Their pretended intercourse with spirits, their powers of
magic and divination, and their rites are substantially the same, and
point unmistakably to a common origin. The Dakota "Medicine-Man" can do
the "rope trick" of the Hindoo magician to perfection. The _teepee_ used
for the _Wakan Wacipee_--or Sacred Dance--is called the _Wakan
Teepee_--the Sacred Teepee. Carvers Cave at St. Paul was also called
_Wakan Teepee_ because the Medicine-men or magicians often held their
dances and feasts in it. For a full account of the rites, etc., see
Riggs' _Tahkoo Wahkan_, Chapter VI. The _Ta-sha-ke_--literally,
"Deer-hoofs"--is a rattle made by hanging the hard segments of
deer-hoofs to a wooden rod a foot long--about an inch in diameter at the
handle end, and tapering to a point at the other. The clashing of these
horny bits makes a sharp, shrill sound something like distant
sleigh-bells. In their incantations over the sick they sometimes use the
gourd shell rattle.
The _Chan-che-ga_--is a drum or "Wooden Kettle." The hoop of the drum is
from a foot to eighteen inches in diameter, and from three to ten inches
deep. The skin covering is stretched over one end, making a drum with
one end only.
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