A General Outline of Lakota Sioux Philosophy::

Concepts of Life and Death II

Amiotte described the third aspect of spirit as such:

"The Sicun is that mysterious spiritlike power which all things possess. For the plant it may be its lifegiving fruits, seeds, leaves, or roots or their chemical results as medicines. For animals it may be their unique traits, or the knowledge they have of plants or of celestial and earthly phenomena or behavior, that man desires for himself to help to survive. In some animals, it is their possession of the eternal and unfettered wisdom of the gods which man desires to know" (1992: 170).¹

Sicun is received through the intervention of and intercourse with the spirit realm. According to One Star, a person or thing may have several sicun, but will always have one at the very least. The sicun can be the spirit of something (in Walker 1917: 158).² Medicine men may acquire several sicun in the course of their lives, each one endowing them with greater spiritual power, and each one acquired through an appropriate ceremonial manner. In order to help people ward off ill health or malevolent energies or spirits, medicine men invest them with some of their own sicun, thus losing a little bit of their own power in the process. Sicun are imparted by the Wakantanka or wakan spirits into things and people. Such potency can be contained, protected and hidden in an appropriate pouch, bag or other vessel. This entire package is a wasicun, which Walker glosses as 'fetish', though says is not the same as a piyaha or medicine pouch used to cure diseases and such like (1917: 87-88).

Bushotter called sicun guardian spirits, or tawasicunpi. He wrote:

"Each Teton may have his special guardian spirit. If such spirits are remembered they confer great power on their favorites. The latter may be surrounded by foes and yet escape, either by receiving great strength, enabling them to scatter their enemies, or by being made invisible, disappearing like a ghost or the wind. Sometimes it is said that one is rescued by being turned into a small bird that flies off in safety. This refers to those who 'ihanbla' (have intercourse with spirits) or who have guardian spirits (tawasicunpi) as servants" (in Dorsey 1894: 475).³

Ihanbla is to dream; hanbleceya is to cry for a vision. This is an important medium through which sicun are acquired. As such,

"[w]hile all things possess Sicun, those who have received more of it by crying for a dream are supposed to be particularly blessed, and hence responsible that it will always be used for the benefit it can bring to the people so that the proper relationship of all life will be maintained" (Amiotte 1992: 171).

Nagila, or little ghost, is closely associated with Skan. To some degree, it "is that part of Takuškanškan which is in all of us" - that dwells in all things (Amiotte 1987: 87).⁴ "Less personal and more magnanimous than the other souls, the Nagila is responsible for wholeness - much like the web or sacred cord that binds and holds together all components" (Amiotte 1992: 171).

Notes::

• 1 - Arthur Amiotte. 1992. "Our Other Selves." D.M. Dooling and Paul Jordan-Smith, eds. 161172. I Become Part of It: Sacred Dimensions in Native American Life. New York: HarperCollins.
• 2 - James R. Walker. 1917. "The Sun Dance and Other Ceremonies of the Oglala Division of the Teton Dakota." Anthropological Papers. 16 (2): 51-221. New York: American Museum of Natural History.
• 3 - James O. Dorsey. 1894. A Study of Siouan Cults. Bureau of American Ethnology, Annual Report II. 351-544. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution.
• 4 - Arthur Amiotte. 1987. "The Lakota Sun Dance: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives." Rayrnond J. DeMallie and Douglas R Parks, eds. 75-89. Sioux Indian Religion: Tradition and Innovation. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.