CHAPTER IV. 



X3IWERE AND WINNEBAGO CULTS. 



§ 72. The Eev. William Hamilton, who was a missionary to the Iowa 

 and Sac Indians of Nebraska, from 1837 to 1853, is the anthority for most 

 of the Iowa material in this chapter. Abont the year 1848, he pub- 

 lished a series of letters about the Iowa Indians iu a Presbyterian 

 weekly newspaper, and with his permission the present writer tran- 

 scribed these letters in 1879, for his own futui-e use. 



Other information about the three jjOiwere tribes {Iowa, Oto and Mis- 

 souri) was obtained by the author from Ke-3ire5e, an Oto; Ckajoinye, 

 a Missouri; and the delegation of Iowa chiefs that visited Washington 

 in 1882. 



The principal Winnebago authority was James Alexander, a full- 

 blood and a member of the Wolf gens. 



TERM "GREAT SPIRIT" NEVER HEARD AMONG THE IOWA. 



Mr. Hamilton wrote thus in one of his letters: 



It is ofteu said that the Indians are not idolaters, and that they believe in one 

 Supreme Being, whom they call the Great Spirit. I do not now recollect that I ever 

 heard the lowas use the term Great Spirit since I have been among them. They 

 speak of God (Wakanta), and sometimes of the Great God or Bad God. But of the 

 true character of God they are entirely ignorant. Many of them speak of God as the 

 creator of all things, and use a term that signifies "Creator of the earth." Some- 

 times they call him "Grandfather" (hi^tuka). But they imagine him to be pos- 

 sessed of like passions with themselves, and pleased with their war parties, scalp 

 dances, thefts, and such like sin • * • They sometimes speak of the sun as a 

 god, because it gives light and heat. The moon they sometimes speak of as a god, 

 because it seems to be to the night what the sun is to the day. I asked an Indian 

 the other day how many gods the lowas had, and he promptly replied, ' Seven.' 



THE SUN A WAKANTA. 



§ 73. All Iowa told Mr. Hamilton that he had once killed a bear, which 

 he ottered to the sun, allowing the animal to lie where he had killed it. 



THE WINDS AS WAKANTAS. 



§ 74. An Iowa told Mr. Hamilton that Tatce, or Wind, was one of the 

 seven great gods of bis tribe. Another told him that he had made 

 ofl'erings to the South Wind, who was considered a beneficent Wakanta. 

 But the North-east Wind was a maleficent one. 



Judging from some of the Winnebago personal names, it is probable 

 that the winds were regarded as powers by that people. 



423 



