# Journal of American Folk-Lore/Volume 13/Issue 51/Record of American Folk-Lore

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RECORD OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.
NORTH AMERICA.
Algonkian. Mohegan. The life of Samson Occom, " the pious Mohegan," will always be of interest to students of the contact be- tween the Red Man and the White in America. Rev. W. De Loss Love's recent volume, " Samson Occom and the Christian Indians of New England " (Boston, 1899, pp. xiii. -f- 379), is a valuable contri- bution to the literature of the subject. The author seems to place a high estimate upon the character of this Indian preacher and his achievement.
Chinantecan. Pages 68-71 of Professor Starr's paper (titled below) treat of the Chinantecs of the districts of Cuicatlan and Villa Alta in Oaxaca, whose language is probably of independent stock. Houses, dress, agriculture, intoxicants, superstitions are briefly noted. The red cloth worn about the neck or head by the men is character- istic, also the hairdressing of the women. Witchcraft and super- stitious treatment of diseases prevail.
Iroquoian. A curiosity in its way is the " Iakentasetatha kahn- wakeha tsini kahawis nonwa ioserate, 1900," etc., or " Iroquois Almanac for the year 1900" (Tiohtiake — Montreal, 1899, pp. 71), published by G. Forbes, Cure" of Caughnawaga. The main part of the pamphlet is in Indian, but pages 57-66 are in French and pages 67-70 in English. The Indian text is concerned with an account of Kateri Tekakwitha, the " Lily of the Mohawks " (pp. 32-50), — the famous "saint" of the Iroquois, — and general notes about the Iro- quois population in Canada and the United States. The rest of the pamphlet deals with the history of the Caughnawaga mission, etc. Although Iroquois is still spoken generally at Caughnawaga, there does not exist " a single family of pure Iroquois blood," indeed only a couple of individuals even lay claim to such descent. If we believe the statements in the Almanac, there are among the Iroquois at the present time 125 descendants of Eunice Williams, of Deerfield, Mass.; 1350 descendants of Silas Rice, of Marlboro, Mass. ; 1100 descendants of Jacob Hill, of Albany ; and 400 descendants of John Stacey, another white youth captured during the Indian wars of the eighteenth century. No wonder white blood is so common among these Indians. — Cherokee. Of more or less interest to folk-lorists is "The Story of the Cherokee Bible" (N. Y., 1900, pp. 173). by G. E. Foster, which contains some items of tradition, etc., besides biblio- graphical notes. — Wyandot. Under the title " Wyandot Folk-Lore " (Topeka, 1899, pp. 116), Mr. W. H. Connelley publishes a collection of myths and stories, with brief account of the sociological condi-
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tion of the Wyandots of Seneca, Mo. Much of the material has already appeared in the Journal of American Folk-Lore and the "Report of the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Ontario." The author promises in the near future a much more elaborate treat- ment of the subject.
Juavan. The Juaves, discussed by Professor Starr (pp. 63-67 of paper titled below), who dwell on the Pacific shore of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, speak a language, classed by Brinton and others as of independent stock. Dress, net-making, canoes, commerce, supersti- tions are noted. The dress of these Indians is very primitive, and they have the general reputation of going naked. Net-making is here a work of the men, and "as they walk, or sit talking, men are always busy at their nets." The alligators of the lagoons are consid- ered naguals, and are always treated well by fishermen, who throw back into the water some of the fish they have caught.
