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The Wakan-Wacepee, Or Sacred Dance. [81]

by Hanford Lennox Gordon

Lo the lights in the "Teepee-W'kan!"

'tis the night of the W'kan Wac'pee.

Round and round walks the chief of the clan,

as he rattles the sacred Ta-sh'-kay; [81]

Long and loud on the Ch'n-che-ga [81]

beat the drummers with magical drumsticks,

And the notes of the Ch'-t'nka [81]

greet like the murmur of winds on the waters.

By the friction of white-cedar wood

for the feast was a Virgin-fire [20] kindled.

They that enter the firm brotherhood

first must fast and be cleansed by E-ne'-pee;[81]

And from foot-sole to crown of the head

must they paint with the favorite colors;

For Unkt'hee likes bands of blood-red,

with the stripings of blue intermingled.

In the hollow earth, dark and profound,

Unkt'hee and fiery Wak'nyan

Long fought, and the terrible sound

of the battle was louder than thunder;

The mountains were heaved and around

were scattered the hills and the boulders,

And the vast solid plains of the ground

rose and fell like the waves of the ocean.

But the god of the waters prevailed.

Wak'n-yan escaped from the cavern,

And long on the mountains he wailed,

and his hatred endureth forever.

When Unkt'hee had finished the earth,

and the beasts and the birds and the fishes,

And men at his bidding came forth

from the heart of the huge hollow mountains,[69]

A band chose the god from the hordes,

and he said: "Ye are the sons of Unkt'hee:

Ye are lords of the beasts and the birds,

and the fishes that swim in the waters.

But hearken ye now to my words,

let them sound in your bosoms forever:

Ye shall honor Unkt'hee and hate Wakinyan,

the Spirit of Thunder,

For the power of Unkt'hee is great,

and he laughs at the darts of Wakinyan.

Ye shall honor the Earth and the Sun,

for they are your father and mother; [70]

Let your prayer to the Sun be:

Wak'n At'; on-si-md-da ohe'-ne'."[AF]

And remember the T'ku Wak'n[73]

all-pervading in earth and in ether

Invisible ever to man,

but He dwells in the midst of all matter;

Yea, he dwells in the heart of the stone

in the hard granite heart of the boulder;

Ye shall call him forever Tunk'n

grandfather of all the Dakotas.

Ye are men that I choose for my own;

ye shall be as a strong band of brothers,

Now I give you the magical bone

and the magical pouch of the spirits,[AG]

And these are the laws ye shall heed:

Ye shall honor the pouch and the giver.

Ye shall walk as twin-brothers; in need,

one shall forfeit his life for another.

Listen not to the voice of the crow.[AH]

Hold as sacred the wife of a brother.

Strike, and fear not the shaft of the foe,

for the soul of the brave is immortal.

Slay the warrior in battle,

but spare the innocent babe and the mother.

Remember a promise, beware,

let the word of a warrior be sacred

When a stranger arrives at the tee

be he friend of the band or a foeman,

Give him food; let your bounty be free;

lay a robe for the guest by the lodge-fire;

Let him go to his kindred in peace,

if the peace-pipe he smoke in the teepee;

And so shall your children increase,

and your lodges shall laugh with abundance.

And long shall ye live in the land,

and the spirits of earth and the waters

Shall come to your aid, at command,

with the power of invisible magic.

And at last, when you journey afar

o'er the shining "Wan'gee Ta-ch'n-ku,"[68]

You shall walk as a red, shining star[8]

in the land of perpetual summer."

All the night in the teepee they sang,

and they danced to the mighty Unkt'hee,

While the loud-braying Ch'n-che-ga rang

and the shrill-piping flute and the rattle,

Till Anp'tuwee [70] rose in the east

from the couch of the blushing Han-n'n-na,

And thus at the dance and the feast

sang the sons of Unkt'hee in chorus:

"Wa-d'-ta o-hn' mi-k'-ge!

Wa-d'-ta o-hn' mi-k'-ge!

Mini-y'ta it' wak'nd' mak',

At' wak'n Tunk'nsid'n.

Tunk'nsid'n pejih'ta wak'n

Mic'g' he Wic'g'!

Miniy'ta it' wak'nd' mak'.

Tauk'nsidan it', n'p' d'-win-ta woo,

Wahut'pa wan y'ha, n'p' d'-win-ta woo."

TRANSLATION.

In red swan-down he made it for me;

He of the water he of the mysterious face

Gave it to me;

Sacred Father Grandfather!

Grandfather made me magical medicine.

That is true!

Being of mystery, grown in the water

He gave it to me!

To the face of our Grandfather stretch out your hand;

Holding a quadruped, stretch out your hand!

Till high o'er the hills of the east

Anp'tuwee walked on his journey,

In secret they danced at the feast,

and communed with the mighty Unkt'hee.

Then opened the door of the tee

to the eyes of the wondering Dakotas,

And the sons of Unkt'hee to be,

were endowed with the sacred Oz'ha[82]

By the son of tall Waz'-kut', Tamd'ka,

the chief of the Magi.

And thus since the birth-day of man

since he sprang from the heart of the mountains,[69]

Has the sacred "Wac'pee Wak'n"

by the warlike Dakotas been honored,

And the god-favored sons of the clan

work their will with the help of the spirits.