A Study of Siouan Cults: Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1889-1890, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1861, pages 351-544Dorsey, James Owen
Religion
A Study of Siouan Cults: Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1889-1890, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1861, pages 351-544
Dorsey, James Owen
Siouan Indians -- Religion
§ 101. The radical forms of worship among the Dakota, according to
Lynd, are few and simple. One of the most primitive is that of Wocnapi
(Wośnapi) or Sacrifice. To every divinity that they worship they
make sacrifices. Even upon the most trivial occasions the gods are
either thanked or supplicated by sacrifice. The religious idea it
carries with it is at the foundation of the every-day life of the
Dakota. The wohduze or taboo has its origin there; the wiwaŋyag
waćipi or sundance (§§ 141-211) carries with it the same idea;
the wakaŋ wohaŋpi or sacred feast (feast of the first-fruits)
is a practical embodiment of it; and haŋmdepi or god-seeking of
the extreme western tribes is but a form of self-sacrifice. No Dakota
in his worship neglects this ceremony. It enters into his religious
thoughts at all times, even at the hour of death. The sacrifices
made upon recovery from sickness are never composed of anything very
valuable, for the poverty of the Indian will not permit this. Usually
a small strip of muslin, or a piece of red cloth, a few skins of
some animals, or other things of no great use or value are employed.
Sometimes a pan or kettle is laid up for a sacrifice. But after a short
time, the end for which the sacrifice was made is attained, and it is
removed. Those in need of such things as they see offered in sacrifice
may take them for their own use, being careful to substitute some other
articles. Perhaps the most common forms of sacrifice are those which
are made in the hunt. Particular portions of each animal killed are
held sacred to the god of the chase or some other deities. If a deer
is killed, the head, heart, or some other part of it is sacrificed by
the person who has slain it. The part sacrificed differs with different
individuals. In ducks and fowls the most common sacrifice is of the
wing, though many sacrifice the heart, and a few the head. This custom
is called wohduze, and is always constant with individuals, i. e., the
same part is always sacrificed. The other wohduze or taboo is connected
with the wotawe or armor,[99] and will be described hereafter (§ 125).
§ 102. _Haŋmdepi or god-seeking._--Haŋmdepi or god-seeking
is a form of religion among the Dakotas that points back to a remote
antiquity. The meaning of the word, in its common acceptation, appears
to be greatly misunderstood by some. Literally, it means only to dream,
and is but another form of haŋma; but in its use it is applied
almost wholly to the custom of seeking for a dream or revelation,
practiced by the Sisitonwan, Ihanktonwanna, and Titonwan (Sioux), and
by the Crow, Minnetaree, Assiniboin, and other western Dakota. In this
respect it has no reference whatever to the common dreams of sleep, but
means simply the form of religion practiced.
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