Mixtec-Zapotecan. Mixtec. Pages 37-41 of Professor Starr's essay titled below, deal with the Mixtecs of Oaxaca, Puebla, and Guerrero, their houses, dress, pottery-making, funerals, etc. At Tilantongo, where Spanish influence has been greatest, " none of the men and few of the women retain native dress." The tenates, or palm-strip mats, made at Yodocono, etc., are famous ; likewise the pottery of Cuquila. Cairns are not uncommon in the Mixtecan coun- try, and "each Indian passer-by usually adds his contribution," the belief prevailing that " foot-weariness may be removed by rubbing the foot with one of these pebbles." — Zapotccan (pp. 45-52). Houses, dress, arts and industries (cotton-weaving, shoemaking, pottery, etc.), superstitions, etc., are discussed. These Indians appear to be intelligent, industrious, acquisitive, and progressive, and they have produced "men eminent as political leaders, soldiers, and scholars, — Juarez was a full-blood Zapotec." In the Tehuantepec region " the women appear to have more energy and quicker intelligence than their husbands." The legend concerning Tehuantepec, "the hill of the man-eaters (pumas) " is very curious. Beliefs about naguals, evil eye, etc., and ex-voto cairns abound. It is also believed that " deformities like harelip and defective members are due to the eclipsed moon," and women about to give birth to children are advised to " bind a key or any piece of iron next their body, under the belt, to protect against this misfortune." — Triqui. The Triquis (pp. 41-45) of the high mountains of Tlaxiaco and Juxtlahuaca, speak a language considered by some authorities to belong to the Mixtec- Zapotecan family, but which is perhaps independent. House, dress, and industries are described. The carrying-cloths for tortillas have sometimes designs worked in " highly formal and conventionalized human figures." — Cuicatecs. To the same family belongs the Ian-
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guage of the Cuicatecs of Oaxaca (p. 68). — Popoloco. The language of the Chochos (pp. 71-74), of Oaxaca, Puebla, etc., which is termed popoloco, is by some authorities considered to belong to the Mixtec- Zapotecan family. Houses, dress, cairns, etc., are briefly described, and a list of town-names is given. It is said that the Chochos dance for good luck as they pass the cairns on the road. Also when they gather sap to make mescal, they " spill some on the ground ; other- wise the plants will cease to yield sap." — Mazatec. The Mazatecs (pp. 74-79) of the mountain regions of Cuicatlan and Teotitlan be- long by language to the Mixtec-Zapotecan stock. Dress, houses, silk-culture, superstitions are briefly noted. Here the women are " gorgeous with their gay apparel," and the houses are in a way sui generis. Connected with the rearing of silk-worms, there are many curious beliefs, such as not handling tomatoes or chillis, etc. A green powder called pislete (made of the leaves of a plant) "is uni- versally carried," to take away fatigue and to protect against witch- craft. Many curious superstitions are connected with the dead.
Otomi. Pages 4-8 of Professor Starr's paper deal with the Otomis, one of the oldest peoples of Mexico, and second only to the Aztecs in the area they occupy. Houses, wool-spinning, dress, carrying- cloths, etc., are briefly noted. Here, too, "the women are far more conservative in the matter of dress than the men." Few of the men still retain the ancient fashion of wearing the hair in a braid down the back. The ayate, or carrying-cloth of ixtli fibre is characteristic and employed for all but the most awkward burdens. The women often spin ixtli as they walk, and ancient pottery spindle-whorls, found in the fields, are used, the Otomis not making them now.
