The old Indians are all very reticent regarding their religious
beliefs. They hold them too sacred to be exposed to possible
ridicule, and it is therefore very difficult to get information
from them by direct questions.
They seem, however, to have a vague, indistinct belief or
tradition that their original ancestors, in the long forgotten
past, dwelt in a better and much more desirable country than
this, in the _El-o´-win_, or distant West, and that by some
misfortune or great calamity they were separated from that nappy
land, and became wanderers in this part of the world. They also
believe that the spirits of all good Indians will be permitted,
after death, to go back to that happy country of their ancestors'
origin; but that the spirits of bad Indians have to serve another
earth life in the form of a grizzly bear, as a punishment for
their former crimes. Hence, no Indians ever eat bear meat if
they know it.
All the old Indians are spiritualists, and very superstitious in
their religious beliefs. One special tenet is that if one of
their relatives or friends has been murdered, he will not receive
them on terms of friendship in the spirit world unless they
revenge his death, by either killing the murderer or some one of
the same blood. This belief sometimes results in an entirely
innocent person being put to death.
They all have a great fear of evil spirits, which they believe
have the power to do them much harm and defeat their
undertakings. They also have a fairly distinct idea of a Diety or
Great Spirit, who never does them any harm, and whose home is in
the happy land of their ancestors in the West.
[Illustration: _Photograph by Boysen_.
YOSEMITE BASKETRY.
The Ellen Boysen collection of baskets and bead work.]