While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
For the purpose of a
brief description of the religion of the American Indians we
may define religion as that group of concepts and acts which
spring from the relation of the individual to the outer
world, so far as these relations are not considered as due
to physical forces the action of which is accounted for by
purely rationalistic considerations. The scope of religious
concepts will depend to a certain extent, therefore, on the
knowledge of the laws of nature; and, since the border-line
of the natural and the supernatural, as conceived in the
mind of primitive man, does not coincide with our view of
this subject, there will be marked differences between the
scope of religion among civilized nations and that among
less advanced peoples. For instance, the causal relations
determining the movements of the stars are recognized by
civilized man; but at an earlier time it was believed that
the positions of the stars influenced in a mysterious manner
the fates of man and that their movements could be
controlled by his will. Among tribes which held to the
latter opinion, views relating to the heavenly bodies would
form part of the religion of the people; while among those
peoples to which the causal relations determining the
motions of the stars are known, these motions are no longer
subject to religious interpretations.
Owing to the different point of view, it may also happen that certain
ideas of primitive man, which from our standpoint would have to be
considered as religious in character, are interpreted by the people
holding them as purely rationalistic. In our judgment, for instance,
sympathetic cures, which are believed in by most primitive tribes and
even by uneducated people among ourselves, can not be considered as
due to any physical effect, while among primitive tribes they may be
so viewed. The same is true of certain mythological concepts. If an
Indian tribe explains the markings on the skin of the chipmunk as due
to the fact that at an early time the grizzly bear scratched its back,
this may be to the mind of the Indian a perfectly rationalistic
explanation, while to us it would be entirely mysterious. Thus it
appears that the general views of nature-the explanations given for
the occurrence of natural phenomena, necessarily enter into a
consideration of the religions of primitive tribes, even if these
explanations should be based on a purely rationalistic attitude on the
part of primitive man. The less clear the line between observation and
reasoning on the one hand and imagination and inference due to
emotional states on the other, the less sharply drawn will be the line
between what may be called science and religion. In accordance with
the definition given before, those concepts that spring from the
relation of the individual to the outer world, and the form of which
depends on imagination and emotion, may be said to form the tenets of
religion.
When religious acts are considered in greater detail, it appears that
here also acts prompted by rationalistic considerations are not
sharply separated from others dictated by imagination and emotion.
Thus, when a medicine-man pursues and captures the fleeing soul of a
sick man, he may follow out by his acts in a rational way opinions
based largely on reasoning, although deeply affected in their origin
by such emotions as fear and love. When, on the other hand, he tries
to gain greater efficiency by putting himself into a state of
emotional excitement, in which he believes his chances of success are
enhanced, his acts become religious, in the stricter sense of the
term. This lack of sharp division between rationalistic and religious
forms of activity is found everywhere. Furthermore, it must be borne
in mind that many actions are performed without any conscious reason,
except so far as they are required by custom. This is true
particularly of actions that are considered as proper, like those
determined by rules regulating the behavior of the young to the old,
or of the common people to the nobility; or also of actions that are
considered as ethical, like those of hospitality and of pity. Here the
line of demarcation between religious activities and others not
connected with religion becomes even less sharp, because it often
happens that actions originally performed without any particular
reason or for purely rationalistic purposes are secondarily given
religious motives. It thus follows that religious views and actions are not
primarily connected with ethical concepts. Only in so far as man in
his religious relations to the outer world endeavors to follow certain
rules of conduct, in order to avoid evil effects, is a relation
between primitive religion and ethics established.
