L08 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS 



Dowhere, not even among the Dakota, is there a clear- 

 cui formulation of a definite god-like being with definite 

 power- and fund ions. 



A Supernatural Helper. Ii ismuch easier,how- 

 ever, to gather reliable data on religious activities or the 

 functioning of these beliefs in actual life. In the Plain.-. 



as well as in some oilier parts of the continent , the ideal 

 IS Tor all males to establish some kind of direet relation 

 with this divine element or power. The idea is that if 

 one follows the proper formula, the power will appear in 

 some human or animal form and will form a compact 

 with the applicant for his good fortune during life. The 

 procedure is usually for a youth to put himself in the 

 hands of a priest, or shaman, who instructs him and 

 requires him to fast and pray alone in some secluded 

 spot until the vision or dream is obtained. In the 

 Plains such an experience results in the conferring of one 

 or more songs, the laying on of certain curious formal 

 taboos, and of the designation of some object, as a 

 feather, skin, shell, etc., to be carried and used as a 

 charm or medicine bundle. This procedure has been 

 definitely reported for the Sarsi, Plains-Cree, Blackfoot, 

 Gros Ventre, Crow, Hidatsa, Mandan, Dakota. Assini- 

 boin, Omaha, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Pawnee. 

 It is probably universal except perhaps among the Ute, 

 Shoshoni, and Nez Perce". We know also that it is fre- 

 quent among the Woodland Cree, Menomini, and Ojib- 

 way. Aside from hunger and thirst, there was no sell 

 torture except among the Dakota and possibly a few- 

 others of Siouan stock. With these it was the rule 



