494 A STUDY OF SIOUAN CULTS. 



sick, and many womlerful operations. Some of tUe.se i>eisons preten<l to a recollection 

 of former states of existence, evennaming the particnlar body in which they formerly 

 lived. Others assert their power over nature, and their faculty of seeing into futurity, 

 and of conversing with the deities. A third class will talk of the particular animals 

 whose bodies they intend to enter when loosed from their present existence [vH'' 260, 

 267,287]. In endeavoring to .sustain these pretensions they occasionally go through 

 l)erformances which are likely to deceive the ignorant throng.' 



Pond wrote thus of the Dakota wakaij men :- 



They do not spring into existence under ordinary operations of natural laws, but, 

 according to their faith, these men and women (for females, too, are wakan) lirst 

 arouse to conscious existence in the form of winged seeds, such as the thistle, and are 

 ■watted by the * • * influence of the four winds till they are conducted to the 

 abode of some Taku Wakan, by whom they are received into intimate comnuuiicm. 

 They remain there till they become acquainted with the character and abilities of 

 the class of gods whose guests they hajipen to be, and until they have imbibed their 

 spirits, and are acquainted with all the chants, feasts, dances, and rites which the gods 

 deem necessary to impose on men. Thus do some of them pass through a series of 

 inspirations with different classes of divinities, till they are fully wakanized and 

 prepared for human incarnation. They are invested with the invisible wakan powers 

 of the gods, their knowledge and cunning, and their omnipresent influence over mind, 

 instinct, and passions. They are taught to inflict diseases and heal them, discover 

 concealed causes, manufacture implements of war, and impart to them the ton- wan 

 power of the gods; and also the art of making such an application of paints that they 

 will protect from the powers of the enemies. This i)rocess of inspiration is called 

 "dreaming of the gods." Thus prei)ared and retaining his primitive form, the demi- 

 god rides forth on the wings of the wind over * * * the earth, till he has carefully 

 observed the characters and usages of the difii'creut tribes of men ; then, selecting his 

 location, he enters one about to become a mother, and, in due time, makes his ap- 

 pearance among men. » * « When one of these wakan men dies he returns to 

 the abode of his god, from whom he receives a new inspiration, after which he i)asses 

 through another incarnation as before, and serves another generation. In this man- 

 ner they pass through four incarnations, • * » au(j then return to their original 

 nothingness. 



§ 290. There are diiferent jiersous who regard them.selves as wakaij, 

 says Biishotter. Amoug these are those who practice medicine, those 

 who act as Heyoka, those who boil for the grizzly bear feasts, those 

 who take part in the mystery dance, those who foretell the future, those 

 who detect wrong-doers and lind what has been lost or stolen, and those 

 who do various things in a cunning manner. It happens thus to thrm : 

 A man hears a human voice during the day and he does wliat the voice 

 directs to be done, or on a certain night a tree converses with him, and 

 the two talk about their own affairs, and what the tree tells him to do, 

 that he does, so he says, or, it orders him to keep some law or custom 

 as long as he lives. Among these superstitious notions are the follow- 

 ing : Some men direct the pipe to be handed around the lodge from the 

 left side to the right, and others vice versa. Some men dare not gash a 

 lirebraud with a knife ; and should a visitor do so heedlessly, they say 

 that he " cuts his finger. " Others will not kill a swallow, lest thunder 

 and hail ensue. Some do not allow a knife to be passed above a kettle. 



'Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. n, pt. 2, p. 70. 



' r<aid, in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, vol. vi, pp. 652. 1857. 



