MYSTERIOUS MEN AND WOMEN.
§ 289. Lynd says:
Certain men profess to have an unusual amount of the wakan or divine principle in them. By it they assume the working of miracles, laying on of hands, curing of the sick, and many wonderful operations. Some of these persons pretend to a recollection of former states of existence, even naming the particular body in which they formerly lived. Others assert their power over nature, and their faculty of seeing into futurity, and of conversing with the deities. A third class will talk of the particular animals whose bodies they intend to enter when loosed from their present existence [§§ 260, 267, 287]. In endeavoring to sustain these pretensions they occasionally go through performances which are likely to deceive the ignorant throng.[206]
Pond wrote thus of the Dakota wakaŋ men:[207]
They do not spring into existence under ordinary operations of natural laws, but, according to their faith, these men and women (for females, too, are wakan) first arouse to conscious existence in the form of winged seeds, such as the thistle, and are wafted by the * * * influence of the four winds till they are conducted to the abode of some Taku Wakan, by whom they are received into intimate communion. They remain there till they become acquainted with the character and abilities of the class of gods whose guests they happen to be, and until they have imbibed their spirits, and are acquainted with all the chants, feasts, dances, and rites which the gods deem necessary to impose on men. Thus do some of them pass through a series of inspirations with different classes of divinities, till they are fully wakanized and prepared for human incarnation. They are invested with the invisible wakan powers of the gods, their knowledge and cunning, and their omnipresent influence over mind, instinct, and passions. They are taught to inflict diseases and heal them, discover concealed causes, manufacture implements of war, and impart to them the ton-wan power of the gods; and also the art of making such an application of paints that they will protect from the powers of the enemies. This process of inspiration is called “dreaming of the gods.” Thus prepared and retaining his primitive form, the demi-god rides forth on the wings of the wind over * * * the earth, till he has carefully observed the characters and usages of the different tribes of men; then, selecting his location, he enters one about to become a mother, and, in due time, makes his appearance among men. * * * When one of these wakan men dies he returns to the abode of his god, from whom he receives a new inspiration, after which he passes through another incarnation as before, and serves another generation. In this manner they pass through four incarnations, * * * and then return to their original nothingness.
§ 290. There are different persons who regard themselves as wakaŋ, says Bushotter. Among these are those who practice medicine, those who act as Heyoka, those who boil for the grizzly bear feasts, those who take part in the mystery dance, those who foretell the future, those who detect wrong-doers and find what has been lost or stolen, and those who do various things in a cunning manner. It happens thus to them: A man hears a human voice during the day and he does what the voice directs to be done, or on a certain night a tree converses with him, and the two talk about their own affairs, and what the tree tells him to do, that he does, so he says, or, it orders him to keep some law or custom as long as he lives. Among these superstitious notions are the following: Some men direct the pipe to be handed around the lodge from the left side to the right, and others vice versa. Some men dare not gash a firebrand with a knife; and should a visitor do so heedlessly, they say that he “cuts his finger.” Others will not kill a swallow, lest thunder and hail ensue. Some do not allow a knife to be passed above a kettle.
§ 291. The wakan men claim that they are invulnerable. To prove this they assemble at stated intervals, having painted themselves in various styles. Each one has a flute suspended over the chest by a necklace. They wear long breechcloths, and march in single file. Two men armed with bows and arrows rush suddenly towards the waken men and shoot at them; but instead of wounding them they merely bend the arrows! Sometimes the men fire guns at them, but the bullets fall to the ground, and when they are examined they are flattened! No visible mark of a wound can be found on the bodies of these wakan men, though when they were hit by the bullet or arrow blood pours from their mouths. After they wash off the paint from their bodies their flesh becomes tender and is vulnerable. This is the excuse urged when an ordinary person succeeds in wounding a wakan man. It is supposed that the wakan men rub themselves with some kind of medicine known only to themselves, making them invulnerable, and that perhaps the bullets or arrows are rubbed with the medicine prior to the shooting. It is also supposed that the playing of the flute aids in rendering them invulnerable. (See § 306, etc.)
§ 292. Bushotter names two kinds of Dakota doctors—the Mato wapiya, or Grizzly Bear doctor, who is very wakan, and the Peźuta wapiya, or Peźuta wićaśa, the doctor who prescribes roots. The person who practices medicine claims to have had interviews with the spirits, but he never reveals what the spirits have told him, though he says that immediately after the revelation made him by the spirit he begins to act according to its directions. And in some cases of sickness this doctor takes the flesh of the patient into his mouth and makes a sucking sound while inhaling, and from the patient’s side he pretends to remove something. When he has made the sucking sound after taking the flesh into his mouth, or when he has taken blood or something else from the side of the patient, he spits it from his mouth. Then he sees the patient’s mother, whom he tells what is the cause of the disease, and whether the patient will recover or die. Such doctors pretend to have within themselves one of the following: A small red hawk, a common woodpecker, a real buffalo, a rattlesnake, or a grizzly bear. And when one of these doctors kicks on the ground there is heard something within him, singing in a beautiful voice; and so the people believe what the doctors say about diseases.
§ 293. When the doctor has sucked the patient’s flesh a long time without removing anything, he asks a favor of the mysterious being dwelling within himself, and then that being cries out often, and the doctor succeeds in his efforts. It is by the aid of these mysterious beings that the doctors are enabled to practice medicine. In the olden time one of the doctors was very mysterious. Once, when he was practicing, a bowl of water was set down before him. He vomited into the bowl and a water-snake appeared in it. But when the doctor opened his mouth again the snake glided gently into it and disappeared down his throat. Such exhibitions by the doctors have been observed by the Indians, who are constrained to believe what the doctors claim for themselves. And because they believe that the doctors are very mysterious, the latter are able to gather together many possessions as pay for their services. Therefore the men and women doctors try to excel one another in their skill, as it pays them so well.
§ 294. A “peźuta wicaśa” told Bushotter to say to his step-father that his son, Bushotter’s younger brother, had been made crazy by a ghost. The doctor came and fumigated the patient, and after he felt a little better he sucked at the boy’s chest and drew out some blood. He resumed the operation, and then declared that there was in the boy’s side a flat object resembling a serpent, the removal of which would insure the boy’s recovery. The doctor was promised a horse if he would attend the patient until he cured him. Acting by his directions, Bushotter’s elder brother caught a large catfish, of the species called “howasapa,” and handed it to his step-father, who offered a prayer and marked the fish with a knife on the top of the head. After this the fish was cooked, and the sick boy ate it and recovered his health. It was after this that the same boy was cured by invoking the Dawn and offering sacrifice, as related in § 215.