Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-09-26
. INDIAN sUPERsTITIONs.
The WhirlWind and the Thunder OBJ
jects Of Curious Theories.

The Whirlwind and the Thunder OBJ
jects Of Curious Theories. M
The Dakotas believe that there is a !
close relation between the whirlwind 4
and the futtering wings of a moth
The cocoon is regarded as the mystic
rious object from which power sim
liar to that of the whirlwind emanates,
as attested by the emergence from it
of the moth.
q 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
his presence of mind he is said to have
been overcome by the whirlwind.
A cocoon of q moth taken with a
portion of the twig upon which it 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 relation between
the moth and sleep and appeal to it
when they desire to have dreams, for
with them power is always conferred
| in q dream. In the case of unrequited
| love the whirlwind Is invoked. It is
believed that it can confuse the mind
OF girl to such a degree that she
cannot resist the pleadings of the en-.
amored swain. --s 49,,
Some of the Dakotas believe that the
bear controls the power Of the whirl.
wind and that 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 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 amens
the Indians of the plains Is the thun
4 der, which usually is associated will
military exploits. While the Dakota.
generally regard the thunder as bird
usually symbolized by the eagle, the.
sometimes speak of 1t as a horse, !.
man or dog r. %..-
The horse has always appealed t.
them as creature of mysterious orr
gin and in many cases is assumed t.
have been given by the thunder. Il
any event there Is an association il
their minds between, the power of
warhorse and the thunder.
The thunder is often represented b.
zigzag or wavy line, usually in rec
q But DIR. Wissler says that this symbe
really represents the power of tn
phenomenon in the abstract, becaus
4 the Indian lacks the conception Of
force in nature, SO that the symbol /
also a general sign for the presence o
mysterious supernatural power.
Whistles made from the leg ant
wing bones of eagles are employed b.
the Dakotas to symbolic the cry O
the eagle as representative of tn,
thunder bird In battle or sometime
in stress of great trial they are sound
ed to summon the aid of the power O
the thunder. AS rule, a zigZag lin,
is scratched down the sides of thes.
whistles.
The yellow winged woodpecker i:
looked upon as an associate of ths
thunder bird, because when a storm
is approaching it utters a shriu cry no
unlike the sound of the whistle anl
is believed to be speaking to the thun
der.
The spider is spoken of as a FRIEND
of the thunder, and it is the genera
belief that the thunder will never
harm it, so that it is itself a protection
against thunder. The observed fac1
that spider manufactures a web an6
that this web is not destroyed by ar
rows Or bullets, since they pass
through it, leaving only hole, is cited
as the basis for the conception thai
the spider has power to protect people
from harm.