The Tree Dweller Cults of the Dakota

Author(s): James H. Howard

Source: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 68, No. 268 (Apr. - Jun., 1955), pp. 169-174
Published by: American Folklore Society
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 THE TREE DWELLER CULTS OF
THE DAKOTA
BY JAMESH. HOWARD

N important folk character of the Dakota is the "tree dweller" or "little forest
dweller," a usually malevolent wood sprite. Though nearly forgotten by the
present generation, this spirit was formerly highly venerated and even feared.
Appearing in the form of a very small man, or as an animal or bird, the tree dweller
lured travelers astray, and led them into dense thickets and impassable swamps. On
the other hand, however, he sometimes granted favored mortals the power to cure
certain diseases, the gift of clairvoyancy,and luck in hunting.
Belief in the tree dweller seems to have been strongest among the Santee, or
Eastern Dakota (Mdewakanton, Wahpeton, Wahpekute, and Sisseton bands). This
seems quite natural, since the elf supposedly favored a wooded environment. The
tree dweller is also prominent, however, in the folklore of the Yankton and Yank-
tonai, and the sprite was even well known to the Plains-dwelling Teton.
The earliest reference to the tree dweller encountered by the present writer is
in Riggs' Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakota Language, published in i852.1
The description is as follows: "Can otidan, n. the Dakota god of the woods-an
unknown animal said to resemble a man, which the Dakotas worship; perhaps, the
monkey." Riggs' rendering of the name is in the Santee dialect, and his information
concerning the tree dweller was presumably secured from Eastern Dakota in--
formants.2 He also gives the variant names Hohnogica, Hohnogicadan, and Ohno-
gicadan for the tree dweller.3
Lynd, a contemporary of Riggs, describes the malevolent actions of the elf as
follows:4 "Can otida' draws the hungry hunters to the depths of the wood by imi-
tating the voices of animals or by the nefarious 'Cico! cico!' (i.e., I invite you to a
feast! I invite you to a feast!) when he scares them out of their senses by showing
himself to them."
James Owen Dorsey includes the tree dweller in his listing of Dakota deities,.
and makes an interesting comparison with a Ponca spirit:5 "The name Hohnogica,
or Ohnogica is called by the Teton, Ungnagicala; which is the name of the screech-
1Stephen R. Riggs, Grammarand Dictionaryof the Dakota Language;SmithsonianContribu-
tions to Knowledge (Washington, 1852), p. 41.
2 In the Yanktonand Yanktonaidialect the name becomescan
otina, and in Teton, can otila, or
merely can oti. It may be separatedinto the following components: can 'wood,' 'tree,' or 'forest';
oti 'to dwell within'; dan (Santee), na (Yankton and Yanktonai), and la (Teton) are diminutive
suffixesindicating the small stature of the elf.
3 Riggs, Grammarand Dictionary,pp. 68, I55.
4 J. W. Lynd, "The Religion of the Dakotas,"Collectionsof the Minnesota Historical
Society,
II:2 (I860-67 [Reprint of I889]), 153.
5 James Owen Dorsey, A Study of Siouan Cults, Bureau of American
Ethnology, Annual Re-.
port, XI (Washington, I894), p. 473.

