THE INDAȻIÑGA.
§ 38. The Ponka, in 1871, told the author of a being whom they called the Ĭndáȼiñga. This being was a superhuman character, who dwelt in the forests. He hooted like an owl, and he was so powerful that he could uproot a tree or overturn a lodge. The Ponka had a song about him, and mothers used to scare their children by saying, “Behave, else the Ĭndaȼiñga will catch you!” Joseph La Flèche had heard it spoken of as a monster in human shape, covered with thick hair. As the Ponka for wearing a mask is “Ĭndáȼiñga gáxe,” or “to act the Ĭndáȼiñga,” it may be that this character was an aboriginal bogy. Compare the Dakota Ćaŋotidaŋ, Hoḣnoġića, Uŋgnaġićala, etc. (§ 232.) Omaha mothers used to scare their children by telling them that if they did not behave, Icibajĭ (a hero of the ┴e-sĭnde gens) or ┴exujaⁿ (a hero of the [K]aⁿze gens) would catch them.[34] Another fearful being was Ĭnde-naⁿba, or Two Faces, the very sight of whom killed a woman who was enceinte.[35] This being resembled, in some respects, Ictinike, the deceiver,[36] though Ictinike was usually the counterpart of the Dakota Ikto, Iktomi, or Uŋktomi. (See §§ 228-231.) As a worker of evil Ictinike may be compared with the Dakota Anŭŋg-ite or Two Faces, and the latter in turn resembled the Ĭndáȼiñga of the Ponka. (See §§ 233, 234.)