CHAPTER II: THE MYTHOLOGIES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS

Animism

All mythological systems spring from the same fundamental basis. The

gods are the children of reverence and necessity. But their genealogy

stretches still farther back. Savage man, unable to distinguish

between the animate and inanimate, imagines every surrounding object to

be, like himself, instinct with life. Trees, the winds, the river

(which he names "the Long Person"), all possess life and consciousness

in his eyes. The trees moan and rustle, therefore they speak, or are,

perchance, the dwelling-place of powerful spirits. The winds are full

of words, sighings, warnings, threats, the noises, without doubt, of

wandering powers, friendly or unfriendly beings. The water moves,

articulates, prophesies, as, for example, did the Peruvian Rimac and

Ipurimac--'the Oracles,' 'the Prophesiers.' Even abstract qualities

were supposed to possess the attributes of living things. Light and

darkness, heat and cold, were regarded as active and alert agencies.

The sky was looked upon as the All-Father from whose co-operation with

the Mother Earth all living things had sprung. This condition of

belief is known as 'animism.'

Totemism

If inanimate objects and natural phenomena were endowed by savage

imagination with the qualities of life and thought, the creatures of

the animal world were placed upon a still higher level. The Indian,

brought into contact with the denizens of the forest and prairie,

conceived a high opinion of their qualities and instinctive abilities.

He observed that they {81} possessed greater cunning in forest-craft

than himself, that their hunting instinct was much more sure, that they

seldom suffered from lack of provisions, that they were more swift of

foot. In short, he considered them to be his superiors in those

faculties which he most coveted and admired. Various human attributes

and characteristics became personified and even exaggerated in some of

his neighbours of wood and plain. The fox was proverbial for craft,

the wild cat for stealth, the bear for a wrong-headed stupidity, the

owl for a cryptic wisdom, the deer for swiftness. In each of these

attributes the several animals to whom they belonged appeared to the

savage as more gifted than himself, and so deeply was he influenced by

this seeming superiority that if he coveted a certain quality he would

place himself under the protection of the animal or bird which

symbolized it. Again, if a tribe or clan possessed any special

characteristic, such as fierceness or cunning, it was usually called by

its neighbours after the bird or beast which symbolized its character.

A tribe would learn its nickname from captives taken in war; or it

might even bestow such an appellation upon itself. After the lapse of

a few generations the members of a tribe would regard the animal whose

qualities they were supposed to possess as their direct ancestor, and

would consider that all the members of his species were their

blood-relations. This belief is known as totemism, and its adoption

was the means of laying the foundation of a widespread system of tribal

rule and custom, by which marriage and many of the affairs of life were

and are wholly governed. Probably all European and Asiatic peoples

have passed through this stage, and its remains are to be found deeply

embedded in our present social system.

{82}

Totemic Law and Custom

Few generations would elapse before the sense of ancestral devotion to

the totem or eponymous forefather of the tribe would become so strong

as to be exalted into a fully developed system of worship of him as a

deity. That the totem develops into the god is proved by the animal

likeness and attributes of many deities in lands widely separate. It

accounts for the jackal- and ibis-headed gods of Egypt, the bull-like

deities of Assyria, the bestial gods of Hindustan--possibly even for

the owl which accompanied the Grecian Pallas, for does not Homer speak

of her as 'owl-eyed'? May not this goddess have developed from an owl

totem, and may not the attendant bird of night which perches on her

shoulder have been permitted to remain as a sop to her devotees in her

more ancient form, who objected to her portrayal as a human being, and

desired that some reminder of her former shape might be preserved?

That our British ancestors possessed a totemic system is undoubted.

Were not the clan Chattan of the Scottish Highlands the "sons of the

cat"? In the _Dean of Lismores Book_ we read of a tribe included under

the "sons to the king of Rualay" one battalion of whom was

'cat-headed,' or wore the totem crest of the cat. The swine-gods and

other animal deities possessed by the British Celts assist this theory,

as do the remains of many folk-customs in England and Scotland. Our

crests are but so many family symbols which have come down to us from

the distant days when our forefathers painted them upon their shields

or wore them upon their helmets as the badge of their tribe, and thus

of its supposed beast-progenitor or protector.

As has been said, a vast and intricate system of tribal {83} law and

custom arose from the adoption of totemism. The animal from which the

tribe took its name might not be killed or eaten, because of its

blood-kinship with the clan. Descent from this ancestor postulated

kinship between the various members of the tribe, male and female;

therefore the female members were not eligible for marriage with the

males, who had perforce to seek for wives elsewhere. This often led to

the partial adoption of another tribe or family in the vicinity, and of

its totem, in order that a suitable exchange of women might be made as

occasion required, and thus to the inclusion of two _gentes_ or

divisions within the tribe, each with its different totem-name, yet

each regarding itself as a division of the tribal family. Thus a

member of the 'Fox' _gens_ might not marry a woman of his own division,

but must seek a bride from the 'Bears,' and similarly a 'Bear'

tribesman must find a wife from among the 'Foxes.'

Severity of Totemic Rule

The utmost severity attached to the observation of totemic law and

custom, to break which was regarded as a serious crime. Indeed, no one

ever thought of infringing it, so powerful are habit and the force of

association. It is not necessary to specify here the numerous customs

which may be regarded as the outcome of the totemic system, for many of

these have little in common with mythology proper. It will suffice to

say that they were observed with a rigour beside which the rules of the

religions of civilized peoples appear lax and indulgent. As this

system exercised such a powerful influence on Indian life and thought,

the following passage from the pen of a high authority on Indian

totemism may be quoted with advantage:[1]

[1] J. R. Swanton, in _Handbook of the North American Indians_.

{84}

"The native American Indian, holding peculiar self-centred views as to

the unity and continuity of all life and the consequent inevitable

interrelations of the several bodies and beings in nature, especially

of man to the beings and bodies of his experience and environment, to

whom were imputed by him various anthropomorphic attributes and

functions in addition to those naturally inherent in them, has

developed certain fundamentally important cults, based on those views,

that deeply affect his social, religious, and civil institutions. One

of these doctrines is that persons and organizations of persons are one

and all under the protecting and fostering tutelage of some imaginary

being or spirit. These tutelary or patron beings may be grouped, by

the mode and motive of their acquirement and their functions, into two

fairly well defined groups or classes: (1) those which protect

individuals only, and (2) those which protect organizations of persons.

But with these two classes of tutelary beings is not infrequently

confounded another class of protective imaginary beings, commonly

called fetishes, which are regarded as powerful spiritual allies of

their possessors. Each of these several classes of guardian beings has

its own peculiar traditions, beliefs, and appropriate cult. The modes

of the acquirement and the motives for the acquisition of these several

classes of guardian beings differ in some fundamental and essential

respects. The exact method of acquiring the clan or gentile group

patrons or tutelaries is still an unsolved problem, although several

plausible theories have been advanced by astute students to explain the

probable mode of obtaining them. With respect to the personal tutelary

and the fetish, the data are sufficiently clear and full to permit a

satisfactory description and definition of these two classes of

tutelary and auxiliary beings. From the available data bearing {85} on

this subject, it would seem that much confusion regarding the use and

acquirement of personal and communal tutelaries or patron beings has

arisen by regarding certain social, political, and religious activities

as due primarily to the influence of these guardian deities, when in

fact those features were factors in the social organization on which

has been later imposed the cult of the patron or guardian spirit.

Exogamy, names and class names, and various taboos exist where 'totems'

and 'totemism,' the cults of the guardian spirits, do not exist.

"Some profess to regard the clan or gentile group patron or tutelary as

a mere development of the personal guardian, but from the available but

insufficient data bearing on the question it appears to be, in some of

its aspects, more closely connected in origin, or rather in the method

of its acquisition, with the fetish, the Iroquois _otchina ken'da_, 'an

effective agency of sorcery,' than with any form of the personal

tutelary. This patron spirit of course concerns the group regarded as

a body, for with regard to each person of the group, the clan or

gentile guardian is inherited, or rather acquired by birth, and it may

not be changed at will. On the other hand, the personal tutelary is

obtained through the rite of vision in a dream or a trance, and it must

be preserved at all hazards as one of the most precious possessions.

The fetish is acquired by personal choice, by purchase, or by

inheritance, or from some chance circumstance or emergency, and it can

be sold or discarded at the will of the possessor in most cases; the

exception is where a person has entered into a compact with some evil

spirit or being that, in consideration of human or other sacrifices in

its honour at stated periods, the said spirit undertakes to perform

certain obligations to this man or woman, and in default of which the

person forfeits his right to live.

{86}

"'Totemism' is a purely philosophical term which modern anthropological

literature has burdened with a great mass of needless controversial

speculation and opinion. The doctrine and use of tutelary or patron

guardian spirits by individuals and by organized bodies of persons are

defined by Powell as 'a method of naming,' and as 'the doctrine and

system of naming.' But the motive underlying the acquisition and use

of guardian or tutelary spirits, whether by an individual or by an

organized body of persons, is always the same--namely, to obtain

welfare and to avoid ill-fare. So it appears to be erroneous to define

this cult as 'the doctrine and system of naming.' It is rather the

recognition, exploitation, and adjustment of the imaginary mystic

relation of the individual or of the body of organized persons to the

postulated _orendas_, mystic powers, surrounding each of these units of

native society. With but few exceptions, the recognized relation

between the clan or _gens_ and its patron deity is not one of descent

or source, but rather that of protection, guardianship, and support.

The relationship as to source between these two classes of superior

beings is not yet determined; so to avoid confusion in concepts, it is

better to use distinctive names for them, until their connexion, if

any, has been definitely ascertained: this question must not be

prejudged. The hypothetic inclusion of these several classes in a

general one, branded with the rubric 'totem' or its equivalent, has led

to needless confusion. The native tongues have separate names for

these objects, and until the native classification can be truthfully

shown to be erroneous it would seem to be advisable to designate them

by distinctive names. Notwithstanding the great amount of study of the

literature of the social features of aboriginal American society, there

are many data {87} relative to this subject that have been overlooked

or disregarded."

Fetishism

Side by side with animism and totemism flourishes a third type of

primitive belief, known as 'fetishism.' This word is derived from the

Portuguese _feitiço_, 'a charm,' 'something made by art,' and is

applied to any object, large or small, natural or artificial, regarded

as possessing consciousness, volition, and supernatural qualities, and

especially _orenda_, or magic power.

As has been said, the Indian intelligence regards all things, animals,

water, the earth, trees, stones, the heavenly bodies, even night and

day, and such properties as light and darkness, as possessing animation

and the power of volition. It is, however, the general Indian belief

that many of these are under some spell or potent enchantment. The

rocks and trees are confidently believed by the Indian to be the living

tombs of imprisoned spirits, resembling the dryads of Greek folk-lore,

so that it is not difficult for him to conceive an intelligence, more

or less potent, in any object, no matter how uncommon--indeed, the more

uncommon the greater the probability of its being the abode of some

powerful intelligence, incarcerated for revenge or some similar motive

by the spell of a mighty enchanter.

