Wilhelm K. Meya's statement
Wilhelm K. Meya's statement:
As you suggest, there is a translation issue at the heart of your problem. The best source for this is
the Stephen Riggs dictionary of Dakota, reflecting language usage in the 1830's, as well as some
books on Santee Dakota history and mythology.
To begin, wakan is a word applied to numerous types of phenomenon, ranging from sacred, holy, to
incomprehensible, mysterious, or dangerous (cf. Riggs 507-508). The word is commonly used to modify
many kinds of nouns, both religious and profane. For example, wakanwacipi (sacred + dance) is reserved
for a sacred religious dance, but mazawakan (metal+sacred/dangerous) is the terms for the European
firearm. The wakan modifier was also used to describe alcohol (i.e. whiskey), when it was introduced
referring to it as mniwakan (water + incomprehensible).
The usage associated with the Mdewakanton people to their lake and river, is a wholly different
issue. The Mdewakanton (md''lake' + wakan 'sacred' + ton 'village'), known as the 'sacred lake
village' people, were one of the subdivisions of the Santee Sioux. The Mdewakanton are considered
in the oral tradition, one of the most ancient divisions of the Sioux Nation or Ocetisakowin 'Seven
Council Fires'. The sacred lake (Mille Lacs) figures prominently in Lakota/Dakota creation stories.
The lake is considered sacred because the Dakota people emerged from it as human beings into this
world. You may want to look up the story itself in some of the Dakota mythology collections. Clearly
the lake, which has ancient roots in Siouan history was not associated with the alcohol
connotation of 'wakan.' Rather the opposite connotation of 'sacred' would be the more likely
candidate. To extend a river name from a lake already so named is clearly what most likely happened.
Furthermore, Dakotas often constructed river names by a modification of the word mni 'water'. So for
example the Minisota ( Mini 'water' + sota 'clear') 'Clear River' i.e. the Minnesota R.; or Minisose,
the Missouri R., ( mini 'water' + sose 'turbid, muddy') the Muddy River. If the river was called
Miniwakan or Mniwakan, it would have fallen within the geographical reference taxonomy of naming
rivers in this way.
Since the Mdewakanton left the area in the mid-1700s under pressure from the Ojibwe and settled along
the lower Minnesota R. during the 1770s it makes it difficult to determine what usage they used for
certain, especially since Carter observed the Rum River usage in 1766 after the Santee had already
left. Nevertheless, certainly the Santee Mdewakanton would not have referred to the river coming out
of a 'sacred' lake as being associated with rum.
Ultimately, I think Nicollet made the original mistranslation by relying on an Ojibwe translation of
the Dakota. Hearing mniwakan in its most vernacular usage would (post 1750) be associated with
alcohol, but knowing the context of the lake and its history, any reasonable translator would see
Mniwakan, as sacred river, an extension of Sacred lake and a regular Sioux river naming
practice.
This is my best determination based on the textual evidence. Perhaps, you should also ask the
Mdewakanton at Upper and Lower Sioux Reservations. Also you might want to check the references in
the Handbook of the North American Indians V. 13. Part 2 p.776. Or talk to Patricia Albers at the
University of Minn. as to other contacts.
Good Luck
Wilhelm
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