The world of the Wampanoags was well-populated with supernatural
beings and forces. Of these, one was a sort of generalized power,
called _Manitou_.[533] Many early observers of the Indians of
northeastern North America, where this concept is widespread,
developed the mistaken idea that “Manitou” referred to an
anthropomorphic supreme being. Actually, Manitou is a force rather
than a person. It could perhaps best be likened to that force
for good luck that many Europeans think can be found in horse
shoes, four-leaf clovers, etc. thus, when a Wampanoag performed
an exceptional feat he was said to have Manitou, or supernatural
power. Likewise, certain objects, animals, and physical features
on the landscape were thought to have Manitou in them, because
someone had had good luck right after seeing or touching them. This
could have happened so far in the past that it was remembered only
in mythology. Or, perhaps the whole incident was a vision in a
dream.[534]
A related concept is something that can be called animal
spirits.[535] These were supernaturals in animal form, who could
interfere in the lives and fates of human beings. Whether the power
of these animals was identical to Manitou is not known, and it is
quite possible that the relationship was not too clearly worked out
in the minds of the Indians either.
A great deal of emphasis was placed upon dreams.[536] A Wampanoag
who wanted supernatural help could seek a dream in which one of the
animal spirits would appear to him and agree to help him, often by
becoming his guardian spirit.[537] He would then call upon this
supernatural helper throughout his life for whatever aid its power
enabled it to give. Crows and rabbits in particular represented
animal spirits, and they were not supposed to be killed.[538]
Powows also had animal spirits that they obtained through dreams.
Either the animal itself or the kind of supernatural power that the
animal had (it is not possible to tell which from existing data) came
to dwell within the powow. He could then send this spirit out to do
his bidding.[539] Usually there were several such animal spirits
dwelling within one powow.[540]
Also part of the supernatural world were the ghosts of the dead. They
lingered near the camps of the living and caused trouble, often in
the form of illness.[541]
The Wampanoags also had anthropomorphic supernaturals. One of these
was Kiehtan, a high god who was responsible for the creation of the
world and all in it, and who could influence the prosperity of the
Wampanoags. He was called upon for plenty, victory, and general
favor in various undertakings. His home was in the southwest, the
place where spirits of the good went upon death.[542] According to
some accounts this was also the place where other kinds of spirits
lived.[543]
Another supernatural was Hobomock (Abamacho). The Europeans
immediately identified this being with the Devil, because he had an
association with snakes, seemed to be able to cause harm to people,
and was often feared. Actually, he seems to have been capable of
both help and harm; his role in the supernatural pantheon is not
at all clear. Hobomock would actually appear to the more important
Wampanoags, taking the form of an animal or bird, and most frequently
a snake. He was called upon in time of sickness to cure people. One
never dared to call upon Kiehtan in time of illness for fear it might
have been he in the first place who sent the sickness as punishment.
If the illness was sent by Kiehtan, however, Hobomock could not cure
it.[544]
Mythology had it that people were made by Kiehtan (Kautantowwit). He
first made a man and a woman out of stone, but, as he did not like
them, he broke them into many pieces and proceeded to make another
man and woman out of a tree. These he liked, and their progeny
populated the earth.[545] Corn and beans were brought by the crow,
who carried in one ear a kernel of corn and in the other a bean,
which he had gotten from the field belonging to Kiehtan.[546]
The Wampanoags attributed a great deal of what happened to them
in their daily lives to supernatural activity.[547] Sometimes it
was hard to determine at once whether a condition resulted from
“natural” or supernatural causes. A supernaturally caused illness,
for example, would often go unrecognized until conventional herbal
techniques proved of no avail in bringing relief. Bad luck and
accidents were usually blamed on the supernatural.[548] Winning
at games was considered to be done as a result of supernatural
aid, which was invoked throughout the period of play. Bargaining,
pleading, and threatening were all methods used to bring supernatural
favor upon one’s activities and to dispel any unfavorable
supernatural influences.