The fetish is, in short, a mascot--a luck-bringer. The civilized

person who attaches a swastika or small charm to his watch-chain or her

bangle is unconsciously following in the footsteps of many pagan

ancestors; but with this difference, that the idea that 'luck' resides

in the trinket is weak in the civilized mind, whereas in the savage

belief the 'luck' resident in the fetish is a powerful and living

thing--an intelligence {88} which must be placated with prayer, feast,

and sacrifice. Fetishes which lose their reputations as bringers of

good-fortune usually degenerate into mere amulets or talismanic

ornaments, and their places are taken by others. The fetish differs

from the class of tutelary or 'household' gods in that it may be sold

or bartered, whereas tutelary or domestic deities are never to be

purchased, or even loaned.

Fetish Objects

Nearly all the belongings of a _shaman_, or medicine-man, are classed

as fetishes by the North American Indians. These usually consist of

the skins of beasts, birds, and serpents, roots, bark, powder, and

numberless other objects. But the fetish must be altogether divorced

from the idea of religion proper, with which it has little or no

connexion, being found side by side with religious phases of many

types. The fetish may be a bone, a feather, an arrow-head, a stick,

carved or painted, a fossil, a tuft of hair, a necklace of fingers, a

stuffed skin, the hand of an enemy, anything which might be suggested

to the original possessor in a dream or a flight of imagination. It is

sometimes fastened to the scalp-lock, to the dress, to the bridle,

concealed between the layers of a shield, or specially deposited in a

shrine in the wigwam. The idea in the mind of the original maker is

usually symbolic, and is revealed only to one formally chosen as heir

to the magical possession, and pledged in his turn to a similar secrecy.

Notwithstanding that the cult of fetishism is not, strictly speaking, a

department of religious activity, a point exists at which the fetish

begins to evolve into a god. This happens when the object survives the

test of experience and achieves a more than personal or {89} tribal

popularity. Nevertheless the fetish partakes more of the nature of

those spirits which are subservient to man (for example, the Arabian

_jinn_) than of gods proper, and if it is prayed and sacrificed to on

occasion, the 'prayers' are rather of the nature of a magical

invocation, and the 'sacrifices' no more than would be accorded to any

other assisting agent. Thus sharply must we differentiate between a

fetish or captive spirit and a god. But it must be further borne in

mind that a fetish is not necessarily a piece of personal property. It

may belong collectively to an entire community. It is not necessarily

a small article, but may possess all the appearances of a full-blown

idol. An idol, however, is the abode of a god--the image into which a

deity may materialize. A fetish, on the other hand, is _the place of

imprisonment of a subservient spirit_, which cannot escape, and, if it

would gain the rank of godhead, must do so by a long series of

luck-bringing, or at least by the performance of a number of marvels of

a protective or fortune-making nature. It is not unlikely that a

belief exists in the Indian mind that there are many wandering spirits

who, in return for food and other comforts, are willing to materialize

in the shape the savage provides for them, and to assist him in the

chase and other pursuits of life.

Apache Fetishes

Among the Athapascan Indians the Apaches, both male and female, wear

fetishes which they call _tzi-daltai_, manufactured from

lightning-riven wood, generally pine or cedar, or fir from the

mountains. These are highly valued, and are never sold. They are

shaved very thin, rudely carved in the semblance of the human form, and

decorated with incised lines representing the lightning. They are

small in size, and few of them are painted. {90} Bourke describes one

that an Apache chief carried about with him, which was made of a piece

of lath, unpainted, having a figure in yellow drawn upon it, with a

narrow black band and three snake's heads with white eyes. It was

further decorated with pearl buttons and small eagle-down feathers.

The reverse and obverse were identical.

Many of the Apaches attached a piece of malachite to their guns and

bows to make them shoot accurately. Bourke mentions a class of

fetishes which he terms 'phylacteries.' These are pieces of buckskin

or other material upon which are inscribed certain characters or

symbols of a religious or 'medicine' nature, and they are worn attached

to the person who seeks benefit from them. They differ from the

ordinary fetish in that they are concealed from the public gaze. These

'phylacteries,' Bourke says, "themselves medicine," may be employed to

enwrap other 'medicine,' and "thus augment their own potentialities."

He describes several of these objects. One worn by an Indian named

Ta-ul-tzu-je "was tightly rolled in at least half a mile of saddler's

silk, and when brought to light was found to consist of a small piece

of buckskin two inches square, upon which were drawn red and yellow

crooked lines, which represented the red and yellow snake. Inside were

a piece of malachite and a small cross of lightning-riven pine, and two

very small perforated shells. The cross they designated 'the black

mind.'" Another 'phylactery' consisted of a tiny bag of hoddentin,

holding a small quartz crystal and four feathers of eagle-down. This

charm, it was explained by an Indian, contained not merely the

'medicine' of the crystal and the eagle, but also that of the black

bear, the white lion, and the yellow snake.

{91}

Iroquoian Fetishes

Things that seem at all unusual are accepted by the Hurons, a tribe of

the Iroquois, as _oky_, or supernatural, and therefore it is accounted

lucky to find them. In hunting, if they find a stone or other object

in the entrails of an animal they at once make a fetish of it. Any

object of a peculiar shape they treasure for the same reason. They

greatly fear that demons or evil spirits will purloin their fetishes,

which they esteem so highly as to propitiate them in feasts and invoke

them in song. The highest type of fetish obtainable by a Huron was a

piece of the onniont, or great armoured serpent, a mythological animal

revered by many North American tribes.

Fetishism among the Algonquins

Hoffmann states that at the 'medicine' lodges of some Algonquian tribes

there are preserved fetishes or amulets worn above the elbows,

consisting of strands of bead-work, metal bands, or skunk skins, while

bracelets of shells, buckskin, or metal are also worn. A great tribal

fetish of the Cheyenne was their 'medicine' arrow, which was taken from

them by the Pawnees in battle. The head of this arrow projects from

the bag which contains it, and it is covered with delicate waved or

spiral lines, which denote its sacred character. It was, indeed, the

palladium of the tribe. A peculiar type of fetish consisted of a

mantle made from the skin of a deer and covered with feathers mixed

with headings. It was made and used by the medicine-men as a mantle of

invisibility, or charmed covering to enable spies to traverse an

enemy's country in security. In this instance the fetishistic power

depended upon the devices drawn upon the article. The principal

fetishes among {92} the Hidatsa tribe of the Sioux are the skins of

foxes and wolves, the favourite worn fetish being the stripe from the

back of a wolf-skin with the tail hanging down the shoulders. A slit

is made in the skin, through which the warrior puts his head, so that

the skin of the wolf's head hangs down upon his breast. The most

common tribal fetishes of the Sioux are, or were, buffalo heads, the

neck-bones of which they preserve in the belief that the buffalo herds

will thereby be prevented from removing to too great a distance. At

certain periods they perform a ceremony with these bones, which

consists in taking a potsherd filled with embers, throwing

sweet-smelling grease upon it, and fumigating the bones with the smoke.

There are certain trees and stones which are regarded as fetishes. To

these offerings of red cloth, red paint, and other articles are made.

Each individual has his personal fetish, and it is carried in all

hunting and warlike excursions. It usually consists of a head, claws,

stuffed skin, or other representative feature of the fetish animal.

Even the horses are provided with fetishes, in the shape of a deer's

horn, to ensure their swiftness. The rodent teeth of the beaver are

regarded as potent charms, and are worn by little girls round their

necks to make them industrious.

At Sikyatki, in Arizona, a territorial nucleus of the Hopi Indians, Mr.

Fewkes had opportunities of inspecting many interesting fetish forms.

A number of these discovered in native graves were pebbles with a

polished surface, or having a fancied resemblance to some animal shape.

Many of the personal fetishes of the Hopi consist of fossils, some of

which attain the rank of tribal fetishes and are wrapped up in sacred

bundles, which are highly venerated. In one grave was found a single

large fetish in the shape of a mountain {93} lion, made of sandstone,

in which legs, ears, tail, and eyes are represented, the mouth still

showing the red pigment with which it had been coloured. This is

almost identical with some fetishes used by the Hopi at the present day.

Totemism and Fetishism Meet

Fetishism among the Zuñi Indians of the south arose from an idea they

entertained that they were kin with animals; in other words, their

fetishes were totemistic. Totemism and fetishism were by no means

incompatible with one another, but often flourished side by side.

Fetishism of the Zuñi description is, indeed, the natural concomitant

of a totemic system. Zuñi fetishes are usually concretions of lime or

objects in which a natural resemblance to animals has been heightened

by artificial means. Ancient fetishes are much valued by these people,

and are often found by them in the vicinity of villages inhabited by

their ancestors, and as tribal possessions are handed down from one

generation to another. The medicine-men believe them to be the actual

petrifactions of the animals they represent.

The Sun-Children

The Zuñi philosophy of the fetish is given in the "Tale of the Two

Sun-Children" as follows: "Now that the surface of the earth was

hardened even the animals of prey, powerful and like the fathers [gods]

themselves, would have devoured the children of men, and the two

thought it was not well that they should all be permitted to live, for,

said they, 'Alike the children of men and the children of the animals

of prey multiply themselves. The animals of prey are provided with

talons and teeth; men are but poor, the finished beings of earth,

therefore the weaker.' {94} Whenever they came across the pathway of

one of these animals, were he a great mountain lion or but a mere mole,

they struck him with the fire of lightning which they carried on their

magic shields. _Thlu!_ and instantly he was shrivelled and turned into

stone. Then said they to the animals that they had changed into stone,

'That ye may not be evil unto man, but that ye may be a great good unto

them, have we changed you into rock everlasting. By the magic breath

of prey, by the heart that shall endure for ever within you, shall ye

be made to serve instead of to devour mankind.' Thus was the surface

of the earth hardened and scorched, and many of all kinds of beings

changed to stone. Thus, too, it happens that we find here and there

throughout the world their forms, sometimes large, like the beings

themselves, sometimes shrivelled and distorted, and we often see among

the rocks the forms of many beings that live no longer, which shows us

that all was different in the 'days of the new.' Of these

petrifactions, which are, of course, mere concretions or strangely

shaped rock-forms, the Zuñi say: 'Whomsoever of us may be met with the

light of such great good-fortune may see them, and should treasure them

for the sake of the sacred [magic] power which was given them in the

days of the new.'"[2]

[2] Cushing's _Zuñi Fetiches_ (1883).

The Prey-Gods

This tradition furnishes additional evidence relative to the preceding

statement, and is supposed to enlighten the Zuñi Indian as to wherein

lies the power of fetishes. It is thought that the hearts of the great

animals of prey are infused with a 'medicinal' or magic influence over

the hearts of the animals they prey upon, and {95} that they overcome

them with their breath, piercing their hearts and quite numbing them.

