The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-10-12
INDIAN


some Curioss Facts About the Aberss.
tines Extraots from an Intsrestans
Lecture delivered by MAI. Powell ne
fore the Science A~ssociasisn.
The following is the substance of a
paper read by Major Powell before the
American Association for the Advance
mont Of Science at Buffalo. The paper
began with the general statement that
In the study Of the mythology Of any
race Of people, we discover (l) that
they have a cosmology or cosmism; |.
O., a theory Of worlds and an explains
ton Of the universe; (2) a theism en-
bracing q class Of personages with OK
tra-human powers; (S) q body Of fable
lore concerning the words and actions
Of tho gods; (4) a religion explaining
the relation between gods and men. A
knowledge Of all these four classes of
facts Is requisite to an acquaintance with
any given mythology. In each instance
where North American mythology has
been studied, a cosmism has been found
embracing a system Of worlds; 1. O., the
world Of this life and two or more
worlds Of the future, and also an &C.
count Of the origin Of natural
phenomena. Many tribes believe that
the worlds where the spirits Of the dead
60 are separated from this by noun
tains, gorges and difficult passways, or
by a river. The lower believers inva-
riably divide their dead into good that
60 to one world and bad that go to an
other. Sometimes the happy land is
beyond the world of sorrow, and in the
latter the traveller is beset by evil beings
or magical obstacles. Sometimes there
is IN easy way to the land of misery,
and a difficult path to that Of bliss.
Fewer tribes believe that the worlds lie
one above another; there is always in
such cases one world below and n or
more above; but with some tribes the
good world is below, and the bad above;
with others, vice versa. These worlds
are sustained by pillars or magic. The
lower world is sometimes to be reached
through a cave, or by the sea, or by a
journey around the edge of the horizon.
To the world above the way is some
times by a mountain, sometimes by the
air, sometimes by miraculous ladders.
Thus there are two classes of worlds
those arranged horizontally, and those
arranged vertically. The personnel of
the mythology in these two classes diff
fers greatly.
The gods Of the Indians are Gomez
fetch gods, inanimate things sup
posed to have life, will and active pow
err; (two) animal gods-wonderful be-
ings, ~progenitors or prototypes of pres
ent animals-possessed of power to
govern the cosmos; (three) hero goes
-mythological men and women of su-
pernal powers and who knew the Sc
crets Of nature; Qour) nature gods
the personiied and deified phenomena
and powers Of nature. To these might
be added deiied ancestors not very re-
mote, who serve as tutelar deities, one
for each person who adopts him as his
god. There is no authentic influence
known to Major Powell of personiica-
ton or abstract qualities or attributes.
Belief in a spirit, u refined, interior per-
sonage, is universal among North
American tribes. Gods, as well as men,
have a spiritual as we'll as a material
existence.
The lowest form of fetichism does
not exist. Indian tongues perhaps in
variably distinguish animate from in
animate things by gender. But the
thing which has no life may have a
spirit; especially a thing seeming to
have individuality, such as a mountain,
river, lake or spring. Thus the spirit
of the pine, the spirit of Mount Nebo,
and the like; there are thus water
gods, land gods, and tree gods affixed
to special objects, or with the last of
these of a class or species OF tree Major
Powell calls his belief ''theo-fetichism."
There is a universal tendency to APP
propriate the gods; to attach one Of
them individually to the fortunes of an
Indian; in short, to have tutelar gods,
secured by the wearers of amulets.
Diseases are ascribed to resident devils,
which may be exercised by amulets.
The gods Of amulets may lead to sue
cess in the various enterprises of In
dian life.
Animal gods are the most worship
ed, and are the principal gods of
many tribes, the god being an ideal
lied prototype of the present ace of
animals. There is a god for each
species of mammal-bear god, wolf
god, etc. for each sort of bird, as eagle
god, humming-bird god; for every
kind of fish; for reptiles for insects, as
the grasshopper and spider god. But
animals of minor Importance are apt to
drop from the mythology, while the
wolf, bear, rabbit and antelope among
mammals remain the longest; there is
a similar survival of the crane god, the
rattlesnake, trout, grasshopper and
others. Neurological monsters among
animals are also worshiped. The ami
NAL gods are likely to be selected es.
pecially as tutelar gods these are La
bic to be changed by a person, family
or tribe, if unsatisfactory. Where this
god is kept from time immemorial by a
tribe or family, it may become the
totem of the tribes" The hero gods OF
the Indian are deiied Indians who have
exhibited bravery, proves or skill, or
whose success in sorcery is of high re-
pute. The story of their deeds is hand
ed down from n generation to anoth-
err, till they become esteemed as gods.
This class of gods is very numarous