3ICGEE] SIGNIFICANCE OF WAKA^'dA 183 



staud bow tbe superticial inquirer, doiuiDated by definite spiritual 

 concept, liandicapped by iiiifamiliarity with tbe Indian tongue, misled bj^ 

 ignorance of tbe vague prescriptorial ideation, and jterbaps deceived 

 by crafty native informants or nuscbievous interpreters, came to adopt 

 and perpetuate tbe erroneous interpretation. Tbe term may be trans- 

 lated into '"mystery" perliai)s more satisfactorily tban into any otber 

 single Englisli \yord, yet this rendering is at tlio same time mucb too 

 limited and much too definite. xVs used by the Siouau Indian, \vaka"da 

 vaguely connotes also "power,"' "sacred," "ancient," "grandeur," 

 "animate," "immortal," and other words, yet does not express with 

 any degree of fullness and clearness tbe ideas conveyed by these terms 

 singly or collectively — indeed, no English sentence of reasonable length 

 can do justice to tbe aboriginal idea expressed liy the term walca"da. 



While the beliefs of many of the Siouan tribes are lost through tbe 

 extinction of the tribesmen or transformed through acculturation, it is 

 fortunate that a large body of information concerning tbe myths and 

 ceremonials of several jjrairie tribes has been collected. The records 

 of Carver, Lewis and Clarlc, Say, Catliu, and Prince Maximilian are of 

 great value when interpreted in tbe light of modern knowledge. More 

 recent researches by Miss Fletcher' and by Dorsey^ are of especial 

 value, not only as direct sources of information but as a means of 

 interpi-eting tbe earlier writings. From these records it appears that, 

 in so far as they grasped tlie theistic concept, the Siouan Indians were 

 polytheists; that their mysteries or deities varied in rank and power; 

 that some were good but more were bad, while others combined bad 

 and good attributes; that they assumed various forms, actual and 

 imaginary; and that their dispositions and motives resembled those 

 found among mankind. 



The organization of the vague Siouan thearchy appears to have 

 varied from group to group. Among all of the tribes whose beliefs 

 are known, the sun was an important waka"da, perhaps the leading one 

 potentially, though nsually of less immediate consideration tban cer- 

 tain others, such as thunder, lightning, and tlie cedar tree; among 

 tbe Osage the sun was invoked as "grandfather," and among various 

 tribes there were sun ceremonials, some of which are still maintained; 

 among the Omaha and Ponka, according to Miss Fletcher, the mythic 

 thuuder-bird plays a prominent, perhaps dominant ixMe, and the cedar 

 tree or pole is deified as its tangible representative. Tbe moon was 

 waka"da among tbe Osage and tbe stars among the Omaha and Pouka, 

 yet they seem to have occu[)ied subordinate positions; the winds and 

 the four quarters were ap])arently given higher rank ; and, in individual 

 cases, the mythic water-monsters or earth-deities seem to have occu- 

 pied leading positions. On tbe whole, it may be safe to consider the 



'Several of these are summarized iu "The emhlematie use of the tree iu the Dakota ^roup," 

 Science, n s.. vol. iv. 1896, pp. 475-487. 



2Notahly"A Study of Siouan Cults. " Seventh Annual Report of tlie Bureau of Ethnolo^.\- for 

 1889-!10 (1S94), pp. 351-544. 



