ASTRONOMICAL LORE.
§ 213. Ho-ke-wiŋ-la is a man who stands in the moon with outstretched arms. His name is said to mean Turtle Man. When the Teton see a short man with a large body and legs they generally call him “Ho-ke-la,” after the man in the moon.
The Teton do not like to gaze at the moon, because at some past time a woman, who was carrying a child on her back, gazed a long time at the moon, till she became very weak and fell senseless.
No Teton dare look at the stars and count even “one” mentally. For one is sure to die if he begin to count the stars and desist before finishing. They are also afraid to point at a rainbow with the index finger, though they can point at it with the lips or elbow. Should one forget, and point with the index finger, the bystanders laugh at him, saying, “By and by, O friend, when your finger becomes large and round, let us have it for a ball bat.”