i. e., “Ho, Wakanda, you may have given me an animal, but now it seems that you have taken it from me. I hope that you will cause another to appear to me.” But if the hunter shot at an animal and missed it, he said nothing.

PONKA BELIEF ABOUT MALEVOLENT SPIRITS.

§ 26. About eighteen years ago, the author was told by the Ponka, whose reservation was then in southern Dakota, that they believed death to be caused by certain malevolent spirits, whom they feared. In order to prevent future visits of such spirits, the survivors gave away all their property, hoping that as they were in such a wretched plight the spirits would not think it worth while to make them more unhappy. At the burial of Mazi-kide, an Omaha, the author observed that some one approached the corpse and addressed it. In referring to this in 1888, Samuel Fremont said that the speaker said, “Wakanda has caused your death.” In telling this, Fremont used the singular. “Wakanda aka.” On repeating this to George Miller, the latter said that it should have been “Wakanda ama,” in the plural, “the Mysterious Powers,” as the Omaha believed in more than one Wakanda before they learned about the one God of monotheism.

This agrees with what was learned about the Dakota by the late missionaries, Messrs. S. R. Riggs and G. H. Pond, and by the late James W. Lynd, as stated in chapter V.

AN OLD OMAHA CUSTOM.

§ 27. “Abicude,” said Samuel Fremont, “is a word which refers to an old Omaha and Ponka custom, i.e., that of blowing the smoke downward to the ground while praying. The Omaha and Ponka used to hold the pipe in six directions while smoking: toward the four winds, the ground, and the upper world.” The exact order has been forgotten by Fremont, but Lewis and Clarke have recorded the corresponding Shoshoni custom. Capt. Lewis tells how the Shoshoni chief, after lighting his pipe of transparent greenstone (instead of catlinite), made a speech, after which he pointed the stem of the pipe toward the four points of the heavens, beginning with the east and concluding with the north. After extending the stem thrice toward Capt. Lewis, he pointed it first toward the heavens and then toward the center of the little circle of guests, probably toward the ground, symbolizing the subterranean power.[15]

In addressing the four winds, a peculiar expression is employed by the Omaha:

Instead of the singular classifier, ȼaȼiⁿce, the regular plural, nañkácĕ, ye who sit, stand, or move, might have been expected. (See § 33.)

In smoking toward the ground and upper world, the suppliant had to say, “I petition to you who are one of the two, you who are reclining on your back, and to you who are the other one, sitting directly above us. Both of you help me!” “Here,” said Fremont, “the ground itself was addressed as a person.” Two Crows said that some Omaha appealed to a subterranean Wakanda when their word was doubted, saying, “Iⁿc‘áge hídeaʇa aká aⁿná‘aⁿi,” “The venerable man at the bottom hears me.” The author is unable to say whether this was ┴ande or Wakandagi. (See § 37.)

The following was recorded of the Omaha, and refers to a custom relating to the buffalo hunt.[16]

On coming in sight of the herd, the hunters talk kindly to their horses, applying to them the endearing names of father, brother, uncle, etc. They petition them not to fear the bisons, but to run well and keep close to them, but at the same time to avoid being gored.

The party having approached as near to the herd as they suppose the animals will permit without taking alarm, they halt to give the pipe bearer an opportunity to perform the ceremony of smoking, which is considered necessary to their success. He lights his pipe, and remains a short time with his head inclined, and the stem of the pipe extended toward the herd. He then smokes, and puffs the smoke toward the bisons, and the earth, and finally to the cardinal points successively.

THE SUN A WAKANDA.

