{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_72988/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_72988","id":"gutenberg_72988","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72988","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Delaware Indians -- Religion"],"text":"[Illustration: CONCLUSION OF THE LENAPE ANNUAL CEREMONY IN OKLAHOMA\n\nNative Painting by Earnest Spybuck, a Shawnee]\n\n\n\n\n INDIAN NOTES\n AND MONOGRAPHS\n\n EDITED BY F. W. HODGE\n\n [Illustration]\n\n A SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS\n RELATING TO THE\n AMERICAN ABORIGINES\n\n RELIGION AND CEREMONIES\n OF THE LENAPE\n\n BY\n M. R. HARRINGTON\n\n NEW YORK\n MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN\n HEYE FOUNDATION\n 1921\n\n\n\n\n RELIGION AND CEREMONIES\n OF THE LENAPE\n\n BY\n M. R. HARRINGTON\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n Preface 13\n\n CHAPTER I\n Pantheon 17\n Supreme Being 18\n Evil Spirit 24\n Man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk of the Four Directions 25\n The Sun 27\n The Moon 28\n The Earth 28\n Thunder Beings 29\n Keepers of the Heavens 31\n M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, or Living Solid Face 32\n Mother Corn 43\n\n CHAPTER II\n Minor Deities 45\n Doll Being 45\n Tornado 47\n Snow Boy 48\n Comet 48\n Evil Man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk 49\n Animal Spirits 49\n Plant Spirits 51\n Local Genii 51\n\n CHAPTER III\n Survival of the Soul 52\n The Soul 52\n The Land of Spirits 52\n Ghosts and Mediumship 54\n Early Accounts 56\n Penn 56\n Brainerd 56\n Zeisberger 57\n\n CHAPTER IV\n Visions and Guardian Spirits 61\n Initiation of Boys 63\n Other Visions 64\n The Guardian Spirit 65\n Favored Individuals 66\n Unami Examples 67\n Minsi Examples 72\n Historical References 77\n Brainerd 77\n Zeisberger 77\n Loskiel 78\n Heckewelder 78\n Adams 80\n\n CHAPTER V\n Unami Annual Ceremony 81\n The Leader 81\n Officers 84\n Preparations 85\n Ceremony Commenced 87\n Chief\u2019s Speech 87\n Recital of Visions 92\n Conclusion of Rites 96\n Departure of the Hunters 97\n Prayer for the Hunters 99\n Return of the Hunters 100\n New Fire 101\n Use of Carved Drumsticks 101\n Turtle Rattles 103\n Phratry Prayers 104\n Women\u2019s Night 105\n Conclusion of Ceremony 106\n Payment of Attendants 107\n Finale 108\n Payment of Officers 110\n Valuation of Wampum 111\n Indian Comments on the Ceremony 111\n Penn\u2019s Account 115\n Zeisberger\u2019s Account 116\n Adams\u2019 Account 118\n Another Form of the Annual Ceremony 122\n\n CHAPTER VI\n Minsi Big House Ceremonies 127\n Myth of Origin 127\n Number of Ceremonies 128\n Arrangement of the Big House 129\n Preliminaries 132\n Fire 132\n Purification 133\n Opening of the Ceremony 133\n Chief\u2019s Speech 133\n Ceremonial Drink 134\n Recital of Visions 135\n Other Features 136\n The Prayer Cry 136\n Feast 137\n Final Address 137\n Conclusion of Rites 137\n Grand River Version 138\n Waunbuno\u2019s Version 143\n\n CHAPTER VII\n The M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b or Mask 146\n Origin of the Mask and of the Big House 147\n M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b Dance 152\n Notification 152\n Preparations 153\n The Ceremony 153\n Adams\u2019 Account 154\n Other Functions of M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b 156\n Masks of the Minsi 158\n The Mask Society 159\n Ceremonies 159\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n Minor Ceremonies 162\n The Doll Being 162\n Myth of Origin 162\n Preparations for the Ceremony 163\n The Doll Dance 164\n Minsi Doll Ceremony 166\n An Old Minsi Doll 168\n An Early Account of Nani\u02b9t\u012ds 169\n Bear Ceremony 171\n Traditional Origin 172\n Preparations 172\n The Rites 174\n Otter Ceremony 176\n Myth of Origin 176\n The Ceremony 179\n Buffalo Dance 182\n Imported Ceremonies 183\n Skeleton Dance 183\n Peyote Rite 185\n Paraphernalia 186\n Officers 188\n Conduct of the Ceremony 188\n Ghost Dance 190\n\n CHAPTER IX\n Summary 192\n Religion 192\n Ceremonies 196\n Minor Ceremonies 198\n\n Notes 201\n\n Index 206\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n PLATES\n\n PAGE\n\n Conclusion of Lenape Annual Ceremony in Oklahoma.\n Native Painting by Ernest Spybuck, a Shawnee _Frontispiece_\n\n I. Lenape Man and Woman of Oklahoma in Ceremonial Costume 22\n\n II. Costume worn by Impersonator of M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn 34\n\n III. Masks of the Minsi (After Peter Jones) 38\n\n IV. Stone Head or M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, from Staten Island, N. Y. 42\n\n V. Lenape Ceremonial House near Dewey, Oklahoma 82\n\n VI. Lenape Annual Ceremony in Progress. Native Painting by\n Ernest Spybuck, a Shawnee 86\n\n VII. Plan of Lenape Ceremonial House and Grounds 94\n\n VIII. \u201cNahneetis, the Guardian of Health.\u201d 168\n\n IX. The Peyote Rite among the Lenape. Native Painting by\n Ernest Spybuck, a Shawnee 186\n\n FIGURES\n\n 1. Mask of the Oklahoma Lenape 32\n\n 2. Rattle of Turtleshell used by M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b 33\n\n 3. Charm representing M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn 37\n\n 4. Mask from the Canadian Lenape 39\n\n 5. Stone Head or M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b 40\n\n 6. Central Post of Ceremonial House showing Carved Face 83\n\n 7. Side Posts of Ceremonial House showing Carved Faces 84\n\n 8. Ceremonial Fire-drill used at the Annual Ceremony 86\n\n 9. Rattle of Land-tortoise Shell, used by Celebrants at the\n Annual Ceremony 93\n\n 10. Drum made of Dried Deerskin, used at the Annual Ceremony 94\n\n 11. Sacred Drumsticks, used at the Annual Ceremony 102\n\n 12. _a_, Plain Drumstick used at the Annual Ceremony. _b_,\n Prayerstick 102\n\n 13. Paint-dish of Bark, used at the Annual Ceremony 105\n\n 14. Drum of Dried Deerskin. Minsi type 129\n\n 15. _a_, Drumstick, Minsi type. _b_, Prayerstick 130\n\n 16. _a_, Regalia of Otter-skin used in the Otter Rite. _b_,\n Regalia as worn 178\n\n 17. Flint and Steel used in the Otter Rite 180\n\n 18. Rattle or Land-tortoise Shell used in the Otter Rite 181\n\n 19. Peyote \u201cButton\u201d 185\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe following paper is intended to be the first of a series concerning\ndifferent phases of the culture of the Lenape or Delaware Indians, once\na numerous people forming a confederacy of three closely related tribes,\nthe Unami, the Minsi or Muncey, and the Unala\u201b\u02b9tko or Unalachtigo, first\nencountered by the whites in what is now New Jersey, Delaware, eastern\nPennsylvania, and southeastern New York, but at last accounts[1] reduced\nto some 1900 souls scattered in Oklahoma and the Province of Ontario,\nCanada, with a few in Wisconsin and Kansas. Of these the Lenape of\nOklahoma seem to be mainly of Unami extraction, the rest largely Minsi,\nwhile the Unala\u201b\u02b9tko appear to have merged with the others and to have\nlost their identity.\n\nThe writer has gathered most of his data for the whole series from\nthe Oklahoma bands, with such informants as Chief Charley Elkhair\n(Kok\u016dl\u016dpo\u02b9w\u201b\u02b9e), Julius Fox, or Fouts (Peta\u02b9n\u012dhink), Minnie Fox\n(Wem\u0115\u0115le\u02b9xkw\u0115) his wife, and William Brown; but much valuable information\ncame from Canada where his principal informants were Chief James Wolf\n(\u201bTayeno\u02b9xwan), Chief Nellis F. Timothy, (Tomapemihi\u02b9lat), Isaac Monture\n(Ka\u02b9py\u016d\u201bh\u016dm), Chief Nellis Monture, Michael Anthony (Na\u201bnk\u016dma\u02b9oxa), and\nMonroe Pheasant. Of these especial credit is due to Julius Fox and Chief\nTimothy, both of whom manifested great interest in the work and exerted\nevery effort to make it complete, and to Ernest Spybuck, a Shawnee, whose\npaintings, carefully made of Delaware ceremonies at the writer\u2019s request,\nform a valuable adjunct to the text.\n\nThe works of previous writers have been utilized where available, and\nmuch has been learned from archeological discoveries in the ancient\nterritory of the Lenape, not so much, of course, with regard to the\nsubject matter of the present paper, as of others in preparation.\n\nMost of the information was gathered while the writer was collecting\nethnological specimens for the Heye Museum of New York, now the Museum of\nthe American Indian, Heye Foundation, during the years 1907 to 1910; but\nsome of the Canadian data were procured earlier while in the field for Mr\nE. T. Tefft of New York, whose collection is now in the American Museum\nof Natural History.\n\nWithout knowledge of the Delaware language in its divergent dialects, and\nwithout any pretension of being a philologist, the writer has endeavored\nto record the Lenape words as he heard them, depending for translation\non his interpreter _pro tem._ Hence some inaccuracies at least are\ninevitable. The alphabet used is as follows:\n\n VOWELS CONSONANTS\n\n _a_ as in arch. _c_ like English sh.\n _\u00e4_ as in cat. \u201b a slight aspirate.\n _\u00e2_ as in fall. _\u207f_ gives the preceding vowel a nasal sound.\n _ai_ as in aisle.\n _e_ like a in fate. _\u02b7_ faintly whispered.\n _\u0115_ as in met. L a surd l.\n _i_ as in machine. _x_ like German ch.\n _\u012d_ as in hit. Other consonants approximately as in English.\n _o_ as in note.\n _u_ as in flute.\n _\u016d_ as in but.\n _\u00fb_ as in full.\n\nIt was intended at first to publish the mass of material thus obtained\nin the form of a monograph on the ethnology of the Lenape; but later it\nwas seen that while some phases of their culture could be described in\nconsiderable detail, there were others not so well represented in our\nnotes. It was therefore finally decided to publish at once such parts as\nwere ready, in the form of separate papers, and to leave the others until\nmore detailed information could be obtained.\n\nNo extended comparisons of the religion and ceremonies of the Lenape\nwith those of other tribes will be attempted in this paper, these being\nreserved for a projected article to embody the results of a comparative\nstudy of Lenape culture.\n\n M. R. HARRINGTON\n\n\n\n\nRELIGION AND CEREMONIES OF THE LENAPE\n\nBY M. R. HARRINGTON\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nPANTHEON\n\n\nTo the mind of the Lenape, all the phenomena of nature, all the affairs\nof mankind, in fact the entire world as we know it, is under the control\nof invisible beings. Some are great and powerful, others of somewhat\nlesser influence, and so on down to the humble spirits of plants and\nstones. In some, good seems to predominate, in others, evil; but most\nof the _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, or spirits, seem to be, like mortals, a mixture of\ndesirable and undesirable qualities.\n\n\nSUPREME BEING\n\nAll the Lenape so far questioned, whether followers of the native or of\nthe Christian religion, unite in saying that their people have always\nbelieved in a chief _Man\u012d\u02b9to_, a leader of all the gods, in short, in a\nGreat Spirit or Supreme Being, the other _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ for the greater\npart being merely agents appointed by him. His name, according to\npresent Unami usage, is _Gicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong\u201b_, usually translated, \u201cgreat\nspirit,\u201d but meaning literally, \u201ccreator.\u201d Directly, or through the\n_man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ his agents, he created the earth and everything in it, and\ngave to the Lenape all they possessed, \u201cthe trees, the waters, the fire\nthat springs from flint,\u2014everything.\u201d To him the people pray in their\ngreatest ceremonies, and give thanks for the benefits he has given them.\nMost of their direct worship, however, is addressed to the _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_\nhis agents, to whom he has given charge of the elements, and with whom\nthe people feel they have a closer personal relation, as their actions\nare seen in every sunrise and thunderstorm, and felt in every wind that\nblows across woodland and prairie. Moreover, as the Creator lives in the\ntwelfth or highest heaven above the earth, it takes twelve shouts or\ncries to reach his ear. An account of the worship of the Creator will be\ngiven later in connection with the description of the Annual Ceremony.\nThe Minsi had similar beliefs, but the current name for the Great\nSpirit in that dialect today is _Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas_, interpreted \u201cHe who is\npetitioned,\u201d or _K\u0115\u201b\u02b9tan\u012dto\u02b9w\u0115t_, \u201cGreat Spirit.\u201d\n\nIt has been frequently stated that the concept of a supreme being or\nchief of the gods was not known among the American tribes in precolonial\ntimes, and that the \u201cGreat Spirit\u201d concept, now widely distributed\namong the Indians, is entirely the result of missionary teaching. This\nseems to have been the case in some instances, but it is a mistake to\nassume such a broad statement as a general rule, on _a priori_ grounds.\nTo the Indian mind, the spirits or gods partook largely of the nature\nof mankind\u2014Why could not a chief of gods be as natural a concept as a\nchief of men? In the case of the Shawnee, the Creator or Great Spirit is\nusually spoken of as a woman, \u201cOur Grandmother Paboth\u02b9kwe\u201d\u2014surely not a\nmissionary idea!\n\nLet us trace back the Great Spirit concept among the Lenape, and find\nwhat the early writers say about it. Perhaps the earliest is in Danker\nand Sluyter\u2019s Journal[2] of about 1679, in which an old Indian living\nnear Bergen, New Jersey, is quoted as saying: \u201cThe first and great\nbeginning of all things, was Kickeron or Kickerom, who is the origin of\nall, who has not only once produced or made all things, but produces\nevery day.... He governs all things.\u201d\n\nWilliam Penn,[3] in a letter dated Philadelphia, August 16, 1683, says:\n\u201cThey believe a God and Immortality; for they say, There is a King that\nmade them, who dwells in a glorious country to the Southward of them,\nand that the Souls of the Good shall go thither, where they shall live\nagain.\u201d Further confirmation is given by Holm[4] in his book first\npublished in 1702, where he says, \u201cThey acknowledge a Supreme Being, a\nGreat Spirit, who made the heavens and the earth.\u201d\n\nZeisberger[5] makes it even stronger, for he wrote, about 1779: \u201cThey\nbelieve and have from time immemorial believed that there is an Almighty\nBeing who has created heaven and earth and man and all things else. This\nthey have learned from their ancestors.\u201d Heckewelder[6] (p. 205) adds\nmore details in his book, originally published in 1818: \u201cTheir Almighty\nCreator is always before their eyes on all important occasions. They feel\nand acknowledge his supreme power.... It is a part of their religious\nbelief that there are inferior _Mannitt\u014ds_, to whom the great and good\nBeing has given command over the elements.\u201d\n\nFinally, in the little work ostensibly dictated by the Minsi John\nWampum,[7] known as Chief Waubuno, undated, but probably printed in the\nlast quarter of the nineteenth century, we have \u201cThe Great Spirit, whom\nwe call in Munsee or Delaware Kaunzhe Pah-tum-owans or Kacheh Munitto\n(Great Spirit or Benevolent Spirit), created the Indians.\u201d\n\nThus we have a practically unbroken chain of authorities, including\nmost of the best ones since 1679, all speaking of the \u201cGreat Spirit\u201d as\na well-developed concept. But Brainerd,[8] writing in 1745, is not so\npositive in his statements, for he speaks of their notions being \u201cso dark\nand confused, that they seemed not to know what they thought themselves.\u201d\nHe also says: \u201cBefore the coming of the white people, some supposed there\nwere _four_ invisible powers, who presided over the four corners of the\nearth. Others imagined the _sun_ to be the _only_ deity, and that all\nthings were made by him. Others at the same time have a confused notion\nof a certain _body_ or _fountain_ of _deity_, something like the _anima\nmundi_.\u201d Later (p. 349) he quotes a converted Indian conjurer, who, in\ndescribing the source of his former power, tells how it came from \u201ca\ngreat man\u201d who lived in a \u201cworld above at a vast distance from this. The\ngreat man was clothed with the day; yea, with the brightest day he ever\nsaw ... this whole world ... was drawn upon him, so that _in_ him, the\nearth, and all things on it, might be seen.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: PL. I\n\nLENAPE MAN AND WOMAN OF OKLAHOMA IN CEREMONIAL COSTUME\n\n_a_, John Anderson (Witanaxk\u00f3xw\u201b\u0115); _b_, Mrs Elkhair (Kicilungon\u0115\u02b9xkw\u0115)]\n\nPerhaps, as Brinton[9] suggests, the original Great Spirit of the Lenape\nmight really be called the God of Light. Brinton, however, does not think\nthat this Spirit of Light was of necessity a _good_ spirit; still, the\nLenape today who follow the native religion, acknowledging his goodness\nin their ceremonies, think that \u201cthe Creator wants them to do right,\u201d\nand there is evidence[10] that the idea of goodness has been associated\nwith that of the Great Spirit for a long time. Assuming that the Creator\nof the Lenape is the God of Light, what is it that leads men to worship\nthe source of light? Is it not the self-evident benefits connected with\nlight? It seems to the writer that goodness necessarily follows as an\nattribute of such a deity.\n\n\nEVIL SPIRIT\n\nThe case is different with the Evil Spirit. The modern Lenape in Oklahoma\nmake little mention of an Evil One, and James Wolf, my principal Minsi\ninformant, did not speak of such a being at all, but there is some\nevidence, however, to show this belief to exist among the Lenape in more\nrecent years.\n\nSome writers do indeed make frequent mention of \u201cthe Devil\u201d as figuring\nin early Lenape belief, but they translate the word \u201cman\u012d\u02b9to\u201d as having\nthat meaning, whereas it really signifies a supernatural being, good\nor bad. These writers evidently regarded as \u201cthe Devil\u201d any deity not\nfitting into Christian doctrine.\n\nBut the real truth seems to be that, while in ancient times certain\n_man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, or spirits, were supposed to work evil, the Devil (along\nwith whiskey and other blessings) was introduced by the whites. The\nwhole matter is well summed up by Loskiel[11] where he says: \u201cBesides the\nSupreme Being, they believe in good and evil spirits, considering them\nas subordinate deities.... They seem to have had no idea of the _Devil_,\nas the Prince of Darkness, before the Europeans came into the country.\u201d\nThis idea is also supported by Zeisberger[12] and Brainerd,[13] although\nHolm[14] seems to give contrary evidence.\n\n\nMAN\u012c\u02b9TOW\u016cK OF THE FOUR DIRECTIONS\n\nThe Lenape now in Oklahoma believe that when the earth was created, and\neverything finished, the Creator gave the four quarters of the earth to\nfour powerful beings, or _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, whose duty it was to take care of\nthese regions. These personages are the cause of the winds which blow\nfrom the different directions, with the exception of the tornado, which\nis thought to have a different origin. In the winter, it is said that the\n_man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ of the north and the south are playing the game of bowl and\ndice, with alternating fortunes. When the north wind is successful it is\ncold for a long time, until the south wind wins again. These _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_\nare called _Moxhomsa\u02b9 W\u00e4h\u00e4njio\u02b9p\u016dng\u201b_, Grandfather at the East; _No\u201b\u02b9oma\nCawane\u02b9y\u016dng\u201b_, Grandmother at the South; _Moxhomsa\u02b9 Eliosi\u02b9gak_,\nGrandfather at the West; and _Moxhomsa\u02b9 Lowane\u02b9y\u016dng\u201b_, Grandfather at the\nNorth, the expression _endal\u016dn towi\u02b9y\u016dn_, said to mean \u201cwho has charge of\nit\u201d being frequently added after the name.\n\nThese are mentioned in the ritual of the Annual Ceremony, and the people\noften pray to them when gathering herbs or preparing medicines, at the\nsame time offering tobacco.\n\nThe earliest record of this belief thus far found dates from 1616, and\nwhile it does not concern the Lenape proper, it illustrates a similar\nnotion among a cognate people in Virginia. This is in Strachey\u2019s\nwork,[15] in which he states, \u201cThe other four [gods] have no visible\nshape, but are indeed the four winds, which keep the four corners of the\nearth.\u201d Brainerd[16] mentions the same belief as being an old one among\nthe Indians he knew, who were mainly Lenape, and as this was in 1745 we\nhave at least a respectable antiquity established for \u201cOur Grandparents\nat the Four Directions.\u201d Loskiel also mentions them.[17]\n\n\nTHE SUN\n\nTo the Sun the Creator gave the duty of providing light for the people.\nThe Unami say that he is a very powerful _man\u012d\u02b9to_, and call him\n_G\u012dckokwi\u02b9ta_. They speak of him as always clothed in the finest of\ndeerskin garments, with his face handsomely painted, and wearing red\nfeathers in his hair. Every day he travels across the heavens from east\nto west, stopping for a little while at mid-day, then going on. At night\nhe comes back under the earth. The Minsi, according to James Wolf, called\nhim _Ki\u02b9zho_ or _Ki\u02b9zhox_, and _Gickon\u012dki\u02b9zho_ is another Unami form of\nthe name. When praying to the Sun, the Lenape usually addressed him as\n\u201cElder Brother.\u201d\n\nLittle is found in early writings concerning the worship of the Sun, a\nmere mention in Brainerd,[18] and Loskiel,[19] by whom he is called \u201cthe\nsun or the god of the day.\u201d\n\n\nTHE MOON\n\nNone of my Lenape informants had much to say of the Moon, except that it\nwas regarded as the _man\u012d\u02b9to_ charged with the duty of supplying light by\nnight, and that it was addressed, like the Sun, as Elder Brother. It is\nmentioned as a god, and called the \u201cnight sun\u201d by Loskiel.[20] This is\nexpressed by the Unami name _Piske\u02b9weniki\u02b9zho_.\n\n\nTHE EARTH\n\nSome Lenape speak of the earth itself as a _man\u012d\u02b9to_, and call it \u201cOur\nMother\u201d because it carries and nurtures the people, having been assigned\nthat duty by the Creator. Others, instead of the earth itself, mention a\nspirit beneath or within the earth, but apparently separate from it. The\nearth is mentioned in a list of gods by Loskiel.[21] In some localities,\nat least, it was addressed in the Annual Ceremony, and thanks were\noffered to it for the benefits it gives to man.\n\n\nTHUNDER BEINGS\n\nPerhaps the most important of all the subordinate _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, excepting\nonly the Sun and possibly the Keepers of the Four Directions, were the\nThunder Beings, to whom the Great Spirit gave the duty of watering the\nearth and protecting the people against Great Horned Water-serpents and\nother monsters. The Unami told me that they are called _Pethakowe\u02b9yuk_,\nand are addressed as Elder Brother. They are man-like beings with wings,\nand always carry a bow and arrows with which they can shatter trees. When\nthe first thunder is heard in spring, the people say, \u201cThe Spring Flying\nThings are coming\u201d and it makes them feel glad to think that winter is\nnearly over. Some burn tobacco and pray to the Thunders at this and other\ntimes, and for this reason they claim that the lightning never used to\nstrike an Indian or to destroy Indian property.\n\nThe late James Wolf related an interesting Thunder myth, which will be\nfound in the paper on Lenape Mythology to appear later, stating that the\nMinsi called the Thunders _Pile\u02b9swak_, or _Pile\u02b9soak_, and believed them\nto exist in the form of gigantic partridges, although really persons,\nor rather _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_. They used to live in Niagara gorge beneath the\ncataract, and could sometimes be seen coming out, in the form of a\ncloud, in which, as it rose, a play of lightning was visible. There were\nsaid to be three bands or parties of these mysterious beings, each band\nconsisting of three Thunders.\n\nZeisberger[22] says, \u201cThunder is a mighty spirit dwelling in the\nmountains,\u201d and Heckewelder,[23] \u201cIndians, at the approach of a storm or\nthunder gust, address the Mannitto of the air, to avert all danger from\nthem.\u201d As a rule, however, the early writers do not seem to have noticed\nthis belief, or have included it loosely under the worship of \u201cgods\u201d\nrepresenting the elements.\n\n\nKEEPERS OF THE HEAVENS\n\nThe Lenape now in Oklahoma believe that each of the twelve heavens,\nin the highest of which lives the Great Spirit, is presided over by a\n_man\u012d\u02b9to_ who serves as a messenger to repeat the prayers of men until\nthey reach the ear of the Creator. They are represented by the carved\nfaces upon the posts inside the temple, and are mentioned in the ritual\nof the Annual Ceremony. I can find no mention of them in early accounts\nof the Lenape, however, unless the twelve gods mentioned by Loskiel,[24]\nmost of whom have already been spoken of in this chapter, may represent\nthe same concept. The Lenape today speak of these as being related to the\nLiving Solid Face, who will now claim our attention.\n\n\nM\u012cSINGH\u00c2LI\u02b9K\u016cN, OR LIVING SOLID FACE\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 1.\u2014Mask of the Oklahoma Lenape. (Height, 14.5 in.)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 2.\u2014Rattle of turtleshell used by M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b. (Length,\n16.7 in.)]\n\nThe most remarkable deity of the Lenape is the Mask Being, called by\nthe Unami _M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn_, which was interpreted as \u201cLiving Mask,\u201d\nor \u201cLiving Solid Face.\u201d According to the Unami, this being was made\nguardian by the Creator of all the wild animals of the forest, and is\nsometimes seen riding about on the back of a buck, herding the deer;\nbut he lives in a range of rocky mountains above the earth. His face is\nlarge and round, the right half being painted red, the left black, while\nhis body is covered with long dark hair like that of a bear. Unlike most\nof the deities in the Lenape pantheon, he is represented by a \u201cgraven\nimage,\u201d a huge wooden mask, painted half red and half black (fig. 1);\nwhich is left in charge of some family who will take good care of it,\nand burn Indian tobacco for it from time to time. With the mask is kept\na coat and leggings of bearskin to represent the being\u2019s hairy body,\na peculiar rattle of turtleshell (fig. 2), a stick, and a bag made of\nbearskin, all used by the man selected to impersonate M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn at\nthe various ceremonies when he is supposed to appear, and which will\nbe described later. To the back of the mask is fastened the skin of\nthe bear\u2019s head, which effectually conceals the head and neck of the\nimpersonator (pl. II), while the bear\u2019s ears, projecting, add to the\nuncanny effect.\n\n[Illustration: PL. II\n\nCOSTUME WORN BY IMPERSONATOR OF M\u012cSINGH\u00c2LI\u02b9K\u016cN]\n\nIf any Lenape had a child who was weak, sickly, or disobedient, he would\nsend word to the keeper of the mask that he wanted M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn to\n\u201cattend his child.\u201d It is said that it did not take the impersonator long\nto frighten the weakness, sickness, or laziness out of the child, so that\nthenceforth it would be strong and well, and would obey on the instant\nwhen asked to do anything. This effect was probably strengthened by the\nmother saying, \u201cIf you don\u2019t behave, M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b will carry you off in a\nbag full of snakes!\u201d This seems to be the only trace of the doctoring\nfunction of the mask among the Unami. They also say that when the keeper\nburns tobacco for M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn and asks for good luck in hunting, \u201cit\nturns out that way every time;\u201d and if anyone has lost either horses\nor cattle, whether by straying away or through theft, he can go to the\nkeeper of the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b with some tobacco and recover them. All he\nhas to do is to explain his errand to the keeper, who in turn informs\nM\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn that they want him to look for these particular animals.\nThe loser then goes home, and in a few days the missing stock return,\ndriven back by this mysterious being. If they were tied or hobbled, it\nis said that the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b appears to them and so frightens them that\nthey break loose and come home. M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn has a special ceremony,\nheld in the spring, and also participates in the Annual Ceremony at the\nBig House. This M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b is also called _Weop\u0115\u02b9lakis_, to distinguish\nit from another, kept by a different family, which was not so important,\nand about which little was known by my informants except that, within\ntheir memories, it had never appeared at the Annual Ceremony, but that it\nprobably had a spring dance of its own. There is an indistinct tradition,\nhowever, that in former times several masks were seen at the Annual\nCeremony, and that half a day was given up to them.\n\nMiniature masks (fig. 3) were often worn on the person as health or\ngood-luck charms, in former days usually suspended from a string about\nthe neck, but in later times carried in the pocket. The two large Unami\nmasks in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, are shown in\npl. II and fig. 1.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 3.\u2014Charm representing M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn. (Height, 1.9\nin.)]\n\nAmong the Minsi there are considerable differences in belief and\nin practice, their masks resembling those of the Iroquois in many\nparticulars. The late James Wolf said that \u201cMizinkh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn\u201d was supposed\nto live among the rocks on a hill, where he was first seen, and told the\npeople how to obtain his power. The mask owners formed a society, which\nhad a special meeting-house and ceremonies, and whose chief function it\nwas to expell disease. This will be discussed further in another paper.\nPeter Jones[25] illustrates two Minsi masks in use in the first part\nof the nineteenth century, and these are here reproduced (pl. III). The\nfirst he calls a \u201cMuncey idol,\u201d and says that it was \u201cdelivered up by\nJoe Nicholas on his Conversion to Christianity,\u201d and that \u201cMe Zeengk is\nthe name of this God\u201d; while the second, which he names \u201ca Muncey devil\nidol,\u201d \u201cformerly belonging to the Logan family,\u201d was \u201cdelivered up on the\n26th of Jan. 1842.\u201d Jones does not refer to these \u201cidols\u201d in the text.\nThe second mask illustrated seems to have a turtleshell rattle tied on\nits back, the handle projecting downward. Another mask, found by the\nwriter among the Lenape at Grand river, Ontario, and apparently of Minsi\ntype, is shown in fig. 4. It was collected for Mr. E. T. Tefft, of New\nYork, but is now in the American Museum of Natural History.\n\n[Illustration: PL. III\n\nMASKS OF THE MINSI (AFTER PETER JONES)]\n\nSome of our best evidence indicating the early existence of belief in\nthis Mask Being among the Lenape is furnished by archeology\u2014by the\nfinding of a number of heads or masks of stone (pl. IV) within the\nboundaries of their former domain in New Jersey and the vicinity,[26]\nwhich, when the rarity of such objects in the surrounding regions is also\nconsidered, seems quite significant. Such stone heads even mark the trail\nof the Lenape withdrawal westward through Pennsylvania,[27] and have even\nbeen found in Ohio, where they lingered for a time (fig. 5).\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 4.\u2014Mask from the Canadian Lenape. E. T. Tefft\ncollection, American Museum of Natural History. (Height of head, 14 in.)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 5.\u2014Stone head or M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b from Ohio. (Height, 13.9\nin.)]