I69

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170 Journalof AmericanFolklore
owl. As the PonkaIndathingadwellsin the forest,and is saidto resemblean owl, he
must be identifiedwith the Dakota Canotidan,or Ungnagicala."In the same source,
however,Dorsey quotesRiggs' statementthat "Can-o-te-na is representedas a little
child,only it has a tail."6Perhapsthe owl-like form is merelyone of the animaland
bird manifestationsassumedby the elf.
Skinner7gives the most detaileddescriptionof the tree dwellerand his attributes,
secured from Wahpeton informants.The Wahpeton told Skinner that the tree
dweller is
an elf who dwellsin a hollowstump,open at the top, and who maintainshimselfby
his magicarts.For example,his powerextendsupwardinto the sky for an indefinite
distance,in the formof an enchantedcylindricalshaft,the size of the openingin which
he dwells.Whenwildfowlflyover,if theycrossthischarmedshaft,theyarestrickendead,
and fall downinto the Tree-dweller's den, a preyto the goblin.EvenThunderbirds fear
and avoidthe Tree-dweller's home.
At timesthe beingsuddenlyconfrontssomelonelyhunterin the forestand firesat
him a volleyof questionsin a confusingway.If the hunterforgetshimselffor an instant,
andanswersanyquestionin theaffirmative, thefirstpersonof his immediatefamilywhom
he meetson thewaybackto hislodgemustshortlydie,becauseno matterhowinnocentthe
questionof the Tree-dweller sounded,it is a distortedrequestfor the life of the firstrela-
tive met in the mannermentioned.
Skinner goes on to mention8that the tree dweller can grant "power"to his
favorites,particularlyluck in hunting and the abilityto prophesycoming events.
Walker9writesof the Oglala (Teton) conceptof this creature:
The CanOti or ForestDwellersare elveswho wanderin lonelyplacesand bewilder
mankindso thatdirectionsand locationsare not recognized.Theseelvescan assumethe
formof beastsor birdsfor the purposeof enticingmankindinto theirpower.The smoke
of thepipeor thepotencyof theFourWinds,candefeattheirpurposes.
Informationsecuredby the presentwriterfrom membersof all threedivisionsof
the Dakota tribe regardingthe tree dwellertallieswell with these accounts;i.e., the
tree dwelleris a powerfulspiritwho usuallyappearsas a little man. He dwells in
the forest or in lonely places and is sometimesencounteredby solitaryhuntersor
travelers.He is usuallymalevolentand often "loses"peoplein the woods or hills. He
sometimesappearsto peoplein visions,however,and if he is securedby a personas a
spirit helper in this manner he can be summonedto work for the good of the
visionaryby performingthe properceremony.Shamanswith tree dweller power
usuallymade a small wooden image of him which they kept along with their other
medicinesand paraphernalia.
JudgeFrancisZahn,an Upper YanktonaiDakota of Fort Yates,North Dakota,
regardedthe tree dwelleras an anthropomorphic owl, and statedthat the can otina
originatedthe vibratinglingual trill used by Dakota women as an honor cry. This
statementappearssignificantin that it supportsDorsey'sdescriptionof the owl-like
appearanceof the tree dweller,cited above.
6 Dorsey, A Study of Siouan Cults, p. 473.
TAlanson B. Skinner, "Tree-DwellerBundle of the WahpetonDakota,"Indian Notes [Museum
of the American Indian, Heye Foundation], II (1925), 70-71.
8 Skinner, "Tree-DwellerBundle of the Wahpeton Dakota," p. 71.
9 J. R. Walker, 'The Sun Dance and Other Ceremoniesof the Oglala Division of the Teton
Dakota," Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, XVI:2 (New
York, 1917), 89.

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 The TreeDweller Cultsof the Dakota I7I
Edward Milligan, of Bottineau, North Dakota, tells of a group of Dakota chil-
dren who, while playing in the woods near Ft. Totten, North Dakota, found a
carved wooden image of the tree dweller in the base of a hollow tree. Not knowing
what it was, two of the children brought it home to their parents. The parents, who
had been recently converted to the Roman Catholic faith, viewed the object with
dread, recognizing it as the "devil doll" of a deceased shaman who had lived in that
locality. Shaking with fear they carried the object to their priest to avoid any evil
consequences.
Another account demonstrating the great fear in which the tree dweller was
held was recounted by Oscar Howe, the Dakota artist, who is the grandson of a
renowned Lower Yanktonai chief. Howe stated that as a small boy he and some
other boys once helped an old woman move her belongings from one house to an-
other. She was a famous medicine woman and all the boys were curious to see the
contents of her "medicine" trunk. Braver than his companions, Howe waited until
no one was looking and raised the lid. Inside he perceived two large wooden images
of the tree dweller, together with several bundles of medicines. The mere sight of
these objects caused him to shiver with fright. What struck him most, however, was
the powerful musky odor which emanated from the trunk. He described it as a
very strong scent which he had never met before and has not encountered since. He
quickly slammed the trunk shut and ran away. Several years later he asked his
father about the contents of the trunk. He was told that the materials were used by
the old woman in "making medicine" and that they would be buried with her when
she died.
The only mentions in the literature of a ceremonial in which the tree dweller
figures are in two papers by Skinner,"?in which he states that images of the tree
dweller were used by one band of the Wahpeton medicine lodge (the equivalent
of the Ojibwa Midewiwin), called the "tree dweller band." Members of this medicine
band carried "his image and a model of his forest home, instead of, or perhaps in
addition to, the animal skin medicine bags of the other members.""1He relates that
the owners of these images were able to make them dance magically during the
rites of the society.
Skinner illustrates a medicine packet, containing a wooden image of tree dweller
and various charms and medicines,12 reproduced here as Plate i. He also pictures
a tree dweller image and the box, representing the hollow stump home of the tree
dweller, in which it is kept.13 Riggs14 also mentions what is undoubtedly one of
these images in its case, though he mistakenly identifies it as a "household god":
"One of these images is that of a little man, and is inclosed in a cylindrical wooden
case, and enveloped in sacred swan's down."
It is interesting to find mention of the "tree dweller" shamans organized as one
10Alanson B. Skinner, "MedicineCeremony of the Menomini, Iowa, and Wahpeton Dakota,
with Notes on the Ceremony Among the Ponca, Bungi Ojibwa, and Potawatomi,"Indian Notes
and Monographs [Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation], IV (New York, I920),
296; Skinner, "Tree-DwellerBundle of the Wahpeton Dakota," p. 71.
11Skinner, "Tree-DwellerBundle of the Wahpeton Dakota," p. 71.
12Skinner, "MedicineCeremonyof the Menomini, Iowa, and Wahpeton Dakota," pi. XXV.
13Skinner, "Tree-DwellerBundle of the Wahpeton Dakota," fig. 39, p. 68.
14Stephen R. Riggs, Tah-koo Wah-kan or The Gospel Among the Dakotas (Boston, x869),
p. 7I.