§ 28. In the Osage traditions the “mysterious one of day” is invoked as “grandfather.”[17]

He replies that he is not the only Wakanʇa. That the Kansa worshiped the sun as a Wakanda appears from the following: “On one occasion, when the Kansa went against the Pawnees, the stick was set up for the mystic attack or ‘waqpele gaxe.’ The war captain addressed the rising sun thus:

“I wish to kill a Pawnee! I desire to bring horses when I return. I long to pull down an enemy! I promise you a calico shirt and a robe. I will give you a blanket also, O Wakanda, if you allow me to return in safety after killing a Pawnee!” When warriors performed the “waqpele gaxe” or the attack on the stick representing the foe, no member of the Lṵ or Thunder gens could participate. On such an occasion the warrior turned to the east and said:

i.e., I wish my party to pass along the road to the foe(?). I promise you a blanket, O Wakanda (if I succeed?).” On turning to the west he said:

i. e., “I promise you a feast, O Wakanda (if I succeed?).” When it was decided to perform the “waqpele gaxe,” the dudaⁿhañga or war captain made one of the lieutenants carry the sacred bag, and two of the kettle tenders took bundles of sticks, which they laid down in the road. The four remaining kettle tenders remained at the camping place. The next morning all the warriors but those of the Lṵ gens went to the place where the sticks had been laid, drew a circle around the bundles, set up one of the sticks, and attacked it, as if it were a Pawnee. This ceremony often caused the death of real enemies.

Among the Osage and Kansa prayer was made toward the rising sun in the morning and towards the setting sun in the afternoon and evening.

Among the Omaha and Kansa the head of a corpse is laid towards the east. For this reason no Omaha will consent to recline with his head towards that point. The Kansa lodges also are orientated, and so were those of the Omaha (see § 59). The east appears to symbolize life or the source thereof, but[18] the west refers to death; so among the Osage the course of a war party was towards the mythic or symbolic west, towards which point the entrances of the lodges were turned[19] (see §§ 83 and 384).

Gahige, the late Omaha chief, said that when he was young all the Omaha prayed to the sun, holding up their hands with the palms towards the sun and saying, “Wakan´da, ȼá‘eaⁿ´ȼa-gă,” etc., i. e., “O Wakanda, pity me!” They abstained from eating, drinking, and (ordinary) smoking from sunrise to sunset; but after sunset the restrictions were removed.[20]

For four nights the men who thus prayed did not sleep at home. At the end of that period the task was finished. “Íwackaⁿ gáxai,” i. e., they made or gained superhuman power. They could thus pray at any time from the appearance of grass in the spring until the ground became frozen.

THE OFFERING OF TOBACCO.

§ 29. In 1889 George Miller gave an account of what he called “Niní bahaí tĕ,” i. e. the offering or presentation of tobacco. Whether this phrase was ever used except in a religious or superhuman connection is more than the author is able to say. Whenever the Indians traveled they used all the words which follow as they extended the pipe with the mouthpiece toward the sun:

This may be rendered freely thus: “Ho, Mysterious Power, you who are the Sun! Here is tobacco! I wish to follow your course. Grant that it may be so! Cause me to meet whatever is good (i. e., for my advantage) and to give a wide berth to anything that may be to my injury or disadvantage. Throughout this island (the world) you regulate everything that moves, including human beings, when you decide for one that his last day on earth has come, it is so. It can not be delayed. Therefore, O Mysterious Power, I ask a favor of you.”

THE PONKA SUN DANCE OF 1873.

In the summer of 1873, when the author was missionary to the Ponka in what was Todd County, Dakota, that tribe had a sun dance on the prairie near the mission house. The scarifications and subsequent tortures and dancing lasted but three hours instead of a longer period, owing to the remonstrances of Bishop Hare, the agent, and the missionary. The head chief, White Eagle, was tied to his pony, after he had been scarified and fastened to the sun pole. Some of his policemen, armed with whips, lashed the pony until it leaped aside, tearing out the lariat that fastened the chief to the sun pole, and terminating his participation in the ceremony. (See Pl. XLVI and § 187.) For obvious reasons the author did not view the sun dance, but he was told about it by some of the spectators. As the chief, Standing Buffalo, had said to Bishop Hare in the council previous to the sun dance, “You white people pray to Wakanda in your way, and we Indians pray to Wakanda in the sun dance. Should you chance to lose your way on the prairie you would perish, but if we got lost we would pray to Wakanda in the sun dance, and find our way again.”