The religious concepts of the Indians may be described in two
groups, those that concern the individual, and those that concern the
social group, such as tribe and clan. The fundamental concept bearing
on the religious life of the individual is the belief in the existence
of magic power, which may influence the life of man, and which in turn
may be influenced by human activity. In this sense magic power must be
understood as the wonderful qualities which are believed to exist in
objects, animals, men, spirits, or deities, and which are superior to
the natural qualities of man. This idea of magic power is one of the
fundamental concepts that occur among all Indian tribes. It is what is
called manito by the Algonquian tribes; wakanda, by the Siouan tribes;
orenda, by the Iroquois; sulia, by the Salish; naualak, by the
Kwakiutl, and tamanoas, by the Chinook. Notwithstanding slight
differences in the signification of these terms, the fundamental
notion of all of them is that of a power inherent in the objects of
nature which is more potent than the natural powers of man. This idea
seems adequately expressed by our term "wonderful"; and it is hardly
necessary to introduce an Indian term, as has often been attempted.
Among the American terms, the word manito (q. v.; see also Orenda,
Otkon, Oyaron) has been most frequently used to express this idea. The
degree to which the magic power of nature is individualized differs
considerably among various tribes. Although the belief in the powers
of inanimate objects is common, we find in America that, on the whole,
animals, particularly the larger ones, are most frequently considered
as possessed of such magic power. Strong anthropomorphic
individualization also occurs, which justifies us in calling these
powers deities. It seems probable that among the majority of tribes,
besides the belief in the power of specific objects, a belief in a
magic power that is only vaguely localized, exists. In cases where
this belief is pronounced, the notion sometimes approaches the concept
of a deity, or of a great spirit which is hardly anthropomorphic in
its character. This is the case, for instance, among the Tsimshian of
British Columbia and among the Algonquian tribes of the Great Lakes,
and also in the figure of the Tirawa of the Pawnee.
As stated before, the whole concept of the world or, in other words,
the mythology of each tribe, enters to a very great extent into their
religious concepts and activities. The mythologies are highly
specialized in different parts of North America; and, although a large
number of myths are the common property of many American tribes, the
general view of the world appears to be quite distinct in various
parts of the continent. Taking into consideration the continent of
America as a whole, we find a type of explanation of the world which
is psychologically quite different from the familiar Semitic type.
In
the Semitic religions eternal existence appeared as an unintelligible
problem, and the mind preferred to assume a beginning which was
accounted for by transferring the existing world, as it was known by
observation, into the thought of a creator, and interpreting the
creation as a projection of his thoughts by his willpower into
objective existence. The Indian mind, on the other hand, accepts the eternal existence of the world, and accounts for its specific form by
the assumption that events which once happened in early times settled
for once and all the form in which the same kind of event must
continue to occur. For instance, when the bear produced the stripes of
the chipmunk by scratching its back, this determined that all
chipmunks were to have such stripes; or when an ancestor of a clan was
taught a certain ceremony, that same ceremony must be performed by all
future generations. This idea is not by any means confined to America,
but is found among primitive peoples of other continents as well, and
occurs even in Semitic cults.
Considering American mythologies in their broadest outlines, the
following areas may be distinguished:
(1) The Eskimo area, the
mythology of which is characterized by an abundance of purely human
hero-tales, and a very small number of traditions accounting for the
origin of animals, and these generally largely in human setting.
(2)
The North Pacific Coast area, characterized by a large cycle of
transformer myths, in which the origin of many of the arts of man is
accounted for, as well as the peculiarities of many animals; the whole
forming a very disconnected heterogeneous mass of traditions.
(3)
Allied to these appear the traditions of the Western plateau and of
the Mackenzie basin area, a region in which animal tales abound, many
accounting for the present conditions of the world, the whole being
very disconnected and contradictory.
(4) The Californian area, the
mythologies of which are characterized by a stronger emphasis laid on
creation by will-power than is found in most other parts of the
American continent.
(5) The principal characteristic of the
mythologies of the area of the Great Plains,
the eastern woodlands, and the arid Southwest, is the tendency to
systematization of the myths under the influence of a highly developed
ritual.
This tendency is more sharply defined in the
south than in the north
and northeast, and has perhaps progressed further than anywhere else among
the Pueblos, to whom the origin of the clans and societies seems to
give the keynote of mythological concepts; and among the Pawnee, whose
contemplation of the stars seems to have given the principal tone to
their mythology (see also article Mythology). The religious concepts
of the Indians deal largely with the relation of the individual to the
magic power mentioned above, and are specialized in accordance with
their general mythological concepts, which determine largely the
degree to which the powers are personified as animals, spirits, or
deities.