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172 Journal of American Folklore
of the bands in the Wahpeton medicine lodge, since certain other types of shamans,
such as the bears and buffalos, made up bands in the Yanktonai medicine lodge
society. Though tree dweller shamans occurred among the Yanktonai, we have no
information to indicate that they were affiliated with the medicine lodge of that
division of the Dakota.
An account of a tree dweller shaman's curing ceremony was secured by the
writer in 1952, from Eva Littlechief, a Dakota woman living in Bismarck, North
Dakota. As far as is known, this is the only account extant describing what was
once a widespread tribal rite. Mrs. Littlechief was present, as a spectator, at the
ceremony which she described. According to Mrs. Littlechief, the ceremony was held
to cure a man who had been bothered for some time by a recurring nosebleed. The
shaman who conducted the rite was an old Yanktonai, now deceased, who lived
near Cannonball, North Dakota, where the ceremony was held.
The rite took place in an ordinary frame dwelling from which all furniture had
been removed. The shaman sat at the West end of the house, near the wall. His
medicine bundle was placed at his left, and his hand drum and drumstick to his
right. Before him was a small altar, consisting of a shallow wooden box filled with
powdered rotten wood. On this the shaman placed red and green downy plumes.
The red feathers presumably symbolized holiness, this color being a favorite with
Dakota shamans, and the green were probably symbolic of tree dweller, i.e., foliage.
The rotten wood, of course, was sacred to the elf as well.
At the other end of the room the patient was seated. Before him was another shal-
low wooden box, filled with moist earth. In the center of this box a few live coals
were placed. These were replaced from time to time from a fire which was kept
burning outside the house. Spectators sat around the wall of the room on both sides
and at the ends.
G( W

es
?i

T _
I ? ?

I s b?~_ 5 <S) <

Figure i. Diagram of a Yanktonaitree dweller shaman'scuring ceremony.
a. shaman,b. shaman'smedicinebundle,c. shaman'sdrum and drumstick,
d. rotten wood altar with red and green feathers,e. tree dweller image,
f. patient, g. earth altar with small heap of coals in center, h. spectators,
i. outside fire, a sourceof fresh coals for g.

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Plate i. Medicine packet containing wooden image of tree-dweller
and various charms and medicines. (From Skinner, 1920, pl. XXV).

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 Plate 2. Teton Dakota tree dweller mask.