Salishan. As part of the Report for 1899 of the Committee on the Ethnological Survey of Canada, Mr. C. PI ill-Tout publishes in "Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci.," vol. Ixix. (Dover, 1899), pp. 50x5-584, " Notes on the N'tlakapamaq of British Columbia, a Branch of the great Salish Stock of North America." The subjects treated of are ethnography, social organization, weapons, marriage customs, sha- manism, names, mortuary customs, birth customs, tattooing and paint- ing, games, clothing, sweat-houses, food, utensils, customs, canoes, archaeology, physical characteristics, linguistics (pp. 518-534), and folk-lore (pp. 534-584). According to the author Cpuzum or Spuz- zum, the name of one of the villages of these Indians, refers to a cus- tom formerly prevalent, — " the people of one place would go and sweep the houses of the people in another, and they would return the compliment next morning at daybreak ; this was a constant prac- tice." Of the chiefs of these Salish Indians we are told " they were, as a rule, peace-loving men, always more anxious to prevent wars than to bring them about " (p. 502), and " the grandfather of the
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present Lytton chief would go out after a battle and purchase the prisoners taken captive in the fight, who were held as slaves by the captors, and set them free and send them back to their own people again." Their customs reveal the fact that "their whole lives were much simpler and more natural than those of their congeners elsewhere," — particularly is this true of their marriage customs. Birth and death customs have been " much modified by missionary influence. A very interesting fact is that when roots are to be baked, "women only must do it." Interesting also is the fact that the youths of the present day are very different from those of the past, the old-time " tests " having been given up. The section of Mr. Hill-Tout's paper which deals with folk-lore, contains : The Story of the Elk-Maiden (pp. 534-540) ; The Forgotten Wife Story (pp. 540-551) ; The Story of the Adventures of the Coyote and his Son (pp. 551-561); The Fire Myth (pp. 561-563); Painted Blanket Myth (pp. 563, 564) ; Husband Root Myth (pp. 564-566) ; Oftcut Story (she burns herself) (pp. 566-574) ; Beaver Story (pp. 574, 575) ; Story of Coyote, Magpie, Diver, and Black Bear (pp. 575-579) ; Story of Hanni's Wife and the Revenge of her Son (pp. 579-581). There are also added some "General Remarks" (pp. 582, 583), and a note on the " Marriage Customs of the Yale Tribe " (pp. 583, 584). These myths are largely " observation " myths. Says the author, estimat- ing highly the imaginative character of these Indians as seen in such stories (p. 582) : " There is not a single peculiar feature of the landscape which has not its own story attached to it. There is no conspicuous object of any kind within their borders but has some myth connected with it. The boulders on the hillside, the benches of the rivers, the falls, the canons and the turns of the Frazer, the mud slides, the bare precipitous cliffs, the sand-bars, the bubbling spring and the running brook, the very utensils they use, all have a history of their own in the lore of this tribe. Every single pecul- iarity in bird, or beast, or fish is fully, and, to them, satisfactorily accounted for in their stories. The flat head of the river cod, the topknot of the blue jay, the bent claws and dingy brown color of the coyote, the flippers of the seal, the red head of the woodpecker, and a host of other characteristics, all have their explanation in story." As a reflex of the former life of the people these tales are exceed- ingly valuable for the sociological data they contain. In conjunction with them ought to be read the tales recorded in Dr. Boas' " India- nische Sagen," published in 1895.
Siouan. Catawba. Dr. A. S. Gatschet's valuable " Grammatic Sketch of the Catawba Language " in the July-September number of the "American Anthropologist" (N. S. vol. ii. 1900, pp. 527-549) will interest the folk-lorist by reason of the etymologies cf compound
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nouns and other words contained therein. Among these the follow- ing may be cited: cotton {scraksuoi) is literally "grass flower;" wolf {to n si suri-e), " wild dog ; " panther (ncpe'-tusc-hdpre), " some-being- tail-long ; " tear {it yd), "eye water;" gunpowder ipuhi hiu), "dust of gun ; " finger {iksa itchd), " of the arm its end." The color-names also ought to be noted.
Tarascan. The Tarascans, who live chiefly in the State of Mi- choacan, their houses, pottery, canoes, dress, lacquer- work, etc., are discussed by Professor Starr (pp. 9-13). An interesting point brought out by the author is the notable localization of Tarascan industries. In matters of dress the rebosos of Parracho are famous. The women's belts are admirably woven and worked with wonderful patterns in bird, animal, and human figures. Men make and mend the nets ; women make the celebrated lacquer-work of Umapan. Women and men paddle, and " when several paddlers move together, excellent stroke is observed." In ancient times the Tarascans were renowned for feather-work. The Otomis of Hidalgo and Pueblo are treated of at pages 81-83, where their paper-making and the use of bark-paper in witchcraft are described.