Another group of religious concepts, which
are not less important than the group heretofore discussed, refers to
the relations of the individual to his internal states, so far as
these are not controlled by the will, and are therefore considered as
subject to external magic influences. Most important among these are
dreams, sickness, and death. These may be produced by obsession, or by
external forces which compel the soul to leave the body. In this sense
the soul is considered by almost all tribes as not subject to the
individual will; it may be abstracted from the body by hostile forces,
and it may be damaged and killed. The concept of the soul itself shows
a great variety of forms. Very often the soul is identified with life,
but we also find commonly the belief in a multiplicity of souls. Thus,
among the Eskimo, the name is considered as one of the souls of man,
another soul belongs to the body, a third one is independent of the
body. The soul is also identified with the blood, the bones, the
shadow, the nape of the neck (see Soul). Based on these ideas is also
the belief in the existence of the soul after death. Thus, in the
belief of the Algonquian Indians of the Great Lakes, the souls of the
deceased are believed to reside in the far west with the brother of
the great culture-hero. Among the Kutenai the belief prevails that the
souls will return at a later period, accompanying the culture-hero.
Sometimes the land from which the ancestors of the tribe have sprung,
which in the south is often conceived of as underground, is of equal
importance.
Since the belief in the existence of magic powers is very strong in
the Indian mind, all his actions are regulated by the desire to retain
the good will of those friendly to him, and to control those that are
hostile.
The first means of retaining the good will of the friendly power is
the strict observance of a great variety of proscriptions. An
important group of these may be combined under the term "taboo" (q. v.
). Among these, furthermore, food taboos are particularly common.
Every tribe of America, no matter how scanty their means of
subsistence may have been, had certain kinds of tabooed food that is,
food forbidden, either permanently or at certain seasons, or on
certain occasions. Thus, one division of the Omaha were forbidden to
eat the shoulder of the buffalo, while another one was forbidden to
eat the elk; the Iroquois were forbidden to eat the animal from which
their family name was taken, and the same is true of Pueblo and other
clans; the Eskimo must not eat caribou and walrus at the same season;
the Navaho must not touch flesh of the bear, nor the Zuñi anything
that lives in the water.
Not less numerous are the taboos of work. These are perhaps nowhere so
highly developed as among the Eskimo, among whom work on
caribou-skins, seal-skins, metals, ice, and heather is forbidden under
certain conditions. Here belong, also, the taboos of story-telling,
and of playing certain games at certain seasons, which are quite
common. Of great importance are the taboos intended to prevent the
evil effects of impurity. Thus we find a large number of taboos
forbidding menstruating women, murderers, and mourners from performing
certain kinds of work. They must not touch fresh food lest the magic
powers controlling the food supply may be offended.
Social taboos, which are very common in Polynesia, are not so markedly
developed in America, although the strict secrecy with which certain
sacred actions are performed by privileged members of a tribe is akin
to this institution. Thus it is forbidden, except on certain
occasions, for any member of the tribe to touch or even see the
contents of sacred bundles (see Palladium), and even then only the
keeper of the bundle is allowed to open it to view. While all these
taboos are essentially negative in their character, forbidding certain
actions in order to avoid giving offense, there are positive acts
which are required for the same purpose. Some of these might well be
called rules of ethical conduct, although the one reason given for
them is the endeavor to retain the good will of the wonderful powers
of nature. All the numerous regulations which are found all over the
continent, and intended to retain the good will of the food animals;
and which are essentially signs of respect shown to them, belong to
this class. Dogs must not gnaw the bones of food animals, because this
is a sign of disrespect.
