The religion of the early historic Illini was apparently a complex one.
The sun was evidently a powerful deity from whom the calumet pipe had
perhaps been supposedly received. A special calumet, apparently sacred
to the sun, was revered as a palladium (like the Hebraic Ark of the
Covenant) on which rested the safety of the nation. A special official
had responsibility for its safe keeping. The smoke of the pipe was
offered to the sun whenever the Illini prayed for rain, fine weather, or
some other aid. Whether the Grand Manitou (Great Spirit), whom the
French thought was the Supreme God of the Illini, was identical with the
sun is not known though it seems probable.
In addition to the above gods, the Illini believed in numerous spirits
and in reincarnation. A young man sought to secure a spirit as his
superhuman helper or guardian for life. He fasted and prayed to the
spirit to come to him in a vision. If successful (as he usually was),
the spirit appeared to him in a dream and gave him instructions for a
ritual by which he kept in contact with his protector. The objects
needed for the ritual he collected on awakening and preserved them
thereafter in a roll of painted matting. When calling upon his spirit
protector, the bundle was opened and the rite performed, chiefly prayers
and smoke offerings from a pipe blown toward the bundle.
It seems probable that there were true priests who were appointed by
regular procedure and who received their power by virtue of their
installation into office. The priests, we are told, painted themselves
all over with clay on which designs were drawn. Their faces were painted
with red, white, blue, yellow, green and black colors. The “high priest”
wore a bonnet or crown of feathers and a pair of horns, possibly young
deer or buffalo.
Medicine men also seem to have existed, persons who sought power from
spirits to use in behalf of others for private gain or a livelihood.
Possibly they were interested on the side in black magic or witchcraft,
an anti-social activity.
Dancing, probably singing, and supplication, together with the
inevitable smoke offerings from a ceremonial pipe doubtless formed a
large part of public worship for which the whole community assembled.
Details of the Illini ceremonies and their meanings are not known.
The French priests severely denounced native religious customs and
“juggleries” of the Illini. The Peoria chiefs and priests resented this
and resisted Christian attempts to convert the tribe (1693).
Funeral and burial customs seem to have been generally similar to those
of other plant-raising peoples. All dead were treated with respect,
decked in their best apparel, painted in preparation for burial. A dance
was performed in honor of the deceased. A skin stretched over a large
pot formed a drum which was beaten with a single stick as accompaniment
for the dance. The participants were rewarded with presents at the
conclusion of the dance. The gifts to be distributed were displayed in
full view of the dancers and the duration of the dance was determined by
their relative richness. An important personage was given special
consideration and the whole community probably attended the funeral.
Corn and a pot to boil it in were placed beside the dead. Friends
standing around the grave threw into it bracelets, pendants and “pieces
of earthenware” (pots?). The graves of chiefs were marked by a painted
wooden post taller than the markers for ordinary people. Illini chiefs
and persons of distinction as a signal honor were placed in tree-tops in
a coffin made of bark. The tribe danced and sang for twenty-four hours
during the funeral of a distinguished man.
[Illustration: Fig. 35. Illini arrowshaft “wrench” or straightener
of bison (?) rib engraved with figure of bison and cross-hatched
triangles from Illinois village near mouth of Kaskaskia River,
Randolph County.]