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Show MALLERY.] DAKOTA WINTER COUNTS, 1808- 1811. 107 ance upon those ceremonies they " put forth the charm of woven paces and of waving hauds," utter wild cries, and muddle in blood and filth until they sometimes work themselves into an epileptic condition. Their incantations are not only to drive away disease, but for many other purposes, such as to obtain success in war, avert calamity, and very frequently to bring within reach the buffalo, on which the Dakotas depended for food. The rites are those known as Shamanism, noticeable in the ethnic periods of savagery and barbarism. In the ceremonial of " making medicine," a buffalo head, and especially that of an albino, held a prominent place among the plains tribes. Many references to this are to be found in the Prince of Wied's Travels in the interior of North America; London, 1843; also see infra, pages 118,122 and 195. The device in the chart is the man- figure, with the head of an albino buffalo held over his own. No. III. A Minneconjou Dakota, named Little- Tail, first made " medicine" with white buffalo cow- skin. Mato Sapa says: A Minneconjou, named Little- Tail, first made medicine with white buffalo cow- skin. Major Bush same as last. American- Horse gives for the preceding year, 1809- 710: Black- Bock was killed by the Crows. 1811-' 12.- No. I. Twenty- seven Mandans surrounded and killed by Dakotas. No. It. The Dakotas fought a battle with the Oros Ventres, and killed a great many. Device, a circle inclosing three round objects with flat bases, resembling heads severed from trunks, which latter the copy shows too minute in this device for suggestion of what they probably represent; but they appear more distinct in the record for 1864-' 65 as the heads of enemies slain in battle. In the sign- language of the plains, the Dakotas are always denoted by drawing a hand across the throat, signifying that they cut the throats of their enemies. The Dakotas count by the fingers, as is common to most peoples, but with a peculiarity of their own. When they have gone over the fingers and thumbs of both hands, one finger is temporarily turned down for one ten. At the end of the next ten another finger is turned, and so on to a hundred. Opawinge [ OpawPxe], one hundred, is derived frompawinga [ pawinxa] j to go around in circles, to make gyrations, and contains the idea that the round of all the fingers has again been made for their respective tens. So the circle is never used for less than one hundred, but sometimes signifies an indefinite number greater than a hundred. The circle, in this instance, therefore, was at first believed to express the killing in battle of many enemies. But the other interpretations remove all symbolic character, leaving the circle simply as the rude drawing of a dirt lodge, being an instance in which the present writer, by no means devoted to symbolism, had supposed a legitimate symbol to be indicated, which supposition full information on the subject did not support. |
