{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_340/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_340","id":"gutenberg_340","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/340","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Indian mythology -- North America","Indian philosophy -- North America","Indians of North America -- Religion","Native America"],"text":"Produced by Judith Boss\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE SOUL OF THE INDIAN\n\nAn Interpretation\n\nBy Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa)\n\n\n\n     TO MY WIFE\n     ELAINE GOODALE EASTMAN\n     IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF HER\n     EVER-INSPIRING COMPANIONSHIP\n     IN THOUGHT AND WORK\n     AND IN LOVE OF HER MOST\n     INDIAN-LIKE VIRTUES\n     I DEDICATE THIS BOOK\n\n\n\n     I speak for each no-tongued tree\n     That, spring by spring, doth nobler be,\n     And dumbly and most wistfully\n     His mighty prayerful arms outspreads,\n     And his big blessing downward sheds.\n     --SIDNEY LANIER.\n\n\n     But there\u2019s a dome of nobler span,\n         A temple given\n     Thy faith, that bigots dare not ban--\n         Its space is heaven!\n     It\u2019s roof star-pictured Nature\u2019s ceiling,\n     Where, trancing the rapt spirit\u2019s feeling,\n     And God Himself to man revealing,\n         Th\u2019 harmonious spheres\n     Make music, though unheard their pealing\n         By mortal ears!\n     --THOMAS CAMPBELL.\n\n\n     God! sing ye meadow streams with gladsome voice!\n     Ye pine-groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds!\n     Ye eagles, playmates of the mountain storm!\n     Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds!\n     Ye signs and wonders of the elements,\n     Utter forth God, and fill the hills with praise!...\n     Earth, with her thousand voices, praises GOD!\n     --COLERIDGE.\n\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\n\n\u201cWe also have a religion which was given to our forefathers, and has\nbeen handed down to us their children. It teaches us to be thankful, to\nbe united, and to love one another! We never quarrel about religion.\u201d\n\nThus spoke the great Seneca orator, Red Jacket, in his superb reply to\nMissionary Cram more than a century ago, and I have often heard the same\nthought expressed by my countrymen.\n\nI have attempted to paint the religious life of the typical American\nIndian as it was before he knew the white man. I have long wished to do\nthis, because I cannot find that it has ever been seriously, adequately,\nand sincerely done. The religion of the Indian is the last thing about\nhim that the man of another race will ever understand.\n\nFirst, the Indian does not speak of these deep matters so long as\nhe believes in them, and when he has ceased to believe he speaks\ninaccurately and slightingly.\n\nSecond, even if he can be induced to speak, the racial and religious\nprejudice of the other stands in the way of his sympathetic\ncomprehension.\n\nThird, practically all existing studies on this subject have been made\nduring the transition period, when the original beliefs and philosophy\nof the native American were already undergoing rapid disintegration.\n\nThere are to be found here and there superficial accounts of strange\ncustoms and ceremonies, of which the symbolism or inner meaning was\nlargely hidden from the observer; and there has been a great deal of\nmaterial collected in recent years which is without value because it is\nmodern and hybrid, inextricably mixed with Biblical legend and Caucasian\nphilosophy. Some of it has even been invented for commercial purposes.\nGive a reservation Indian a present, and he will possibly provide you\nwith sacred songs, a mythology, and folk-lore to order!\n\nMy little book does not pretend to be a scientific treatise. It is as\ntrue as I can make it to my childhood teaching and ancestral ideals,\nbut from the human, not the ethnological standpoint. I have not cared to\npile up more dry bones, but to clothe them with flesh and blood. So much\nas has been written by strangers of our ancient faith and worship\ntreats it chiefly as matter of curiosity. I should like to emphasize its\nuniversal quality, its personal appeal!\n\nThe first missionaries, good men imbued with the narrowness of their\nage, branded us as pagans and devil-worshipers, and demanded of us that\nwe abjure our false gods before bowing the knee at their sacred altar.\nThey even told us that we were eternally lost, unless we adopted a\ntangible symbol and professed a particular form of their hydra-headed\nfaith.\n\nWe of the twentieth century know better! We know that all religious\naspiration, all sincere worship, can have but one source and one goal.\nWe know that the God of the lettered and the unlettered, of the Greek\nand the barbarian, is after all the same God; and, like Peter, we\nperceive that He is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation he\nthat feareth Him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to Him.\n\nCHARLES A. EASTMAN (OHIYESA)\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n    I. THE GREAT MYSTERY          1\n\n   II. THE FAMILY ALTAR          25\n\n   III. CEREMONIAL AND SYMBOLIC WORSHIP  51\n\n   IV. BARBARISM AND THE MORAL CODE    85\n\n    V. THE UNWRITTEN SCRIPTURES      117\n\n   VI. ON THE BORDER-LAND OF SPIRITS   147\n\n\n\n\n\nI. THE GREAT MYSTERY\n\n\n   Solitary Worship. The Savage Philosopher. The Dual Mind.\n   Spiritual Gifts versus Material Progress. The Paradox of\n   \u201cChristian Civilization.\u201d\n\nThe original attitude of the American Indian toward the Eternal, the\n\u201cGreat Mystery\u201d that surrounds and embraces us, was as simple as it\nwas exalted. To him it was the supreme conception, bringing with it the\nfullest measure of joy and satisfaction possible in this life.\n\nThe worship of the \u201cGreat Mystery\u201d was silent, solitary, free from all\nself-seeking. It was silent, because all speech is of necessity feeble\nand imperfect; therefore the souls of my ancestors ascended to God in\nwordless adoration. It was solitary, because they believed that He is\nnearer to us in solitude, and there were no priests authorized to come\nbetween a man and his Maker. None might exhort or confess or in any way\nmeddle with the religious experience of another. Among us all men were\ncreated sons of God and stood erect, as conscious of their divinity. Our\nfaith might not be formulated in creeds, nor forced upon any who were\nunwilling to receive it; hence there was no preaching, proselyting, nor\npersecution, neither were there any scoffers or atheists.\n\nThere were no temples or shrines among us save those of nature. Being\na natural man, the Indian was intensely poetical. He would deem it\nsacrilege to build a house for Him who may be met face to face in the\nmysterious, shadowy aisles of the primeval forest, or on the sunlit\nbosom of virgin prairies, upon dizzy spires and pinnacles of naked rock,\nand yonder in the jeweled vault of the night sky! He who enrobes Himself\nin filmy veils of cloud, there on the rim of the visible world where our\nGreat-Grandfather Sun kindles his evening camp-fire, He who rides\nupon the rigorous wind of the north, or breathes forth His spirit upon\naromatic southern airs, whose war-canoe is launched upon majestic rivers\nand inland seas--He needs no lesser cathedral!\n\nThat solitary communion with the Unseen which was the highest expression\nof our religious life is partly described in the word bambeday,\nliterally \u201cmysterious feeling,\u201d which has been variously translated\n\u201cfasting\u201d and \u201cdreaming.\u201d It may better be interpreted as \u201cconsciousness\nof the divine.\u201d\n\nThe first bambeday, or religious retreat, marked an epoch in the life of\nthe youth, which may be compared to that of confirmation or conversion\nin Christian experience. Having first prepared himself by means of\nthe purifying vapor-bath, and cast off as far as possible all human or\nfleshly influences, the young man sought out the noblest height, the\nmost commanding summit in all the surrounding region. Knowing that God\nsets no value upon material things, he took with him no offerings or\nsacrifices other than symbolic objects, such as paints and tobacco.\nWishing to appear before Him in all humility, he wore no clothing save\nhis moccasins and breech-clout. At the solemn hour of sunrise or sunset\nhe took up his position, overlooking the glories of earth and facing\nthe \u201cGreat Mystery,\u201d and there he remained, naked, erect, silent, and\nmotionless, exposed to the elements and forces of His arming, for a\nnight and a day to two days and nights, but rarely longer. Sometimes he\nwould chant a hymn without words, or offer the ceremonial \u201cfilled pipe.\u201d\n In this holy trance or ecstasy the Indian mystic found his highest\nhappiness and the motive power of his existence.\n\nWhen he returned to the camp, he must remain at a distance until he had\nagain entered the vapor-bath and prepared himself for intercourse with\nhis fellows. Of the vision or sign vouchsafed to him he did not speak,\nunless it had included some commission which must be publicly fulfilled.\nSometimes an old man, standing upon the brink of eternity, might reveal\nto a chosen few the oracle of his long-past youth.\n\nThe native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors\nfor his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion\nforbade the accumulation of wealth and the enjoyment of luxury. To him,\nas to other single-minded men in every age and race, from Diogenes to\nthe brothers of Saint Francis, from the Montanists to the Shakers, the\nlove of possessions has appeared a snare, and the burdens of a complex\nsociety a source of needless peril and temptation. Furthermore, it was\nthe rule of his life to share the fruits of his skill and success with\nhis less fortunate brothers. Thus he kept his spirit free from the clog\nof pride, cupidity, or envy, and carried out, as he believed, the divine\ndecree--a matter profoundly important to him.\n\nIt was not, then, wholly from ignorance or improvidence that he failed\nto establish permanent towns and to develop a material civilization.\nTo the untutored sage, the concentration of population was the prolific\nmother of all evils, moral no less than physical. He argued that food is\ngood, while surfeit kills; that love is good, but lust destroys; and not\nless dreaded than the pestilence following upon crowded and unsanitary\ndwellings was the loss of spiritual power inseparable from too close\ncontact with one\u2019s fellow-men. All who have lived much out of doors know\nthat there is a magnetic and nervous force that accumulates in solitude\nand that is quickly dissipated by life in a crowd; and even his enemies\nhave recognized the fact that for a certain innate power and self-poise,\nwholly independent of circumstances, the American Indian is unsurpassed\namong men.\n\nThe red man divided mind into two parts,--the spiritual mind and the\nphysical mind. The first is pure spirit, concerned only with the essence\nof things, and it was this he sought to strengthen by spiritual prayer,\nduring which the body is subdued by fasting and hardship. In this type\nof prayer there was no beseeching of favor or help. All matters of\npersonal or selfish concern, as success in hunting or warfare, relief\nfrom sickness, or the sparing of a beloved life, were definitely\nrelegated to the plane of the lower or material mind, and all\nceremonies, charms, or incantations designed to secure a benefit or to\navert a danger, were recognized as emanating from the physical self.\n\nThe rites of this physical worship, again, were wholly symbolic, and the\nIndian no more worshiped the Sun than the Christian adores the Cross.\nThe Sun and the Earth, by an obvious parable, holding scarcely more of\npoetic metaphor than of scientific truth, were in his view the parents\nof all organic life. From the Sun, as the universal father, proceeds the\nquickening principle in nature, and in the patient and fruitful womb of\nour mother, the Earth, are hidden embryos of plants and men. Therefore\nour reverence and love for them was really an imaginative extension of\nour love for our immediate parents, and with this sentiment of filial\npiety was joined a willingness to appeal to them, as to a father, for\nsuch good gifts as we may desire. This is the material or physical\nprayer.