The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
The Sacred Dance (Wakan Wacipi) was a religious ceremony among many tribes including the Dakota. The word “was” is used here because it is defunct among the Dakota at the present time, but is still viable among the Ojibwe, Sac and Fox, Menominee, among others that are and were before removal, located to the east of Dakota territory.
In Dakota religion God (Takuŝkanŝkan) is divided into sixteen deities or saints if you will. The oldest one is Inyan (Stone) as is reported (Riggs 1869:65). No one is in agreement today as to the names of the sixteen. This loss is due to United States Government crack down along with Christian influence, to stamp out Indian religion and bring the Indian into the main stream of white society. The Wakan Wacipi is dedicated to one of these deities. Some say it is the most important – water. Controlling the water is the spirit named Unkteĥi (The Terrible One) sometimes abbreviated as Unk, so named, as to speak the name of this spirit is forbidden (Neill1872:.267) This Terrible One guards the lower world, the unseen world beneath lakes, and rivers, anywhere water is present. The Unteĥi resides in the east and its color is yellow, the symbol of the rising sun. Their helpers in this watery world, they call upon turtles, fish, water mammals, water birds, and water plants, anything that lives in or near water as their aids. These Unkteĥi spirits are a family, male, female, and children. The young foolish children are the most dangerous to man. They like all youth who have not learned to control their power. There are many lakes in which these Water Spirits live, namely our own Miniwakan or Sacred Water. The White people named the lake Devils Lake, thinking the Water Spirit was a devil. The lake is sacred because it is the home of these Water Spirits.
Opposite the east is another, the spirit of the west Wakinyan (The Flyer), sometimes translated as the Holy Flyer (Wakan-Kinyan) who guards the upper world, whose color is black, the one who controls fire and fears water. The Flyer’s spirit helpers are the birds, and flying insects. The Unkteĥi and Flyer spirits are opposite each other up and down, east and west. They are enemies of each other. Anyone who lives close to nature will attest to the violence of a thunder storm. It is in these storms, with wind, thunder, and lighting the Unkteĥi and the Thunderbird battle each other for the control of water (Eastman and Eastman 1909: 116).
Now the big secret: I am revealing for the first time, I believe, explaining the battle between these two spirits. The secret is the Indians are explaining the hydrological cycle.
The Water Spirits want to keep the water, and the Thunders want to take it away, evaporate it with fire, to be returned to earth as a benefit to man as rain, hail and snow. White authors for years have written about these two spirits as if their battles are a quaint part of Indian lore, not realizing the sophistication of the tale.
(To be continued)
