THE HOOP.

The circle, or more properly the hoop, is a very important religious symbol among the Dakota. One form of it appears in the great hoop-game described by Louis Meeker,[[9]] and later by Dr. J. R. Walker.[[10]] This hoop is usually about two feet in diameter, and notched so as to divide the circumference into quadrants. While this hoop-game seems to be a true gambling game, it could be and was sometimes played as part of a ritualistic ceremony the object of which was to bring the buffalo. It is interesting to note that this large hoop is similar to the sacred wheel used by the Arapaho in the sun-dance. At the time of the ghost-dance outbreak among the Dakota of Pine Ridge Reservation, Mr. Mooney saw the hoop and the two pairs of sticks used with it carried in the ceremonies connected with the ghost-dance religion. He states:—

“It is said that the medicine-man of Big Foot’s band carried such a hoop with him in their flight from the north, and displayed it in every dance held by the band until the fatal day of Wounded Knee. A similar hoop was carried and hung upon the centre tree at the dance at No Water’s camp near Pine Ridge. To the Indian it symbolizes the revival of the old-time games.”[[11]]

The last line of the above quotation implies that the hoop was a part of the paraphernalia used in the ghost-dance ceremonies, because it symbolized the ancient games. On another page of the same article occurs the following:—

“As it was the favorite game with the men in the olden times, a great many of the songs founded on these trance visions refer to it, and the wheel and sticks are made by the dreamer, and carried in the dance as they sing.”[[12]]

It should be remembered, however, that the game was formerly played to restore the buffalo when they were temporarily absent from their range; and, as one of the great objects of the ghost-dance religion was the return of the buffalo as in the olden times, the reason for the use of the hoop in the ceremonies described by Mooney is apparent. In Mooney’s account, a number of songs pertaining to the hoop-game are given as sung by the various tribes practising the ghost-dance religion. Among these is a Dakota version, as follows:—

“The holy (hoop) shall run,“Come and see it,
The holy (hoop) shall run,Come and see it,
The swift hoop shall run,Says the father,
The swift hoop shall run.”Says the father.”[[13]]

A mythical account of the hoop-game is given by Dr. J. R. Walker, which indicates one of the probable conceptions upon which this religious use of the hoop rests.[[14]]

The hoop-symbol occurs in graphic form, sometimes upon garments. The writer secured a shirt that was used by one of the leaders in ghost-dances; and which seems to have been a type of the so-called “bullet-proof shirt.” This garment is daubed with red about the neck and on the shoulders, but in addition bears four circular designs, also in red, with large dots at their centres (Fig. 16). One of these designs is placed upon the right breast; another, directly opposite, upon the back of the garment; one upon the right shoulder; and one upon the left. These are so arranged, that, no matter from what point you see the wearer, one of the circular designs will be visible. These designs were recognized as symbols of the medicine-hoop, and were supposed to have the power to protect the wearer from all harm. The idea of placing the designs so that one of them should always be between the wearer and the source of danger may be original with the owner of this shirt; but the number of them (four), and their arrangement according to the four directions, correspond to the common explanation of religious symbols.

Fig. 16 (50-2964). Circular
Design upon a Shirt.
Diameter, 11 cm.

Meeker describes[[15]] a wheel-shaped hoop-ornament consisting of a ring enclosing four spokes at right angles to each other. According to his account, this is a symbol associated with the hoop-game; but similar specimens were seen by the writer upon the heads of Dakota men, who explained that these were symbols of the medicine-wheel or medicine-hoop, and did not refer to the hoop-game. They were worn because they were regarded as symbols of the power that could protect the wearer from arrows, bullets, or other dangers.

As is suggested by the above, the game-hoop is distinguished from the medicine-hoop as used in ceremonies. A medicine-hoop seems to have been used by all divisions of the Dakota, and, according to the descriptions received by the writer, to have been of several forms. In certain ceremonies where the elk played an important part, a hoop or ring was formed by twining together fresh twigs and leaves of the willow. In the centre of this hoop, a small mirror was held by four cords arranged at right angles, and representing the four directions. A drawing of an elk-dancer by a native is shown in Fig. 17. The painted centre for the circular designs on a shirt (Fig. 16) described above, as well as the small wheel-shaped head-ornament, were said to represent a hoop of this type.

Fig. 17. Sketch, by a Native,
of an Elk-mystery Dancer carrying a
Hoop with a Mirror in the Centre.
Drawing collected by R. Cronau.

The connection of this hoop with the idea of protection is well illustrated in the manufacture of one kind of red paint. It is produced by burning a kind of yellow clay, found near the Black Hills, until it takes on the red color. The paint, however, is given its protective power by certain ceremonies performed as it is made. In the particular ceremony observed by the writer, the yellow earth was pounded fine, and mixed with water until it became a stiff paste. This was then made into a flat disk about half an inch thick and from four to six inches in diameter, after which a hole or depression was made in the centre. The purpose of this, as explained, was to give it the form of a medicine-hoop, the hole in the centre corresponding to the place occupied by the mirror in the form of hoop just described. This disk was then burned in the fire until red, after which it was pounded on a stone until fine enough for use. The ceremony in preparing the paint consisted of ritualistic songs and prayers, which reached their climax as the disk of clay was formed and perforated. The burning and the subsequent preparation were not regarded as parts of the ceremony. The idea, as expressed, was to connect the paint with the power represented by the hoop, so that when a warrior rubbed some of it upon his body, he came at once under the protection of this power.

Another idea seems to be connected with the conception of the medicine-hoop, and that is the appearance of certain mythical animals with openings through their bodies where their hearts should be. The conception seems to be, that an animal without a heart is immortal and supernatural: at least, this is the way in which the mythical elk was described. According to the belief, there is a connection between this opening through the heart and the centre of the medicine-hoop, represented in the elk ceremonies by the mirror; but it is the opinion of the writer that this is an error on the part of the Indians themselves in associating two things that were formerly distinct.[[16]]

It seems rather curious that the mirror should become so closely associated with the hoop, and that the mirror should have appealed to them as a symbol of almost equal importance. The writer is of the opinion that the preceding cases, where the mirror and the hoop are considered as identical symbols, are the result of a former close association of the two in ceremonial affairs.

[9] Meeker (Bulletin of the Free Museum of Science and Art, University of Pennsylvania, Vol. III. No. 1).
[10] Walker (The Journal of the American Folk-Lore Society, October-December, 1905).
[11] Mooney (Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 1075).
[12] Mooney (Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 994).
[13] Mooney (Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 1075).
[14] Walker (The Journal of the American Folk-Lore Society, October-December, 1905).
[15] Meeker, op. cit., p. 35.
[16] In the Report of the Peabody Museum (Vol. III, p. 286) is a description by Miss Fletcher of some ceremonies in which the hoop and the mirror played a part. “The neophyte held one, having a circular mirror, fastened by four cords, from which he cast a reflection of the sun from time to time upon the ground, or held up the hoop, and flashed the mirror.” The explanation given by this author of the significance of the mirror in these ceremonies differs from that secured by the writer; but Miss Fletcher’s account seems to refer to a form of ceremony pertaining to the elk rites not mentioned in his notes.