Moreover, their roar is fatal to the senses of the lower beasts. The

mountain lion absorbs the blood of the game animals, therefore he

possesses their acute senses. Again, those powers, as derived from his

heart, are preserved in his fetish, since his heart still lives, even

although his body be changed to stone. It happens, therefore, that the

use of these fetishes is chiefly connected with the chase. But there

are exceptions. The great animals of the chase, although fetishistic,

are also regarded as supernatural beings, the mythological position of

which is absolutely defined. In the City of the Mists lives

Po-shai-an-K'ia, father of the 'medicine' societies, a culture-hero

deity, whose abode is guarded by six beings known as the 'Prey-Gods,'

and it is their counterfeit presentments that are made use of as

fetishes. To the north of the City of the Mists dwells the Mountain

Lion prey-god, to the west the Bear, to the south the Badger, to the

east the Wolf, above the Eagle, below the Mole. These animals possess

not only the guardianship of the six regions, but also the mastership

of the 'medicine' or magic powers which emanate from them. They are

the mediators between Po-shai-an-K'ia and man. The prey-gods, as

'Makers of the Path of Life,' are given high rank among the gods, but

notwithstanding this their fetishes are "held as in captivity" by the

priests of the various 'medicine' orders, and greatly venerated by them

as mediators between themselves and the animals they represent. In

this character they are exhorted with elaborate prayers, rituals, and

ceremonials, and sometimes placated with sacrifices of the prey-gods of

the hunt (_we-ma-a-ha-i_). Their special priests are the members of

the Great Coyote {96} People--that is, they consist of eleven members

of the Eagle and Coyote clans and of the Prey Brothers priesthood.

These prey-gods appear to be almost unique, and may be indicated as an

instance of fetishism becoming allied with religious belief. They

depict, with two exceptions, the same species of prey animals as those

supposed to guard the six regions, the exceptions being the coyote and

the wild cat. These six prey animals are subdivided into six

varieties. They are, strictly speaking, the property of the priests,

and members and priests of the sacred societies are required to deposit

their fetishes, when not in use, with the Keeper of the Medicine of the

Deer. These 'medicines' or memberships alone can perfect the shape of

the fetishes and worship them.

The Council of Fetishes

The Day of the Council of the Fetishes takes place a little before or

after the winter solstice or national New Year. The fetishes are taken

from their places of deposit, and arranged according to species and

colour in the form of a symbolic altar, quadrupeds being placed upright

and birds suspended from the roof. The fetishes are prayed to, and

prayer-meal is scattered over them. Chants are intoned, and a dance

performed in which the cries of the fetish beasts are imitated. A

prayer with responses follows. Finally all assemble round the altar

and repeat the great invocation.

The Fetish in Hunting

The use of fetishes in hunting among the Zuñi is extremely curious and

involved in its nature. The hunter goes to the house of the Deer

Medicine, where the vessel containing the fetish is brought out and

placed before him. He sprinkles meal over the sacred {97} vessel in

the direction in which he intends to hunt, chooses a fetish from it,

and presses it to his lips with an inspiration. He then places the

fetish in a buckskin bag over his heart. Proceeding to the hunt, he

deposits a spider-knot of yucca leaves where an animal has rested,

imitates its cry, and is supposed by this means to confine its

movements within a narrow circle. He then inspires deeply from the

nostrils of the fetish, as though inhaling the magic breath of the god

of prey, and then puffs the breath long and loudly in the direction

whence the beast's tracks trend, in the belief that the breath he has

borrowed from the prey-god will stiffen the limbs of the animal he

hunts. When the beast is caught and killed he inhales its suspiring

breath, which he breathes into the nostrils of the fetish. He then

dips the fetish in the blood of the slain quarry, sips the blood

himself, and devours the liver, in order that he may partake of the

animal's qualities. The fetish is then placed in the sun to dry, and

lastly replaced in the buckskin pouch with a blessing, afterward being

duly returned to the Keeper of the Deer Medicine.

Indian Theology

The late Professor Brinton, writing on the Indian attitude toward the

eternal verities, says:[3]

[3] _Myths of the New World_.

"Nature, to the heathen, is no harmonious whole swayed by eternal

principles, but a chaos of causeless effects, the meaningless play of

capricious ghosts. He investigates not, because he doubts not. All

events are to him miracles. Therefore his faith knows no bounds, and

those who teach him that doubt is sinful must contemplate him with

admiration....

"Natural religions rarely offer more than this negative opposition to

reason. They are tolerant to {98} a degree. The savage, void of any

clear conception of a supreme deity, sets up no claim that his is the

only true church. If he is conquered in battle he imagines that it is

owing to the inferiority of his own gods to those of his victor, and he

rarely, therefore, requires any other reasons to make him a convert.

"In this view of the relative powers of deities lay a potent corrective

to the doctrine that the fate of man was dependent on the caprices of

the gods. For no belief was more universal than that which assigned to

each individual a guardian spirit. This invisible monitor was an

ever-present help in trouble. He suggested expedients, gave advice and

warning in dreams, protected in danger, and stood ready to foil the

machinations of enemies, divine or human.

"With unlimited faith in this protector, attributing to him the devices

suggested by his own quick wits and the fortunate chances of life, the

savage escaped the oppressive thought that he was the slave of demoniac

forces, and dared the dangers of the forest and the war-path without

anxiety.

"By far the darkest side of such a religion is that which it presents

to morality. The religious sense is by no means the voice of

conscience. The Takahli Indian when sick makes a full and free

confession of sins, but a murder, however unnatural and unprovoked, he

does not mention, not counting it a crime. Scenes of licentiousness

were approved and sustained throughout the continent as acts of

worship; maidenhood was in many parts freely offered up or claimed by

the priests as a right; in Central America twins were slain for

religious motives; human sacrifice was common throughout the tropics,

and was not unusual in higher latitudes; cannibalism was often

enjoined; and in Peru, Florida, and Central America it was not {99}

uncommon for parents to slay their own children at the behest of a

priest.

"The philosophical moralist contemplating such spectacles has thought

to recognize in them one consoling trait. All history, it has been

said, shows man living under an irritated God, and seeking to appease

him by sacrifice of blood; the essence of all religion, it has been

added, lies in that of which sacrifice is the symbol--namely, in the

offering up of self, in the rendering up of our will to the will of God.

"But sacrifice, when not a token of gratitude, cannot be thus

explained. It is not a rendering up, but a _substitution_ of our will

for God's will. A deity is angered by neglect of his dues; he will

revenge, certainly, terribly, we know not how or when. But as

punishment is all he desires, if we punish ourselves he will be

satisfied; and far better is such self-inflicted torture than a fearful

looking-for of judgment to come. Craven fear, not without some dim

sense of the implacability of nature's laws, is at its roots.

"Looking only at this side of religion, the ancient philosopher averred

that the gods existed solely in the apprehensions of their votaries,

and the moderns have asserted that 'fear is the father of religion,

love her late-born daughter'; that 'the first form of religious belief

is nothing else but a horror of the unknown,' and that 'no natural

religion appears to have been able to develop from a germ within itself

anything whatever of real advantage to civilization.'

"Looking around for other standards wherewith to measure the progress

of the knowledge of divinity in the New World, _prayer_ suggests itself

as one of the least deceptive. 'Prayer,' to quote the words of

Novalis, 'is in religion what thought is in philosophy. The religious

sense prays, as the reason thinks.' Guizot, {100} carrying the

analysis farther, thinks that it is prompted by a painful conviction of

the inability of our will to conform to the dictates of reason.

"Originally it was connected with the belief that divine caprice, not

divine law, governs the universe, and that material benefits rather

than spiritual gifts are to be desired. The gradual recognition of its

limitations and proper objects marks religious advancement. The Lord's

Prayer contains seven petitions, only one of which is for a temporal

advantage, and it the least that can be asked for.

"What immeasurable interval between it and the prayer of the Nootka

Indian preparing for war:

"'Great Quahootze, let me live, not be sick, find the enemy, not fear

him, find him asleep, and kill a great many of him.'

"Or, again, between it and a petition of a Huron to a local god, heard

by Father Brébeuf:

"'Oki, thou who liveth in this spot, I offer thee tobacco. Help us,

save us from shipwreck, defend us from our enemies, give us a good

trade and bring us back safe and sound to our villages.'

"This is a fair specimen of the supplications of the lowest religions.

Another equally authentic is given by Father Allouez. In 1670 he

penetrated to an outlying Algonkin village, never before visited by a

white man. The inhabitants, startled by his pale face and long black

gown, took him for a divinity. They invited him to the council lodge,

a circle of old men gathered round him, and one of them, approaching

him with a double handful of tobacco, thus addressed him, the others

grunting approval:

"'This indeed is well, Blackrobe, that thou dost visit us. Have mercy

upon us. Thou art a Manito. We give thee to smoke.

{101}

"'The Naudowessies and Iroquois are devouring us. Have mercy upon us.

"'We are often sick; our children die; we are hungry. Have mercy upon

us. Hear me, O Manito, I give thee to smoke.

"'Let the earth yield us corn; the rivers give us fish; sickness not

slay us; nor hunger so torment us. Hear us, O Manito, we give thee to

smoke.'

"In this rude but touching petition, wrung from the heart of a

miserable people, nothing but their wretchedness is visible. Not the

faintest trace of an aspiration for spiritual enlightenment cheers the

eye of the philanthropist, not the remotest conception that through

suffering we are purified can be detected."

The Indian Idea of God

The mythologies of the several stocks of the Red Race differ widely in

conception and detail, and this has led many hasty investigators to

form the conclusion that they were therefore of separate origin. But

careful study has proved that they accord with all great mythological

systems in their fundamental principles, and therefore with each other.

The idea of God, often strange and grotesque perhaps, was nevertheless

powerfully expressed in the Indian mythologies. Each division of the

race possessed its own word to signify 'spirit.' Some of these words

meant 'that which is above,' 'the higher one,' 'the invisible,' and

these attributes accorded to deity show that the original Indian

conception of it was practically the same as those which obtained among

the primitive peoples of Europe and Asia. The idea of God was that of

a great prevailing force who resided "in the sky." Savage or primitive

man observes that all brightness emanates from the firmament above him.

His eyes are dazzled by its splendour. Therefore he {102} concludes

that it must be the abode of the source of all life, of all spiritual

excellence.

'Good' and 'Bad'

Before man has discovered the uses of that higher machinery of reason,

philosophy, and has learned to marshal his theological ideas by its

light, such deities as he worships conform very much to his own ethical

standard. They mirror his morality, or lack of it. They are, like

himself, savage, cruel, insatiable in their appetites. Very likely,

too, the bestial attributes of the totemic gods cling to those deities

who have been evolved out of that system. Among savage people ideas of

good and evil as we conceive them are non-existent. To them 'good'

merely implies everything which is to their advantage, 'evil' that

which injures or distresses them. It is only when such a system as

totemism, with its intricate taboos and stringent laws bearing on the

various relationships of life, comes to be adopted that a 'moral' order

arises. Slaughter of the totem animal becomes a 'crime'--sacrilege.

