In criminal cases it is necessary to prove that the crime was committed in the county where the venue is laid.

Called in the Dakota tongue "Hok-sée-win-nâ-pee Wo-hán-pee"—Virgins' Dance (or Feast).

One of the favorite and most exciting games of the Dakotas is ball-playing. A smooth place on the prairie, or in winter, on a frozen lake or river, is chosen. Each player has a sort of bat, called "Tâ-kée-cha-psé-cha," about thirty-two inches long, with a hoop at the lower end four or five inches in diameter, interlaced with thongs of deer-skin, forming a sort of pocket. With these bats they catch and throw the ball. Stakes are set as bounds at a considerable distance from the center on either side. Two parties are then formed and each chooses a leader or chief. The ball (Tâpa) is then thrown up half way between the bounds, and the game begins, the contestants contending with their bats for the ball as it falls. When one succeeds in getting it fairly into the pocket of his bat he swings it aloft and throws it as far as he can toward the bound to which his party is working, taking care to send it if possible where some of his own side will take it up. Thus the ball is thrown and contended for till one party succeeds in casting it beyond the bounds of the opposite party. A hundred players en a side are sometimes engaged in this exciting game. Betting on the result often runs high. Moccasins, pipes, knives, hatchets, blankets, robes and guns are hung on the prize-pole. Not unfrequently horses are staked on the issue and sometimes even women. Old men and mothers are among the spectators, praising their swift-footed sons, and young wives and maidens are there to stimulate their husbands and lovers. This game is not confined to the warriors but is also a favorite amusement of the Dakota maidens, who generally play for prizes offered by the chief or warriors. (See Neill's Hist. Minn., pp 74-5; Riggs' Tâkoo Wakân, pp 44-5, and Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah, p 55.)

Pronounced Wah-zeé-yah—the god of the North, or Winter. A fabled spirit who dwells in the frozen North, in a great teepee of ice and snow. From his mouth and nostrils he blows the cold blasts of winter. He and I-tó-ka-ga Wi câs-ta—the spirit or god of the South (literally the "South Man") are inveterate enemies, and always on the war-path against each other. In winter Wa-zi-ya advances southward and drives I-tó-ka-ga Wi-câs-ta before him to the Summer-Islands. But in spring the god of the South having renewed his youth and strength in the "Happy Hunting Grounds," is able to drive Wa-zi-ya back again to his icy wigwam in the North. Some Dakotas say that the numerous granite boulders scattered over the prairies of Minnesota and Dakota, were hurled in battle by Wa-zi-ya from his home in the North at I-tó-ka-ga Wi-câs-ta. The Wa-zi-ya of the Dakotas is substantially the same as "Ka be-bon-ik-ka"—the "Winter-maker" of the Ojibways.

Mendota—(meeting of the waters) at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. The true Dakota word is Mdó-tè—applied to the mouth of a river flowing into another, also to the outlet of a lake.

Pronounced Wee-wâh-stay; literally—a beautiful virgin or woman.

Cetân-wa-ká-wa-mâni—"He who shoots pigeon-hawks walking"—was the full Dakota name of the grandfather of the celebrated "Little Crow" (Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta—His Red People) who led his warriors in the terrible outbreak in Minnesota in 1862-3. The Chippeways called the grandfather Ká-ká-gè—crow or raven—from his war-badge, a crow-skin; and hence the French traders and courriers du bois called him "Petit Corbeau"—Little Crow. This sobriquet, of which he was proud, descended to his son, Wakinyan Tânka—Big Thunder, who succeeded him as chief; and from Big Thunder to his son Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta, who became chief on the death of Wakinyan Tânka. These several "Little Crows" were successively Chiefs of the Light-foot, or Kapóza band of Dakotas. Kapóza, the principal village of this band, was originally located on the east bank of the Mississippi near the site of the city of St. Paul. Col. Minn. Hist. Soc., 1864, p. 29. It was in later years moved to the west bank. The grandfather whom I, for short, call Wakâwa, died the death of a brave in battle against the Ojibways (commonly called Chippeways)—the hereditary enemies of the Dakotas. Wakinyan Tânka—Big Thunder, was killed by the accidental discharge of his own gun. They were both buried with their kindred near the "Wakan Teepee," the sacred Cave—(Carver's Cave). Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta, the last of the Little Crows, was killed July 3, 1863, during the outbreak, near Hutchinson, Minnesota, by the Lampsons—father and son, and his bones were duly "done up" for the Historical Society of Minnesota. See Heard's Hist. Sioux War, and Neill's Hist. Minnesota, Third Edition.

[Illustration: LITTLE CROW. From an original photograph in the author's possession]

Little Crow's sixteen-year-old son, Wa-wi-na-pe—(One who appears —like the spirit of his forefather) was with him at the time he was killed; but escaped, and after much hardship and suffering, was at last captured at Mini Wakan (Devil's Lake, in North Dakota). From him personally I obtained much information in regard to Little Crow's participation in the "Sioux War," and minutely the speech that Little Crow made to his braves when he finally consented to lead them on the war-path against the whites. A literal translation of that speech will be found further on in this note.

