Sacred Texts Native American Plains Index Previous Next
The Conductor reëntered the lodge and sitting at the catku sang this song:
"Kindred sacred are coming,
They come toward me.
Kindred sacred are coming,
They come from the west."
An interpretation of this song is that the influences of the relationship of Hunkaya were coming to the Shaman from the west. The doctrine is that quite all that are sacred come from the west. As he sang, most of the people resumed the places they had occupied during the preceding rites and then the Conductor filled and lighted the ceremonial pipe as before and the Assistant made incense of sweetgrass. When he had smoked and emptied the pipe the Conductor said, "The smoke of the pipe goes to our sacred brothers and they will carry it to the Buffalo God who will be pleased with the odor of the sweetgrass." The sacred brothers here spoken of are the Four Brothers, the Four Winds, who are the messengers of the Gods.
The Conductor then bade the bearers of the wands to stand and wave them over the younger man and as they did so be said, "These horse-tails are sacred. Our grandfathers made them. The influence of the Sun is in the eagle quills and of the Great Spirit is in the horsehair attached to them. When one is made Hunka these tails are waved over him. Their influence will do him good. It will cause him to remember his Hunka and the Hunkayapi. It will shield him from the Winged God so that he will not be made a Heyoka. The South Wind gave the horse-tails and He is pleased this day. I will wave the horse-tails over you." This address is in accordance with the doctrine that the Hunka ceremony is of ancient origin and has the approval of the Chief of the Gods and the Great Spirit so that They influence the relationship of Hunkaya and will shield a Hunka seeing the person of the Winged God and prevent his becoming a heyoka and forever after speak and act in an anti-natural manner: that the South Wind, Who is the prevailing God of good weather, shows His pleasure by granting a bright and pleasant day.
The Conductor then filled and lighted the ceremonial pipe as before, and standing between the fireplace and the altar, facing westward, lie extended the mouthpiece toward the west, then holding it horizontally, he moved it in a circle until it was extended toward the north, where he paused for a moment; and in the same manner he moved the mouthpiece and extended
it towards the east, the south, and the west again. He then bowed low and held the pipe with its mouthpiece extended toward the sun and said, "Grandfather, we have offered the spirit of the smoke to Your messengers and to the West Wind by whose tipi You will go. . They will tell You that we will bring You a younger son this day." This address alludes to the doctrine that the West Wind has His tipi on the top of the high mountain at the edge of the world where the Sun passes when His daily journey is done.
The Conductor then took the wands and waved them over the young man. As he did so, he sang a song and the drummer sounded the drum in unison with the singing. Some of the people joined in singing the song. The substance of the song was that the influences in the wands would pass to the younger man and make him Hunka. The Conductor then sat at the catku and addressed the younger man as follows: "My grandson, these Mihunkayapi are painted red to please the powerful one, the Sun. They have told you how Hunkayapi should live. If you will do as they have done, the women will sing your song in praise of you. The Hunkayapi will be as brothers to you. Your robe will be good and your moccasins new. You will know what offerings to make to the Rock when you see the red stripe on a stone. The Gods will give you eagle quills. The Buffalo will cause your women to be industrious and to bear many children. The Gods will protect you in war. They will keep your women and children from the enemy. If you listen to the Buffalo He will aid you in the chase so that you will have plenty of meat and robes and so that the wolf will be afraid of you. I sought a vision and the Bear God spoke to me. This is what I saw:--A blue horse and eagle quills; women singing in a circle; the council lodge; a large robe with a buffalo cow painted on it. This is what the Bear said to me:--'The young man should have the horse-tails waved over him; he will provide for his women and children; he will be brave and truthful and the people will listen to him; be will have plenty and give freely; he shall never cut the nose of his woman. My grandson; I have prepared a fetish. I will give it to you. If you will be controlled by its potency, it will be thus with you. This fetish has the potency of the Bear. He told me how to make it. Then I asked the Bear what he would tell me. Standing like a man He said, 'Iya and Iktomi are traveling.' I will explain this to you. If you are lazy or a coward you will sleep with the coyotes. You should not cut your woman's nose. No woman will gash her flesh for you. The buffalo will laugh at you. If you tell lies Iktomi will trick you. Anog Ite will show you both her faces. Your women will stiffer and your babes will have pains in their bowels. But if you listen to the Shamans the South Wind will stay with you. If you laugh at the Shamans, Wazi will stay with you. I will now wave the horsetails over you."
