti-natural God or Spirit. In summer he shivers with cold, in winter he suffers from heat; he cries when he laughs and he laughs when he cries, etc. He is the reverse of nature in all things. _Heyóka_ is universally feared and reverenced by the Dakotas, but so severe is the ordeal that the _Heyóka Wacipee_ (the dance to _Heyóka_) is now rarely celebrated. It is said that the "Medicine-men" use a secret preparation which enables them to handle fire and dip their hands in boiling water without injury and thereby gain great _eclat_ from the uninitiated. The chiefs and the leading warriors usually belong to the secret order of "Medicine-men" or "Sons of _Unktéhee_"--the Spirit of the Waters.

[17] The Dakota name for the moon is _Han-yé-tu-wee_--literally, Night-Sun. He is the twin brother of _An-pé-tu-wee_--the Day Sun. See note 70.

[18] The Dakotas believe that the stars are the spirits of their departed friends.

[19] _Tee_--Contracted from _teepee_, lodge or wigwam, and means the same.

[20] For all their sacred feasts the Dakotas kindle a new fire called "The Virgin Fire." This is done with flint and steel, or by rubbing together pieces of wood till friction produces fire. It must be done by a virgin, nor must any woman, except a virgin, ever touch the "sacred armor" of a Dakota warrior. White cedar is "_Wakân_"--sacred. See note 50. _Riggs' Tahkoo Wakân_, p. 84.

[21] All Northern Indians consider the East a mysterious and sacred land whence comes the sun. The Dakota name for the East is _Wee-yo-heé-yan-pa_--the sunrise. The Ojibways call it _Waub-ó-nong_ --the white land or land of light, and they have many myths, legends and traditions relating thereto. Barbarous peoples of all times have regarded the East with superstitious reverence simply because the sun rises in that quarter.

[22] See _Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah_, pp. 225-8, describing the feast to _Heyóka_.

[23] This stone from which the Dakotas have made their pipes for ages, is esteemed _wakân_--sacred. They call it _I-yân-ska_, probably from _iya_, to speak, and _ska_, white, truthful, peaceful,--hence, peace-pipe, herald of peace, pledge of truth, etc. In the cabinet at Albany, N.Y., there is a very ancient pipe of this material which the Iroquois obtained from the Dakotas. Charlevoix speaks of this pipe-stone in his _History of New France_. LeSueur refers to the Yanktons as the village of the Dakotas at the Red-Stone Quarry. See _Neill's Hist. Minn._, p. 514.

[24] "_Ho_" is an exclamation of approval--yea, yes, bravo.

[25] Buying is the honorable way of taking a wife among the Dakotas. The proposed husband usually gives a horse or its value in other articles to the father or natural guardian of the woman selected--sometimes against her will. See note 75.

[26] The Dakotas believe that the _Aurora Borealis_ is an evil omen and the threatening of an evil spirit (perhaps _Waziya_, the Winter-god--some say a witch, or a very ugly old woman). When the lights appear danger threatens, and the warriors shoot at, and often slay, the evil spirit, but it rises from the dead again.

[27] _Se-só-kah_--The Robin.

[28] The spirit of _Anpétu-sâpa_ that haunts the Falls of St. Anthony with her dead babe in her arms. See the Legend in _Neill's Hist. Minn._, or my _Legend of the Falls._

[29] _Mee-coónk-shee_--My daughter.

[30] The Dakotas call the meteor, "_Wakân-dénda_" (sacred fire) and _Wakân-wóhlpa_ (sacred gift). Meteors are messages from the Land of Spirits warning of impending danger. It is a curious fact that the "sacred stone" of the Mohammedans, in the Kaaba at Mecca, is a meteoric stone, and obtains its sacred character from the fact that it fell from heaven.

[31] _Kah-nó-te-dahn_,--the little, mysterious dweller in the woods. This spirit lives in the forest, in hollow trees. _Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah_, Pre. Rem. xxxi. "The Dakota god of the woods--an unknown animal said to resemble a man, which the Dakotas worship: perhaps, the monkey."--_Riggs' Dakota Dic. Tit--Canotidan_.

