DORSET.] TUNKAN OR INYAN. 447 



Oracle of the Pute-temui band of Hnnkpati Dakotas." He said that 

 this oracle had been seen by him while on an expedition with some 

 Dakotas across the James Eiver valley in Dakota Territoiy. A Hnn- 

 kpati man of the party gave the history of the stone and an account of 

 its miraculous movement from the Sacred Hill to the old dirt lodge vil- 

 lage. This oracle was called the Takuskaij.skaij. 



§ 131. But the Taknskaijskai) assumed other shapes. Said Bushotter, 

 in one of his Teton texts : 



The Lakotas regard certain small stones or pebbles as mysterious, and it is said 

 that in former days a man had one as his heljier or servant. There are two kinds of 

 these mysterious stones (i. e., pebbles, not rocks). One is white, resembling ice or 

 glass (i.e^ is probably translucent; compare the translucent pebbles of the I"-Jiug<|!i 

 order of the Omaha, see Om. Soc, p. 346); the other resembles ordinary stones. It is 

 saitl that one of them once entered a lodge and struck a man, and peoi>Ie spoke of 

 the stones sending in rattles through the smoke hole of a lodge. When anything 

 ■was missed in the village the peojile ajipealed to the stones for aid, and the owner 

 of one of the stones boiled food for a mystery feast, to which the people came. Then 

 they told the stoue of their loss and the stone helped them. It is said that the stones 

 brought back dift'ereut messages. If anyone stole horses the stones always revealed 

 his name. Once the Omahas came to steal horses, but the stones knew about them 

 and disappointed their secret plans; so that the Lakotas learned to prize the stones, 

 and they decorated them with paint, wrapped them up, and hung a bunch of medi- 

 cine with each one. 



It is very probable that the Assiniboiu also worsliipped the Taku- 

 Skaijskaij; for they reverenced tlie four winds, as Sniet tells us.' 



TUNKAN OR INYAN, THE STONE GOD OR LINGAM. 



§ 132. It has been said by Lynd^ that the western tribes (probably 

 the Teton, Yanktouai, Yankton, etc.), neglect the Unktehi, and x)ay 

 their main devotion to Tunkan or Invan, answering to the Hindoo 

 Lingaui. 



Tunkan, the Dakotas say, is the god that dwells in stou'S and rocks, and is the 

 oldest god. If asked why he is considered the oldest, they will tell you because he 

 is the hardest — an Indian's reason. The usual form of the stone employed in wor- 

 ship is round, and it is about the size of the human head. The devout Dakota paints 

 this Tunkan red, imtting colored swan's down upon it, and then he falls down and 

 worships the god that is supposed to dwell in it or hover near it. ' The Tunkan is 

 paiuted red (see * 136) as a sign of active worship. ^ In cases of extremity I have 

 ever noticed that they appeal to their Tunkan or stone god, first and last, and they 

 do this even .after the ceremonies of the medicine dance have been gone through 

 ■with. All Sioux agree in saying that the Tunkan is the main recipient of their 

 prayers; and among the Tetons, Mandaus, Yanktons, and Western Dakotas they 

 pray to that and the spirit of the buffalo almost entirely.* 



§133. Eiggs says : " 



"The Inyan or Toon-kan is the symbol of the greatest force or power in the dry 

 land. And these came to be the most common objects ot worship. Large bowlders 

 were selected and adorned with red and green (sic) paint, whither the devout 



' Op. cit., p. 136. «lbid., p. 81. 



'ilinn. Hist. Soe. Coll., vol. n, pt. J. p. 71. sibid.,p. 84. 



^Ibid.. p. 79. cAm. Antiq., vol. n. p. 268. 



