In many of the formulas, especially those relating to love and to
life-destroying, the shaman mentions the name and clan of his client,
of the intended victim, or of the girl whose affections it is desired
to win. The Indian regards his name, not as a mere label, but as a
distinct part of his personality, just as much as are his eyes or
his teeth, and believes that injury will result as surely from the
malicious handling of his name as from a wound inflicted on any part
of his physical organism. This belief was found among the various
tribes from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and has occasioned a number
of curious regulations in regard to the concealment and change of
names. It may be on this account that both Powhatan and Pocahontas are
known in history under assumed appellations, their true names having
been concealed from the whites until the pseudonyms were too firmly
established to be supplanted. Should his prayers have no apparent
effect when treating a patient for some serious illness, the shaman
sometimes concludes that the name is affected, and accordingly goes
to water, with appropriate ceremonies, and christens the patient with
a new name, by which he is henceforth to be known. He then begins
afresh, repeating the formulas with the new name selected for the
patient, in the confident hope that his efforts will be crowned with
success.