[32] The Dakotas believe that thunder is produced by the flapping of the wings of an immense bird which they call _Wakinyan_--the Thunder-bird. Near the source of the Minnesota River is a place called "Thunder-Tracks" where the foot-prints of a "Thunder-bird" are seen on the rocks twenty-five miles apart. _Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah_, p. 71. There are many Thunder-birds. The father of all the Thunder-birds--"_Wakinyan Tanka_"--or "Big Thunder," has his _teepee_ on a lofty mountain in the far West. His _teepee_ has four openings, at each of which is a sentinel; at the east, a butterfly; at the west, a bear; at the south, a red deer; at the north, a caribou. He has a bitter enmity against _Unktéhee_ (god of waters) and often shoots his fiery arrows at him, and hits the earth, trees, rocks, and sometimes men. _Wakinyan_ created wild-rice, the bow and arrow, the tomahawk and the spear. He is a great war-spirit, and _Wanmdée_ (the war-eagle) is his messenger. A Thunder-bird (say the Dakotas) was once killed near Kapóza by the son of Cetan-Wakawa-mâni and he thereupon took the name of "_Wakinyan Tanka_"--"Big Thunder."

[33] Pronounced _Tah-tâhn-kah_--Bison or Buffalo.

[34] _Enâh_--An exclamation of wonder. _Ehó_--Behold! see there!

[35] The Crees are the Knisteneaux of Alexander Mackenzie. See his account of them, _Mackenzie's Travels_, (London, 1801) p. xci to cvii.

[36] Lake Superior. The only names the Dakotas have for Lake Superior are _Medé Tânka_ or _Tânka Medé_--Great Lake, and _Me-ne-yâ-ta_--literally, _At-the-Water_.

[37] April--Literally, the moon when the geese lay eggs. See note 71.

[38] Carver's Cave at St. Paul was called by the Dakotas _Wakân_ _Teepee_--sacred lodge. In the days that are no more they lighted their council-fires in this cave and buried their dead near it. See _Neill's Hist. Minn_., p. 207. Capt. Carver in his _Travels_, London, 1778, p. 63, et. seq., describes this cave as follows: "It is a remarkable cave of an amazing depth. The Indians term it Wakonteebe, that is, the Dwelling of the Great Spirit. The entrance into it is about ten feet wide, the height of it five feet, the arch within is near fifteen feet high and about thirty feet broad. The bottom of it consists of fine clear sand. About twenty feet from the entrance begins a lake, the water of which is transparent, and extends to an unsearchable distance; for the darkness of the cave prevents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it. I threw a small pebble toward the interior parts of it with my utmost strength. I could hear that it fell into the water, and notwithstanding it was of so small a size it caused an astonishing and horrible noise that reverberated through all those gloomy regions. I found in this cave many Indian hieroglyphics which appeared very ancient, for time had nearly covered them with moss so that it was with difficulty I could trace them. They were cut in a rude manner upon the inside of the walls, which were composed of a stone so extremely soft that it might be easily penetrated with a knife: a stone everywhere to be found near the Mississippi. This cave is only accessible by ascending a narrow, steep passage that lies near the brink of the river. At a little distance from this dreary cavern is the burying-place of several bands of the Naudowessie (Dakota) Indians," Many years ago the roof fell in but the cave has been partly restored and is now used as a beer cellar.

[39] _Wah-kâhn-dee_--The lightning.

[40] The Bloody River--the Red River was so called on account of the numerous Indian battles that have been fought on its banks. The Ojibways say that its waters were colored red by the blood of many warriors slain on its banks in the fierce wars between themselves and the Dakotas.

[41] _Tah_--The Moose. This is the root-word for all ruminating animals: _Ta-tânka_, buffalo--Ta-tóka, mountain antelope--Ta-hinca, the red deer--Ta-mdóka, the buck-deer--Ta-hinca-ská, white deer (sheep).

[42] _Hogâhn_--Fish. Red Hogan, the trout.

[43] _Tipsânna_ (often called _tipsinna_) is a wild prairie-turnip used for food by the Dakotas. It grows on high, dry land, and increases from year to year. It is eaten both cooked and raw.