\n\nThe best early description is given by Brainerd,[28] who, in May 1745,\nwhile on the Susquehanna above the English settlements, saw a masked\nIndian who must have been an impersonator of M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn. It runs:\n\n \u201cBut of all the sights I saw among them, or indeed anywhere\n else, none appeared so frightful ... as the appearance of one\n who was a devout and zealous Reformer, or rather, restorer of\n what he supposed was the ancient religion of the Indians. He\n made his appearance in his _pontifical garb_, which was a coat\n of _bear skins_, dressed with the hair on, and hanging down to\n his toes; a pair of bear skin stockings; and a great _wooden_\n face painted, the one half black, the other half tawny, about\n the color of an Indian\u2019s skin, with an extravagant mouth, cut\n very much awry; the face fastened to a bear skin cap, which was\n drawn over his head. He advanced toward me with the instrument\n in his hand, which he used for music, in his idolatrous\n worship, which was a dry _tortoise shell_ with some corn in it,\n and the neck of it drawn on to a piece of wood, which made a\n very convenient handle. As he came forward, he beat his tune\n with the rattle, and danced with all his might, but he did not\n suffer any part of his body, not so much as his fingers, to be\n seen.\u201d\n\nWith the exception of one minor point, the \u201cwry mouth,\u201d this would be\na good description of the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b outfit used until recently by the\nLenape in Oklahoma (pl. II). On the following page, Brainerd mentions\n\u201cimages\u201d which seem to be the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b faces carved on the posts of the\nBig House.\n\n[Illustration: PL. IV\n\nSTONE HEAD OR M\u012cSI\u02b9NG\u02b7\u201b, FROM STATEN ISLAND, N. Y.\n\n(Staten Island Institute of Art and Science)]\n\nZeisberger[29] also refers to the masks in these words:\n\n \u201cThe only idol which the Indians have, and which may properly\n be called an idol, is their _Wsinkhoalican_, that is image.\n It is an image cut in wood, representing a human head in\n miniature, which they always carry about them either on\n a string around their neck or in a bag. They often bring\n offerings to it. In their houses of sacrifice they have a head\n of this idol as large as life put upon a pole in the middle of\n the room.\u201d\n\nIn his Dictionary, Zeisberger gives the word for \u201cidol\u201d as _m\u0115sink\u02b9_, so\nit seems probable that the _W_ in \u201cWsinkhoalikan\u201d is a misprint for _M_.\n\n\nMOTHER CORN\n\nOne of the important _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ of the old days was the Corn Goddess,\nknown as \u201cMother Corn\u201d of whom one of the Unami legends collected by\nthe writer relates that \u201cIt was God\u2019s will that the Corn Spirit abide\nin the far heavenly region in the image of an aged woman, with dominion\nover all vegetation.\u201d Although little remembrance of the details of her\nworship can now be found among the Oklahoma Lenape, she is mentioned as\na Guardian Spirit; while at the Minsi ceremonies at Grand River Reserve\nin Ontario, she was one of the twelve benefactors of mankind to whom the\nthanks of the people were offered, and Minsi women mentioned \u201cSister\nCorn\u201d in praying for good crops in the corn fields; while Zeisberger[30]\nsays that the presiding _Man\u012d\u02b9to_ of Indian Corn or maize was spoken of\nas the \u201cwife\u201d of the Indian, and was offered bear\u2019s flesh.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nMINOR DEITIES\n\n\nDOLL BEING\n\nThe masks described in the last chapter are merely representations of a\nsupernatural being, and are not supposed to be the dwellings of a spirit\nor spirits except when worn by an impersonator, who is said to become\nimbued with the spirit when the mask is donned; nor are they usually\nsupposed to possess inherent power, except as symbols of M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn.\nBut the Lenape had also a class of images, usually of wood, representing\nthe human form, which were supposed to possess life, or at least to\nbe the residence of spirits, which, so far as can be learned, had no\nseparate existence. They were supposed to understand what was said\nto them, and to have the power of protecting the owner\u2019s health, to\nenjoy offerings, resent ill-treatment, and in fact seem to fall into\nthe class of true fetishes. Usually, but not always, representing the\nfemale figure, they were kept as a rule by women, and were given yearly\nfeasts, at which outfits of new clothes were put on them. The native name\nin Unami is _O\u201b\u02b9das_; in Minsi, _Nani\u02b9t\u012ds_. The ceremonies and beliefs\nassociated with them will be described later, in the chapter on minor\nceremonies. Most of the early writers seem to have overlooked them,\nwhich is not surprising, since they were matters of personal and not of\npublic concern, and their rites were held in private. John Brainerd,\nhowever, mentions an \u201cidol image\u201d[31] which seems to be of this class,\nand a Minsi specimen is figured by Peter Jones[32] and mentioned by him\nin a footnote. This was afterward procured by the writer from Jones\u2019 son,\nand is now in the American Museum of Natural History (pl. VIII). John\nBrainerd (brother of the better known David) made his note of the custom\nabout the middle of the eighteenth century, while that of Jones dates\nfrom about a century later.\n\n\nTORNADO\n\nBesides the gods hitherto named there were many other deities of lesser\nimportance. The tornado, for instance, was one of these beings classed as\n_man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_. He is mentioned as a giant in size, walking on his hands\nwhen in action, his long hair entangling and sweeping away forests and\nvillages; and sometimes as a winged being. When a \u201ccyclone\u201d was seen\napproaching, some would burn tobacco, and addressing the roaring monster,\nas \u201cGrandfather,\u201d would pray that he turn aside and leave the village in\npeace. Others, scorning such measures of conciliation, would burn old\nmoccasins and rubbish, advising the destroyer to turn aside if he wished\nto escape the stinging smoke; while still others, even less conciliatory,\nthreatened him with the edge of an axe, vowing they would \u201cbreak a wing\nfor him\u201d if he came their way. It was commonly said in the tribe that\non account of these practices the Lenape suffered little from this evil\n_man\u012d\u02b9to_.\n\n\nSNOW BOY\n\nAnother minor _man\u012d\u02b9to_ is Snow Boy, a being who is supposed to control\nsnow and ice, but who is different from \u201cOur Grandfather at the North,\u201d\nwho merely supplies the north wind. Offerings were made to Snow Boy to\ninsure a proper amount of snow for tracking in the winter hunt. Further\ninformation concerning these last two _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ will be found in the\npaper on Lenape Mythology, now in preparation.\n\n\nCOMET\n\nThere is a third _man\u012d\u02b9to_ called _Elau\u02b9nato_, which some Lenape say\nmeans \u201cComet,\u201d others \u201cShooting Star.\u201d When a war is impending, says the\nlegend, this being may be seen flying through the air, carrying a bunch\nof human heads. After Elau\u02b9nato has passed, if one listens he will hear\na distant rumbling sound, for this _man\u012d\u02b9to_ knows beforehand where the\nfighting will take place, and drops the heads on the spot, and the noise\nof their fall is a roar like thunder.\n\n\nEVIL MAN\u012c\u02b9TOW\u016cK\n\nBoth the Great Horned Serpents, monsters living in the rivers and lakes,\nand the Giant Bear were considered evil _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, the only good\nderived from them being, in the first case, charms made of the scales,\nbone, or horn of the monsters, supposed to bring rain; and, in the second\ncase, a medicine made from the tooth said to have the power of healing\nwounds. Children were accustomed to hunt in the sand for tracks of the\nLittle People, comparable with fairies or elves among the whites.\n\n\nANIMAL SPIRITS\n\nThe concepts regarding the numerous animal spirits who were believed to\noffer themselves as guardians for mankind, are rather hard to define.\nMost Indians seem to regard their mysterious animal helper not as the\nspirit or soul of any particular animal taken as an individual, but as\na spirit representing the entire species as a whole and partaking of\nthe nature of the species, at the same time having human and _man\u012d\u02b9to_\nattributes.\n\nBrainerd[33] makes some interesting remarks on this subject, which are\nworth quoting:\n\n \u201cThey do not indeed suppose a divine power _essential_ to, or\n _inhering_ in, these creatures; but that some invisible beings\n ... communicate to these animals a _great power_; ... and so\n make these creatures the immediate authors of good to certain\n persons. Whence such a creature becomes _sacred_ to the persons\n to whom he is supposed to be the immediate author of good, and\n through him they must worship the invisible powers, though to\n others he is no more than any other creature.\u201d\n\nCertain it is, if a Lenape states that his blessing or power comes from\n\u201cthe otter,\u201d he does not mean some particular otter, but a spirit otter\nwhose existence is independent of the life of any particular animal.\nHowever, such an animal was supposed, like a man, to have a spirit or\nsoul of its own.\n\n\nPLANT SPIRITS\n\nWhen gathering herbs for medicine it was customary to offer prayers\nto certain spirits. Some seem to have prayed at this time to the four\ndirections, others to the presiding genius of the species of plants they\nsought, or to the spirit of the individual plant itself. The Minsi say\nthat only certain plants were thus addressed. The Corn Spirit has already\nbeen mentioned.\n\n\nLOCAL GENII\n\nCertain localities, it is said, were thought to be the dwellings of local\ngenii, to whom offerings were occasionally made, especially such places\nas displayed curious or unusual natural features, while even certain\nstones were said to have an animate principle or indwelling spirit.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nSURVIVAL OF THE SOUL\n\n\nTHE SOUL\n\nThe doctrine of the survival of the soul or spirit after the death of the\nbody, forms an integral part of Lenape belief. The spirit is supposed to\nleave the body at the moment of dissolution, but remains in the vicinity\neleven days, during which time it subsists on food found in the houses\nof the living, if none has been placed at the grave. Some say that the\nactual food is not consumed but that the ghost extracts some essence or\nnourishment from it.\n\n\nTHE LAND OF SPIRITS\n\nOn the twelfth day the spirit leaves the earth and makes its way to the\ntwelfth or highest heaven, the home of the Creator, where it lives\nindefinitely in a veritable \u201cHappy Hunting Ground,\u201d a beautiful country\nwhere life goes on much as it does on earth, except that pain, sickness,\nand sorrow are unknown, and distasteful work and worry have no place;\nwhere children shall meet their parents who have gone before, and parents\ntheir children; where everything always looks new and bright. There is no\nsun in the Land of Spirits, but a brighter light which the Creator has\nprovided. All people who die here, be they young or old, will look the\nsame age there, and the blind, cripples,\u2014anyone who has been maimed or\ninjured,\u2014will be perfect and as good as any there. This is because the\nflesh only was injured, not the spirit.\n\nThis paradise, however, is only for the good, for those who have been\nkind to their fellows and have done their duty by their people. Little\nis said of those who have done evil in this world, except that they are\nexcluded from the happy Land of Spirits. Some Unami say that the blood in\na dead body draws up into globular form and floats about in the air as a\nluminous ball, but this is not the true spirit.\n\nThe Minsi seem to have retained a more archaic belief, for they say that\nthe Land of Spirits lies to the southwest, in a country of good hunting.\nHere they say, the wigwams of the spirits are always neat and clean, and\nhappiness prevails. But between our world and the spirit country flows a\nriver which the spirit must cross on a slender foot-log or in a canoe.\n\n\nGHOSTS AND MEDIUMSHIP\n\nGhosts do not seem always to have left the earth at the expiration of the\ntwelve days, or else they have the power of returning, for the Lenape\nclaim that boys, dreaming for power, have sometimes been pitied and given\nsome blessing by the ghosts, who remained their guardian spirits through\nlife. Such people were considered to have the power of talking with the\ndeparted and sometimes made a practice of it, but mediumship was by no\nmeans confined to them. Among the Minsi formerly they were accustomed to\nhold meetings in the burial grounds at certain times, when some medium,\nit is said, would communicate with the spirits.\n\nThe late James Wolf, one of the principal Minsi informants, was said to\nhave this power. One time a man was drowned in the Thames river near\nMunceytown in Ontario, and the body could not be located. Wolf, it is\nsaid, walked up and down the river-banks, with a companion, talking to\nthe water. At last a strange sound was heard, and Wolf stopped. \u201cThat was\nthe dead man\u2019s spirit,\u201d he said; \u201cthe body lies right over in that hole.\u201d\nSurely enough, when they procured a boat, they found the body in the\nhole, wedged beneath a sunken log.\n\nCertain regular ceremonies were held by both the Unami and the Minsi in\nhonor of the dead, and will be discussed in a later paper.\n\n\nEARLY ACCOUNTS\n\n_Penn._\u2014In William Penn\u2019s letter,[34] dated August 16, 1683, is the first\nmention of any details of Lenape beliefs regarding the soul that has been\nfound. He says:\n\n \u201cThey say there is a King that made them, who dwells in a\n glorious Country to the Southward of them, and that the Souls\n of the Good shall go thither, where they shall live again.\u201d\n\n_Brainerd._\u2014The same Indian whom Brainerd saw in 1745 dressed in a\nbearskin costume and with a wooden mask, told him[35] that\u2014\n\n \u201cdeparted souls all went _southward_, and that the difference\n between good and bad was this: that the _former_ were admitted\n into a beautiful town with _spiritual_ walls, and that the\n _latter_ would forever hover around these walls, in vain\n attempts to get in.\u201d\n\nLater,[36] Brainerd speaks of the Spirit Land of the Lenape to the\nsouthward as being \u201can unknown and curious place\u201d in which the shadows of\nthe dead \u201cwill enjoy some kind of happiness, such as hunting, feasting,\ndancing, and the like.\u201d One of his Indian informants defined the kind\nof \u201cbad folks\u201d who would be unhappy in the hereafter as \u201cthose who lie,\nsteal, quarrel with their neighbors, are unkind to their friends, and\nespecially to aged parents, and, in a word, such as are a plague to\nmankind.\u201d These would be excluded from the \u201cHappy Hunting Ground,\u201d not\nso much as a punishment to themselves, as to keep them from rendering\nunhappy the spirits of the good inhabiting the \u201cbeautiful town.\u201d\n\n_Zeisberger._\u2014About 1748, according to Zeisberger,[37] a number of\npreachers appeared among the Indians, who claimed to have traveled in\nHeaven and conversed with God. Some exhibited charts of deerskin upon\nwhich were drawn maps of the Land of Spirits and figures representing\nother subjects used in their preaching. Some of their ideas concerning\nthe Son of God, the Devil, and Hell, are evidently derived from the\nwhites; others seem more aboriginal in character, such as purification by\nemetics, twelve different kinds being used. He wrote:\n\n \u201cOther teachers pretended that stripes were the most effectual\n means to purge away sin. They advised their hearers to suffer\n themselves to be beaten with twelve different sticks from the\n soles of their feet to their necks, that their sins might pass\n from them through their throats. They preached a system of\n morals, very severe for the savages, insisting that the Indians\n abstain from fornication, adultery, murder, theft, and practise\n virtuous living as the condition to their attaining after death\n the place of good spirits, which they call Tschipeghacki, the\n \u2018land of spirits,\u2019 where the life is happy, and deer, bear and\n all manner of game are abundant and the water is like crystal.\n There nought was to be heard save singing, dancing and merry\n making.... The passage thither is the Milky Way.... Whoever\n reaches that place will find a city of beautiful houses and\n clean streets. Entering a house he will see no one, but have\n good things to eat placed before him, a fire made and a bed\n prepared\u2014all of which is done by spirits invisible to him.\n Others assert that such an one will see the women coming with\n baskets on their backs full of strawberries and bilberries,\n large as apples, and will observe the inhabitants daily\n appear in fine raiment and live a life of rejoicing.\u2014The bad\n Indians ... will not reach the place, Tschipeghacki, but must\n remain some distance away, able to see those within dwelling\n happily, but not able to enter. They would receive nothing but\n poisonous wood and poisonous roots to eat, holding them ever\n near the brink of a bitter death, but not suffering them to\n die.\u201d\n\nZeisberger usually specifies when his information is derived from tribes\nother than the Lenape, from whom most of his data were procured; so it is\nprobable that the following quotation applies to them, although in part\nsomewhat at variance with our other knowledge. He says:[38]\n\n \u201cThey believe in the immortality of the soul. Some liken\n themselves to corn which, when thrown out and buried in the\n soil, comes up and grows. Some believe their souls to be in the\n sun, and only their bodies here. Others say that when they die\n their souls will go to God, and suppose that when they have\n been some time with God they will be at liberty to return to\n the world and be born again. Hence many believe ... that they\n may have been in the world before.\n\n \u201cThey believe also in the transmigration of the soul. Wandering\n spirits and ghosts, they claim, sometimes throw something into\n a public path and whoever goes over it is bewitched and becomes\n lame or ill.\u201d\n\nSuch was the Lenape belief with regard to the powers that control the\nworld, and such were his notions concerning the souls of men. The main\nchannel of communication between this great supernatural realm and\nmankind was, to the Lenape as to so many other tribes of Indians, the\ndream or vision, experienced either while fasting or in natural sleep.\nThis subject will be considered in the next chapter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nVISIONS AND GUARDIAN SPIRITS\n\n\nThe most vital and intimate phase of Lenape religion is the belief in\ndreams and visions, and in the existence of personal guardian spirits\nor supernatural helpers\u2014concepts of wide distribution among the North\nAmerican tribes, but rarely, perhaps, so vivid or well-developed as\nwe find them here. The vision was the point of contact, the channel\nof communication, in Lenape belief, between the great and marvelous\nsupernatural world and the sphere of everyday human life. In a vision\nthe youth first found his guardian spirit, to whom he would always\nappeal, as his own special friend in the supernatural hierarchy, for\naid and comfort in time of trouble, and for the revelation of coming\nevents. He felt that this being took a close personal interest in his\naffairs, while the greater gods, including the Great Spirit himself,\nwere so remote and so occupied with controlling more important things\nthat they might not notice or concern themselves with the affairs of one\nindividual man. Therefore the bulk of his prayers and offerings went to\nhis guardian spirit. If a Lenape won great success on a war expedition\nor a hunting trip, he was sure the spirit had helped him; if unlucky, he\nbelieved that for some reason his guardian had become estranged, or had\nbeen overpowered by superior and malevolent forces. A man might become\na sorcerer or a shaman at the behest of his guardian spirit, given in\na dream or vision, or change his mode of life in other ways. Not every\nLenape was blessed with such a guardian; yet many were so favored,\nusually in their boyhood days. To be eligible for supernatural favor, the\nyouth had to be _pi\u02b9ls\u016d\u207f_, or pure, which means that not only must he be\nchaste, but that he must have kept strictly all the taboos against eating\nfood prepared by women in their periodic condition, etc. Old Lenape say\nthat, as the children of the tribe are reared nowadays in the same way as\nthe whites, they can no longer be _pi\u02b9ls\u016d\u207f_, and the Powers will speak\nto them no more. This is a sad matter, for it means the loss of their\nprincipal ancient ceremonies, at which only those blessed with a vision\ncan take active part. The old people feel it keenly that there will be no\none left to conduct the rites when the last of their generation has been\nlaid away.\n\n\nINITIATION OF BOYS\n\nParents were especially anxious, of course, that their sons should have\nsupernatural aid, hence, when a boy reached the age of about twelve\nyears, they would frequently pretend to abuse him, and would drive him,\nfasting, out into the forest to shift as best he might, in the hope that\nsome _man\u012d\u02b9to_ would take pity on the suffering child and grant him some\npower or blessing that would be his dependence through life.\n\nSometimes a man who had several sons would take them out into the forest\nand build them a rude little tent, and here they would remain for days\nat a time. During the day the boys were not permitted to eat, but just\nbefore sunrise every morning each was given a medicine to make him vomit,\nafter which a tiny piece of meat was given him, about the size of a man\u2019s\nlittle finger. Occasionally the boys became able to fast in this way for\ntwelve days, at the end of which time, the Lenape say, some had received\nsuch power that they were able to rise into the air, or go down into the\nground, or prophesy events a year or two ahead, with the magic aid of the\nsupernatural being that had taken pity on them.\n\n\nOTHER VISIONS\n\nIt sometimes happened also that people received visions of power in\nnatural sleep without fasting, or even when wide awake, while feeling\nmelancholy and heartsick over the death of a loved one, or suffering\nother misfortune or trouble. As they sat brooding, some _man\u012d\u02b9to_ might\naddress himself to them, and give them advice and comfort, or endow them\nwith some kind of power. Women occasionally had visions of this kind.\n\n\nTHE GUARDIAN SPIRIT\n\nWhatever the precise circumstances of its appearance, the guardian spirit\nin many instances was said to show itself first in human form, and it\nwas only when it turned to leave that its real shape (of an animal, for\ninstance) was noticed by the recipient of its blessing. Sometimes the\ninterview was quite long and the directions given by the _man\u012d\u02b9to_ (for\nceremonies, etc.) quite explicit; on other occasions they were very vague\nand cryptic. Frequently, according to the stories told, some tangible\nobject, called by the Unami the _opi\u02b9na_, or blessing, was handed by the\n_man\u012d\u02b9to_ to the recipient of his favor, who usually swallowed it. Some\nrecipients were called on, however, to make and keep some symbol of their\nprotector, which was usually worn on the person in the form of a charm.\n\n\nFAVORED INDIVIDUALS.\u2014Persons favored with a guardian spirit usually\nbecame prominent among their people and were held in high esteem. They\ncomposed rythmic chants referring to their visions for use at the Annual\nCeremony (which will be discussed in the next chapter), and dance songs\nto accompany them. Rarely were the words of either chants or songs at\nall definite: as a rule they merely mentioned attributes of the singer\u2019s\nguardian, or incidents of their first meeting, without stating outright\nwhat the guardian spirit was, or telling a consecutive story of the\nvision.\n\nMost Lenape who have had such visions can not be induced to tell the\ndetails; but the following examples of such experiences, imperfect in\nmany points, were finally obtained. Incomplete though they are, they will\ngive some idea of this class of beliefs and in this way may prove of\nvalue.\n\nUNAMI EXAMPLES.\u2014One old man named Pokite\u02b9hemun (\u201cBreaker\u201d), known to the\nwhites in Oklahoma as George Wilson, saw in his vision what seemed to\nbe a man who held out to him a white round object like a boy\u2019s marble,\nthen tossed it to him. Pokite\u02b9hemun caught it and swallowed it. Then as\nit turned to go, the being cried \u201c_Kwank! kwank! kwank!_ The ducks have\na praying meeting in the fall of the year!\u201d As it turned, Pokite\u02b9hemun\nnoticed that it was really a duck instead of a man, and was colored half\nblack and half white.[39]\n\nPokite\u02b9hemun could pound on his chest at any time and apparently cough\nup a round marble-like object, which he would show in his hand and then\nappear to swallow again. This he claimed was the _opi\u02b9na_ given by his\nguardian spirit.\n\nHe seemed to regard the words of the duck spirit as an admonition to do\nall he could to keep up the tribal Annual Ceremony, which was held in the\nfall; while the \u201cblessing\u201d gave him good fortune. The chant he composed\nfor use at this ceremony is as follows:\n\n _Lawul\u0115njei_\n _W\u016d\u207fjeg\u016dk toxweyu_\n _Kw\u0115\u207fnanowag\u016d\u207f_\n _Waila\u207fgoma\u207fole_\n _L\u0115nape, eli nan\u016d\u207f_\n _Telowa\u207f, lowa\u207f_\n _Nu\u207fni, \u0115ndageko_\n _Lowaet, lowa n\u016d\u207fni._\n\nThe interpreter\u2019s translation, which is a somewhat free one, follows:\n\n \u201cWhen he opened his hand\n Something came out of the center\n That\u2019s his blessing\n (For?) our kinfolks, the\n\n Lenape; because that\n Is what he said, he did say\n This, when\n He spoke, he said this.\u201d\n\nThen came the dance song:\n\n _He-e-e-e nehani_\n _Latama\u207fne_\n _Nehani lama\u207fne_\n _Kw\u0115\u207fnanowag\u016d\u207f, nowag\u016dn_\n _Hayela\u207fgoma\u207f_\n _Gweheyeha_\n _Gehe!_\n\nThis, according to the interpreter, means simply, when stripped of its\nsuperfluous syllables, \u201cWe own a temple\u2014his blessing\u2014our kinfolks.\u201d\n\nAnother man saw in his boyhood vision the M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, or Living Solid\nFace, riding on a deer. I was unable to get the details of their meeting,\nor the chant, but this is the dance song:\n\n _Hehotawege\u02b9na_\n _Hotowege\u02b9na_\n _Xing\u00e2lo\u02b9 pai awhe\u02b9wani_\n _M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn_\n _H\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dne_\n _A-he\u02b9-he-he\u02b9!_\n\nThis, the interpreter said, means \u201cRiding it, riding it, big buck deer,\nthis one, M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn!\u201d Seldom do the songs or chants refer so\ndefinitely to the protector as does this.\n\nA third Lenape, when a boy, was sent out to the corn-field to drive away\nthe crows. As he stood by the field he saw them flying around to light\non a tree near by. Suddenly someone spoke to him, and among the things\nsaid (which were not revealed to me) were the words \u201cI like this Lenape\nfood,\u201d referring to the corn. The boy thought a man was addressing him,\nuntil the person suddenly flew away in the form of a crow, crying \u201c_Ha!\nHa! Ha!_\u201d I failed to get the Indian words for the song, and my informant\ndid not remember the chant, but the translation of the song was given as\nfollows:\n\n \u201cI like this Lenape food:\u201d\n I never knew a crow said that\n Till the crow was cawing\n \u201cHa! Ha! Ha!\u201d\n\nA fourth had seen some kind of an animal in his vision, but never told\nany of his tribesmen what it was. His song, as now remembered, was\ntranslated thus:\n\n Come, follow me,\n I am going\n Out into the country.\n\nA fifth had \u201cMother Corn\u201d (the Corn Spirit) for a guardian, but only part\nof his song is remembered.\n\n \u201cAll my children\n Are glad when I come out!\u201d\n\nSome people were helped by the spirits of the dead in the same way that\nothers received aid from animal or other nature spirits.\n\n\u201cOld man\u201d Secondine, now dead, a well known Oklahoma Lenape, was one of\nthese. When a boy his parents drove him out in the woods, as was the\ncustom, in the hope that he might receive a supernatural helper. After\nwandering about for a time, he took refuge in a large hollow tree, and\nmade that his camping place. Before long he was visited by apparitions\nof persons he knew to be dead, who took pity on his starving condition,\nand brought him food which they had taken at night from the houses of\nthe living, this being the way that disembodied spirits are supposed\nto get nourishment when visiting the scenes of their earthly life. In\nthe meantime his parents were unable to find him, and searched for him\nwithout avail until the ghosts finally revealed to them his camping\nplace, and then he was brought safely home. Ever afterward he claimed\nthe ghosts as his guardians, and like others blessed with this kind of\nhelpers, was said to hold some kind of communication with the departed.\n\n\nMINSI EXAMPLES.\u2014The late James Wolf, my principal Minsi informant, was\nsaid to possess this power, as was stated in the preceding chapter. He\nhad, moreover, received another vision when a boy, but had made little,\nif any, use of it, because of his profession of Christianity. One time in\nhis boyhood days, he told me, he thought or dreamed (he was not asleep\nat the time) that there was no water in the river, and that he went down\ninto its bed and found only one little hole containing water. In this was\na creature resembling a catfish, yet somewhat different, and near it was\nan ordinary crayfish, while on the surface of the water walked a number\nof little flies. The boy thinking what he had seen was real, ran home in\nhaste to tell his father. The father walked down with him to see, but\nstopped on the bank where the edge of the water had been, while the boy\nran on down to his pool. The river-bed seemed dry to him, but his father\nwould not come, saying that the river was full of water. The boy then\ncame out and they started for home, but before they were out of sight,\nthe lad looked back. To his surprise, the river was full as usual.\n\nThe father, who was Flying Wolf, a noted Minsi warrior, had been favored\nhimself, when a boy, with a rather unusual sort of vision, which James\nWolf related to me, as nearly as possible the way the old man used to\ntell it at the Annual Ceremony.\n\n\u201cWhen I was a boy, I was once fast asleep on a hill near a little creek.\nSomeone said, \u2018Wake up! Let us go where our friends are!\u2019 So I got up and\nfollowed him across the little creek and up a hill, where I saw six men\nsitting on a log. Then I went up and shook hands with them all. After\nthey had shaken hands with me they all danced around in a ring.\u201d At this\npoint he used to sing one verse of his dance song\u2014\n\n _W\u0115mi wango\u207ftowak kewiha_\n All greet one another\n _Yoki l\u0115nape witci._\n Now Lenape at the same time\n _E-ye-he-ye-\u0115!_\n\n\u201cThey told me, \u2018We will go to see our friends,\u2019 so I went with them.\nEvery now and then they stopped and danced around as they had done\nbefore. After a while one of them told me to look toward the south, and\nthere I saw a black cloud in which the lightning flashed. \u2018Would you like\nto go there?\u2019 they asked me. I answered \u2018No.\u2019 Then one asked if I wanted\nto go _that_ way, pointing to the northeast, where the sky was blue and\nbright, to which I answered that I would rather go in that direction\ntoward the clear sky. A little farther on they said: \u2018We will now leave\nyou. Watch us as we go.\u2019 They went to the east a little way, and then I\nsaw them trotting. They were wolves, and I had thought all the while that\nthey were human beings.\u201d\n\nVerses of the dance song were sung at intervals during this speech. From\nanalogy with other visions, such as are recorded above, one would think\nthat the six wolf-men must have become Flying Wolf\u2019s protectors, but\ninstead, it was a Thunder Being that became his principal guardian, whose\nparticipation in the vision is merely inferred from the mention in the\nspeech of the black cloud and the lightning. Evidently this Thunder Being\nwas not offended when Flying Wolf told his guides that he would rather go\ntoward the clear sky than toward the black cloud.