.MTM1OA.MTE0OTQ1

186

[Image]

Dakota Prairie-dog. "Wishton wish". pouch. (Haupt Coll. & del.) length 13 inches. breadth 4¼ "

and green. and at the [?] of the red with another color is a tuft of olive green feather. this pouch is made of dressed skin and is longer than the former. as is seen by referring to the dimension. The pouch made from the skin of an animal is a thing of especial value to the Dakota. The Prairie dog "Wish ton Wish" Cynomys Ludovicianus or [?] Ludovicianus is frequently used as a receptacle for tobacco. and medicine. the animal is taken and an incision made in the neck. and through this the body is accessed skinning off the hide entire. This done the skin is dried and then returned to the original position. About the neck is sewed a fringe of buckskin ornamented with white. dark blue and yellow beads. and a loop of buckskin is fastened to the nose to suspend the pouch to the person. in pencil: cynomys Ludovicianus or Arctomyl The feet are ornamented with strips of red blanket and rows of white and dark blue beads. sewed to the tail is a patch of red blanket and in the center of the body is a rosette of white. yellow and dark blue beads.. with a tassle of buckskin [??] with red. orange and dark blue porcupine quills. This specimen is from the Lower Brulé Agency in South Dakota. Such pouches made of the skin of animals and birds seem to have a dual significance The Dakota carries about with him or her wrapped in his sacred bundle his medicine pouch this is a skin of some kind and contains the mystic or sacred articles or a bone of an animal. a piece of rock. a feather. or an herb which is the especial and peculiar mystic something which the Great Spirit has revealled to the indian at the time of his admission to the rights and privilege of his band and this "medicine" is known only to the Great Spirit and the individual. In this capacity then the pouch is a "Sacred Medicine pouch." [??] Dodge in his excellent work (except that it is not indexed) set forth the dogma that a pouch or skin of an animal. stuffed. and exposed to the gazes of the canoe is the symbol or emblem of the animal from which his individual family has descended. in time gone by. In substance this seems to be true of the Ojibway nation has descended. in time gone by. In substance this seems to be true of the Ojibway nation but is flatly denied by Mr. W. W. Warren as to the Dakota. We have taken not a little pains