\n\nThe elements and majestic forces in nature, Lightning, Wind, Water,\nFire, and Frost, were regarded with awe as spiritual powers, but always\nsecondary and intermediate in character. We believed that the spirit\npervades all creation and that every creature possesses a soul in some\ndegree, though not necessarily a soul conscious of itself. The tree, the\nwaterfall, the grizzly bear, each is an embodied Force, and as such an\nobject of reverence.\n\nThe Indian loved to come into sympathy and spiritual communion with his\nbrothers of the animal kingdom, whose inarticulate souls had for him\nsomething of the sinless purity that we attribute to the innocent and\nirresponsible child. He had faith in their instincts, as in a mysterious\nwisdom given from above; and while he humbly accepted the supposedly\nvoluntary sacrifice of their bodies to preserve his own, he paid homage\nto their spirits in prescribed prayers and offerings.\n\nIn every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with\nthe influence of pure reason over its devotees. The Indian was a logical\nand clear thinker upon matters within the scope of his understanding,\nbut he had not yet charted the vast field of nature or expressed her\nwonders in terms of science. With his limited knowledge of cause and\neffect, he saw miracles on every hand,--the miracle of life in seed and\negg, the miracle of death in lightning flash and in the swelling deep!\nNothing of the marvelous could astonish him; as that a beast should\nspeak, or the sun stand still. The virgin birth would appear scarcely\nmore miraculous than is the birth of every child that comes into the\nworld, or the miracle of the loaves and fishes excite more wonder than\nthe harvest that springs from a single ear of corn.\n\nWho may condemn his superstition? Surely not the devout Catholic, or\neven Protestant missionary, who teaches Bible miracles as literal fact!\nThe logical man must either deny all miracles or none, and our American\nIndian myths and hero stories are perhaps, in themselves, quite as\ncredible as those of the Hebrews of old. If we are of the modern type\nof mind, that sees in natural law a majesty and grandeur far more\nimpressive than any solitary infraction of it could possibly be, let\nus not forget that, after all, science has not explained everything. We\nhave still to face the ultimate miracle,--the origin and principle\nof life! Here is the supreme mystery that is the essence of worship,\nwithout which there can be no religion, and in the presence of\nthis mystery our attitude cannot be very unlike that of the natural\nphilosopher, who beholds with awe the Divine in all creation.\n\nIt is simple truth that the Indian did not, so long as his native\nphilosophy held sway over his mind, either envy or desire to imitate\nthe splendid achievements of the white man. In his own thought he rose\nsuperior to them! He scorned them, even as a lofty spirit absorbed\nin its stern task rejects the soft beds, the luxurious food, the\npleasure-worshiping dalliance of a rich neighbor. It was clear to\nhim that virtue and happiness are independent of these things, if not\nincompatible with them.\n\nThere was undoubtedly much in primitive Christianity to appeal to this\nman, and Jesus\u2019 hard sayings to the rich and about the rich would have\nbeen entirely comprehensible to him. Yet the religion that is preached\nin our churches and practiced by our congregations, with its element of\ndisplay and self-aggrandizement, its active proselytism, and its open\ncontempt of all religions but its own, was for a long time extremely\nrepellent. To his simple mind, the professionalism of the pulpit, the\npaid exhorter, the moneyed church, was an unspiritual and unedifying\nthing, and it was not until his spirit was broken and his moral and\nphysical constitution undermined by trade, conquest, and strong drink,\nthat Christian missionaries obtained any real hold upon him. Strange as\nit may seem, it is true that the proud pagan in his secret soul despised\nthe good men who came to convert and to enlighten him!\n\nNor were its publicity and its Phariseeism the only elements in the\nalien religion that offended the red man. To him, it appeared shocking\nand almost incredible that there were among this people who claimed\nsuperiority many irreligious, who did not even pretend to profess the\nnational faith. Not only did they not profess it, but they stooped so\nlow as to insult their God with profane and sacrilegious speech! In our\nown tongue His name was not spoken aloud, even with utmost reverence,\nmuch less lightly or irreverently.\n\nMore than this, even in those white men who professed religion we found\nmuch inconsistency of conduct. They spoke much of spiritual things,\nwhile seeking only the material. They bought and sold everything:\ntime, labor, personal independence, the love of woman, and even the\nministrations of their holy faith! The lust for money, power, and\nconquest so characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon race did not escape moral\ncondemnation at the hands of his untutored judge, nor did he fail to\ncontrast this conspicuous trait of the dominant race with the spirit of\nthe meek and lowly Jesus.\n\nHe might in time come to recognize that the drunkards and licentious\namong white men, with whom he too frequently came in contact, were\ncondemned by the white man\u2019s religion as well, and must not be held to\ndiscredit it. But it was not so easy to overlook or to excuse national\nbad faith. When distinguished emissaries from the Father at Washington,\nsome of them ministers of the gospel and even bishops, came to the\nIndian nations, and pledged to them in solemn treaty the national honor,\nwith prayer and mention of their God; and when such treaties, so made,\nwere promptly and shamelessly broken, is it strange that the action\nshould arouse not only anger, but contempt? The historians of the white\nrace admit that the Indian was never the first to repudiate his oath.\n\nIt is my personal belief, after thirty-five years\u2019 experience of it,\nthat there is no such thing as \u201cChristian civilization.\u201d I believe that\nChristianity and modern civilization are opposed and irreconcilable,\nand that the spirit of Christianity and of our ancient religion is\nessentially the same.\n\n\n\n\nII. THE FAMILY ALTAR\n\n\n   Pre-natal Influence. Early Religious Teaching. The\n   Function of the Aged. Woman, Marriage and the Family.\n   Loyalty, Hospitality, Friendship.\n\nThe American Indian was an individualist in religion as in war. He had\nneither a national army nor an organized church. There was no priest\nto assume responsibility for another\u2019s soul. That is, we believed, the\nsupreme duty of the parent, who only was permitted to claim in some\ndegree the priestly office and function, since it is his creative and\nprotecting power which alone approaches the solemn function of Deity.\n\nThe Indian was a religious man from his mother\u2019s womb. From the moment\nof her recognition of the fact of conception to the end of the second\nyear of life, which was the ordinary duration of lactation, it was\nsupposed by us that the mother\u2019s spiritual influence counted for most.\nHer attitude and secret meditations must be such as to instill into the\nreceptive soul of the unborn child the love of the \u201cGreat Mystery\u201d and\na sense of brotherhood with all creation. Silence and isolation are\nthe rule of life for the expectant mother. She wanders prayerful in the\nstillness of great woods, or on the bosom of the untrodden prairie, and\nto her poetic mind the immanent birth of her child prefigures the advent\nof a master-man--a hero, or the mother of heroes--a thought conceived in\nthe virgin breast of primeval nature, and dreamed out in a hush that is\nonly broken by the sighing of the pine tree or the thrilling orchestra\nof a distant waterfall.\n\nAnd when the day of days in her life dawns--the day in which there is\nto be a new life, the miracle of whose making has been intrusted to her,\nshe seeks no human aid. She has been trained and prepared in body and\nmind for this her holiest duty, ever since she can remember. The ordeal\nis best met alone, where no curious or pitying eyes embarrass her; where\nall nature says to her spirit: \u201c\u2018Tis love! \u2018tis love! the fulfilling of\nlife!\u201d When a sacred voice comes to her out of the silence, and a pair\nof eyes open upon her in the wilderness, she knows with joy that she has\nborne well her part in the great song of creation!\n\nPresently she returns to the camp, carrying the mysterious, the holy,\nthe dearest bundle! She feels the endearing warmth of it and hears its\nsoft breathing. It is still a part of herself, since both are nourished\nby the same mouthful, and no look of a lover could be sweeter than its\ndeep, trusting gaze.\n\nShe continues her spiritual teaching, at first silently--a mere pointing\nof the index finger to nature; then in whispered songs, bird-like, at\nmorning and evening. To her and to the child the birds are real people,\nwho live very close to the \u201cGreat Mystery\u201d; the murmuring trees breathe\nHis presence; the falling waters chant His praise.\n\nIf the child should chance to be fretful, the mother raises her hand.\n\u201cHush! hush!\u201d she cautions it tenderly, \u201cthe spirits may be disturbed!\u201d\n She bids it be still and listen--listen to the silver voice of the\naspen, or the clashing cymbals of the birch; and at night she points\nto the heavenly, blazed trail, through nature\u2019s galaxy of splendor to\nnature\u2019s God. Silence, love, reverence,--this is the trinity of first\nlessons; and to these she later adds generosity, courage, and chastity.\n\nIn the old days, our mothers were single-eyed to the trust imposed upon\nthem; and as a noted chief of our people was wont to say: \u201cMen may slay\none another, but they can never overcome the woman, for in the quietude\nof her lap lies the child! You may destroy him once and again, but he\nissues as often from that same gentle lap--a gift of the Great Good to\nthe race, in which man is only an accomplice!\u201d\n\nThis wild mother has not only the experience of her mother and\ngrandmother, and the accepted rules of her people for a guide, but she\nhumbly seeks to learn a lesson from ants, bees, spiders, beavers, and\nbadgers. She studies the family life of the birds, so exquisite in its\nemotional intensity and its patient devotion, until she seems to feel\nthe universal mother-heart beating in her own breast. In due time\nthe child takes of his own accord the attitude of prayer, and speaks\nreverently of the Powers. He thinks that he is a blood brother to all\nliving creatures, and the storm wind is to him a messenger of the \u201cGreat\nMystery.\u201d\n\nAt the age of about eight years, if he is a boy, she turns him over to\nhis father for more Spartan training. If a girl, she is from this time\nmuch under the guardianship of her grandmother, who is considered the\nmost dignified protector for the maiden. Indeed, the distinctive work\nof both grandparents is that of acquainting the youth with the\nnational traditions and beliefs. It is reserved for them to repeat the\ntime-hallowed tales with dignity and authority, so as to lead him into\nhis inheritance in the stored-up wisdom and experience of the race. The\nold are dedicated to the service of the young, as their teachers and\nadvisers, and the young in turn regard them with love and reverence.\n\nOur old age was in some respects the happiest period of life. Advancing\nyears brought with them much freedom, not only from the burden of\nlaborious and dangerous tasks, but from those restrictions of custom and\netiquette which were religiously observed by all others. No one who is\nat all acquainted with the Indian in his home can deny that we are a\npolite people. As a rule, the warrior who inspired the greatest terror\nin the hearts of his enemies was a man of the most exemplary gentleness,\nand almost feminine refinement, among his family and friends. A soft,\nlow voice was considered an excellent thing in man, as well as in\nwoman! Indeed, the enforced intimacy of tent life would soon become\nintolerable, were it not for these instinctive reserves and delicacies,\nthis unfailing respect for the established place and possessions of\nevery other member of the family circle, this habitual quiet, order, and\ndecorum.\n\nOur people, though capable of strong and durable feeling, were not\ndemonstrative in their affection at any time, least of all in the\npresence of guests or strangers. Only to the aged, who have journeyed\nfar, and are in a manner exempt from ordinary rules, are permitted\nsome playful familiarities with children and grandchildren, some plain\nspeaking, even to harshness and objurgation, from which the others must\nrigidly refrain. In short, the old men and women are privileged to say\nwhat they please and how they please, without contradiction, while the\nhardships and bodily infirmities that of necessity fall to their lot are\nsoftened so far as may be by universal consideration and attention.