THE INDIAN DEVIL.
The Klamath Indians in bringing down their legends from the creation
of man until the present day, say that some were made to be good
and honorable, some bad and some were real bad and mean, which they
termed devils, or Oh-mah-ha. We have the conception of the invisible
Satan, (Sey-elth, or wicked old woman) and a real living devil such
as walks the earth, and we fear them as they will harm us if they
get the opportunity. We have had these living Indian devils (living
human beings) all through the long and weary centuries, ever since the
creation of man-kind, such devils as we find in every race and nation
of the earth. Our Indian devils are Indians who for some reason or
cause leave the tribe and go far away into the lonely mountains, and
into the depths of the forests, where they live near the streams and
places almost inaccessible. In their loneliness they roam through the
forests and over the mountains like some wild animals of prey. They
forget the language of their mothers and become something like wild
beasts, fleeing from the sight of human beings.
In olden times, the women, especially were always careful to keep
together on their camping trips when they were gathering the acorn
crop, grass seeds, pine nuts, etc., for fear of these Indian devils.
These Indian devils would sometimes watch the camps of the Indians
very closely and follow them about as they moved from place to place,
watching for an opportunity to seize one of the young women and carry
her off to make her his wife. If a young woman strayed away too far
by herself, she was often made a captive by one of these devils. The
women of the tribe had great fear of them as they had great horrors of
becoming the wife of a wild man.
Sometimes the women would be captivated by the Indian devils and would
be gone away from their tribe for years, when they would return and
tell of their wild life and experiences. They would become the mother
of children and the children would inherit the wild habits of their
father, as they would always be whistling, making strange noises,
romping wildly about and always on the go, roaming everywhere in the
wilds. These women were never happy when they came back to their
people, as after a time they would long to go back to their devil
husbands and children. They always managed to get away and return to
the old wild life, as it held such a fascination for them, when they
once experienced the wilds that they could not resist the calling of
such a life.
When the Indians would go on their hunting and camping trips into the
mountains, as soon as they heard an owl screech or hoot, they would
stop and listen, and try to distinguish if it was an Indian devil
imitating the owl or the cry of a wild animal. The Indians would stop
at once, kindle a fire and hallo; this was given as a warning to the
devils that they were awake and ready to fight them if necessary.
When the Indians go camping far back into the mountains, and even if
a white man accompanies them, they always insist on making the first
camp fire, when a camping place is selected. In building the fire the
first stick of wood they lay down points directly north and south,
on the north end of this stick of wood they place another stick some
eight or twelve inches back from the north end, placing this branch
east and west, thus making a cross. When the cross is made they proceed
to kindle the fire, and during the whole time they are offering up a
prayer to God in a low tone of voice. This prayer is earnestly offered
up to the Almighty asking Him to protect them from the Indian devils
and wild animals, while they are in the wilds and to keep them from
accidents. After the first worship has been offered up any one can
build the camp fire as long as they camp in the same place, and the
Indians do not repeat this form of worship until they move away to a
different camping place. The Indian places his soul in the care of God,
and worships at his shrine under the open Heavens and boundless skies,
and not at the religion and traditions of another race that has a
tradition from the beginning of the creation of a living man, and down
through the long centuries of thousands of years. If this is true, let
me quote from the so called civilized races, for instance, Rome had its
Caesar, oft writ in history, “Great and brave,” but all the world knows
that he lived the heartless conqueror, crushing out the lives of men,
his hands were dipped in human blood and he died the tyrant’s death.
All the world knows that France had its monarch, his name is writ on
Fame’s record as the mighty conqueror of Europe. The winding rivers of
Europe were once red with the blood it shed, there were gory battle
fields left in his wake, to say nothing of broken hearted mothers and
children who went weeping under cheerless skies without a home to
shelter them. For example, our own United States, in 1861–65, cities
went down in ruins, homes were destroyed, human blood flowed like wine,
thousands sleep in unknown graves, they died martyrs for a great cause,
and the Redman was just as much of a martyr for his cause as they.
Truly our tribes were not blood-thirsty, for the love of blood or the
lust of glory, but instead were compelled to yield to a superior race,
and our noblest men sleep in narrow graves with the best, the proudest
of the race, dead around them. Exterminated rather than educated until
the noblest of our race are gone, and out of the miserable remnant
comes a feeble cry today, that for nearly four centuries the redman
has merely existed without a country. Love for the child-race of a
bygone age, tears for the infant race, in all its infancy a type of
primitive manhood, reserved and poised, courageous, enduring, master
of self and above all self controlled, a proud vanishing figure in a
nation of unrest. Love for the adult race saddened with regrets hanging
heavy and the stain of blood on their hands from the infant tears for
the superior race, for who can tell what this child-race might have
been when they were full grown and educated. Tears and love, love
and tears, sweetly mingled when infant and adult meet in one great
brotherhood of forgiveness. Always thus, since time began, someone
must die a martyr for the beginning of every cause, and it has ever
been thus, since the dawn of history, among all races and nations, the
heathen, the barbarian and the civilized nations of the world.
Educated man today through his long evolution of centuries know there
is only one God, and all are seeking one goal and the soul of man
cannot be lost just because he worships a little different from his
fellow man. Every race has its own creed, and one race has no more of
a right to say another race is lost forever and eternally just because
they differ in their form of worship, and the rising generation of the
present century knows better. So at least let the tradition of the
noble type be just, as he is being fast absorbed into another race
and even at this day all that remains of him is tradition of his past
existence, and usually that tradition is of a mongrel type, rather than
the true.
We are always afraid of the visible devil, (oh-mah-ha) that is
the living devil here on this earth, as we are compelled to guard
continually against these monsters in keeping ourselves from being
harmed. We are at all times at peace with God, we love Him as the Great
Ruler and we are always ready to offer a prayer and to worship him.
When an Indian sits down to smoke, he fills his pipe, lights it and
takes a deep breath filling his lungs with smoke, and then expels it
slowly through his nostrils and mouth with a low grunt. Then in a low
and solemn voice he offers up a prayer to God, asking Him for good
health, long life and good luck. This good luck is in earning money,
accumulating vast riches, success in fishing and securing wild game,
and in fact all the success in the pursuit of an Indian life.
The devil is termed as key-mol-len, which means a low miserable person
or animal. And God is in the Heavens an invisible Being to living man,
he is everywhere and He rules over all.