f the North-west_, p 21,
_Mackenzie's Travels._

[16] _Hey-o-ka_ is one of the principal Dakota deities. He is a giant, but
can change himself into a buffalo, a bear, a fish or a bird. He is
called the Anti-natural God or Spirit. In summer he shivers with cold,
in winter he suffers from heat; he cries when he laughs and he laughs
when he cries, etc. He is the reverse of nature in all things. _Heyoka_
is universally feared and reverenced by the Dakotas, but so severe is
the ordeal that the _Heyoka Wacipee_ (the dance to _Heyoka_) is now
rarely celebrated. It is said that the "Medicine-men" use a secret
preparation which enables them to handle fire and dip their hands in
boiling water without injury and thereby gain great _eclat_ from the
uninitiated. The chiefs and the leading warriors usually belong to the
secret order of "Medicine-men" or "Sons of _Unktehee_"--the Spirit of
the Waters.

[17] The Dakota name for the moon is _Han-ye-tu-wee_--literally,
Night-Sun. He is the twin brother of _An-pe-tu-wee_--the Day Sun. See
note 70.

[18] The Dakotas believe that the stars are the spirits of their departed
friends.

[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. In the cabinet at Albany, N.Y.,
there is a very ancient pipe of this material which the Iroquois