The Pawnee Loups (Wolf Pawnees) a tribe of Missouri savages, lately
exhibited the anomaly among the American aborigines of a people
addicted to the superstitious rite of offering human victims, in
propitiation of ‘_Venus, the Great Star_.’ The inhuman ceremony
was annually performed at the period immediately preceding their
horticultural operations, in order to insure a bountiful return from
the earth:—the neglect of which duty, it was believed, would occasion a
total failure of crops. To obviate, therefore, a national calamity so
formidable, any person was at liberty to offer up a prisoner, of either
sex, whom the fortune of war had placed in his power.
The devoted individual was clad in the gayest attire, pampered with
a profusion of the choicest food, and constantly attended by the
conjurers, alias priests, who anticipated all his wants—cautiously
concealed from him the real object of their sedulous attentions—and
endeavoured to preserve his mind in a state of cheerful composure:—with
the view of promoting obesity, and thus rendering the sacrifice more
acceptable to their Ceres.
When the victim was sufficiently fattened, a day was appointed for the
sacrifice, that all might attend the celebration. In the presence of
the assembled multitude, he was bound to a cross; a solemn dance was
performed; and, after certain ceremonies, the warrior who had captured
him, cleft his head with a tomahawk; and, at the same moment, numerous
arrows were discharged at the body.
It appears, this barbarous rite has lately been abolished. _Latelesha_,
or Knife Chief, principal of the nation, having long regarded this
sacrifice as cruel and unnecessary, had vainly endeavoured to wean
his countrymen from the observance of it. At length an Iotan woman,
brought captive into the village, was doomed to the Great Star. Having
undergone the necessary treatment, she was bound to the cross. At this
critical juncture, _Petalesharoo_, son of _Latelesha_, stepped forward,
and declared, that it was his father’s wish to abolish a custom so
inhuman; that, for his part, he was determined to release the victim,
at the risk of his life. He now cut the cords that bound her, carried
her swiftly through the crowd, and placed her on a horse; mounted
another himself, and conveyed her beyond the reach of pursuit.
Notwithstanding the success of this enterprise, it was reserved for
another display of the firmness of this young warrior, to abolish
the sanguinary sacrifice—we hope for ever. The succeeding spring, a
Spanish boy was captured, and confided, by the warrior who took him,
to the priests, to undergo the usual preparation for sacrifice. The
Knife Chief consulted with his son how to avoid the repetition of the
horrible rite. “_I_ will rescue the boy,” said _Petalesharoo_, “as a
warrior ought—by force.” But the father, unwilling that his son should
again expose himself to imminent danger, devised other means for
rescuing the devoted victim:—that is, by ransom. For this purpose he
repaired to a Mr. Pappon, then trading in the village, who generously
contributed a quantity of merchandize. Other contributions were added
by the Knife Chief himself, and by Petalesharoo, and other Indians. The
whole was laid up in a heap, in the Chieftain’s lodge, and the warrior
was summoned to attend.
Latelesha, armed with his war-club, commanded the warrior to accept of
the merchandize, as a ransom for the boy, or prepare for instant death.
The warrior refused to comply: the chief flourished his club in the
air. “Strike!” said Petalesharoo, “I will meet the vengeance of his
friends.” But the more politic Chief preferred adding to the mass of
merchandize a few more articles, in order to give the warrior another
opportunity of complying, without breaking his word. The expedient
succeeded. The goods were reluctantly accepted; the boy was liberated,
and afterwards conducted to St. Louis by the traders. The merchandize
was sacrificed in his place: the cloth was cut in shreds, and suspended
on poles, and many of the valuables were consumed by fire, to appease
and propitiate the Indian Ceres.
[Illustration]