CONCEPTION OF ENERGY.
(The following is a literal transcript of a conversation with Finger, a distinguished shaman, March 25, 1914.)
I heard you exclaim when a meteorite fell and heard you address the people immediately afterwards. Then I saw you burning sweetgrass. Will you tell me why you did this? You are a white man's medicineman and you want to know the mysteries of the Lakota. Why do you want to know these things?
The old Indians who know these things will soon be dead and gone and as the younger Indians do now know them they will be lost. I wish to write them so they will be preserved and your people can read them in years to come. Will you tell them to me? My father was a shaman and he taught me the mysteries of the shamans and I will tell them to you. What is it you want to know?
When the meteor fell you cried in a loud voice, "Wohpa. Wohpe-e-e-e." Why did you do this? Because that is wakan.
What is wohpa? It is what you saw. It is one of the stars falling.
What causes the stars to fall? Taku Skanskan.
Why does Taku Skanskan cause the stars to fall? Because He causes everything that falls to fall and he causes everything to move that moves.
When you move what is it that causes you to move? Skan.
If an arrow is shot from a bow what causes it to move through the air. Skan.
What causes a stone to fall to the ground when I drop it? Skan.
If I lift a stone from the ground what causes the movement? Skan. He gives you power to lift the stone and it is He that causes all movement of any kind.
Has the bow anything to do with the movement of an arrow shot from it? Taku Skanskan gives the spirit to the bow and he causes it to send the arrow from it.
What causes smoke to go upward? Taku Skanskan.
What causes water to flow in a river? Skan.
What causes the clouds to move over the world? Skan.
Are Taku Skan and Skan one and the same? Yes. When the people speak to Him, they say Taku Skanskan. When a shaman speaks of Him, he says Skan. Skan belongs to the wakan speech used by the shamans.
Is Skan, Wakan Tanka? Yes.
Is he Wakan Tanka Kin? No. That is Wi, the Sun.
Are Wi and Skan one and the same? No. Wi is Wakan Tanka Kin and Skan is Nagi Tanka, the Great Spirit.
Are they both Wakan Tanka? Yes.
Are there any other wakan that are Wakan Tanka? Yes. Inyan, the Rock and Maka, the Earth.
Are there any others? Yes. Wi Han, the Moon; Tate, the wind; Wakinyan, the Winged; and Wohpe, the Beautiful Woman.
Are there any others that are Wakan Tanka? No.
Then there are eight Wakan Tanka, are there? No, there is but one.
You have named eight and say there is but one. How can this be? That is right. I have named eight. There are four, Wi, Skan, Inyan, and Maka. These are the Wakan Tanka.
You named four others, the Moon, the Wind, the Winged, and the Beautiful Woman and said they were Wakan Tanka, did you not? Yes. But these four are the same as the Wakan Tanka. The Sun and the Moon are the same, the Skan and the Wind are the same, the Rock and the Winged are the same, and the Earth and