Totonacan. The Totonacs (pp. 86-88 of Professor Starr's paper) of the States of Puebla and Vera Cruz are classed by Brinton as an independent stock ; other authors (Professor Starr favors this view) ally them by speech with the Huastecans of the Maya family. Houses and dress are briefly noted ; also festivals, a detailed account of the Costtanbrc at Santa Maria being given. Among other things of interest at Santa Maria is "the santocalli (saints' house) as they call their wretched little church, where the old woman (leader of the Costiimbrc) and her assistants, male and female, conduct curious pagan rites before the Virgin and Senor San Jose with prayers, some of which are Latin and others Totonaco. — Tcpcliua. For the Tepe- huas of Vera Cruz, Hidalgo, and Puebla, whom some of the best authorities class with the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family, Professor Starr (pp. 83-86) suggests a relationship with the Totonacs, in so far as speech is concerned. Dress, night fishing, dancing, superstition are briefly touched upon. Recently these Indians, with havoc as the result, "have learned to explode dynamite in fishy waters." An interesting " snake dance " occurs here. Idols are still venerated and figure in semi-religious ceremonials, rain-making, etc.
Uto-Aztecan. Professor Frederick Starr's " Notes upon the Ethnography of Southern Mexico" (pp. 98), reprinted from vol. viii. (1900) of the "Proceedings of Davenport Academy of Natural Sci- ences," contains a mass of new and valuable information obtained by the author during his visits to Mexico in 1898, 1899, and 1900. Professor Starr visited sixteen or seventeen tribes, and made good
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use of his time and opportunities everywhere. The essays are accom- panied by a comparative vocabulary of 71 words in 9 languages (Tri- qui, Mixe, Juave, Chontal, Chinantec, Mazatec, Chocho, Tepehua, Totonac) and 72 figures of various ethnological objects. — Aztec. Pages 33-37 of Professor Starr's essay treat of Aztec dress, weaving, musical instruments as seen at Cuauhtlantzinco, Cholula, Lake Patz- cuaro, etc. The decorations on the camisa are one of the things that have remained for a large part characteristically Indian. The drum called liuehiietl is " still used on festival occasions at many Tlaxcalan and Pueblan towns." At pages 79-81 the Aztecs scat- tered in Hidalgo and Puebla are discussed. The mingled population of these regions is remarkable in many ways. Here witchcraft still flourishes. — Tlaxcalan (pp. 14, 15). Houses (and their construc- tion), dress, the mountain of Malintzi, natural phenomena, witches, "blood-suckers," "rain and hail bringers," naguals, birth, marriage, death, proverbs, numeration, etc., are discussed. The population of the State of Tlaxcala is almost purely Indian, the speech is Aztec, and the governor is a pure-blood Aztec. Upon Mt. Malintzi (usu- ally connected with Malina, Marina, the favorite of Cortez) a beau- tiful woman, who controls the atmospheric phenomena, has her home in a cave. Witchcraft is in full flourish in Tlaxcala, and folk-medi- cine goes everywhere. The " blood-suckers " are female beings who suck the blood of infants ; the " bringers of rain and hail " are pub- lic personages who have to do with Malintzi. Among the favor- ite wedding-songs are the Malintzi and the Tlaxcaltecatl (text and music are given). The moon has a great influence over pregnant women in popular belief ; unmarried persons are looked upon as vagabonds ; and the Feast of the Dead is very elaborate. The Tlax- calans, who preserve much of the metaphor and poetry of old Aztec, have also " a sense for dry humor," as their proverbs, etc., prove. The present Aztec and Tlaxcalan method of counting seems to be a curious "mixture of Aztec words and Spanish ideas." One of the popular superstitions is that " unusual howling of coyotes presages national disaster." — Huichol The Huichols of the State of Xalisco speak a language related to Nahuatl (Aztec), according to Dr. C. Lumholtz, whose " Symbolism of the Huichol Indians " (Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. Anthropol. ii. i. N. Y. May, 1900, pp. 228. Maps ; plates i.-iv., 298 figs.) is one of the most important of recent contributions to the study of the mind and art of primitive man. Among subjects discussed, in great detail, are : The Gods and their paraphernalia, ceremonial arrows and crosses, votive bowls, shamans' plumes and objects connected with feast-making, facial paintings, etc. Dr. Lumholtz's study of these Indians and the development of their symbolism suggests comparison with Dr. Fewkes's Tusayan
