Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1874-04-04
THE TAMANAWAS CASE

Tuesday last, by the jury finding YER
dict of not guilty, which verdict was
generally approved by those who heard
the testimony. This case was a most
interesting one, it being the first of its
kind brought before any court.
On the 10th day of January last,
Harry killed medicine man" of his
tribe. 1t was proven during the trial
both by white and Indian testimony,
that there exists belief in the minds
of the Indians of this coast, that these
medicine men are possessed of spirits,
some of good, some of evil and others
of both good and evil spirits; that the
masatchie tamanawas, or evil spirit doc
tors, have the power of throwing or
sending the evil spirit of which they
are possessed into any Indian they may
select, and that that the evil spirit so
sent will prey upon the vitals and cause
the person in whom it has entered to
pine away and die, and that the spirit
may be sent long distances with pre-
cision. 1t was further proven, that
none but the doctors can see the evil
spirit within the person afflicted, and
they, not by the natural eye, but by the
eye of the spirit within them, and that
the death-bed scene of an Indian dying
from masatchie tamanawas, differs from
that of natural death in this: that in
the former, the masatchie tamanawas or
evil spirit itself speaks, either just as
the possessed person dies or immediate
ly after death, saying to whom the
spirit belonged and that it had caused
the death. While in the latter case,
no such voice is heard. The Indians
also believe that person afflicted by
the masatchie tamanawas will recover,
if the medicine man who has control of
the evil spirit will voluntarily with
draw it, or if other medicine men are
found whose good spirits are sufficiently
powerful to overcome the evil spirit and
"pull it out" If the medicine man
who threw it into the afflicted enc re-
fuses to withdraw it, or is unable to
by reason of the evil spirit having be-
come uncomfortable, then, by killing
the doctor or masatchie tamanawas q
cure is effected, unless the person af-
flicted is too far gone to recover not
withstanding the withdrawal.
In this case, Harry and his wife Susie
attended an Indian potlatch at Seattle,
in December last, and while there DR..
jackson threw his masatchie tamanawas.
or evil spirit, into Susie, and did so for
nine blankets, at the suggestion of
George Jackson, who was at enmity
with Harry and Susie. Susie was at
once taken sick, and Harry called in
DR.. Jim, who after an examination, de-
clared that Susie had been masatchie
tamanawased by DR.. jackson; that he
saw the spirit and could not get it out,
because it was too skookum, or strong,
for him. Other doctors were called,
but Jackson's evil spirit was too much
for their combined good spirits and
could not be dislodged. Susie returned
to Olympia with her husband, was taken
to Mud Bay, and was visibly sinking.
She, firm in the belief of her race, called
upon her husband to kill Dr.. Jackson,
in order to save her life. On the 10th
of January, Harry met DR.. Jackson
and induced him to go over to Mud
Bay with him, and while on the way
Jackson acknowledged having practiced
his black-arts on Susie, told why he
did it and said lie knew lie was to be
killed that day by Harry, but that Su-
sic should never again see the SUN
rise. Arriving at Mud Bay, Harry en-
tered the lodge where his wife lay, and
in which were some twenty Indians.
jackson followed, and as he entered,
Susie looked up and cried out to Harry
to kill him at once, that he was killing
her. Jackson, standing within the
lodge, then acknowledged, before all,
that he had thrown his masatche ia
manawas into Susie and was killing
her, whereupon Harry seized Henry
rifle and shot jackson through the
head, and according to the prosecutions
Indian witness, Susie at once began to
get better. jackson gave some indica-
ton of life which Susie saw, and cried
to Harry that the doctor was not dead
and insisted that he should again shoot,
which was done.
Susie was too far gone to recover not