MANDAN CULTS.
MANDAN DIVINITIES.
§ 322. According to one of Maximilian’s informants, the Mandan believe in several superior beings. (1) The first is Ohmahank-Numakshi, the Lord of Life. He is the most powerful. He created the earth, man, and every existing object. They believe that he has a tail, and appears sometimes in the form of an aged man and, at others, in that of a young man. (2) Numank-Machana, the First Man, holds the second rank; he was created by the Lord of Life, but is likewise of a divine nature. He resembles Nanabush or Manabozho of the Ojibwa and cognate tribes. (3) Ohmahank-Ohika, the Lord of Evil, is a malignant spirit, who has much influence over men; but he is not as powerful as Ohmahank-Numakshi and Numank-Machana. (4) Rohanka-Tauibanka, who dwells in the planet Venus, protects mankind on earth. The name of the fifth power has not been gained, but he is ever moving, walking over the earth in human form. They call him, “The Lying Prairie Wolf.” (6) Ochkih-Hadda[233] is a spirit that it is difficult to class. They believe that one who dreams of him is sure to die very soon thereafter. This spirit is said to have come once into their villages and taught them many things, but since then he has not appeared. They fear him, offer him sacrifice, and in their villages they have a hideous image representing him.
§ 323. The sun is thought to be the residence of the Lord of Life. In the moon dwells, as they say, the Old Woman who Never Dies. They do not know much about her, but they sacrifice to her as well as to the other spirits. She has six children, three sons and three daughters, who inhabit certain stars. The eldest son is the Day, the second is the Sun, the third is the Night. The eldest daughter is the star that rises in the east, the Morning Star, called, “The Woman Who Wears a Plume.” The second daughter, called “The Striped Gourd,” is a star which revolves the polar star. The third daughter is the Evening Star, which is near the setting sun.[234]
§ 324. The Old Woman who Never Dies.—The cult of this spirit is observed in what Say calls “the corn dance of the Manitaries.” Maximilian declares that Say is quite correct in his account of it, and that the Mandan practice it as well as the Hidatsa.
It is the consecration of the grain to be sown, and is called the corn dance feast of the woman. The Old Woman who Never Dies sends, in the spring, the waterfowl, swans, geese, and ducks, as symbols of the kinds of grain cultivated by the Indians. The wild goose signifies corn; the geese, the gourd, and the duck, beans. It is the old woman who causes these plants to grow, and, therefore, she sends these birds as her representatives. It is seldom that eleven wild geese are found together in the spring; but, if it happens, this is a sign that the crop of corn will be remarkably fine. The Indians keep a large quantity of dried meat in readiness for the time in the spring when the birds arrive, that they may immediately celebrate the corn feast of the women. They hang the meat before the village on long scaffolds made of poles, three or four rows, one above another, and this, with other articles of value, is considered as an offering to the Old Woman who Never Dies. The elderly women of the village, as representatives of that old woman, assemble about the scaffolds on a certain day, each carrying a stick, to one end of which an ear of corn is fastened. Sitting in a circle, they plant their sticks in the ground before them, and then dance around the scaffolds. Some old men beat the drum and shake the gourd rattles. The corn is not wetted or sprinkled, as many believe, but on the contrary, it is supposed that such a practice would be injurious. While the old women are performing their part, the younger ones come and put some dry pulverized meat into their mouths, for which each young woman receives in return a grain of the consecrated corn, which she eats. Three or four grains of the consecrated corn are put into their dish, and are afterwards carefully mixed with the seed corn, in order to make it yield an abundant crop. The dried meat on the scaffolds is the perquisite of the aged females, as the representatives of the Old Woman who Never Dies. But members of the Dog Society have the privilege of taking some of this meat from the scaffolds without opposition from anybody.
A similar corn feast is held in the autumn, but at that season it is held for the purpose of attracting the herds of buffaloes and of obtaining a large supply of meat. Each woman then carries an entire cornstalk with the ears attached, pulling up the stalk by the roots. They designate the corn as well as the birds by the name of the Old Woman who Never Dies, and call on them saying, “Mother, pity us; do not send the severe cold too soon, lest we do not gain enough meat. Prevent the game from departing, so that we may have something for the winter!”
In autumn, when the birds migrate to the south, or, as the Indians say, return to the Old Woman, they believe that they take with them the dried meat hung on the scaffolds, and they imagine that the Old Woman partakes of it.
The Old Woman who Never Dies has very large patches of corn, kept for her by the great stag and the white-tailed stag. She has, too, many blackbirds which help to guard her property. When she intends to feed these keepers, she summons them, and they fall on the corn, which they devour with greediness. As these corn patches are large, the Old Woman requires many laborers, hence she has the mice, moles, and stags to perform such work for her. The birds which fly from the seashore in the spring represent the Old Woman, who then travels to the north to visit the Old Man who Never Dies, who always resides there. She generally returns to the south in three or four days. In former times the Old Woman’s hut was near the Little Missouri River, where the Indians often visited her. One day twelve Hidatsa went to her, and she set before them a kettle of corn, which was so small that it did not appear sufficient to satisfy the hunger of one of the party. But she told them to eat, and, as soon as the kettle was emptied it was filled again, and all the men had enough.[235]