\n\nThe Minsi say that when Flying Wolf recited his vision in the Big\nHouse ceremonies, he moved everyone, some even to tears. After he had\nfinished, they say, a thunder-shower would almost always rise. He would\nbecome strangely excited when the dark clouds began to bank up on the\nhorizon and spread themselves over the land. Stripping himself to the\nbreech-cloth, he was ready to go out when the storm broke, for he would\nnever stay beneath a roof at such a time. He loved to expose his body\nto the driving gusts of wind and rain; the appalling roar was music to\nhis ears; while the lighting, to the eyes of the frightened onlookers,\nseemed to play about his very body. He used to say that if he stayed\nindoors the lightning display would be so terrible that the others in the\nhouse could not endure it. No wonder they used to say of him, \u201c_Piles\u02b9waL\npewa\u02b9latcil!_\u201d \u201cHe is in league with the Thunders!\u201d, or better, perhaps,\n\u201cThe Thunders will protect him!\u201d\n\nWithin the memory of Minsi now living in Canada there were two members of\nthe tribe who claimed the Sun spirit, _Ki\u02b9zho_ (or _Ki\u02b9zhox_) as their\nprotector. One of these was known as \u201cOld man\u201d Halfmoon, the other as\n\u201cMuncey John\u201d Henry. Halfmoon, it is said, when he wished to appear as a\nwarrior, would sometimes hold his bare hands up toward the flaming face\nof his guardian, then rub the palms down his cheeks. When he removed\nhis hands, it was seen that his face, clean before, was now painted in\nbrilliant colors! \u201cSurely,\u201d the people cried, \u201cthis man is in league with\nthe Sun!\u201d\n\nThat the idea of a tangible \u2018blessing\u2019 is found among the Minsi, as well\nas among the Unami, is shown in certain of their traditions.\n\nHISTORICAL REFERENCES.\u2014_Brainerd._\u2014Brainerd seems to have been about the\nfirst author to recognize in any degree the importance of the dream or\nvision in Lenape religious belief. He says:[40]\n\n \u201cThey give much heed to _dreams_, because they suppose that\n these invisible powers give them directions at such times about\n certain affairs, and sometimes inform them what _animal_ they\n would choose to be worshipped in.\u201d\n\nOther remarks by Brainerd on the same general topic were quoted in the\npreceding chapter.\n\n_Zeisberger._\u2014Zeisberger[41] also devotes a paragraph to it, in which he\nsays:\n\n \u201cAlmost all animals and the elements are looked upon as\n spirits, one exceeding the other in dignity and power. There\n is scarcely an Indian who does not believe that one or more of\n these spirits has not been particularly given him to assist him\n and make him prosper. This, they claim, has been made known to\n them in a dream, even as their religious belief and witchcraft\n has been made known to them in a dream. One has, in a dream,\n received a serpent or a buffalo, another the sun or the moon,\n another an owl or some other bird, another a fish, some even\n ridiculously insignificant creatures such as ants. These are\n considered their spirits or _Manittos_. If an Indian has no\n Manitto to be his friend he considers himself forsaken, has\n nothing on which he may lean, has no hope of any assistance and\n is small in his own eyes. On the other hand those who have been\n thus favored possess a high and proud spirit.\u201d\n\n_Loskiel._\u2014Loskiel\u2019s account[42] seems largely derived from the above. He\nremarks:\n\n \u201cThe _manittos_ are also considered as tutelar spirits. Every\n Indian has one or more, which he conceives to be peculiarly\n given to assist him and make him prosper. One has in a dream\n received the sun as his tutelar spirit, another the moon; a\n third, an owl; a fourth, a buffaloe; and so forth. An Indian is\n dispirited, and considers himself as forsaken by God, till he\n has received a tutelar spirit in a dream; But those who have\n been thus favored, are full of courage, and proud of their\n powerful ally.\u201d\n\n_Heckewelder._\u2014Heckewelder[43] devotes a whole chapter to the subject,\nunder the head of \u201cInitiation of Boys,\u201d to which the reader is referred,\nas it is all of interest, but can not be reproduced here. I will merely\nquote portions of one paragraph, which will serve to show that this\nauthor found approximately similar ideas as had his predecessors,\nconcepts which still exist among the Lenape.\n\n \u201cWhen a boy is to be thus _initiated_, he is put under an\n alternate course of physic and fasting ... so that he sees, or\n fancies that he sees visions, and has extraordinary dreams.\n Then he has interviews with the Manitto or with spirits, who\n inform him of what he was before he was born, and what he will\n be after his death. His fate in this life is laid entirely\n open before him, the spirit tells him what is to be his future\n employment, whether he will be a valiant warrior, a mighty\n hunter, a doctor, a conjuror or a prophet.\u201d\n\nLater in the chapter Heckewelder mentions the fact that persons favored\nwith such dreams considered themselves under the protection of the\n\u201ccelestial powers,\u201d and mentions the \u201cstrength, the power, and the\ncourage\u201d conveyed to them, but lays more stress on the prophetic side\nof these visions than on the actual aid rendered, according to Lenape\nbelief, by the supernatural guardians.\n\n_Adams._\u2014From Heckewelder\u2019s time to the present, I know of but one\nwriter, besides myself, who describes, from his own observation, the\nLenape belief in visions and guardian spirits. This is R. C. Adams,[44]\nhimself of Delaware blood, whose notes may be found in the volume on\nIndians of the United States Census Report for 1890 (p. 298 et seq.). He\nsays:\n\n \u201cIt is believed by the Delawares that every one has a guardian\n spirit which comes in the form of some bird, animal, or other\n thing, at times in dreams, and tells them what to do and what\n will happen. The guardian spirit is sent from the Great Spirit.\u201d\n\nHaving now considered the very foundation of Lenape religion, we may turn\nwith better understanding, to their great Annual Ceremony.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nUNAMI ANNUAL CEREMONY\n\n\nTHE LEADER\n\nThe great Annual Ceremony of the Lenape now in Oklahoma was and is held\nwhen the leaves turn yellow in the fall of the year, usually, according\nto the \u201cpale face\u201d reckoning, some time between the tenth and twentieth\nof October. It is not exactly a tribal affair, although the whole tribe\nparticipates, but must be undertaken by some certain individual of the\nproper qualifications who takes the responsibility of \u201cbringing in\u201d the\nmeeting and acting as a leader.\n\nThe phratry to which this leader belongs determines the exact form of the\nceremonies to be held; for each totemic group has a ritual of its own,\nthat of the Wolf, which is here related, differing in some particulars\nfrom the ceremonies as practised by the Turtle or Turkey people. In\nformer times, it is said, when one phratry had finished its twelve days\nof ceremonies, another would enact theirs, followed by the third; but at\npresent qualified leaders are so few that it seldom if ever happens that\nmore than one of them feels able to accept such exacting duties in any\none year.\n\nThis leader it is who sends a messenger forth to notify the people what\nday the ceremonies are to commence and to invite them all to attend.\n\nSeveral days before the date the wagons begin to roll in and a white\nvillage of tents springs up about the gray walls of the old Big House,\ntemple, or _xi\u02b9ngwikan_ (pl. V), standing on the banks of Little\nCaney river, north of Dewey in northern Oklahoma, far from any human\nhabitation.\n\n[Illustration: PL. V\n\nLENAPE CEREMONIAL HOUSE NEAR DEWEY, OKLAHOMA]\n\nBuilt of rough logs, the Big House is now provided with a roof of\nhand-split shingles pierced by two great smoke-holes, as shown in the\nfrontispiece and in pl. V, VI, but in former days the roof was of bark.\nThe length is about 40 ft. from east to west, with a height at the eaves\nof about 6 ft., at the ridge 14 ft., and a width of 24.5 ft. Aside from\ncertain ingenuities of construction which can not be discussed here, its\nchief interest lies in the two large carvings of the human face, one\nfacing east (fig. 6) and one west, which adorn the great central post\nsupporting the ridge-pole. Similar carvings, but smaller, may be seen\nupon each of the six posts which support the logs forming the sides (fig.\n7), and still smaller ones, one upon each of the four door-posts. All\ntwelve faces are painted, the right side of each red, the left black. The\nbuilding is used only for the Annual Ceremony.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 6.\u2014Central post of Ceremonial House, showing carved\nface.]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 7.\u2014Side posts of Ceremonial House, showing carved\nfaces.]\n\n\nOFFICERS\n\nThe messenger sent to assemble the people is one of three male attendants\nchosen by the leader, and these three men appoint three women to serve\nalso. To these six attendants, known as _a\u02b9ckas_, falls all the laborious\nwork of the meeting. Although the duties are menial, it is considered\nquite an honor to be selected as _a\u02b9ckas._ The attendants camp on the\nnorth and south sides of the little open square just east of the Big\nHouse (pl. VII), an area where no one is allowed to pitch a tent.\n\nOther officers selected for the meeting are a speaker (usually at the\ntime of the writer\u2019s visit, Chief Charley Elkhair), two singers, called\n_Tale\u02b9gun\u016dk_, \u201cCranes,\u201d whose duty it is to beat the dry deerskin drum\nand sing the necessary songs, and a chief hunter who is supposed to\nprovide venison for the feast.\n\n\nPREPARATIONS\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 8.\u2014Ceremonial fire-drill used at the Annual Ceremony.\n(Length of shaft, 29.5 in.)]\n\nArrived at the Big House, the attendants begin at once to prepare the\nbuilding for use after its year of idleness. The first act of the men\nis to make mortar of mud, in the old style, and stop the cracks between\nthe logs of the house. Then they cut two forked saplings, and set them\nin the ground about ten feet apart, some distance in front of the Big\nHouse (see pl. VII); upon these is laid a pole, running east and west, to\nsupport the twenty-gallon kettle used in preparing hominy for the feast.\nAfter this they gather about a cord of wood for the fires inside the Big\nHouse and the cooking fire outside. Then the first night, a fire pure and\nundefined by the white man and his matches, is made with a fire-drill\n(fig. 8). This is operated on the principal of a pump-drill, like the\nceremonial fire-drills of the Iroquois. This fire, and this only, may be\nused in the temple, and no one is permitted to take it outside for any\npurpose.\n\n[Illustration: PL. VI\n\nLENAPE ANNUAL CEREMONY IN PROGRESS\n\nNative Painting by Earnest Spybuck, a Shawnee]\n\n\nCEREMONY COMMENCED\n\nTwo of the attendants, a man and a woman, then build the two fires in the\ntemple, so that there may be plenty of light, and sweep the floor with\nturkey-wings for brushes. The men attendants take turns so that one of\nthem, at least, is always on guard outside the building. When the temple\nis clean, the fires are burning bright, and the _a\u02b9ckas_ have called the\npeople in and all are assembled, the chief arises and delivers a speech.\n\n\nCHIEF\u2019S SPEECH\n\nFirst he states the rules of the meeting, then he speaks along some\nsuch line as the following, which was dictated by Chief Elkhair, who\nfrequently made these speeches:\n\n\u201cWe are thankful that so many of us are alive to meet together here once\nmore, and that we are ready to hold our ceremonies in good faith. Now we\nshall meet here twelve nights in succession to pray to Gicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong,\nwho has directed us to worship in this way. And these twelve M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b\nfaces [carved on the posts of the house] are here to watch and to carry\nour prayers to Gicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong in the highest heaven. The reason why we\ndance at this time is to raise our prayers to him. Our attendants here,\nthree women and three men, have the task of keeping everything about our\nTemple in good order, and of trying to keep peace, if there is trouble.\nThey must haul wood and build fires, cook and sweep out the Big House.\n\n\u201cWhen they sweep, they must sweep both sides of the fire twelve times,\nwhich sweeps a road to Heaven, just as they say that it takes twelve\nyears to reach it. Women in their menses must not enter this house.\n\n\u201cWhen we come into this house of ours we are glad, and thankful that we\nare well, and for everything that makes us feel good which the Creator\nhas placed here for our use. We come here to pray Him to have mercy on\nus for the year to come and to give us everything to make us happy; may\nwe have good crops, and no dangerous storms, floods nor earthquakes. We\nall realize what He has put before us all through life, and that He has\ngiven us a way to pray to Him and thank Him. We are thankful to the East\nbecause everyone feels good in the morning when they awake, and see the\nbright light coming from the East, and when the Sun goes down in the West\nwe feel good and glad we are well; then we are thankful to the West. And\nwe are thankful to the North, because when the cold winds come we are\nglad to have lived to see the leaves fall again; and to the South, for\nwhen the south wind blows and everything is coming up in the spring, we\nare glad to live to see the grass growing and everything green again. We\nthank the Thunders, for they are the _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ that bring the rain,\nwhich the Creator has given them power to rule over. And we thank our\nmother, the Earth, whom we claim as mother because the Earth carries us\nand everything we need. When we eat and drink and look around, we know\nit is Gicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong that makes us feel good that way. He gives us the\npurest thoughts that can be had. We should pray to Him every morning.\n\n\u201cMan has a spirit, and the body seems to be a coat for that spirit. That\nis why people should take care of their spirits, so as to reach Heaven\nand be admitted to the Creator\u2019s dwelling. We are given some length of\ntime to live on earth, and then our spirits must go. When anyone\u2019s time\ncomes to leave this earth, he should go to Gicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong, feeling good\non the way. We all ought to pray to Him, to prepare ourselves for days to\ncome so that we can be with Him after leaving the earth.\n\n\u201cWe must all put our thoughts to this meeting, so that Gicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong\nwill look upon us and grant what we ask. You all come here to pray; you\nhave a way to reach Him all through life. Do not think of evil; strive\nalways to think of the good which He has given us.\n\n\u201cWhen we reach that place, we shall not have to do anything or worry\nabout anything, only live a happy life. We know there are many of our\nfathers who have left this earth and are now in this happy place in\nthe Land of Spirits. When we arrive we shall see our fathers, mothers,\nchildren, and sisters there. And when we have prepared ourselves so that\nwe can go to where our parents and children are, we feel happy.\n\n\u201cEverything looks more beautiful there than here, everything looks new,\nand the waters and fruits and everything are lovely.\n\n\u201cNo sun shines there, but a light much brighter than the sun, the Creator\nmakes it brighter by his power. All people who die here, young or old,\nwill be of the same age there; and those who are injured, crippled, or\nmade blind will look as good as the rest of them. It is nothing but the\nflesh that is injured: the spirit is as good as ever. That is the reason\nthat people are told to help always the cripples or the blind. Whatever\nyou do for them will surely bring its reward. Whatever you do for anybody\nwill bring you credit hereafter. Whenever we think the thoughts that\nGicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong has given us, it will do us good.\n\n\u201cThis is all I can think of to say along this line. Now we will pass the\nTurtle around, and all that feel like worshiping may take it and perform\ntheir ceremonies.\u201d\n\nSome nights the speaker says more, sometimes less, just as he feels, but\nhe always tries to tell it as he heard it from the old people who came\nbefore him.\n\n\nRECITAL OF VISIONS\n\nNow, as was stated, these meetings are \u201cbrought in\u201d by individuals; that\nis a certain person, usually a man, undertakes to arrange for the meeting\nand to lead the ceremonies. This person must be one of those gifted by a\nvision or dream of power in their youth, and hence, according to Lenape\nbelief, one in communication with the supernatural world.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 9.\u2014Rattle of land-tortoise shell, used by celebrants\nat the Annual Ceremony. (Length, 4.2 in.)]\n\nWhen the people file into the Big House, the few that still have them\ndressed in their best Indian costumes carefully preserved for such\noccasions (pl. I), the members of this leader\u2019s clan always take their\nseats on the north side, the other two clans in the west end and the\nsouth side. Men and women, however, do not mingle, but sit separately in\nthe space allotted to their common clan. The diagram (pl. VII) shows the\nseating of the clans when the ceremony is \u201cbrought in\u201d by a member of\nthe Wolf division.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 10.\u2014Drum made of dried deerskin used at the Annual\nCeremony. (Length 38.2 in.)]\n\nAfter the chief\u2019s speech, the leader arises from his place just north of\nthe central post, and, rapidly shaking a rattle (_taxo\u02b9xi cow\u016dni\u02b9g\u016dn_)\nmade of a box-tortoise shell (fig. 9), recites his vision in a high\nmonotone, word by word. After he utters each word, he pauses an\ninstant to give the singers sitting at the rolled dry deerskin called\n_pow\u016dni\u02b9g\u016dn_ which serves as a drum (fig. 10), ample time to repeat the\nsame word in the same tone, which produces an extraordinary effect.\nWhen he finishes, the drummers beat rapidly on the dry hide, repeating\n\u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d a number of times.\n\n[Illustration: PL. VII\n\nPLAN OF LENAPE CEREMONIAL HOUSE AND GROUNDS NEAR DEWEY, OKLAHOMA]\n\nThen the celebrant repeats a verse of his song in the same way, and the\ndrummers, having learned the words, sing them to a dance tune, beating\nthe drum in slower time. After dancing awhile, the celebrator whoops, and\nthey stop; then another similar verse, if not the same, is recited and\nthen sung.\n\nWhen the leader dances, he circles about the two fires contra-clockwise,\nand those who wish may join in the dance and follow him (pl. VI).\n\nHis dance finished, the leader passes the turtleshell to the next man who\nhas been blessed with a vision. This one has the privilege of singing\nhis vision if he wishes; if not, it is handed to the next \u201cdreamer.\u201d\nAfter a celebrant has taken his seat, it is customary for those who\ndesire it to smoke until the next man is ready to commence. At this time\nalso it is considered proper for the people to enter or leave the Big\nHouse, which is not permitted while the actual ceremony is in progress.\nWhen the turtle rattle has thus made the round of the building and gets\nback to its starting point, the meeting is brought to a close. This is\nusually along toward morning, the exact time of course being dependent\non the number who have sung their visions, and on the length of the\nintermissions.\n\n\nCONCLUSION OF RITES\n\nNow, when the man who started the ceremonies begins to dance, that is a\nsignal for two of the women _a\u02b9ckas_, or attendants, to go out and pound\ncorn for hominy or meal, and two of their men colleagues cook it in the\nkettle hanging on the pole, so that it is ready when the turtle has made\nits rounds and the meeting is about to close. Then the repast of hominy\nor corn mush called _s\u00e4\u02b9pan_ is distributed, and the speaker says, \u201cWe\nwill now pray twelve times,\u201d so twelve times they cry \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d as a\nprayer. Then they feast, using musselshells from the river as spoons,\nand finally the speaker dismisses them with the words, \u201cThis is all for\ntonight; tomorrow night we will meet again.\u201d\n\n\nDEPARTURE OF THE HUNTERS\n\nWhen the next night arrives, approximately the same performance is\nrepeated; and the same the next, with little of interest occurring during\nthe day; but on the fourth morning, the leader who has selected a man\nfor chief hunter, gives him a yard of wampum as pay. This master of the\nhunt then selects as many assistants as he wants, and he and his crew all\ngather in the Big House, where they are served about noon with a feast\nprepared for the occasion by the women of the camp, and the attendants\ntie sacks of the food to the hunters\u2019 saddles.\n\nWhen they have finished eating, they arrange themselves in a row, each\nhunter standing on his left foot and barely touching the ground with the\ntoes of his right, an action whose meaning I have not yet been able to\ndetermine.\n\nThen the speaker rises and talks to them, and the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b who has been\nseen about the camp from time to time, is in the Big House listening to\nhis words. \u201cWhen you hunt,\u201d says the speaker, \u201cthink of nothing but luck\nto kill deer.\u201d As he speaks he goes to the west fire and throws into it,\nsix times, an offering of native tobacco; then to the east fire, where\nhe sacrifices six more pinches of the sacred herb\u2014twelve in all. While\nsacrificing tobacco, he prays to the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b to drive the deer up, so\nthat the hunters can kill them. As he drops the last tobacco into the\nflames, he says, \u201cIf you kill a deer right away, bring it in tonight; if\nnot, bring in all you kill day after tomorrow.\u201d\n\nWhat tobacco is left is given to the chief hunter with the words, \u201cWhen\nyou camp tonight, burn this and ask M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn to let you kill\ndeer.\u201d The reader will remember that M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, in whose image the\nM\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b is carved, is supposed to have control over the deer, and in\nfact over all wild animals.\n\nAll the hunters that are in the habit of chewing tobacco are now given\nsome for this purpose. When they file out and mount their horses, the\nM\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b follows them and sees them off.\n\nAfter the hunters have disappeared, the people call the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b back\ninto the Big House and coax him to dance, while two men volunteer to sing\nfor him.\n\n\nPRAYER FOR THE HUNTERS\n\nThe following evening six men are appointed and given a yard of wampum\nto divide among them, to go out close to the forked game-pole east of\nthe Big House, intended for the carcasses of the deer, and \u201cpray\u201d there\ntwelve times. The meaning of this, of course, is that they sound the\nprayer word \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d which is evidently to help the hunters. This\nnight also a yard of wampum is unstrung and scattered on the ground\njust west of the east fire, and this the attendants must pick up, crying\n\u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d as they do so. For doing this, which is called \u201cpicking\nberries,\u201d they are supposed to keep what wampum they pick up.\n\n\nRETURN OF THE HUNTERS\n\nIf the hunters are lucky and kill a deer the first day, they send one man\nback with it. As he approaches he fires a gun as a signal of his coming,\nat which the singers run into the Big House and begin to sing and beat\nthe drum. Then everyone is happy.\n\nIn any case the hunters all return on the third day. If they have killed\ndeer, they shoot their guns; if not, they come in very quietly. When the\nshots are heard, the singers hasten to their places, and, beating the\ndrum, sing a song that is used only on such occasions. Then when the\nhunters arrive, they feast, and their leader announces the names of those\nlucky enough to kill a deer. The carcasses are skinned and hung on the\ndeer pole (shown in frontispiece), east of the Big House, and are used\nin the feasts at the close of every night\u2019s meeting until the gathering\ndisbands.\n\n\nNEW FIRE\n\nEvery night the usual program is repeated until the ninth. On this night\na new fire is kindled with the sacred pump-drill called _tu\u207fda\u02b9i w\u00e4he\u207f\u02b9ji\nman\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ or \u201cFire maker of the Man\u012d\u02b9tos\u201d (fig. 8), and the ashes of\nthe old are carried out through the west door of the Big House, which is\nused only for this purpose (among the Unami), and is usually kept closed.\nThe new fire seems to symbolize a fresh start in all the affairs of life.\n\n\nUSE OF CARVED DRUMSTICKS\n\nAlso on the ninth night, before the singing begins, they bring out the\ntwo ancient drumsticks (_pa k\u016d\u207fdi\u02b9g\u016dn_) carved with tiny human heads, one\nmale and one female (fig. 11), to use in place of the cruder sticks used\nbefore, which are marked only with a rude cross (fig. 12, _a_). At this\ntime, also, twelve prayersticks (_ma\u201btehi\u02b9gun_) are distributed\u2014six plain\nand six striped ones (fig. 12, _b_)\u2014by two of the male attendants, each\nwith six, one man starting from each end of the Big House and proceeding\nin a trot to distribute the sticks while the drum is beaten, and the\npeople, holding up their hands, cry the prayer word \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 11.\u2014Sacred drumsticks, used at the Annual Ceremony in\nOklahoma. (Length of _a_, 18.6 in.)\n\nFIG. 12.\u2014_a_, Plain drumstick used at the Annual Ceremony; _b_,\nPrayerstick. (Length of _b_, 18.9 in.)]\n\nBoth drumsticks and prayersticks are used every night from this time on.\nIf it so happens that the plain sticks do not fall opposite each other\n(or on opposite sides of the house), they must all be picked up again and\nredistributed. After this, those who have received a stick raise that\ninstead of their hand, when they repeat the prayer word \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d and\ncarry it when they dance.\n\n\nTURTLE RATTLES\n\nAt this time, too, all who own turtle rattles such as are used in singing\nthe visions (fig. 9), are requested to bring them in to the meeting, when\nthey are placed in a row on the north side, in front of the man who,\nas the Indians phrase it, \u201cbrought on the meeting.\u201d The backs of the\nturtleshells are all measured with strings of wampum, which are cut off\nin lengths corresponding with the lengths of the backs.\n\nThen the owners are called to get their turtles and wampum, which is\nsupposed to be their pay for bringing them to the meeting. As each takes\nup his turtle, he shakes it, and if it does not sound well, then the\npeople laugh, and the owner, abashed, takes his property out of sight as\nsoon as possible.\n\n\nPHRATRY PRAYERS\n\nThen they call up six men, two from each of the three phratries\u2014Turtle,\nTurkey, and Wolf. Each goes outside and cries the prayer word \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d\ntwelve times, holding up his left hand. When the first one returns, he\nis given one yard of wampum, and divides it with the other five. This is\ndone each night until the end.\n\n\nWOMEN\u2019S NIGHT\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 13.\u2014Paint-dish of bark, used at the Annual Ceremony.\n(Length, 2.2 in.)]\n\nThe twelfth night is reserved for the women to relate their visions; but\nbefore they begin, the speaker orders the attendants to burn cedar-leaves\nin the two fires, and the people are supposed to inhale the smoke and\npurify themselves. Then two women are ordered to take, one a little bark\ndish (_a\u207fsipta\u02b9g\u016dn_) of red paint (fig. 13), the other a similar vessel\nof grease, and the two start from the door on the north side of the\nTemple and go to each person present. One dips her fingers in the paint\nand touches the color to the person\u2019s left cheek, while her companion\nsimilarly annoints the person\u2019s head with a little of the grease. This\ndone, two men attendants take the bark vessels and paint and grease in\nthe same way the twelve M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b faces carved upon the posts of the\nbuilding, also the drumsticks, the prayersticks, the deerskin drum, and\nthe turtles. A variant has it that both bark vessels contain paint, the\ncustoms differing according to phratry.\n\nEach woman who takes part on this night receives a share of the venison,\nif there is any,\u2014the biggest and fattest buck the hunters kill,\u2014and the\nattendants cook it for them at the fire outside.\n\n\nCONCLUSION OF CEREMONY\n\nNext morning the men resume the ceremony and continue until the sun is\nhigh. Two men are then appointed to close the meeting, for which each\nreceives one yard of wampum. Their duty is to sing twelve times while\nthe people dance about the central post, the women in a circle next to\nthe post, the men in another circle outside that of the women. These\ntwo singers stop dancing in front of where the chief is sitting, and\nannounce, \u201cWe will now pray twelve times.\u201d They go back to their seats\nand cry \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d twelve times. Then the attendants serve the last\nfeast. Two women then go around with wampum in a wooden bowl, giving\neveryone two or three beads.\n\n\nPAYMENT OF ATTENDANTS\n\nThen the attendants, three men and three women, stand in a row and\nreceive six yards of wampum on one string, which they hold in their\nhands, the first in the row holding the end of the string, which\nstretches along from one to the other. Then the chief says: \u201cWe thank you\nattendants of this meeting for your kindness in sweeping our Temple for\nthese twelve nights, and the attention and care you have given. We have\nheard our old parents say that, if you sweep this Meeting House twelve\ndifferent times, you will sweep up to where our great Father is, as he is\nup in the twelfth Heaven above the earth.\u201d\n\nThe attendants then circle about the fires and go out to the cooking\nfireplace, where they divide the wampum, taking a yard apiece. At last,\nwhen the shadow of a person is nearly under him, that is, about noon, the\nspeaker or chief arises, and says, \u201cAll of us kinfolk must now go out and\nend our meeting, which has been going on for twelve days and nights.\u201d\nThereupon they all file out\u2014men, women, and children\u2014and form a row\nextending north and south, facing east, just east of the Big House, the\nhunters taking with them the skins of the deer they killed.\n\n\nFINALE\n\nHere they all pray, or rather cry the prayer word \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d six times\nstanding, holding up one hand, and six times kneeling, holding up the\nother hand. The meeting is then ended. This is shown in the frontispiece.\nThe deerskins are given to poor old people, who need them to make\nmoccasins.\n\nOne informant stated that instead of crying \u201c_Ho-o-o_\u201d twelve times in\nclosing the meeting, it was customary to use this word only ten times,\nand then cry \u201c_Ha-a-a_\u201d twice, completing the sacred number twelve; but\nsuch discrepancies are probably due to the variation of ritual among the\nthree phratries before mentioned, the Turkey, the Turtle, and the Wolf.\nThis kind of prayer was noticed by Zeisberger[45] as early as 1779, for\nhe writes:\n\n \u201cAt a third kind of feast ten or more tanned deerskins are\n given to as many old men or women, who wrap themselves in them\n and stand before the house with their faces turned toward\n the east, praying God with a loud voice to reward their\n benefactors. They turn toward the east because they believe\n that God dwells beyond the rising of the sun. At the same time\n much wampum is given away. This is thrown on the ground and the\n young people scramble for it. Afterward it is ascertained who\n secured the most. This feast is called _\u2019ngammuin_, the meaning\n of which they themselves are unable to give.