DE.NSMORE] TETON SIOUX MUSIC 85 



ceremony whose observance was limited to certain Plains tribes. ^ In 

 the Sun dance the Iridian considered that he offered to Wakaij'taijka- 



i See bibliography, pp. 86, 87, footnote, of this work, also article Sun Dance, by G. A . Dorsey, in Hand- 

 twok of Amer/can Indians, pt. 2, p. 049. 



2 Throughout this work the term Wakag'tarjka will be used in preference to the term Great Spirit, 

 which is commonly accepted as its English equivalent. The word Wakar)'tai3ka is composed of U'a'kay 

 (mysterious) and tay'la (great). There is nothing in the term to suggest "spirit," the Sioux having other 

 words to express that idea. The statement has been made that the term Wakarj'tarjka, as well as the idea 

 which it is used to express, is a result of the teachings of missionaries, the native religion being a worship of 

 Ta'kuwakai), a numen or a mysterious thing (hence a spirit or divinity). Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, who went 

 among the Siouan tribes first as a missionary and afterwards as a philologist, wrote: "The missionaries, not 

 the laymen, are the ones who make the positive statements about the absence of a belief in one Great Spirit. 

 (See ElercnthRcp.Bur. Ethn., p. 432.) During several seasons' work among the Teton Sioux the writer has 

 made diligent inquiry concerning this matter, and the unvarying opinion of the old men is that the Sioux 

 have always believed in Wakaij'taijka. The exact significance of the term in the mind of the Sioux is as 

 difhcult to formulate as the exact meaning of the word God in the mind of Christians. (See p. 96.) In old 

 times the term Wakaij'taijka was not used in ordinary conversation, because it was held too sacred to be 

 spoken except with due reverence and at a proper time. In this connection it will be recalled that many 

 tribes of Indians avoid mentioning a man's name, especially in his presence. That which remains unspoken 

 must be considered in the study of any deep phase of Indian thought. A full and complete expression is 

 not in accordance with Indian custom. The unspoken element may be a matter of mutual understanding 

 no indication of which appears in words, or it may be something which is indicated in such a manner as 

 to be intelligible only to those for whom it is intended. Thus there is a "sacred language" used by medi- 

 cine-men in which familiar words take on an occult meaning. (See p. 120, footnote.) In attempting to 

 express the meaning of the word ua/.a 9 the following statement was made to the writer by several old In- 

 dians, after consultation: "An ordinary man has natural ways of doing things. Occasionally there is a man 

 who has a gift for doing extraordinary things, and he is called wakar;. Although this is a supernatural gift, 

 he can use it only by effort and study. A man may be able to do things in a mysterious way, but none has 

 ever been found who could command the sim and moon or change the seasons. The most wonderful things 

 which man can do are different from the works of nature. When the seasons changed we regarded it as a 

 gift from the sim, which is the strongest of all mysterious wakar) powers." (See p. 96.) In another con- 

 sideration of the subject it was said: "We use the words taku wakay for anything which we can see for 

 ourselves has mysterious power. Thus a pipe is taku (something) wakar), for with it supplications may, 

 be made and good obtained. We can not see the thunder, and we say it is uafca??, but we see the lightning 

 and we know that the thunder and lighting are a sign of rain, which does good to the earth. Anything 

 which has similar power is wakar), but above all is the sun, which has most power of all." Other conversa- 

 tions, similar to the preceding, expressed the conviction in the minds of the Sioux that their people had 

 always believed in a mysterious power whose greatest manifestation is the sun, and that Wakarj'tagka was 

 the designation of that power. The belief in lesser "deities" will not be considered at this time. 



The following citations indicate the manner in which Wakai)'tar)ka is regarded by the Sioux: Should be 

 reverenced (p. 88); "I conquered by the help of Wakai)'tai)ka" (p. 96); " Wakao'tagka, pity me"(p.l35); 

 is to be petitioned reverently (p. 184); provides food (p. 185); is maker of all (p. 208); Wakag'taijka repre- 

 sented by sacred stones (p. 214) ; medicinal herbs are a gift from Wakag'tagka (p. 268) ; is all powerful ( p. 

 87); is a help in sickness (p. 275); gives success (p. 341). See also prayers to Wakag'taijka, p. 95, footnote. 

 The following authorities on this subject may be consulted, some holding opinions differing from the 

 above statement: Rev. G. H. Pond, writing in 1866, said: "Evidence is also wanting to show that the 

 Dakotas embraced in their religious tenets the idea of one Supreme Existence, whose existence is expressed 

 by the term ' Great Spirit.'" ( Colls. Minn. Hist. Soc, vol. 2, pt. 3, p. 33, 1867.) Rev. S. R. Riggs men- 

 tions nine " Dakota gods," saying, "this enumeration of the Dakota gods is not intended to be exhaustive." 

 (See Riggs, Stephen Return, Tah-koo Wah-kan', pp. 61-75, Boston [1869]; also, by the same author. The 

 Theogony of The Sioux, in Amcr. Antiq. for April-June, 11, No. 4, pp. 265-70, 1880, in which the elements 

 of earth, air, and water have each a special deity. 



Among certain Siouan tribes the term wakar)' da was used. Concerning this word Dr. W J McGee says 

 " The idea expressed by the term . . . cannotjustly be rendered into 'spirit,' much less into 'Great Spirit' 

 ... It appears that, in so far as they grasped the theistic concept, the Siou.x Indians were polytheist; 

 that their mysteries or deities varied in rank and power; . . . and that their dispositions and motives 

 resembled those found among mankind." (McGee, W J, The Siouan Indians, in Fifteenth Rep. Bur. 

 Ethn., pp. 182-83.) Miss Fletcher states that among the Omaha and Ponca tribes the word wakay'da 

 was used to designate a "mysterious power or permeating life," and that "this word is now used to 

 designate the Deity." (Fletcher, Alice C, The Emblematic Use of the Tree in the Dakotan Group, in 

 Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1896, p. 193, Salem, 1897.) Sec also Fletcher and La Flesche, The Omaha 

 Tribe, in Twenty-seventh Rep. Bur. Amcr. Ethn. pp. 597-599, Washington, 1911; Fletcher, Wakondagi, 

 in Amer. Anthr., xiv., pp. 106-108, Lancaster, 1912. 



4840°— Bull. 61—18 8 



