502 A STUDY OF SIOUAN CULTS 



POLYTHEISM. 



Instead of believing in one Great Spirit, the Mandan and Hidatsa 

 "believe in a multitude of diflerent beings in the heavenly bodies; 

 ofl'er sacrifices to them; invoke theii- assistance on every occasion; 

 howl, lament, fast, inflict on themselves acts of penance to propitiate 

 these spirits; and, above all, lay very great stress upon dreams.' 



§ 312. The most sacred objects in the eyes of the Grow or Absaroka, 

 a nation closely related to the Hidatsa, are "the sun, the moon, and 

 tobacco, that is, the leaves of the genuine tobacco {Ricotiana); and all 

 their children wear a small portion of this herb, well wrapi^ed up, round 

 their neck, by way of an amulet.^ 



WORSHIP. 



§ 313. Full information respecting worship has not been obtained ; 

 but we know that among its accessories are the following : prayer, fast- 

 ing, and sacrifice. The ditfereut writers tell us of petitions offered to 

 the gods for help. 



FASTING. 



§ 314. When a young Mandan wishes to establish his reputation as 

 a brave man, he fosts for four or seven days, as long as he is able, goes 

 to the bluft's, cries to the Omahank-Numakshi, calls incessantly on the 

 higher powers for aid, and goes home at night to sleep and dream. 

 They fast before taking part in the Okipa, before organizing a war 

 party, etc' 



SACRIFICE. 



§ 315. Said a Mandan to Lewis and Clarke, "I was lately owner of 

 seventeen horses, but I have offered them all up to my medicine, and 

 am now poor." He had taken all his horses to the plain, where he 

 turned them loose, committing them to the care of his "medicine," thus 

 abandoning them forever.^ 



"Around the burial scaffolds of the Mandans were several high 

 poles, with skins and other things hanging on them, as offerings to the 

 lord of life, Omahank-Nuniakshi, or to the first man, Fumank-Ma- 

 chana."-'* 



§ 316. The Ol-ipa.—Thi\t form of self-sacrifice called Okipa by the 

 Mandan has been described iu detail by Catlin and Maximilian. It 

 ditters in some respects from the sun dance of the Dakota and Pouka, 

 as well as from the Dahpike or Nahpike of the Hidatsa.'^ 



'Maximilian, Travels * * * in North America. p. 359. 

 ■Ibid, 1). 176. 



3Hiid, pp. 369, 374, 386, 388, 400. 

 "Iliid, p. 174. 

 i^Iliid, p. 173. 



'Iliid, pp. 373,377. O-kee-pa: A Keligious Ceremony * * * by George Catlin, Phil., 1867, 25 

 pp. Smithson. Kept., 1885, pt. 2, pp. 353-368. 