Slaughter of a member of the totem clan, of a blood-brother, must be

atoned for because he is of the totem blood. Marriage with a woman of

the same totem blood becomes an offence. Neglect to pay fitting homage

and sacrifice to the gods or totem is regarded with severity,

especially when the evolution of a priestly caste has been achieved.

As the totem is an ancestor, so all ancestors are looked upon with

reverence, and deference to living progenitors becomes a virtue. In

such ways a code of 'morality' is slowly but certainly produced.

No 'Good' or 'Bad' Gods

But, oddly enough, the gods are usually exempt from these laws by which

their worshippers are bound. {103} We find them murderous, unfilial,

immoral, polygamous, and often irreverent. This may be accounted for

by the circumstance that their general outlines were filled in before

totemism had become a fully developed system, or it may mean that the

savage did not believe that divine beings could be fettered by such

laws as he felt himself bound to obey. However that may be, we find

the American gods neither better nor worse than those of other

mythological systems. Some of them are prone to a sort of Puckish

trickery and are fond of practical joking: they had not reached the

exalted nobility of the pantheon of Olympus. But what is more

remarkable--and this applies to the deities of all primitive races--we

find that they possess no ideas of good and evil. We find them

occasionally worshipping gods of their own--usually the creative

deities--and that may perhaps be accounted unto them for righteousness.

But they are only 'good' to their worshippers inasmuch as they ensure

them abundant crops or game, and only 'bad' when they cease to do so.

They are not worshipped because they are the founts of truth and

justice, but for the more immediately cogent reason that, unless

placated by the steam of sacrifice, they will cease to provide an

adequate food-supply to man, and may malevolently send destruction upon

their neglectful worshippers. In the relations between god and man

among early peoples a specific contract is implied: "Sacrifice unto us,

provide us with those offerings the steam of which is our food,

continue to do so, and we will see to it that you do not lack crops and

game and the essentials of life. Fail to observe these customs and you

perish." Under such a system it will readily be granted that such

horrors as human sacrifice were only undertaken because they were

thought to be absolutely necessary to the existence {104} of the race

as a whole, and were not prompted by any mere wanton delight in

bloodshed.

Dealing with this point, the late Professor Brinton says in his _Myths

of the New World_:

"The confusion of these distinct ideas [monotheism and polytheism] has

led to much misconception of the native creeds. But another and more

fatal error was that which distorted them into a dualistic form,

ranging on one hand the good spirit with his legion of angels, on the

other the evil one with his swarm of fiends, representing the world as

the scene of their unending conflict, man as the unlucky football who

gets all the blows.

"This notion, which has its historical origin among the Parsees of

ancient Iran, is unknown to savage nations. 'The Hidatsa,' says Dr.

Matthews, 'believe neither in a hell nor a devil.' 'The idea of the

devil,' justly observes Jacob Grimm, 'is foreign to all primitive

religions.' Yet Professor Mueller, in his voluminous work on those of

America, after approvingly quoting this saying, complacently proceeds

to classify the deities as good or bad spirits!

"This view, which has obtained without question in earlier works on the

native religions of America, has arisen partly from habits of thought

difficult to break, partly from mistranslations of native words, partly

from the foolish axiom of the early missionaries, 'The gods of the

Gentiles are devils.' Yet their own writings furnish conclusive proof

that no such distinction existed out of their own fancies. The same

word(_otkon_) which Father Bruyas employs to translate into Iroquois

the term 'devil,' in the passage 'The devil took upon himself the

figure of a serpent,' he is obliged to use for 'spirit' in the phrase,

'At the resurrection we shall be spirits,' which is a rather amusing

illustration how {105} impossible it was by any native word to convey

the idea of the spirit of evil.

"When, in 1570, Father Rogel commenced his labours among the tribes

near the Savannah River, he told them that the deity they adored was a

demon who loved all evil things, and they must hate him; whereas his

auditors replied, that so far from this being the case, he whom he

called a wicked being was the power that sent them all good things, and

indignantly left the missionary to preach to the winds.

"A passage often quoted in support of this mistaken view is one in

Winslow's _Good News from New England_, written in 1622. The author

says that the Indians worship a good power called Kiehtan, and another

'who, as farre as wee can conceive, is the Devill,' named Hobbamock, or

Hobbamoqui. The former of these names is merely the word 'great,' in

their dialect of Algonkin, with a final _N_, and is probably an

abbreviation of Kittanitowit, the great Manitou, a vague term mentioned

by Roger Williams and other early writers, manufactured probably by

them and not the appellation of any personified deity. The latter, so

far from corresponding to the power of evil, was, according to

Winslow's own statement, the kindly god who cured diseases, aided them

in the chase, and appeared to them in dreams as their protector.

Therefore, with great justice, Dr. Jarvis has explained it to mean 'the

_oke_ or tutelary deity which each Indian worships,' as the word itself

signifies.

"So in many instances it turns out that what has been reported to be

the evil divinity of a nation, to whom they pray to the neglect of a

better one, is in reality the highest power they recognize."

{106}

Creation-Myths

The mythologies of the Red Man are infinitely more rich in creative and

deluge myths than those of any other race in the two hemispheres.

Tales which deal with the origin of man are exceedingly frequent, and

exhibit every phase of the type of creative story. Although many of

these are similar to European and Asiatic myths of the same class,

others show great originality, and strikingly present to our minds the

characteristics of American aboriginal thought.

The creation-myths of the various Indian tribes differ as much from one

another as do those of Europe and Asia. In some we find the great gods

moulding the universe, in others we find them merely discovering it.

Still others lead their people from subterranean depths to the upper

earth. In many Indian myths we find the world produced by the

All-Father sun, who thickens the clouds into water, which becomes the

sea. In the Zuñi record of creation Awonawilona, the creator,

fecundates the sea with his own flesh, and hatches it with his own

heat. From this green scums are formed, which become the fourfold

mother Earth and the all-covering father Sky, from whom sprang all

creatures. "Then from the nethermost of the four caves of the world

the seed of men and the creatures took form and grew; even as with eggs

in warm places worms quickly form and appear, and, growing, soon burst

their shells and there emerge, as may happen, birds, tadpoles, or

serpents: so man and all creatures grew manifoldly and multiplied in

many kinds. Thus did the lowermost world-cave become overfilled with

living things, full of unfinished creatures, crawling like reptiles

over one another in black darkness, thickly crowding together and

treading one on another, one {107} spitting on another and doing other

indecency, in such manner that the murmurings and lamentations became

loud, and many amidst the growing confusion sought to escape, growing

wiser and more manlike. Then Po-shai-an-K'ia, the foremost and the

wisest of men, arising from the nethermost sea, came among men and the

living things, and pitying them, obtained egress from that first

world-cave through such a dark and narrow path that some seeing

somewhat, crowding after, could not follow him, so eager mightily did

they strive one with another. Alone then did Po-shai-an-K'ia come from

one cave to another into this world, then island-like, lying amidst the

world-waters, vast, wet, and unstable. He sought and found the

Sun-Father, and besought him to deliver the men and the creatures from

that nethermost world."[4]

[4] Cushing, _13th Report_, Bureau of American Ethnology.

Algonquian Creation-Myth

In many other Indian mythologies we find the wind brooding over the

primeval ocean in the form of a bird. In some creation-myths

amphibious animals dive into the waters and bring up sufficient mud

with them to form a beginning of the new earth. In a number of these

tales no actual act of creation is recorded, but a reconstruction of

matter only. The Algonquins relate that their great god Michabo, when

hunting one day with wolves for dogs, was surprised to see the animals

enter a great lake and disappear. He followed them into the waters

with the object of rescuing them, but as he did so the lake suddenly

overflowed and submerged the entire earth. Michabo despatched a raven

with directions to find a piece of earth which might serve as a nucleus

for a new world, but the bird returned from its quest unsuccessful.

Then the god sent an {108} otter on a like errand, but it too failed to

bring back the needful terrestrial germ. At last a musk-rat was sent

on the same mission, and it returned with sufficient earth to enable

Michabo to recreate the solid land. The trees had become denuded of

their branches, so the god discharged arrows at them, which provided

them with new boughs. After this Michabo married the musk-rat, and

from their union sprang the human race.

The Muskhogean Creation-Story

The Muskhogean Indians believe that in the beginning the primeval waste

of waters alone was visible. Over the dreary expanse two pigeons or

doves flew hither and thither, and in course of time observed a single

blade of grass spring above the surface. The solid earth followed

gradually, and the terrestrial sphere took its present shape. A great

hill, Nunne Chaha, rose in the midst, and in the centre of this was the

house of the deity Esaugetuh Emissee, the 'Master of Breath.' He took

the clay which surrounded his abode, and from it moulded the first men,

and as the waters still covered the earth he was compelled to build a

great wall upon which to dry the folk he had made. Gradually the soft

mud became transformed into bone and flesh, and Esaugetuh was

successful in directing the waters into their proper channels,

reserving the dry land for the men he had created.

This myth closely resembles the story in the Book of Genesis. The

pigeons appear analogous to the brooding creative Spirit, and the

manufacture of the men out of mud is also striking. So far is the

resemblance carried that we are almost forced to conclude that this is

one of the instances in which Gospel conceptions have been engrafted on

a native legend.

{109}

Siouan Cosmology

The Mandan tribes of the Sioux possess a type of creation-myth which is

common to several American peoples. They suppose that their nation

lived in a subterranean village near a vast lake. Hard by the roots of

a great grape-vine penetrated from the earth above, and, clambering up

these, several of them got a sight of the upper world, which they found

to be rich and well stocked with both animal and vegetable food. Those

of them who had seen the new-found world above returned to their home

bringing such glowing accounts of its wealth and pleasantness that the

others resolved to forsake their dreary underground dwelling for the

delights of the sunny sphere above. The entire population set out, and

started to climb up the roots of the vine, but no more than half the

tribe had ascended when the plant broke owing to the weight of a

corpulent woman. The Mandans imagine that after death they will return

to the underground world in which they originally dwelt, the worthy

reaching the village by way of the lake, the bad having to abandon the

passage by reason of the weight of their sins.

The Minnetarees believed that their original ancestor emerged from the

waters of a lake bearing in his hand an ear of corn, and the Mandans

possessed a myth very similar to that of the Muskhogees concerning the

origin of the world.