\u201d\n\nThe suspicion that Zeisberger mistook the conclusion of the Annual\nCeremony for a separate rite is strengthened by the fact that he gives\nits name as \u201c\u2019_ngammuin_,\u201d which seems to be a form of _Ga\u02b9muing_, the\nmodern Lenape name for their Annual Ceremony.\n\n\nPAYMENT OF OFFICERS\n\nAll the officers of the meeting receive pay in wampum for their services,\nexcept, of course, the leader\u2014the man who has caused the meeting to be\nheld. The speaker receives a yard for every night of the meeting; the\ndrummers get a yard between them each night; there are also the payments\nto the attendants, hunters, and others, already mentioned. The attendants\nhave other sources of profit, too, for they serve meals three times a day\nin the Big House to the leader of the meeting and all his near relatives,\nalso to the speaker and the drummers.\n\nWhen they have finished feasting, the leader calls the attendants to come\nand get their dishes and pans. Each has a cup in which he brings coffee,\nand the leader puts twenty-five wampum beads in each cup for every meal.\nMoreover, when any one in the outside camps is hungry, he may go to an\n_a\u02b9ckas_ and obtain a meal for twenty-five wampum beads. The attendants\nhave a table near the tent of one of the woman _a\u02b9ckas_, and here they\neat.\n\n\nVALUATION OF WAMPUM\n\nFor ceremonial purposes the wampum (white) is held at one cent a bead,\none hundred to the dollar. Before the meeting the people give a yard or\nso apiece, if they are able, to show their appreciation and to be prayed\nfor, or subscribe money for its purchase and for the other things needed\nat the meeting. The wampum is afterward redeemed at the same rate and is\nkept to use again.\n\n\nINDIAN COMMENTS ON THE CEREMONY\n\nSome explanations and remarks concerning the annual ceremony, as\nfurnished by the Indians themselves, may prove of interest here.\n\nJulius Fouts (or Fox), the interpreter, remarks:\n\n\u201cWhen the Delawares complete this meeting, then they claim they have\nworshiped everything on this earth. God gave the Powers Above authority\nto go around and give all the tribes some way to worship. They say\nthese things were as if carried in a bundle, and when they come to the\nDelawares, last of all, there was a lot left in the bundle and they got\nit all\u2014that is why the Delawares have so many different things to do in\ntheir meetings.\u201d\n\nIn explanation of the prayer word _Ho-o-o_, he said, \u201cDid you ever hear\nthat noise out in the woods, in the fall of the year? \u2018_Ho-o-o_,\u2019 it\nsays. What is it? It is the noise of the wind blowing in the trees. When\nthe Delawares pray in the Big House, they raise their voices and cry\n\u2018_Ho-o-o_\u2019 to God, and the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b hears it and understands, for he\nis of the same nature as a tree, and there are twelve M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b carved\nin the Big House who will carry the prayers to the twelfth Heaven. The\nIndians call the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b \u2018Grandfather,\u2019 because the trees were here\nbefore the Indians. The Big House is going out of use now, because only\nthe old people have had gifts or visions of power to sing about. The\nchildren of today are not _pi\u02b9ls\u016d\u207f_, or pure; they are reared like the\nwhites, and the Powers Above do not speak to them any more.\u201d\n\nChief Charley Elkhair, or Elkire, who frequently served as speaker in the\nBig House, said:\n\n\u201cThe Delaware meeting helps everybody in the world, for they pray for\ngood crops and everything good, even wild fruits. About ten years ago\nthe people thought they would give up holding these meetings, and the\nfollowing year they had high winds and big rains, and everyone was\nfrightened. Then grasshoppers came in swarms, but they came in the fall\na little too late to get all the crops. So the people held a council and\ntalked about the Big House again. They finally decided to resume it,\nbefore any more bad luck came; so they began the ceremonies again in the\nfall.\n\n\u201cThen it seemed as if all the trouble stopped. Of late there has been\ntalk of again giving up the meeting, but if we do give it up we are\nlikely to have a tornado or maybe dry weather to ruin the crops.\n\n\u201cOnce the Delawares owned a great deal of land, but that is nearly all\ngone now, and the people seem to have no power to do anything. When God\nlooks down from Heaven, he sees but very few Delaware people, and the\nreason for this is that they cannot follow the Meeting House ceremonies\nnow. When I was a little boy, I heard my people say that this thing\nwould happen just as it is happening now. You see, the young people\nraised during the last thirty years do not believe in the old ways. We\nare having good times yet, but we don\u2019t know when we shall catch it. If\nanything happens to us, and once really begins, we can not stop it\u2014it\nwill be too late. Even if they take up the meeting again\u2014they can not do\nright, even when the ceremonies are going on.\n\n\u201cThey can not accomplish anything in the Big House; they can not raise it\nup, because there are a lot of young folks who do not even try to do what\nthe speaker tells them, for they do not believe in it.\n\n\u201cThe people could get along fine, if they followed the rules of the\nmeeting\u2014not only the Delawares, but the other people round about. For\nwhen the Delaware prays, he prays for things that will benefit everybody;\nhe prays for the children as well as for himself; he prays for future\ntime. But if anything comes to destroy the world, it will be too late to\nthink of starting the Big House then.\u201d\n\n_Penn\u2019s Account._\u2014William Penn seems to have been the first to attempt a\ndescription of Lenape rites, for he wrote in 1683, in the same letter we\nhave quoted before:\n\n \u201cTheir Worship consists of two parts, sacrifice and Cantico.\n Their sacrifice is their first fruits.... The other part\n of their worship is by Cantico, performed by round dances,\n sometimes words, sometimes songs, then shouts, two being in\n the middle that begin, and by singing and drumming on a board\n direct the chorus.... They are said to lay their altar on\n twelve stones.\u201d\n\nIn this brief account should be noted the presence of _two_ drummers; the\nfact that they did not use a drum, but a \u201cboard\u201d which was probably, if\nPenn had taken the trouble to look more closely, a dried hide; the word\n_cantico_ which resembles the modern Lenape words for \u201cdance\u201d\u2014_k\u012d\u02b9n\u012dk\u00e4_\namong the Unami and _k\u012d\u02b9ntika_ among the Minsi; and finally the use of\nthe sacred number twelve.\n\n_Zeisberger\u2019s Account._\u2014The earliest detailed account, however, of the\ngreat Lenape ceremonies is given by Zeisberger,[46] who, writing about\n1779, says:\n\n \u201cWorship and sacrifices have obtained among them from the\n earliest times, being usages handed down from their ancestors.\n Though in the detail of ceremony there has been change, as the\n Indians are more divided now than at that time, worship and\n sacrifice have continued as practiced in the early days, for\n the Indians believe that they would draw all manner of disease\n and misfortune upon themselves if they omitted to observe the\n ancestral rites.\n\n \u201cIn the matter of sacrifice, relationship, even though distant,\n is of significance, legitimate or illegitimate relationship\n being regarded without distinction. A sacrifice is offered by\n a family, with its entire relationship, once in two years.\n Others, even the inhabitants of other towns, are invited. Such\n sacrifices are commonly held in autumn, rarely in winter. As\n their connections are large, each Indian will have opportunity\n to attend more than one family sacrifice a year. The head of\n the family knows the time and he must provide for everything.\n When the head of such a family is converted, he gets into\n difficulty because his friends will not give him peace until he\n has designated some one to take his place in the arrangement of\n sacrificial feasts.\n\n \u201cPreparations for such a sacrificial feast extend through\n several days. The requisite number of deer and bears is\n calculated and the young people are sent into the woods to\n procure them together with the leader whose care it is to see\n that everything needful is provided. These hunters do not\n return until they have secured the amount of booty counted\n upon. On their return they fire a volley when near the town,\n march in in solemn procession and deposit the flesh in the\n house of sacrifice. Meantime the house has been cleared and\n prepared. The women have prepared firewood and brought in long\n dry reed grass, which has been strewn the entire length of the\n house, on both sides, for the guests to sit upon. Such a feast\n may continue for three or four nights, the separate sessions\n beginning in the afternoon and lasting until the next morning.\n Great kettles full of meat are boiled and bread is baked. These\n are served to the guests by four servants especially appointed\n for this service. The rule is that whatever is thus brought\n as a sacrifice must be eaten altogether and nothing left. A\n small quantity of melted fat only is poured into the fire.\n The bones are burnt, so that the dogs may not get any of them.\n After the meal the men and women dance, every rule of decency\n being observed. It is not a dance for pleasure or exercise, as\n is the ordinary dance engaged in by the Indians. One singer\n only performs during the dance, walking up and down, rattling\n a small tortoise shell filled with pebbles. He sings of the\n dreams the Indians have had, naming all the animals, elements\n and plants they hold to be spirits. None of the spirits of\n things that are useful to the Indians may be omitted. By\n worshipping all the spirits named they consider themselves\n to be worshipping God, who has revealed his will to them in\n dreams. When the first singer has finished he is followed by\n another. Between dances the guests may stop to eat again. There\n are four or five kinds of feasts, the ceremonies of which\n differ much from one another.\n\n \u201cAt these feasts there are never less than four servants, to\n each of whom a fathom of wampum is given that they may care\n for all necessary things. During the three or four days they\n have enough to do by day and by night. They have leave, also,\n to secure the best of provisions, such as sugar, bilberries,\n molasses, eggs, butter and to sell these things at a profit to\n guests and spectators.\u201d\n\n_Adams\u2019 Account._\u2014The best and, in fact, the only late account previous\nto his own first article[47] the writer has seen of the Annual Ceremony\namong the Lenape in Oklahoma, is that written by Adams,[48] which reads\nas follows:\n\n \u201cThe peculiar steps which they use in this dance have caused\n the name \u2018stomp\u2019 or \u2018stamp\u2019 to be applied to it.\n\n \u201cIn regard to the stomp dances of our people, we have several\n kinds of dances; the most important one is the \u2018worship dance\u2019\n which is carried on in a large building called a temple, which\n is rectangular and ranges from 60 to 80 feet long, from 30 to\n 40 feet wide, and is about 10 feet high. It is built of wood\n with 2 doors. The main entrance is at the eastern door, and it\n has only a dirt floor.\n\n \u201cOn each post is carved a human face. On the center post or\n one in the center of the building four faces are carved; each\n face is painted one-half red and one-half black. All the people\n enter at the east and go out the same way. When they come in\n they pass to the right of the fire, and each of the three\n clans of the Delawares take seats next to the wall, the Turtle\n clan on the south, the Turkey on the west, and the Wolf on the\n north. In no case can any one pass between the center post and\n east door, but must go around the center post, even to go to\n the north side of the temple.\n\n \u201cThis dance is held once each year, in the fall, and generally\n in October, in the full moon, and lasts not less than 12 days\n for each part. The tribe is divided into three clans, and each\n clan has to go through the same part, so the dance is sometimes\n 36 days long, but sometimes the second and third clans do not\n dance more than 6 days each.\n\n \u201cThe Turtle clan usually lead or begin the dance. A tortoise\n shell, dried and beautifully polished and containing several\n small pebbles, is placed in the southeast corner near the door\n in front of the first person. If he has anything to say he\n takes the shell and rattles it, and an answer comes from the\n south side of the temple from the singers, who strike on a\n dried deer\u2019s hide: then the party who has the tortoise shell\n makes an address or talk to the people, and thanks the Great\n Spirit for blessings, and then proceeds to dance, going to the\n right and around the fire, followed by all who wish to take\n part, and finally coming to the center post he stops there;\n then all the dancers shake hands and return to their seats.\n Then the shell is passed to the next person, who dances or\n passes it on, as he chooses.\n\n \u201cOn the third day of the dance all men, both married and\n single, are required to keep out of the company of women for\n 3 days at least. They have a doorkeeper, a leader, and 2 or 3\n parties who sweep the ground floor with turkey wings, and who\n also serve as deacons. The ashes from the fire are always\n taken out at the west door, and the dirt is always swept in the\n fire. In front of the east door outside is a high pole on which\n venison hangs. It is a feast dance and the deacons distribute\n food among the people. The officers and waiters are paid in\n wampum for their services.\n\n \u201cIn no case is a dog allowed to enter the temple, and no one is\n allowed to laugh inside it, or in any way be rude. Each person\n is allowed to speak and tell his dream or dreams or to give\n advice. It is believed by the Delawares that every one has a\n guardian spirit which comes in the form of some bird, animal,\n or other thing, at times in dreams, and tells them what to do\n and what will happen. The guardian spirit is sent from the\n Great Spirit.\n\n \u201cTraditions say that 10 years before white men came to this\n country (America) a young man told his dream in the temple.\n This was on the Atlantic coast. He saw coming across the great\n waters a large canoe with pinions (wings) and containing\n strange people, and that in 10 years they would in fact come.\n He told this dream and predicted the arrival of the white men\n each year until they came and were seen by his people. Many of\n our people still keep up this dance, but the temple is not so\n large as it used to be, and the attendance now is not more than\n 100 persons. Any Indian of any tribe can also take part in the\n dance, but no white man can.\n\n \u201cWhen the dance is over all the people go out and stand in a\n single line from east to west with their faces to the south.\n Then they kneel down and pray, and then go home. We do not know\n the origin of the worship dance, but the old Indians claim that\n the Great Spirit came many years ago and instructed it and also\n gave them the wampum.\u201d\n\nIn spite of several inaccuracies, such as the statement that the people\nface _south_ (instead of east) while praying after the ceremony, this\naccount is valuable on account of the additional data it furnishes on\nseveral points of interest, especially the tradition concerning the\nprophecy of the coming of the whites.\n\n\nANOTHER FORM OF THE ANNUAL CEREMONY\n\nIt appears that in former years there was, in addition to the rite just\ndescribed, another form of the Annual Ceremony practised by the Lenape,\nbefore their removal to what is now Oklahoma from Kansas, where the last\nman to \u201cbring in\u201d such a meeting was John Sarcoxie, now dead.\n\nThe ceremony, which was called _MuxhatoL\u02b9zing_, seems, from the accounts\ngiven the writer by his informants, to have taken place in a similar\nbuilding, and to have been similar in ritual to that just described,\nexcept that it was held for only eight days instead of twelve, and that,\nafter the return of the hunters the skin of one of the deer they had\nbrought in was stuffed with grass and stood up by the central post of\nthe Big House, antlers and all, while about its neck hung a string of\nwampum\u2014perhaps as a propitiatory offering.\n\nMoreover on the morning of the last day of the ceremony a large\nsweathouse was built and stones heated; then about noon the men who had\nbeen reciting their visions went into it, each taking one of the hot\nstones with him. This privilege was not confined to the actual celebrants\nhowever, for every one blessed by a guardian spirit even if they had not\nsung their visions in the meeting, was entitled to carry in a stone and\njoin them.\n\nThe entrance was then closed and water poured upon the stones; and while\nthe steam rose and the sweathouse grew hotter and hotter the perspiring\noccupants prayed to their guardian spirits and recited their visions.\nThese finished, with a shout of \u201cThere go our prayers to Those Above,\u201d\nthe cover was suddenly snatched from the sweathouse so that the steam it\nhad contained rose in a puff. If the steam cloud went straight up into\nthe air it was thought that the prayers would be heard and answered, and\nthat all was well, but if it broke and spread out the people felt that\nsomething had gone wrong, and that their prayers were of no avail.\n\nIn endeavoring to explain the presence of such variations of the Annual\nCeremony, it should be remembered that the Lenape now in Oklahoma whom\nthe writer has called for convenience \u201cUnami,\u201d are not really pure\ndescendants of this tribe, but probably have a large proportion of the\nblood of the Unala\u201b\u02b9tko or Unalachtigo, whose dialect, according to\nHeckewelder, was very similar, and a smaller proportion of Minsi and\neven Nanticoke blood. Perhaps then the first form of Annual Ceremony\ndescribed may have originally been purely Unami, and the second\nUnalachtigo, or Minsi, or vice versa; but later, when the remnants of\nthese tribes became amalgamated their mixed descendants inherited both\nforms.\n\nThe second form seems to be a variant of the rite mentioned by\nZeisberger[49] who describes it as follows:\n\n \u201cA fifth kind of festival is held in honor of fire which\n the Indians regard as being their grandfather, and call\n _Machtuzin_, meaning \u2018to perspire.\u2019 A sweating-oven is built\n in the midst of the house of sacrifice, consisting of twelve\n poles each of a different species of wood. These twelve poles\n represent twelve _Manittos_, some of these being creatures,\n others plants. These they run into the ground, tie together\n at the top, bending them toward each other; these are covered\n entirely with blankets, joined closely together, each person\n being very ready to lend his blanket, so that the whole\n appears like a baker\u2019s oven, high enough nearly to admit a man\n standing upright. After the meal of sacrifice, fire is made at\n the entrance of the oven and twelve large stones, about the\n size of human heads, are heated and placed in the oven. Then\n twelve Indians creep into it and remain there as long as they\n can bear the heat. While they are inside twelve pipes full of\n tobacco are thrown, one after another, upon the hot stones,\n which occasions a smoke almost powerful enough to suffocate\n those confined inside. Some one may also walk around the\n stones singing and offering tobacco, for tobacco is offered to\n fire. Usually, when the twelve men emerge from the oven, they\n fall down in a swoon. During this feast a whole buckskin with\n the head and antlers is raised upon a pole, head and antlers\n resting on the pole, before which the Indians sing and pray.\n They deny that they pay any adoration to the buck, declaring\n that God alone is worshipped through this medium and is so\n worshipped at his will.\u201d\n\nThat this is really the same ceremony is shown not only by the details as\nrelated but by the native name of the rite, the _Machtuzin_ of Zeisberger\ncorresponding with the _MuxhatoL\u02b9zing_ of the present writer.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nMINSI BIG HOUSE CEREMONIES\n\n\nThe following account of the great ceremonies of the Minsi, which\ncorrespond to the annual ceremony of the Unami, was obtained from Chief\nJames Wolf, now deceased, and his nephew, Chief Nellis Timothy.\n\n\nMYTH OF ORIGIN\n\nAt first, it appears, the Indians did not know how to worship, so\nK\u0115\u201btan\u012dto\u02b9w\u0115t, the Great Man\u012d\u02b9to or God, now called Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas, came\ndown and told them what to do. After following his instructions, they\nwatched him when he ascended. He carried twelve sumach sticks in his\nhand, and they could see them shine far up in the air. Every now and\nthen he dropped one, and when he dropped the twelfth he disappeared,\nwhile they heard the heavens crack like thunder behind him as he went\nin. After this the Lenape began to hold these meetings according to the\ninstructions he had given them.\n\n\nNUMBER OF CEREMONIES\n\nThere were two of these ceremonies every year, both held in the Minsi Big\nHouse (_W\u201ba\u02b9tekan_), which was quite similar to that of the Unami. One of\nthese, performed about June when the wild strawberries were ripe, lasted\nonly a single night; the other, early in winter, covered twelve days and\nnights. This latter corresponds to the Annual Ceremony of the Unami.\n\nAt the June ceremony fresh strawberries were made into a drink for the\npeople, which reminds one of the Iroquois Strawberry Dance, or Dance of\nFirst Fruits, as it is sometimes called. Strawberries were dried at this\ntime to make a drink for the Winter Ceremony.\n\n\nARRANGEMENT OF THE BIG HOUSE\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 14.\u2014Drum of dried deerskin, Minsi type. E. T. Tefft\ncollection, American Museum of Natural History. (Length 16.7 in.)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 15.\u2014_a_, Drumstick, Minsi type; _b_, Prayerstick. E.\nT. Tefft collection, American Museum of Natural History. (Length of _a_,\n19 in.)]\n\nLike the Unami Big House, that of the Minsi had a large central post\nbearing carved faces; but, unlike that of the Unami, there was a second\nshort post, near the central one, upon which was hung, for each ceremony,\na raw fresh deerskin with the head and horns at the top. This feature,\nhowever, corresponds with the second form of the Annual Ceremony\nnoted among the Lenape in Oklahoma and also recorded by Zeisberger in\nPennsylvania. Near this central post the singers sat, and beat with four\ncarved sticks upon a dry deerhide folded into a square, in lieu of a drum\n(fig. 14), differing from the Unami form, which is a rolled dry deerskin\nupon which are tied several slats of wood (fig. 8). The drumsticks are\nflat, resembling those of the Unami, as each bears a face carved upon one\nside, but differ from them in the form of the forked end, and in width.\nSome, it is said, represented women, the breasts being indicated as\namong the Unami, but this feature does not appear in the set collected by\nthe writer at Grand River reserve (fig. 15, _a_), which the Indians said\nwere representative of the Minsi type.\n\nThere were two poles laid along on each side from end to end of the\nBig House to divide the dancing place in the center from the sitting\nplaces on the side, which were covered with a special kind of leaves.\nAlong these poles twelve little sumach sticks (fig. 15, _b_), peeled and\npainted, were laid for twelve people to hold in their hands, and tap on\nthe poles in time to the music. There were also provided a turtle rattle,\nwhich was placed at the foot of the central pole; a fire-drill which\nNellis Timothy thinks was worked on the \u201cpump-drill\u201d principle, like that\nof the Unami, and a lot of entirely new and unused bowls and spoons of\nbark. Unlike the Unami custom, both doors of the Big House were used,\nthe people always going in at the east door and coming out at the west,\nand here also (like the Unami) the ashes were carried out. \u201cThe Sun and\neverything else goes toward the west,\u201d say the Minsi, in explanation,\n\u201ceven the dead when they die.\u201d\n\n\nPRELIMINARIES\n\nThe first act remembered by the informants preparatory to holding a\nmeeting was to send to each man in the tribe who had been blessed by a\n\u201cvision of power,\u201d a little stick which represented an invitation to the\nceremony, the time of which the messenger gave out, before which date\nthe people leaving their scattered homes gathered and camped about the\nBig House. Meanwhile hunters were sent out, appointed before, not during\nthe meeting as among the Unami, to bring in for the Winter Ceremony, if\npossible, exactly twelve deer, which were cooked by four young men who\nserved as attendants in a small separate house, built for the purpose.\n\n_Fire._\u2014The fire was made with a fire-drill by a group of old men for use\nin the Big House, but, as among the Unami, none of it could be taken\noutside during the ceremony.\n\n_Purification._\u2014When the two fires had been built, but before the crowd\nhad gathered, the house was purified by the smoke of hemlock boughs\nthrown on the flames, and by sweeping the floor with turkey-wing fans,\nwhich cleared away both dirt and evil influences.\n\n\nOPENING OF THE CEREMONY\n\n_Chief\u2019s Speech._\u2014The next step was for the attendants to call in all the\npeople from their camps except the women in their menses who were not\nallowed to enter. When all were seated, the speaker rose and addressed\nthose assembled in terms like the following:\n\n\u201cWe are now gathered here, our house is purified and clean, and\nPa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas is with us, ready to hear our worship. We must thank Him\nfor all the things that we enjoy, for He made them every one.\u201d Then he\nproceeded to tell the people not to drink liquor, nor to do anything\nwrong in the Big House or in the camp about it, and advised them to be\nalways honest and kind and hospitable. He held virtue as something to\nbe followed, at the same time condemning evil, every vice that he could\nthink of being mentioned.\n\nThe chief then gave thanks for everything he could remember, from the\nheavenly bodies to the animals, trees, and herbs of the earth, not\nforgetting corn, beans, and squashes; and prayer for successful hunting\nand good health for all the people. At the summer meeting he prayed for\ngood crops also. When he had finished, bear\u2019s fat was thrown on the two\nfires, and the smoke rose and filled the place with its odor.\n\n\nCEREMONIAL DRINK\n\nAt this point it was customary to pass around a vessel of drink made of\ncrushed wild strawberries, from which each person present swallowed about\na spoonful, a drink made at the Summer Ceremony of fresh fruit, but in\nwinter necessarily of berries dried for the purpose.\n\n\nRECITAL OF VISIONS\n\nThe first man to relate his vision (my informant did not remember whether\nhe was the one who \u201cbrought in\u201d the meeting or not) took up the turtle\nrattle from its place at the foot of the post and began to shake it\nrapidly, while the singers struck the drum of dry hide. He then recited\nthe story of his vision of power, still keeping the rattle shaking,\nfollowing this with his dance song, at the same time dancing and rattling\nthe turtleshell.\n\nAny one who wished to dance was supposed to give wampum to the\nvision-teller for the privilege. Some who were well off would give him an\nentire string, others merely a few beads. These the vision-teller would\ntake, when he had quite a handful, to two officers who sat in a corner of\nthe building, whose duty it was to count the wampum, after which it was\nkept by the chief or leader. Sometimes if a poor person who had no wampum\nwished to dance, they would give him some to pay the vision-teller.\n\nA translated example of a Minsi vision chant and dance song has already\nbeen given. When the dream-teller finished the first verse of his dance\nsong, he exclaimed, \u201c_E-ye-he-ye-\u0115!_\u201d whereupon the singers took up the\nstrain and sang the verse several times, for the benefit of those who\nwished to dance, omitting, however, the final exclamation, but those\nwho had bought the privilege rose and danced where they stood, instead\nof circling around, as among the Unami. Each \u201cset\u201d ended with a whoop,\n\u201c_kwi!_\u201d.\n\nWhen the vision-teller finished dancing, he went around the house and\nshook hands with everyone; then the turtle rattle was passed to another\nman who had been blessed with a vision, and so on, until all those\nqualified, who wished to recite their visions, had done so.\n\n\nOTHER FEATURES\n\n_The Prayer Cry._\u2014From time to time during the night the prayer cry\n\u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d was repeated twelve times, and the twelfth cry, they say,\nwas heard by the Great Man\u012d\u02b9to.\n\n_Feast._\u2014The people were accustomed to eat a light supper before going\ninto the meeting; then about midnight the four attendants carried around\nbaskets with boiled meat and corn bread, and in the morning, before\nleaving the Big House, a regular feast of venison was served in new bark\nbowls and eaten with new bark spoons especially made for the purpose.\n\n_Final Address._\u2014Before the meeting closed, the speaker again addressed\nthe people, telling them to do right, and prayed that the hunters about\nto leave for the winter hunt might be successful, and that all might live\nto meet again.\n\n\nCONCLUSION OF RITES\n\nIn the morning after the ceremonies in the Big House were finished, the\npeople filed out through the west door, circled about the building, and\nlined up, facing eastward, to the east of it. Then they raised their\nhands and cried \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d twelve times, and the twelfth time, it is\nsaid, their cry reached Heaven.\n\nIn comparing this form of the Annual Ceremony with that of the Oklahoma\nLenape the most noticeable difference is that here no masked impersonator\nof M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn was seen in or about the Big House, the Masks among the\nMinsi, as with the Iroquois, constituting a society with its own separate\nrites.\n\n\nGRAND RIVER VERSION\n\nSuch was the version of the great ceremonies given the writer by the\nMinsi of Munceytown, Ontario, which is similar to, but more detailed\nin parts than, the account previously obtained from the Delawares\nof Grand River reserve, published by the writer in the _American\nAnthropologist_[50] which we will reproduce here. It will be noticed that\nthis description gives fuller information in some places where the first\nis deficient; so that between this and the preceding account, a good\ngeneral idea of the Minsi form of the ceremony can be reconstructed. It\nreads:\n\n\u201cIn the old religious ceremonies of the Delawares at Grand River a\nvery peculiar drum was used, a dry skin folded in rectangular form and\nbeaten with four sticks, each bearing a tiny human head carved in relief\n(fig. 15, _a_). I secured the set of four original sticks from Michael\nAnthony (_Na\u201bnk\u016dma\u02b9oxa_), and employed him to make me a reproduction\nof the drum (fig. 14) as the original had been destroyed. This he did,\nand in addition made six painted sticks (fig. 15, _b_) also used in\nthe ceremony. The description of how these articles were used, pieced\ntogether from several Indian accounts, may prove of interest here.\n\n\u201cIt appears that the Delawares of Six Nations Reserve formerly held\nwhat was known as a \u2018General Thanksgiving\u2019 ceremony called in Lenape\n_Gitctla\u02b9kan_, twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall.\nAt these times it was customary to meet in the Cayuga long-house,\nborrowed for the occasion. At a certain point in the proceedings (I\nshall not attempt a consecutive description from hearsay testimony) a\nman stood up and recited, in a rythmical sing-song tone, his dream\u2014the\nvision of power seen by him in his youth. Na\u201bnk\u016dma\u02b9oxa remembered how\none old man was accustomed to tell about a duck, half black and half\nwhite, which had appeared to him. Between the verses of the dream four\nmusicians kneeling at the drum (_pw\u201bawahe\u02b9g\u016dn_) began a plaintive song,\nbeating time with the carved sticks (_pw\u201bawahe\u02b9g\u016dn\u016dk_). As they sang, the\nreciter swayed his body to and fro, while a group of dancers gathered on\nthe floor behind him danced with a sidewise step. Before the ceremony,\npoles were laid lengthwise along both sides of the council house, and\nagainst these, at intervals, three on a side, the painted sticks, called\n_mk\u00e4\u00e4hi\u02b9g\u016dn_, were laid. If anyone in the crowd felt \u2018especially happy\u2019\nhe was privileged to strike with one of these sticks upon one of the\npoles in time to the music. The carved heads on the drumsticks meant that\nhuman beings were giving thanks; the lengthwise painting of the sticks,\nhalf black and half red, implied that men and women were together in\nthanksgiving, the black representing the warriors, the red the women. The\nfork at the striking end of the sticks was to give a sharper sound. The\ndyes for producing the colors were made by boiling bark, the black being\nsoft maple (_sexi\u02b9kiminsi_), and the red, red alder bark (_wito\u02b9\u201bpi_).\n\n\u201cIn another part of the same ceremony wampum was used in the form of\nstrings and bunches, both of which were represented in my collection from\nthe Delawares. At least thirteen of the strings were used, each one made\ndifferent by different combinations of the white and purple beads. These\nthirteen, it is said, represented respectively (1) Earth; (2) Plants;\n(3) Streams and Waters; (4) Corn, Beans, and Vegetables; (5) Wild Birds\nand Beasts; (6) Winds; (7) Sun; (8) Moon; (9) Sky; (10) Stars; (11)\nThunder and Rain; (12) Spirits; and (13) Great Spirit. At the ceremony\nthese strings were laid upon a bench before a speaker, who picked them\nup one by one as he made his address, each string reminding him of one\npart of his speech. He began, my informant told me, by explaining that\nthe Great Spirit had made all things\u2014the earth, plants, streams, and\nwaters\u2014everything. Having thus enumerated all the things represented\nby the wampum, he proceeded to speak to each of the remaining twelve\ndirectly, holding the appropriate string in his hand. Thus he gave thanks\nto the Earth for the benefits it gives to man, and prayed that its\nblessings might continue; then thanked in the same way the Plants, the\nStreams and Waters, the Winds; the Corn, Beans, and Vegetables\u2014each one\nin turn. As he finished each string he handed it to an attendant, who\nlaid it aside. When his long speech or prayer was finished, he announced,\n\u2018We will now enjoy ourselves,\u2019 and selected a man to distribute little\nbunches of wampum, three beads in each, which served as invitations to\njoin in the dancing that followed. These bunches were delivered only\nto a certain number of those known to be \u2018sober and honest\u2019 among the\ncrowd in the long-house. If any person wishing to dance failed to get\ninvitation wampum, it was his privilege to ask for one of the bunches,\nwhich was given him if he was considered qualified. The first man\nreceiving wampum arose first; then the others, until the dancers were\nall on the floor. It is said that this dance, which sometimes lasted all\nnight, did not circle around like most of the Iroquois dances, but each\nperformer remained in about the same spot.\n\n\u201cI was told that in this dance a small rattle without a handle and made\nof turtleshell was used, probably like the box-turtle rattle still used\nin the annual Planting Dance by the Seneca and Cayuga.\u201d\n\n\nWAUBUNO\u2019S VERSION\n\nThe only extended account in print, known to the writer, of the great\nceremonies of the Minsi, beside his own, quoted above, is that furnished\nby John Wampum, known as Chief Waubuno,[51] which reads as follows:\n\n \u201cThey kept annual feasts:\u2014... a feast of first fruits which\n they do not permit themselves to taste until they have made\n an offering of them to the manitu-oo-al, or gods; ... There\n is one of the greatest sacrifice offerings of our forefathers\n every six months for cleansing themselves from sin; they will\n have twelve deers to be consumed in one day and night. At\n the great feast of the offerings of the first fruits of the\n earth, which feast the Delawares or Munceys hold annually,\n they brought a little of all that they raised, such as Indian\n corn, or hweisk-queem, potatoes, beans, pumpkins, squashes,\n together with the deer. The Indian women were busily engaged\n in cooking their provisions, previous to the commencement of\n their exercises. They invited all strangers into a long pagan\n temple prepared for such purposes, there is a door at each\n end\u2014one opening to the east, and one opening to the west. On\n entering, they with all the Indians were seated on the ground\n around two fires; in the center of the temple was a large\n post, around which was suspended a number of deer skins, and\n wampum is kept buried at the foot of this post. Near the post\n sat two Indian singers, each with a large bundle of undressed\n deer skins which served as drums. There were two young men\n appointed to watch the doors and keep the fires burning, the\n doors being closed. Each of the young men brought an armful of\n hemlock boughs, which being thrown on the fires smothered them\n and caused a great smoke. In order that the smoke might fill\n every corner of the temple, each man waved his blanket over the\n fire; this was done with the idea of purifying the temple and\n driving out the evil spirits. After the smoke had subsided, the\n master of ceremonies, an old chief, rose and began to rattle\n a turtle shell he had in his hand. He delivered a speech to\n the people telling them the object of the meeting was to thank\n the great spirit for the growth and ripening of the corn. When\n he finished his speech he began to dance, sing and rattle the\n shell, the two singers joining in, beating on their skins. When\n he took his seat he handed the shell to the next person, who\n performed in the same way, thus it went from one to the other\n all night. The purport of their speeches was to recount the\n mercies of the Great Spirit to them during the past year, and\n telling any remarkable dreams that they had had. In the course\n of the night a number of them went out the west door, making a\n wailing noise to the moon, and came in again the east door. In\n the morning the meat and soup were divided amongst the people.\n\n \u201cThese feasts often lasted twelve days and twelve nights, and\n the Indians call it nee-shaw-neechk-togho-quanoo-maun, or\n ween-da-much-teen. No drinking or improper conduct is allowed.\n The utmost solemnity prevails.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nTHE M\u012cSI\u02b9NG\u02b7\u201b OR MASK\n\n\nThe Minsi version of the myth explaining the origin of their great\nceremonies has been already related, but not that of the Unami, for the\nlatter, which concerns itself with the origin of the Unami rites as now\npractised, is so intimately interwoven with the story of the _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_,\nor mask (fig. 1), that it was thought best to place it in the chapter\ndevoted to that curious being, with whose position in the Lenape\npantheon, recorded history, and activities in the Annual Ceremony, we\nhave already become acquainted.\n\nThe myth is therefore presented herewith, as related by Chief Charley\nElkhair, the Lenape master of ceremonies, with only such additions as\nlater questioning brought forth.\n\n\nORIGIN OF THE MASK, AND OF THE BIG HOUSE\n\nThis is the way the Lenape found out that there is a living\nM\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn above us. Many years ago, when the Delawares lived in\nthe East, there were three boys who were not treated very well. Their\nrelatives did not take care of them, and it seemed as if it made no\ndifference whether the children died or not. These boys were out in the\nwoods thinking about their troubles, when they saw the M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn or\nLiving Solid Face. He came and spoke to them, and gave them strength so\nthat nothing could hurt them again. To one of these boys he said, \u201cYou\ncome along with me and I will show you the country I come from.\u201d So he\ntook the boy up in the air to the place whence he came, which is rocky\nmountains above us, reaching out from the north and extending toward the\nsouth. It is not the place where people go when they die, for it is not\nvery far from this earth. A long time ago people could see this country\nof M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, but none can see it now.\n\nWhile he was showing the boy his country, the M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn promised him\nthat he would become stout and strong, and would have the power to get\nanything he wished. Then he brought the boy back.\n\nAfterward, when the boy grew up and went hunting, he used to see the\nM\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn riding a buck around among the other deer, herding them\ntogether. Thus it happened that there were three men in the tribe, who\nknew that there is a M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, because they had seen him with their\nown eyes.\n\nThe Delawares had always kept a Big House (_xi\u02b9ngwikan_) to worship in,\nbut in those days it was built entirely of bark and had no faces of the\nM\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b carved upon the posts as it has now. Here they used to sing\nabout their dreams (visions of power); but some time after the three boys\ntalked with the M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, the people gave up this worship, and for\nten years had none. Then there came a great earthquake, which lasted\ntwelve months and gave great trouble to the Lenape. It came because they\nhad abandoned the worship their fathers had taught them. In those times\nthe tribe lived in towns, not scattered about the country as they are\nnow, and in one of these towns a chief had a big bark house, and here the\npeople met to worship, hoping to stop the earthquake, while they were\nbuilding a new Big House. When it was finished, they began to worship\nthere, and sang and prayed all winter for relief. After spring came,\nthey were holding a meeting one night when they heard the M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn\nmaking a noise, \u201c_Ho\u207f-ho\u207f-ho\u207f_,\u201d right east of the Big House. The chief,\nwho did not know what was making the noise, called for somebody to go and\nsee what it was. Then these three men offered to go, because, as they\nsaid, they knew what was making the noise and could find out what he\nwanted. So they went out and found M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, and asked him what he\nwanted. He answered:\n\n\u201cGo back and tell the others to stop holding meetings and attend to\ntheir crops. Do not meet again until fall, when I will come and live\nwith you, and help in the Big House. You must take wood and carve a face\n(M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b) just like mine, painted half black and half red, as mine is,\nand I will put my power in it, so that it will do what you ask. When the\nman who takes my part puts the face on, I will be there, and this is how\nI will live among you. This man must carry a turtle rattle and a stick,\njust as I do now.\u201d Then he told them how to fix the twelve carved faces\non the posts of the Big House, and the faces on the drumsticks, and\ntaught them how to hold the ceremony.\n\nThen he said:\n\n\u201cYou must also give me hominy every year in the spring. I take care of\nthe deer and other game, that is what I am for. Wherever you build the\nBig House, I will keep the deer close by, so that you can get them when\nyou need them.\n\n\u201cNever give up the Big House. If you do, there will be another\nearthquake, or something else just as bad.\n\n\u201cThe earthquake stopped that time; that is why the Delawares have kept\nthe M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b and the Big House ever since. The Mask is left in charge of\nsome family who will take good care of it, and burn Indian tobacco for it\nfrom time to time.\u201d\n\nIt will be seen that, according to the above tradition, the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b\nwas, first of all, a personal helper, or guardian Spirit, that afterward\nbecame more or less of a tribal deity, and that his cult became engrafted\non the Annual Ceremony among the Unami, the rites of which were already\nancient among them. That this engrafting really took place seems possible\nfrom the fact that among the Minsi there were no masked performers at the\nBig House ceremonies, and that, while the central post of the temple was\nprovided with carved faces, the masks had an entirely different function\namong this people. The innovation, if it took place at all, must have\nbeen before Brainerd\u2019s[52] time, however, for, as related in our first\nchapter, he found the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b and Big House in use, as among the Unami\ntoday, as early as May, 1745, while traveling among the Delawares living\nat that time on Susquehanna river.\n\n\nM\u012cSI\u02b9NG\u02b7\u201b DANCE\n\nBesides the part taken by the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b in the Annual Ceremony, he has\ncertain rites peculiar to himself which were held every spring. As the\nIndians put it:\n\n\u201cWhen spring comes, the Delawares are glad, and they are thankful that\ntheir helper, the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b is still among them. For this reason they\ngive a feast and dance to make him happy too.\u201d\n\n_Notification._\u2014So at the time of the full moon (about May), the keeper\nof the mask gives another Indian a yard of wampum to ride around to\nall the Delaware houses, wearing the mask and bearskin costume (pl.\nII) to let the people know that the time for the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance\n(_M\u012dsingk\u012d\u02b9n\u012dk\u00e4_) is at hand. The M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b rides horseback, and another\nman, also mounted, follows him to see that he comes to no harm. At each\nhouse the impersonator dismounts and enters, making known his errand by\nsigns, but saying only \u201c_Ho\u207f-ho\u207f-ho\u207f_,\u201d and everywhere they give him\ntobacco, which he puts in his sack. At this time the people frighten\ndisobedient children with the threat that, unless they behave, the\nM\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b will carry them away in a sack full of snakes.\n\n_Preparations._\u2014The dance-ground customarily used for this purpose has\nmeanwhile been put in order, a cleared place in the woods selected for\ngood shade and pleasant surroundings, and the logs which serve as seats\narranged to form the rectangle within which the dance takes place. A\ngreat pot of hominy is also prepared; this constitutes the main dish of\nthe feast.\n\n_The Ceremony._\u2014When the people have gathered on the night appointed,\nand the impersonator has returned from the bushes where he retired\nto dress, wearing the mask and bearskin suit (pl. II), the speaker\naddresses the people and relates the origin of the dance, then addressing\nthe M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, says, \u201cTake care of us while we are dancing, so that\neverything goes smoothly.\u201d Then they have a dance in which the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b\njoins, but he dances around the outside of the circle of people, not with\nthem. When they have finished, he dances twelve changes alone, which\noccupies the time until morning. When daylight appears, the hominy is\nbrought out and everyone eats, including the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, after which the\nspeaker says, \u201cNow we have eaten with our M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b. We will have this\ndance again next spring.\u201d The people then disperse to their homes, the\nM\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b is put away and the impersonator paid a yard of wampum for his\ndancing. At this dance the singers keep time by striking with sticks on\na dry deerhide rolled over and stuffed with dried grass, very similar to\nthe \u201cdrum\u201d used in the Big House.\n\n_Adams\u2019 Account._\u2014The only account the writer has seen of this ceremony\nis that of Adams\u2019,[53] the chief inaccuracy of which is the statement\nthat the dance is \u201conly for amusement.\u201d It furnishes, however, several\nadditions to our knowledge of the \u201cSolid Face.\u201d It is as follows:\n\n \u201c_Messingq or Solid Face Dance or Devil Dance._\u2014The principal\n leader in this dance is the Messingq, an Indian, who is\n dressed in a bearskin robe with a wooden face, one-half red\n and one-half black. He has a large bearskin pouch and carries\n a stick in one hand and a tortoise shell rattle in the other.\n He is a very active person. The dance is only for amusement,\n and men and women join in it. A large place is cleared in\n the woods, and the ground is swept clean and a fire built in\n the center. Across the fire and inside of the ring is a long\n hickory pole supported at each end by wooden forks set in\n the ground. On the east of this pole the singers stand; on\n the west end is a venison or deer, which is roasted. About\n daylight, when the dance is nearly over, all the dancers eat of\n the venison. They have a dried deer hide stretched over some\n hickory poles, and standing around it beat on the hide and\n sing. The dancers proceed around the fire to the right, the\n women on the inside next to the fire. After the dance is under\n headway the Messingq comes from the darkness, jumps over the\n dancers, and dances between the other dancers and the fire. He\n makes some funny and queer gestures, kicks the fire, and then\n departs. The Messingq is never allowed to talk, but frequently\n he visits the people at their homes. He is a terror to little\n children, and when he comes to a house or tent the man of the\n house usually gives him a piece of tobacco, which the Messingq\n smells and puts in his big pouch, after which he turns around\n and kicks back toward the giver which means \u2018thank you,\u2019 and\n departs. He never thinks of climbing a fence, but jumps over\n it every time that one is in his way. The Devil dance is what\n the white men call it, but the Delawares call it the Messingq,\n or \u2018solid face\u2019 dance. The Messingq does not represent an evil\n spirit, but is always considered a peacemaker. I suppose that\n it is from his hideous appearance that white men call him the\n devil.\u201d\n\n\nOTHER FUNCTIONS OF M\u012cSI\u02b9NG\u02b7\u201b\n\nThe M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b the Indians claim, \u201ctakes care of the children,\u201d as well\nas of the deer, for as before related if any Delaware has a child who is\nweak, sickly, or disobedient, he sends for the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b and asks him to\n\u201cattend to\u201d his child. On his arrival it does not take the impersonator\nlong to frighten the weakness, sickness, or laziness out of such\nchildren, so that \u201cafterward they are well and strong, and whenever they\nare told to do a thing, they lose no time in obeying.\u201d This is the only\ntrace of the doctoring function of the mask found among the Unami.\n\nWhen the keeper of the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b burns tobacco for him and asks for good\nluck in hunting, \u201cit turns out that way every time;\u201d and the Lenape say\nmoreover that if anyone loses horses or cattle, either strayed away or\nstolen, he can go to the keeper of the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b with some tobacco as\na gift and get them back. He explains his errand to the keeper, who in\nturn informs the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b that they want him to look for the horses or\ncattle. The loser then goes back home, and after a few days the missing\nanimals return, driven back by the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, who if they had been tied\nor hobbled by the thieves, frightened them until they broke away and came\nhome. When the Big House meeting is held in the fall, the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, as\nbefore related, is seen going around among the tents of the Delawares\nassembled, and in and out of the Big House, always coming from the woods,\nwhere the impersonator has a place to change his clothes. The Indians\nsay:\n\n\u201cHe helps the people with their hunting, and also helps in the Big House\nwhile the ceremonies are in progress. If he finds anyone there who has\nnot done right, he informs the three guards of the meeting, who take\nthat person and put him out. In all these ways the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b helps the\nDelawares.\u201d\n\n\nMASKS OF THE MINSI\n\nThe Minsi Mizi\u02b9nk (cognate with the Unami _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_) was a mask made\nof wood with copper or brass eyes and a crooked nose, according to my\ninformants at Munceytown; and judging by Peter Jones\u2019 drawings (pl. III)\nthey were provided also with hair, tufts of feathers, and jingling copper\ncones or deer-hoofs. The Mizink at Grand river was of Minsi type, judging\nby the specimen obtained by the writer (fig. 4).\n\nSuch masks were made to represent Mizinkh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, who was \u201csomething like\na person, but different from the Indians, and was powerful. They saw him\nfirst among the rocks on a hill, and he spoke to them and told them what\nto do to get his power. When a man put on a Mizink he received the power\nof this person or spirit; he could even see behind him, and could cure\ndiseases.\u201d\n\n_The Mask Society._\u2014The men who owned these masks formed a kind of\nsociety which Nellis Timothy says originally had twelve members, but\nwhich, before it disbanded, dwindled to about five. Sometimes only two\nappeared in costume.\n\nThe society had a meeting-house of its own where its dances,\n_Mizink\u012d\u02b9nt\u012dka_, were held, for, unlike the Unami custom, no Mizink ever\nappeared in the Big House. The members appeared wearing their masks and\nclad in rough bearskin and deerskin costumes, while some, at least, were\nprovided with a turtleshell rattle which they would rub on a long pole,\ncrying \u201c_O\u207f-o\u207f-o\u207f!_\u201d the while.\n\n_Ceremonies._\u2014While no consecutive account of their ceremonies is now\nremembered, it was said that they sometimes put down their rattles,\nheaped up the ashes from the two fires, then threw the ashes all over\nthe house to prevent the people assembled from having disease.\n\nShould any sick person appear, he or she would be especially treated with\nashes. Sometimes the performers would pick up live coals and throw them\nabout, frightening the people. At other times the whole company of them\nwould go around to the different houses begging for tobacco, and would\ndance in any house where someone was willing to sing for them.\n\nNothing was said among the Minsi about the Mizink bringing back stray\nstock or driving deer, characteristic attributes of the Mask Being of the\nUnami. The writer obtained but one mask among the Canadian Lenape, and\nthis was from the Grand River band (fig. 4); it has been described by\nhim[54] in the following words:\n\n \u201cBut one mask (_mizink_) was obtained. It differed from\n those of the Iroquois chiefly in being cruder, and also in\n decoration, the lines being burnt into the wood instead of\n being painted or carved. The original use of the mask had to\n do, in part at least, with healing the sick, but Isaac Montour\n (_Ka\u02b9py\u016d\u201bh\u016dm_), from whom I bought it, failed to make himself\n clear as to the details.\u201d\n\nIt will be seen that the Minsi beliefs and practices noted above resemble\nthose of the False Face Company of the Iroquois tribes much more than\nthey do the customs connected with M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b among the Unami.\n\nIn fact, a vague tradition exists to the effect that the False Face\nCompany of the Cayuga once put a stop to an epidemic of cholera among the\nMinsi. While this was not given to account for the origin of the society\namong the Minsi, it at least shows that they were familiar with the\nIroquois practices in this line.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nMINOR CEREMONIES\n\n\nTHE DOLL BEING\n\nThe Doll Being, called by the Unami _O\u201b\u02b9das_ and by the Minsi _Nani\u02b9t\u012ds_,\nhas been already mentioned as a minor Lenape deity, and it now remains\nonly to relate the ceremonies and beliefs connected with it, beginning\nwith the myth accounting for its origin.\n\n\nMYTH OF ORIGIN\n\nLong ago, the Lenape say, some children, playing with sticks, decided to\ncut faces upon them, and were then very much surprised to notice that the\nlittle dolls which they had thus made seemed to have life. Their parents\nmade them throw the dolls away when they discovered this, and most of\nthe children soon forgot what had happened. One little girl, however,\ngrieved for her doll; it bothered her all the time, and finally she began\nto dream of it every night. Then she told her parents of her trouble,\nand they realized that they should not have compelled her to throw the\ndoll away. One night the doll appeared to the child and spoke to her,\nsaying, \u201cFind me and keep me always, and you and your family will ever\nenjoy good health. You must give me new clothing and hold a dance for me\nevery spring,\u201d and then told her exactly what to do. The girl reported\nthis to her parents, who immediately looked for the doll and found it,\nthen dressed it, made some hominy, killed a deer, and held a dance in its\nhonor as they were instructed, and this rite has been continued to the\npresent day.\n\n\nPREPARATIONS FOR THE CEREMONY\n\nWhen the family owning a doll of this kind is ready to conduct the Doll\nDance (_O\u201b\u02b9das-k\u012d\u02b9n\u012dk\u00e4_), they select two men to gather firewood and to\nclean up the dance-ground used every year, and to engage a speaker and\ntwo singers, paying each of them with a yard of wampum. The dance-ground\nis square, similar to that used for the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, with logs ranged\nabout for seats, in some pleasant place out in the woods. A hunter is\nthen selected, who calls on several to help him get a deer, which, when\nbrought in, is hung on poles prepared for it at the dance-ground, where\nit remains over night. The next morning they cook the deer and a kettle\nof hominy, and are then ready for the ceremony.\n\n\nTHE DOLL DANCE\n\nAbout the middle of the afternoon the speaker rises and addresses the\npeople, telling them the story of the doll\u2019s origin and explaining its\nfunction; then he addresses the doll, which has now been fastened on a\npole, calling it \u201cgrandmother\u201d and notifying it that they are about to\nhold a dance in its honor, at the same time asking it to insure good\nhealth to the family of its owner. When he finishes, the dance leader,\nwho should be a relative of the family owning it, takes the doll on its\npole, and then, as the drummers sitting in the center of the dance-ground\nbegin to strike the dry hide stuffed with grass that serves as a drum,\nand to sing the song of the Doll dance, he commences to dance, circling\nround the drummers, still carrying the doll, the people falling in behind\nhim, forming two circles, the men inside, next to the drummers, and the\nwomen outside. When the leader finishes his \u201cset,\u201d he passes the doll\npole to the man behind him, who repeats the process, and so on until the\nmen dancers have carried it six times, when it is transferred to the\nwomen, who, in their turn, dance six sets, making twelve in all, the\nLenape sacred number.\n\nThe twelve sets, or \u201cchanges,\u201d lengthen the ceremony far into the night,\nand this necessitates a large fire to give light. This is built near the\ncenter of the dance-ground. Sometimes, if the crowd in attendance is\nlarge, two such fires are built. Between the changes the doll pole is\nstuck into the ground near the fire. When the twelfth set is finished,\nthe speaker announces, \u201cThe Doll Dance is over,\u201d and the feast of hominy\nand venison is served to everyone. Then the speaker says: \u201cIf you want to\ndance the rest of the night, you may do so, for many of you have come a\nlong way from home and should have a chance for more enjoyment. We will\nhold another Doll Dance next year.\u201d Then they put the doll away and amuse\nthemselves with various social dances until morning.\n\n\nMINSI DOLL CEREMONY\n\nAmong the Minsi the beliefs concerning the Doll Being were similar, but\ndiffered in detail. As to origin, Wolf told the writer that one time a\nman lay ill, likely to die, and his family called in a medicine-man, or\n\u201cwitch-doctor.\u201d The shaman finally announced that the family must make\none of these dolls and care for it, and that the sick man would then get\nwell. This was done, and the doctor\u2019s prediction being realized, the\nMinsi have ever since made and used these dolls, called in their dialect\n_nani\u02b9t\u012ds_, which were transmitted from parents to children. Wolf\u2019s\nown mother had one, carved out of wood in the form of a person, with a\nwoman\u2019s dress and moccasins (for as a rule they represent women); and\nshe always cared for it religiously, in the belief that if well treated\nit would protect the family and give them good health, but if neglected,\nsomeone would surely die. Every year, in the fall, when the deer are in\ntheir best condition, Wolf\u2019s mother held a dance for it, called \u201cFeeding\nthe Nani\u02b9t\u012ds;\u201d but she did more than feed it: she put new clothes on it,\nthree sets, and new moccasins every year. She believed that the image\nsometimes went about of its own accord, although she kept it carefully in\na box, for the old dresses always seemed worn at the bottom and soiled,\nand she found burrs clinging to them when she went to put new clothes on\n\u201cNani\u02b9t\u012ds.\u201d\n\nShe hired a man especially to hunt a yearling doe for the ceremony,\nwhich took place in her own dwelling. The details are lost, but it is\nremembered that a man beat a little drum and sang while she, as owner,\ndanced around, carrying the doll in her hands, followed by such of the\nother women present as wished to participate. Said Wolf, \u201cThe Nani\u02b9t\u012ds\nhelped the Indians, that\u2019s why they fed it.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: PL. VIII\n\n\u201cNAHNEETIS THE GUARDIAN OF HEALTH\u201d\n\n(E. T. Tefft Collection, American Museum of Natural History)]\n\n_An Old Minsi \u201cDoll.\u201d_\u2014The writer was able to obtain but one old specimen\nof this type (pl. VIII), which was procured at the Grand River reserve,\nOntario, for the E. T. Tefft collection, now in the American Museum of\nNatural History, and was described in the writer\u2019s article,[55] before\ncited, as follows:\n\n \u201cPerhaps the most interesting Delaware specimen of all is\n the little wooden image, about eight inches high, bought of\n Dr. Jones, which his father, Rev. Peter Jones, described and\n illustrated in his book under the name \u2018Nahneetis, the Guardian\n of Health.\u2019 He says:\n\n \u201c\u2018I have in my possession two family gods. One is called\n _Pabookowaih_\u2014the god that crushes or breaks down diseases.\n The other is a goddess named _Nahneetis_, the guardian of\n health. This goddess was delivered up to me by Eunice Hank, a\n Muncey Indian woman, who with her friends used to worship it\n in their sacred dances, making a feast to it every year, when\n a fat doe was sacrificed as an offering, and many presents\n were given by the friends assembled. She told me she was now\n restored to worship the Christian\u2019s God, and therefore had no\n further use for it.\u2019\n\n \u201cThere can be no doubt in this case concerning the identity of\n this specimen with the one illustrated in the book quoted. It\n will be noticed however by those who are familiar with Peter\n Jones\u2019 illustration that Nahneetis, like many humans, has\n lost her hair in her old age. An interesting feature of the\n specimen is the primitive skirt, which is made apparently by\n belting a blanket-like bit of cloth, bound at the edges, around\n Nahneetis\u2019 waist. A vestige of this method of making a skirt\n survives, I think, in the form of the beaded strip running up\n one of the vertical seams of the more modern Indian skirt,\n among both the Delawares and the Iroquois.\u201d\n\nThe writer afterward found such skirts still in use among the Lenape in\nOklahoma (pl. I, _b_).