THE MOON A WAKANDA.

§ 30. No examples of invocations of the moon have yet been found among the Omaha and Ponka. But that the moon is “qube” appears from the decorations of robes and tents. (See §§ 45-47.)

The moon is addressed as a “grandfather” and is described as the “Wakanʇa of night” in “Osage Traditions,” lines 55-59.[21]

BERDACHES.

The Omaha believe that the unfortunate beings, called “Miⁿ-qu-ga,” are mysterious or sacred because they have been affected by the Moon Being. When a young Omaha fasted for the first time on reaching puberty, it was thought that the Moon Being appeared to him, holding in one hand a bow and arrows and in the other a pack strap, such as the Indian women use. When the youth tried to grasp the bow and arrows the Moon Being crossed his hands very quickly, and if the youth was not very careful he seized the pack strap instead of the bow and arrows, thereby fixing his lot in after life. In such a case he could not help acting the woman, speaking, dressing, and working just as Indian women used to do. Louis Sanssouci said that the miⁿ-quga took other men as their husbands. Frank La Flèche knew one such man, who had had several men as his husbands. A Ponka child once said to the author, “Miⁿjiñga-ma nujiñga ama ʇi-gaxe-nandi, miⁿquga, ai,” i.e., “If boys make a practice of playing with the girls they become (or are called) miⁿquga.” This term may be rendered “hermaphrodite” when it refers to animals, as “ʇe miⁿquga,” a hermaphrodite buffalo. It must have been of this class of persons, called “Miⁿ-quge” by the Kansa that Say wrote when he said:

Many of the subjects of it (i.e., sodomy among the Kansa) are publicly known, and do not appear to be despised or to excite disgust. One was pointed out to us. He had submitted himself to it in consequence of a vow he had made to his mystic medicine, which obliged him to change his dress for that of a woman, to do their work, and to permit his hair to grow.[22]

After giving an account of the Miⁿquga which agrees with what has been written above, Miss Fletcher[23] tells of “a man who had the misfortune to be forced to this life and tried to resist. His father gave him a bow and some arrows, but the penalty of his vision so wrought upon his mind that, unable to endure the abnormal life, he committed suicide.” (See §§ 212, 353.)

STARS AS WAKANDAS.

§ 31. That the Omaha and Ponka regarded the stars as Wakandas seems probable from the existence of nikie names and the personal mystery decorations. (See §§ 45, 47, and 52.) There are star names in the Night gens of the Kansa, and they point to the mythical origin of the gens. The Kansa made offerings to the morning star. Among the Osage the traditions of the Tsiɔu Wactaʞe and Bald Eagle people mention several Wakanʇas among the stars. These are as follows: Watse ʇuʞa, a “grandfather;” Watse miⁿʞa, a “grandmother;” Miⁿkak’e peȼŭⁿ[p]a, the Seven Stars (Pleiades?), a “grandfather;” the constellation Ta ȼa[p]ȼiⁿ or the Three Deer, a “grandfather;” the morning star, Miⁿkak’e tañʞa (literally, large star), a “grandfather;” the small star, a “grandfather;” the bowl of the Dipper, called “Wa[p]aha ȼiñkce; the Funeral Bier,” a “grandfather,” and the Female Red Bird, a “grandmother,” the eponym of the Tsiɔu Wactaʞe or “Red Eagle” gens. She, too, was probably a star.[24]

“The Indians used to invoke various objects, including the mountains, saying, ‘O, all ye mysterious powers, I ask a favor of you!’ They prayed to the ground, saying, ‘O, you who are the ground! May I tread you a little while longer!’ i.e., ‘May my life on earth be prolonged!’ When one prayed to the four winds, he would say, ‘Ho, ye four winds, help me!’ Thus did speak when they prayed to the Wakandas.”—(George Miller.)

THE WINDS AS WAKANDAS.