Bird- and Serpent-Worship and Symbols

The serpent and the bird appear sometimes separately, sometimes in

strange combination, in North American mythology. The bird is always

incomprehensible to the savage. Its power of flight, its appearance in

the heavens where dwell the gods, and its musical song {110} combine to

render it in his sight a being of mystery, possessing capabilities far

above his own. From it he conceives the idea of the winged spirit or

god, and he frequently regards it as a messenger from the bright

regions of the sun or the sky deity. The flight and song of birds have

always been carefully observed by primitive people as omens of grave

import. These superstitions prevailed among the Red Race no less than

among our own early ancestors. Many tribes imagined that birds were

the visible spirits of the deceased. Thus the Powhatans of Virginia

believed that the feathered race received the souls of their chiefs at

death, and they were careful to do them no harm, accordingly. The

Algonquins believed that birds caused the phenomenon of wind, that they

created water-spouts, and that the clouds were the spreading and

agitation of their wings. The Navaho thought that a great white swan

sat at each of the four points of the compass and conjured up the

blasts which came therefrom, while the Dakotas believed that in the

west is the home of the Wakinyjan, 'the Flyers,' the breezes that send

the storms. The thunder, too, is regarded by some Indian peoples as

the flapping of the pinions of a great bird, whose tracks are seen in

the lightning, "like the sparks which the buffalo scatters when he

scours over a stony plain." Many of the tribes of the north-west coast

hold the same belief, and imagine the lightning to be the flash of the

thunder-bird's eye.

Eagle-Worship

The eagle appears to have been regarded with extreme veneration by the

Red Man of the north. "Its feathers composed the war-flag of the

Creeks, and its image carved in wood or its stuffed skin {111}

surmounted their council lodges. None but an approved warrior dared

wear it among the Cherokees, and the Dakotas allowed such an honour

only to him who had first touched the corpse of the common foe."[5]

The Natchez and other tribes esteemed it almost as a deity. The Zuñi

of New Mexico employed four of its feathers to represent the four winds

when invoking the rain-god. Indeed, it was venerated by practically

every tribe in North America. The owl, too, was employed as a symbol

of wisdom, and sometimes, as by the Algonquins, was represented as the

attendant of the Lord of the Dead. The Creek medicine-men carried a

stuffed owl-skin as the badge of their fraternity and a symbol of their

wisdom, and the Cherokees placed one above the 'medicine' stone in

their council lodge. The dove also appears to have been looked upon as

sacred by the Hurons and Mandans.

[5] Brinton, _Myths of the New World_.

The Serpent and the Sun

Some Indian tribes adopted the serpent as a symbol of time. They

reckoned by 'suns,' and as the outline of the sun, a circle,

corresponds to nothing in nature so much as a serpent with its tail in

its mouth, devouring itself, so to speak, this may have been the origin

of the symbol. Some writers think that the serpent symbolized the

Indian idea of eternity, but it is unlikely that such a recondite

conception would appeal to a primitive folk.

The Lightning Serpent

Among the Indians the serpent also typified the lightning. The

rapidity and sinuosity of its motions, its quick spring and sharp

recoil, prove the aptness of the illustration. The brilliancy of the

serpent's basilisk {112} glance and the general intelligence of its

habits would speedily give it a reputation for wisdom, and therefore as

the possessor of _orenda_, or magic power. These two conceptions would

shortly become fused. The serpent as the type of the lightning, the

symbol of the spear of the war-god, would lead to the idea that that

deity also had power over the crops or summer vegetation, for it is at

the time of year when lightning is most prevalent that these come to

fruition. Again, the serpent would through this association with the

war-god attain a significance in the eye of warriors, who would regard

it as powerful war-physic. Thus, the horn of the great Prince of

Serpents, which was supposed to dwell in the Great Lakes, was thought

to be the most potent war-charm obtainable, and priests or medicine-men

professed to have in their possession fragments of this mighty talisman.

The Algonquins believed that the lightning was an immense serpent

vomited by the Manito, or creator, and said that he leaves serpentine

twists and folds on the trees that he strikes. The Pawnees called the

thunder "the hissing of the great snake."

In snake-charming as a proof of magical proficiency, as typifying the

lightning, which, as the serpent-spear of the war-god, brings victory

in battle, and in its agricultural connexion, lies most of the secret

of the potency of the serpent symbol. As the emblem of the fertilizing

summer showers the lightning serpent was the god of fruitfulness; but

as the forerunner of floods and disastrous rains it was feared and

dreaded.

Serpent-Worship

Probably more ponderous nonsense has been written about the worship of

reptiles ('ophiolatry,' as the mythologists of half a century ago

termed it) than {113} upon any other allied subject. But, this

notwithstanding, there is no question that the serpent still holds a

high place in the superstitious regard of many peoples, Asiatic and

American. As we have already seen, it frequently represents the orb of

day, and this is especially the case among the Zuñi and other tribes of

the southern portions of North America, where sun-worship is more usual

than in the less genial regions. With the Red Man also it commonly

typified water. The sinuous motion of the reptile sufficiently

accounts for its adoption as the symbol for this element. And it would

be no difficult feat of imagination for the savage to regard the

serpent as a water-god, bearing in mind as he would the resemblance

between its movement and the winding course of a river. Kennebec, the

name of a stream in Maine, means 'snake,' and Antietam, a creek in

Maryland, has the same significance in the Iroquois dialect. Both

Algonquins and Iroquois believed in the mighty serpent of the Great

Lakes. The wrath of this deity was greatly to be feared, and it was

thought that, unless duly placated, he vented his irascible temper upon

the foolhardy adventurers who dared to approach his domain by raising a

tempest or breaking the ice beneath their feet and dragging them down

to his dismal fastnesses beneath.

The Rattlesnake

The rattlesnake was the serpent almost exclusively honoured by the Red

Race. It is slow to attack, but venomous in the extreme, and possesses

the power of the basilisk to attract within reach of its spring small

birds and squirrels. "It has the same strange susceptibility to the

influence of rhythmic sounds as the vipers, in which lies the secret of

snake-charming. Most of the Indian magicians were familiar with this

{114} singularity. They employed it with telling effect to put beyond

question their intercourse with the unseen powers, and to vindicate the

potency of their own guardian spirits who thus enabled them to handle

with impunity the most venomous of reptiles. The well-known antipathy

of these serpents to certain plants, for instance the hazel, which,

bound around the ankles, is an alleged protection against their

attacks, and perhaps some antidote to their poison used by the

magicians, led to their frequent introduction in religious ceremonies.

Such exhibitions must have made a profound impression on the spectators

and redounded in a corresponding degree to the glory of the performer.

'Who is a _manito_?' asks the mystic Meda Chant of the Algonkins.

'He,' is the reply, 'he who walketh with a serpent, walking on the

ground; he is a _manito_.' The intimate alliance of this symbol with

the mysteries of religion, the darkest riddles of the Unknown, is

reflected in their language, and also in that of their neighbours, the

Dakotas, in both of which the same words _manito, wakan_, which express

the supernatural in its broadest sense, are also used as terms for this

species of animals! The pious founder of the Moravian Brotherhood, the

Count of Zinzendorf, owed his life on one occasion to this deeply

rooted superstition. He was visiting a missionary station among the

Shawnees, in the Wyoming valley. Recent quarrels with the whites had

unusually irritated this unruly folk, and they resolved to make him

their first victim. After he had retired to his secluded hut, several

of the braves crept upon him, and, cautiously lifting the corner of the

lodge, peered in. The venerable man was seated before a little fire, a

volume of the Scriptures on his knees, lost in the perusal of the

sacred words. While they gazed, a huge rattlesnake, {115} unnoticed by

him, trailed across his feet, and rolled itself into a coil in the

comfortable warmth of the fire. Immediately the would-be murderers

forsook their purpose and noiselessly retired, convinced that this was

indeed a man of God."[6]

[6] Brinton, _Myths of the New World_, pp. 131-133.

The Sacred Origin of Smoking

Smoking is, of course, originally an American custom, and with the

Indians of North America possesses a sacred origin. Says an authority

upon the barbarian use of tobacco:[7]

[7] Schoolcraft, _op. cit._

"Of the sacred origin of tobacco the Indian has no doubt, although

scarcely two tribes exactly agree in the details of the way in which

the invaluable boon was conferred on man. In substance, however, the

legend is the same with all. Ages ago, at the time when spirits

considered the world yet good enough for their occasional residence, a

very great and powerful spirit lay down by the side of his fire to

sleep in the forest. While so lying, his arch-enemy came that way, and

thought it would be a good chance for mischief; so, gently approaching

the sleeper, he rolled him over toward the fire, till his head rested

among the glowing embers, and his hair was set ablaze. The roaring of

the fire in his ears roused the good spirit, and, leaping to his feet,

he rushed in a fright through the forest, and as he did so the wind

caught his singed hair as it flew off, and, carrying it away, sowed it

broadcast over the earth, into which it sank and took root, and grew up

tobacco.

"If anything exceeds the savage's belief in tobacco, it is that which

attaches to his pipe. In life it is his dearest companion, and in

death is inseparable; for {116} whatever else may be forgotten at his

funeral obsequies, his pipe is laid in the grave with him to solace him

on his journey to the 'happy hunting-ground.' 'The first pipe' is

among the most sacred of their traditions; as well it may be, when it

is sincerely believed that no other than the Great Spirit himself was

the original smoker.

"Many years ago the Great Spirit called all his people together, and,

standing on the precipice of the Red Pipe-stone Rock, he broke a piece

from the wall, and, kneading it in his hands, made a huge pipe, which

he smoked over them, and to the north, south, east, and west. He told

them that this stone was red, that it was their flesh, that of it they

might make their pipes of peace; but it belonged equally to all; and

the war-club and the scalping-knife must not be raised on this ground.

And he smoked his pipe and talked to them till the last whiff, and then

his head disappeared in a cloud; and immediately the whole surface of

the rock for several miles was melted and glazed. Two great ovens were

opened beneath, and two women (guardian spirits of the place) entered

them in a blaze of fire; and they are heard there yet, and answer to

the invocation of the priests, or medicine-men, who consult them on

their visits to this sacred place.

"The 'sacred place' here mentioned is the site of the world-renowned

'Pipe-stone Quarry.' From this place has the North American Indian

ever obtained material for his pipe, and from no other spot. Catlin

asserts that in every tribe he has visited (numbering about forty, and

extending over thousands of miles of country) the pipes have all been

made of this red pipe-stone. Clarke, the great American traveller,

relates that in his intercourse with many tribes who as yet had had but

little intercourse with the whites he {117} learned that almost every

adult had made the pilgrimage to the sacred rock and drawn from thence

his pipe-stone. So peculiar is this 'quarry' that Catlin has been at

the pains to describe it very fully and graphically, and from his

account the following is taken:

"'Our approach to it was from the east, and the ascent, for the

distance of fifty miles, over a continued succession of slopes and

terraces, almost imperceptibly rising one above another, that seemed to

lift us to a great height. There is not a tree or bush to be seen from

the highest summit of the ridge, though the eye may range east and

west, almost to a boundless extent, over a surface covered with a short

grass, that is green at one's feet, and about him, but changing to blue

in distance, like nothing but the blue and vastness of the ocean.