\n\n_An Early Account of Nani\u02b9t\u012ds._\u2014Another early account of the Nani\u02b9t\u012ds\namong the Minsi may be found in the _Wisconsin Historical Collections_,\namong the documents relating to the Stockbridge Mission, written by the\nRev. Cutting Marsh.[56] It reads as follows:\n\n \u201cNov. 6th [1839]. A Munsee Indian who came to this place over\n a year previous from Canada called upon me with an interpreter\n in order to give up a family idol. This man whose name is\n Big-Deer is upwards of 50 years of age, and since removing to\n this place, thro\u2019 the influence of this family above mentioned\n has attended meetings constantly and gives some evidence of a\n change of heart.\n\n \u201cThe history of this idol was very interesting. He said that\n his mother gave it to him before her death which occurred about\n 29 years ago, and that he had worshipped it until within a few\n years when he heard about Jesus Christ, but had never given it\n up before. \u2018Now he says I wish to give it up and follow the\n Lord Jesus Christ, and I give this idol to you and you may\n do what you are a mind to with it.\u2019 It was indeed not only a\n \u2018shameful thing,\u2019 but a horribly looking object about the size\n of a common doll; fantastically arrayed in Indian costume and\n nearly covered with silver broaches and trinkets; and whilst\n retained as an object of worship was kept wrapped up in some\n 20 envelopments of broad-cloth trimmed with scarlet ribbon.\n They called it their \u2018Mother,\u2019 it is more than a hundred years\n old, and its late possessor was the fourth generation which had\n worshipped it. The season for worshipping it was in the fall\n after a hunt when they made a feast to it and danced around\n it. \u2018If they did not do this every fall they said, that is,\n make the feast &c. it would be angry and destroy them by some\n dreadful sickness.\u2019 It was therefore an object of fear or dread\n with them, but not one of love and compassion.\u201d\n\n\nBEAR CEREMONY\n\nWe will now consider two ceremonies of the Unami which are based on\nanimal cults which show a considerable similarity not only in their\ntraditional origin, but also in their ritual.\n\nThe more important seems to be the one called _Papasokwit\u201b\u02b9l\u016dn_, which,\nalthough no part of a bear appears in its rites as practised within\nrecent years, was evidently a Bear ceremony in the days when these\nanimals were abundant. It also exhibits some features suggesting the\nAnnual Ceremony before described, but there is no M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b and there are\nmany other important differences.\n\n\nTRADITIONAL ORIGIN\n\nThe Indians say that a cub bear, kept as a pet by a Lenape family long\nago, became a great playmate of one of the little sons of the family,\nbut finally grew so large that the child\u2019s parents decided to get rid of\nit; so they tied a little bag of tobacco around its neck and told it to\ngo away. This it did, but the little boy, its playmate, soon fell ill,\nand his parents searched in vain for a cure. After a long while one of\nthe Indian doctors told his parents that if they would hold a ceremony\nof this kind and repeat it every two years, the child would recover and\nwould keep his health. This was done; the boy recovered, and his family,\nwho belong to the Wolf phratry, have continued to practise the rites ever\nsince, believing that it preserves their health.\n\n\nPREPARATIONS.\n\nThis ceremony required a special house, which was made new for it every\ntwo years, so the first thing the family did, when the time approached,\nwas to find a number of men, each of whom was paid a yard of wampum to\ncut forks and poles and erect the building. This was made by setting up a\nframe of poles in the form of a Big House, but smaller, only seven paces\nwide and fifteen paces long, then covering the top with brush and piling\nbrush at the sides. Then to the east of the house a pole was erected,\nupon which to hang the meat for the feast, which, in old times, had to\nbe a bear; but when bears became scarce a black hog was substituted, and\nof late a hog of any color has been used. The building finished, the hog\nwas killed, and, having been hung on the pole over night, was taken into\nthe house the next day, quartered, singed on a fire that had been built\ninside, then carried out again, cut up, and cooked, all except the loose\nfat, which was kept for a special purpose, as will appear later. When\ndone, the meat was kept in large baskets, with the exception of the head,\nwhich, having been cooked whole, was placed in a large bowl with two of\nthe animal\u2019s ribs in its mouth.\n\n\nTHE RITES\n\nWhen night came, the leader entered the brush house, taking with him a\nturtle rattle similar to that used in the Annual Ceremony, followed by\nthe men who were to participate (no women being allowed), and then made\na speech, telling of the men who had \u201cbrought in\u201d this meeting, and\nexplaining its origin, but making no prayers to the Great Spirit or to\nany of the _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, his helpers. He then threw half of the hog-fat\nupon the fire, and placed a string of wampum around his own neck. At this\njuncture the cook brought him the hog\u2019s head in its bowl, and then, first\nannouncing, \u201cI am now going to carry the head around,\u201d the leader began\nto chant and to walk about the house, making false motions to everyone\nas if to give him the head, then withdrawing it and proceeding to the\nnext. The burden of the chant, the Indians say, was \u201cwhat his dream\nhelper told him,\u201d very much as in the Big House, but here the people kept\ntime to his chant orally, saying \u201c_Hu-hu-hu!_\u201d until he stopped. The\ninformant does not know who, if any one, shook the rattle. Probably it\nwas employed by the singers after the burning of the head. After making\nthe circuit twice, the leader hung his string of wampum upon some old\nman of the Turkey phratry who had a \u201cvision of power,\u201d who took the head\nand made his rounds in the same way. He finally cut off the ears of the\nhead, pulled the ribs from its mouth, and threw it into the fire, bowl\nand all. The meat was then distributed to everyone, whereupon the floor\nwas open to any man who wished to sing an account of his vision. A bucket\nof prepared drink was placed at each end of the house for the refreshment\nof such singers, but the head, of course, was gone. When the songs were\nfinished, the remainder of the fat, and finally the broth in which the\nmeat had been cooked, were thrown upon the fire, and in conclusion, six\nwomen were called in and instructed to go out and give six times the\nprayer cry, \u201c_Ho-o-o!_\u201d\n\nPerhaps the following ceremony noted by Zeisberger[57] may have been of\nthis kind:\n\n \u201cA fourth kind of feast is held in honor of a certain voracious\n spirit, who, according to their opinions, is never satisfied.\n The guests are, therefore, obliged to eat all the bear\u2019s flesh\n and drink the melted fat. Though indigestion and vomiting may\n result they must continue and not leave anything.\u201d\n\n\nOTTER CEREMONY\n\nSimilar to the Bear ceremony in many ways, both in traditional origin\nand in rites, was the observance called _A\u201b\u02b9tcigamu\u02b9Lti\u207f_, said to mean\n\u201ccompulsory hog-eating,\u201d held to propitiate the Otter spirit, a cult\nwhose paraphernalia the writer was fortunate enough to collect for the\nMuseum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.\n\n\nMYTH OF ORIGIN\n\nMany years ago, so runs the story, a little girl about ten years of age\nwas given a young otter for a pet, and this she kept and cared for until\nit was well grown. About this time she began to feel that she should\nkeep him no longer, for she had come to realize that he was _pi\u02b9ls\u016d\u207f_,\nmeaning \u201cpure\u201d or \u201csacred,\u201d and, like all wild things, belonged to the\nPowers Above. The old people told her what she must do, so she took her\notter down to the creek, and, first tying a little bag of tobacco on his\nneck, said to him: \u201cNow I shall set you free. I have raised you and cared\nfor you until now you are full grown. Go, then, and follow the ways of\nyour kind.\u201d\n\nThe otter disappeared into the waters, and the little girl returned to\nher home, feeling that she had done well. But before a year had passed, a\nsickness came upon her, which the Indian doctors told her was caused by\nher pet otter, which wanted something to eat. The only way for the child\nto get well, they said, was for her to have a hog killed and cooked, and\nthen to invite a number of men to eat it all, in the name of the otter.\nThis was done, and when the men finished eating the hog and the soup,\nthey said that the girl would recover, and so she did. For this ceremony\nthey took an otter-skin (fig. 16, _a_) to represent the girl\u2019s pet, which\nwas used every two years, and when the owner died was passed to the\noldest survivor of the family which owned it, and kept in the belief that\nit would benefit the health of all of them. It was the only one of its\nkind in the tribe, and is called \u201c_Kunu\u207f\u02b9x\u00e4s_.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 16.\u2014_a_, Regalia of otter-skin used in the Otter\nRite; _b_, Regalia as worn. (Length of _a_, 56.5 in.)]\n\n\nTHE CEREMONY\n\nThe exact details and order of the ceremony were not remembered by our\ninformant, but it was certain that the family in question \u201cfed the otter\u201d\nevery two years in the spring, that being the time of year when the\nlittle girl had been taken ill. Everyone was invited, men and women, and\na man was selected to cook the hog, and another to supply wood and to cut\nthe poles for swinging the kettle, both of whom were paid with a yard of\nwampum. The fire was kindled with a special flint-and-steel always kept\nwith the outfit (fig. 17).\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 17.\u2014Flint and steel used in the Otter Rite. (Length\nof _a_, 3 in.)]\n\nIt will be observed that the otter-skin has a slit down the middle of the\nneck, through which the owner thrust his head in such manner that the\notter\u2019s nose lay under the wearer\u2019s chin, while its body and tail hung\ndown his back. Wearing the skin in this manner (fig. 16, _b_), himself\nimpersonating the original otter, the owner would open the ceremony by\nwalking about the fire, chanting and shaking the turtle rattle (fig.\n18), which resembles those used in the Big House, while the audience kept\ntime to his song by uttering \u201c_Hu-hu-hu-hu!_\u201d The nature of the song the\nwriter was unable to learn, but, like the chants of the Bear Ceremony,\nit probably was concerned with the singer\u2019s \u201cdream helper.\u201d When he had\nfinished, another man put on the skin and took up the chant, and so on\nuntil noon the next day, when the ceremony was brought to a close and\nall joined in the feast. At this time the skin is told, \u201cWe will feed\nyou again in two years.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 18.\u2014Rattle of land-tortoise shell used in the Otter\nRite. (Length, 3.9 in.)]\n\n\nBUFFALO DANCE\n\nSuch was the list of native Lenape ceremonies furnished by our\ninformants; but Adams[58] mentions several more, for which the writer was\nunable to procure much in the way of data. One of these was the Buffalo\ndance, which the writer feels should be included with the Otter and Bear\nceremonies, although Adams calls it a \u201cpleasure dance.\u201d He admits, it\nwill be observed, that it usually took place before hunters started on\nthe chase. His account follows:\n\n \u201cThe Buffalo dance is a pleasure dance and always begins in the\n morning and lasts all day. The ground is made clean in a circle\n large enough to dance on, and in the center a fire is built and\n a fork driven into the ground on each side, and a pole placed\n across the fire east and west. On each side of the fire is a\n large brass kettle hanging across the pole with hominy in it,\n and when the dance is nearly over, the dancers eat the hominy,\n dipping their hands in the kettle. The singers are outside of\n the ring and beat on a dried deer hide stretched over poles.\n They do not use the same step in the dance, but gallop like\n buffaloes and bellow like them, also have horns on their heads\n and occasionally hook at each other. The dance is usually given\n before starting on a chase.\u201d\n\n\nIMPORTED CEREMONIES\n\n\nSKELETON DANCE\n\nThe preceding ceremonies have all been, ostensibly at least, of native\nLenape origin, but we now come to several whose outside origin is\nadmitted by the Indians themselves. The most ancient of these is the\n\u201cHuman Skeleton Dance,\u201d mentioned by Adams.[59] He calls it a rite\nbelonging to the Wolf clan or phratry of the Delawares, but the writer\u2019s\ninformants say that it is not true Lenape at all, but a Nanticoke\n(On\u201b\u02b9tko) ceremony introduced among the Lenape by the survivors of that\ntribe who had joined forces with them. Adams\u2019 account, which is better\nthan any the writer was able to obtain, is as follows:\n\n\u201c_Human Skeleton Dance._\u2014Given only by the Wolf clan of the Delawares.\nA certain dance given as a memorial to the dead was supposed to clear\na way for the spirit of the deceased to the spirit land. When a member\nof the Wolf clan died, the flesh was stripped from the bones and buried,\nand the bones were dried at some private place. At the end of 12 days the\nskeleton would be wrapped in white buckskin and taken to a place prepared\nfor the dance and there held up by some one. As the singers would sing\nthe men who held the skeleton would shake it and the bones would rattle\nas the dancers would proceed around it. After the dance the skeleton was\nburied. Traditions say that in ancient times some of the head men in the\nWolf clan had a dream that they must treat their dead in that way, and\nthe custom has been handed down to them for many centuries. The other\nclans say the custom does not belong to them. The custom has been long\ndropped. There has not been a skeleton dance since 1860.\u201d\n\n\nPEYOTE RITE\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 19.\u2014Peyote \u201cButton.\u201d (Diameter, 1.9 in.)]\n\nOne of the latest of introduced ceremonies, which was still much in\nfavor with the Oklahoma Lenape when last visited by the writer, is the\nPeyote Rite, a cult now widespread among the tribes of the Central West,\nintroduced among this people by an Indian named John Wilson, who obtained\nit, they say, from the Caddo on Washita river about the year 1890 or\n1892. During this ceremony remarkable visions are produced by eating the\ndried top of a small cactus, the _peyote_ (fig. 19), for which the cult\nis named, and these visions, coupled with the moral teachings embodied\nin the ritual, make it very attractive to the Indian, who, on joining\nthe cult, is often persuaded to discard entirely the ancient beliefs of\nhis own people. The writer is acquainted with two principal forms of\nthe rite, one involving native deities only, the other, almost entirely\nChristian in teaching and symbolism. It is this latter form which has\nbeen adopted by the Lenape, to whom the tipi, in which the ceremony is\nheld, is as foreign an institution as the little cactus itself, brought\nin from southern Texas and Mexico.\n\n[Illustration: PL. IX\n\nTHE PEYOTE RITE AMONG THE LENAPE\n\nNative Painting by Earnest Spybuck, a Shawnee]\n\n_Paraphernalia._\u2014For this ceremony the tipi is erected with the door to\nthe east, and a complex series of symbols arranged inside, as shown in\nthe smaller drawing, pl. IX. On the western side of the lodge is built\na crescent-shaped mound, or \u201cmoon,\u201d of earth, packed hard, its horns\nturned toward the east, which they say represents the tomb where Christ\nwas buried, and on the center of this is placed a large peyote, dampened\nand flattened (fig. 19), resting either on a bed of feathers or on the\nbare earth; and to the west of this again, sometimes a crucifix, as shown\nin the illustration. Between the points of the crescent is built the\nfire in a certain prescribed manner with overlapping sticks forming an\nangle pointing westward. Near the door lies another mound\u2014a round one\nrepresenting the sun. From the peyote resting on the embankment to the\nsun mound, directly through the middle of the fire, a line is drawn in\nthe earth of the floor. This represents the \u201cpeyote road\u201d along which the\nPeyote Spirit takes the devotee on a journey toward the sun, and also\nsymbolizes the road to Heaven that Jesus made for the souls of men when\nHe returned thither. West of the crescent-shaped mound stands, when not\nin use, the highly decorated arrow or staff, frequently made in the form\nof a long cross, with a groove extending from end to end, representing\nthe spirit road. A small water-drum made of a piece of deerskin\nstretched over a crock, as seen in pl. IX, a nicely carved drumstick, an\neagle-feather fan for brushing all evil influence away from each devotee\nas he enters or leaves the ceremony, and a supply of dried peyote,\ndampened and crushed in a mortar, are all necessary for the ceremony.\nEach devotee, moreover, must be supplied with a decorated gourd rattle of\nhis own.\n\n_Officers._\u2014The only officers needed for this rite are a \u201cRoad-man\u201d\nor speaker, who sits in the west, just opposite the door, and a fire\nguard stationed at the door, whose duty it is to keep the fire burning,\nand to brush with the feather fan the devotees as they enter. This is\nillustrated in the colored plate (pl. IX), which represents also the\n\u201cRoad-man\u201d guiding a newcomer to a seat.\n\n_Conduct of the Ceremony._\u2014When all are gathered in the tipi, the leader\nfirst passes around a fragment herb which the people chew and rub over\nhands and body. Then the macerated peyote is passed, and each takes\nenough to make eight pellets about half an inch in diameter, of which\nsome eat all, some only part, reserving some pellets to be eaten later.\nAbout this time the leader addresses the peyote and the fire, prays,\nand often delivers a regular sermon or moral lecture. He then takes the\nstaff in his left hand, and sitting, or kneeling on one knee, he sings a\ncertain number of peyote songs, which are a class to themselves, while\nthe man to the left beats the drum, then passes the staff to the person\non his right, himself taking the drum while this person sings, and so\nthe staff travels round and round the lodge, each taking his turn at\nsinging, while the devotees, men and women alike, keep their eyes fixed\nupon the fire or upon the peyote lying on the mound. As the night wears\non the \u201cmedicine\u201d begins to take effect, and the devotees see many\nstrange visions, pictures, and brilliant-colored patterns. Often one may\nsee the Peyote Spirit, in the form of an old man, who takes his spirit\non a wonderful journey along the \u201cpeyote road,\u201d eastward toward the sun.\nAt daybreak they all file out of the tipi bearing their paraphernalia,\nas seen in pl. IX, _b_, and when the sun appears they raise their hands\nin salutation, and then those who are left standing (for some fall as\nif dead at the sight of the sun) \u201cgive thanks to the Great Father in\nHeaven.\u201d Those who fall at sunrise, they say, are the ones who visited\nthe sun in their visions. All sleep, or at least rest, until about noon,\nwhen a feast is served, after which everyone tells what he or she saw\nwhile \u201con the peyote road.\u201d\n\nThe Lenape variant of this ceremony, as related above, differs somewhat\nfrom that of other tribes practising the Christian form of the Peyote\nrite, but in all essentials it is almost identical.\n\n\nGHOST DANCE\n\nThe Ghost dance was also introduced among the Lenape by an Indian named\nWilson, about the same time, our informants thought, as the Peyote rite,\nand, like it, probably from the Washita River region.\n\nWilson would call a dance every now and then during his lifetime, at\nwhich the people appeared in their everyday dress, without such special\ncostumes as were seen, for instance, at such functions among the Kiowa\nand the Arapaho. At these meetings the participants would dance round\nand round for a long time, with a sidewise step, to the sound of song\nand water-drum, sometimes for a considerable period without stopping.\nOccasionally one would fall and appear to faint, and when revived would\nclaim to have visited Heaven in spirit while his body lay as if dead.\nWhen Wilson died, the cult, so far as the Delawares were concerned,\nperished with him.\n\nSuch were the ceremonies surviving until recent times among the Lenape,\nfrom which have been omitted only the observances connected with the\ndead, shamanism, witchcraft, and war, all of which will be discussed in\nlater papers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nSUMMARY\n\n\nRELIGION\n\nA study of the material presented shows that the Lenape believed in a\nGreat Spirit, or Creator, whose goodness is acknowledged, who is thanked\nfor past blessings and petitioned for their continuance, but who is not\ntheir only god. He is, however, the great chief of all, and dwells in the\ntwelfth, or highest heaven. He created everything, either with his own\nhands or through agents sent by him, and all the powers of nature were\nassigned to their duties by his word. That these concepts are not new\namong the Lenape may be seen from the fact that most of the early writers\nwho treat of this people have noticed such beliefs among them, which can\nbe traced back as far as 1679.\n\nThis Great Spirit gave the four quarters of the earth and the winds that\ncome from them to four powerful beings, or _man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, namely, Our\nGrandfather where daylight begins, Our Grandmother where it is warm, Our\nGrandfather where the sun goes down, and Our Grandfather where it is\nwinter. To the Sun and the Moon, regarded as persons and addressed as\nElder Brothers by the Indians, he gave the duty of providing light, and\nto our Elder Brothers the Thunders, man-like beings with wings, the task\nof watering the crops, and of protecting the people against the Great\nHorned Serpents and other water monsters. To the Living Solid Face, or\nMask Being, was given charge of all the wild animals; to the Corn Spirit,\ncontrol over all vegetation, while Our Mother, the Earth, received the\ntask of carrying and feeding the people.\n\nBesides these powerful personages were many lesser ones, such as the\nSmall People, the Doll Being, the Snow Boy, and the Great Bear. Certain\nlocalities, moreover, were the abode of supernatural beings, while\nanimals and plants were thought to have spirits of their own. Besides\nthese there were, of course, the countless spirits of the human dead who\nwere still supposed to retain some influence in earthly affairs.\n\nThis, then, was the supernatural world which, to the mind of the Lenape,\ncontrolled all things\u2014on which they must depend for health, for success\nin all their undertakings, even the daily task of deer-hunting or\ncorn-raising. Benevolent beings must be pleased, and bad spirits combated\nand overcome, or at least placated.\n\nThere was, however, until very lately, no conception of a \u201cdevil\u201d in the\nmodern sense of the word.\n\nThe main channel of communication between the supernatural world and\nman was the dream or vision, obtained, as before described, by fasting\nand consequent purification in youth. Through the vision the young man\nobtained his guardian spirit or supernatural helper, who gave him some\npower or blessing that was his main dependence through life, his aid\nin time of trouble, the secret of his success. No wonder, then, that\nvisions and helpers form the basis of Lenape belief and worship. Among\nthe guardian spirits figured not only such great powers as the Sun and\nthe Thunder Beings, the personified powers of nature, but the spirits\nrepresenting various species of animals and birds, such as the Wolf or\nthe Owl, of plants, as \u201cMother Corn,\u201d as well as the Mask Being, and even\nthe spirits of the dead which some Lenape claimed as helpers.\n\nThose favored by such visions were considered the leading people of\ntheir community. They usually composed rythmic chants referring to their\nvisions, and appropriate dance songs to go with them, to recite at the\nAnnual Ceremony.\n\nBelief in a soul or spirit surviving the death of the body formed an\nintegral part of Lenape philosophy. The soul is supposed to linger for\neleven days after death, and is addressed and offered food by the\nsurviving relatives, sometimes in a formal \u201cFeast of the Dead;\u201d but on\nthe twelfth day, they say, it leaves the earth and finally makes its way\nto the twelfth or highest heaven, the home of the Great Spirit, where\nit leads a happy life in a land where work and worry are unknown. Some\npersons are thought to have the power of communicating with the departed.\n\n\nCEREMONIES\n\nMost of the beliefs summarized above were found among the descendants\nof both Unami and Minsi; but when we consider their great religious\nceremonies, we begin to note differences. While it is true that (1) in\nboth cases these rites are based on the recital of the visions seen by\nthe participants, combined with thanksgiving to the Great Spirit and\nhis helpers for past blessings and prayers for their renewal, that (2)\nthe New Fire ceremony figures in both, and that (3) they take place in\na building of special form and decoration erected for the purpose, we\nnote that among the Unami the ceremony is conducted only once a year,\nand is combined to a certain extent with the cult of the M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, or\nMask Being, a magnified guardian spirit or personal helper; while the\nMinsi have in addition to that held in the fall, a spring ceremony also,\ncognate with the Iroquois \u201cThanks for the First Fruits,\u201d or Strawberry\nDance, and masked impersonators do not appear in the Minsi ceremonial\nhouse.\n\nIn the ceremonies of both Unami and Minsi, however, we note other\nsimilarities besides those first mentioned, such as the manner of prayer,\nthe use of a drum made of a dried deerhide beaten with flat forked\ndrumsticks each bearing a carved face, the fumigation and sweeping of the\nBig House, the restriction against women in their menses, and the use of\ntwelve as a sacred number.\n\nIt therefore seems likely that the rites, in spite of the differences\nnoted, probably have a common origin, and hence date back to a period\nbefore the separation of the Unami and the Minsi. Indeed we have an\nhistorical account which seems to refer to this kind of ceremony as early\nas 1683, while under date of 1779 there is a description of the rites\npractically as enacted as late as 1920.\n\n\nMINOR CEREMONIES\n\nAnalyzing the minor ceremonies of Lenape origin we find the cults of two\ntypes: one founded on a beneficent spirit, a personal helper such as the\nMask Being, whose relations are friendly with mankind; the other based on\na discarded toy or pet, which makes trouble for its former owner unless\npropitiated by the ceremony in question.\n\nA good example, in fact the only one we recorded, of the first type is\nthe ceremony in honor of the M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, or Mask Being, among the\nUnami, which, however, does not find its counterpart among the Minsi, who\nhad a Society of Masks whose rites and functions were similar to those\nof the Iroquois \u201cFalse Face Company.\u201d\n\nThe second class embraces the cults of the Doll, Bear, and Otter, all of\nwhich must be propitiated periodically, under pain of sickness or death.\n\nIt will be observed that recitals of visions form a part of the Bear\nrites, and probably also of the Otter ceremony, all of which, taken into\nconsideration with the preceding, gives rise to speculations concerning\nthe basic form of Lenape ceremonies. Perhaps originally, everyone who\nhad been blessed with a vision, held a periodic ceremony at which rites\nappropriate to his own guardian spirit were emphasized, but at which\nothers so blessed could recite their own visions.\n\nOf course ceremonies of extraneous origin, such as the Peyote rite, can\nnot be classified with those of true Lenape origin; and there are others\nof which our accounts are so fragmentary that we can not place them, and\nstill others, doubtless, that have disappeared entirely.\n\nThat such may have been the case is not remarkable\u2014not nearly so\nextraordinary as the fact that the Lenape have retained so much of their\nancient beliefs and practices after three centuries of contact with\ncivilization.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] Handbook of American Indians, _Bulletin 30, Bureau of American\nEthnology_, part I, p. 386, Washington, 1907. Indian Population in the\nUnited States and Alaska, 1910, p. 73, Washington, 1915. Annual Report of\nthe Department of Indian Affairs for 1913, Ottawa, 1913.\n\n[2] Dankers, Jaspar, and Sluyter, Peter. Journal of a Voyage to New York\nin 1679-80. Translated from the original manuscript in Dutch for the Long\nIsland Historical Society, pp. 266-267, Brooklyn, 1869.\n\n[3] Penn, William. A Letter from William Penn, Proprietary and Governour\nof Pennsylvania in America to the Committee of the Free Society of\nTraders of that Province, Residing in London, p. 6, London, 1683.\n\n[4] Holm, Thomas Campanius. Short description of the Province of New\nSweden, now called Pennsylvania. _Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa._, vol. III, p. 139,\nPhila., 1834.\n\n[5] David Zeisberger\u2019s History of the Northern American Indians.\nEdited by Archer Butler Hulbert and William Nathaniel Schwarze. _Ohio\nArch\u00e6ological and Historical Quarterly_, vol. XIX, nos. 1 and 2, p. 128,\nColumbus, 1910.\n\n[6] Heckewelder, John. An Account of the History, Manners and Customs of\nthe Indian Nations who once inhabited Pennsylvania and the neighboring\nStates. _Transactions of the American Philosophical Society_, vol. I, p.\n205, Phila., 1819.\n\n[7] Waubuno, _Chief_ (John Wampum). The Traditions of the Delawares, as\ntold by Chief Waubuno. London [n.d.]. This little pamphlet contains some\noriginal material on the Minsi and some purporting to apply to the Minsi,\nbut copied from Peter Jones\u2019 \u201cHistory of the Ojebway Indians.\u201d\n\n[8] Brainerd, David. Memoirs of the Rev. David Brainerd, Missionary\nto the Indians ... chiefly taken from his own diary, by Rev. Jonathan\nEdwards, including his Journal, now ... incorporated with the rest of his\ndiary ... by Sereno Edwards Dwight, pp. 344, 349, New Haven, 1822.\n\n[9] Brinton, Daniel G. The Lenape and their Legends, p. 65 et seq.,\nPhila., 1885.\n\n[10] Loskiel, George Henry. History of the Mission of the United Brethren\namong the Indians in North America, p. 34, London, 1794. Zeisberger, op.\ncit., pp. 128-129. Heckewelder, op. cit., p. 205.\n\n[11] Loskiel, op. cit.\n\n[12] Zeisberger, op. cit., p. 130.\n\n[13] Brainerd, op. cit., p. 238.\n\n[14] Holm, op. cit., p. 139.\n\n[15] Strachey, Wm. The Historie of Travaile into Virginia. _Hakluyt Soc.\nPub._, vol. VI, p. 98, London, 1849.\n\n[16] Brainerd, op. cit., p. 344.\n\n[17] Loskiel, op. cit., p. 43.\n\n[18] Brainerd, op. cit.\n\n[19] Loskiel, op. cit.\n\n[20] Ibid.\n\n[21] Ibid.\n\n[22] Zeisberger, op. cit., p. 147.\n\n[23] Heckewelder, op. cit., p. 205.\n\n[24] Loskiel, op. cit., p. 43.\n\n[25] Jones, Rev. Peter. History of the Ojebway Indians, p. 83, London,\n1861.\n\n[26] Skinner, Alanson, and Schrabisch, Max. A Preliminary Report of the\nArch\u00e6ological Survey of the State of New Jersey, _Bulletin 9 of the\nGeological Survey of New Jersey_, p. 32, Trenton, 1913.\n\n[27] Skinner, Alanson. The Lenape Indians of Staten Island,\n_Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History_,\nvol. III, p. 21, New York, 1909. Idem. Two Lenape Stone Masks from\nPennsylvania and New Jersey, _Indian Notes and Monographs_, 1920.\n\n[28] Brainerd, op. cit., p. 237.\n\n[29] Zeisberger, op. cit., p. 141.\n\n[30] Ibid., op. cit., p. 139.\n\n[31] Brainerd, John, quoted by Abbott in Idols of the Delaware Indians,\n_American Naturalist_, Oct. 1882.\n\n[32] Jones, op. cit., pp. 87, 95.\n\n[33] Brainerd, David, op. cit., p. 344.\n\n[34] Penn, William, op. cit.\n\n[35] Brainerd, David, op. cit., p. 238.\n\n[36] Ibid., p. 346.\n\n[37] Zeisberger, op. cit., pp. 133-134.\n\n[38] Ibid., p. 131.\n\n[39] A similar vision of a black and white duck was reported by the\nLenape at the Grand River reserve in Ontario. See Harrington, M. R.,\nVestiges of Material Culture among the Canadian Delawares, _American\nAnthropologist_, n.s., vol. X, no. 3, p. 414, July-Sept., 1908.