OMAHA, PONKA, AND KANSA BELIEF IN A WAKANDA.
§ 21. According to Two Crows and Joseph La Flèche, the ancestors of the Omaha and Ponka believed that there was a Supreme Being, whom they called Wakanda. “Wakanda t‘aⁿi tĕ eȼegaⁿi, they believed that Wakanda existed.” They did not know where He was, nor did they undertake to say how He existed. There was no public gathering at which some of the people told others that there was a Wakauda, nor was there any general assembly for the purpose of offering Him worship and prayer. Each person thought in his heart that Wakanda existed. Some addressed the sun as Wakanda, though many did not so regard him. Many addressed Wakanda, as it were, blindly or at random. Some worshiped the Thunder-being under this name. This was especially the case when men undertook to go on the war path. [7] Mr. Say recorded of the Kansa: “They say that they have never seen Wakanda, so they cannot pretend to personify Him; but they have often heard Him speak in the thunder. They often wear a shell which is in honor or in representation of Him, but they do not pretend that it resembles Him, or has anything in common with his form, organization, or size.”