[44] _Rio Tajo_ (or Tagus), a river of Spain and Portugal.

[45] * * * * "Bees of Trebizond-- Which from the sunniest flowers that glad With their pure smile the gardens round, Draw venom forth that drives men mad."

_--Thomas Moore_.

[46] _Skeé-skah_--The Wood-duck.

[47] The Crocus. I have seen the prairies in Minnesota spangled with these beautiful flowers in various colors before the ground was free from frost. The Dakotas call them "frost-flowers."

[48] The "Sacred Ring" around the Feast of the Virgins is formed by armed warriors sitting, and none but a virgin must enter this ring. The warrior who knows is bound on honor, and by old and sacred custom, to expose and publicly denounce any tarnished maiden who dares to enter this ring, and his word cannot be questioned--even by the chief. See _Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah_, p. 64.

[49] Prairie's Pride.--This annual shrub, which abounds on many of the sandy prairies in Minnesota, is sometimes called "tea-plant," "sage-plant," and "red-root willow." I doubt if it has any botanic name. Its long plumes of purple and gold are truly the "pride of the prairies."

[50] The Dakotas consider white cedar "_Wakân_," (sacred). They use sprigs of it at their feasts, and often burn it to destroy the power of evil spirits. _Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah_, p. 210.

[51] _Tâhkoo-skahng-skahng_. This deity is supposed to be invisible, yet everywhere present; he is an avenger and a searcher of hearts. (_Neill's Hist. Minn_., p. 57). I suspect he was the chief spirit of the Dakotas before the missionaries imported "_Wakân-Tánka_" (Great Spirit).

[52] The Dakotas believe in "were-wolves" as firmly as did our Saxon ancestors, and for similar reasons--the howl of the wolf being often imitated as a decoy or signal by their enemies the Ojibways.

[53] _Shee-shó-kah_--The Robin.

[54] The Dakotas call the Evening Star the "_Virgin Star_," and believe it to be the spirit of the virgin wronged at the feast.

[55] Mille Lacs. This lake was discovered by Du Luth, and by him named Lac Buade in honor of Governor Frontenac of Canada, whose family name was Buade. The Dakota name for it is _Mdé Wakân_--Spirit Lake.

[56] The Ojibways imitate the hoot of the owl and the howl of the wolf to perfection, and often use these cries as signals to each other in war and the chase.

[57] The Dakotas called the Ojibways the "Snakes of the Forest" on account of their lying in ambush for their enemies.

[58] Strawberries.

[59] _Seé-yo_--The prairie-hen.

[60] _Mahgâh_--The wild-goose. _Fox-pups_. I could never see the propriety of calling the young of foxes _kits_ or _kittens_, which mean _little cats_. The fox belongs to the _canis_ or dog family, and not the _felis_ or cat family. If it is proper to call the young of dogs and wolves _pups_, it is equally proper to so call the young of foxes.

[61] When a Dakota is sick he thinks the spirit of an enemy or some animal has entered into his body, and the principal business of the "medicine-man"--_Wicásta Wakân_--is to cast out the "unclean spirit," with incantations and charms. See _Neill's Hist. Minn_., pp. 66-8. The Jews entertained a similar belief in the days of Jesus of Nazareth.

[62] _Wah-zeé-yah's_ star--The North-star. See note 3.

[63] The Dakotas, like our forefathers and all other barbarians, believe in witches and witchcraft.

[64] The _Medó_ is a wild potato; it resembles the sweet-potato in top and taste. It grows in bottom-lands, and is much prized by the Dakotas for food. The "_Dakota Friend_," for December, 1850. (Minn. Hist. Col.)

[65] The meteor--_Wakân-denda_--Sacred fire.

[66] _Me-tá-win_--My bride.

[68] The _Via Lactea_ or Milky Way. The Dakotas call it _Wanágee Tach-ánku_--The pathway of the spirits; and believe that over this path the spirits of the dead pass to the Spirit-land. See _Riggs' Tah-koo Wah-kan_, p. 101.

