Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-01-06
DESCRIBES
''NAMINC" OF
F0CH BY SIOUX
Mystery Of Skies Merged in.
Weird Ceremony, DR..
Gilmore Says.

Bismarck, n. D., Jan. 6.-All the
mystery Of the Indian understanding
OF life, earth, water and sky entered,
into ceremony in which the members
of the Teton tribe of the Sioux named.
Marshal Foch and smoked with him
h pipe of peace, according to Mel
Vim II. Gilmore, curator of the North
Dakota Historical society. In the rush.
of completing the ceremony within.
the allotted few minutes a o In
depreciation was placed upon the
name bestowed by Red Tomahawk
according to DR.. Gilmore, who, had
the Indian chief repeat the name. AFT
ter the ceremony. that he might he
certain Of having it correctly placed
in his historical records. Marshal
Foch is placed In the mythology Of
h Tetons as Charging Lightning,
the words for thunder and lightning
being almost the same. Z
DIR. GNmorc's Account.
DR.. Gilmore's historical statement
of the event says in part:
Marshal Foch was met by a dele
cation of Teton-Dakotas from the
Standing Rock reservation OF the Da-
kota nation. The leader Of this dele
cation was Red Tomahawk. who cere-
monially presented a pipe to Marshal
Foch, and also conferred upon him a
name in the Dakota nation. In his
speech to the. marshal he said: My
friend: The first time I ever heard Of
the great general, Marshal Foch, was
at h time when we ent our young
men to France. At that time 1 never
thought that l should ever see the
great general: but today I have the
honor and the pleasure to see him,
and I am glad. The young men of the
French nation and young men of the
Dakota nation fought together in the
same cause against our common enc
my. and some of both nations died to-
gether in that. struggle and were
buried in the same ground
Then he held up the pipe and
said: Among my people the Dakotas,
it is our custom to offer the pipe and
smoke together; SO in like name I
wish to smoke with the marshal and
to give him this pipe as a token Of
friendship Now the meaning of the
pipe and its parts are these; the pipe
bowl liz made from catlinite, q red
stone. which is found only in south
| western Minnesota. The stone in this
use signifies firm and lAting friend
ship. The pipe-stem is of ashwood.
and signifies that u friendship shall
be durable and unbroken. The hollow
of he pipestem through which we
draw the smoke is straight, signifying
that the words proceeding from our
lips shall be just and true, and that
our paths shall be straight. The coll
ors Of these ribbons upon. the pipe
stem also have their meaning. The
white signifies that all Former differ
cnces are cleared away. and we shall
be candid friends. The red ribbon ia
we are all Of one. blood
Then Red Tomahawk held the
pipe~ first to the north. hen east, to
south, and to the west; then aloft to
the sky, then downwards to Mother
Earth. This was a form of Invocation
to all the Divine Powers.
Lights the Pipe.
HE then lighted the pipe and drew
upon it, n then offered the mouth
piece to the marshal. who also drew
upon it, and then to Maj. WEIGH.
RED Tomahawk was obliged to
abbreviate the ceremony because Of
the lack of time. He also abbreviated
the explanations Of the symbolism for
the same reason. If time had permit
ted all should have beer seated upon
the ground.
1.-THE material for smoking. with
which the pipe was filed, was q. mix
ture of tobacco and the inner ark of
a native shrub. a r~~rcies of dogwood,
Cornus stclonifera.
Tobacco is invested with some
thing Of mystery and sacredness i'll the
Indian thought, and was used cere-
! monially in the manner of incense.
Confcrs Name.
after delivering the pipe to Mar
, shall Foch Red Tomahawk declared
his desire and purpose to confer upon
the marshal the honor of a name in
the Dakota nation. .Wakinyan Watak-
pc. This. name with which Red Toma-
hawk invested the marshal has sig
%nificance in connection with the his
toric message sent by the marshal at
the first battle of the Marine: The
situation is excellent, I am attacking!'
The meaning of the Dakota word
'watakpe' is to make an attack to
ltcharge.' The meaning of the Dakota
word 'Wakinyan,' is lightning. There
fore the meaning OF the name is
Iightning-in-attack,' or "Lightning-
which attacks"