eir eyes on her (or him). _Anpetuwee_
issues every morning from the lodge of _Han-nan-na_ (the Morning) and
begins his journey over the sky to his lodge in the land of shadows.
Sometimes he walks over on the Bridge (or path) of the Spirits--_Wanage
Ta-chan-ku_,--and sometimes he sails over the sea of the skies in his
shining canoe; but _somehow_, and the Dakotas do not explain how, he
gets back again to the lodge of _Hannanna_ in time to take a nap and eat
his breakfast before starting anew on his journey. The Dakotas swear by
the sun, "_As Anpetuwee hears me, this is true!_" They call him Father
and pray to him--"_Wakan! Ate, on-she-ma-da_"--"Sacred Spirit,--Father,
have mercy on me." As the Sun is the father, so they believe the Earth
is the mother, of life. Truly there is much philosophy in the Dakota
mythology. The Algonkins call the earth "_Me-suk-kum-mik-o-kwa_"--the
great-grandmother of all. _Narrative of John Tanner_, p. 193.

[71] The Dakotas reckon their months by _moons_. They name their moons
from natural circumstances. They correspond very nearly with our months,
as follows:

January--_Wee-te-rhee_--The Hard Moon; i.e.--the cold moon.

February--_Wee-ca-ta-wee_--The Coon Moon--(the moon when the coons come
out of their hollow trees).

March--_Ista-wee-ca-ya-zang-wee_--the sore-eyes moon (from snow
blindness).

April--Maga-oka-da-wee--the moon when the geese lay eggs; also called
Woka da-wee--egg-moon; and sometimes Wato-papee-wee, the canoe-moon, or
moon when the streams become free from ice.

May--Wo-zu-pee-wee--the planting moon.

June--Wazu-ste-ca-sa-wee--the strawberry moon.

July--Wa-sun-pa-wee--the moon when the geese shed their feathers, also
called Chang-pa-sapa-wee--Choke-Cherry moon, and
sometimes--Mna-rcha-rcha-wee--"The moon of the red-blooming lilies,"
literally, the red-lily moon.

August--Wasu-ton-wee--the ripe moon, i.e., Harvest Moon.

September--Psin-na-ke-tu-wee--the ripe rice moon. (When the wild rice is
ripe.)

October--Wa-zu-pee-wee or Wee-wa-zu-pee--the moon when wild rice is
gathered and laid up for winter.

November--Ta-kee-yu-hra-wee--the deer-rutting moon.

December--Ta-he-cha-psung-wee--the moon when deer shed their horns.

[72] Oonk-to-mee--is a bad spirit in the form of a monstrous black spider.
He inhabits fens and marshes and lies in wait for his prey. At night he
often lights a torch (evidently the ignis fatuus or Jack-o' lantern) and
swings it on the marsh