[69] _Oonk-táy-he_. There are many _Unktéhees_, children of the _Great Unktéhee_, who created the earth and man, and who formerly dwelt in a vast cavern under the Falls of St. Anthony. The _Unktéhee_ sometimes reveals himself in the form of a huge buffalo-bull. From him proceed invisible influences. The _Great Unktéhee_ created the earth. "Assembling in grand conclave all the aquatic tribes he ordered them to bring up dirt from beneath the waters, and proclaimed death to the disobedient. The beaver and otter forfeited their lives. At last the muskrat went beneath the waters, and, after a long time, appeared at the surface, nearly exhausted, with some dirt. From this _Unktéhee_ fashioned the earth into a large circular plain. The earth being finished he took a deity, one of his own offspring, and, grinding him to powder, sprinkled it upon the earth, and this produced many worms. The worms were then collected and scattered again. They matured into infants and these were then collected and scattered and became full-grown Dakotas. The bones of the mastodon, the Dakotas think, are the bones of _Unktéhees_, and they preserve them with the greatest care in the medicine-bag." _Neill's Hist. Minn_., p. 55. The _Unktéhees_ and the Thunder-birds are perpetually at war. There are various accounts of the creation of man. Some say that at the bidding of the _Great Unktéhee_, men sprang full grown from the caverns of the earth. See _Riggs' "Tahkoo Wahkan"_, and _Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah_. The _Great Unktéhee_ and the Great Thunder-bird had a terrible battle in the bowels of the earth to determine which should be the ruler of the world. See description in _Winona_.

[70] Pronounced _Ahng-páy-too-wee_--The Sun; literally the Day-Sun, thus distinguishing him from _Han-yé-tuwee_ (Hahng-yay-too-wee) the Night Sun (the moon). They are twin brothers, but _Anpétuwee_ is the more powerful. _Han-yé-tuwee_ receives his power from his brother and obeys him. He watches over the earth while the sun sleeps. The Dakotas believe the sun is the father of life. Unlike the most of their other gods, he is beneficent and kind; yet they worshiped him (in the sun-dance) in the most dreadful manner. See _Riggs' Tahkoo Wakan_, pp. 81-2, and Catlin's _Okeepa_. The moon is worshiped as the representative of the sun; and in the great Sun-dance, which is usually held in the full of the moon, when the moon rises the dancers turn their eyes on her (or him). _Anpétuwee_ issues every morning from the lodge of _Han-nán-na_ (the Morning) and begins his journey over the sky to his lodge in the land of shadows. Sometimes he walks over on the Bridge (or path) of the Spirits--_Wanâge Ta-chán-ku_,--and sometimes he sails over the sea of the skies in his shining canoe; but _somehow_, and the Dakotas do not explain how, he gets back again to the lodge of _Hannánna_ in time to take a nap and eat his breakfast before starting anew on his journey. The Dakotas swear by the sun, "_As Anpétuwee hears me, this is true!_" They call him Father and pray to him--"_Wakán! Até, on-she-má-da_"--"Sacred Spirit,--Father, have mercy on me." As the Sun is the father, so they believe the Earth is the mother, of life. Truly there is much philosophy in the Dakota mythology. The Algonkins call the earth "_Me-suk-kum-mik-o-kwa_"--the great-grandmother of all. _Narrative of John Tanner_, p. 193.

[71] The Dakotas reckon their months by _moons_. They name their moons from natural circumstances. They correspond very nearly with our months, as follows:

January--_Wee-té-rhee_--The Hard Moon; i.e.--the cold moon.

February--_Wee-câ-ta-wee_--The Coon Moon--(the moon when the coons come out of their hollow trees).

March--_Istâ-wee-ca-ya-zang-wee_--the sore-eyes moon (from snow blindness).

April--Magâ-oka-da-wee--the moon when the geese lay eggs; also called Wokâ da-wee--egg-moon; and sometimes Wató-papee-wee, the canoe-moon, or moon when the streams become free from ice.

May--Wó-zu-pee-wee--the planting moon.

June--Wazú-ste-ca-sa-wee--the strawberry moon.