§ 33. The Omaka and Ponka invoked the winds, as has been stated in part of the preceding section. See also the statement of Samuel Fremont (§ 27).[25]

In preparing for the pipe dance the tobacco pouch, two gourd rattles, and the ear of corn have a figure drawn on each of them with green paint; it is the cross, indicating the four quarters of the heavens or the four winds.[26]

KANSA SACRIFICE TO THE WINDS.

“In former days the Kansa used to remove the hearts of slain foes and put them in the fire as a sacrifice to the four winds. Even now (1882) offerings are made to every Wakanda by the Kansa, to the power or powers above, to those under the hills, to the winds, the thunder-being, the morning star, etc. As Aliⁿkawahu and Pahaⁿlegaqli are Yata men (i. e., members of gentes camping on the left side of the tribal circle), they elevate their left hands and begin at the left with the east wind, then they turn to the south wind, then to the west wind, and finally to the north wind, saying to each, ‘Gá-tcĕ, Wakan´da, mik’ü´ eyau´,’ i. e., ‘O Wakanda, I really give that to you.’ In former days they used to pierce themselves with knives and splinters of wood, and offer small pieces of their flesh to the Wakandas.”[27]

OSAGE CONSECRATION OF MYSTIC FIREPLACES.

The author considers that the following statement of the Osage chief, [K]ahiʞe-waʇayiñʞa (of the Tsiɔu Wactaʞe gens), refers to the invocation of the four winds. It appears to have been associated with fire or hearth worship. Whenever a permanent village of earth lodges was established among the Osage and Kansa, there was a consecration of a certain number of fireplaces before the ordinary fireplaces could be made by the common people. The consecrated fireplaces were made in two parallel rows, beginning at the west and ending at the east. Among the Kansa there were seven on one side and six on the other, but among the Osage there seem to have been seven on each side. Among the Osage, the Tsiɔu Wactaʞe and Paⁿɥka gentes were the ‘roadmakers,’ i. e., those who consecrated the two rows of fireplaces. [K]ahiʞe-waʇayiñʞa said, “When the old Tsiɔu man made his speech, he went into details about every part of a lodge, the fireplace, building materials, implements, etc. Four sticks were placed in the fireplace, the first one pointing to the west (see §§ 40, 84). When the first stick was laid down, the Tsiɔu leader spoke about the west wind, and also about a young buffalo bull (Tseʇṵ-ɔiñʞa), repeating the name, Wanie-skă (meaning not gained). When the stick pointing to the north was laid down he spoke of Tsehe-qṵʇ[s]e (gray buffalo horns), or a buffalo bull. When the stick at the east was laid down, he spoke of Tse-ʇṵʞa-tañʞa (a large buffalo bull). On laying down the fourth stick, pointing to the south, he spoke of Tse miⁿʞa (a buffalo cow). At the same time a similar ceremony was performed by the aged Paⁿɥka man for the gentes on the right side of the tribal circle. In placing the stick to the east, he mentioned Taʇ[s]e [K]aqpa tsĕ (the east wind) and Tahe ca[p]e (dark horned deer). In placing that to the north, Taʇ[s]e Ԁa[s]aⁿ tsĕ (the north wind, literally, ‘the pine wind’) and Tahe qṵʇ[s]e (the deer with gray horns) were mentioned. In placing that pointing to the west, Taʇ[s]e Maⁿha tsĕ (the west wind) and an animal which makes a lodge and is with the Tahe pa[s]iʞe (probably a deer name) were mentioned. In placing the stick pointing to the south, he spoke of Taʇ[s]e Ak’a tsĕ (the south wind) and Ta wañka he aʞȼaɔi skutañʞa (probable meaning, a large white female deer without any horns).