\n\nThere was no religious ceremony connected with marriage among us, while\non the other hand the relation between man and woman was regarded as in\nitself mysterious and holy. It appears that where marriage is solemnized\nby the church and blessed by the priest, it may at the same time be\nsurrounded with customs and ideas of a frivolous, superficial, and even\nprurient character. We believed that two who love should be united in\nsecret, before the public acknowledgment of their union, and should\ntaste their apotheosis alone with nature. The betrothal might or might\nnot be discussed and approved by the parents, but in either case it was\ncustomary for the young pair to disappear into the wilderness, there\nto pass some days or weeks in perfect seclusion and dual solitude,\nafterward returning to the village as man and wife. An exchange of\npresents and entertainments between the two families usually followed,\nbut the nuptial blessing was given by the High Priest of God, the most\nreverend and holy Nature.\n\nThe family was not only the social unit, but also the unit of\ngovernment. The clan is nothing more than a larger family, with its\npatriarchal chief as the natural head, and the union of several clans by\nintermarriage and voluntary connection constitutes the tribe. The very\nname of our tribe, Dakota, means Allied People. The remoter degrees of\nkinship were fully recognized, and that not as a matter of form only:\nfirst cousins were known as brothers and sisters; the name of \u201ccousin\u201d\n constituted a binding claim, and our rigid morality forbade marriage\nbetween cousins in any known degree, or in other words within the clan.\n\nThe household proper consisted of a man with one or more wives and their\nchildren, all of whom dwelt amicably together, often under one roof,\nalthough some men of rank and position provided a separate lodge for\neach wife. There were, indeed, few plural marriages except among\nthe older and leading men, and plural wives were usually, though not\nnecessarily, sisters. A marriage might honorably be dissolved for cause,\nbut there was very little infidelity or immorality, either open or\nsecret.\n\nIt has been said that the position of woman is the test of civilization,\nand that of our women was secure. In them was vested our standard of\nmorals and the purity of our blood. The wife did not take the name of\nher husband nor enter his clan, and the children belonged to the clan\nof the mother. All of the family property was held by her, descent\nwas traced in the maternal line, and the honor of the house was in her\nhands. Modesty was her chief adornment; hence the younger women were\nusually silent and retiring: but a woman who had attained to ripeness\nof years and wisdom, or who had displayed notable courage in some\nemergency, was sometimes invited to a seat in the council.\n\nThus she ruled undisputed within her own domain, and was to us a tower\nof moral and spiritual strength, until the coming of the border white\nman, the soldier and trader, who with strong drink overthrew the honor\nof the man, and through his power over a worthless husband purchased the\nvirtue of his wife or his daughter. When she fell, the whole race fell\nwith her.\n\nBefore this calamity came upon us, you could not find anywhere a happier\nhome than that created by the Indian woman. There was nothing of the\nartificial about her person, and very little disingenuousness in her\ncharacter. Her early and consistent training, the definiteness of her\nvocation, and, above all, her profoundly religious attitude gave her\na strength and poise that could not be overcome by any ordinary\nmisfortune.\n\nIndian names were either characteristic nicknames given in a playful\nspirit, deed names, birth names, or such as have a religious and\nsymbolic meaning. It has been said that when a child is born, some\naccident or unusual appearance determines his name. This is sometimes\nthe case, but is not the rule. A man of forcible character, with a fine\nwar record, usually bears the name of the buffalo or bear, lightning or\nsome dread natural force. Another of more peaceful nature may be called\nSwift Bird or Blue Sky. A woman\u2019s name usually suggested something about\nthe home, often with the adjective \u201cpretty\u201d or \u201cgood,\u201d and a feminine\ntermination. Names of any dignity or importance must be conferred by the\nold men, and especially so if they have any spiritual significance; as\nSacred Cloud, Mysterious Night, Spirit Woman, and the like. Such a name\nwas sometimes borne by three generations, but each individual must prove\nthat he is worthy of it.\n\nIn the life of the Indian there was only one inevitable duty,--the duty\nof prayer--the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal. His daily\ndevotions were more necessary to him than daily food. He wakes at\ndaybreak, puts on his moccasins and steps down to the water\u2019s edge. Here\nhe throws handfuls of clear, cold water into his face, or plunges in\nbodily. After the bath, he stands erect before the advancing dawn,\nfacing the sun as it dances upon the horizon, and offers his unspoken\norison. His mate may precede or follow him in his devotions, but never\naccompanies him. Each soul must meet the morning sun, the new, sweet\nearth, and the Great Silence alone!\n\nWhenever, in the course of the daily hunt, the red hunter comes upon a\nscene that is strikingly beautiful or sublime--a black thundercloud with\nthe rainbow\u2019s glowing arch above the mountain; a white waterfall in\nthe heart of a green gorge; a vast prairie tinged with the blood-red of\nsunset--he pauses for an instant in the attitude of worship. He sees no\nneed for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, since to him all\ndays are God\u2019s.\n\nEvery act of his life is, in a very real sense, a religious act. He\nrecognizes the spirit in all creation, and believes that he draws from\nit spiritual power. His respect for the immortal part of the animal, his\nbrother, often leads him so far as to lay out the body of his game in\nstate and decorate the head with symbolic paint or feathers. Then he\nstands before it in the prayer attitude, holding up the filled pipe, in\ntoken that he has freed with honor the spirit of his brother, whose body\nhis need compelled him to take to sustain his own life.\n\nWhen food is taken, the woman murmurs a \u201cgrace\u201d as she lowers the\nkettle; an act so softly and unobtrusively performed that one who\ndoes not know the custom usually fails to catch the whisper: \u201cSpirit,\npartake!\u201d As her husband receives the bowl or plate, he likewise murmurs\nhis invocation to the spirit. When he becomes an old man, he loves to\nmake a notable effort to prove his gratitude. He cuts off the choicest\nmorsel of the meat and casts it into the fire--the purest and most\nethereal element.\n\nThe hospitality of the wigwam is only limited by the institution of\nwar. Yet, if an enemy should honor us with a call, his trust will not\nbe misplaced, and he will go away convinced that he has met with a royal\nhost! Our honor is the guarantee for his safety, so long as he is within\nthe camp.\n\nFriendship is held to be the severest test of character. It is easy, we\nthink, to be loyal to family and clan, whose blood is in our own veins.\nLove between man and woman is founded on the mating instinct and is not\nfree from desire and self-seeking. But to have a friend, and to be true\nunder any and all trials, is the mark of a man!\n\nThe highest type of friendship is the relation of \u201cbrother-friend\u201d or\n\u201clife-and-death friend.\u201d This bond is between man and man, is usually\nformed in early youth, and can only be broken by death. It is the\nessence of comradeship and fraternal love, without thought of pleasure\nor gain, but rather for moral support and inspiration. Each is vowed to\ndie for the other, if need be, and nothing is denied the brother-friend,\nbut neither is anything required that is not in accord with the highest\nconceptions of the Indian mind.\n\n\n\n\nIII. CEREMONIAL AND SYMBOLIC WORSHIP\n\n   Modern Perversions of Early Religious Rites. The Sun Dance.\n   The Great Medicine Lodge. Totems and Charms. The Vapor-Bath\n   and the Ceremonial of the Pipe.\n\nThe public religious rites of the Plains Indians are few, and in large\npart of modern origin, belonging properly to the so-called \u201ctransition\nperiod.\u201d That period must be held to begin with the first insidious\neffect upon their manners and customs of contact with the dominant race,\nand many of the tribes were so influenced long before they ceased to\nlead the nomadic life.\n\nThe fur-traders, the \u201cBlack Robe\u201d priests, the military, and finally the\nProtestant missionaries, were the men who began the disintegration of\nthe Indian nations and the overthrow of their religion, seventy-five to\na hundred years before they were forced to enter upon reservation life.\nWe have no authentic study of them until well along in the transition\nperiod, when whiskey and trade had already debauched their native\nideals.\n\nDuring the era of reconstruction they modified their customs and beliefs\ncontinually, creating a singular admixture of Christian with pagan\nsuperstitions, and an addition to the old folk-lore of disguised Bible\nstories under an Indian aspect. Even their music shows the influence of\nthe Catholic chants. Most of the material collected by modern observers\nis necessarily of this promiscuous character.\n\nIt is noteworthy that the first effect of contact with the whites was an\nincrease of cruelty and barbarity, an intensifying of the dark shadows\nin the picture! In this manner the \u201cSun Dance\u201d of the Plains Indians,\nthe most important of their public ceremonials, was abused and perverted\nuntil it became a horrible exhibition of barbarism, and was eventually\nprohibited by the Government.\n\nIn the old days, when a Sioux warrior found himself in the very jaws of\ndestruction, he might offer a prayer to his father, the Sun, to prolong\nhis life. If rescued from imminent danger, he must acknowledge the\ndivine favor by making a Sun Dance, according to the vow embraced in his\nprayer, in which he declared that he did not fear torture or death, but\nasked life only for the sake of those who loved him. Thus the physical\nordeal was the fulfillment of a vow, and a sort of atonement for what\nmight otherwise appear to be reprehensible weakness in the face of\ndeath. It was in the nature of confession and thank-offering to the\n\u201cGreat Mystery,\u201d through the physical parent, the Sun, and did not\nembrace a prayer for future favors.\n\nThe ceremonies usually took place from six months to a year after the\nmaking of the vow, in order to admit of suitable preparation; always\nin midsummer and before a large and imposing gathering. They naturally\nincluded the making of a feast, and the giving away of much savage\nwealth in honor of the occasion, although these were no essential part\nof the religious rite.\n\nWhen the day came to procure the pole, it was brought in by a party of\nwarriors, headed by some man of distinction. The tree selected was six\nto eight inches in diameter at the base, and twenty to twenty-five\nfeet high. It was chosen and felled with some solemnity, including\nthe ceremony of the \u201cfilled pipe,\u201d and was carried in the fashion of a\nlitter, symbolizing the body of the man who made the dance. A solitary\nteepee was pitched on a level spot at some distance from the village,\nand the pole raised near at hand with the same ceremony, in the centre\nof a circular enclosure of fresh-cut boughs.\n\nMeanwhile, one of the most noted of our old men had carved out of\nrawhide, or later of wood, two figures, usually those of a man and\na buffalo. Sometimes the figure of a bird, supposed to represent the\nThunder, was substituted for the buffalo. It was customary to paint the\nman red and the animal black, and each was suspended from one end of the\ncrossbar which was securely tied some two feet from the top of the\npole. I have never been able to determine that this cross had any\nsignificance; it was probably nothing more than a dramatic coincidence\nthat surmounted the Sun-Dance pole with the symbol of Christianity.