July--Wa-sún-pa-wee--the moon when the geese shed their feathers, also called Chang-pâ-sapa-wee--Choke-Cherry moon, and sometimes--Mna-rchâ-rcha-wee--"The moon of the red-blooming lilies," literally, the red-lily moon.

August--Wasú-ton-wee--the ripe moon, i.e., Harvest Moon.

September--Psin-na-ké-tu-wee--the ripe rice moon. (When the wild rice is ripe.)

October--Wâ-zu-pee-wee or Wee-wa-zu-pee--the moon when wild rice is gathered and laid up for winter.

November--Ta-kee-yu-hrâ-wee--the deer-rutting moon.

December--Ta-hé-cha-psung-wee--the moon when deer shed their horns.

[72] Oonk-to-mee--is a bad spirit in the form of a monstrous black spider. He inhabits fens and marshes and lies in wait for his prey. At night he often lights a torch (evidently the ignis fatuus or Jack-o' lantern) and swings it on the marshes to decoy the unwary into his toils.

[73] The Dakotas have their stone-idol, or god, called Toon-kan--or Inyan. This god dwells in stone or rocks and is, they say, the oldest god of all--he is grandfather of all living things. I think, however, that the stone is merely the symbol of the everlasting, all-pervading, invisible Ta-ku Wa-kan--the essence of all life,--pervading all nature, animate and inanimate. The Rev. S.R. Riggs, who for forty years has been a student of Dakota customs, superstitions, etc., says, Tâhkoo Wahkan, p. 55, et seq.: "The religious faith of the Dakota is not in his gods as such. It is in an intangible, mysterious something of which they are only the embodiment, and that in such measure and degree as may accord with the individual fancy of the worshiper. Each one will worship some of these divinities, and neglect or despise others, but the great object of all their worship, whatever its chosen medium, is the _Ta-koo Wa-kan_, which is the supernatural and mysterious. No one term can express the full meaning of the Dakota's _Wakan_. It comprehends all mystery, secret power and divinity. Awe and reverence are its due, and it is as unlimited in manifestation as it is in idea. All life is _Wakan_; so also is everything which exhibits power, whether in action, as the winds and drifting clouds; or in passive endurance, as the boulder by the wayside. For even the commonest sticks and stones have a spiritual essence which must be reverenced as a manifestation of the all-pervading, mysterious power that fills the universe."

[74] _Wazi-kuté_--Wah-ze-koo-tay; literally--Pine-shooter,--he that shoots among the pines. When Father Hennepin was at Mille Lacs in 1679-80, _Wazi-kuté_ was the head chief (_Itâncan_) of the band of Isantees. Hennepin writes the name Ouasicoude, and translates it--the "Pierced Pine." See Shea's _Hennepin_, p. 234, _Minn. Hist. Coll_. vol. i, p. 316.

[75] When a Dakota brave wishes to "propose" to a "dusky maid," he visits her _teepee_ at night after she has retired, or rather, laid down in her robe to sleep. He lights a splinter of wood and holds it to her face. If she blows out the light, he is accepted; if she covers her head and leaves it burning he is rejected. The rejection however is not considered final till it has been thrice repeated. Even then the maiden is often bought of her parents or guardian, and forced to become the wife of the rejected suitor. If she accepts the proposal, still the suitor must buy her of her parents with suitable gifts.

[76] The Dakotas called the falls of St. Anthony the _Ha-Ha_--the _loud laughing_, or _roaring_. The Mississippi River they called _Ha-Ha Wâ-kpa_ River of the Falls. The Ojibway name for the Falls of St. Anthony is _Ka-kâ-bik-kúng_. Minnehaha is a combination of two Dakota words--_Mini_--water and _Ha-Ha_, Falls; but it is not the name by which the Dakotas designated that cataract. Some authorities say they called it _I-hâ-ha_--pronounced E-rhah-rhah--lightly laughing. Rev. S.W. Pond, whose long residence as a missionary among the Dakotas in this immediate vicinity makes him an authority that can hardly be questioned, says they called the Falls of Minnehaha "_Mini-i-hrpa-ya-dan_," and it had no other name in Dakota. "It means Little Falls and nothing else." Letter to the author.