\n\n[40] Brainerd, David, op. cit., p. 347.\n\n[41] Zeisberger, op. cit., p. 132.\n\n[42] Loskiel, op. cit., p. 40.\n\n[43] Heckewelder, op. cit., p. 238 et seq.\n\n[44] Adams, R. C. Notes on Delaware Indians, in _Report on Indians Taxed\nand Indians not Taxed_, U. S. Census 1890, p. 299.\n\n[45] Zeisberger, op. cit., p. 138.\n\n[46] Ibid. pp. 136, 137.\n\n[47] Harrington, M. R. A Preliminary Sketch of Lenape Culture, American\nAnthropologist, vol. XV, no. 2, April-June, 1913.\n\n[48] Adams, loc. cit.\n\n[49] Zeisberger, op. cit., p. 138.\n\n[50] Harrington, Canadian Delawares, pp. 414, 415. See note 39.\n\n[51] Waubuno, op. cit., p. 27.\n\n[52] Brainerd, David, op. cit., p. 237.\n\n[53] Adams, loc. cit.\n\n[54] Harrington, Canadian Delawares, p. 416.\n\n[55] Ibid. p. 417.\n\n[56] Marsh, Rev. Cutting. Documents Relating to the Stockbridge Mission,\n1825-48, _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, vol. XV, pp. 164-165.\n\n[57] Zeisberger, op. cit., p. 138.\n\n[58] Adams, loc. cit.\n\n[59] Ibid.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n\n _A\u02b9ckas_ or attendants of Annual ceremony, duties of, 84-85, 87-88,\n 96-97, 103, 105, 107.\n See _Attendants_.\n\n _Adams, R. C._, on Annual ceremony, 118-122;\n on Buffalo dance, 182-183;\n on dreams or visions, 80;\n on M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 154-156;\n on Skeleton dance, 183-184.\n\n _Air_, mannitto of, 30.\n See _Thunder Beings_\n\n _Alder_, dye from bark of, 141\n\n _Alphabet_ used for Lenape words, 15-16\n\n _Altar_ at Annual ceremony, 115\n\n _America_, prophecy of whites\u2019 coming to, 121\n\n _American Anthropologist_, account of Minsi ceremony in, 138-143\n\n _American Museum of Natural History_, Doll in collection of, 46,\n 168-169;\n Tefft collection in, 15, 38\n\n _American tribes_, concept of Great Spirit among, 19-20\n\n _Animals_, as guardian spirits, 49-50, 65, 70, 77, 80, 121, 195;\n ceremonies of, 171-183;\n spirits of, 118, 125, 194;\n thanks to, 134.\n See _Wild animals_\n\n _Anima mundi_ compared with Great Spirit, 22\n\n _Annual ceremony_, authorities on:\n Adams, 118-122;\n Indian comments, 111-115;\n Penn, 115-116;\n Zeisberger, 116-118;\n Bear ceremony resembling, 171;\n carved faces in, 31;\n chant of Pokite\u02b9hemun at, 67-69;\n chants of visions at, 66, 73-76, 195;\n compared with Minsi ceremony, 127-145;\n Four winds in ritual of, 26;\n native name for, 109;\n penalties of omitting, 113-116;\n rites of Mask in, 36, 146, 151;\n thanks given to Earth in, 29;\n Unami rites of, 81-111;\n variants of, 122-126;\n worship of Great Spirit in, 19;\n worship of Mask Being in, 35.\n See _Minsi_\n\n _Anthony, Michael_, acknowledgment to, 14, 139\n\n _Ants_ as guardian spirits, 78\n\n _Arapaho_, Ghost dance of, 191\n\n _Arrow_, ceremonial use of, at Peyote rite, 187-188;\n arrows of Thunder Beings, 29\n\n _Ashes_, ceremonial removal of, 101, 131-132;\n prevention of disease by, 160\n\n _A\u207fsipta\u02b9g\u016dn_ or paint-dish of bark, 105\n\n _A\u201b\u02b9tcigamu\u02b9Lti\u207f_, native name for Otter ceremony, 176.\n See _Otter ceremony_\n\n _Attendants_, at Annual ceremony, 84-85, 87-88, 96-97, 103, 105-111,\n 117-118, 120;\n at Bear ceremony, 172-173;\n at Feast of first fruits, 144;\n at Minsi ceremony, 132-133, 137;\n at Otter ceremony, 179;\n at Peyote rite, 188.\n See _A\u02b9ckas_\n\n _Axe_, Tornado threatened with, 47\n\n\n _Bad luck_, caused by neglect of rites, 113-116\n\n _Bag_, full of snakes, 35, 153;\n mask worn in, 42;\n of Mask impersonator, 34;\n of tobacco offered: to bear, 172;\n to otter, 177\n\n _Bark_, boiled for making dyes, 141;\n ceremonial bowls and spoons of, 131, 137;\n ceremonial paint-dish of, 105-106;\n first Big House of, 148;\n roof of Big House of, 83\n\n _Beads_ of wampum, as invitation to dance, 142-143;\n payment in, 110-111, 135;\n used in Minsi ceremony, 141-143.\n See _Wampum_\n\n _Beans_, offering of, 144;\n thanks to, 134;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Bear_, abundance of, in Happy Hunting Ground, 58;\n ceremony of, 171-176, 199;\n fat of, burned, 117-118, 134;\n flesh of, offered to Corn Goddess, 44;\n hair of Mask Being like, 33;\n head of, fastened to mask of Mask impersonator, 34;\n provision of, for feast, 117\n\n _Bearskin_, bag of Mask impersonator, 34, 155;\n cap of Mask impersonator, 42;\n coat of Mask impersonator, 41;\n dress of Mask impersonator, 56, 152-153;\n leggings of Mask impersonator, 34, 41;\n worn by members of Mask society, 159\n\n \u201c_Beautiful town_\u201d or Heaven, 56-57.\n See _Happy Hunting Ground_\n\n _Belief_: in Doll Being, 162-171;\n in dream or vision, 61-80;\n in Great Spirit, 18-24, 88-92, 192-193;\n in immortality, 52-60, 195-196;\n in supernatural beings, 17-51\n\n _Bergen_, New Jersey, information from Indians at, 20\n\n _Big-Deer_, Nani\u02b9tis given up by, 170-171\n\n _Big House_ or _Xi\u02b9ngwikan_, Annual ceremonies in, 35, 82-122;\n common to both tribes, 129-133, 196-197;\n construction of, 82-83, 119, 148-150;\n Elkhair on significance of, 113-115;\n Mask impersonator present in, 98-99;\n MuxhatoL\u02b9zing in, 123;\n of Bear cult, 173;\n of Minsi, 127-145;\n origin of, 147-152;\n prayer in, 112-113;\n preparation of, for Ceremony, 85-87, 117;\n return of hunters to, 100-101;\n rites of Mask in, 151-152;\n seating of congregation in, 93;\n serving of meals in, 110;\n turtle rattles of, 181;\n visions recited in, 75-76.\n See _Annual ceremony_, _Meeting-house_\n\n _Bilberries_, at Annual feast, 118;\n in Happy Hunting Ground, 58\n\n _Birds_ as guardian spirits, 78, 80, 121, 195\n\n _Black_, and red: carved faces painted with, 83, 119;\n Mask painted with, 33, 41, 150, 155;\n and white duck, as guardian spirit, 67, 140;\n hog, offering of, 173;\n symbolizing men, 140-141\n\n _Blanket_, ceremonial waving of, 145;\n blankets spread over sweating-oven, 125\n\n _Blessing_ granted by guardian spirits, 65-67, 77, 194-195\n\n _Blood_, luminous ball of, 53-54\n\n _Body_, luminous form of, 53-54\n\n _Bones_, burning of, at Annual ceremony, 118\n\n _Bowl_, and dice game of man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk, 25-26;\n ceremonial, in Bear cult, 173-174;\n bowls, bark, in Minsi ceremony, 131, 137\n\n _Bows and arrows_ of Thunder Beings, 29\n\n _Box-tortoise rattle_ in Annual ceremony, 94-96, 118, 120.\n See _Rattles_\n\n _Box-turtle rattle_ of Planting dance, 143.\n See _Rattles_\n\n _Boys_, dreaming of, for power, 54;\n initiation of, 63-64, 78-80;\n pet of, 172;\n vision of Mask Being by, 147-152;\n visions of, 62-63, 72-75, 92, 140, 194-195\n\n _Brainerd, David_, on animal spirits, 50;\n on Annual ceremony, 151-152;\n on carved faces in Big House, 42;\n on concept of soul, 56;\n on dream or vision, 77;\n on Evil Spirit, 25;\n on Four Directions, 27;\n on Great Spirit, 22-23;\n on impersonator of Mask Being, 41-42;\n on sun, 28\n\n _Brainerd, John_, on idol image or Doll, 46-47\n\n _Brass eyes_ of Mizi\u02b9nk, 158\n\n \u201c_Bringing in_\u201d the meeting, 81, 92-94, 104, 122, 135, 174\n\n _Brown, William_, acknowledgment to, 14\n\n _Brush house_ of Bear cult, 173-174\n\n _Buck_, chant referring to, 69;\n prayer to, 126;\n ridden by Mask Being, 33, 148;\n women\u2019s share in, 106\n\n _Buckskin_, skeleton wrapped in, 184\n\n _Buffalo_, as guardian spirit, 78;\n dance of, 182-183\n\n _Bunches of wampum_, symbolism of, 141-143\n\n _Burial_, Wolf clan rites of, 183-184\n\n _Burning_, of bones, 118;\n of cedar leaves, 105;\n of fat, 117-118, 134, 173-175;\n of hemlock-boughs, 133, 144-145;\n of hog\u2019s head, 175;\n of moccasins, 47;\n of tobacco, 29, 98, 126, 151.\n See _Offering_\n\n\n _Cactus_ called _peyote_, 186.\n See _Peyote rite_\n\n _Caddo_, Peyote cult originating among, 185\n\n _Canada_, Lenape now resident in, 13-14, 170.\n See _Ontario_\n\n _Canoe_, coming of white men in, 121;\n over river to Spirit land, 54\n\n _Cantico_, Penn\u2019s term for ceremony, 115-116\n\n _Cap_, bearskin, of Mask impersonator, 42\n\n _Carved drumsticks_, in Annual ceremony, 101-103, 150;\n in Minsi ceremony, 130-131, 139-140, 197\n\n _Carved faces_, on drumsticks, 101, 130-131, 197;\n on posts of Big House, 42-43, 83, 88, 106, 119, 148, 150;\n on posts of Minsi Big House, 129-130, 151;\n representing Keepers of the Heavens, 31.\n See _Mask_, _Masks_, _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Catfish_, James Wolf\u2019s dream of, 72-73\n\n _Cattle_, Mask Being guardian of, 35, 157\n\n _Cayuga_, False Face company of, 161;\n long-house, thanksgiving of Lenape in, 139;\n Planting dance of, 143\n\n _Cedar-leaves_, burning of, at Annual ceremony, 105\n\n _Central post_, carved faces on, 83, 119, 151;\n ceremonial of: in Annual ceremony, 94, 106, 119-120;\n in Feast of first fruits, 144;\n in Minsi Big House, 129-130, 135;\n in MuxhatoL\u02b9zing, 123\n\n _Central West_, Peyote cult in, 185\n\n _Ceremonies_, directed by guardian spirit, 65;\n extinction of, 63;\n in honor of dead, 55, 191, 195-196;\n minor, 198-199;\n of Big House, 75-76, 82;\n of Lenape, paintings of, 14;\n of Minsi Big House, 127-145;\n of Minsi to Mother Corn, 43;\n of Unami and Minsi, compared, 196-200;\n thanks given to Great Spirit in, 18, 145, 196.\n See _Annual ceremony_, _Ceremony_\n\n _Ceremony_, of Bear, 171-176;\n of Buffalo, 182-183;\n of Doll Being, 46, 162-171;\n of First fruits, 144-145;\n of Mask Being, 35, 198-199;\n of Mask society, 37, 159-161;\n of Otter, 176-183;\n of Peyote, 185-191;\n of Skeleton dance, 183-184;\n of Thanksgiving, 139-143.\n See _Annual ceremony_, _Ceremonies_\n\n _Chant_, at Otter ceremony, 180-181;\n of Pokite\u02b9hemun, 67-68;\n referring to Mask Being, 69;\n referring to visions, 66-74, 136, 174-175, 195;\n Unami examples of, 67-72.\n See _Singers_, _Singing_, _Visions_\n\n _Charm_, opi\u02b9na or blessing as, 65-66;\n charms: from Great Horned Serpents, 49;\n miniature masks as, 36, 42.\n See _Fetishes_\n\n _Charts_ of Heaven drawn on deerskin, 57\n\n _Chastity_ of boys, 62-63\n\n _Chief_, of the gods, Great Spirit as, 19;\n hunter of Annual ceremony, 85, 97.\n See _Leader_\n\n _Chief Waubuno_, description of Minsi ceremony by, 143-145;\n on Great Spirit, 21-22\n\n _Children_, cared for by Mask Being, 34-35, 153, 155-156;\n Doll Being revealed to, 162-163;\n Little People hunted by, 49, 193;\n meeting of, with parents in Heaven, 53, 91;\n no longer pi\u02b9ls\u016d\u207f, 63, 112-114;\n part of, in Annual ceremony, 108-109;\n prayers for, 115.\n See _Boys_, _Girls_\n\n _Cholera_ checked by False Face company, 161\n\n _Christ_, tomb of, at Peyote rite, 186-187.\n See _Jesus Christ_\n\n _Christianity_, concepts of, in Peyote rite, 186-190;\n idols given up for, 38;\n Nani\u02b9tis given up for, 169;\n visions given up for, 72.\n See _Devil_, _Missionary_, _Whites_\n\n _Clans_, see _Phratries_\n\n _Clothing_ of Nani\u02b9tis, 167.\n See _Costume_\n\n _Coat_ of bearskins of Mask impersonator, 34, 41\n\n _Colors_, dyes for, 141.\n See _Black_, _Red_\n\n _Comet_, attributes of, 48-49\n\n _Cones_, copper, adorning Mizi\u02b9nk, 158\n\n _Confederacy_ of the Lenape, 13\n\n _Conjurer_, information of, in regard to Great Spirit, 22-23\n\n _Copper_ adorning Mizi\u02b9nk, 158\n\n _Corn_, beans and vegetables, wampum string symbolizing, 141-142;\n called Lenape food, 70;\n in rattle of Mask impersonator, 42;\n offering of, 144;\n soul likened to, 59;\n spirit, duties of, 193;\n thanks for, 145;\n thanks to, 134.\n See _Mother Corn_\n\n _Corn-bread_ at Minsi ceremony, 137\n\n _Corn Goddess_, see _Mother Corn_\n\n _Corn-mush_, see _Hominy_, _S\u00e4\u02b9pan_\n\n _Costume_, of impersonator: of Mask Being, 33-34, 41-42, 56, 152-153,\n 155, 158;\n of Otter, 177-182;\n of members of Mask society, 159;\n of Nani\u02b9tis, 169-170;\n of Sun, 27;\n worn at Annual ceremony, 93;\n worn at Ghost dance, 191\n\n _Cranes_ or singers of Annual ceremony, 85.\n See _Singers_\n\n _Crayfish_, James Wolf\u2019s dream of, 72-73\n\n _Creator_, see _Great Spirit_\n\n _Cripples_, injunction to help, 91-92\n\n _Crooked nose_ of Mizi\u02b9nk, 158\n\n _Crops_, prayer for, 44, 134;\n ruin of, 113;\n supernatural control of, 194;\n watered by Thunder Beings, 193\n\n _Cross_, drumsticks marked with, 101;\n spirit road represented by line on, 187-188.\n See _Crucifix_\n\n _Crow_ as guardian spirit, 69-70\n\n _Crucifix_ at Peyote rite, 187\n\n _Cult_, see _Ceremony_, _Ceremonies_\n\n\n _Dance_, at Thanksgiving ceremony, 142-143;\n in honor of Great Spirit, 88;\n native terms for, 115-116;\n of Buffalo, 182-183;\n of Doll Being, 164-165;\n of First fruits, 128;\n of guardian spirits, 73;\n of Ghost, 190-191;\n of Mask impersonator in Big House, 42, 99;\n of M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, 152-156;\n of Skeleton, 183-184;\n of Weop\u0115\u02b9lakis, 36;\n Planting, 143;\n Strawberry, 128, 197;\n dances connected with Mask society, 160.\n See _Dancing_\n\n _Dance songs_ accompanying chants, 66.\n See _Chant_, _Singers_, _Singing_\n\n _Dancing_, at Annual ceremony, 42, 95, 99, 103, 106, 115-116, 118-122;\n at Feast of first fruits, 145;\n at Minsi ceremony, 135-136, 140;\n in ceremonies of Nani\u02b9tis, 168, 171;\n in Happy Hunting Ground, 56, 58.\n See _Dance_\n\n _Dankers, Jaspar_, and _Sluyter, Peter_, on Great Spirit, 20\n\n _Day_, clothing the Great Man, 23;\n god of, 28.\n See _Great Spirit_\n\n _Dead_, beliefs concerning, 52-60;\n ceremonies in honor of, 55, 191;\n dance in honor of, 183-184;\n food offered to, 52, 195-196;\n food taken by, 71;\n going west, 132;\n spirits of, as guardians, 71-72, 194-195.\n See _Ghosts_, _Immortality_\n\n _Death_, propitiation to prevent, 199\n\n _Deer_, abundance of, in Happy Hunting Ground, 58;\n ceremonial hunting of, 97-101;\n for Annual ceremony, 117;\n for Doll dance, 163-164, 168-169;\n for Feast of first fruits, 144;\n for Minsi ceremony, 132;\n herded by Mask Being, 33, 148, 150, 156\n\n _Deer-hoofs_ adorning Mizi\u02b9nk, 158\n\n _Deerskin_, charts of Heaven drawn on, 57;\n clothing Sun, 27;\n drum at Annual ceremony, 85, 94-95, 100, 106, 115-116, 120;\n drum at Buffalo dance, 182-183;\n drum at Doll dance, 165;\n drum at Minsi ceremonies, 130, 135, 139;\n drum at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 154-155;\n drum at Peyote rite, 188;\n giving away of, at Annual ceremony, 108-109;\n stuffed with grass, 123;\n suspended from pole, 144;\n taken by hunters, 108;\n worn by members of Mask society, 159\n\n _Delaware_, Lenape first encountered in, by whites, 13\n\n _Devil_, a Christian concept, 24-25, 57, 194.\n See _Evil Spirit_\n\n _Devil dance_, M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance so called by whites, 156\n\n _Dewey_, Oklahoma, Big House near, 82\n\n _Dictionary_, Indian, Zeisberger, author, 43\n\n _Disease_, caused by neglect of rites, 116;\n ceremony of expelling, 37;\n cured by Mask Being, 159, 161;\n cured by Pabookowaih, 168-169;\n prevention of, by ashes, 160.\n See _Sickness_\n\n _Dish_ of bark used in Annual ceremony, 105-106\n\n _Doe_ offered to Nani\u02b9tis, 168-169\n\n _Dogs_, forbidden in Big House, 121;\n prevented from eating bones, 118\n\n _Doll Being_, belief in, 45-47, 162-163, 193, 199;\n Unami dance of, 163-166.\n See _Nani\u02b9tis_\n\n _Dolls_, see _Fetishes_\n\n _Dream helper_, see _Guardian spirit_\n\n _Dreams_, see _Visions_\n\n _Drink_, ceremonial, at Bear cult, 175-176;\n of Minsi ceremonies, 128, 134\n\n _Drum_, at Annual ceremony, 85, 95-94, 100, 103, 106, 115-116, 120,\n 197;\n at Buffalo dance, 182-183;\n at Doll dance, 165, 168;\n at Feast of first fruits, 144;\n at Ghost dance, 191;\n at Minsi ceremony, 130, 135, 139-140, 197;\n at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 154-155;\n at Peyote rite, 188-189\n\n _Drummers_, at Annual ceremony, 95, 100, 110, 150;\n at Doll dance, 165\n\n _Drumsticks_, at Annual ceremony, 101-103, 106, 150;\n at Minsi ceremony, 130-131, 139, 197;\n at Peyote rite, 188\n\n _Duck_ as guardian spirit, 67-69, 140\n\n _Dyes_ for red and black, 141\n\n\n _Eagle-feathers_, fan of, 188\n\n _Earth_, concept of, 28-29;\n created by Great Spirit, 18, 21;\n duties of, 193;\n thanksgiving to, 89-90;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Earthquake_ caused by abandoning rites, 149, 151\n\n _East_, ceremonial significance of, 74, 83, 85, 98, 100-101, 108-109,\n 119, 121-122, 131, 137, 144-145, 149, 155, 182, 186-187;\n Grandfather at, 26;\n home of Great Spirit in, 109;\n thanksgiving to, 89\n\n _Elau\u02b9nato_ or Comet, attributes of, 48-49\n\n _Elder brother_, title, of moon, 28, 193;\n of sun, 28, 193;\n of Thunder Beings, 29, 193\n\n _Elements_, as guardian spirits, 77;\n worship of, 29-31.\n See _Thunder Beings_\n\n _Elkhair, Chief Charley_, acknowledgment to, 14;\n Annual ceremony explained by, 112-115;\n myth of Mask related by, 146-152;\n speaker of Annual ceremony, 85;\n speech of, at Annual ceremony, 87-92\n\n _Elkire_, see _Elkhair_\n\n _Emetics_, purification by, 57, 79;\n visions induced by, 64\n\n _Endal\u016dn towi\u02b9y\u016dn_, title of Four Directions, 26\n\n _English settlements_ on Susquehanna, 41\n\n _Europeans_, concept of Devil introduced by, 25, 57, 194.\n See _Christianity_, _Whites_\n\n _Evil_, exclusion of, from Heaven, 53, 56-59\n\n _Evil Spirit_, native concept of, 24-25\n\n _Evil spirits_, driving out of, 133, 145, 188;\n ghosts as, 59;\n Giant Bear one of, 49;\n Great Horned Serpents as, 29, 49, 193;\n placation of, 194;\n Tornado one of, 47-48\n\n _E-ye-he-ye-\u0115_, cry concluding chant, 136\n\n\n _Faces_, carved: by children on sticks, 162;\n in Big House, 31, 42, 83, 88, 119, 148, 150;\n in Minsi Big House, 129-130, 151;\n on drumsticks, 101, 150, 197;\n on Minsi drumsticks, 130-131;\n ceremonial painting of, 105-106;\n painted by sun, 76;\n painted, of Mask Being, 33, 41-42, 150, 155;\n painted, of sun, 27.\n See _Mask_, _Masks_\n\n _Fairies_, Little People like, 49\n\n _Fall_, Annual ceremony celebrated in, 81, 116, 119-120;\n ceremony of Nani\u02b9tis in, 171;\n Thanksgiving in, 139\n\n _False Face Company_ of Iroquois, 198-199;\n compared with Minsi mask, 161\n\n _Family_, keepers of: Bear, 172;\n Doll, 163-164;\n Mask, 33-35, 151;\n Nani\u02b9tis, 166-171;\n Otter, 177-182;\n sacrifice by, 116-117\n\n _Fans_, eagle-feather, at Peyote rite, 188;\n turkey-wing, ceremonial sweeping with, 133\n\n _Fasting_, visions induced by, 60, 64, 79, 194\n\n _Fat_, drinking of, 176;\n thrown on fire, 117-118, 134, 173-175\n\n _Feast_, at Annual ceremony, 85, 96-97, 107, 109;\n at Bear ceremony, 173-176;\n at Buffalo dance, 182;\n at Doll dance, 166-167;\n at Minsi ceremony, 137;\n at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 152-156;\n at Peyote rite, 190;\n ceremonial, Zeisberger on, 116-118;\n of the Dead, 195-196;\n of First fruits, 144-145;\n of hunters, 97-98, 100-101;\n of Machtuzin, 126;\n of Otter ceremony, 177, 179, 182;\n to Nani\u02b9tis, 169, 171\n\n _Feasting_ in Happy Hunting Ground, 56\n\n _Feathers_, adorning Mizi\u02b9nk, 158;\n fan of, 188;\n Peyote placed on, 187;\n red, worn by sun, 27\n\n _Feeding_, of dead, 52, 71;\n of Nani\u02b9tis, 167;\n of Otter, 179, 182\n\n _Female deities_: Doll Being, 46, 162-171;\n Earth, 28, 89-90, 193;\n Grandmother at the South, 26;\n Great Spirit, 20;\n Mother Corn, 43-44, 70, 195\n\n _Festival_ of Machtuzin, 125-126.\n See _Ceremonies_, _Ceremony_\n\n _Fetishes_ or dolls, 45-46, 162.\n See _Charm_, _Doll Being_\n\n _Fire_, ceremonial making of: at Annual ceremony, 85-88, 101,\n 132-133, 196;\n at Buffalo dance, 182;\n at Otter ceremony, 179;\n ceremonial use of: at Annual ceremony, 98-100, 105, 107, 117-121,\n 134, 160;\n at Bear cult, 173-175;\n at Doll dance, 165-166;\n at Feast of first fruits, 144-145;\n at Otter ceremony, 180-181;\n at Peyote rite, 187, 189;\n festival in honor of, 125-126;\n gift of Great Spirit, 18;\n tobacco offered to, 126\n\n _Fire-drill_ used in Annual ceremony, 86.\n See _Pump-drill_\n\n _Fire-maker_ of the man\u012d\u02b9tos, 101.\n See _Pump-drill_\n\n _First fruits_, offering of, 115, 144-145, 197.\n See _Strawberry dance_\n\n _Fish_ as guardian spirit, 72-73, 78\n\n _Flint_, and steel, ceremonial fire-making with, 179;\n fire springing from, 18\n\n _Flying Wolf_, vision of, 73-76\n\n _Food_, ceremonial purity of, 62-63;\n distribution of, at Annual ceremony, 121;\n hunters provided with, 97;\n offered to dead, 52, 195-196;\n procured by dead, 71.\n See _Feast_\n\n _Foot-log_ across river to Spirit land, 54\n\n _Forest_, boys driven into, for vision, 63-64\n\n _Forks_ on drumsticks, 130, 141\n\n _Four_, attendants: at Annual ceremony, 118;\n in Minsi ceremony, 132;\n drumsticks in Minsi ceremony, 139;\n musicians in Minsi ceremony, 140\n\n _Four Directions_ or Four Winds, man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk of, 25-27, 29, 88,\n 112-113, 193;\n prayers to, 51.\n See _Winds_\n\n _Four Powers_, Brainerd on, 22.\n See _Four Directions_\n\n _Fouts_, see _Fox_\n\n _Fox, Julius_, acknowledgment to, 14;\n explanation of Annual ceremony by, 111-113\n\n _Fox, Minnie_, acknowledgment to, 14\n\n _Fruits_, prayer for, 113.\n See _First fruits_\n\n _Full moon_, Annual ceremony held in, 119-120;\n M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance in, 152\n\n _Future_, controlled by guardian spirit, 62;\n foretold by visions, 61-62, 79-80, 121;\n prayers for, 115.\n See _Immortality_\n\n\n _Game_, Mask Being guardian of, 150\n\n _Ga\u02b9muing_, native name for Annual ceremony, 109.\n See _Annual ceremony_\n\n _General thanksgiving_, see _Thanksgiving_\n\n _Genii_ of places, 51\n\n _Ghost dance_, rites of, 190-191\n\n _Ghosts_, as guardian spirits, 54;\n bewitchment by, 59\n\n _Giant Bear_, an evil man\u012d\u02b9to, 49.\n See _Great Bear_\n\n _Gicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong_ or Great Spirit, 88.\n See _Great Spirit_\n\n _Gickon\u012dki\u02b9zho_ or _G\u012dckokwi\u02b9ta_, Unami name of sun, 27.\n See _Sun_\n\n _Girls_, sacred otter of, 176-179;\n vision of Doll Being by, 162-163\n\n _Gitctla\u02b9kan_ or Thanksgiving ceremony, 139-143\n\n _God of day_, 28.\n See _Sun_\n\n _God of light_, 23-24.\n See _Great Spirit_\n\n _Goodness_, attribute of Great Spirit, 17, 23-24;\n definition of, 58;\n reward of, 53, 56, 58, 90-92\n\n _Gourd rattle_ at Peyote rite, 188\n\n _Grandfather_, at the East, 26;\n at the North, 26, 48;\n at the West, 26;\n title of: Four Directions, 193;\n Mask, 112;\n Tornado, 47;\n Fire, 125\n\n _Grandmother_, at the South, 26;\n Paboth\u02b9kwe, Great Spirit of the Shawnee, 20;\n title of Doll Being, 164;\n title of one of Four Directions, 193\n\n _Grandparents_ at the Four Directions, 26-27\n\n _Grand River_, Ontario, drumsticks collected at, 130-131;\n Mask collected at, 158, 160-161;\n Nani\u02b9tis collected at, 168;\n version of Minsi ceremony at, 138-143;\n worship of Corn Goddess at, 43\n\n _Grass_, deerskin stuffed with, 123;\n drum stuffed with, 154, 165;\n strewn for seating guests, 117\n\n _Grasshoppers_, plague of, 113\n\n \u201c_Graven image_\u201d of Mask Being, 33.\n See _Mask_, _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Grease_, annointing with, in Annual ceremony, 105-106\n\n _Great Bear_, a lesser man\u012d\u02b9to, 49, 193\n\n _Great Father_, see _Great Spirit_\n\n _Great Horned Serpents_, evil man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk, 49;\n protection against, 29, 193\n\n _Great Man_, attributes of, 23.\n See _Great Spirit_\n\n _Great Spirit_ or _Gicel\u0115m\u00fb\u201b\u02b9kaong_, concept of, 18-24, 88-92,\n 192-193;\n early writers on, 20-24;\n goodness of, 23-24;\n guardian spirit sent by, 80, 121;\n home of, in east, 109;\n home of, in Twelfth Heaven, 19, 31, 52-53, 196;\n masks the messengers of, 31, 88, 112-113;\n Minsi concept of, 127-128, 133-134;\n prayer to, 18, 31, 88-90, 112-113, 136-138, 196;\n relation of Mask Being to, 32-33;\n remote from individual, 62;\n thanks to, at Annual ceremony, 18, 120, 138, 196;\n thanks to, at Feast of first fruits, 145;\n thanks to, in Peyote rite, 190;\n Thunder Beings ministers of, 29;\n wampum given by, 122;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142;\n worship of, at Annual ceremony, 118.\n See _Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas_\n\n _Guardian spirit_, animals as, 49-50, 70, 77, 80;\n ants as, 78;\n birds as, 78, 80;\n buffalo as, 78;\n chants explanatory of, 66;\n courage derived from, 78-79;\n crows as, 69-70;\n dead as, 54, 71-72;\n ducks as, 67-69, 140;\n elements as, 77;\n fish as, 78;\n given by Great Spirit, 80, 121;\n given in visions, 65-66, 194-195;\n Mask Being as, 69, 151, 197;\n moon as, 78;\n Mother Corn as, 70;\n owl as, 78;\n periodic ceremonies of, 199;\n prayer to, in sweathouse, 123-124;\n serpent as, 78;\n sun as, 76, 78;\n supernatural helpers as, 61-63;\n Thunder Being as, 74-75;\n title of Mother Corn, 43;\n vision of, 174-175.\n See _Thunder Beings_, _Visions_\n\n\n _Ha-a-a_, variant of prayer-cry, 108.\n See _Ho-o-o_\n\n _Hair_, of Mask Being, 33, 158;\n of Sun, 27;\n of Tornado, 47\n\n _Halfmoon_, Sun spirit guardian of, 76\n\n _Hank, Eunice_, Nani\u02b9tis given up by, 169\n\n _Happy Hunting Ground_ or Land of Spirits, 20-21, 52-59, 88, 90-92.\n See _Heaven_\n\n _Head_, bear\u2019s, ceremonial offering of, 173-175;\n of family, duties of, 117;\n heads: annointed with red paint, 105;\n carved on drumsticks, 101, 139-140, 150, 197;\n dropping of, by Comet, 48-49;\n stone, of Mask Being, 40-41\n\n _Health_, Bear cult preserving, 172;\n fetishes preserving, 45-46;\n Otter cult preserving, 177-179;\n god of, 168;\n Mask restoring, 34, 36-37, 156-157, 159, 161;\n Nani\u02b9tis guardian of, 163-164, 166-171;\n prayer for, 134;\n supernatural control of, 194.\n See _Sickness_\n\n _Heaven_, concept of, 20-21, 52-59;\n duration of journey to, 88;\n Milky Way to, 58;\n Peyote road to, 187;\n sweeping way to, 88, 107;\n visited by preachers, 57;\n visited during visions, 189-191.\n See _Happy Hunting Ground_\n\n _Heavens_, keepers of, 31;\n return of Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas to, 127-128.\n See _Happy Hunting Ground_, _Twelfth heaven_\n\n _Heckewelder, John_, on dreams or visions, 78-80;\n on Great Spirit, 21;\n on Thunder Beings, 30;\n on Unala\u201b\u02b9tko, 124\n\n _Hell_, extraneous concept of, 57\n\n _Hemlock-boughs_, ceremonial burning of, 133, 144-145\n\n _Herb_, passed at Peyote rite, 188-189;\n herbs: prayers in gathering, 26, 51;\n thanks to, 134\n\n _Heye Museum_, see _Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation_\n\n _Hill_, home of Mask Being, 158\n\n _Hog_, feast of, at Otter ceremony, 176-179;\n offering of, 173-175\n\n _Ho\u207f-ho\u207f-ho\u207f_ or cry of Mask Being, 149, 153\n\n _Holm, Thomas Campanius_, on Evil Spirit, 25;\n on Great Spirit, 21\n\n _Hominy_, at Buffalo dance, 182;\n at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 153-154;\n offered to Doll Being, 163-164, 166;\n offered to Mask Being, 150;\n preparation of, for Annual ceremony, 85, 96-97\n\n _Ho-o-o_, a prayer-cry, at Annual ceremony, 95, 97, 99-100, 103-104,\n 106-108, 136-138;\n at Bear ceremony, 175;\n origin of, 112-113\n\n _Horses_, Mask Being guardian of, 35, 157;\n tobacco offered to recover, 35\n\n _Hu-hu-hu_, cry at Bear ceremony, 174-175\n\n _Hu-hu-hu-hu_, cry at Otter ceremony, 181\n\n _Human heads_ carved on drumsticks, 101, 139-140, 150, 197\n\n _Human skeleton dance_, see _Skeleton dance_\n\n _Hunt_ for Nani\u02b9tis, 171\n\n _Hunter_ at Doll dance, 164\n\n _Hunters_, Buffalo dance of, 182-183;\n of Annual ceremony, 97-101, 108, 110, 117;\n of Minsi ceremony, 132, 137;\n of MuxhatoL\u02b9zing, 123\n\n _Hunting_, help of impersonator of Mask Being in, 158;\n in Happy Hunting Ground, 56;\n prayer before, 134, 137;\n supernatural control of, 62, 194;\n tobacco offered before, 35, 157\n\n _Hweisk-queem_, Minsi term for corn, 144.\n See _Corn_\n\n\n _Idol_ or _M\u0115sink\u02b9_, 43.\n See _Mask_, _Mask Being_, _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Illegitimacy_ disregarded in family rites, 116\n\n _Images_ possessing life, 45-47.\n See _Doll Being_, _Fetishes_\n\n _Immortality_, belief in, 20-21, 52-60, 195-196\n\n _Impersonator_, of Mask Being, 34-36, 41-42, 45, 56, 98-99, 138, 150,\n 152-159;\n of Otter, 177-182\n\n _Indian corn_, see _Corn_\n\n _Indian dictionary_, Zeisberger, author, 43\n\n _Indians_, comments of, on Annual ceremony, 111-115;\n United States Census report on, cited, 80\n\n _Initiation_ of boys, 63-64;\n Heckewelder on, 78-80.\n See _Boys_, _Visions_\n\n _Iroquois_, ceremonial fire-drills of, 86;\n masks of, compared with Minsi, 36, 138, 160-161, 198-199;\n Planting dance of, 143;\n primitive skirt among, 169;\n Strawberry dance of, 128, 197\n\n\n _Jesus Christ_, Nani\u02b9tis given up for, 170;\n road of, 187.\n See _Christianity_, _Peyote rite_\n\n _Jones, Peter_, on Nahneetis, the Guardian of Health, 46, 168-169;\n on Minsi masks, 37-38, 158\n\n _Journal of a voyage to New York in 1679-1680_, Dankers and Sluyter,\n authors, 20\n\n _June_, Minsi Big House ceremony in, 128\n\n\n _Kacheh Munitto_, see _Kaunzhe Pah-tum-owans_\n\n _Kansas_, celebration of Annual ceremony in, 122-124;\n Lenape now resident in, 13\n\n _Ka\u02b9py\u016d\u201bh\u016dm_, native name of Isaac Monture, 14, 161\n\n _Kaunzhe Pah-tum-owans_ or _Kacheh Munitto_, ancient Minsi name of\n Great Spirit, 22.\n See _Great Spirit_\n\n _Keeper of Mask_, general duties of, 34-36, 151;\n notification of dance by, 152;\n stray stock returned through, 157\n\n _Keepers of Four Directions_, see _Four Directions_\n\n _Keepers of the Heavens_, 31.\n See _Carved faces_, _Four Directions_\n\n _K\u0115\u201b\u02b9tan\u012dto\u02b9w\u0115t_, ancient Minsi name of Great Spirit, 19, 127.\n See _Great Spirit_\n\n _Kickeron_ or _Kickerom_, recorded name of Great Spirit in New\n Jersey, 20\n\n _K\u012d\u02b9n\u012dk\u00e4_ or _K\u012d\u02b9ntika_, native terms for dance, 115-116\n\n _Kiowa_, Ghost dance of, 191\n\n _Ki\u02b9zho_ or _Ki\u02b9zhox_, Minsi name of sun, 27.\n See _Sun_\n\n _Kok\u016dl\u016dpo\u02b9w\u201b\u02b9e_, native name of Chief Charley _Elkhair_, 14.\n See _Elkhair_\n\n _Kunu\u207f\u02b9x\u00e4s_, native term for otter-skin, 179.\n See _Otter ceremony_\n\n _Kwi_, or whoop, concluding dance, 136\n\n\n _Lakes_, home of Great Horned Serpents, 49\n\n _Lameness_ caused by ghosts, 59.\n See _Cripples_\n\n _Land of Spirits_ or _Tschipeghacki_, 58.\n See _Happy Hunting Ground_, _Heaven_\n\n _Leader_, of Annual ceremony, 81-82, 92-94, 117, 120;\n of Bear cult, 174-175;\n of Doll dance, 165;\n of Feast of first fruits, 145;\n of Minsi ceremony, 133-134;\n of Peyote rite, 188-190;\n leaders, favored with visions, 195\n\n _Leaves_, strewn for seating guests, 131\n\n _Legend_, of Annual ceremony, 111-112;\n of Comet, 48-49;\n of coming of whites, 121-122;\n of Mother Corn, 43.\n See _Myth_\n\n _Leggings_ of Mask impersonator, 34, 41\n\n _Lesser man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_: animal spirits, 49-50;\n Bear, 172-176;\n Comet, 48-49;\n Doll, 45-47, 162-171;\n Earth, 28, 89-90;\n Great Bear, 49, 193;\n Great Horned Serpents, 29, 49, 193;\n Keepers of the Heavens, 31;\n Mask Being, 32-43, 146-161;\n ministers of Great Spirit, 18, 21, 193-194;\n Moon, 28;\n Mother Corn, 43-44;\n of Four Directions, 25-27;\n Otter, 50, 176-182;\n Snow boy, 48;\n Sun, 27-28;\n Thunder Beings, 29-31;\n Tornado, 47-48\n\n _Light_, Brinton on concept of, 23-24\n\n _Lightning_, Flying Wolf\u2019s love of, 75-76;\n prayer to avert, 30\n\n _Little Caney river_, Oklahoma, Big House on banks of, 82\n\n _Little People_ hunted for by children, 49, 193\n\n _Living Mask_, see _Mask_, _Mask Being_\n\n _Living Solid Face_, see _Mask_, _Mask Being_\n\n _Logan family_, mask delivered up by, 38\n\n _Logs_, Big House built of, 82;\n foot-log to Spirit Land, 54;\n seats for _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_ dance, 153\n\n _Loskiel, George Henry_, on dreams or visions, 78;\n on earth, 29;\n on Four Directions, 27;\n on Great Spirit, 25;\n on moon, 28;\n on sun, 28;\n on twelve gods, 31\n\n\n _Machtuzin_, festival in honor of fire, 125-126.\n See _MuxhatoL\u02b9zing_\n\n _Maize_, see _Corn_\n\n _Man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ or spirits, belief in, 17-44;\n offerings to, 144-145;\n thanksgiving to, in Annual ceremony, 89-90.\n See _Great Spirit_, _Lesser man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_\n\n _Mannitt\u014ds_, Heckewelder on, 21.\n See _Lesser man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_\n\n _Maple_, dye from bark of, 141\n\n _Marble-like object_ given to Pokite\u02b9hemun by guardian spirit, 67\n\n _Marsh, Cutting_, account of Nani\u02b9tis by, 169-171\n\n _Mask_, absent from Bear ceremony, 171;\n annointing of, 105-106;\n as guardian spirit, 151;\n called Weop\u0115\u02b9lakis, 35-36;\n carved faces of, in Big House, 42, 83, 88, 148, 150;\n healing power of, 34, 37, 156-157, 159, 161;\n keeper of, 34-36, 151-152, 157;\n painting of, 33-34, 41, 150, 155;\n society of Minsi, 36-37, 138, 159-161, 198-199;\n Unami myth of, 146-152.