368 A STUDY OF SIOUAN CULTS. 



in a dream); to see when awake, aucl iu a mysterious manner liaving 

 a conversation with the animal about mysterious things." 



§ 9. The names for grandfather, grandmother, and old man are 

 terms of veneration, superhuman beings having these names applied 

 to them in invocations. (See §§ 15, 99.) 



SIGNIFICANCE OF PERSONAL NAMES AND KINSHIP TERMS. 



In a note up n " The Religious Ceremony of the Four Winds or 

 Quarters, as Observed by the Santee Sioux," Miss Fletcher' remarks: 

 " A name implies relationship, and consequently protection; favor and 

 influence are claimed from the source of the name, whether this be 

 the gens or the vision. A name, therefore, shows the affiliation of the 

 individual; it grades him, so to speak, and he is apt to lean upon its 

 implied power. * * * Tlie sacred import of a name in the mind of 

 the Indian is indicated in that part of the ceremony where the " Some- 

 thing that moves" seems to overshadow and inclose tlie child, and 

 addresses the wakan man as father. The wakan man replies, calling 

 the god, child, at the same time invoking the supernatural protection 

 and care for the boy, as he lays at the feet of the messenger of Un- 

 seen Power the offerings of gifts and the honor of the feast. The ijer- 

 sonal name^ among Indians, therefore, indicates the protecting pres 

 ence of a deity, and must, therefore, partake of the ceremonial charac- 

 ter of the Indian's religion." 



In this ceremony the superhuman being is addressed by the term 

 implying jHxionYj/, and the human being, the wakan man, by that asso- 

 ciated with sunioriti/, an apparent reversal of the usual custom ; but, 

 doubtless, there can be found some explanation for this seeming excep- 

 tion to the rule. 



MYTH AND LEGEND DISTINGUISHED FROM THE SUPERHUMAN. 



§ 10. The Omaha, Ponka, and cognate tribes distinguish at the pres- 

 ent day between the myth (higa", higu) and the legend or story (iu^a, 

 etc.) on the one hand, and what on the other hand is called " Wakan- 

 dajafica"," " nqnbea^afica"," and " i(f^a'e(f;ea'}af ica"." The former are told 

 only for amusement and are called, "iusicta" iu^-a." lying tales. They 

 are regarded a-; "iqawa^ea^afica"," pertaining to the ludicrous. With 

 this may be compared the statements of Lang :^ 



"Among the lowest and most backward, as among the most ad- 

 vanced races, there coexist the mythical and the religious elements in 

 belief. The rational factor (or what approves itselfto us as the rational 

 factor) is visible in religion; the irrational is pi'ominent in myth.'' 

 * * * '-The rational and irrational aspects of mythology and religion 

 may be of coeval antiquity for all that is certainly known, or either of 



' Op. cit., i>. 295. 



2 \ut\ .ilsi> the kiuship term in .some r.i-ses. 



ajlytb. Ritual, aud Religlou, pp. 328.329. 