The bear, after having been killed, receives marks of reverence; and
the first game animals obtained at the beginning of the hunting season
must be treated with particular care. The complicated customs relating
to buffalo hunting, and the salmon ceremonials of the northwest Indians,
as well as the whale ceremonials of the Eskimo, may also be given as
examples. Respectful behavior toward old people and generally decent
conduct are also often counted among such required acts. Here may also
be included the numerous customs of purification that are required in
order to avoid the ill will of the powers. These, however, may better
be considered as constituting one of the means of controlling magic
power, which form a very large part of the religious observances of
the American Indians.
The Indian is not satisfied with the attempt to avoid the ill will of
the powers, but he tries also to make them subservient to his own
needs. This end may be attained in a variety of ways. Perhaps the most
characteristic of North American Indian methods of gaining control
over supernatural powers is that of the acquisition of one of them as
a personal protector. Generally this process is called the acquiring
of a manito; and the most common method of acquiring it is for the
young man during the period of adolescence to purify himself by
fasting, bathing, and vomiting, until his body is perfectly clean and
acceptable to the supernatural beings. At the same time the youth
works himself by these means, by dancing, and sometimes also by means
of drugs, into a trance, in which he has a vision of the guardian
spirit which is to protect him throughout life. These means of
establishing communication with the spirit world are in very general
use, also at other periods of life (see Black Drink, Dance, Ordeals,
Peyote, Tobacco). The magic power that man thus acquires may give him
special abilities; it may make him a successful hunter, warrior, or
shaman; or it may give him power to acquire wealth, success in
gambling, or the love of women.
While the above is the most common method of acquiring magic power,
other means are well known among the American Indians, particularly
among those tribes in which strong clan organizations prevail. They
believe that wonderful power may be attained by inheritance. There are
also numerous cases, as among the
Arapaho and Blackfeet (Siksika),
where the privilege of acquiring it and the control over it may be
purchased. Among the American Eskimo the idea prevails that it may be
transmitted by teaching and by bodily contact with a person who
controls such powers. Ordinarily its possession is considered so
sacred that it must not be divulged except in cases of extreme danger,
but among other tribes it may be made known to the whole tribe. In a
few cases the opinion prevails that such powers exist in certain
localities, but can not be acquired by individuals.
Another means of controlling the powers of nature is by prayer, which
may be directed either to the protecting spirit of the individual or
to other powers. Objects of prayer may be protection in danger,
removal of sickness, the obtaining of food or other material benefits,
or a more general and abstract request for the blessing of the powers.
Many prayers are addressed in fixed form or contain at least certain
old formulas.
Another way of invoking the protection of the powers is through the
use of charms (also called fetishes, q. v.). The charm is either
believed to be the seat of magic power, or it may be a symbol of such
power, and its action may be based on its symbolic significance. Of
the former kind are presumably many objects contain6d in the sacred
bundles of certain Indians, which are believed to be possessed of
sacred powers; while symbolic significance seems to prevail in charms
like the stones worn by the North Pacific Coast Indians, which are
believed to harden the skin against missiles of hostile shamans, or
the magic whip of wolf-skin of the Eskimo, which is believed to have
the power of driving away spirits.
Symbolic actions are also made use of. Such acts are, for instance,
the setting-up of prayer-sticks (q. v.), which are meant to convey
man's wishes to the powers. Often these wishes are indicated by
special attachments, expressing in symbolic or pictographic manner the
thing wished for. Somewhat related to such symbolic actions are also
all processes of divination, in which, by a symbolic act, the
propitiousness of the proposed undertaking is ascertained.
Still more potent means of influencing the powers are offerings and
sacrifices. On the whole, these are not so strongly developed in North
America as they are in other parts of the world. In many regions human
sacrifices were common for instance, in Mexico and Yucatan while in
northern America they are known only in rare instances, as among the
Pawnee. However, many cases of torture, particularly of self-torture,
must be reckoned here (see Ordeals, Sun Dance). Other bloody
sacrifices are also rare in North America. We may mention the
sacrifice of the dog among the Iroquois. Only to a limited extent do
we find the
tendency of considering the killing of game as a bloody sacrifice. On
the other hand, sacrifices of tobacco smoke, of corn, and of parts of
food, of small manufactured objects, and of symbolic objects, are
very common. These gifts may be offered to any of the supernatural
powers with the intent of gaining their assistance and avoiding their
enmity.
