The Lakotas regard certain small stones or pebbles as mysterious, and it is said that in former days a man had one as his helper or servant. There are two kinds of these mysterious stones (i.e., pebbles, not rocks). One is white, resembling ice or glass (i.e., is probably translucent; compare the translucent pebbles of the Iⁿ-ʞugȼi order of the Omaha, see Om. Soc., p. 346); the other resembles ordinary stones. It is said that one of them once entered a lodge and struck a man, and people spoke of the stones sending in rattles through the smoke hole of a lodge. When anything was missed in the village the people appealed to the stones for aid, and the owner of one of the stones boiled food for a mystery feast, to which the people came. Then they told the stone of their loss and the stone helped them. It is said that the stones brought back different messages. If anyone stole horses the stones always revealed his name. Once the Omahas came to steal horses, but the stones knew about them and disappointed their secret plans; so that the Lakotas learned to prize the stones, and they decorated them with paint, wrapped them up, and hung a bunch of medicine with each one. It is very probable that the Assiniboin also worshipped the Takuśkaŋśkaŋ; for they reverenced the four winds, as Smet tells us.[137] TUNKAN OE INYAN, THE STONE GOD OR LINGAM. § 132. It has been said by Lynd[138] that the western tribes (probably the Teton, Yanktonai, Yankton, etc.), neglect the Unkteḣi, and pay their main devotion to Tunkan or Invan, answering to the Hindoo Lingam. Tunkan, the Dakotas say, is the god that dwells in stones and rocks, and is the oldest god. If asked why he is considered the oldest, they will tell you because he is the hardest--an Indian’s reason. The usual form of the stone employed in worship is round, and it is about the size of the human head. The devout Dakota paints this Tunkan red, putting colored swan’s down upon it, and then he falls down and worships the god that is supposed to dwell in it or hover near it.[139] The Tunkan is painted red (see § 136) as a sign of active worship.[140] In cases of extremity I have ever noticed that they appeal to their Tunkan or stone god, first and last, and they do this even after the ceremonies of the medicine dance have been gone through with. All Sioux agree in saying that the Tunkan is the main recipient of their prayers; and among the Tetons, Mandans, Yanktons, and Western Dakotas they pray to that and the spirit of the buffalo almost entirely.[141] § 133. Riggs says:[142]