The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-10-08
INDIAN sUPERsnTioNS.
The Whirwind and the Thunder OBJ.
iects of Curious Theories.

iects of Curious Theories.
The Dakotas believe that there is a
close relation between the whirlwind
and the futtering wings Of a moth.
The cocoon is regarded as the mystic
rious object from which a power SIM
nar to that of the whirlwind emanates,
as attested by the emergence from it
of the moth.
DR.. Wissler explains in Discovery
that the whirlwind meant by the Da-
kota is the harmless little whirl one
sees upon the plains every clear day.
The long, slender column betraying its
presence makes profound impression
upon the Indian
In the whirlwind somehow and
somewhere resides the power to pro-
duce confusion of mind. Thus It was
natural that its aid should have been
invoked by the warriors on going into
battle, for to be as intangible, invisible
and destructive as the wind was their
one great desire. When a man loses
his presence of mind he is said to have
been overcome by the whirlwind.
portion of the twig upon which 1t was
found and wrapped In an eagle plume
or down is regarded as a perpetual
prayer to the power Of the whirlwind-
This prayer is not only symbolized by
the genuine cocoon worn upon the per-
son, but also by its image in stuffed
buckskin or by its sketched or paint
ed representation.
The Blackfeet see a relation between
the moth and sleep and appeal to 1t
when they desire to have dreams, for
with them power is always conferred
In a dream. In the case of unrequited
love the whirlwind is invoked. It is
believed that 1t can confuse the mind
of a girl to such a degree that she
cannot resist the pleadings Of the en-
amored swain.
Some of the Dakotas believe that the
bear controls the power of the whirl-
wind and that a prayer must be ad-
dressed to the animal for the assist
ance of the whirlwind. Sometimes q
person will receive power from the
bear In a dream or vision and thus
come to have the aid of the whirlwind
because Of the conceived relation be-
tween the two. Finally the power of
the whirlwind is also supposed to be
associated with the buffalo and the
spider web.
A deity Of equal Importance among
the Indians of the plains is the thun-
der, which usually is associated with
military exploits. While the Dakotas
generally regard the thunder as a bird,
usually symbolized by the eagle, they
sometimes speak OF it as a horse, q
man or a dog.
The horse has always appealed to
them as a creature of mysterious orr
gin and In many cases Is assumed 10
have been given by the thunder In
any event there is an association In
their minds between the power of a
warhorse and the thunder
The thunder is often represented by
zigzag or wavy line, usually In red
But DR.. Wissler says that this symbol
really represents the power of the
phenomenon In the abstract, because
the Indian lacks the conception of a
force In nature, so that the symbol is
also a general sign for the presence of
mysterious supernatural power.
Whistles made from the leg and
wing bones of eagles are employed by
the Dakotas to symbolic the cry of
the eagle as a representative of the
thunder bird. In battle or sometimes
In stress of great trial they are sound
ed to summon the aid Of the power of
the thunder. AS a rule, a zigzag line
is scratched down the sides Of these
whistles.
The yellow winged woodpecker is
looked upon as an associate of the
thunder bird, because when a storm
Is approaching it utters a shrfll cry not
unlike the sound of the whistle and
is believed to be speaking to the thun-
der.
The spider Is spoken of as a friend
of the thunder, and it is the general
belief that the thunder will never
harm It. so that 1t is itself protection
against thunder The observed fact
that spider manufactures a web and
that this web is not destroyed by ar
rows or bullets, since they pass
through 1t, leaving only hole, is cited
as the basis for the conception that
the spider has power to protect people
from harm.