\n\nThe paint indicated that the man who was about to give thanks publicly\nhad been potentially dead, but was allowed to live by the mysterious\nfavor and interference of the Giver of Life. The buffalo hung opposite\nthe image of his own body in death, because it was the support of his\nphysical self, and a leading figure in legendary lore. Following\nthe same line of thought, when he emerged from the solitary lodge\nof preparation, and approached the pole to dance, nude save for his\nbreechclout and moccasins, his hair loosened and daubed with clay, he\nmust drag after him a buffalo skull, representing the grave from which\nhe had escaped.\n\nThe dancer was cut or scarified on the chest, sufficient to draw blood\nand cause pain, the natural accompaniments of his figurative death. He\ntook his position opposite the singers, facing the pole, and dragging\nthe skull by leather thongs which were merely fastened about his\nshoulders. During a later period, incisions were made in the breast\nor back, sometimes both, through which wooden skewers were drawn, and\nsecured by lariats to the pole or to the skulls. Thus he danced without\nintermission for a day and a night, or even longer, ever gazing at the\nsun in the daytime, and blowing from time to time a sacred whistle made\nfrom the bone of a goose\u2019s wing.\n\nIn recent times, this rite was exaggerated and distorted into a mere\nghastly display of physical strength and endurance under torture, almost\non a level with the Caucasian institution of the bull-fight, or the\nyet more modern prize-ring. Moreover, instead of an atonement or\nthank-offering, it became the accompaniment of a prayer for success in\nwar, or in a raid upon the horses of the enemy. The number of dancers\nwas increased, and they were made to hang suspended from the pole by\ntheir own flesh, which they must break loose before being released.\nI well remember the comments in our own home upon the passing of\nthis simple but impressive ceremony, and its loss of all meaning and\npropriety under the demoralizing additions which were some of the fruits\nof early contact with the white man.\n\nPerhaps the most remarkable organization ever known among American\nIndians, that of the \u201cGrand Medicine Lodge,\u201d was apparently an indirect\nresult of the labors of the early Jesuit missionaries. In it Caucasian\nideas are easily recognizable, and it seems reasonable to suppose that\nits founders desired to establish an order that would successfully\nresist the encroachments of the \u201cBlack Robes.\u201d However that may be, it\nis an unquestionable fact that the only religious leaders of any note\nwho have arisen among the native tribes since the advent of the white\nman, the \u201cShawnee Prophet\u201d in 1762, and the half-breed prophet of the\n\u201cGhost Dance\u201d in 1890, both founded their claims or prophecies upon the\nGospel story. Thus in each case an Indian religious revival or craze,\nthough more or less threatening to the invader, was of distinctively\nalien origin.\n\nThe Medicine Lodge originated among the Algonquin tribe, and extended\ngradually throughout its branches, finally affecting the Sioux of the\nMississippi Valley, and forming a strong bulwark against the work of the\npioneer missionaries, who secured, indeed, scarcely any converts\nuntil after the outbreak of 1862, when subjection, starvation, and\nimprisonment turned our broken-hearted people to accept Christianity,\nwhich seemed to offer them the only gleam of kindness or hope.\n\nThe order was a secret one, and in some respects not unlike the Free\nMasons, being a union or affiliation of a number of lodges, each\nwith its distinctive songs and medicines. Leadership was in order of\nseniority in degrees, which could only be obtained by merit, and women\nwere admitted to membership upon equal terms, with the possibility of\nattaining to the highest honors. No person might become a member unless\nhis moral standing was excellent, all candidates remained on probation\nfor one or two years, and murderers and adulterers were expelled. The\ncommandments promulgated by this order were essentially the same as the\nMosaic Ten, so that it exerted a distinct moral influence, in addition\nto its ostensible object, which was instruction in the secrets of\nlegitimate medicine.\n\nIn this society the uses of all curative roots and herbs known to us\nwere taught exhaustively and practiced mainly by the old, the younger\nmembers being in training to fill the places of those who passed away.\nMy grandmother was a well-known and successful practitioner, and both my\nmother and father were members, but did not practice.\n\nA medicine or \u201cmystery feast\u201d was not a public affair, as members only\nwere eligible, and upon these occasions all the \u201cmedicine bags\u201d and\ntotems of the various lodges were displayed and their peculiar \u201cmedicine\nsongs\u201d were sung. The food was only partaken of by invited guests, and\nnot by the hosts, or lodge making the feast. The \u201cGrand Medicine\nDance\u201d was given on the occasion of initiating those candidates who had\nfinished their probation, a sufficient number of whom were designated\nto take the places of those who had died since the last meeting.\nInvitations were sent out in the form of small bundles of tobacco.\nTwo very large teepees were pitched facing one another, a hundred feet\napart, half open, and connected by a roofless hall or colonnade of\nfresh-cut boughs. One of these lodges was for the society giving the\ndance and the novices, the other was occupied by the \u201csoldiers,\u201d whose\nduty it was to distribute the refreshments, and to keep order among the\nspectators. They were selected from among the best and bravest warriors\nof the tribe.\n\nThe preparations being complete, and the members of each lodge\ngarbed and painted according to their rituals, they entered the hall\nseparately, in single file, led by their oldest man or \u201cGreat Chief.\u201d\n Standing before the \u201cSoldiers\u2019 Lodge,\u201d facing the setting sun, their\nchief addressed the \u201cGreat Mystery\u201d directly in a few words, after which\nall extending the right arm horizontally from the shoulder with\nopen palm, sang a short invocation in unison, ending with a deep:\n\u201cE-ho-ho-ho!\u201d This performance, which was really impressive, was\nrepeated in front of the headquarters lodge, facing the rising sun,\nafter which each lodge took its assigned place, and the songs and dances\nfollowed in regular order.\n\nThe closing ceremony, which was intensely dramatic in its character, was\nthe initiation of the novices, who had received their final preparation\non the night before. They were now led out in front of the headquarters\nlodge and placed in a kneeling position upon a carpet of rich robes and\nfurs, the men upon the right hand, stripped and painted black, with a\nround spot of red just over the heart, while the women, dressed in their\nbest, were arranged upon the left. Both sexes wore the hair loose, as\nif in mourning or expectation of death. An equal number of grand\nmedicine-men, each of whom was especially appointed to one of the\nnovices, faced them at a distance of half the length of the hall, or\nperhaps fifty feet.\n\nAfter silent prayer, each medicine-man in turn addressed himself to his\ncharge, exhorting him to observe all the rules of the order under the\neye of the Mysterious One, and instructing him in his duty toward his\nfellow-man and toward the Ruler of Life. All then assumed an attitude\nof superb power and dignity, crouching slightly as if about to spring\nforward in a foot-race, and grasping their medicine bags firmly in both\nhands. Swinging their arms forward at the same moment, they uttered\ntheir guttural \u201cYo-ho-ho-ho!\u201d in perfect unison and with startling\neffect. In the midst of a breathless silence, they took a step forward,\nthen another and another, ending a rod or so from the row of kneeling\nvictims, with a mighty swing of the sacred bags that would seem to\nproject all their mystic power into the bodies of the initiates.\nInstantly they all fell forward, apparently lifeless.\n\nWith this thrilling climax, the drums were vigorously pounded and the\ndance began again with energy. After a few turns had been taken about\nthe prostrate bodies of the new members, covering them with fine robes\nand other garments which were later to be distributed as gifts, they\nwere permitted to come to life and to join in the final dance. The whole\nperformance was clearly symbolic of death and resurrection.\n\nWhile I cannot suppose that this elaborate ritual, with its use of\npublic and audible prayer, of public exhortation or sermon, and other\nCaucasian features, was practiced before comparatively modern times,\nthere is no doubt that it was conscientiously believed in by its\nmembers, and for a time regarded with reverence by the people. But at\na later period it became still further demoralized and fell under\nsuspicion of witchcraft.\n\nThere is no doubt that the Indian held medicine close to spiritual\nthings, but in this also he has been much misunderstood; in fact\neverything that he held sacred is indiscriminately called \u201cmedicine,\u201d in\nthe sense of mystery or magic. As a doctor he was originally very adroit\nand often successful. He employed only healing bark, roots, and leaves\nwith whose properties he was familiar, using them in the form of a\ndistillation or tea and always singly. The stomach or internal bath\nwas a valuable discovery of his, and the vapor or Turkish bath was in\ngeneral use. He could set a broken bone with fair success, but never\npracticed surgery in any form. In addition to all this, the medicine-man\npossessed much personal magnetism and authority, and in his treatment\noften sought to reestablish the equilibrium of the patient through\nmental or spiritual influences--a sort of primitive psychotherapy.\n\nThe Sioux word for the healing art is \u201cwah-pee-yah,\u201d which literally\nmeans readjusting or making anew. \u201cPay-jee-hoo-tah,\u201d literally root,\nmeans medicine, and \u201cwakan\u201d signifies spirit or mystery. Thus the three\nideas, while sometimes associated, were carefully distinguished.\n\nIt is important to remember that in the old days the \u201cmedicine-man\u201d\n received no payment for his services, which were of the nature of an\nhonorable function or office. When the idea of payment and barter was\nintroduced among us, and valuable presents or fees began to be demanded\nfor treating the sick, the ensuing greed and rivalry led to many\ndemoralizing practices, and in time to the rise of the modern\n\u201cconjurer,\u201d who is generally a fraud and trickster of the grossest kind.\nIt is fortunate that his day is practically over.\n\nEver seeking to establish spiritual comradeship with the animal\ncreation, the Indian adopted this or that animal as his \u201ctotem,\u201d the\nemblematic device of his society, family, or clan. It is probable that\nthe creature chosen was the traditional ancestress, as we are told that\nthe First Man had many wives among the animal people. The sacred\nbeast, bird, or reptile, represented by its stuffed skin, or by a rude\npainting, was treated with reverence and carried into battle to insure\nthe guardianship of the spirits. The symbolic attribute of beaver,\nbear, or tortoise, such as wisdom, cunning, courage, and the like, was\nsupposed to be mysteriously conferred upon the wearer of the badge.\nThe totem or charm used in medicine was ordinarily that of the medicine\nlodge to which the practitioner belonged, though there were some great\nmen who boasted a special revelation.\n\nThere are two ceremonial usages which, so far as I have been able\nto ascertain, were universal among American Indians, and apparently\nfundamental. These have already been referred to as the \u201ceneepee,\u201d or\nvapor-bath, and the \u201cchan-du-hu-pah-yu-za-pee,\u201d or ceremonial of the\npipe. In our Siouan legends and traditions these two are preeminent, as\nhanded down from the most ancient time and persisting to the last.\n\nIn our Creation myth or story of the First Man, the vapor-bath was the\nmagic used by The-one-who-was-First-Created, to give life to the dead\nbones of his younger brother, who had been slain by the monsters of the\ndeep. Upon the shore of the Great Water he dug two round holes, over one\nof which he built a low enclosure of fragrant cedar boughs, and here he\ngathered together the bones of his brother. In the other pit he made a\nfire and heated four round stones, which he rolled one by one into the\nlodge of boughs. Having closed every aperture save one, he sang a mystic\nchant while he thrust in his arm and sprinkled water upon the stones\nwith a bunch of sage. Immediately steam arose, and as the legend says,\n\u201cthere was an appearance of life.