HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



The isolation of the Indian "dreamer" finds, to some extent, a 

 counterpart in the isolation sought by our own poets and musicians, 

 but the attitude toward it is different. They seek freedom from inter- 

 ruption in order that they may compose. They do not say that under 

 such conditions the supernatural works through them, nor do they 

 consider composition to be a religious act. We are losing our sense 

 of the supernatural. Its emphasis is passing out of our religion and 

 in its place there has come a new emphasis on our duty to society. 

 We are losing our thought of the throng of ministering spirits, and in 

 its place we are taught, as part of our religion, our duty to the crowded 

 human beings around us. Necessary as this may be to the life of the 

 twentieth century, there is passing, in the change, that realization 

 of the value of solitude and silent meditation which are the basis of 

 the religious thought of the Indian. 



Three phases or manifestations of religious thought among the 

 Sioux will be presented. While they appear to be successive it should 

 be understood that they are mentioned in this order for convenience 

 of discussion, not as an arbitrary arrangement. 



(i) The desire for a dream and its song. This was solely for per- 

 sonal benefit, the man desiring help in his individual undertakings. 

 A peculiar view of this "dream-seeking" was presented to the writer 

 by the Reverend John Eastman, who said, "The old Indians believed 

 that before they were born they knew something, and when they 

 tried to get a dream they were trying to recall what it was that they 

 knew then, and to get a song from it." This suggestion is filled with 

 interesting possibilities, especially as so many of the dreams concerned 

 animals, but no investigation has been made by the writer along this 

 line of thought. 



(2) The use of a song, the words of which expressed a request for 

 a benefit to someone other than the singer. Red Weasel, an aged 

 Sioux, said he was instructed that "Wakan'tanka heard requests 

 sooner if they were sung than if they were spoken." This division 

 might include prayers for the recovery of a relative who was ill, or 

 for the safe return of a war-party of which one was a member. A 

 vow was frequently made with an individual request of this kind. 



(3) The use of prayer, whether expressed in song or otherwise, 

 in which request was made for the welfare of the tribe as a whole, it 

 being understood that the person expressing the prayer did so in 

 behalf of the assembled people. Instances occur in the Sun dance, in 

 which the leader offered prayers and the people were "expected to 

 join with him in their hearts." 



Having noted these three phases, we shall concern ourselves with 



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