--- title: In the Measure of Hiawatha, part 4 — Legends of the Northwest · full text with trees · page 2 description: In the Measure of Hiawatha, part 4, «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: [Footnote 49: Prairie's Pride.--This annual shrub, which abounds on many of the sandy prairies in Minnesota, is sometimes cal --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8122/21/page/2/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Legends of the Northwest](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8122/) / In the Measure of Hiawatha, part 4 # In the Measure of Hiawatha, part 4 · page 2 [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8122/21/) **2** \[Footnote 73: The Dakotas have their stone idol, or god, called Toon-kan--or In-yan.[100](../../100/ "tree and pragmatics") This god dwells in stone or rocks and is they say, the \_oldest god of all\_--he is grandfather of all living things.[101](../../101/ "tree and pragmatics") I think, however that the stone is merely the symbol of the everlasting, all pervading, invisible \_Ta-ku Wa-kan\_--the essence of all life,--pervading all nature, animate and inanimate.[102](../../102/ "tree and pragmatics") The Rev. S. R. Riggs who, for forty years, has been a student of Dakota customs, superstitions etc., says, "Tâhkoo Wahkan," p. 55: et seq. "[103](../../103/ "tree and pragmatics") The religious faith of the Dakota is not in his gods as such.[104](../../104/ "tree and pragmatics") It is in an intangible, mysterious something of which they are only the embodiment, and that in such measure and degree as may accord with the individual fancy of the worshipper.[105](../../105/ "tree and pragmatics") Each one will worship some of these divinities, and neglect or despise others, but the great object of all their worship, whatever its chosen medium, is the \_Ta-koo Wa-kan\_, which is the \_supernatural\_ and \_mysterious\_.[106](../../106/ "tree and pragmatics") No one term can express the full meaning of the Dakotas \_Wakan\_.[107](../../107/ "tree and pragmatics") It comprehends all mystery, secret power and divinity.[108](../../108/ "tree and pragmatics") Awe and reverence are its due, and it is as unlimited in manifestation as it is in idea.[109](../../109/ "tree and pragmatics") All life is \_Wakan\_; so also is everything which exhibits power, whether in action as the winds and drifting clouds; or in passive endurance, as the boulder by the wayside.[110](../../110/ "tree and pragmatics") For even the commonest sticks and stones have a spiritual essence which must be reverenced as a manifestation of the all-pervading mysterious power that fills the the universe."\][111](../../111/ "tree and pragmatics") \[Footnote 74: Wazi-kuté--Wah-ze-koo-tay; literally--Pine-shooter--he that shoots among the pines.[112](../../112/ "tree and pragmatics") When Father Hennepin was at Mille Lacs in 1679-80, Wazi-kuté was the head Chief (Itâncan) of the band of Isantees.[113](../../113/ "tree and pragmatics") Hennepin writes his name— Ouasicoudé and translates it--the "Pierced Pine."[114](../../114/ "tree and pragmatics") See Shea's Hennepin p. 234, Minn.[115](../../115/ "tree and pragmatics") Hist.[116](../../116/ "tree and pragmatics") Coll. vol. I. p. 316.\][117](../../117/ "tree and pragmatics") \[Footnote 75: When a Dakota brave wishes to "propose" to a "dusky maid", he visits her teepee at night after she has retired, or rather, laid down in her robe to sleep.[118](../../118/ "tree and pragmatics") He lights a splinter of wood and holds it to her face.[119](../../119/ "tree and pragmatics") If she blows out the light, he is accepted; if she covers her head and leaves it burning, he is rejected.[120](../../120/ "tree and pragmatics") The rejection however is not considered final till it has been thrice repeated.[121](../../121/ "tree and pragmatics") Even then the maiden is often bought of her parents or guardian, and forced to become the wife of the rejected suitor.[122](../../122/ "tree and pragmatics") If she accepts the proposal, still the suitor must buy her of her parents with suitable gifts.\][123](../../123/ "tree and pragmatics") \[Footnote 76: The Dakotas called the Falls of St. Anthony the Ha-Ha--the \_loud laughing\_, or \_roaring\_.[124](../../124/ "tree and pragmatics") The Mississippi River they called Ha-Ha Wá-kpa--River of the Falls.[125](../../125/ "tree and pragmatics") The Ojibway name for the Falls is Ka-ká-bih-kúng.[126](../../126/ "tree and pragmatics") Minnehaha is a combination of two Dakota words--Mini--water and Ha-Ha--Falls; but it is not the name by which the Dakotas designated that cataract.[127](../../127/ "tree and pragmatics") Some authorities say they called it I-ha-ha pronounced E-rhah-rhah--lightly laughing.[128](../../128/ "tree and pragmatics") Rev. S. W. Pond, whose long residence as a missionary among the Dakotas in this immediate vicinity makes him an authority that can hardly be questioned, says "they called the Falls of Minnehaha "Mini-i-hrpâ-ya dan," and it had no other name in Dakota.[129](../../129/ "tree and pragmatics") It means Little Falls and nothing else."[130](../../130/ "tree and pragmatics") Letter to the author.\][131](../../131/ "tree and pragmatics") \[Footnote 77: The game of the Plum-stones is one of the favorite games of the Dakotas.[132](../../132/ "tree and pragmatics") Hennepin was the first to describe this game in his "Description de la Louisiane," Paris, 1683, and he describes it very accurately.[133](../../133/ "tree and pragmatics") See Shea's translation p. 301.[134](../../134/ "tree and pragmatics") The Dakotas call this game \_Kan-soo Koo tay-pe\_--shooting plum-stones.