\u201d A second time he sprinkled water, and\nthe dry bones rattled together. The third time he seemed to hear soft\nsinging from within the lodge; and the fourth time a voice exclaimed:\n\u201cBrother, let me out!\u201d (It should be noted that the number four is the\nmagic or sacred number of the Indian.)\n\nThis story gives the traditional origin of the \u201ceneepee,\u201d which has\never since been deemed essential to the Indian\u2019s effort to purify and\nrecreate his spirit. It is used both by the doctor and by his patient.\nEvery man must enter the cleansing bath and take the cold plunge which\nfollows, when preparing for any spiritual crisis, for possible death, or\nimminent danger.\n\nNot only the \u201ceneepee\u201d itself, but everything used in connection with\nthe mysterious event, the aromatic cedar and sage, the water, and\nespecially the water-worn boulders, are regarded as sacred, or at\nthe least adapted to a spiritual use. For the rock we have a\nspecial reverent name--\u201cTunkan,\u201d a contraction of the Sioux word for\nGrandfather.\n\nThe natural boulder enters into many of our solemn ceremonials, such\nas the \u201cRain Dance,\u201d and the \u201cFeast of Virgins.\u201d The lone hunter and\nwarrior reverently holds up his filled pipe to \u201cTunkan,\u201d in solitary\ncommemoration of a miracle which to him is as authentic and holy as the\nraising of Lazarus to the devout Christian.\n\nThere is a legend that the First Man fell sick, and was taught by his\nElder Brother the ceremonial use of the pipe, in a prayer to the\nspirits for ease and relief. This simple ceremony is the commonest daily\nexpression of thanks or \u201cgrace,\u201d as well as an oath of loyalty and good\nfaith when the warrior goes forth upon some perilous enterprise, and\nit enters even into his \u201chambeday,\u201d or solitary prayer, ascending as a\nrising vapor or incense to the Father of Spirits.\n\nIn all the war ceremonies and in medicine a special pipe is used, but at\nhome or on the hunt the warrior employs his own. The pulverized weed is\nmixed with aromatic bark of the red willow, and pressed lightly into the\nbowl of the long stone pipe. The worshiper lights it gravely and takes a\nwhiff or two; then, standing erect, he holds it silently toward the\nSun, our father, and toward the earth, our mother. There are modern\nvariations, as holding the pipe to the Four Winds, the Fire, Water,\nRock, and other elements or objects of reverence.\n\nThere are many religious festivals which are local and special in\ncharacter, embodying a prayer for success in hunting or warfare, or for\nrain and bountiful harvests, but these two are the sacraments of our\nreligion. For baptism we substitute the \u201ceneepee,\u201d the purification by\nvapor, and in our holy communion we partake of the soothing incense of\ntobacco in the stead of bread and wine.\n\n\n\n\nIV. BARBARISM AND THE MORAL CODE\n\n   Silence the Corner-Stone of Character. Basic Ideas of\n   Morality. \u201cGive All or Nothing!\u201d Rules of Honorable\n   Warfare. An Indian Conception of Courage.\n\nLong before I ever heard of Christ, or saw a white man, I had learned\nfrom an untutored woman the essence of morality. With the help of dear\nNature herself, she taught me things simple but of mighty import. I\nknew God. I perceived what goodness is. I saw and loved what is really\nbeautiful. Civilization has not taught me anything better!\n\nAs a child, I understood how to give; I have forgotten that grace since\nI became civilized. I lived the natural life, whereas I now live the\nartificial. Any pretty pebble was valuable to me then; every growing\ntree an object of reverence. Now I worship with the white man before a\npainted landscape whose value is estimated in dollars! Thus the Indian\nis reconstructed, as the natural rocks are ground to powder, and made\ninto artificial blocks which may be built into the walls of modern\nsociety.\n\nThe first American mingled with his pride a singular humility. Spiritual\narrogance was foreign to his nature and teaching. He never claimed that\nthe power of articulate speech was proof of superiority over the dumb\ncreation; on the other hand, it is to him a perilous gift. He believes\nprofoundly in silence--the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is\nthe absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit. The man\nwho preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of\nexistence--not a leaf, as it were, astir on the tree; not a ripple upon\nthe surface of shining pool--his, in the mind of the unlettered sage, is\nthe ideal attitude and conduct of life.\n\nIf you ask him: \u201cWhat is silence?\u201d he will answer: \u201cIt is the Great\nMystery!\u201d \u201cThe holy silence is His voice!\u201d If you ask: \u201cWhat are the\nfruits of silence?\u201d he will say: \u201cThey are self-control, true courage or\nendurance, patience, dignity, and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone\nof character.\u201d\n\n\u201cGuard your tongue in youth,\u201d said the old chief, Wabashaw, \u201cand in age\nyou may mature a thought that will be of service to your people!\u201d\n\nThe moment that man conceived of a perfect body, supple, symmetrical,\ngraceful, and enduring--in that moment he had laid the foundation of\na moral life! No man can hope to maintain such a temple of the spirit\nbeyond the period of adolescence, unless he is able to curb his\nindulgence in the pleasures of the senses. Upon this truth the Indian\nbuilt a rigid system of physical training, a social and moral code that\nwas the law of his life.\n\nThere was aroused in him as a child a high ideal of manly strength and\nbeauty, the attainment of which must depend upon strict temperance in\neating and in the sexual relation, together with severe and persistent\nexercise. He desired to be a worthy link in the generations, and that he\nmight not destroy by his weakness that vigor and purity of blood which\nhad been achieved at the cost of much self-denial by a long line of\nancestors.\n\nHe was required to fast from time to time for short periods, and to work\noff his superfluous energy by means of hard running, swimming, and the\nvapor-bath. The bodily fatigue thus induced, especially when coupled\nwith a reduced diet, is a reliable cure for undue sexual desires.\n\nPersonal modesty was early cultivated as a safeguard, together with a\nstrong self-respect and pride of family and race. This was accomplished\nin part by keeping the child ever before the public eye, from his birth\nonward. His entrance into the world, especially in the case of the\nfirst-born, was often publicly announced by the herald, accompanied by\na distribution of presents to the old and needy. The same thing occurred\nwhen he took his first step, when his ears were pierced, and when he\nshot his first game, so that his childish exploits and progress were\nknown to the whole clan as to a larger family, and he grew into manhood\nwith the saving sense of a reputation to sustain.\n\nThe youth was encouraged to enlist early in the public service, and to\ndevelop a wholesome ambition for the honors of a leader and feast-maker,\nwhich can never be his unless he is truthful and generous, as well as\nbrave, and ever mindful of his personal chastity and honor. There were\nmany ceremonial customs which had a distinct moral influence; the woman\nwas rigidly secluded at certain periods, and the young husband was\nforbidden to approach his own wife when preparing for war or for any\nreligious event. The public or tribal position of the Indian is entirely\ndependent upon his private virtue, and he is never permitted to forget\nthat he does not live to himself alone, but to his tribe and his clan.\nThus habits of perfect self-control were early established, and there\nwere no unnatural conditions or complex temptations to beset him until\nhe was met and overthrown by a stronger race.\n\nTo keep the young men and young women strictly to their honor, there\nwere observed among us, within my own recollection, certain annual\nceremonies of a semi-religious nature. One of the most impressive of\nthese was the sacred \u201cFeast of Virgins,\u201d which, when given for the\nfirst time, was equivalent to the public announcement of a young girl\u2019s\narrival at a marriageable age. The herald, making the rounds of the\nteepee village, would publish the feast something after this fashion:\n\n\u201cPretty Weasel-woman, the daughter of Brave Bear, will kindle her first\nmaidens\u2019 fire to-morrow! All ye who have never yielded to the pleading\nof man, who have not destroyed your innocency, you alone are invited, to\nproclaim anew before the Sun and the Earth, before your companions\nand in the sight of the Great Mystery, the chastity and purity of your\nmaidenhood. Come ye, all who have not known man!\u201d\n\nThe whole village was at once aroused to the interest of the coming\nevent, which was considered next to the Sun Dance and the Grand Medicine\nDance in public importance. It always took place in midsummer, when\na number of different clans were gathered together for the summer\nfestivities, and was held in the centre of the great circular\nencampment.\n\nHere two circles were described, one within the other, about a rudely\nheart-shaped rock which was touched with red paint, and upon either side\nof the rock there were thrust into the ground a knife and two arrows.\nThe inner circle was for the maidens, and the outer one for their\ngrandmothers or chaperones, who were supposed to have passed the\nclimacteric. Upon the outskirts of the feast there was a great public\ngathering, in which order was kept by certain warriors of highest\nreputation. Any man among the spectators might approach and challenge\nany young woman whom he knew to be unworthy; but if the accuser\nfailed to prove his charge, the warriors were accustomed to punish him\nseverely.\n\nEach girl in turn approached the sacred rock and laid her hand upon it\nwith all solemnity. This was her religious declaration of her virginity,\nher vow to remain pure until her marriage. If she should ever violate\nthe maidens\u2019 oath, then welcome that keen knife and those sharp arrows!\n\nOur maidens were ambitious to attend a number of these feasts before\nmarriage, and it sometimes happened that a girl was compelled to give\none, on account of gossip about her conduct. Then it was in the nature\nof a challenge to the scandal-mongers to prove their words! A similar\nfeast was sometimes made by the young men, for whom the rules were even\nmore strict, since no young man might attend this feast who had so much\nas spoken of love to a maiden. It was considered a high honor among us\nto have won some distinction in war and the chase, and above all to have\nbeen invited to a seat in the council, before one had spoken to any girl\nsave his own sister.\n\nIt was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be\novercome. Its appeal is to the material part, and if allowed its way\nit will in time disturb the spiritual balance of the man. Therefore the\nchild must early learn the beauty of generosity. He is taught to give\nwhat he prizes most, and that he may taste the happiness of giving, he\nis made at an early age the family almoner. If a child is inclined to\nbe grasping, or to cling to any of his little possessions, legends are\nrelated to him, telling of the contempt and disgrace falling upon the\nungenerous and mean man.\n\nPublic giving is a part of every important ceremony. It properly belongs\nto the celebration of birth, marriage, and death, and is observed\nwhenever it is desired to do special honor to any person or event.\nUpon such occasions it is common to give to the point of utter\nimpoverishment. The Indian in his simplicity literally gives away all\nthat he has, to relatives, to guests of another tribe or clan, but\nabove all to the poor and the aged, from whom he can hope for no return.\nFinally, the gift to the \u201cGreat Mystery,\u201d the religious offering, may\nbe of little value in itself, but to the giver\u2019s own thought it should\ncarry the meaning and reward of true sacrifice.\n\nOrphans and the aged are invariably cared for, not only by their next of\nkin, but by the whole clan. It is the loving parent\u2019s pride to have his\ndaughters visit the unfortunate and the helpless, carry them food, comb\ntheir hair, and mend their garments. The name \u201cWenonah,\u201d bestowed upon\nthe eldest daughter, distinctly implies all this, and a girl who failed\nin her charitable duties was held to be unworthy of the name.