§ 34. In time of war, prayers were made about the fire (§ 287), when a warrior painted his face red, using the “fire paint,” a custom of the left or Tsiɔu side of the tribe. Those on the right or Hañʞa side used “the young buffalo bull decoration,” and probably offered prayer in connection therewith, in order to be filled with the spirit of their “little grandfather” (the young buffalo bull), as they rushed on the enemy. This will be seen from the words employed by the warrior: “My little grandfather is always dangerous as he makes an attempt. Very close do I stand, ready to go to the attack!”[28]

THE THUNDER-BEING A WAKANDA.

OMAHA AND PONKA INVOCATION OF THE THUNDER-BEING.

§ 35. Among the Omaha and Ponka, when the first thunder was heard in the spring of the year, the Black bear people went to the sacred tent of the Elk gens, and there they assisted the Elk people in the invocation of the Thunder-being. At a similar gathering of the Ponka, the Ponka Black bear people said, “Hau, iⁿc‘áge, ȼiʇúcpa ȼéȼu añ´ga-taⁿ ganáxiwaȼáȼai. Maⁿciáʇahá maⁿȼiñ´gă,” i. e., “Ho, venerable man! by your striking (with your club) you are frightening us, your grandchildren, who are here. Depart on high.”[29]

THUNDER-BEING INVOKED BY WARRIORS.

The Thunder-being is invoked by all present during the feast preparatory to starting on the warpath, when there is a small party of warriors. Each one addresses the Thunder-being as “Nudaⁿhañga,” leader in war, or war captain.[30]

When a large war party is desired, the Thunder-being is invoked (See history of Wabaskaha, in Contr. N. A. Ethn., Vol. VI, p. 394). Wabaskaha himself prayed, saying, “Oh, Wakanda, though foreigners have injured me, I hope that you may help me.” All who heard him knew that he desired to lead a large war party. When the four captains were chosen, they had to cry incessantly at night as well as by day, saying, “Oh, Wakanda! pity me! help me in that about which I am in a bad humor.” During the day they abstained from food and drink; but they could satisfy their thirst and hunger when night came.

At the feast preparatory to starting off as a large war party, the keepers of the sacred bags sing thunder songs as well as other sacred songs. One of the thunder songs used on such an occasion begins thus:

“Wi-ʇí-gaⁿ naⁿ´-pe-wá-ȼĕ é-gaⁿ,
Wi-ʇí-gaⁿ naⁿ´-pe-wá-ȼĕ é-gaⁿ,
Wé-tiⁿ kĕ gȼi-haⁿ´-haⁿ ʞĭ,
Naⁿ´-pe-wá-ȼĕ ——.”
“As my grandfather is dangerous,
As my grandfather is dangerous,
Dangerous when he brandishes his club,
Dangerous ——.”

When he had proceeded thus far, Ԁaȼiⁿ-naⁿpajĭ stopped and refused to tell the rest, as it was very “waqube.” He said that the principal captains of a large war party tied pieces of twisted grass around their wrists and ankles, and wore similar pieces around their heads. But Two Crows, who has been a captain, says that he never did this. (See, however, the Iowa custom in § 75.)

ICTASANDA CUSTOM.

The following “nikie” or ancient custom of the Ictasanda gens was related by George Miller:

Notes.

383, 4, et passim. Ȼaȼiⁿce ejaⁿmiⁿ, contracted in rapid pronunciation to, ȼaȼiⁿcejaⁿmiⁿ.

383, 4-6. Ȼigȼize-maⁿȼiⁿ, Ȼiaⁿba-tigȼe, Ȼiaⁿba-gínaⁿ, and Gaagigȼedaⁿ are “nikie names” of the Ictasanda or Thunder gens of the Omaha. They may refer to four Thunder beings, one at each point of the compass, or one dwelling in the direction of each of the four winds.

383, 8. Ciⁿȼiqade, with the arms elevated and the hands stretched out, palms down, towards the clouds.

383, 9-10. Nikaciⁿga wedajĭ ama, etc. Other gentes of Omaha fear to mention these Ictasanda names, or to bestow them on members of their gentes.

