SOCIAL LIFE AMONG INDIAN TRIBES
Every boy is familiar with the arrangement of Boy Scouts, who name
themselves the “Beavers,” “Lions,” “Bears,” or “Eagles”; and, strange
to say, there is a similar practice among many savage peoples in
America, Australia, and the Pacific region, though primitive tribes
have many strange beliefs which we do not hear of among boys who take
animals as their emblems.
One of the Déné tribes is divided into halves, the people of one
division being “Bears,” while the others are all “Birds.” Now it is
so ordered that a man or woman of the “Bear” division may not marry
any one from his or her own half of the tribe; a person belonging to
the “Bears” must always marry into the “Bird” clan, and an individual
in the “Bird” division must select a partner from the “Bears.” The
Indians cannot explain how this order originated; they say it always
has been so and must remain. Some go so far as to declare that animals,
who were their ancestors, ordered this tribal division, and laid down
the rules for marriage. The missionary, Father Morice, tells us that
among another Déné tribe named “Carriers,” there are four of these
animal clans, namely, the Grouse, Beaver, Toad, and Grizzly Bear.
People of the Grizzly Bear clan think that they themselves, also their
ancestors, are closely connected with the Bear in some mysterious way.
They respect the animal, and apologise to him when it is necessary to
kill him in order to get food and clothing. The bear is thought to
have a spirit which would haunt the “Bear” clan if the animal were not
treated respectfully. Some Indian hunters who will have no respect for
an animal belonging to some other clan, sit by the dead bear, their own
totem animal, and smoke the pipe of peace, which implies that there is
a good feeling between the hunter and his dead bear, whose spirit will
not take revenge.
In addition to this animal “totem,” which serves as a badge for the
clan, a boy always has his own special personal “totem,” which he
obtains in the following way. At the age of fourteen he is subject to
very harsh treatment, being beaten frequently, and driven to bathe
in cold water on winter mornings. Then there is among some tribes a
“sweat-bath,” which a boy enters in order to perspire out all his
badness, while starvation and solitude in the woods are thought to be
necessary before a boy is turned into a man who can have a “totem”
animal. It is during this starvation and fasting in the woods that the
boy dreams of some animal, or, as he puts it, “the ghost of the animal
comes to him while he is asleep,” and the first creature which appears
is his “totem,” to whom he prays when in danger and trouble. The youth
must rise at once, and after killing one of his “totem” animals, he
makes a little bag which is worn like a charm round the neck. Should
this “medicine bag” be lost, the youth is disgraced until he has killed
an enemy, and stolen his opponent’s skin bag. A chief may have more
than one “totem” animal, and outside a house, say of the Haida Indians,
one may see a high pole on which are carried the portraits of totem
animals belonging to all who dwell within the hut. Tattooing portraits
of “totem” animals on the hands and face is very common, especially
among the Haida of Queen Charlotte Islands.
[Illustration: TOTEM POLE, 38 FT. HIGH, HAIDA, QN. CHARLOTTE IS. (now in
Brit. Mus.).]
Winter dances in honour of animals are very common, and at these
festivities, masks in the form of animals are worn, while people
caper round in imitation of the movements of their own particular
totem. A very important social gathering among Salish tribes is named
“potlatch,” at which presents of great value are given away by a
chief who wishes to become very famous. People crowd to the top of
the long cedar-wood huts, and for days there is a distribution of
skins, horses, clothing, blankets, canoes, and every other form of
wealth. About twenty-five years ago a great chief of Vancouver Island
gave a “potlatch” to 2500 persons from different tribes. The guests
were feasted for over a month, and the savings of five years were
distributed; so no wonder the chief who is wealthy and a great warrior
readily becomes the judge and lawgiver in Indian society.
Slaves, usually people taken in war, were at one time common, and very
miserable was their lot, for they were regarded as being no better
than dogs, and any man might put his slaves to death for a trifling
offence. Mr. Hill-Tout, who knows the Indians well, says: “Slavery
has, of course, been abolished since they came under our rule, but the
descendants of those formerly slaves are still looked down upon and
despised by the other Indians.”
The North-Western tribes had no belief in a Supreme Being, or in God
Who made the universe, though they did think of a soul, spirit, or
ghost which could survive after the body was killed. Not only people,
but animals, and even weapons and articles of clothing, were thought
to have a ghost which went to some other world when the creature was
killed or the article broken. The Thompson Indians were very much
afraid of the spirits of deer, and they always took care to bury with
respect all such parts of the carcase as were not required. One way of
keeping friendly with the bear spirits was to hang the skull of the
animal on a tree, and all who took part in the ceremony were expected
to join in a chorus praising bears, while each performer was expected
to paint his face. The “medicine man,” “shaman,” or shall we say
priest, is most important among Déné tribes, for this peculiar person
goes into a deep sleep or trance in which he is supposed to visit the
world of spirits, who tell him how to cure sick people. So clever is
the “shaman” thought to be, that he is held quite capable of chasing a
soul which has left the body, and when the truant soul is caught, he
goes through a performance of returning it to the dying person. A man
who is very ill indeed will sometimes recover just because he has such
great faith in the medicine man, whose power he trusts absolutely.
Burial is performed in various ways: the body may be left on a staging
concealed in the boughs of a tree, or the tomb may be a hut which was
specially constructed for the dying person, or perhaps his remains are
cremated. Whatever method is adopted, there is always the greatest fear
of death and a return of haunting spirits, which can be kept away only
by the observance of certain superstitious practices. The mourners
must not eat meat for several days, then they are not to cut it with a
knife. The encampment where death takes place is sometimes deserted,
and what is most important, the name of the dead must not be mentioned,
for the ghost may think he is called if he hears his name.
Social gatherings are made happy by the narration of stories which
refer to the lives and adventures of animals. Here is one concerning
a sea-gull and a raven: the former bird is credited with having kept
daylight in a large box until a raven induced him to open the lid.
After lighting torches and searching the seashore, the raven returned
carrying prickly eggs of the sea urchin, which he strewed before the
house of the sea-gull. Next day he made a call on the sea-gull, and
found him in bed with his feet full of prickles, which the raven
volunteered to take out with a knife. When the operation was in
progress, Master Raven said: “You must open the lid of your box and
let out some daylight, for I cannot see what I am doing.” So the gull
opened the lid a little way, and the visitor continued taking out
prickles from the sea-gull’s feet. At last the little bit of daylight
was exhausted, and once more the raven asked for more light in order to
continue his work. Very reluctantly the sea-gull opened the lid of his
“daylight” box, but on this occasion the raven was too quick for him,
and forced the lid right open, with the result that daylight rushed
out, spread all over the world, and could not be gathered in again.
Sea-gull was very much distressed, bitterly he cried, and to-day
the Indians say that sea birds flit along the shore, uttering their
plaintive cries because of the trick played by the raven so many years
ago.