He waved the wands over the younger man and then over each one in the lodge. Then he took the rattles, one in each hand, and said, "These rattles are sacred. The color of the Sun is on them. The color of the Earth is on them. The influence of the Gods is in them. Their rattle calls the spirits. The plume makes them potent." He then sang a song without words, shaking the rattles in unison with the music. The drum was sounded in unison with the rattles and some of the people joined in singing. The Conductor shook the rattles, first over the younger man and then over each one in the lodge. He then sat at the catku and said, "The spirit of the buffalo is Hunka to all who are of the Hunka ceremony. It should now be pleased."
As are most formal speeches by the older Oglala, this address is largely figurative, so that to comprehend it one must understand something of the doctrines of the Lakota and be somewhat acquainted with their figures of speech. These doctrines hold that the color red is a symbol of both the chief of the Gods and of all things sacred and that it has in itself a potency which, when it is formally applied to anything, dedicates it to some good purpose. Applied to a person as a rite of a ceremony it devotes the person to the objects of the ceremony; applied to things connected with a ceremony it consecrates them to the ceremony. Thus, the Mihunkayapi whose bodies were painted red were devoted to the Hunkaya and their council could be relied upon. Red paint on a stone consecrates it and makes of it an altar on which may be placed offerings to the God, the Rock, which one should make when about to undertake some dangerous deed. The expression, "The Gods will give you eagle quills," alludes to the custom that if one is about to undertake some daring exploit he should provide himself with eagle quills, so that if he is successful in his undertaking, and it is such as will entitle him to wear eagle quills, he will possess them; the only way of honorably possessing eagle quills for this purpose is to pluck them from a living eagle. To do this required the aid of the Gods. These doctrines hold that Shamans are vicars of the Gods and can communicate with Them relative to any matter; that they can interpret communications from the Gods, which usually are in mystic form, and that their interpretation is authoritative.
The expression, "A blue horse and eagle quills" means a war horse with a decoration of eagle quills and it implies that if the one addressed goes to war he will have the success that will entitle him to wear eagle quills as an insignum. "Women singing in a circle" alludes to the custom of the women who stand in a circle when they sing a man's song in his praise, and implies that they will do so for the one addressed. The expression, "The council lodge" implies that the one addressed will be so honored that he will be a councilor for his band. The expression, "A large robe with a
buffalo cow painted on it" alluded to a custom of the women that when one had made an unusually large or fine robe she would seek a vision and then paint on the robe a device or figure to represent the communication she received in the vision, thereby imparting to the robe a potency agreeing with the vision. If the robe were given to another, and the secret of the communication told to the one receiving it, the potency remained operative in the robe. The figure of a buffalo cow thus painted on a robe indicates that the wearer, or the wearer's women will have offspring.
The implication is that the one addressed will be abundantly provided with clothing and his woman will bear children. The purport of the address is that the Bear God first showed to the Shaman that which indicated an honorable future and then told what must be done to attain this future, the last of which is, "He shall never cut the nose of his woman." This alludes to the Lakota custom which permitted a man to cut off the tip of the nose of his woman if she was unfaithful to him. The expression, "Iya and Iktomi are traveling" means that Iya the great God of evil, and Iktomi, the imp of mischief are continually going about seeking to incite mankind to deeds of evil or of shame. The term, "You will sleep with the coyotes" means you will be so impoverished that you will have no shelter to sleep in. "You should not cut your woman's nose" means that if you are in such a shameful condition you are not justified in shaming your woman. "No woman will gash her flesh for you" alludes to the custom of the woman who, when mourning for their dead, gashed their flesh so as to cause the blood to flow as a token of the sincerity of their mourning; hence, it means that if one is lazy and a coward, no woman will mourn for him when he dies. "The buffalo will laugh at you" means that a lazy one will have no success in hunting or the chase and will want for food. "Iktomi will trick you" and "Anog Ite will show you both her faces" mean that misfortune, shame, and dispair will come upon the lazy one. "If you laugh at the Shamans, Wazi will stay with you" means that if one does not give due and proper respect to the Shamans that one will be accursed by the Gods.