DOESEY] ASTRONOMICAL LORE. 467 



of the sun pole, according to Miss Fletcher; but Bushotter says that 

 this did not occur till after the devotees had been scarified and fast- 

 ened to the pole and j)osts, on the sixth day. Bushotter agrees with 

 Miss Fletcher in saying that on the sixth day the earth was " mellowed," 

 the devotees scarified, and they danced with the thongs fastened to 

 the pole, etc., and attached to the skewers running under their llesh, 



BERDACHES. 



§ 212. These unfortunate beings, who have been referred to as mi"quga 

 and mi^quge in Chapter iii (§ 30), are called wiijkta by the Santee and 

 Yankton Dakota, and wiijkteby the Teton. They dress as women and 

 act in all respects as women do, though they are really men. The 

 terms for sodomy, wiijktapi and wiijktepi, are significant, and go to 

 prove that the berdaches should not be called hermaphrodites. It is 

 probable that the Dakota regard the moon as influencing these people. 

 (See § 353.) 



ASTRONOMICAL LORE. 



§ 213. Ho-ke-wiij-la is a man who stands in the moon with out- 

 stretched arms. His name is said to mean Turtle Man. When the 

 Teton see a short man with a large body and legs they generally call 

 him " Ho-ke-la, " after the man in the moon. 



The Teton do not like to gaze at the moon, because at some past 

 time a woman, who was carrying a child on her back, gazed a long 

 time at the moon, till she became very weak and fell senseless. 



No Teton dare look at the stars and count even " one" mentally. For 

 one is sure to die if he begin to count the stars and desist before finish- 

 ing. They are also afraid to point at a rainbow with the index finger, 

 though they can point at it with the lips or elbow. Should one forget, 

 and point with the index finger, the bystanders laugh at him, saying, 

 " By and by, O friend, when your finger becomes large and round, let 

 us have it for a ball bat." 



DAY AND NIGHT. 



§ 214. One of Bushotter's Teton texts reads thus : 



Indians are often singiug "The day and uigbt are mysterious" or "wakaij." 

 They do so for the following reasons: While the day lasts a man is able to do many 

 wonderful things at different times, and he kills so many animals, including men, 

 and sometimes he receives presents, and besides he is able to see all things. But he. 

 does not fully understand what the day is, nor does he know what makes the light. 

 Though the man can do various thiugs during the day, he does not know who makes 

 or causes the light. Therefore he believes that itfwas not made by hand, i. e., that no 

 human being makes the day give light. Therefore the Indians say that the day is 

 "wakaij." They do not know who causes all these things, yet they know that there 

 is some one thing having power, and that this thing does it. In their opinion, that 

 is the sun. So they pray to the sun ; aud they respect both the day and the sun, 

 making them " wakai)." On that account they usuallj* sing some songs about them. 

 Then they say that the uight is " wakaij.'' When it is night, there are ghosts and 

 many fearful objects, so they regard the night as " wakay," and pray to it. 



