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Supernatural Discourse among the Oglala
The sacred persons were distinguishable from the common people not only by their ability to interpret sacred knowledge and perform ceremonies, but by their ability to communicate with the supernaturals and each other in a special language unintelligible to the uninitiated. Common people heard the ritual language during the ceremonies, and the ritual vocabulary was familiar to them. They did not understand the ritual language because they did not comprehend the sacred knowledge which gave rise to it. Ritual language was not entirely standardized, but it contained some lexical items which were mutually intelligible between sacred persons. The vocabulary was constructed from archaisms, metaphors, metonymns, abbreviated words, grammatical inversions, and common words and phrases to which uncommon meanings were applied. Mankind was referred to as wahununpa or hununpa, 'two-leggeds', and the animal kingdom as wahutopa or hutopa, 'four-leggeds', rather than the common Lakota, ikce wicaša, 'common, ordinary man', or wamakaškan, 'animal'. The sick were called wakangle or wowakangle, 'to be in a sacred state', instead of the more common wicakuje, 'sick'. The Oglalas likened the white man to a supernatural power, calling him Wašicun (from šicun). It is likely that this term was initially part of the ritual language, inasmuch as Parkman records the common Lakota word for white man as Mniaškan, 'moves on water', during his stay with the Oglalas in 1846. The white man was also referred to as ska wicaša, 'white man' (but properly, wicaša ska) and the generic term for Indians was ša wicaša, 'red man' (again an inversion). The latter term remains today as the generic term for Indian in common Lakota. Items of trade, as well as ideas, manners, and customs introduced by the white man, were called wašicun witunšni, 'white man's lies, falsehoods'. Today the products of white man's technology are called wakasotešni, 'permanent things' (literally, 'things that can't be destroyed'). The common stone or rock was called inyan, but in ritual language the sacred stone employed to help the sacred persons find lost objects or cure people were referred to as tunkan, a term recognized by the Oglalas as having a relationship with tunkašila, 'grandfather'. These stones had their own šicun and could be invested with others by the sacred person. A common person oftern carried his "guardian spirit" in the form of a small stone called wašicun tunkan, and the stone was named after the deceased or a supernatural being or power that originally owned the šicun. Common language was often rendered sacred by means of its context. The best example of lengthy discourses in ritual language are found in songs learned in vision quests. Nonhuman species are regarded as human (Wanbli Oyate, 'Eagle nation', Tatanka oyate, 'Buffalo nation', Heĥaka oyate, 'Elk nation', etc.). Sacred persons are often referred to in songs by common metaphors such as Hocoka wanji iyotake cin, 'the one who sits in the middle of the camp circle' (i.e., the universe). The spirits that give instructions to the sacred persons are described in some activity reminiscent of olden times, e.g., Šunka wakan yutapelo, 'They are eating dog sacredly', i.e., the spirits are participating in a dog feast. Most of these songs required interpretation inasmuch as they represented personal experiences shared by the sacred persons and the supernaturals. The sacred persons often called each other ieška, a term intelligible to the common man. Ieška means "interpreter, translater," and in a ritual sense, "medium". Literally, ieška means "to talk white" and is the common term used for offspring of Indian and white marriages, mixed-bloods. But the term also carries another connotation. At one time the Lakota-speakers differentiated those who spoke a mutually intelligible language from those who did not. The former were called Šaiyela, 'red speakers', and the latter Skaiela, 'white speakers'. Šaiyela (Šahiyela) is the Lakota name for the Cheyennes. Ieška is an inverted form meaning "to make clear". Ritual language was the means of expressing cosmological concepts and we find it used extensively in Oglala mythology. In the myths included in Lakota Cosmology and Lakota Mythology, you will find an abundance of abbreviated terms.
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