383, 11. Agudictĕ ... iȼa‘eȼĕ ama, etc. Refers to the Iñgȼaⁿ iȼa‘eȼĕ ama, or the Thunder shamans, of the other Omaha gentes.

Translation.

When the Ictasanda people become fearful during a shower, they fill a pipe with tobacco and offer it to the Thunder-beings. And when they offer the tobacco, they speak thus: “O grandfather! I am very poor here. In some direction or other cause a place to be abandoned by those (who would injure me?). I think that you are there O Ȼigȼize-maⁿȼiⁿ! I think that you are there. O Ȼiaⁿba-tigȼe! I think that you are there. O Ȼiaⁿba-gi naⁿ! I think that you are there. O Gaagigȼedaⁿ! I think that you are there.”

And when they do not offer the tobacco, they stand with the arms elevated and the hands stretched out, palms down, as they cry towards the clouds. And they say that the Thunder-beings know about them, their worshippers.

The Omaha of the other gentes fear to mention these Ictasanda nikie names, or to bestow them on members of their gentes, as well as to invoke the Thunder-being or beings, unless they belong to the order of Thunder shamans. In that case, they can do as the Ictasanda people do. They make songs about the Thunder-beings, and stand singing their own songs. They fill the pipe with tobacco, and stand, holding it with the mouth-piece toward the clouds, as they gaze towards them.

These shamans often act otherwise. Sometimes they do not fill the pipe, and then they stand singing the Thunder songs, without offering anything to the Thunder-beings.

And these shamans know when anything promises to result in good or evil to the person undertaking it. So when a person wishes to join a large hunting party, he fills a pipe with tobacco, and offers it to a shaman, thus causing him to prophesy. As he wishes him to know the result of following a certain course, (i. e., of traveling in a certain direction), he induces the shaman to sing (sacred songs). And sometimes the shaman predicts the very occurrence which comes to pass; if, for instance, he foretells that the inquiring man will kill game, he may say, ‘The Thunder-beings (?) have given me some quadrupeds.’

KANSA WORSHIP OF THE THUNDER-BEING.

§ 36. The following was a custom of the Lṵ or Thunder-being gens. At the time of the first thunder-storm in the spring of the year, the Lṵ people put a quantity of green cedar on a fire, making a great smoke. The storm ceased after the members of the other gentes offered prayers. The Buffalo or Tcedŭñga gens aided the Lṵ gens in the worship of the Thunder-being, by sending one of their men to open the sacred bag of gray hawk skin and remove the mystery pipe. These objects were kept by a Lṵ man, Kinuyiñge, who was not allowed to open the bag.

Pahaⁿle-gaqli, of the Large Hañga gens, and Aliⁿkawahu, of the Small Hañga, are the leaders in everything pertaining to war. Pahaⁿle-gaqli furnished the author with a copy of his war chart, on which are represented symbols of the mystery songs. In the middle of the chart there should be a representation of fire, but Pahaⁿle-gaqli said that he was afraid to draw it there, unless he fasted and took other necessary precautions. The songs used in connection with the chart are very “wakandagi,” or mysterious. They are never sung on common occasions, or in a profane manner, lest the offender should be killed by the Thunder-being. One of the three songs about the sacred pipe, sung when the wrappings are taken from the pipe (See § 85) by Aliⁿkawahu is as follows:

“Ha-há! tcé-ga-nú ha-há!
Ha-há! tcé-ga-nú ha-há!
Ha-há! tcé-ga-nú ha-há!
Hü-hü´!”

(Unintelligible to the author. Said when Aliⁿkawahu presses down on the covers or wrappings of the pipe.)

“Yu! yu! yú! Hü-hü´! Hü-hü´!”

(Chorus sung by all the Large and Small Hañga men.)

This last line is an invocation of the Thunder-being. The arms, which are kept apart and parallel, are held up toward the sky, with the palms of the hands out. Each arm is then rubbed from the wrist to the shoulder by the other hand.[31]

After the singing of these three songs, Pahaⁿle-gaqli carries the sacred clam shell on his back.

