The Oglala (Teton Dakota) Sun Dance: Vissicitudes of its Structures and Functions

Abstract

The structure and function of the traditional Oglala Dakota Sun Dance is compared with modern versions of the dance performed at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.     

Wakunza: Uses of Yuwipi Medicine Power in Contemporary Teton Dakota Culture1

Abstract

The Dakota belief in wakuⁿza or “supernatural retribution” is examined as an aspect of contemporary Sioux religion. Belief in this power is reported to be a significant mechanism in the maintenance of social control within Sioux communities on and off the reservation by insuring the chastisement of social deviants. Animistic spirits rather than individuals are attributed with possessing the power to administer justice and reprimand those committing transgressions of the Dakota moral order. Two alternative hypotheses regarding the uses of wakuⁿza are proposed.     

A Ceremony For The Preparation Of The Offering Cloths For Presentation To The Sacred Calf Pipe Of The Teton Sioux*

Abstract

The following ceremony, according to my informants, must be performed each and every time an offering is made to the Sacred Calf Pipe of the Teton Dakota. When it is completed the Sacred Pipe Bundle can then be opened and prayed over.     

The Garnier Oglala Winter Count

Abstract

This article makes available the text of a previously unpublished Dakota winter count which covers the period 1759 to 1908. The calendrical record is written in a journal volume which belonged to John B. Garnier, a son of Baptiste “Little Bat” Garnier.     

The Changing Practice Of The Oglala Medicine Man

Abstract

Among the most durable elements of tribal culture are the quasi-secret ceremonial procedures of the medicine man, surviving the Conquest, suppression, and various revivalist movements almost intact, and retaining rituals possibly dating to the Pleistocene. Consciously rejected aspects of Christian training have reappeared in modified form, as in a wedding ceremony here described. Other syncretisms can be traced to the political activism of recent years, and the impetus it has given to a resurgence of the old religion. By 1978 the Oglala medicine man, originally a healer, seer, and sage, had assumed additional roles as tribal representative to other governments, political leaders, mediator in disputes, judge and counsellor, justice-of-the-peace, mental health worker, psychotherapist, and provider of primary health care.     

The Seven Pipes of the Dakota Sioux*

Abstract

Ceremonial uses of the seven major pipes of the Dakota Sioux are described.     

Anthropometric variation among the Sioux and the Assiniboine.

Historically, the Assiniboine are thought to have split from the Yanktonai Sioux some time in the early 17th century, but this view has been challenged by some linguists, archeologists, and skeletal biologists. Our purpose here is to examine the population structure of the Sioux and the Assiniboine, as reflected in 6 head and 6 body anthropometric dimensions, and to investigate the hypothesis that the Assiniboine diverged relatively recently from the Yanktonai Sioux. For both males and females there is an overall significant division effect, and the FST value indicates a fair amount of differentiation among these closely related groups. The Assiniboine are clearly distinct from all 3 Sioux divisions. The Assiniboine also exhibit a higher within-group phenotypic variance than expected, indicating that their differentiation is due to time and gene flow from outside groups. Among the Sioux divisions the Santee and Yankton-Yanktonai are the most similar, especially in head and face dimensions. The results of this study do not support the historical account of Assiniboine origins. The high degree of differentiation between the Yanktonai and Assiniboine suggests a much more distant split between the Assiniboine and the Sioux than has been traditionally put forth.