"Hooka hey"

[Koontz John E]

It's summer and the Internet seems to be a comparatively quiet place.
I'll venture to forward this query from Linguist, as a basis for
discussion by anyone interested.  I've run into this question a number of
times.  Usually the the first word of the phrase is spelled hoka, I think.
I believe it's part of a longer phrase, usually rendered bilingually as
"Hoka he(y)! Today is a good day to die!"  In English literature this is
associated with Crazy Horse, and I suspect questions about it are
motivated by the widespread fascination with Crazy Horse as a personality
and historical figure.  I assume that the first part is an exclamation of
enthusiasm, a sort of hurrah.  I don't know the accentuation.  I have not
seen a Dakotan version of the English phrase and my Dakotan is no where
near good enough to essay a translation.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 11:37:19 -0400
From: LINGUIST Network <linguist at linguistlist.org>
To: LINGUIST at LINGUIST.LDC.UPENN.EDU
Subject: 10.1118, Qs: "Hooka hey", Glides, Feature Acquisition/L2

I am looking for the exact meaning of "Hooka hey!". Is it Lakota or Sioux
based?  Any help much appreciated.

Peter Boyd
yangna at aol.com