I knew Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta, and from his own lips, in 1859-60 and 61, obtained much interesting information in regard to the history, tradition, customs, superstitions and habits of the Dakotas, of whom he was the recognized Head-Chief. He was a remarkable Indian—a philosopher and a brave and generous man. "Untutored savage" that he was, he was a prince among his own people, and the peer in natural ability of the ablest white men in the Northwest in his time. He had largely adopted the dress and habits of civilized man, and he urged his people to abandon their savage ways, build houses, cultivate fields, and learn to live like the white people. He clearly forsaw the ultimate extinction of his people as a distinct race. He well knew and realized the numbers and power of the whites then rapidly taking possession of the hunting-grounds of the Dakotas, and the folly of armed opposition on the part of his people. He said to me once: "No more Dakotas by and by; Indians all white men. No more buffaloes by and by; all cows, all oxen." But his braves were restless. They smarted under years of wrong and robbery, to which, indeed, the most stinging insults were often added by the traders and officials among them. If the true, unvarnished history of the cause and inception of the "Sioux Outbreak" in Minnesota is ever written and published, it will bring the blush of shame to the cheeks of every honest man who reads it.

Against his judgment and repeated protests, Little Crow was at last, after the depredations had begun, forced into the war on the whites by his hot-headed and uncontrollable "young men."

Goaded to desperation, a party of Little Crow's young "bucks," in August, 1862, began their depredations and spilled white blood at Acton. Returning to their chief's camp near the agency, they told their fellow braves what they had done. The hot-headed young warriors immediately demanded of Little Crow that he put on the "war-paint" and lead them against the white men. The chief severely rebuked the "young men" who had committed the murders, blackened his face (a sign of mourning), retired to his teepee and covered his head in sorrow.

His braves surrounded his tent and cut it into strips with their knives. They threatened to depose him from the chiefship unless he immediately put on the "war-paint" and led them against the whites. They knew that the Civil War was then in progress, that the white men were fighting among themselves, and they declared that now was the time to regain their lost hunting-grounds; that now was the time to avenge the thievery and insults of the Agents who had for years systematically cheated them out of the greater part of their promised annuities, for which they had been induced to part with their lands; that now was the time to avenge the debauchery of their wives and daughters by the dissolute hangers-on who, as employees of the Indian Agents and licensed traders, had for years hovered around them like buzzards around the carcasses of slaughtered buffaloes.

But Little Crow was unmoved by the appeals and threats of his warriors. It is said that once for a moment he uncovered his head; that his face was haggard and great beads of sweat stood out on his forehead. But at last one of his enraged braves, bolder than the rest, cried out:

"Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta is a coward!"

Instantly Little Crow sprang from his teepee, snatched the eagle-feathers from the head of his insulter and flung them on the ground. Then, stretching himself to his full height, his eyes flashing fire, and in a voice tremulous with rage, he exclaimed:

"Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta is not a coward, and he is not a fool! When did he run away from his enemies? When did he leave his braves behind him on the war-path and turn back to his teepees? When he ran away from your enemies, he walked behind on your trail with his face to the Ojibways and covered your backs as a she-bear covers her cubs! Is Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta without scalps? Look at his war-feathers! Behold the scalp-locks of your enemies hanging there on his lodge-poles! Do they call him a coward? Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta is not a coward, and he is not a fool. Braves, you are like little children; you know not what you are doing.

"You are full of the white man's devil-water" (rum). "You are like dogs in the Hot Moon when they run mad and snap at their own shadows. We are only little herds of buffaloes left scattered; the great herds that once covered the prairies are no more. See!—the white men are like the locusts when they fly so thick that the whole sky is a snow-storm. You may kill one—two—ten; yes, as many as the leaves in the forest yonder, and their brothers will not miss them. Kill one—two—ten, and ten times ten will come to kill you. Count your fingers all day long and white men with guns in their hands will come faster than you can count.

"Yes; they fight among themselves—away off. Do you hear the thunder of their big guns? No; it would take you two moons to run down to where they are fighting, and all the way your path would be among white soldiers as thick as tamaracks in the swamps of the Ojibways. Yes; they fight among themselves, but if you strike at them they will all turn on you and devour you and your women and little children just as the locusts in their time fall on the trees and devour all the leaves in one day. You are fools. You cannot see the face of your chief; your eyes are full of smoke. You cannot hear his voice; your ears are full of roaring waters. Braves, you are little children—you are fools. You will die like the rabbits when the hungry wolves hunt them in the Hard Moon (January). Ta-ó-ya-té dú-ta is not a coward: he will die with you."

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.

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.

E-hó, E-tó—Exclamations of surprise and delight.

Mah-gâh—The wild-goose.

Teé-peé—A lodge or wigwam, often contracted to "tee."

Pronounced Mahr-peé-yah-doó-tah—literally, Cloud Red.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Tee—Contracted from teepee, lodge or wigwam, and means the same.

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.

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.

See Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah, pp. 225-8, describing the feast to Heyóka.

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.

"Ho" is an exclamation of approval—yea, yes, bravo.

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.

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.

Se-só-kah—The Robin.

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.

Mee-coónk-shee—My daughter.

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.

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.

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."

Pronounced Tah-tâhn-kah—Bison or Buffalo.

Enâh—An exclamation of wonder. Ehó—Behold! see there!

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

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.

April—Literally, the moon when the geese lay eggs. See note 71.

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.

Wah-kâhn-dee—The lightning.

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.

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).

Hogâhn—Fish. Red Hogan, the trout.

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.

Rio Tajo (or Tagus), a river of Spain and Portugal.

Skeé-skah—The Wood-duck.

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."

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.

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."

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.

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).

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.

Shee-shó-kah—The Robin.

The Dakotas call the Evening Star the "Virgin Star," and believe it to be the spirit of the virgin wronged at the feast.

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.

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.

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

Strawberries.

Seé-yo—The prairie-hen.

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.

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.