\n\nThe man who is a skillful hunter, and whose wife is alive to her\nopportunities, makes many feasts, to which he is careful to invite the\nolder men of his clan, recognizing that they have outlived their period\nof greatest activity, and now love nothing so well as to eat in good\ncompany, and to live over the past. The old men, for their part, do\ntheir best to requite his liberality with a little speech, in which\nthey are apt to relate the brave and generous deeds of their host\u2019s\nancestors, finally congratulating him upon being a worthy successor\nof an honorable line. Thus his reputation is won as a hunter and a\nfeast-maker, and almost as famous in his way as the great warrior is he\nwho has a recognized name and standing as a \u201cman of peace.\u201d\n\nThe true Indian sets no price upon either his property or his labor. His\ngenerosity is only limited by his strength and ability. He regards it as\nan honor to be selected for a difficult or dangerous service, and would\nthink it shame to ask for any reward, saying rather: \u201cLet him whom I\nserve express his thanks according to his own bringing up and his sense\nof honor!\u201d\n\nNevertheless, he recognizes rights in property. To steal from one of\nhis own tribe would be indeed disgrace, and if discovered, the name of\n\u201cWamanon,\u201d or Thief, is fixed upon him forever as an unalterable stigma.\nThe only exception to the rule is in the case of food, which is always\nfree to the hungry if there is none by to offer it. Other protection\nthan the moral law there could not be in an Indian community, where\nthere were neither locks nor doors, and everything was open and easy of\naccess to all comers.\n\nThe property of the enemy is spoil of war, and it is always allowable to\nconfiscate it if possible. However, in the old days there was not much\nplunder. Before the coming of the white man, there was in fact little\ntemptation or opportunity to despoil the enemy; but in modern times the\npractice of \u201cstealing horses\u201d from hostile tribes has become common, and\nis thought far from dishonorable.\n\nWarfare we regarded as an institution of the \u201cGreat Mystery\u201d--an\norganized tournament or trial of courage and skill, with elaborate rules\nand \u201ccounts\u201d for the coveted honor of the eagle feather. It was held\nto develop the quality of manliness and its motive was chivalric or\npatriotic, but never the desire for territorial aggrandizement or the\noverthrow of a brother nation. It was common, in early times, for a\nbattle or skirmish to last all day, with great display of daring and\nhorsemanship, but with scarcely more killed and wounded than may be\ncarried from the field during a university game of football.\n\nThe slayer of a man in battle was expected to mourn for thirty days\nblackening his face and loosening his hair according to the custom. He\nof course considered it no sin to take the life of an enemy, and this\nceremonial mourning was a sign of reverence for the departed spirit. The\nkilling in war of non-combatants, such as women and children, is partly\nexplained by the fact that in savage life the woman without husband or\nprotector is in pitiable case, and it was supposed that the spirit of\nthe warrior would be better content if no widow and orphans were left to\nsuffer want, as well as to weep.\n\nA scalp might originally be taken by the leader of the war party only\nand at that period no other mutilation was practiced. It was a small\nlock not more than three inches square, which was carried only during\nthe thirty days\u2019 celebration of a victory, and afterward given religious\nburial. Wanton cruelties and the more barbarous customs of war were\ngreatly intensified with the coming of the white man, who brought\nwith him fiery liquor and deadly weapons, aroused the Indian\u2019s worst\npassions, provoking in him revenge and cupidity, and even offered\nbounties for the scalps of innocent men, women, and children.\n\nMurder within the tribe was a grave offense, to be atoned for as the\ncouncil might decree, and it often happened that the slayer was called\nupon to pay the penalty with his own life. He made no attempt to escape\nor to evade justice. That the crime was committed in the depths of\nthe forest or at dead of night, witnessed by no human eye, made no\ndifference to his mind. He was thoroughly convinced that all is known to\nthe \u201cGreat Mystery,\u201d and hence did not hesitate to give himself up, to\nstand his trial by the old and wise men of the victim\u2019s clan. His own\nfamily and clan might by no means attempt to excuse or to defend him,\nbut his judges took all the known circumstances into consideration, and\nif it appeared that he slew in self-defense, or that the provocation was\nsevere, he might be set free after a thirty days\u2019 period of mourning in\nsolitude. Otherwise the murdered man\u2019s next of kin were authorized to\ntake his life; and if they refrained from doing so, as often happened,\nhe remained an outcast from the clan. A willful murder was a rare\noccurrence before the days of whiskey and drunken rows, for we were not\na violent or a quarrelsome people.\n\nIt is well remembered that Crow Dog, who killed the Sioux chief, Spotted\nTail, in 1881, calmly surrendered himself and was tried and convicted\nby the courts in South Dakota. After his conviction, he was permitted\nremarkable liberty in prison, such as perhaps no white man has ever\nenjoyed when under sentence of death.\n\nThe cause of his act was a solemn commission received from his people,\nnearly thirty years earlier, at the time that Spotted Tail usurped the\nchieftainship by the aid of the military, whom he had aided. Crow Dog\nwas under a vow to slay the chief, in case he ever betrayed or disgraced\nthe name of the Brule Sioux. There is no doubt that he had committed\ncrimes both public and private, having been guilty of misuse of office\nas well as of gross offenses against morality; therefore his death was\nnot a matter of personal vengeance but of just retribution.\n\nA few days before Crow Dog was to be executed, he asked permission to\nvisit his home and say farewell to his wife and twin boys, then nine\nor ten years old. Strange to say, the request was granted, and the\ncondemned man sent home under escort of the deputy sheriff, who remained\nat the Indian agency, merely telling his prisoner to report there on\nthe following day. When he did not appear at the time set, the sheriff\ndispatched the Indian police after him. They did not find him, and his\nwife simply said that Crow Dog had desired to ride alone to the prison,\nand would reach there on the day appointed. All doubt was removed next\nday by a telegram from Rapid City, two hundred miles distant, saying:\n\u201cCrow Dog has just reported here.\u201d\n\nThe incident drew public attention to the Indian murderer, with the\nunexpected result that the case was reopened, and Crow Dog acquitted.\nHe still lives, a well-preserved man of about seventy-five years, and is\nmuch respected among his own people.\n\nIt is said that, in the very early days, lying was a capital offense\namong us. Believing that the deliberate liar is capable of committing\nany crime behind the screen of cowardly untruth and double-dealing, the\ndestroyer of mutual confidence was summarily put to death, that the evil\nmight go no further.\n\nEven the worst enemies of the Indian, those who accuse him of treachery,\nblood-thirstiness, cruelty, and lust, have not denied his courage, but\nin their minds it is a courage that is ignorant, brutal, and fantastic.\nHis own conception of bravery makes of it a high moral virtue, for to\nhim it consists not so much in aggressive self-assertion as in absolute\nself-control. The truly brave man, we contend, yields neither to fear\nnor anger, desire nor agony; he is at all times master of himself; his\ncourage rises to the heights of chivalry, patriotism, and real heroism.\n\n\u201cLet neither cold, hunger, nor pain, nor the fear of them, neither the\nbristling teeth of danger nor the very jaws of death itself, prevent you\nfrom doing a good deed,\u201d said an old chief to a scout who was about to\nseek the buffalo in midwinter for the relief of a starving people. This\nwas his childlike conception of courage.\n\n\n\n\nV. THE UNWRITTEN SCRIPTURES\n\n   A Living Book. The Sioux Story of Creation. The First\n   Battle. Another Version of the Flood. Our Animal Ancestry.\n\nA missionary once undertook to instruct a group of Indians in the truths\nof his holy religion. He told them of the creation of the earth in six\ndays, and of the fall of our first parents by eating an apple.\n\nThe courteous savages listened attentively, and, after thanking him, one\nrelated in his turn a very ancient tradition concerning the origin of\nthe maize. But the missionary plainly showed his disgust and disbelief,\nindignantly saying:--\n\n\u201cWhat I delivered to you were sacred truths, but this that you tell me\nis mere fable and falsehood!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy brother,\u201d gravely replied the offended Indian, \u201cit seems that you\nhave not been well grounded in the rules of civility. You saw that\nwe, who practice these rules, believed your stories; why, then, do you\nrefuse to credit ours?\u201d\n\nEvery religion has its Holy Book, and ours was a mingling of history,\npoetry, and prophecy, of precept and folk-lore, even such as the modern\nreader finds within the covers of his Bible. This Bible of ours was our\nwhole literature, a living Book, sowed as precious seed by our wisest\nsages, and springing anew in the wondering eyes and upon the innocent\nlips of little children. Upon its hoary wisdom of proverb and fable, its\nmystic and legendary lore thus sacredly preserved and transmitted from\nfather to son, was based in large part our customs and philosophy.\n\nNaturally magnanimous and open-minded, the red man prefers to believe\nthat the Spirit of God is not breathed into man alone, but that the\nwhole created universe is a sharer in the immortal perfection of its\nMaker. His imaginative and poetic mind, like that of the Greek, assigns\nto every mountain, tree, and spring its spirit, nymph, or divinity\neither beneficent or mischievous. The heroes and demigods of Indian\ntradition reflect the characteristic trend of his thought, and his\nattribution of personality and will to the elements, the sun and stars,\nand all animate or inanimate nature.\n\nIn the Sioux story of creation, the great Mysterious One is not brought\ndirectly upon the scene or conceived in anthropomorphic fashion, but\nremains sublimely in the background. The Sun and the Earth, representing\nthe male and female principles, are the main elements in his creation,\nthe other planets being subsidiary. The enkindling warmth of the Sun\nentered into the bosom of our mother, the Earth, and forthwith she\nconceived and brought forth life, both vegetable and animal.\n\nFinally there appeared mysteriously Ish-na-e-cha-ge, the \u201cFirst-Born,\u201d\n a being in the likeness of man, yet more than man, who roamed solitary\namong the animal people and understood their ways and their language.\nThey beheld him with wonder and awe, for they could do nothing without\nhis knowledge. He had pitched his tent in the centre of the land, and\nthere was no spot impossible for him to penetrate.\n\nAt last, like Adam, the \u201cFirst-Born\u201d of the Sioux became weary of\nliving alone, and formed for himself a companion--not a mate, but a\nbrother--not out of a rib from his side, but from a splinter which\nhe drew from his great toe! This was the Little Boy Man, who was not\ncreated full-grown, but as an innocent child, trusting and helpless. His\nElder Brother was his teacher throughout every stage of human progress\nfrom infancy to manhood, and it is to the rules which he laid down,\nand his counsels to the Little Boy Man, that we trace many of our most\ndeep-rooted beliefs and most sacred customs.\n\nForemost among the animal people was Unk-to-mee, the Spider, the\noriginal trouble-maker, who noted keenly the growth of the boy in wit\nand ingenuity, and presently advised the animals to make an end of him;\n\u201cfor,\u201d said he, \u201cif you do not, some day he will be the master of us\nall!\u201d But they all loved the Little Boy Man because he was so friendly\nand so playful. Only the monsters of the deep sea listened, and\npresently took his life, hiding his body in the bottom of the sea.\nNevertheless, by the magic power of the First-Born, the body was\nrecovered and was given life again in the sacred vapor-bath, as\ndescribed in a former chapter.