"'On the very top of this mound or ridge we found the far-famed quarry

or fountain of the Red Pipe, which is truly an anomaly in nature. The

principal and most striking feature of this place is a perpendicular

wall of close-grained, compact quartz, of twenty-five and thirty feet

in elevation, running nearly north and south, with its face to the

west, exhibiting a front of nearly two miles in length, when it

disappears at both ends, by running under the prairie, which becomes

there a little more elevated, and probably covers it for many miles,

both to the north and south. The depression of the brow of the ridge

at this place has been caused by the wash of a little stream, produced

by several springs at the top, a little back from the wall, which has

gradually carried away the superincumbent earth, and having bared the

wall for the distance of two miles, is now left to glide for some

distance over a perfectly level surface of quartz rock; and then to

leap from the top of the wall into a deep basin below, {118} and thence

seek its course to the Missouri, forming the extreme source of a noted

and powerful tributary, called the "Big Sioux."

"'At the base of this wall there is a level prairie, of half a mile in

width, running parallel to it, in any, and in all parts of which, the

Indians procure the red stone for their pipes, by digging through the

soil and several slaty layers of the red stone to the depth of four or

five feet. From the very numerous marks of ancient and modern diggings

or excavations, it would appear that this place has been for many

centuries resorted to for the red stone; and from the great number of

graves and remains of ancient fortifications in the vicinity, it would

seem, as well as from their actual traditions, that the Indian tribes

have long held this place in high superstitious estimation; and also

that it has been the resort of different tribes, who have made their

regular pilgrimages here to renew their pipes.'

"As far as may be gathered from the various and slightly conflicting

accounts of Indian smoking observances, it would seem that to every

tribe, or, if it be an extensive one, to every detachment of a tribe,

belongs a potent instrument known as 'medicine pipe-stem.' It is

nothing more than a tobacco-pipe, splendidly adorned with savage

trappings, yet it is regarded as a sacred thing to be used only on the

most solemn occasions, or in the transaction of such important business

as among us could only be concluded by the sanction of a Cabinet

Council, and affixing the royal signature."

The Gods of the Red Man

Most of the North American stocks possessed a regular pantheon of

deities. Of these, having regard to their numbers, it will be

impossible to speak in any {119} detail, and it will be sufficient if

we confine ourselves to some account of the more outstanding figures.

As in all mythologies, godhead is often attached to the conception of

the bringer of culture, the sapient being who first instructs mankind

in the arts of life, agriculture, and religion. American mythologies

possess many such hero-gods, and it is not always easy to say whether

they belong to history or mythology. Of course, the circumstances

surrounding the conception of some of these beings prove that they can

be nothing else than mythological, but without doubt some of them were

originally mere mortal heroes.

Michabo

We discover one of the first class in Michabo, the Great Hare, the

principal deity of the Algonquins. In the accounts of the older

travellers we find him described as the ruler of the winds, the

inventor of picture-writing, and even the creator and preserver of the

world. Taking a grain of sand from the bed of the ocean, he made from

it an island which he launched in the primeval waters. This island

speedily grew to a great size; indeed, so extensive did it become that

a young wolf which managed to find a footing on it and attempted to

cross it died of old age before he completed his journey. A great

'medicine' society, called Meda, was supposed to have been founded by

Michabo. Many were his inventions. Observing the spider spread its

web, he devised the art of knitting nets to catch fish. He furnished

the hunter with many signs and charms for use in the chase. In the

autumn, ere he takes his winter sleep, he fills his great pipe and

smokes, and the smoke which arises is seen in the clouds which fill the

air with the haze of the Indian summer.

{120}

Some uncertainty prevailed among the various Algonquian tribes as to

where Michabo resided, some of them believing that he dwelt on an

island in Lake Superior, others on an iceberg in the Arctic Ocean, and

still others in the firmament, but the prevalent idea seems to have

been that his home was in the east, where the sun rises on the shores

of the great river Ocean that surrounds the dry land.

That a being possessing such qualities should be conceived of as taking

the name and form of a timid animal like the hare is indeed curious,

and there is little doubt that the original root from which the name

Michabo has been formed does not signify 'hare.' In fact, the root

_wab_, which is the initial syllable of the Algonquian word for 'hare,'

means also 'white,' and from it are derived the words for 'east,'

'dawn,' 'light,' and 'day.' Their names proceeding from the same root,

the idea of the hare and the dawn became confused, and the more

tangible object became the symbol of the god. Michabo was therefore

the spirit of light, and, as the dawn, the bringer of winds. As lord

of light he is also wielder of the lightning. He is in constant

strife, nevertheless, with his father the West Wind, and in this combat

we can see the diurnal struggle between east and west, light and

darkness, common to so many mythologies.

Modern Indian tales concerning Michabo make him a mere tricksy spirit,

a malicious buffoon, but in these we can see his character in process

of deterioration under the stress of modern conditions impinging upon

Indian life. It is in the tales of the old travellers and missionaries

that we find him in his true colours as a great culture-hero, Lord of

the Day and bringer of light and civilization.

{121}

The Battle of the Twin-Gods

Among the Iroquois we find a similar myth. It tells of two brothers,

Ioskeha and Tawiscara, or the White One and the Dark One, twins, whose

grandmother was the moon. When they grew up they quarrelled violently

with one another, and finally came to blows, Ioskeha took as his weapon

the horns of a stag, while Tawiscara seized a wild rose to defend

himself. The latter proved but a puny weapon, and, sorely wounded,

Tawiscara turned to fly. The drops of blood which fell from him became

flint stones. Ioskeha later built for himself a lodge in the far east,

and became the father of mankind and principal deity of the Iroquois,

slaying the monsters which infested the earth, stocking the woods with

game, teaching the Indians how to grow crops and make fires, and

instructing them in many of the other arts of life. This myth appears

to have been accepted later by the Mohawks and Tuscaroras.

Awonawilona

We have already alluded in the Zuñi creation-myth to the native deity

Awonawilona. This god stands out as one of the most perfect examples

of deity in its constructive aspect to be found in the mythologies of

America. He seems in some measure to be identified with the sun, and

from the remote allusions regarding him and the manner in which he is

spoken of as an architect of the universe we gather that he was not

exactly in close touch with mankind.

Ahsonnutli

Closely resembling him was Ahsonnutli, the principal deity of the

Navaho Indians of New Mexico, who was {122} regarded as the creator of

the heavens and earth. He was supposed to have placed twelve men at

each of the cardinal points to uphold the heavens. He was believed to

possess the qualities of both sexes, and is entitled the Turquoise

Man-woman.

Atius Tiráwa

Atius Tiráwa was the great god of the Pawnees. He also was a creative

deity, and ordered the courses of the sun, moon, and stars. As known

to-day he is regarded as omnipotent and intangible; but how far this

conception of him has been coloured by missionary influence it would be

difficult to say. We find, however, in other Indian mythologies which

we know have not been sophisticated by Christian belief many references

to deities who possess such attributes, and there is no reason why we

should infer that Atius Tiráwa is any other than a purely aboriginal

conception.

Esaugetuh Emissee

The great life-giving god of the Creeks and other Muskhogeans was

Esaugetuh Emissee, whose name signifies, 'Master of Breath.' The sound

of the name represents the emission of breath from the mouth. He was

the god of wind, and, like many another divinity in American mythology,

his rule over that element was allied with his power over the breath of

life--one of the forms of wind or air. Savage man regards the wind as

the great source of breath and life. Indeed, in many tongues the words

'wind,' 'soul,' and 'breath' have a common origin. We find a like

conception in the Aztec wind-god Tezcatlipoca, who was looked upon as

the primary source of existence.[8]

[8] See the author's _Myths of Mexico and Peru_, in this series.

{123}

The Coyote God

Among the people of the far west, the Californians and Chinooks, an

outstanding deity is, strangely enough, the Coyote. But whereas among

the Chinooks he was thought to be a benign being, the Maidu and other

Californian tribes pictured him as mischievous, cunning, and

destructive. Kodoyanpe, the Maidu creator, discovered the world along

with Coyote, and with his aid rendered it habitable for mankind. The

pair fashioned men out of small wooden images, as the gods of the Kiche

of Central America are related to have done in the myth in the _Popol

Vuh_. But the mannikins proved unsuitable to their purpose, and they

turned them into animals. Kodoyanpe's intentions were beneficent, and

as matters appeared to be going but ill, he concluded that Coyote was

at the bottom of the mischief. In this he was correct, and on

consideration he resolved to destroy Coyote. On the side of the

disturber was a formidable array of monsters and other evil agencies.

But Kodoyanpe received powerful assistance from a being called the

Conqueror, who rid the universe of many monsters and wicked spirits

which might have proved unfriendly to the life of man, as yet unborn.

The combat raged fiercely over a protracted period, but at last the

beneficent Kodoyanpe was defeated by the crafty Coyote. Kodoyanpe had

buried many of the wooden mannikins whom he had at first created, and

they now sprang from their places and became the Indian race.

This is, of course, a day-and-night or light-and-darkness myth.

Kodoyanpe is the sun, the spirit of day, who after a diurnal struggle

with the forces of darkness flies toward the west for refuge. Coyote

is the spirit of night, typified by an animal of nocturnal {124} habits

which slinks forth from its den as the shades of dusk fall on the land.

We find a similar conception in Egyptian mythology, where Anubis, the

jackal-headed, swallows his father Osiris, the brilliant god of day, as

the night swallows up the sun.

Another version of the Coyote myth current in California describes how

in the beginning there was only the primeval waste of waters, upon

which Kodoyanpe and Coyote dropped in a canoe. Coyote willed that the

surf beneath them should become sand.

"Coyote was coming. He came to Got'at. There he met a heavy surf. He

was afraid that he might be drifted away, and went up to the

spruce-trees. He stayed there a long time. Then he took some sand and

threw it upon that surf: 'This shall be a prairie and no surf. The

future generations shall walk on this prairie!' Thus Clatsop became a

prairie. The surf became a prairie."[9]

[9] Boas, _Chinook Texts_.

But among other tribes as well as among the Chinooks Italapas, the

Coyote, is a beneficent deity. Thus in the myths of the Shushwap and

Kutenai Indians of British Columbia he figures as the creative agency,

and in the folk-tales of the Ashochimi of California he appears after

the deluge and plants in the earth the feathers of various birds, which

according to their colour become the several Indian tribes.

Blue Jay

Another mischievous deity of the Chinooks and other western peoples is

Blue Jay. He is a turbulent braggart, schemer, and mischief-maker. He

is the very clown of gods, and invariably in trouble himself if he is

not manufacturing it for others. He has the shape of a jay-bird, which

was given him by the Supernatural {125} People because he lost to them

in an archery contest. They placed a curse upon him, telling him the

note he used as a bird would gain an unenviable notoriety as a bad

omen. Blue Jay has an elder brother, the Robin, who is continually

upbraiding him for his mischievous conduct in sententious phraseology.