[135](../../135/ "tree and pragmatics") Each stone is painted black on one side and red on the other; on one side they grave certain figures which make the stones "Wakan."[136](../../136/ "tree and pragmatics") They are placed in a dish and thrown up like dice; indeed the game is virtually a game of dice.[137](../../137/ "tree and pragmatics") Hennepin says: "There are some so given to this game that they will gamble away even their great coat.[138](../../138/ "tree and pragmatics") Those who conduct the game cry at the top of their voices when they rattle the platter and they strike their shoulders so hard as to leave them all black with the blows."\][139](../../139/ "tree and pragmatics") \[Footnote 78: Wa'tanka--contraction of Wa-kan Tanka--Great Spirit.[140](../../140/ "tree and pragmatics") The Dakotas had no Wakan Tanka--or Wakan-péta--fire spirit--till whitemen imported them.[141](../../141/ "tree and pragmatics") There being no name for the Supreme Being in the Dakota tongue (except Tá-ku Wakan--See note 73)--and all their gods and spirits being Wakan--the missionaries named God in Dakota--"\_Wakan Tanka\_"--which means \_Big Spirit\_, or \_The Big Mysterious\_.\][142](../../142/ "tree and pragmatics") \[Footnote 79: The Dakotas called Lake Calhoun--Mdé-mdó-za--Loon Lake.[143](../../143/ "tree and pragmatics") They also called it--\_Re-ya-ta-mde\_--the lake back from the river.[144](../../144/ "tree and pragmatics") They called Lake Harriet--Mdé-únma--the other lake--or (perhaps) Mdé úma—Hazel-nut Lake.[145](../../145/ "tree and pragmatics") The lake nearest Calhoun on the north--Lake of the Isles--they called Wí-ta Mdé--Island-Lake.[146](../../146/ "tree and pragmatics") Lake Minnetonka they called Me-me-a-tán-ka--\_Broad Water\_.\][147](../../147/ "tree and pragmatics") \[Footnote 80: The animal called by the French \_voyageurs\_ the \_cabri\_ (the kid) is found only on the prairies.[148](../../148/ "tree and pragmatics") It is of the goat kind, smaller than a deer, and so swift that neither horse nor dog can overtake it.[149](../../149/ "tree and pragmatics") (Snelling's) "Tales of the Northwest," p. 286. note 15.[150](../../150/ "tree and pragmatics") It is the gazelle, or prairie antelope, called by the Dakotas Tato-ka-dan--little antelope.[151](../../151/ "tree and pragmatics") It is the \_Pish-tah-te-koosh\_ of the Algonkin tribes, "reckoned the fleetest animal in the prairie country about the Assinneboin."[152](../../152/ "tree and pragmatics") Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner, p. 301.\][153](../../153/ "tree and pragmatics") \[Footnote 81: The Wicâstâpi Wakânpi (literally, \_men supernatural\_) are the "Medicine-men" or Magicians of the Dakotas.[154](../../154/ "tree and pragmatics") They call themselves the sons, or disciples of Unktéhee.[155](../../155/ "tree and pragmatics") In their rites, ceremonies, tricks and pretensions they closely resemble the Dactyli, Idæ and Curetes of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the Magi of the Persians, and the Druids of Britain.[156](../../156/ "tree and pragmatics") Their pretended intercourse with spirits, their powers of magic and divination, and their rites are substantially the same, and point unmistakably to a common origin.[157](../../157/ "tree and pragmatics") The Dakota "Medicine-Man" can do the "rope-trick" of the Hindoo magician to perfection.[158](../../158/ "tree and pragmatics") The teepee used for the \_Wakan Wacipee\_--or Sacred Dance--is called the \_Wakan Teepee\_--the Sacred Teepee.[159](../../159/ "tree and pragmatics") Carver's Cave at St. Paul was also called Wakan Teepee, because the Medicine-men or magicians often held their dances and feasts in it.[160](../../160/ "tree and pragmatics") For a full account of the rites, etc., see Riggs' "Tâhkoo Wahkan", Chapter VI.[161](../../161/ "tree and pragmatics") The \_Ta-sha-ke\_--literally, "Deer-hoofs"--is a rattle made by hanging the hard segments of deer-hoofs to a wooden rod a foot long--about an inch in diameter at the handle end, and tapering to a point at the other.[162](../../162/ "tree and pragmatics") The clashing of these horny bits makes a sharp, shrill sound something like distant sleigh-bells.[163](../../163/ "tree and pragmatics") In their incantations over the sick they sometimes use the gourd-shell rattle.\][164](../../164/ "tree and pragmatics") The Chân-che-ga--is a drum or "Wooden Kettle."[165](../../165/ "tree and pragmatics") The hoop of the drum is from a foot to eighteen inches in diameter, and from three to ten inches deep.[166](../../166/ "tree and pragmatics") The skin covering is stretched over one end making a drum with one end only.[167](../../167/ "tree and pragmatics") The magical drum sticks are ornamented with down, and heads of birds or animals are carved on them.[168](../../168/ "tree and pragmatics") This makes them Wakan.\][169](../../169/ "tree and pragmatics") The flute called \_Cho-tanka\_ (big pith) is of two varieties--one made of sumac, the pith of which is punched out, etc. The second variety is made of the long bone of the wing or thigh of the swan or crane.[170](../../170/ "tree and pragmatics") They call the first the \_bubbling chotanka\_ from the tremulous note it gives when blown with all the holes stopped.[171](../../171/ "tree and pragmatics") Riggs' Tahkoo Wahkan, p. 476, et seq.\][172](../../172/ "tree and pragmatics") [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8122/21/) **2** - ← previous: [page 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8122/21/) - next →: [In the Measure of Hiawatha, part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8122/22/) - ↑ back to [Legends of the Northwest](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8122/)