SIOUX MYTHOLOGY.
BY DR. CHARLES A. EASTMAN.
The tendency of the uncivilized and untutored mind is to recognize the Deity through some definite medium. The mind has an inborn recognition of the highest good or God. The aborigines of this country illustrate this truth. But the province of this paper is to deal, in the brief time allowed, with the mythology of the Sioux Nation, and more especially that portion of the tribe with which I am very familiar, although the others are not distinctively different in their religious customs.
The human mind, equipped with all its faculties, is capable, even in its uncultured state, of a distinct process of reasoning. Free from the burdensome theories of science and of theology it is impressed powerfully by God's omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence.
Alexander Pope's worn-out lines:
"Lo, the poor Indian! Whose untutored mind
Sees God in clouds, or hears Him in the wind,"
is true as far as that the Indian recognized the power behind every natural force. His thought instantly goes back to the God who made the wind to blow, the sun to shine, the fire to burn, and so forth. Thus he not only sees God in the sky, but in every creation. All nature sings his praises: birds, waterfalls, tree-tops, everything whispers the name of the mysterious God.
The Indian does not trouble himself concerning the nature of creation. He is satisfied that there is a Supreme God, to whom all nature bows her head; whose laws all must obey. Beyond this he does not dare to go. He looks to Him for help.
The relation between God and man he conceived from the