The story of the many tricks and pranks played by Blue Jay, not only on

the long-suffering members of his tribe, but also upon the denizens of

the supernatural world, must have afforded intense amusement around

many an Indian camp-fire. Even the proverbial gravity of the Red Man

could scarcely hold out against the comical adventures of this American

Owl-glass.

Thunder-Gods

North America is rich in thunder-gods. Of these a typical example is

Haokah, the god of the Sioux. The countenance of this divinity was

divided into halves, one of which expressed grief and the other

cheerfulness--that is, on occasion he could either weep with the rain

or smile with the sun. Heat affected him as cold, and cold was to him

as heat. He beat the tattoo of the thunder on his great drum, using

the wind as a drum-stick. In some phases he is reminiscent of Jupiter,

for he hurls the lightning to earth in the shape of thunderbolts. He

wears a pair of horns, perhaps to typify his connexion with the

lightning, or else with the chase, for many American thunder-gods are

mighty hunters. This double conception arises from their possession of

the lightning-spear, or arrow, which also gives them in some cases the

character of a war-god. Strangely enough, such gods of the chase often

resembled in appearance the animals they hunted. For example, Tsui

'Kalu (Slanting Eyes), a hunter-god {126} of the Cherokee Indians,

seems to resemble a deer. He is of giant proportions, and dwells in a

great mountain of the Blue Ridge Range, in North-western Virginia. He

appears to have possessed all the game in the district as his private

property. A Cherokee thunder-god is Asgaya Gigagei (Red Man). The

facts that he is described as being of a red colour, thus typifying the

lightning, and that the Cherokees were originally a mountain people,

leave little room for doubt that he is a thunder-god, for it is around

the mountain peaks that the heavy thunder-clouds gather, and the red

lightning flashing from their depths looks like the moving limbs of the

half-hidden deity. We also find occasionally invoked in the Cherokee

religious formulæ a pair of twin deities known as the 'Little Men,' or

'Thunder-boys.' This reminds us that in Peru twins were always

regarded as sacred to the lightning, since they were emblematic of the

thunder-and-lightning twins, Apocatequil and Piguerao. All these

thunder-gods are analogous to the Aztec Tlaloc, the Kiche Hurakan, and

the Otomi Mixcoatl.[10] A well-known instance of the thunder- or

hunter-god who possesses animal characteristics will occur to those who

are familiar with the old English legend of Herne the Hunter, with his

deer's head and antlers.

[10] See _Myths of Mexico and Peru_.

The Dakota Indians worshipped a deity whom they addressed as Waukheon

(Thunder-bird). This being was engaged in constant strife with the

water-god, Unktahe, who was a cunning sorcerer, and a controller of

dreams and witchcraft. Their conflict probably symbolizes the

atmospheric changes which accompany the different seasons.

{127}

Idea of a Future Life

The idea of a future life was very widely disseminated among the tribes

of North America. The general conception of such an existence was that

it was merely a shadowy extension of terrestrial life, in which the

same round of hunting and kindred pursuits was engaged in. The Indian

idea of eternal bliss seems to have been an existence in the Land of

the Sun, to which, however, only those famed in war were usually

admitted.

That the Indians possessed a firm belief in a future state of existence

is proved by their statements to the early Moravian missionaries, to

whom they said: "We Indians shall not for ever die. Even the grains of

corn we put under the earth grow up and become living things." The old

missionary adds: "They conceive that when the soul has been awhile with

God it can, if it chooses, return to earth and be born again." This

idea of rebirth, however, appears to have meant that the soul would

return to the bones, that these would clothe themselves with flesh, and

that the man would rejoin his tribe. By what process of reasoning they

arrived at such a conclusion it would be difficult to ascertain, but

the almost universal practice which obtained among the Indians both of

North and South America of preserving the bones of the deceased plainly

indicates that they possessed some strong religious reason for this

belief. Many tribes which dwelt east of the Mississippi once in every

decade collected the bones of those who had died within that period,

carefully cleaned them, and placed them in a tomb lined with beautiful

flowers, over which they erected a mound of wood, stone, or earth.

Nor, indeed, were the ancient Egyptians more considerate of the remains

of their fathers.

{128}

The Hope of Resurrection

American funerary ritual and practice throughout the northern

sub-continent plainly indicates a strong and vivid belief in the

resurrection of the soul after death. Among many tribes the practice

prevailed of interring with the deceased such objects as he might be

supposed to require in the other world. These included weapons of war

and of the chase for men, and household implements and feminine finery

in the case of women.

Among primitive peoples the belief is prevalent that inanimate objects

possess doubles, or, as spiritualists would say, 'astral bodies,' or

souls, and some Indian tribes supposed that unless such objects were

broken or mutilated--that is to say, 'killed'--their doubles would not

accompany the spirit of the deceased on its journey.

Indian Burial Customs

Many methods of disposing of the corpse were, and are, in use among the

American Indians. The most common of these were ordinary burial in the

earth or under tumuli, burial in caves, tree-burial, raising the dead

on platforms, and the disposal of cremated remains in urns.

Embalming and mummification were practised to a certain extent by some

of the extinct tribes of the east coast, and some of the north-west

tribes, notably the Chinooks, buried their dead in canoes, which were

raised on poles. The rites which accompanied burial, besides the

placing of useful articles and food in the grave, generally consisted

in a solemn dance, in which the bereaved relatives cut themselves and

blackened their faces, after which they wailed night and morning in

solitary places. It was generally regarded as unlucky to mention the

name of the deceased, and, indeed, the {129} bereaved family often

adopted another name to avoid such a contingency.

The Soul's Journey

Most of the tribes appear to have believed that the soul had to

undertake a long journey before it reached its destination. The belief

of the Chinooks in this respect is perhaps a typical one. They imagine

that after death the spirit of the deceased drinks at a large hole in

the ground, after which it shrinks and passes on to the country of the

ghosts, where it is fed with spirit food and drink. After this act of

communion with the spirit-world it may not return. They also believe

that every one is possessed of two spirits, a greater and a less.

During illness the lesser soul is spirited away by the denizens of

Ghost-land. The Navahos possess a similar belief, and say that the

soul has none of the vital force which animates the body, nor any of

the faculties of the mind, but a kind of third quality, or personality,

like the _ka_ of the ancient Egyptians, which may leave its owner and

become lost, much to his danger and discomfort. The Hurons and

Iroquois believe that after death the soul must cross a deep and swift

stream, by a bridge formed by a single slender tree, upon which it has

to combat the attacks of a fierce dog. The Athapascans imagine that

the soul must be ferried over a great water in a stone canoe, and the

Algonquins and Dakotas believe that departed spirits must cross a

stream bridged by an enormous snake.

Paradise and the Supernatural People

The Red Man appears to have possessed two wholly different conceptions

of supernatural life. We find in Indian myth allusions both to a

'Country of the Ghosts' and to a 'Land of the Supernatural People.'

{130} The first appears to be the destination of human beings after

death, but the second is apparently the dwelling-place of a spiritual

race some degrees higher than mankind. Both these regions are within

the reach of mortals, and seem to be mere extensions of the terrestrial

sphere. Their inhabitants eat, drink, hunt, and amuse themselves in

the same manner as earthly folk, and are by no means invulnerable or

immortal. The instinctive dread of the supernatural which primitive

man possesses is well exemplified in the myths in which he is brought

into contact with the denizens of Ghost-land or the Spirit-world.

These myths were undoubtedly framed for the same purpose as the old

Welsh poem on the harrying of hell, or the story of the journey of the

twin brothers to Xibalba in the Central American _Popol Vuh_. That is

to say, the desire was felt for some assurance that man, on entering

the spiritual sphere, would only be treading in the footsteps of heroic

beings who had preceded him, who had vanquished the forces of death and

hell and had stripped them of their terrors.

The mythologies of the North American Indians possess no place of

punishment, any more than they possess any deities who are frankly

malevolent toward humanity. Should a place of torment be discernible

in any Indian mythology at the present day it may unhesitatingly be

classed as the product of missionary sophistication. Father Brébeuf,

an early French missionary, could only find that the souls of suicides

and those killed in war were supposed to dwell apart from the others.

"But as to the souls of scoundrels," he adds, "so far from being shut

out, they are welcome guests; though for that matter, if it were not so

their paradise would be a total desert, as 'Indian' and 'scoundrel' are

one and the same."

{131}

The Sacred Number Four

Over the length and breadth of the American continent a peculiar

sanctity is attached by the aborigines to the four points of the

compass. This arises from the circumstance that from these quarters

come the winds which carry the fertilizing rains. The Red Man, a

dweller in vast undulating plains where landmarks are few, recognized

the necessity of such guidance in his wanderings as could alone be

received from a strict adherence to the position of the four cardinal

points. These he began to regard with veneration as his personal

safeguards, and recognized in them the dwelling-places of powerful

beings, under whose care he was. Most of his festivals and

celebrations had symbolical or direct allusions to the four points of

the compass. The ceremony of smoking, without which no treaty could be

commenced or ratified, was usually begun by the chief of the tribe

exhaling tobacco-smoke toward the four quarters of the earth. Among

some tribes other points were also recognized, as, for example, one in

the sky and one in the earth. All these points had their symbolical

colours, and were presided over by various animal or other divinities.

Thus the Apaches took black for the east, white for the south, yellow

for the west, and blue for the north, the Cherokees red, white, black,

and blue for the same points, and the Navahos white, blue, yellow, and

black, with white and black for the lower regions and blue for the

upper or ethereal world.

Indian Time and Festivals

The North American tribes have various ways of computing time. Some of

them rely merely upon the changes in season and the growth of crops for

guidance {132} as to when their annual festivals and seasonal

celebrations should take place. Others fix their system of festivals

on the changes of the moon and the habits of animals and birds. It

was, however, upon the moon that most of these peoples depended for

information regarding the passage of time. Most of them assigned

twelve moons to the year, while others considered thirteen a more

correct number. The Kiowa reckoned the year to consist of twelve and a

half moons, the other half being carried over to the year following.