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studies, " rain and the necessity of raising corn " figuring so strongly in both. Dr. Lumholtz's paper is creditable both to the author and the publishers of the Museum. — General. " The Obsidian Razor of the Aztecs " is the title of a brief paper by Dr. G. C. MacCurdy in the "American Anthropologist" (N. S. vol. ii. pp. 417-421) for July- September, 1900. In ancient Mexico obsidian razors were used by tailors, bookmakers, etc., as well as by those who shaved. In a land " where the clergy, the nobility and the army alone had the right to wear the hair long . . . the demand for obsidian razors must have been great." The paper deals with specimens in the Museum of Yale University. — In the " American Antiquarian " (vol. xxii. pp. 301-309) for September-October, 1900, Professor Frederick Starr gives a detailed account of " Mexican Paper." It is interesting to learn that bark paper " is still made over a considerable area in the warm mountainous parts of the States of Hidalgo and Puebla." It is the Otomis who do the manufacturing, and the paper " is not used for writing, nor wrapping ; it is employed in pagan ceremonials and in witchcraft." Professor Starr is inclined to see more than an ac- cidental resemblance in the bark-beaters of ancient Mexico, the Tlingits of Alaska, and the Polynesians, — figures of these imple- ments accompany the article. — In the same number Rev. S. D. Peet has (pp. 311-326) an illustrated article on "Ancient Aztec Cities and Civilization." The author thinks these " cities " differed more from pueblos and Indian villages than many modern authorities admit."
Zoque-Mixe. Mixe. Pages 52-63 of Professor Starr's paper treat of the Mixes of the districts of Yautepec, Villa Alta, and Te- huantepec, their house-architecture, dress, pagan survivals (witch- craft, magic, etc.), fiestas. The Mixes are very conservative linguis- tically and religiously, but "surprisingly non-conservative in dress." Witches are so common that some towns (Alotepec, e.g.) are full of them. Some of the pagan practices even find shelter in the native churches, where heathen idols have more than once been discovered. Magic practices are still much in vogue. Cannibalism is said to have prevailed at several places within the present century.
GENERAL.
Animism. Dr. Theodor Koch's elaborate r/sumf of our knowledge concerning "Animism among the Indians of South America" (" Zum Animismus der Sudamerikanischen Indianer"), which forms the sup- plement to vol. xiii. of the "Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie," is noticed elsewhere in this Journal in detail. It deals with the be- liefs and practices of the Indians concerning the soul (its nature and activities), particularly in relation to disease and death, and the other
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world. In fact, all questions relating to immortality are here in- volved and discussed.
Linguistics. A valuable contribution to the Bibliography of American Indian Languages is Prof. Frederick Starr's " Recent Mexi- can Study of the Native Languages of Mexico " (Chicago, 1900, pp. 19), which appears as Bulletin iv., Department of Anthropology, Uni- versity of Chicago. This paper, which is embellished with portraits of Leon, Belmar, Penafiel, Robelo, de la Rosa, Molina, and Palma, cata- logues, with explanatory notes, 75 titles of books, treatises, pam- phlets, etc. Of these 47 relate to Nahuatl (Aztec), 7 to Zapotec, 2 to Mixtec, 2 to Huastec, and one each to Tzotzil, Zoque, Mixe, Trique, Mazatec, Otomi, Cahita, and Chocho. Among the titles particularly interesting are : Peiianel's edition of the Fables of ^Esop in Aztec (from a MS. attributed to Sahagun), published in 1895 ; Molina's La Rosa del Amor (1894), which "contains eight lessons of love phrases in Spanish and Zapotec for lovers," — of this book Professor Starr remarks " it was published and sold by the author, and was intended for actual use." In the list of authors figure several Indians : A. Valeriano, who wrote about the miracle of the Virgin of Tepeyac in the sixteenth century, — the work has been several times reprinted ; M. T. Palma, a full-blood Aztec, author of a good grammar of his mother tongue; F. Chimalpopoca ; M. Alexandre, a Huastec, who wrote a primer of that language, etc. Several of the works men- tioned treat of geographical names.
A. F. C. and I. C. C.