Febeuaey 26, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



331 



NOTES ON CERTAIN BELIEFS CONCEBNINO 



WILL POWER AMONG THE SIOUAN 



TRIBES. 



WiLHELM VON HuMBOLDT, in his memoir 

 upon ' The American Verb,' in summing 

 up the results of his profound study, makes 

 the following statement (I quote from the 

 translation of Dr. Daniel G-. Brintou) : " The 

 leading and governing part of speech in 

 them [the American languages under con- 

 sideration] is the Pronoun ; every subject 

 of discourse is connected with the idea of 

 Personality." 



The Siouan linguistic group was not in- 

 cluded in the number of languages con- 

 cerning which the learned author made this 

 •statement, but, as the group presents no 

 evidence to controvert his general conclu- 

 sion, it may be considered as forming no 

 exception to this characteristic of the 

 American tongues. 



It is not the purpose of this brief paper 

 to discuss linguistic questions, but to call 

 your attention to certain words, customs 

 and ceremonies in which we seem to trace 

 the operation of that psychic peculiarity 

 which has left so marked an impress upon 

 the languages of the American people — the 

 dominance of ' the idea of Personality.' 



In considering the emblematic use of the 

 tree in the Dakotan group, the Siouan In- 

 dian's anthropomorphic conception of na- 

 ture was pointed out, and the fundamental 

 reason of this conception was indicated as 

 lying in his predicating of the permeating 

 life of the universe, that peculiar quality 

 or power of which he as a man was con- 

 scious within himself, to wit, the power by 

 which he directed his own acts, or willed a 

 course by which to bring about certain re- 

 sults. This quality or power he may be 

 said to have deified under the term Wa- 

 kan-da (using the Omaha ajid Ponka 

 tongue), the hidden and mysterious power 

 which brings to pass. 



The name of that by which a man thinks, 



feels and wills, is called in the Omaha 

 language Wa-zhi?i'. A glance at some of 

 the terms in which Wa-zhin' is used will 

 illustrate the mental conception of which 

 the word is an expression. 



Wi'-e-wa-zhi»i means, to do a thing of 

 one's own accord, of one's free will, un- 

 biased or uninfluenced by another. (Wi, 

 I ; e, the sign of objective ; wa-zhi?i', direc- 

 tive energy or will power.) 



When the Omaha first saw a railroad 

 train, and watched it moving along without 

 any visible aid from man or animal, they 

 gave it the name which it bears in their 

 language to-day, E'-wa-zhi?i,-non-ge, liter- 

 ally translated, " it of its own accord runs." 

 (E, it ; wa-zhi?i', will power ; no?i-ge, runs.) 

 The childlike simplicity of this descriptive 

 term throws light upon the meaning of wa- 

 zhin', and helps us to understand other 

 words whereof it forms a part. 



Anger is called Wa-zhin'-pi-a-zhi. Pi-a- 

 zhi signifies bad, evil. Wa-zhi/t'-pi-a zhi 

 indicates that in anger the will power of 

 the man is charged with evil, and he be- 

 comes dangerous to himself and to others. 



A very different condition of mind is 

 represented by the Word Wa-zhin'-tha-be, 

 which denotes kindness, and also hospital- 

 ity. Tha-be' is to be guarded, circumspect 

 in one's words and acts ; so we leai-n that 

 the idea of kindness is to use one's will 

 power to guard one's speech and conduct, 

 so as not to injure any one. In the em- 

 ployment of this word to express the idea 

 of hospitality we discern the broadening 

 of the social feeling through the growth of 

 the higher sentiments. 



Wa-zhi?i'-thne-de, the word for patience, 

 presents another aspect of the idea of self- 

 control. Thne-de means long. To be pa- 

 tient, therefore, demands that the energy 

 of the Ego shall be held for a length of 

 time to a given course. 



Examples could be multiplied showing 

 the use of wa-zhiw' in compounding words, 



