SNAKE LORE.
§ 250. Some Dakota will not kill snakes by hitting them. He who violates the law in this respect will dream horrible dreams about various kinds of snakes; and occasionally it happens that such a man has a horse bitten by a snake. The Siŋteḣla taŋka, or the Ancient of Rattlesnakes, was one of the enemies of the Thunder-beings.
“There are some things about which it is most unlucky to dream. Snakes are said to be terrible; they seek to enter a man’s ears, nose, or mouth” (i.e., in the dream); “and should one succeed, it is a sure sign of death. ‘No good comes from snakes.’”[186]