, 1877-01-21
ch.<tuut Street Club--~A Still Newer
Departure.
:; y.B,u, III, 1ragtleT, Talks about The z'rth'
W. aReritaa Indians
x.aofc1loy, Uigginson, and 9th
ers, Ask Questions
.,.or;onaries Finding Out Their
Mistake.
n,,,;o Schools in Boston No Longer
Dragged About, but Pronounced
Failure.


....;,, Correspondence ef The Tribune.
,.sox Mass. Jan. 11.-Orthodox believers
srcd faiths of the world might stray into
G", n.s;co, or Chestnut Street, Club now on al
e,ro5tbe meetings, aud i$tcnplacldly with
..r+i-dice or conviction being shocked. II
=" E they we're not told they never would
~ thst they were in what some horritieG
!uec sa,er once called
rur pEs OF THE rSBEL1EyERs.
~ ti,ree meetings back, science, as
~. h.fore suited, has had the floor. On the
~ '.,,n1 Of Yesterday, Maj. Powell, who has
.1 t'a.s fxent,-years' traveller amongst the wild
.,:,.x NJ s,yacc countries and other territories
"'s .n sccount Of the theology and mythology
~ W. y,rth American 1ndisns. We. had no
..t .spapcr". carefully read from the
w. of state. The gentleman t'took
=, IN the pIatform manner. and ad-
tAt l'ra, -, oa,x, +,1,-. ,,a ,rha+
dressed bis auuleuIc Al - ~"a5 Aao - nA'
sJ+st know about Indians, when the h0ur
~, must, it seemed TO his listeners, be of
1.t,, aocount. First giving the cosmology Of
W. ycr1h American savage he slid into fine
..n,r.t.1iiue vein, depicting BY graphic touches
.xc n4yths and customs, the curious materlalism
=, tbp 1p1ian, which had within it at every turn
,*,fritual Of mythical belief. Mai. Powell was
,7n,,en,1y
NO osESTNEsTAL1sT
IN nrtrsrd to the Indian. He was savage in his
o,;con, and US savage he was constantly mis-
understood and rated wrongly BY the civilized
n,, Asa ssyage he had fewer ideas than
,hc ,;rs}ized man, and though the myths
rh;ch rral,y embodied his religion or theology
seemed 6De and fanciful by hcarsay, the speak
arv,rned bis audience that they must not get
.;.h -, 6,a ;dr,s NJ This r.1ic;on IT,
uss -a-t of an old superstition, and was inter
.,.,h,, a. ,,,a f;re+ ct.pe +,,a fr.,
esauS @ao 'AN
leadinEs to The clTlllzeu religious o1 thc" oflo
through The form OF symbolism. The savage,
tie aboriginal man, always "orshpcd many
gods The woods a;ld streams, rocks, noun
tzIns and rivers, had each pres'dans deity.
But animals represented the strongest force TO
them, and therefore Inc s1ronSesI gous. Inc
heavenly bodies, oddly enough, we're III
feror gods, because they were forced
to aoYe in set orbits, anu could not stray from
their paths As rlan became more enllsh1enea,
tht many gods At length centred IN one, until
FeEet the god faI' and
TEE PAsfhEis1ic RELIGION
f:om this ne at last arrive at lhcism. The re-
Eson Of tue indian IS carried On by their
priests, medlc1rc-mcn, and witches, the latter
bslng the olo women whom Nature had not re-
moved from thls sceuc oi action ut the proper
Iime,-ihat Is, before they bscotae Old women.
80 great IS Tie dread OF some OF The Indian
women OF the approaching w1tch-stagc that they
commit suisi!c 10 avert the fate. The Major
Eisc graphic picture Of scene
That Ae himself witnessed IN a rocky
dcale upon one OCCASION. Hiding along, he sud-
urhly cane upon two "old hags,' Us hc e1-
messed il, who had probably had TOO much Of
Tue untn'lah'e With reputation. They were
Standing before Z certain cleared space, where
Il intervals they yswayca and swung their bodies
xniie tltey sur9 IN 'Eoardul monotone, III the
4ndiaa di:lcct, something to this effect:
4i ncse We nave stayed long enonsh'
II Is tim. :'a, w. W.. ~ ~. .ons e'4'aa
It is time thar VIC died.
Thu 1na;,,, ,7,,o,. with A.: r,1, e~..
gave vas exceedingly musical, reminding one
OF some Of the soft syllablcs i'll Hiawatha And
the translation was
FULL or TRAGIC rA1uos.
Ehich made one shudder. The witches, it is
perceived represent the evil sp;rits, so i: is also
pcrceivable that the doom is fed from br cscap-
In from the aged fe1niuinc body, for il Is only
women, and aged women, who are thus taken
possession Of By the evil spirit. After giving
various mrths and fables wl,ic1, were po:nts Of
the Indian theology, and vbicl, reminded one of