Fbbeuaey 26, 1897.] 



SGLENGE. 



333 



the tribe. Each member had his own song 

 or songs, and when they met together a 

 part of the ceremony observed by them was 

 the singing of these songs. If at such a 

 time they fixed their minds upon a certain 

 person whose conduct was displeasing to 

 them they thus, by the act of Wa-zhi?i'-a- 

 gdhe, placed upon the offender the conse- 

 quences of his acts, so that misfortune would 

 befall him, and even death. It will be noted 

 that this act of the society implied the exer- 

 tion of a will power by its members which 

 it was believed could isolate the object of 

 their thought — their victim, we may say — 

 and this isolation was effected in some way 

 by thrusting him out of all helpful relations 

 with men and animals, and in the end caus- 

 ing him to die. 



Time forbids dwelling upon this curious 

 and interesting belief, or noting the cumu- 

 lative influence it exerted upon the indi- 

 vidual, and upon the social conditions of 

 the community that entertained it ; all that 

 can be pointed out at this time is the fact 

 that such a belief was genuinely accepted 

 by these Indians. 



Wa-zhiji'-ska means intelligence, discern- 

 ment, wisdom. Ska is white, or clear. 

 The word has a broad significance, based 

 upon the natural experience of seeing. 

 When the atmosphere is clear a man can 

 distinguish objects, note their pecularities, 

 and their relation to each other ; so, when 

 the mind is clear, it is said the man's abil- 

 ity to know is not checked by dimness of 

 apprehension, but because of the clear white 

 light within his mind he is able to exercise 

 the power of discrimination, and to discern 

 that which will be conducive to the best in- 

 terests of himself and others, and thus at- 

 tain to wisdom. 



Wa-zhiw'-ska is the word which desig- 

 nates the time when a youth, having passed 

 the period of childhood, has reached the 

 stage where he can enter upon a season of 

 fasting and prayer in order to secure a vis- 



ion. The mind of the child is said to be 

 dark ; he is like one in the night, unable to 

 distinguish objects ; as he grows older, light 

 begins to dawn, and when he can distinctly 

 remember and can place in order the se- 

 quence of events of Tvhich he has been cog- 

 nizant, then his mind is said to be becom- 

 ing ' white,' and he is approaching the suit- 

 able mental condition to enter upon the rite 

 which may bring him into personal rela- 

 tions with Wa-ka?i'-da, as manifested in 

 concrete form through the medium of the 

 vision. The use of the word Wa-zhin'- 

 ska to indicate this period in the life of a 

 man is significant in view of the meaning 

 of the word itself, and of the importance to 

 the man of the rite he is about to practise. 



The potentiality of the vision and its for- 

 mative influence, as revealed in the develop- 

 ment of the tribe, we have already dis- 

 cussed; the point to be emphasized just now 

 is that in the rite by which the Indian seeks 

 the potent vision the idea of his personal- 

 ity is kept intact. 



It is of importance to observe in this 

 connection that this rite, which is supposed 

 to open to man the means by which his 

 own powers may be supernaturally aug- 

 mented, is not under the control of any 

 priesthood or dependent upon any esoteric 

 teaching ; nor does it require that the indi- 

 vidual merge himself in a society and have 

 only a common right in the supernatural 

 manifestation ; nor does he through this 

 rite come under the domination of any set 

 of men. On the contrary, the rite is free 

 and open to every individual who may 

 elect to enter upon the seclusion and fast- 

 ing and praj^er incident to the seeking of a 

 vision, and the securing of the sign that 

 shall ever after be a credential with Wa- 

 ka?i-da. This sign is always the man's 

 personal and sacred possession; it is some- 

 thing that no one can tamper with, nor can 

 any one deprive him of its benefits. 



This rite of the vision, which there is 