\n\nOnce more our first ancestor roamed happily among the animal people, who\nwere in those days a powerful nation. He learned their ways and their\nlanguage--for they had a common tongue in those days; learned to sing\nlike the birds, to swim like the fishes, and to climb sure-footed over\nrocks like the mountain sheep. Notwithstanding that he was their good\ncomrade and did them no harm, Unk-to-mee once more sowed dissension\namong the animals, and messages were sent into all quarters of the\nearth, sea, and air, that all the tribes might unite to declare war upon\nthe solitary man who was destined to become their master.\n\nAfter a time the young man discovered the plot, and came home very\nsorrowful. He loved his animal friends, and was grieved that they should\ncombine against him. Besides, he was naked and unarmed. But his Elder\nBrother armed him with a bow and flint-headed arrows, a stone war-club\nand a spear. He likewise tossed a pebble four times into the air, and\neach time it became a cliff or wall of rock about the teepee.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cit is time to fight and to assert your supremacy,\nfor it is they who have brought the trouble upon you, and not you upon\nthem!\u201d\n\nNight and day the Little Boy Man remained upon the watch for his enemies\nfrom the top of the wall, and at last he beheld the prairies black with\nbuffalo herds, and the elk gathering upon the edges of the forest. Bears\nand wolves were closing in from all directions, and now from the sky the\nThunder gave his fearful war-whoop, answered by the wolf\u2019s long howl.\n\nThe badgers and other burrowers began at once to undermine his rocky\nfortress, while the climbers undertook to scale its perpendicular walls.\n\nThen for the first time on earth the bow was strung, and hundreds of\nflint-headed arrows found their mark in the bodies of the animals, while\neach time that the Boy Man swung his stone war-club, his enemies fell in\ncountless numbers.\n\nFinally the insects, the little people of the air, attacked him in a\nbody, filling his eyes and ears, and tormenting him with their poisoned\nspears, so that he was in despair. He called for help upon his Elder\nBrother, who ordered him to strike the rocks with his stone war-club.\nAs soon as he had done so, sparks of fire flew upon the dry grass of the\nprairie and it burst into flame. A mighty smoke ascended, which drove\naway the teasing swarms of the insect people, while the flames terrified\nand scattered the others.\n\nThis was the first dividing of the trail between man and the animal\npeople, and when the animals had sued for peace, the treaty provided\nthat they must ever after furnish man with flesh for his food and skins\nfor clothing, though not without effort and danger on his part. The\nlittle insects refused to make any concession, and have ever since been\nthe tormentors of man; however, the birds of the air declared that they\nwould punish them for their obstinacy, and this they continue to do unto\nthis day.\n\nOur people have always claimed that the stone arrows which are found so\ngenerally throughout the country are the ones that the first man used in\nhis battle with the animals. It is not recorded in our traditions, much\nless is it within the memory of our old men, that we have ever made\nor used similar arrow-heads. Some have tried to make use of them\nfor shooting fish under water, but with little success, and they are\nabsolutely useless with the Indian bow which was in use when America was\ndiscovered. It is possible that they were made by some pre-historic race\nwho used much longer and stronger bows, and who were workers in stone,\nwhich our people were not. Their stone implements were merely natural\nboulders or flint chips, fitted with handles of raw-hide or wood, except\nthe pipes, which were carved from a species of stone which is soft when\nfirst quarried, and therefore easily worked with the most primitive\ntools. Practically all the flint arrow-heads that we see in museums\nand elsewhere were picked up or ploughed up, while some have been\ndishonestly sold by trafficking Indians and others, embedded in trees\nand bones.\n\nWe had neither devil nor hell in our religion until the white man\nbrought them to us, yet Unk-to-mee, the Spider, was doubtless akin to\nthat old Serpent who tempted mother Eve. He is always characterized as\ntricky, treacherous, and at the same time affable and charming, being\nnot without the gifts of wit, prophecy, and eloquence. He is an adroit\nmagician, able to assume almost any form at will, and impervious to any\namount of ridicule and insult. Here we have, it appears, the elements of\nthe story in Genesis; the primal Eden, the tempter in animal form, and\nthe bringing of sorrow and death upon earth through the elemental sins\nof envy and jealousy.\n\nThe warning conveyed in the story of Unk-to-mee was ever used with\nsuccess by Indian parents, and especially grandparents, in the\ninstruction of their children. Ish-na-e-cha-ge, on the other hand, was\na demigod and mysterious teacher, whose function it was to initiate the\nfirst man into his tasks and pleasures here on earth.\n\nAfter the battle with the animals, there followed a battle with the\nelements, which in some measure parallels the Old Testament story of\nthe flood. In this case, the purpose seems to have been to destroy the\nwicked animal people, who were too many and too strong for the lone man.\n\nThe legend tells us that when fall came, the First-Born advised his\nyounger brother to make for himself a warm tent of buffalo skins, and\nto store up much food. No sooner had he done this than it began to snow,\nand the snow fell steadily during many moons. The Little Boy Man made\nfor himself snow-shoes, and was thus enabled to hunt easily, while the\nanimals fled from him with difficulty. Finally wolves, foxes, and ravens\ncame to his door to beg for food, and he helped them, but many of the\nfiercer wild animals died of cold and starvation.\n\nOne day, when the hungry ones appeared, the snow was higher than the\ntops of the teepee poles, but the Little Boy Man\u2019s fire kept a hole open\nand clear. Down this hole they peered, and lo! the man had rubbed ashes\non his face by the advice of his Elder Brother, and they both lay silent\nand motionless on either side of the fire.\n\nThen the fox barked and the raven cawed his signal to the wandering\ntribes, and they all rejoiced and said: \u201cNow they are both dying or\ndead, and we shall have no more trouble!\u201d But the sun appeared, and a\nwarm wind melted the snow-banks, so that the land was full of water. The\nyoung man and his Teacher made a birch-bark canoe, which floated upon\nthe surface of the flood, while of the animals there were saved only a\nfew, who had found a foothold upon the highest peaks.\n\nThe youth had now passed triumphantly through the various ordeals of his\nmanhood. One day his Elder Brother spoke to him and said: \u201cYou have now\nconquered the animal people, and withstood the force of the elements.\nYou have subdued the earth to your will, and still you are alone! It is\ntime to go forth and find a woman whom you can love, and by whose help\nyou may reproduce your kind.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how am I to do this?\u201d replied the first man, who was only an\ninexperienced boy. \u201cI am here alone, as you say, and I know not where to\nfind a woman or a mate!\u201d\n\n\u201cGo forth and seek her,\u201d replied the Great Teacher; and forthwith the\nyouth set out on his wanderings in search of a wife. He had no idea how\nto make love, so that the first courtship was done by the pretty and\ncoquettish maidens of the Bird, Beaver, and Bear tribes. There are some\ntouching and whimsical love stories which the rich imagination of the\nIndian has woven into this old legend.\n\nIt is said, for example, that at his first camp he had built for himself\na lodge of green boughs in the midst of the forest, and that there his\nreverie was interrupted by a voice from the wilderness--a voice that was\nirresistibly and profoundly sweet. In some mysterious way, the soul of\nthe young man was touched as it had never been before, for this call of\nexquisite tenderness and allurement was the voice of the eternal woman!\n\nPresently a charming little girl stood timidly at the door of his\npine-bough wigwam. She was modestly dressed in gray, with a touch of jet\nabout her pretty face, and she carried a basket of wild cherries which\nshe shyly offered to the young man. So the rover was subdued, and love\nturned loose upon the world to upbuild and to destroy! When at last she\nleft him, he peeped through the door after her, but saw only a robin,\nwith head turned archly to one side, fluttering away among the trees.\n\nHis next camp was beside a clear, running stream, where a plump and\nindustrious maid was busily at work chopping wood. He fell promptly in\nlove with her also, and for some time they lived together in her cosy\nhouse by the waterside. After their boy was born, the wanderer wished\nvery much to go back to his Elder Brother and to show him his wife and\nchild. But the beaver-woman refused to go, so at last he went alone\nfor a short visit. When he returned, there was only a trickle of water\nbeside the broken dam, the beautiful home was left desolate, and wife\nand child were gone forever!\n\nThe deserted husband sat alone upon the bank, sleepless and faint with\ngrief, until he was consoled by a comely young woman in glossy black,\nwho took compassion upon his distress and soothed him with food and\nloving attentions. This was the bear-woman, from whom again he was\nafterward separated by some mishap. The story goes that he had children\nby each of his many wives, some of whom resembled their father, and\nthese became the ancestors of the human race, while those who bore the\ncharacteristics of their mother returned to her clan. It is also said\nthat such as were abnormal or monstrous in form were forbidden to\nreproduce their kind, and all love and mating between man and the animal\ncreation was from that time forth strictly prohibited. There are some\ncurious traditions of young men and maidens who transgressed this law\nunknowingly, being seduced and deceived by a magnificent buck deer,\nperhaps, or a graceful doe, and whose fall was punished with death.\n\nThe animal totems so general among the tribes were said to have\ndescended to them from their great-grandmother\u2019s clan, and the legend\nwas often quoted in support of our close friendship with the animal\npeople. I have sometimes wondered why the scientific doctrine of man\u2019s\ndescent has not in the same way apparently increased the white man\u2019s\nrespect for these our humbler kin.\n\nOf the many later heroes or Hiawathas who appear in this voluminous\nunwritten book of ours, each introduced an epoch in the long story\nof man and his environment. There is, for example, the Avenger of the\nInnocent, who sprang from a clot of blood; the ragged little boy who won\nfame and a wife by shooting the Red Eagle of fateful omen; and the Star\nBoy, who was the off-spring of a mortal maiden and a Star.\n\nIt was this last who fought for man against his strongest enemies,\nsuch as Wazeeyah, the Cold or North-Wind. There was a desperate battle\nbetween these two, in which first one had the advantage and then the\nother, until both were exhausted and declared a truce. While he rested,\nStar Boy continued to fan himself with his great fan of eagle feathers,\nand the snow melted so fast that North-Wind was forced to arrange a\ntreaty of peace, by which he was only to control one half the year. So\nit was that the orderly march of the seasons was established, and every\nyear Star Boy with his fan of eagle feathers sets in motion the warm\nwinds that usher in the spring.\n\n\n\n\nVI. ON THE BORDER-LAND OF SPIRITS\n\n   Death and Funeral Customs. The Sacred Lock of Hair.\n   Reincarnation and the Converse of Spirits. Occult and\n   Psychic Powers. The Gift of Prophecy.\n\nThe attitude of the Indian toward death, the test and background of\nlife, is entirely consistent with his character and philosophy. Death\nhas no terrors for him; he meets it with simplicity and perfect calm,\nseeking only an honorable end as his last gift to his family and\ndescendants. Therefore he courts death in battle; on the other hand, he\nwould regard it as disgraceful to be killed in a private quarrel. If one\nbe dying at home, it is customary to carry his bed out of doors as the\nend approaches, that his spirit may pass under the open sky.