Still another way of gaining control over supernatural powers is by
incantations, which in a way are related to prayers, but which act
rather through the magic influence of the words. Therefore the
traditional form of these incantations is rigidly adhered to. They
occur frequently among the Arctic tribes of the continent, but are not
by any means lacking among others, who believe that the recitation of
a short formula may aid in reaching a desired end. In the same way
that incantations are related to prayer, certain acts and charms are
related to offerings. We find among almost all Indian tribes the
custom of performing certain acts, which are neither symbolic nor
offerings, nor other attempts to obtain the assistance of superior
beings, but which are effective through their own potency. Such acts
are the use of lucky objects intended to secure good fortune; or the
peculiar treatment of animals, plants, and other objects, in order to
bring about a change of weather.
There is also found among most Indian tribes the idea that the
supernatural powers, if offended by transgressions of rules of
conduct, may be propitiated by punishment. Such punishment may consist
in the removal of the offending individual, who may be killed by the
members of the tribe, or the propitiation may be accomplished by
milder forms of punishment. Of particular interest among these is
confession as a means of propitiation, which is found among the
Athapascan, the
Iroquois, and the Eskimo. Other forms of punishment
are based largely on the idea of purification by fasting, bathing, and
vomiting. Among the Plains Indians the vow to perform a ceremony or
another act agreeable to the powers is considered an efficient means
of gaining their good will or of atoning for past offenses.
Protection against disease is also sought by the help of superhuman
powers. These practices have two distinct forms, according to the
fundamental conception of disease. Disease is conceived of principally
in two forms, either as due to the presence of a material object in the
body of the patient, or as an effect of the absence of the soul from
the body. The cure of disease is entrusted to the shamans or
medicine-men, who obtain their powers generally by the assistance of
guardian spirits, or who may personally be endowed with magic powers.
It is their duty to discover the material disease which is located in
the patient's body, and which they extract by sticking or pilling with
the hands; or to go in pursuit of the absent soul, to recover it, and
to restore it to the patient. Both of these forms of shamanism are
found practically all over the continent, but in some regions, for
instance, in California, the idea of material bodies that cause sickness
is particularly strongly developed; while in other regions the idea of
the absence of the soul seems to be more marked. In treating the
patient, the shamans almost everywhere use various means to work
themselves into a state of excitement, which is produced by singing, by
the use of the drum and rattle, and by dancing. The belief also widely
prevails that unpropitious conditions may counteract the work of the
shaman, and that for this reason particular care must be taken to
remove all disturbing and impure elements from the place where the
shamanistic performance is held. When the shaman has to have intercourse with the spirits, whom he visits in
their own domain, or
when he has to pursue the soul of the patient, we find frequently
sleight-of-hand employed, such is the tying of the hands of the
shaman, who, when his soul leaves the body, is believed to free
himself with the help of the spirits. (See Magic,
Medicine and Medicine-men,
Shamans and Priests.)
The belief that certain
individuals can acquire control over the powers has also led to the
opinion that they may be used to harm enemies. The possession of such
control is not always beneficial, but may be used also for purposes of witchcraft (q. v.). Hostile shamans may
throw disease into the bodies of their enemies, or they may abduct their souls.
They may do harm by
sympathetic means, and control the will-power of others by the help of
the supernatural means at their disposal. Witchcraft is everywhere
considered as a crime, and is punished.