\n See _Mask Being_, _Masks_, _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Mask Being_ or _M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn_, as guardian spirit, 195;\n ceremonies of, 197;\n cult of, 32-43, 198;\n deer herded by, 33, 99;\n diseases cured by, 34-35, 156-157, 159, 161;\n general duties of, 193;\n impersonator of, 34-36, 41-42, 45, 56, 98-99, 138, 150, 152-159;\n masks the symbol of, 33, 42, 45, 83, 88, 99, 148, 150;\n myth of, 147-152;\n relation of Keepers of Heavens to, 31;\n vision concerning, 69.\n See _Mask_, _Masks_, _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Masks_, of stone, found in New Jersey and vicinity, 38-41;\n painting of, 83, 119;\n prayer-cry carried by, 31, 112-113;\n representing Keepers of the Heavens, 31;\n symbols of Mask Being, 33, 42, 45, 83, 88, 99, 148, 150.\n See _Mask_, _Mask Being_, _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Master of Ceremonies_, see _Leader_\n\n _May_, M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance in, 152\n\n _Meals_ served by a\u02b9ckas, 110-111, 118\n\n _Medicine_, from tooth of Great Bear, 49;\n prayer to Four Directions in making, 26\n\n _Medicine-man_, see _Shaman_\n\n _Mediumship_, belief in, 54-55, 196\n\n _Meeting-house_ of Mask society, 159\n\n _Men_, black symbolizing, 140-141;\n drumsticks representing, 101, 130-131\n\n _Menses_, women in, taboo, 62-63, 88, 133, 197\n\n _M\u0115sink\u02b9_ or idol, 43.\n See _Mask_, _Mask Being_, _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Messengers_ of Great Spirit, 31, 88.\n See _Four Directions_\n\n _Messingq_, Adams on dance of, 155-156.\n See _Mask_, _Mask Being_, _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Me Zeengk_, name given by Peter Jones to Mizi\u02b9nk, 38.\n See _Mizi\u02b9nk_\n\n _Milky Way_, the road to Heaven, 58\n\n _Miniature masks_ or charms, 36, 42-43\n\n _Minsi_ or _Muncey_, a tribe of the Lenape, 13;\n archaic heaven of, 54;\n belief of, in Great Spirit, 19, 127, 133-134;\n belief of, in plant spirits, 51;\n Big House of, 128-132;\n Mask impersonator absent from, 138;\n carved faces in, 129-130, 151;\n ceremonies of, compared with Unami, 127-145, 196-200;\n ceremonies of, to Mother Corn, 43;\n chants of, referring to visions, 72-77;\n Doll Being of, 45-47, 162, 166-171;\n Feast of first fruits of, 144-145;\n guardian spirits of, 72-77;\n k\u012d\u02b9ntika or dance of, 116;\n Mask of, 36-38, 158-161;\n Mask society of, 138, 159-161, 198-199;\n mediumship among, 54-55;\n proportion of, in Lenape, 124-125;\n Thanksgiving ceremony of, 138-143\n\n _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_, dance of, 152-156.\n See _Mask_, _Minsi mask_\n\n _M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn_, Unami name for Mask Being, 32.\n See _Mask Being_\n\n _M\u012dsingk\u012d\u02b9n\u012dk\u00e4_, Unami name for M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 152.\n See _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b_\n\n _Missionary_ teaching, concept of Great Spirit not due to, 19-20.\n See _Christianity_\n\n _Mizi\u02b9nk_, Minsi form of M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, 158.\n See _Mask society_, _Minsi mask_\n\n _Mizinkh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn_, Minsi form of M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, 36.\n See _Mask Being_\n\n _Mizink\u012d\u02b9nt\u012dka_ or dance of Mask society, 159\n\n _Mk\u00e4\u00e4hi\u02b9g\u016dn_, Minsi term for painted sticks, 140.\n See _Sticks_\n\n _Moccasins_, burned to deflect Tornado, 47;\n made for Nani\u02b9tis, 167;\n made of ceremonial deerskins, 108\n\n _Monture, Chief Nellis_, acknowledgment to, 14\n\n _Monture, Isaac_, acknowledgment to, 14;\n Minsi mask bought from, 161\n\n _Moon_, or mound, at Peyote rite, 186-187;\n or Piske\u02b9weniki\u02b9zho: as guardian spirit, 78;\n concept of, 28;\n duties of, 193;\n wailing to, 145;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142.\n See _Full moon_\n\n _Moral code_, at Annual ceremony, 58, 90-92;\n at Feast of first fruits, 144;\n at Minsi Annual ceremony, 133-134, 137;\n at Peyote rite, 186-190\n\n _Mortar_ made of mud, 85\n\n _Mortar_, peyote crushed in, 188\n\n _Mother_, title of earth, 28, 89-90, 193;\n title of Nani\u02b9tis, 170-171\n\n _Mother Corn_, as guardian spirit, 70, 195;\n attributes of, 43-44, 51\n\n _Mound_, ceremonial, in Peyote rite, 186-187\n\n _Mountains_, home of Mask Being, 33, 147;\n home of Thunder Beings, 30\n\n _Moxhomsa\u02b9 Eliosi\u02b9gak_ or Grandfather at the West, 26\n\n _Moxhomsa\u02b9 Lowane\u02b9y\u016dng\u201b_ or Grandfather at the North, 26\n\n _Moxhomsa\u02b9 W\u00e4h\u00e4njio\u02b9p\u016dng\u201b_ or Grandfather at the East, 26\n\n _Mud_, ceremonial mortar made of, 85\n\n \u201c_Muncey devil idol_\u201d or mask, 38.\n See _Mask_\n\n _\u201cMuncey John\u201d Henry_, Sun spirit guardian of, 76\n\n _Munceytown_, Ontario, drowning near, 55;\n masks of, 158;\n Minsi ceremony at, 127-138\n\n _Munsey_, see _Minsi_\n\n _Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation_, masks in, 36;\n paraphernalia of Otter ceremony in, 176;\n researches of, 15\n\n _Music_, see _Drum_, _Singers_, _Singing_\n\n _Musselshells_ used as spoons at feast, 97\n\n _MuxhatoL\u02b9zing_ form of Annual ceremony, 123-124.\n See _Machtuzin_\n\n _Myth_, of Bear ceremony, 172;\n of Doll Being, 162-163;\n of Minsi Annual ceremony, 127-128;\n of Otter, 176-179;\n of Thunder, 30.\n See _Legend_\n\n\n _Nahneetis, the Guardian of Health_, Peter Jones on, 168-169.\n See _Nani\u02b9tis_\n\n _Nani\u02b9tis_, account of, by Rev. Cutting Marsh, 169-171;\n ceremonies of, 166-171;\n feeding of, 167-168;\n in E. T. Tefft collection, 168-169;\n Minsi term for Doll Being, 45-47, 162.\n See _Doll Being_\n\n _Na\u201bnk\u016dma\u02b9oxa_, native name of Michael Anthony, 139, 140.\n See _Anthony, Michael_\n\n _Nanticoke_, proportion of, in Lenape, 124-125;\n Skeleton dance of, 183-184\n\n _Nature_, how regarded, 17, 23.\n See _Great Spirit_, _Lesser man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, _Offering_, _Prayer_\n\n _Nee-shaw-neechk-togho-quanoo-maun_ or _Ween-da-much-teen_, Minsi\n term for Feast of first fruits, 145\n\n _New fire_, ceremony of, 196;\n making of, 101.\n See _Fire_\n\n _New Jersey_, early writers on Lenape in, 20;\n Lenape first encountered in, by whites, 13;\n Lenape stone masks found in, 38-41\n\n _New York_, Lenape first encountered in, by whites, 13\n\n _\u2019Ngammuin_, or feast, described by Zeisberger, 109.\n See _Annual ceremony_\n\n _Niagara gorge_, home of Thunders, 30\n\n _Nicholas, Joe_, Mask delivered up by, 38\n\n _Night sun_, see _Moon_\n\n _No\u201b\u02b9oma Cawane\u02b9y\u016dng\u201b_ or Grandmother at the South, 26\n\n _North_, ceremonial significance of, 93, 103, 108, 119, 147;\n man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk of, 25-26;\n thanksgiving to, 89\n\n _North American_ tribes, belief in visions among, 61\n\n\n _October_, Annual ceremony held in, 81, 119-120\n\n _O\u201b\u02b9das_, Unami term for Doll Being, 46, 162.\n See _Doll Being_\n\n _O\u201b\u02b9das-k\u012d\u02b9n\u012dk\u00e4_, Unami term for Doll dance, 163.\n See _Doll Being_\n\n _Offering_, of bear\u2019s fat, 117-118, 134;\n of bear\u2019s flesh to Corn Goddess, 44;\n of deer to Doll Being, 163;\n of doe to Nani\u02b9tis, 168-169;\n of first fruits, 115, 144-145;\n of food to dead, 52, 195-196;\n of hog to Otter, 173;\n of hominy to Doll Being, 163-164, 166;\n of hominy to Mask Being, 150;\n of moccasins to avert tornado, 47;\n of tobacco: on behalf of hunters, 98-99;\n to Bear, 172;\n to fire, 126;\n to Four Directions, 26;\n to Mask, 34, 35, 151, 157;\n to Mask impersonator, 153, 156;\n to Otter, 177;\n to Thunder Beings, 29;\n of wampum to deer, 123;\n offerings: at Annual ceremony, 117-118;\n to genii, 51;\n to guardian spirit, 62;\n to Mask, 43;\n to Nani\u02b9tis, 45-46;\n to Snow boy, 48.\n See _Propitiation_, _Sacrifice_\n\n _Officers_ of Annual ceremony, 84-85;\n payment of, 110-111, 121\n\n _Ohio_, Lenape stone masks found in, 38-41\n\n _Oklahoma_, ancestry of Lenape now in, 124-125;\n Annual ceremony celebrated in, 81-111, 119-122, 130, 138;\n Lenape now resident in, 13;\n primitive skirts worn in, 169;\n worship of Corn Goddess in, 43\n\n _One\u201b\u02b9tko_ or _Nanticoke_, 183.\n See _Nanticoke_\n\n _Ontario_, Canada, Lenape now resident in, 13;\n mediumship reported in, 55;\n Minsi ceremonies in, 43, 127-145.\n See _Grand River_, _Munceytown_\n\n _O\u207f-o\u207f-o\u207f_, prayer-cry of Mask society, 159\n\n _Opi\u02b9na_ or blessing granted by guardian spirits, 65-66.\n See _Blessing_\n\n _Orientation_, as to fire, 101, 119-120;\n at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 155;\n in offerings, 98;\n in Peyote rite, 186-187;\n in praying, 100, 108, 109, 122, 137;\n in visions, 74, 147, 149;\n of carved faces, 83;\n of ceremonial cooking, 85, 182, 187;\n of entrance and exit, 119, 131-132, 144-145;\n of heaven, 54, 56;\n of rattles, 103, 120;\n of seating, 93, 119, 131;\n of thanksgiving, 89.\n See _East_, _North_, _South_, _West_\n\n _Origin_, of Bear ceremony, 172;\n of Mask, 33, 146-152;\n of Minsi Annual ceremony, 127-138;\n of Nani\u02b9tis, 166-167;\n of Otter ceremony, 176-179;\n of Peyote rite, 185, 199\n\n _Otter_, ceremony of, 176-183, 199;\n power from, 50\n\n _Otter-skin_, regalia of, 177-182\n\n _Our Mother_, title of Earth, 28\n\n _Owl_ as guardian spirit, 78, 195\n\n\n _Pabookowaih_, god of health, 168-169\n\n _Paboth\u02b9kwe_, Great Spirit of the Shawnee, 20\n\n _Paint_, on carved faces, 83, 119;\n on drumsticks, symbolism of, 140, 141;\n on face of Mask Being, 33, 41, 150, 155;\n on face of Muncey John, 76;\n on face of Sun, 27;\n on sticks used in Minsi ceremony, 131, 139-141.\n See _Black_, _Red_\n\n _Paint-dish_ of bark in Annual ceremony, 105-106\n\n _Paintings_ by Ernest Spybuck, 14\n\n _Pak\u016d\u207fdi\u02b9g\u016dn_ or carved drumsticks, 101.\n See _Drumsticks_\n\n _Pantheon_ of the Lenape, 17-44.\n See _Great Spirit_, _Lesser man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, _Man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_\n\n _Papasokwi\u201b\u02b9l\u016dn_, Unami name for Bear ceremony, 171.\n See _Bear ceremony_\n\n _Paradise_, see _Happy Hunting Ground_\n\n _Parents_, kindness to, rewarded, 57;\n meeting with, in Heaven, 53, 91\n\n _Partridges_, Thunders in form of, 30\n\n _Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas_, Minsi name for Great Spirit, 19, 127;\n Minsi worship of, 133-134.\n See _Great Spirit_\n\n _Payment_ of officers and attendants at ceremonies, 97, 99, 104,\n 106-111, 118, 121, 152-154, 164, 172-173, 179.\n See _Wampum_\n\n _Peacemaker_, Mask Being so considered, 156\n\n _Pebbles_ in tortoise-shell rattle, 118, 120\n\n _Penn, William_, on Annual ceremony, 115-116;\n on concept of soul, 56;\n on Great Spirit, 20-21\n\n _Pennsylvania_, Annual ceremony in, 130;\n Lenape first encountered in, by whites, 13;\n Lenape stone masks found in, 38-41\n\n _Peta\u02b9n\u012dhink_, native name of Julius Fox, 14.\n See _Fox, Julius_\n\n _Pethakowe\u02b9yuk_ or Thunder Beings, 29.\n See _Thunder Beings_\n\n _Pets_, cult of, 198;\n spirits of, 172, 176\n\n _Peyote_, rite, 185-196, 199;\n road, 187, 189-190\n\n _Pheasant, Monroe_, acknowledgment to, 14\n\n _Phratries_ or totemic groups: prayers of, 104;\n rituals among, 81-82, 108-109, 119-120;\n Turkey, in Bear cult, 175;\n Wolf: Bear cult of, 172;\n Skeleton dance of, 183-184\n\n \u201c_Picking berries_\u201d or wampum, 100\n\n _Pile\u02b9swak_ or _Pile\u02b9soak_, Minsi name of Thunder Beings, 30.\n See _Thunder Beings_\n\n _Pile\u02b9swaL pewa\u02b9latcil_ or in league with Thunders, 76\n\n _Pi\u02b9ls\u016d\u207f_ or pure, otter, 176-177;\n visions vouchsafed to, 62-63, 112-114\n\n _Piske\u02b9weniki\u02b9zho_ or night sun, 28.\n See _Moon_\n\n _Placation_ of spirits, 194.\n See _Offering_, _Prayer_\n\n _Places_, genii of, 51\n\n _Plants_, as guardian spirits, 195;\n spirits of, 17, 51, 118, 125, 194;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Poisons_, fare of wicked, 58-59\n\n _Pokite\u02b9hemun_ or George Wilson, vision of, 67-69\n\n _Poles_, deer hung on, 100-101, 164;\n deerskin hung on, 129-130, 144;\n in Fire festival, 125;\n in Minsi Big House, 131, 140;\n meat hung on, 173;\n representing twelve man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk, 125;\n used in M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 155;\n venison hung on, 121.\n See _Four Directions_, _Posts_\n\n _Pontifical garb_ of impersonator of Mask Being, 41.\n See _Costume_\n\n _Poor_, deerskins given to, 108-109\n\n _Posts_, of Big House, carved faces on, 31, 42, 83, 106, 119, 148;\n of Minsi Big House, 129-130.\n See _Central post_, _Poles_, _Sticks_\n\n _Potatoes_, offering of, 144\n\n _Power_, derived from guardian spirit, 50, 66, 78-79;\n from vision, 54, 140, 147-148, 175, 194-195.\n See _Blessing_\n\n _Pow\u016dni\u02b9g\u016dn_ or deerskin drum, 94-95.\n See _Drum_\n\n _Prayer_, at conclusion of Annual ceremony, 106-109, 122, 197;\n at Minsi ceremony, 133-134, 136-138, 197;\n at Thanksgiving ceremony, 142;\n carried by Masks, 112;\n for hunters, 99-100;\n of Bear ceremony, 174;\n of phratry, 104;\n to buck, 126;\n to Corn Goddess, 43-44;\n to Doll Being, 164-165;\n to Earth, 29;\n to Four Directions, 26;\n to Great Spirit, 18, 31, 88-90, 196;\n to guardian spirits, 62, 124;\n to Mask, on behalf of hunters, 98;\n to Mask Being, 149;\n to Thunder Beings, 29-30;\n to Tornado, 47;\n universal benefit of, 113-115;\n while gathering herbs, 26, 51.\n See _Prayer-cry_\n\n _Prayer-cry_, at Minsi ceremony, 136-137;\n carried by Masks, 31, 88, 112-113;\n of women, 175.\n See _Ho-o-o_\n\n _Prayer-meeting_ of the ducks, 67\n\n _Prayer-men_ at Annual ceremony, 99-100, 104\n\n _Prayer sticks_ or _ma\u201btehi\u02b9gun_ at Annual ceremony, 103;\n annointing of, 106\n\n _Preachers_, native, reported by Zeisberger, 57\n\n _Prince of Darkness_, 25.\n See _Evil Spirit_\n\n _Prophecy_ of coming of white men, 121.\n See _Future_, _Visions_\n\n _Propitiation_ to prevent misfortune, 199.\n See _Offering_, _Prayer_\n\n _Pump-drill_, ceremonial fire made with, 86, 101;\n in Minsi ceremony, 131-132\n\n _Pumpkins_, offering of, 144\n\n _Purification_, by emetics, 57, 64, 79;\n by sacrifice, 144-145;\n by smoke, 105, 133, 144-145, 197;\n by stripes, 58;\n necessary to vision, 194.\n See _Pi\u02b9ls\u016d\u207f_\n\n _Purple_ and white beads, 141\n\n _Pw\u201bawahe\u02b9g\u016dn_, Minsi term for drum, 140.\n See _Drum_\n\n _Pw\u201bawahe\u02b9g\u016dn\u016dk_, Minsi term for drumsticks, 140.\n See _Drumsticks_\n\n\n _Rain_, charms for bringing, 49;\n caused by Thunder, 89;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Rattles_, of box-tortoise shell: at Annual ceremony, 92, 94-96,\n 103-104, 106, 118, 120;\n at Bear ceremony, 174-175;\n at Feast of first fruits, 145;\n at Minsi ceremony, 131, 135-136;\n at Otter ceremony, 180-181;\n at Planting dance, 143;\n at Thanksgiving ceremony, 143;\n of gourd, at Peyote rite, 188;\n of Mask impersonator, 34, 38, 42, 150, 155, 159\n\n _Red_, and black, faces painted with, in Big House, 83, 119;\n and black, Mask painted with, 33, 41, 150, 155;\n ceremonial painting with, 105-106;\n feathers in Sun\u2019s hair, 27;\n symbolizing women, 140-141\n\n _Red alder_, bark of, used as dye, 141\n\n _Religion_, see _Belief_\n\n _Road-man_ or speaker of Peyote rite, 188\n\n _Road to heaven_, in Peyote rite, 187, 189-190;\n Milky Way, 58;\n sweeping of, 88, 107\n\n _Rocks_, home of Mask Being, 36-37, 158\n\n _River_, dividing earth from Spirit country, 54;\n James Wolf\u2019s dream of, 72-73\n\n _Rivers_, home of Great Horned Serpents, 49\n\n\n _Sacrifice_, by family, 116-118;\n cleansing by, from sin, 144-145.\n See _Offering_\n\n _Sand_, tracks of Little People in, 49\n\n _S\u00e4\u02b9pan_ or mush, repast of, at Annual ceremony, 96\n\n _Sarcoxie, John_, Annual ceremony conducted by, 122-124\n\n _Seating_, at Annual ceremony, 93, 117, 119;\n at Doll dance, 164;\n at Minsi ceremony, 131;\n at Peyote rite, 188\n\n _Secondine_, guardian spirits of, 71-72\n\n _Seneca_, Planting dance of, 143\n\n _Serpent_ as guardian spirit, 78\n\n _Sexi\u02b9kiminsi_, Minsi name of soft maple, 42\n\n _Shaman_, originator of Nani\u02b9tis cult, 166-167\n\n _Shawnee_, concept of Great Spirit among, 20;\n Ernest Spybuck, a native, 14\n\n _Shooting_ by hunters, 100, 117\n\n _Shooting star_, see _Comet_\n\n _Sickness_, caused:\n by ghosts, 59;\n by loss of bear, 172;\n by neglect of rites, 171;\n by otter, 177-179;\n cured:\n by Mask Being, 34-35, 156-157;\n by Nani\u02b9tis, 166-167;\n propitiation to prevent, 199.\n See _Disease_\n\n _Silver brooches_ worn by Nani\u02b9tis, 170\n\n _Sin_, cleansing from, by sacrifice, 144-145.\n See _Evil_\n\n _Singers_, at Annual ceremony, 85, 94-96, 100, 115, 118, 120;\n at Bear cult, 175;\n at Buffalo dance, 182-183;\n at Doll dance, 164;\n at Feast of first fruits, 144;\n at Minsi ceremony, 130;\n at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 154-155;\n at Skeleton dance, 184.\n See _Chant_\n\n _Singing_, at festival of Machtuzin, 126;\n at Ghost dance, 191;\n at Peyote rite, 189;\n at Otter ceremony, 180-181;\n in Happy Hunting Ground, 58;\n of vision: at Annual ceremony, 95-96;\n in Big House, 148;\n in Minsi ceremony, 140.\n See _Chant_\n\n _Sister Corn_, see _Mother Corn_\n\n _Six months_, purification at end of, 144-145\n\n _Six Nations\u2019 reserve_, Thanksgiving ceremony on, 139-143\n\n _Skeleton dance_, rites of, 183-184\n\n _Skirt_, primitive, 169\n\n _Sky_, wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Sluyter, Peter_, and _Dankers, Jaspar_, on Great Spirit, 20\n\n _Smoke_, purification by, 105, 133, 144-145, 197\n\n _Smoking_, at Annual ceremony, 95-96\n\n _Snakes_, bag full of, 35, 153\n\n _Snow Boy_, attributes of, 48, 193\n\n _Society_ of mask owners, 37.\n See _Mask_\n\n _Soft maple_, bark of, used as dye, 141\n\n _Son of God_, concept of, 57.\n See _Jesus Christ_\n\n _Songs_, see _Chant_, _Singers_, _Singing_\n\n _Sorrow_ inducing visions, 64-65\n\n _Souls_, immortality of, 52-60, 195-196;\n nature of, 90;\n of animals, 50;\n transmigration of, 59\n\n _South_, ceremonial significance of, 93, 108, 119-120, 122, 147;\n man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk of, 25-26;\n significance of, in vision, 74;\n thanksgiving to, 89\n\n _Southeast_, ceremonial significance of, 120\n\n _Southward_, the direction of Heaven, 54, 56\n\n _Southwest_, Heaven of Minsi located in, 54\n\n _Speaker_, at Annual ceremony, 85, 87-92, 98, 107-108, 110, 120;\n at Doll dance, 164-165;\n at Minsi ceremony, 133-134;\n at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 153-154;\n at Peyote rite, 188;\n at Thanksgiving ceremony, 141-142\n\n _Speech_, at Annual ceremony, 87-92, 98;\n at Doll dance, 164;\n at Feast of first fruits, 145;\n at Minsi ceremony, 133-134\n\n _Spirit_, of corn, 43;\n of light, 23-24;\n of otter, 50, 176;\n of peyote, 187, 189-190;\n of sun as guardian, 76;\n within earth, 28-29\n\n _Spirit road_, see _Peyote road_\n\n _Spirits_, animal, as guardians, 49-50;\n land of, 52-54;\n lesser, 194;\n of animals, 118, 125;\n of dead, as guardians, 71-72;\n of plants, 17, 51, 118, 125;\n of stones, 17, 51;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142;\n wigwams of, 54.\n See _Guardian spirit_, _Lesser man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_, _Souls_\n\n _Spoons_, of bark in Minsi ceremony, 131, 137;\n musselshells as, 97\n\n _Spring_, ceremony of Mask Being in, 35;\n Minsi ceremony in, 128, 197;\n M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance in, 152-156;\n thanksgiving in, 89, 139;\n thunder in, 29\n\n _Spring dance_ of Weop\u0115\u02b9lakis, 36.\n See _M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance_\n\n _Spring Flying Things_, see _Thunder Beings_\n\n _Spybuck, Ernest_, acknowledgment to, 14\n\n _Squashes_, offering of, 144;\n thanks to, 134\n\n _Staff_ at Peyote rite, 187, 189\n\n _Stamp_ or _Stomp dance_, 119.\n See _Annual ceremony_\n\n _Stars_, wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Steam_ carrying prayers, 124\n\n _Stick_, of Mask impersonator, 34, 150, 155;\n sticks: as invitations to ceremony, 132;\n at Peyote rite, 187;\n beating by, 58;\n carried by Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas, 127-128;\n transformed into fetishes, 162;\n used in Minsi ceremony, 131, 139-141\n\n _Stockbridge Mission_, documents of, 170\n\n _Stockings_, bearskin, of Mask impersonator, 41.\n See _Leggings_\n\n _Stone masks_ found in New Jersey and vicinity, 38-41\n\n _Stones_, spirits of, 17, 51\n\n _Strachey, William_, on concept of Four Winds, 26-27\n\n _Strawberries_, ceremonial drink of, 134;\n in Happy Hunting Ground, 58;\n Minsi ceremony in time of, 128\n\n _Strawberry dance_ of Iroquois, 128, 197\n\n _Streams and waters_, wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Strings of wampum_, symbolism of, 141-142\n\n _Stripes_, purification by, 58\n\n _Sumach sticks_, carried by Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas, 127-128;\n in Minsi ceremony, 131\n\n _Sun_ or _G\u012dckokwi\u02b9ta_, as guardian spirit, 76, 78, 195;\n Brainerd on concept of, 22;\n concept of, 27-28;\n duties of, 193;\n Peyote road toward, 187, 190;\n salutation of, 190;\n souls in, 59;\n turning toward west, 132;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Supernatural helpers_ or guardian spirits, 61-63.\n See _Guardian spirit_\n\n _Supreme Being_, see _Great Spirit_\n\n _Survival_ of the soul, see _Immortality_\n\n _Susquehanna river_, rites of Annual ceremony on, 152;\n rites of Mask Being on, 41-42\n\n _Sweathouse_, described by Zeisberger, 125-126;\n of MuxhatoL\u02b9zing, 123-124\n\n _Sweating-oven_, see _Sweathouse_\n\n _Sweeping_, ceremonial, of Big House, 87-88, 107, 120, 133, 197;\n around fires, 121\n\n\n _Taboos_ prescribed to be pi\u02b9ls\u016d\u207f, 62-63\n\n _Tale\u02b9gun\u016dk_ or singers at Annual ceremony, 85.\n See _Singers_\n\n _Taxo\u02b9xi cow\u016dni\u02b9g\u016dn_ or tortoise-shell rattle, 94.\n See _Rattles_\n\n _Tayeno\u02b9xwan_, native name of Chief James Wolf, 14.\n See _Wolf, Chief James_\n\n _Tefft, E. T._, ethnological collection of, 15;\n Nani\u02b9tis in, 168-169;\n Minsi mask in, 38\n\n _Temple_, see _Big House_\n\n _Thames river_, Ontario, locating a body in, 55\n\n _Thanksgiving_, at Minsi ceremony, 134;\n carved heads symbolic of, 140;\n Minsi ceremonies of, 115, 139-145, 197;\n to Great Spirit at ceremonies, 18, 120, 138, 145, 190, 196;\n to man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk, 89-90;\n to M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b, 152-156;\n to Mother Corn, 43\n\n _Thirteen_ ceremonial wampum strings, 141-142\n\n _Three_, bands of thunders, 30;\n days, women interdicted during, 120;\n phratries, rituals of, 119-120;\n tribes of Lenape, 13\n\n _Thunder and rain_, wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Thunder Beings_ or _Pethakowe\u02b9yuk_, as guardian spirits, 74-75, 195;\n attributes of, 29-31, 193;\n thanksgiving to, 89\n\n _Thunders-in-league-with_ or _Piles\u02b9waL pewa\u02b9latcil_, 76\n\n _Timothy, Chief Nellis F._, account of Minsi Annual ceremony by,\n 127-138;\n acknowledgment to, 14;\n on Mask society, 159\n\n _Tipi_, use of, in Peyote rite, 186, 188\n\n _Tobacco_, ceremonial begging of, 160;\n offered: on behalf of hunters, 98-99;\n to bear, 172;\n to fire, 126;\n to Four Directions, 26;\n to impersonator of Mask Being, 153, 156;\n to Mask, 34, 35, 151, 157;\n to otter, 177;\n to Thunder Beings, 29;\n to Tornado, 47;\n smoked at Annual ceremony, 95-96\n\n _Tomapemihi\u02b9lat_, native name of Chief Nellis F. Timothy, 14.\n See _Timothy_, _Chief Nellis F._\n\n _Tomb_ of Christ at Peyote rite, 186-187\n\n _Tooth_ of Great Bear, medicine made from, 49\n\n _Tornado_, attributes of, 47-48\n\n _Tortoise-shell rattle_, at Annual ceremony, 94-96, 118, 120;\n at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 155;\n of Mask impersonator, 42.\n See _Rattles_\n\n _Totemic groups_, see _Phratries_\n\n _Toys_, cult of, 198.\n See _Doll Being_, _Fetishes_\n\n _Transmigration_ of souls, 59\n\n _Trees_, Mask Being akin to, 112;\n gift of the Great Spirit, 18;\n shattered by Thunder Beings, 29;\n thanks to, 134\n\n _Tschipeghacki_ or Land of Spirits, 58.\n See _Happy Hunting Ground_\n\n _Tu\u207fda\u02b9i w\u00e4he\u207f\u02b9ji man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk_ or fire-maker of the man\u012d\u02b9tos, 101\n\n _Turkey phratry_ at Annual ceremony, 82, 104, 119;\n part of, in Bear cult, 175\n\n _Turkey-wings_, Big House swept with, 87, 120, 133\n\n _Turtle phratry_, leader of Annual ceremony, 82, 104, 119-120\n\n _Turtle-rattles_, at Annual ceremony, 92, 94-96, 103-104, 118, 120;\n at Feast of first fruits, 145;\n at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 155;\n at Otter ceremony, 180-181;\n at Thanksgiving ceremony, 143;\n in ceremonies of Mask society, 159;\n in Bear cult, 174-175;\n in Minsi ceremony, 131, 135-136;\n of Mask impersonator, 34, 38, 150, 155, 159.\n See _Rattles_\n\n _Twelfth_, day, soul reaches heaven, 196;\n heaven, home of Great Spirit, 19, 31, 52, 107, 112, 192, 196;\n night in Annual ceremony, 105-106;\n prayer-cry reaching Great Spirit, 136-138;\n stick, dropping of, by Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas, 127-128\n\n _Twelve_, benefactors, Corn Goddess among, 43;\n carved faces, 83, 88, 106, 112;\n celebrants, 125-126;\n ceremonial sweepings, 107;\n ceremonial use of, 197;\n concluding prayers, 106-107;\n days, before burial, 184;\n days, duration of ceremonies, 82, 119-120, 128;\n days, ghosts linger near earth, 52, 54;\n days, period of boys\u2019 fast, 64;\n deer at Feast of first fruits, 144;\n deer for Minsi ceremony, 132;\n emetics, as purification, 57;\n gods or masks, 31;\n heavens, 31;\n in Fire festival, 125-126;\n members of Mask society, 159;\n months, duration of earthquake, 149;\n nights, duration of Annual ceremony, 88, 107;\n offerings of tobacco, 98;\n pipes, in Fire festival, 126;\n prayer-cries, 97, 104, 136;\n prayersticks at Annual ceremony, 103;\n repetitions of dance, 154, 165;\n repetitions of prayer, 19, 108-109, 136-138;\n sticks, penance of beating by, 58;\n sticks used in Minsi ceremony, 131;\n stones, altar laid on, 115;\n stones in sweating-oven, 125;\n sumach sticks of Pa\u201b\u02b9t\u016dmawas, 127-128;\n sweepings of ceremonial fire, 88;\n years, age of initiation for boys, 63;\n years before reaching Heaven, 88\n\n\n _Unalachtigo_, see _Unala\u201b\u02b9tko_\n\n _Unala\u201b\u02b9tko_, a Lenape tribe, now merged, 13;\n proportion of, in Lenape, 124-125\n\n _Unami_, a Lenape tribe now mainly resident in Oklahoma, 13;\n ceremonies of, compared with Minsi, 196-200;\n chants of, referring to vision, 67-72;\n cult of Mask Being among, 32-43, 146-158, 198;\n Doll Being of, 45-47, 162-166;\n form of Annual ceremony, 81-111;\n proportion of, in Lenape, 124-125\n\n _United States Census_ report on Indians, cited, 80\n\n\n _Vegetables_, offering of, 144;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142\n\n _Vegetation_ controlled by Corn spirit, 193\n\n _Venison_, feast of, at Doll dance, 166;\n feast of, at M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 155;\n feast of, at Minsi ceremony, 137;\n provision of, for Annual ceremony, 85, 121;\n women\u2019s share in, 106\n\n _Virginia_, concept of Four Directions in, 26-27\n\n _Visions_, Adams on, 80;\n as prophecies, 121;\n Brainerd on, 77;\n chanting of, at Otter ceremony, 181;\n communication by, with Spirit world, 59-63, 194-195;\n decline of, 112-113;\n fortuitous, 64-65;\n Heaven visited in, 189-191;\n Heckewelder on, 78-80;\n induced by peyote, 186, 188-190;\n initiation of boys to induce, 63-64, 92;\n leaders blessed with, 132;\n Loskiel on, 78;\n Minsi examples of, 72-77;\n of Doll Being, 162-163;\n power given by, 54;\n recital of: at Annual ceremony, 95-96, 118, 121, 196;\n at Feast of first fruits, 145;\n at Minsi ceremony, 135-136, 139-140;\n at MuxhatoL\u02b9zing, 123-124;\n at various rites, 148, 199;\n referring to Skeleton dance, 184;\n Unami examples of, 67-72;\n Zeisberger on, 77-78.\n See _Chant_, _Guardian spirit_\n\n _Vomiting_, 176.\n See _Emetics_\n\n\n _Wampum_, adorning leader at Otter ceremony, 174;\n buried, at Feast of first fruits, 144;\n given by Great Spirit, 122;\n given to vision teller, 135;\n giving of, at Annual ceremony, 109;\n offered to deer, 123;\n owners of rattles paid in, at Annual ceremony, 104;\n payment in, at Doll dance, 164;\n payment of attendants in, at Annual ceremony, 106-109, 118, 121,\n 172-173, 179;\n payment of impersonator in, 152-154;\n payment of officers in, at Annual ceremony, 97, 99-100, 110-111,\n 121;\n symbolic use of, 141-143;\n valuation of, 111\n\n _Wampum, John_, see _Chief Waubuno_\n\n _War_, comet a presage of, 48-49;\n success in, due to guardian spirit, 62\n\n _Washita river_, Oklahoma, Caddo on, 185;\n Ghost dance from region of, 190-191\n\n _W\u201ba\u02b9tekan_ or Minsi Big House, 128.\n See _Minsi Big House_\n\n _Water-drum_, at Ghost dance, 191;\n at Peyote rite, 188\n\n _Water monsters_, see _Great Horned Serpents_\n\n _Waters_, gift of Great Spirit, 18\n\n _Ween-da-much-teen_, see _Nee-shaw-neechk-togho-quanoo-maun_\n\n _Wem\u0115\u0115le\u02b9xkw\u0115_, native name of Minnie Fox, 14.\n See _Fox, Minnie_\n\n _Weop\u0115\u02b9lakis_, name for mask of Unami, 35-36.\n See _Mask_\n\n _West_, ceremonial significance of, 83, 85, 93, 98, 100, 101,\n 121-122, 131-132, 137, 145, 155, 182, 187;\n Grandfather at, 26;\n thanksgiving to, 89\n\n _Whiskey_ introduced by the whites, 24\n\n _White_, and black duck as guardian spirit, 67, 140;\n and purple beads, 141;\n buckskin, skeleton wrapped in, 184\n\n _Whites_, devil and whiskey introduced by, 24;\n fairies and elves of, 49;\n Lenape children reared like, 63, 112-113;\n Lenape first encountered by, 13;\n religious concepts derived from, 57;\n vision or dream regarding, 121\n\n _Whoop_, concluding dance, 136;\n in recital of vision, 95\n\n \u201c_Wife_,\u201d corn spoken of as, 44\n\n _Wigwams_ of the spirits, 54\n\n _Wild_, animals: Mask Being guardian of, 33, 99, 193;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142;\n things, Powers Above guardians of, 177\n\n _Wilson_, Ghost dance introduced by, 190-191\n\n _Wilson, George_, see _Pokite\u02b9hemun_\n\n _Wilson, John_, Peyote cult introduced by, 185\n\n _Wind_, prayer-cry derived from, 112\n\n _Winds_, attributes of, 193;\n man\u012d\u02b9tow\u016dk of, 25-27;\n wampum string symbolizing, 141-142.\n See _Four Directions_\n\n _Wings_, of Thunder Beings, 29, 193;\n of Tornado, 47;\n used to sweep Big House, 87, 120, 133\n\n _Winter_, Minsi Big House ceremony in, 128\n\n _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, account of Nani\u02b9tis in, 169-171\n\n _Wisconsin_, Lenape now resident in, 13\n\n _Witchcraft_, dreams revealing, 77-78;\n of ghosts, 59\n\n _Wito\u201b\u02b9pi_, Minsi term for red alder, 141\n\n _Wolf_ as guardian spirit, 195\n\n _Wolf, Chief James_, account of Minsi Annual ceremony by, 127-138;\n acknowledgment to, 14;\n dream-vision of, 72-73;\n mediumship of, 55;\n on Evil Spirit, 24;\n on Mask Being, 36;\n on Nani\u02b9tis, 166-168;\n on sun, 27;\n on thunder myth, 30\n\n _Wolf men_, see _Wolves_\n\n _Wolf phratry_, at Annual ceremony, 94, 104, 119;\n Bear cult of, 172;\n Skeleton dance of, 183-184\n\n _Wolves_, Flying Wolf\u2019s vision of, 73-75\n\n _Women_, drumsticks representing, 101, 130-131;\n forbidden in Bear cult, 174;\n in Happy Hunting Ground, 58;\n in menses, 62-63, 88, 133, 197;\n intercourse with, forbidden, 120;\n keepers of Nani\u02b9tis, 46;\n night of, in Annual ceremony, 105-106;\n part of: in Annual ceremony, 84-85, 87-88, 96-97, 108-109, 117-118;\n in ceremony of Nani\u02b9tis, 167-168;\n in Doll dance, 165;\n in Feast of first fruits, 144;\n in M\u012dsi\u02b9ng\u02b7\u201b dance, 155;\n in Otter ceremony, 179;\n prayer of, at Bear ceremony, 175;\n prayer of, for crops, 44;\n red symbolizing, 140-141;\n separate seating of, in Annual ceremony, 93;\n share of, in venison, 106;\n visions granted to, 65\n\n _Worship_, of Corn Goddess, 43-44;\n of elements, 29-31;\n of Mask Being, 35;\n of sun, 28.\n See _Annual ceremony_, _Offering_, _Prayer_\n\n _Wounds_, medicine for healing, 49\n\n _Wry mouth_ of Mask Being, 42\n\n _Wsinkhoalican_, Zeisberger\u2019s term for M\u012dsingh\u00e2li\u02b9k\u016dn, 42.\n See _Mask Being_\n\n\n _Xi\u02b9ngwikan_ or Big House, 82, 148.\n See _Big House_\n\n\n _Zeisberger, David_, on Annual ceremony, 116-118, 130;\n on Bear ceremony, 175-176;\n on concept of soul, 57-59;\n on Corn Goddess, 44;\n on dreams or visions, 77-78;\n on Evil Spirit, 25;\n on Great Spirit, 21;\n on Masks, 42-43;\n on prayer, 109;\n on Thunder Beings, 30;\n on variant of Annual ceremony, 125-126","title":"Religion and ceremonies of the Lenape","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":41215}