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8. Philosophy and Religion
- University of Nebraska Press
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98 THE CANADIAN SIOUX the form of anything acceptable to the higher power. A small quantity of smoking tobacco is an article frequently used for this purpose. No matter how small a portion of the thing offered is used, the immaterial self of the substance is in it. Such offerings are usually made for the benefit of the sick. Wauⁿyaⁿpi may be made by anyone at any place if done with appropriate ceremony, but the most efficient procedure is to prepare an altar with due ceremony and there set the wand upright with the offering fastened near the top. SUPERNATURAL BEINGS The chief of the Powers Above is Wakíŋyaŋ, the Thunderbird, which is thought of as a giant eagle or hawk-like bird. The flapping of its wings is the sound of thunder and the flashing of its eyes is lightning. It is generally benevolent since it brings the rain, but is possessed of such power that sometimes it brings destruction. For this reason many Canadian Sioux have on hand a supply of wacháŋǧa ‘sweetgrass’, in the form of dried braids. They burn one before a thunderstorm since the smell of sweetgrass smoke is thought to be pleasing to the Thunderbird and will make the storm less violent. Burning sweetgrass in this manner was a common accompaniment to most religious ceremonies and was also considered a deterrent to influenza. Arthur Young (Oak Lake) gave me a braid of sweetgrass at our first meeting to be used for this purpose. George Bear (Birdtail) recalled an episode in which a woman was burning sweetgrass to please the Thunderbird but lightning struck her house anyway, setting it afire. After this she no longer believed in the efficacy of this procedure. The Thunderbird, as chief of the Powers Above, is the deadly enemy of the Underwater Panthers and Horned Snakes, the chiefs of the Powers Below. The Thunderbird is worshipped in many ceremonies, but principally in the Sun Dance. In this ceremony, now obsolete among the Canadian Sioux, the dance lodge was built to resemble the Thunderbird’s nest, and at the top of the center pole an extra large waúŋyaŋpi, called the “Thunderbird’s nest,” was tied. The dancers in the Sun Dance, with Philosophy and Religion 99 their half-naked costume and continual piping on eagle bone whistles, are said by some to imitate baby Thunderbirds. Closely associated with the Thunderbird is the Heyókha, the antinatural god. Individuals who dreamed of the Thunderbird or were visited by the Thunderbird while on the Vision Quest usually felt that they must join the Heyókha cult or society of Clowns. This entailed appearing at least once a year at a Grass Dance or other public gathering dressed in a ragged costume, with a mask made from a cow’s paunch with small, cut-out eye holes and a large pointed nose. Usually jagged red streaks, symbolizing lightning, extended from the eyes down the cheeks. The Heyókha often carried crooked bows and arrows when they appeared at dances, in order to “shoot snakes.” They moved in a strange, backward manner, and were regarded with a mixture of humor and fear. Some were thought to have curative powers. Should an individual dream of the Thunderbird and not undertake to act out his dream by dancing as a Heyókha within a reasonable time, he was said to invite being struck by lightning. Just as the Thunderbird is chief of the Powers Above, so the Uŋktéȟi or Underwater Panthers are chiefs of the Powers Below. According to Robert Good Voice (Round Plain) the Uŋktéȟi are everlasting. They live in the sea, toward the rising sun. One is an old man and one is an old woman. In appearance they are giant panthers with horns. One is sóta (grayish-white) in color, the other “the color of a young buffalo calf” [reddish buff]. Mr. Good Voice stated that it was the Uŋktéȟi who gave the Medicine Dance to the Sioux and showed them the good red road. The Wabdúška or Horned Snakes are of lesser rank among the Powers Below. They are conceptualized as giant horned snakes, and live deep in the waters of lakes and rivers. Occasionally they catch and drown a boatman or swimmer. John Goodwill commented, “Something breaks open the ice on the lake [Fishing Lakes] even yet. There seems to be a hollow place under the lake. We...