Besides those manifestations of religious belief that relate to the
individual, religion has become closely associated with the social
structure of the tribes; so that the ritualistic side of religion can
be understood only in connection with the social organization of the
Indian tribes. Even the fundamental traits of their social organization
possess a religious import. This is true particularly of the
clans (q. v.), so far as
they are characterized by totems (q. v.). The totem is almost always an
object of more or less religious reverence to the clan; and there are
many cases in which taboos relating to the totemic animal exist, like
those previously referred to among the
Omaha. Also in cases where the clans have definite political
functions, like those of the Omaha and the Iroquois, these functions
are closely associated with religious concepts, partly in so far as
their origin is ascribed to myths, partly in so far as the functions
are associated with the performance of religious rites. The position
of officials is also closely associated with definite religious
concepts. Thus, the head of a clan at times is considered as the
representative of the mythological ancestor of the clan, and as such
is believed to be endowed with superior powers; or the position as
officer in the tribe or clan entails the performance of certain
definite religious functions. In this sense many, of the political
functions among Indian tribes are closely associated with what maybe
termed "priestly functions." The religious significance of social
institutions is most clearly marked in cases where the tribe, or large
parts of the tribe, join in the performance of certain ceremonies
which are intended to serve partly a political, partly a religious
end.
Such acts are some of the intertribal ballgames, the husk of the
Creeks, the sun dance of the Plains Indians, performances of the
numerous warrior societies of the Plains, which will be found treated
under these headings. Here also belong the secret societies, which are
highly developed among the Pueblos, in California, and on the North
Pacific coast. It is characteristic of rituals in many parts of the
world that they tend to develop into a more or less dramatic
representation of the myth from which the ritual is derived. For this
reason the use of masks (q. v.; see also Ceremony) is a common feature
of these rituals, in which certain individuals impersonate
supernatural beings.
In those tribes among which very complex rituals
have developed we find the ceremonies frequently in charge of certain
officers, who are at the same time the keepers of the sacred objects
belonging to the tribe or to the societies (see Altar, Palladium); and
it would seem that the whole system of religious beliefs and practices
has developed the more systematically the more strictly the religious
practices have come to be in charge of a body of priests. This
tendency to systematization of religious beliefs may be observed
particularly among the Pueblos and the
Pawnee, but it also occurs in
isolated cases in other parts of the continent; for instance, among
the Bellacoola of British Columbia, and those Algonquian tribes that
have the Midewiwin ceremonial fully developed. In these cases we find
that frequently an elaborate series of esoteric doctrines and
practices exists, which are know to only a small portion of the
tribe, while the mass of the people are familiar only with part of the
ritual and with its exoteric features. For this reason we often find
the religious beliefs and practices of the mass of a tribe rather
heterogeneous as compared with the beliefs held by the priests.
Among
many of the tribes in which priests are found, we find distinct
esoteric societies, and it is not by any means rare that the doctrines
of one society are not in accord with those of another. All this is
clearly due to the fact that the religious ideas of the tribe are
derived from many different sources, and have been brought into order
at a later date by the priests charged with the keeping of the tribal
rituals. Esoteric forms of religion in charge of priests are found
among the tribes of the arid region in the Southwest, the tribes of
the southern Mississippi basin, and to a less extent among the more
northerly tribes on the Plains. It would seem that, on the whole, the
import of the esoteric teachings decreases among the more northerly
and northeasterly tribes of the continent. It is probably least
developed among the Eskimo, the tribes of the Mackenzie basin, and the
tribes of the great plateau region, in so far as these have remained uninfluenced by the Plains Indians and by those of the Pacific
coast.
On the whole, the Indians incline strongly toward all forms of
religious excitement. This is demonstrated not only by the exuberant
development of ancient religious forms, but also by the frequency with
which prophets (q. v.) have appeared among them, who taught new
doctrines and new rites, based either on older religious beliefs, or
on teaching partly of Christian, partly of Indian origin.
Perhaps the
best known of these forms of religion is the
Ghostdance (q. v.),
which swept over a large part of the continent during the last decade
of the 19th century. But other prophets of similar type and of
far reaching influence were numerous. One of these was
Tenskwatawa (q.
v. ),the famous brother of Tecumseh; another, the seer
Smohalla (q.
v.) of the Pacific coast; and even among the Eskimo such prophets have
been known, particularly in Greenland.