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 The TreeDweller Cultsof the Dakota I73
The ceremony began with the shaman praying. He then opened his medicine
bundle, took out the tree dweller doll, and stood it upright in the box of rotten wood.
Next, he took a piece of red strouding from the bundle and carefully covered the
doll with it. Finally, he took up his hand drum and drumstick and began to sing,
providing his own accompaniment.Soon the image of the tree dweller began to dance
underneath the red cloth in time with the shaman's drumming.
After an interval of this singing, the shaman arose and went to the other end of
the room. Opening a small pouch, he took out some herb medicine and placed a
quantity on the live coals in the box before the patient. The patient was instructed
to inhale the smoke which rose from the burning herb. The identity of this plant,
or plants, could not be learned. Mrs. Littlechief simply called it "flowers." The
shaman then returned to his seat and sang some more while the tree dweller image
danced. A feast concluded the ceremony, which Mrs. Littlechief described as having
cured the man's nosebleed.
Though this description of the ceremony is quite vague, to say the least, it does
explain one use of the tree dweller dolls. Possibly one of the bundles illustrated by
Skinner contains the "flowers"used as the medicinal fumigant in this ceremony.
A second Dakota tree dweller cult, or ceremonial manifestation, was described
to the writer by Frank White-buffalo-man, a Teton Dakota living near La Plant,
South Dakota, and Judge Francis Zahn. White-buffalo-man stated that a few years
ago a certain man, a Teton Dakota, was accustomed to camp each summer, with his
family, along the highway near Rapid City, South Dakota. This man performed
what White-buffalo-man called an "elf" dance for passing tourists, wearing a mask
which representedthe tree dweller. Though this man danced for gain, White-buffalo-
man insisted that the dance was inspired by the man's having dreamed of tree dweller.
He stated that formerly there had been other tree dweller dreamers among the
Teton who danced in a like manner.15
White-buffalo-man made a deerskin mask for the author, copying the one used
by this tree dweller dreamer, reproduced as Plate 2. In a note sent with the mask he
stated that it might be worn in the Omaha (grass) dance if the owner desired. This
may indicate that the tree dweller was less feared by the Teton than Heyoka, the
anti-natural god, since White-buffalo-man cautioned the author against using a
Heyoka mask, sent in the same package, lest he be struck by lightning.
Judge Zahn also mentioned seeing, as a boy, a group of masked dancers (probably
both Upper Yanktonai and Teton) who imitated the tree dweller. He stated that
these dancers were united by common dreams of the elf. They were not, according
to Zahn, as numerous as the Heyoka dreamers. It is not known whether these tree
dweller dreamers wore masks for fear of being injured if they did not, as in the case
of the Heyoka cult, or whether they did so merely to demonstrate their source of
power.
The presence of these two arboreal spirit cults among the Dakota emphasizes the
strong Woodland affinities of this tribe, which are too often forgotten in appraisals
of Dakota culture. Though dwarfs and elves having the same general attributes are
15 MarshallAlexander, of St. Paul, Minnesota,recalls seeing a similar dance
staged by Ikt6mi,
the Dakota author, several years ago. In this dance Ikt6mi was masked, had green branches
fastened to his hands and legs, and bark wrappedaround his body. It is very likely that this is the
same person referred to by White-buffalo-man.

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 I74 Journalof AmericanFolklore
found in the folklore of many Plains tribes, the use of wooden images of the spirit
seems to be a strictly Woodland trait. Skinner states that similar images were used by
the Menomini, Potawatomi, Sauk, Fox, Delaware, Shawnee, Ojibwa, and Winne-
bago.16He gives a brief description, including song texts, of a Potawatomi ceremony
centering around the tree dweller images.l' In his concluding paragraph he writes:18
At a doll bundle ceremonyof this nature,each personwho owns one of these charms
brings it and stands it up with the rest in the west of the lodge. All are dressedin fine
new clothes.Anciently,it is said, they danced magicallywith their owners, but nowadays
no one has the power to do this any more.

The placing of the dolls at the West end of the lodge and the reference to their
dancing "magically" are very reminiscent of the Dakota ceremony described by Mrs.
Littlechief. The reference to the owners dancing, on the other hand, seems more
akin to the cult described by White-buffalo-man and Judge Zahn. This suggests that
both Dakota cults may have derived from a common parent. It must be admitted,
however, that our present knowledge of the Dakota tree dweller cults is extremely
limited, and that dancing may very well have occurred in some forms of the doll
ceremony as well
The Science Museum
St. Paul, Minnesota
6 Alanson B.
Skinner, "The Mascoutensor Prairie Potawatomi Indians," Pt. I: Social Life
and Ceremonies, Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, VI (1924), I82;
Skinner, "Tree-DwellerBundle of the Wahpeton Dakota," p. 73.
17 Skinner, "The Mascoutensor Prairie Potawatomi Indians,"pp. I78-I84.
18 Skinner, "The Mascoutensor Prairie Potawatomi Indians,"p. 184.

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