e proposal, still the
suitor must buy her of her parents with suitable gifts.

[76] The Dakotas called the falls of St. Anthony the _Ha-Ha_--the _loud
laughing_, or _roaring_. The Mississippi River they called _Ha-Ha
Wa-kpa_ River of the Falls. The Ojibway name for the Falls of St.
Anthony is _Ka-ka-bik-kung_. Minnehaha is a combination of two Dakota
words--_Mini_--water and _Ha-Ha_, Falls; but it is not the name by which
the Dakotas designated that cataract. Some authorities say they called
it _I-ha-ha_--pronounced E-rhah-rhah--lightly laughing. Rev. S.W. Pond,
whose long residence as a missionary among the Dakotas in this immediate
vicinity makes him an authority that can hardly be questioned, says they
called the Falls of Minnehaha "_Mini-i-hrpa-ya-dan_," and it had no
other name in Dakota. "It means Little Falls and nothing else." Letter
to the author.

[77] The game of the Plum-stones is one of the favorite games of the
Dakotas. Hennepin was the first to describe this game, in his
_Description de la Louisiane_, Paris, 1683, and he describes it very
accurately. See Shea's translation p. 301. The Dakotas call this game
_Kan-soo Koo-tay-pe_--shooting plum-stones. Each stone is painted black
on one side and red on the other; on one side they grave certain figures
which make the stones _Wakan_. They are placed in a dish and thrown up
like dice. Indeed, the game is virtually a game of dice. Hennepin says:
"There are some so given to this game that they will gamble away even
their great coat. Those who conduct the game cry at the top of their
voices when they rattle the platter, and they strike their shoulders so
hard as to leave them all black with the blows."

[78] _Wa-tanka_--contraction of _Wa-kan Tanka_--Great Spirit. The Dakotas
had no _Wakan Tanka_ or _Wakan-peta_--fire spirit--till white men
imported them. There being no name for the Supreme Being in the Dakota
tongue (except _Taku Skan-skan_.--See note 51)--and all their gods and
spirits being _Wakan_--the missionaries named God in Dakota--"_Wakan
Tanka_"--which means _Big Spirit_, or _The Big Mysterious_.

[79] The Dakotas called Lake Calhoun, at Minneapolis,
Minn.--_Mde-mdo-za_--Loon Lake. They also called it _Re-ya-ta-mde_--the
lake back from the river. They called Lake Harriet--_Mde-unma_--the
other lake--or (perhaps) _Mde-uma_--Hazel-nut Lake. The lake nearest
Calhoun on the north--Lake of the Isles--they called _Wi-ta
Mde_--Island-Lake. Lake Minnetonka