[57] The Dakotas called the Ojibways the "Snakes of the Forest" on account
of their lying in ambush for their enemies.
[58] Strawberries.
[59] _See-yo_--The prairie-hen.
[60] _Mahgah_--The wild-goose. _Fox-pups_. I could never see the propriety
of calling the young of foxes _kits_ or _kittens_, which mean _little
cats_. The fox belongs to the _canis_ or dog family, and not the _felis_
or cat family. If it is proper to call the young of dogs and wolves
_pups_, it is equally proper to so call the young of foxes.
[61] When a Dakota is sick he thinks the spirit of an enemy or some animal
has entered into his body, and the principal business of the
"medicine-man"--_Wicasta Wakan_--is to cast out the "unclean spirit,"
with incantations and charms. See _Neill's Hist. Minn_., pp. 66-8. The
Jews entertained a similar belief in the days of Jesus of Nazareth.
[62] _Wah-zee-yah's_ star--The North-star. See note 3.
[63] The Dakotas, like our forefathers and all other barbarians, believe
in witches and witchcraft.
[64] The _Medo_ is a wild potato; it resembles the sweet-potato in top and
taste. It grows in bottom-lands, and is much prized by the Dakotas for
food.
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