\n\nNext to this, the matter that concerns him most is the parting with his\ndear ones, especially if he have any little children who must be left\nbehind to suffer want. His family affections are strong, and he\ngrieves intensely for the lost, even though he has unbounded faith in a\nspiritual companionship.\n\nThe outward signs of mourning for the dead are far more spontaneous and\nconvincing than is the correct and well-ordered black of civilization.\nBoth men and women among us loosen their hair and cut it according to\nthe degree of relationship or of devotion. Consistent with the idea of\nsacrificing all personal beauty and adornment, they trim off likewise\nfrom the dress its fringes and ornaments, perhaps cut it short, or cut\nthe robe or blanket in two. The men blacken their faces, and widows\nor bereaved parents sometimes gash their arms and legs till they are\ncovered with blood. Giving themselves up wholly to their grief, they are\nno longer concerned about any earthly possession, and often give away\nall that they have to the first comers, even to their beds and their\nhome. Finally, the wailing for the dead is continued night and day to\nthe point of utter voicelessness; a musical, weird, and heart-piercing\nsound, which has been compared to the \u201ckeening\u201d of the Celtic mourner.\n\nThe old-time burial of the Plains Indians was upon a scaffold of poles,\nor a platform among the boughs of a tree--their only means of placing\nthe body out of reach of wild beasts, as they had no implements with\nwhich to dig a suitable grave. It was prepared by dressing in the finest\nclothes, together with some personal possessions and ornaments, wrapped\nin several robes, and finally in a secure covering of raw-hide. As a\nspecial mark of respect, the body of a young woman or a warrior was\nsometimes laid out in state in a new teepee, with the usual household\narticles and even with a dish of food left beside it, not that they\nsupposed the spirit could use the implements or eat the food but merely\nas a last tribute. Then the whole people would break camp and depart to\na distance, leaving the dead alone in an honorable solitude.\n\nThere was no prescribed ceremony of burial, though the body was carried\nout with more or less solemnity by selected young men, and sometimes\nnoted warriors were the pall-bearers of a man of distinction. It was\nusual to choose a prominent hill with a commanding outlook for the last\nresting-place of our dead. If a man were slain in battle, it was an old\ncustom to place his body against a tree or rock in a sitting position,\nalways facing the enemy, to indicate his undaunted defiance and bravery,\neven in death.\n\nI recall a touching custom among us, which was designed to keep the\nmemory of the departed near and warm in the bereaved household. A lock\nof hair of the beloved dead was wrapped in pretty clothing, such as it\nwas supposed that he or she would like to wear if living. This \u201cspirit\nbundle,\u201d as it was called, was suspended from a tripod, and occupied a\ncertain place in the lodge which was the place of honor. At every meal\ntime, a dish of food was placed under it, and some person of the same\nsex and age as the one who was gone must afterward be invited in to\npartake of the food. At the end of a year from the time of death, the\nrelatives made a public feast and gave away the clothing and other\ngifts, while the lock of hair was interred with appropriate ceremonies.\n\nCertainly the Indian never doubted the immortal nature of the spirit\nor soul of man, but neither did he care to speculate upon its\nprobable state or condition in a future life. The idea of a \u201chappy\nhunting-ground\u201d is modern and probably borrowed, or invented by the\nwhite man. The primitive Indian was content to believe that the spirit\nwhich the \u201cGreat Mystery\u201d breathed into man returns to Him who gave it,\nand that after it is freed from the body, it is everywhere and pervades\nall nature, yet often lingers near the grave or \u201cspirit bundle\u201d for\nthe consolation of friends, and is able to hear prayers. So much of\nreverence was due the disembodied spirit, that it was not customary with\nus even to name the dead aloud.\n\nIt is well known that the American Indian had somehow developed occult\npower, and although in the latter days there have been many impostors,\nand, allowing for the vanity and weakness of human nature, it is fair\nto assume that there must have been some even in the old days, yet there\nare well-attested instances of remarkable prophecies and other mystic\npractice.\n\nA Sioux prophet predicted the coming of the white man fully fifty\nyears before the event, and even described accurately his garments and\nweapons. Before the steamboat was invented, another prophet of our race\ndescribed the \u201cFire Boat\u201d that would swim upon their mighty river, the\nMississippi, and the date of this prophecy is attested by the term\nused, which is long since obsolete. No doubt, many predictions have been\ncolored to suit the new age, and unquestionably false prophets, fakirs,\nand conjurers have become the pest of the tribes during the transition\nperiod. Nevertheless, even during this period there was here and there a\nman of the old type who was implicitly believed in to the last.\n\nNotable among these was Ta-chank-pee Ho-tank-a, or His War Club Speaks\nLoud, who foretold a year in advance the details of a great war-party\nagainst the Ojibways. There were to be seven battles, all successful\nexcept the last, in which the Sioux were to be taken at a disadvantage\nand suffer crushing defeat. This was carried out to the letter. Our\npeople surprised and slew many of the Ojibways in their villages, but in\nturn were followed and cunningly led into an ambush whence but few came\nout alive. This was only one of his remarkable prophecies.\n\nAnother famous \u201cmedicine-man\u201d was born on the Rum River about one\nhundred and fifty years ago, and lived to be over a century old. He was\nborn during a desperate battle with the Ojibways, at a moment when, as\nit seemed, the band of Sioux engaged were to be annihilated. Therefore\nthe child\u2019s grandmother exclaimed: \u201cSince we are all to perish, let him\ndie a warrior\u2019s death in the field!\u201d and she placed his cradle under\nfire, near the spot where his uncle and grandfathers were fighting, for\nhe had no father. But when an old man discovered the new-born child, he\ncommanded the women to take care of him, \u201cfor,\u201d said he, \u201cwe know not\nhow precious the strength of even one warrior may some day become to his\nnation!\u201d\n\nThis child lived to become great among us, as was intimated to the\nsuperstitious by the circumstances of his birth. At the age of about\nseventy-five years, he saved his band from utter destruction at the\nhands of their ancestral enemies, by suddenly giving warning received in\na dream of the approach of a large war-party. The men immediately sent\nout scouts, and felled trees for a stockade, barely in time to meet and\nrepel the predicted attack. Five years later, he repeated the service,\nand again saved his people from awful slaughter. There was no confusion\nof figures or omens, as with lesser medicine-men, but in every incident\nthat is told of him his interpretation of the sign, whatever it was,\nproved singularly correct.\n\nThe father of Little Crow, the chief who led the \u201cMinnesota massacre\u201d\n of 1862, was another prophet of some note. One of his characteristic\nprophecies was made only a few years before he died, when he had\ndeclared that, although already an old man, he would go once more upon\nthe war-path. At the final war-feast, he declared that three of the\nenemy would be slain, but he showed great distress and reluctance in\nforetelling that he would lose two of his own men. Three of the Ojibways\nwere indeed slain as he had said, but in the battle the old war prophet\nlost both of his two sons.\n\nThere are many trustworthy men, and men of Christian faith, to vouch\nfor these and similar events occurring as foretold. I cannot pretend to\nexplain them, but I know that our people possessed remarkable powers of\nconcentration and abstraction, and I sometimes fancy that such nearness\nto nature as I have described keeps the spirit sensitive to impressions\nnot commonly felt, and in touch with the unseen powers. Some of us\nseemed to have a peculiar intuition for the locality of a grave, which\nthey explained by saying that they had received a communication from the\nspirit of the departed. My own grandmother was one of these, and as far\nback as I can remember, when camping in a strange country, my brother\nand I would search for and find human bones at the spot she had\nindicated to us as an ancient burial-place or the spot where a lone\nwarrior had fallen. Of course, the outward signs of burial had been long\nsince obliterated.\n\nThe Scotch would certainly have declared that she had the \u201csecond\nsight,\u201d for she had other remarkable premonitions or intuitions within\nmy own recollection. I have heard her speak of a peculiar sensation\nin the breast, by which, as she said, she was advised of anything of\nimportance concerning her absent children. Other native women have\nclaimed a similar monitor, but I never heard of one who could interpret\nit with such accuracy. We were once camping on Lake Manitoba when we\nreceived news that my uncle and his family had been murdered several\nweeks before, at a fort some two hundred miles distant. While all our\nclan were wailing and mourning their loss, my grandmother calmly bade\nthem cease, saying that her son was approaching, and that they would see\nhim shortly. Although we had no other reason to doubt the ill tidings,\nit is a fact that my uncle came into camp two days after his reported\ndeath.\n\nAt another time, when I was fourteen years old, we had just left Fort\nEllis on the Assiniboine River, and my youngest uncle had selected\na fine spot for our night camp. It was already after sundown, but my\ngrandmother became unaccountably nervous, and positively refused to\npitch her tent. So we reluctantly went on down the river, and camped\nafter dark at a secluded place. The next day we learned that a family\nwho were following close behind had stopped at the place first selected\nby my uncle, but were surprised in the night by a roving war-party,\nand massacred to a man. This incident made a great impression upon our\npeople.\n\nMany of the Indians believed that one may be born more than once,\nand there were some who claimed to have full knowledge of a former\nincarnation. There were also those who held converse with a \u201ctwin\nspirit,\u201d who had been born into another tribe or race. There was\na well-known Sioux war-prophet who lived in the middle of the last\ncentury, so that he is still remembered by the old men of his band.\nAfter he had reached middle age, he declared that he had a spirit\nbrother among the Ojibways, the ancestral enemies of the Sioux. He even\nnamed the band to which his brother belonged, and said that he also was\na war-prophet among his people.\n\nUpon one of their hunts along the border between the two tribes, the\nSioux leader one evening called his warriors together, and solemnly\ndeclared to them that they were about to meet a like band of Ojibway\nhunters, led by his spirit twin. Since this was to be their first\nmeeting since they were born as strangers, he earnestly begged the young\nmen to resist the temptation to join battle with their tribal foes.\n\n\u201cYou will know him at once,\u201d the prophet said to them, \u201cfor he will not\nonly look like me in face and form, but he will display the same totem,\nand even sing my war songs!\u201d\n\nThey sent out scouts, who soon returned with news of the approaching\nparty. Then the leading men started with their peace-pipe for the\nOjibway camp, and when they were near at hand they fired three distinct\nvolleys, a signal of their desire for a peaceful meeting.\n\nThe response came in like manner, and they entered the camp, with the\npeace-pipe in the hands of the prophet.\n\nLo, the stranger prophet advanced to meet them, and the people were\ngreatly struck with the resemblance between the two men, who met and\nembraced one another with unusual fervor.\n\nIt was quickly agreed by both parties that they should camp together\nfor several days, and one evening the Sioux made a \u201cwarriors\u2019 feast\u201d\n to which they invited many of the Ojibways. The prophet asked his twin\nbrother to sing one of his sacred songs, and behold! it was the very\nsong that he himself was wont to sing. This proved to the warriors\nbeyond doubt or cavil the claims of their seer.","title":"The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":17145}