432 A bTUDY OF SIOUAN CULTS. 



circle dauce, with reverent attentinu^ are siieereil at by a class who deny in tntn the 

 joakan nature of that ceremony.' 



In common with all nations of the earth the Dakotas helieve in a Wakantanka or 

 Great Spirit. But this Being is not alone in the universe. Numbers of minor deities 

 are scattered throughout space, some of whom are placed high in the scale of jjower. 

 Their ideas of the Great Spirit appear to be that He is the creator of the world and 

 has existed from all time; but after creating the world and all that is in it He sank 

 into silence and since then has failed to take any interest in the attairs of this 

 planet. They never jiray to Him, for they deem Him too far away to hear them, or 

 as not being concerned in their aft'airs. No sacrifices are made to Him, nor dances 

 in His honor. Of all the spirits He is the Great Sjjirit; but His power is only latent 

 or negative. They swear by Him at all times, but more commonly by other divini- 

 ties. - 



Yet Lynd is not always consisteut, for he says on another page (71) 

 of the same work: "No one deity is held by them all as a superior object 

 of worship." 



§ 94. Pond writes : 



p]videuce is also wanting to show that the Dakotas embraced in their religious 

 teneuts the idea of one supreme existence, whose existence is expressed by the term 

 Great Spirit. If some cl.ans at the present time entertain this idea it seems highly 

 jirobable that it has been imparted to them by individuals of European extraction. 

 No reference to such a being is found in their feasts, fasts, or sacrifices. Or if there 

 is such a reference at the present time it is clear that it is of recent origin and does 

 not l)elong to their system. It is indeed true that the Dakotas do sometimes appeal 

 to the Great Spirit when in council with white men, but it is because they them- 

 selves have cmljraced the Christian doctrines. Still, it is generally the interpreter 

 -who makes the appeal to the Great Spirit, when the Indian speaker really appealed 

 to the Taku Wakan, and not to the Wakantanka. It is true that * » * all the 

 Dakota gods ♦ • • are mortal. They are not thought of as being eternal, except 

 it may be by succession. ' 



The author agrees with Pond in what he says about the average 

 Indian interpreter of early days, who seldom gave a correct rendering 

 of what was spoken in council. But at the present time great improve- 

 ment has doubtless been observed. 



It should be remembered that Messrs. Riggs and Pond were mission- 

 aries to the Dakotas, while Messrs. Say, Shea, and Lynd must be 

 classed among the laity. Yet the missionaries, not the laymen, are the 

 ones who make the positive statements about the absence of a belief 

 in one Great Spirit. 



RlGGS UN THE TAKU WAKAN. 



§ 95. Riggs remarks : 



The religious faith of the Dakota is not in his gods as such. It is an intangible, 

 mysterious something of which they are only the embodiment, and tliat in such a 

 measure and degree as may accord with the individual fancy of the worshiper. 

 Each one will worship some of these ilivinities and neglect and despise others; but 

 the great object of all their worship, whatever its chosen medium, is the ta-koo 



•Lynd, Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. n. pt. 2, p. 63. Compare these seemin;^ contradiotioii.s with those 

 observed among the Omaha and Ponk.i, especially ^§ 21-24. 

 niiid, pp. 64-0.'). 

 3Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. M, pt. 3, p. 34. 



