Na′tu′wani′sa, na′tu′wani′sa—
Hä′nätä′hĭ′näti′,
Hä′nätä′hĭ′näti′.
Translation
My children, my children,
My top, my top—
It will win the game,
It will win the game.
The man who made this song when he entered the spirit world in his vision met there one of his boy friends who had died long years before, and once more spun tops with him as in childhood.
Tops are used by all Indian boys, and are made of wood or bone. They are not thrown or spun with a string, but are kept in motion by whipping with a small quirt or whip of buckskin. In winter they are spun upon the ice. The younger children make tops to twirl with the fingers by running a stick through a small seed berry.