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Gordon, Hanford Lennox, 1836-1920

"The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems"


[19] _Tee_--Contracted from _teepee_, lodge or wigwam, and means the same.
[20] For all their sacred feasts the Dakotas kindle a new fire called "The
Virgin Fire." This is done with flint and steel, or by rubbing together
pieces of wood till friction produces fire. It must be done by a virgin,
nor must any woman, except a virgin, ever touch the "sacred armor" of a
Dakota warrior. White cedar is "_Wakan_"--sacred. See note 50. _Riggs'
Tahkoo Wakan_, p. 84.
[21] All Northern Indians consider the East a mysterious and sacred land
whence comes the sun. The Dakota name for the East is
_Wee-yo-hee-yan-pa_--the sunrise. The Ojibways call it _Waub-o-nong_
--the white land or land of light, and they have many myths, legends and
traditions relating thereto. Barbarous peoples of all times have
regarded the East with superstitious reverence simply because the sun
rises in that quarter.
[22] See _Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah_, pp. 225-8, describing the feast to
_Heyoka_.
[23] This stone from which the Dakotas have made their pipes for ages, is
esteemed _wakan_--sacred. They call it _I-yan-ska_, probably from _iya_,
to speak, and _ska_, white, truthful, peaceful,--hence, peace-pipe,
herald of peace, pledge of truth, etc.


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