The second figure on the chart is that of the venerable man or Wakanda, who was the first singer of all the Hañga songs. When Aliⁿkawahu and Pahaⁿle-gaqli are singing them, they think that this Wakanda walks behind them, holding up his hands toward the Thunder-being, to whom he prays for them.

When the war pipe is smoked by any Hañga man, he holds the pipe in his right hand, and blows the smoke into the sacred clam shell, in his left. The smoke ascends from the clam shell to the Thunder-being, to whom it is pleasant.

The Kansa used to “cry to” the Thunder-being before going on the warpath. When the captain (the head of the Large Hañga gens) smoked his pipe, he used to say,

i. e. “Ho, Wakanda! I really wish a Skidi” (or, Pawnee Loup) “to die!”

The men of the two Hañga gentes unite in singing songs to stop rain, when fair weather is needed, and songs to cause rain when there has been a drought. (See § 43.)

SUBTERRANEAN AND SUBAQUATIC WAKANDAS.

§ 37. The Omaha and Ponka believe in the Wakandagi, monsters that dwell beneath the bluffs and in the Missouri river. These monsters have very long bodies, with horns on their heads. One myth relates how an orphan killed a Wakandagi with seven heads.[32]

The Omaha have a tradition that a Wakandagi was seen in the lake into which Blackbird creek empties, near the Omaha agency. It is impossible to say whether the Wakandagi and the ┴ande or Ground were differentiated (See § 27). The Kansa Mi-á-lṵ-cka were somewhat like the Wakandagi, though in one respect they resembled the mythical Ԁá-[s]nu-ta of the Omaha, i. e., in having enormous heads. The Kansa speak of the Mialṵcka as a race of dreadful beings with large heads and long hair.[33] They dwelt in remote places, to which they were supposed to entice any unwary Indian who traveled alone. The victim became crazy and subsequently lived as a miⁿquga or catamite. Some of the Mialṵcka dwelt underground or in the water, sitting close to the bank of the stream. The ancient Mialṵcka was a benefactor to the Indians, for he took some wet clay and made first a buffalo calf and then three buffalo bulls, which he ordered the Indians to shoot, after teaching them how to make bows and arrows and to use them.

THE INDAȻIÑGA.

§ 38. The Ponka, in 1871, told the author of a being whom they called the Ĭndáȼiñga. This being was a superhuman character, who dwelt in the forests. He hooted like an owl, and he was so powerful that he could uproot a tree or overturn a lodge. The Ponka had a song about him, and mothers used to scare their children by saying, “Behave, else the Ĭndaȼiñga will catch you!” Joseph La Flèche had heard it spoken of as a monster in human shape, covered with thick hair. As the Ponka for wearing a mask is “Ĭndáȼiñga gáxe,” or “to act the Ĭndáȼiñga,” it may be that this character was an aboriginal bogy. Compare the Dakota Ćaŋotidaŋ, Hoḣnoġića, Uŋgnaġićala, etc. (§ 232.) Omaha mothers used to scare their children by telling them that if they did not behave, Icibajĭ (a hero of the ┴e-sĭnde gens) or ┴exujaⁿ (a hero of the [K]aⁿze gens) would catch them.[34] Another fearful being was Ĭnde-naⁿba, or Two Faces, the very sight of whom killed a woman who was enceinte.[35] This being resembled, in some respects, Ictinike, the deceiver,[36] though Ictinike was usually the counterpart of the Dakota Ikto, Iktomi, or Uŋktomi. (See §§ 228-231.) As a worker of evil Ictinike may be compared with the Dakota Anŭŋg-ite or Two Faces, and the latter in turn resembled the Ĭndáȼiñga of the Ponka. (See §§ 233, 234.)

OTHER KANSA WAKANDAS.

§ 39. The third figure on the Kansa war chart is[37] that of the Wakanda or aged man who gives success to the hunter. He is thus addressed by Aliⁿkawahu and Pahaⁿle-gaqli: