October 2, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



487 



we note the constructive force of tlie relig- 

 ious ideas of the people ; ideas which, rep- 

 resented by the word Wa-ka?r-da and its 

 kindred terms, imply the existence of an ever 

 active, mysterious power, permeating all na- 

 ture, including mankind, with the same life, 

 thus making all things related and anthro- 

 pomorphic. We have seen how these gen- 

 eralizing ideas become concrete, through the 

 medium of the vision, and capable of ex- 

 ercising a practical, formative influence. 

 We have traced this practical, formative 

 influence in the unifying power of the 

 totem, which welds together an extended 

 though partial kinship within the clan or 

 gens. We have seen it also operative in 

 the religious societies, where an indestruc- 

 tible bond holds the members together upon 

 a basis other than that of blood relation- 

 ship. The same influence has been found 

 at work in the association of certain clans 

 for a common worship, the tie of their as- 

 sociation being a supposed relationship of 

 their separate totems to Thunder, the ob- 

 ject of their worship. We note also that 

 the authority of Thunder was still further 

 extended so as to embrace the entire tribe, 

 inasmuch as every man was brought under 

 its control through the rites and ceremonies 

 connected with war. Furthermore, we dis- 

 cern that out of the ancient ceremonies 

 connected with Thunder, wherein primarily 

 the cedar tree was the mythical abode of 

 the mystical Thunder Beings, and later, the 

 cedar Pole stood as emblematic of their 

 power and authority, were evolved, the 

 ceremonies that made use of the old sym- 

 bols, but clothed them with ideas boi'n of 

 newer conditions. 



In the He-di-wa-chi has been found pre- 

 served the outline of one of the simplest 

 and probably oldest ceremonies instituted 

 to draw the people together and unite them 

 into an organized body. And it is appar- 

 ent that the Sun Dance, the Dah-pi-ke, and 

 the Omaha Sacred Pole, from the sa.me root. 



kept the same fundamental aim in view, 

 performing their ceremonies about the same 

 central object, the tree or Pole, selected and 

 consecrated by the all-powerful Thunder, 

 recognized as the judge and rewarder of all 

 the people. We have seen the Chiefs sum- 

 moned to the He-di-wa-chi by a tree stick, 

 sent from the Keeper of the ceremony, each 

 Chief in turn sending forth the men of his 

 gens to gather each man sticks for himself 

 and family, and all the people assembled 

 and dancing about the Pole by gentes, each 

 one carrying his stick, which at the end of 

 the ceremony was given back to the Pole. 

 A simple object lesson : to teach that the 

 tribe was, like the tree, animated by the 

 supernatural mysterious power ; and that 

 the Chiefs were its strong limbs, upon 

 which thfe smaller branches grew. 



In the Sacred Pole ceremonies, the con- 

 structive idea was still further developed, 

 until not only unity of gentes was required, 

 but unity of authority among the Chiefs 

 was enforced. This unity, whether as de- 

 manded in the enunciations of the Chiefs, 

 or, as necessary to the formation of the 

 tribe, to the instituting of the religious so- 

 cieties, or to the development of the clan, 

 depended upon the conception of Wa- 

 kaii-da, as manifested in concrete form 

 through the medium of the Vision. The 

 ancient thinkers among the Siouan people, 

 in the long centuries of an unknown past, 

 came gradually to realize the helpfulness 

 and power that lay in social unity. Out of 

 this realization these ceremonies were 

 slowly evolved, wherein the Pole, bearing 

 the topmost branches of the living tree, 

 stood in the midst of th,e assembled people, 

 as an emblem of the presence and authority 

 of Thunder, the universally accepted mani- 

 festation of Wa-ka7i-da, and also, in its life 

 and growth, as typical of tribal unity and 

 strength. 



Alice C. Fletcher. 



Washington, D. C. 