The Zuñi of New Mexico allude to the year as a 'passage of time,' and

call the seasons the 'steps of the year.' The first six months of the

Zuñi year possess names which have an agricultural or natural

significance, while the last six have ritualistic names. Captain

Jonathan Carver, who travelled among the Sioux at the end of the

eighteenth century, says that some tribes among them reckoned their

years by moons, and made them consist of twelve lunar months, observing

when thirty moons had waned to add a supernumerary one, which they

termed the 'lost moon.' They gave a name to each month as follows, the

year beginning at the first new moon after the spring equinox: March,

Worm Moon; April, Moon of Plants; May, Moon of Flowers; June, Hot Moon;

July, Buck Moon; August, Sturgeon Moon; September, Corn Moon; October,

Travelling Moon; November, Beaver Moon; December, Hunting Moon;

January, Cold Moon; February, Snow Moon. These people had no division

into weeks, but counted days by 'sleeps,' half-days by pointing to the

sun at noon, and quarter-days by the rising and setting of the sun, for

all of which they possessed symbolic signs. Many tribes kept records

of events by means of such signs, as has already been indicated. The

eastern Sioux {133} measure time by knotted leather thongs, similar to

the _quipos_ of the ancient Peruvians. Other tribes have even more

primitive methods. The Hupa of California tell a person's age by

examining his teeth. The Maidu divide the seasons into Rain Season,

Leaf Season, Dry Season, and Falling-leaf Season. The Pima of Southern

Arizona record events by means of notched sticks, which no one but the

persons who mark them can understand.

The chief reason for the computation of time among savage peoples is

the correct observance of religious festivals. With the rude methods

at their command they are not always able to hit upon the exact date on

which these should occur. These festivals are often of a highly

elaborate nature, and occupy many days in their celebration, the most

minute attention being paid to the proper performance of the various

rites connected with them. They consist for the most part of a

preliminary fast, followed by symbolic dances or magical ceremonies,

and concluding with a gluttonous orgy. Most of these observances

possess great similarity one to another, and visible differences may be

accounted for by circumstances of environment or seasonal variations.

When the white man first came into contact with the Algonquian race it

was observed that they held regularly recurring festivals to celebrate

the ripening of fruits and grain, and more irregular feasts to mark the

return of wild-fowl and the hunting season in general. Dances were

engaged in, and heroic songs chanted. Indeed, the entire observance

appears to have been identical in its general features with the

festival of to-day.

One of the most remarkable of these celebrations is that of the Creeks

called the 'Busk,' a contraction {134} for its native name, Pushkita.

Commencing with a rigorous fast which lasts three days, the entire

tribe assembles on the fourth day to watch the high-priest produce a

new fire by means of friction. From this flame the members of the

tribe are supplied, and feasting and dancing are then engaged in for

three days. Four logs are arranged in the form of a cross pointing to

the four quarters of the earth, and burnt as an offering to the four

winds.

The Buffalo Dance

The Mandans, a Dakota tribe, each year celebrate as their principal

festival the Buffalo Dance, a feast which marks the return of the

buffalo-hunting season. Eight men wearing buffalo-skins on their

backs, and painted black, red, or white, imitate the actions of

buffaloes. Each of them holds a rattle in his right hand and a slender

rod six feet long in his left, and carries a bunch of green willow

boughs on his back. The ceremony is held at the season of the year

when the willow is in full leaf. The dancers take up their positions

at four different points of a canoe to represent the four cardinal

points of the compass. Two men dressed as grizzly bears stand beside

the canoe, growling and threatening to spring upon any one who

interferes with the ceremony. The bystanders throw them pieces of

food, which are at once pounced upon by two other men, and carried off

by them to the prairie. During the ceremony the old men of the tribe

beat upon sacks, chanting prayers for the success of the buffalo-hunt.

On the fourth day a man enters the camp in the guise of an evil spirit,

and is driven from the vicinity with stones and curses.

The elucidation of this ceremony may perhaps be as {135} follows: From

some one of the four points of the compass the buffalo must come;

therefore all are requested to send goodly supplies. The men dressed

as bears symbolize the wild beasts which might deflect the progress of

the herds of buffalo toward the territory of the tribe, and therefore

must be placated. The demon who visits the camp after the ceremony is,

of course, famine.

Dance-Festivals of the Hopi

The most highly developed North American festival system is that of the

Hopi or Moqui of Arizona, the observances of which are almost of a

theatrical nature. All the Pueblo Indians, of whom the Hopi are a

division, possess similar festivals, which recur at various seasons or

under the auspices of different totem clans or secret societies. Most

of these 'dances' are arranged by the Katcina clan, and take place in

dance-houses known as _kivas_. These ceremonies have their origin in

the universal reverence shown to the serpent in America--a reverence

based on the idea that the symbol of the serpent, tail in mouth,

represented the round, full sun of August. In the summer 'dances'

snake-charming feats are performed, but in the Katcina ceremony

serpents are never employed.

Devil-dances are by no means uncommon among the Indians. The purpose

of these is to drive evil spirits from the vicinity of the tribe.

Medicine-Men

The native American priesthood, whether known as medicine-men,

_shamans_, or wizards, were in most tribes a caste apart, exercising

not only the priestly function, but those of physician and prophet as

well. The name 'medicine-men,' therefore, is scarcely a misnomer.

{136} They were skilled in the handling of occult forces such as

hypnotism, and thus exercised unlimited sway over the rank and file of

the tribe. But we shall first consider them in their religious aspect.

In many of the Indian tribes the priesthood was a hereditary office; in

others it was obtained through natural fitness or revelation in dreams.

With the Cherokees, for example, the seventh son of a family was

usually marked out as a suitable person for the priesthood. As a rule

the religious body did not share in the general life of the tribe, from

which to a great degree it isolated itself. For example, Bartram in

his _Travels in the Carolinas_ describes the younger priests of the

Creeks as being arrayed in white robes, and carrying on their heads or

arms "a great owl-skin stuffed very ingeniously as an insignia of

wisdom and divination. These bachelors are also distinguishable from

the other people by their taciturnity, grave and solemn countenance,

dignified step, and singing to themselves songs or hymns in a low,

sweet voice as they stroll about the towns." To add to the feeling of

awe which they inspired among the laymen of the tribe, the priests

conversed with one another in a secret tongue. Thus the magical

formulæ of some of the Algonquin priests were not in the ordinary

language, but in a dialect of their own invention. The Choctaws,

Cherokees, and Zuñi employed similar esoteric dialects, all of which

are now known to be merely modifications of their several tribal

languages, fortified with obsolete words, or else mere borrowings from

the idioms of other tribes.

Medicine-Men as Healers

It was, however, as healers that the medicine-men were pre-eminent.

The Indian assigns all illness or bodily {137} discomfort to

supernatural agency. He cannot comprehend that indisposition may arise

within his own system, but believes that it must necessarily proceed

from some external source. Some supernatural being whom he has

offended, the soul of an animal which he has slain, or perhaps a

malevolent sorcerer, torments him. If the bodies of mankind were not

afflicted in this mysterious manner their owners would endure for ever.

When the Indian falls sick he betakes himself to a medicine-man, to

whom he relates his symptoms, at the same time acquainting him with any

circumstances which he may suspect of having brought about his

condition. If he has slain a deer and omitted the usual formula of

placation afterward he suspects that the spirit of the beast is

actively harming him. Should he have shot a bird and have subsequently

observed any of the same species near his dwelling, he will almost

invariably conclude that they were bent on a mission of vengeance and

have by some means injured him. The medicine-man, in the first

instance, may give his patient some simple native remedy. If this

treatment does not avail he will arrange to go to the sufferer's lodge

for the purpose of making a more thorough examination. Having located

the seat of the pain, he will blow upon it several times, and then

proceed to massage it vigorously, invoking the while the aid of the

natural enemy of the spirit which he suspects is tormenting the sick

man. Thus if a deer's spirit be suspected he will call upon the

mountain lion or the Great Dog to drive it away, but if a bird of any

of the smaller varieties he will invoke the Great Eagle who dwells in

the zenith to slay or devour it. Upon the supposed approach of these

potent beings he will become more excited, and, vigorously slapping the

patient, will chant incantations {138} in a loud and sonorous voice,

which are supposed to hasten the advent of the friendly beings whom he

has summoned. At last, producing by sleight of hand an image of the

disturbing spirit worked in bone, he calls for a vessel of boiling

water, into which he promptly plunges the supposed cause of his

patient's illness. The bone figure is withdrawn from the boiling water

after a space, and on being examined may be found to have one or more

scores on its surface. Each of these shows that it has already slain

its man, and the patient is assured that had the native Æsculapius not

adopted severe measures the malign spirit would have added him to the

number of its victims.

Should these methods not result in a cure, others are resorted to. The

patient is regaled with the choicest food and drink, while incantations

are chanted and music performed to frighten away the malign influences.

Professional Etiquette

The priestly class is not given to levying exorbitant fees upon its

patients. As a rule the Indian medicine-man strongly resents any

allusion to a fee. Should the payment be of a perishable nature, such

as food, he usually shares it with his relatives, brother-priests, or

even his patients, but should it consist of something that may be

retained, such as cloth, teeth necklaces, or skins, he will carefully

hoard it to afford provision for his old age. The Indian practitioner

is strongly of opinion that white doctors are of little service in the

cure of native illnesses. White medicine, he says, is good only for

white men, and Indian medicine for the red man; in which conclusion he

is probably justified.

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Journeys in Spirit-land

In many Indian myths we read how the _shamans_, singly or in companies,

seek the Spirit-land, either to search for the souls of those who are

ill, but not yet dead, or to seek advice from supernatural beings.

These thaumaturgical practices were usually undertaken by three

medicine-men acting in concert. Falling into a trance, in which their

souls were supposed to become temporarily disunited from their bodies,

they would follow the track of the sick man's spirit into the

spirit-world. The order in which they travelled was determined by the

relative strength of their guardian spirits, those with the strongest

being first and last, and he who had the weakest being placed in the

middle. If the sick man's track turned to the left they said he would

die, but if to the right, he would recover. From the trail they could

also divine whether any supernatural danger was near, and the foremost

priest would utter a magic chant to avert such evils if they came from

the front, while if the danger came from the rear the incantation was

sung by the priest who came last. Generally their sojourn occupied one

or two nights, and, having rescued the soul of the patient, they

returned to place it in his body.

Not only was the _shaman_ endowed with the power of projecting his own

'astral body' into the Land of Spirits. By placing cedar-wood charms

in the hands of persons who had not yet received a guardian spirit he

could impart to them his clairvoyant gifts, enabling them to visit the

Spirit-land and make any observations required by him.

The souls of chiefs, instead of following the usual route, went

directly to the sea-shore, where only the most gifted _shamans_ could

follow their trail. The sea {140} was regarded as the highway to the

supernatural regions. A sick man was in the greatest peril at high

water, but when the tide was low the danger was less.

The means adopted by the medicine-men to lure ghosts away from their

pursuit of a soul was to create an 'astral' deer. The ghosts would

turn from hunting the man's soul to follow that of the beast.

The Savage and Religion

It cannot be said that the religious sense was exceptionally strong in

the mind of the North American Indian. But this was due principally to

the stage of culture at which he stood, and in some cases still stands.

In man in his savage or barbarian condition the sense of reverence as

we conceive it is small, and its place is largely filled by fear and

superstition. It is only at a later stage, when civilizing influences

have to some extent banished the grosser terrors of animism and

fetishism, that the gods reveal themselves in a more spiritual aspect.

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