As frequent allusion has been made to this ceremony, and as it is a rite which is so frequently observed, it seems necessary that it should be explained. The following description of this rite is furnished by Rev. S. R. Riggs:
SIMON’S INIPI.
“He took eight poles about the size of hoop-poles, of any wood that would bend readily, and putting the large ends in the ground, at proper distances in a circle, bent them over and tied them together at the top. This frame-work he then covered with robes and blankets, leaving a small hole for a door at one side. It was a little higher than a man’s head, when seated within. Before the door, he built a fire, and having selected four round stones (or nearly round) about as big as a man’s head (size not essential), he placed them in the fire. He called Wamdiokiya to be high priest on the occasion. The high priest then ordered him to call so many to be his helpers—the number determined by the size of the tabernacle—from two to five. With these he entered into the wokeya, all entirely naked.
Simon stands at the door without, by the fire, to attend the stones. He has made two paddles about twelve inches long and painted them red. These are to be used by the man within to move the stones with. He covers the ground, between the tent door and the fire, with nice feathers and cut tobacco. When the stones are heated, the chief within calls to him to roll in the first one. This he does, with a brand, putting tobacco upon it and praying to it—“Turkan wahipani mada wo, toka wahte kta wacia.” So he rolls one after another of the stones over the tobacco and feathers and prays to each one. The men within receive them and roll them to the middle with the painted paddles—singing, hi, hi, hi, hi.
They then commence their songs; each one has a song. They all pray to the Tankan to give Simon help in the day of battle, to make him strong and furious and successful. The chief then says to his fellows: “Have mercy on me, I will cool these stones.” And he proceeds to pour water on them. The steam fills the tent, which has been closed entirely after the stones were rolled in. Then they pray to the Taku skan-skan or to the Wasican. All their gods are called Wasican.
Simon, this while, stands without crying and praying. The chief wakan man receives an encouraging communication from the stone god which he delivers to Simon. When the stones are cold, they all cry and come out of the booth. So ends this sacrifice to the stone god.”
The doctors count much on the efficacy of this “vapor bath.” Perhaps no other one rite is in more general use than this, on the part of all who wish to become conspicuously wakan.
As regards the medicine man as a doctor, or exorcist, or juggler, it is not only believed that he can cure diseases, but that he can inflict them at his pleasure, on any person who may dare to offend him. It only requires a purpose on his part. They are feared, if possible, more than the gods themselves, for they are present in the camp and in the lodge.
If a person is sick, he will give all he possesses and all he can obtain on credit, to secure the services of one of them, and will cheerfully give a horse, in advance, for a single performance such as has been described. In almost innumerable instances, families sacrifice all that they have on these pretenders, and to be abandoned by them is felt to be a dire calamity. Parents are as careful to train their children to respect and revere them, as was an early Puritan to inspire his children with reverence for the divine institutions of Christendom. They are respected. They sit in the highest and have the best of everything. If some among them are thought to be mere pretenders, this circumstance only serves to enhance the importance of those who are believed to be true.
Thus, by imposing on an ignorant, savage people, “gods many,” gods of life and gods of death, gods of hate and revenge and lust, gods of cold and of heat, gods of all the various passions, gods of lying, deceit and wrong, gods of gluttony and drunkenness, gods of lasciviousness and impurity, gods of conception and abortion, gods innumerable—hideous and horrid monsters, which are the creation of the inflamed and bedeviled imaginations of these Thugs—these wakan men—they exert an influence over them, in the various official capacities which they assume, which is absolute and which pervades Dakota society—an influence which bears with all its force on each individual of their victims, which tends to crush him down still deeper, if indeed there are depths below them, in ignorance, superstition, degradation and misery of soul and body, and force them into an unreserved surrender to their own whims and caprices. Of these wakan men there are from five to twenty five in each of the little clans of Dakotas.