, 1886-04-03
INDIAN WITCHCRAFT.
WHAT Mr.. FRANK Il. CUSHING SAYS
OF zuNl ~soRcERERS.

OF ZUNl SORCERERS.
some Remarkable Things Con serning tn.
G~uiId-Ritual of the zuni sorcsrer--
Laying a spell on an Unfortunate. t
Mr.. Frank II. Cushing, the ethnologist.
the condition OF whose health still keeps
him In Boston, was called upon the other
evening by his friend, Rev. Mr.. Ladd, Of
Santa Fe, n NJ, and principal Of the acad-
envy in that city. Mr.. Ladd Shove him
a copy Of The santa Fe New Mexican with
the account OF the bringing to the county
jail there, to await trial, Of a Zuni Indian,
charged with the murder Of a woman in
the tribe,
Mr.. Gushing expressed much concern
over the affair, and said that, unless all
the circumstances bearing upon the case,
originating with tribal law and customs,
were duly considered, there might be
danger of seriously affecting the interests
Of the tribe and their friendly relations
with the government.
Mr.. Gushing told some remarkable
things concerning the belief in sorcery ex-
isting In Zuni, and the practices of the sor-
cerers. These things ave great ethnolog-
ical interest, and show a remarkable resem-
blance between Zuni superstitions and
those Of Europe and the Orient. The
practice Of sorcery is a deadly crime in
Zuni; in fact. It is the only capital offense
recognized by their laws. II any one is
found guilty, he or she is at once put to
death. 1t may be recollected that when
the famous Zuni pilgrimage to the ocean
took place. old Ki-assi, the junior priest
of the bow, on the occasion of their visit to
Salem, preached a little sermon at their
reception, commanding the people for
making such thorough work of their
witches. and thus riding the land Of a
great curse, and he urged them not to
spare even their dearest friends OF nearest
relatives should any of them hereafter
turn out TO be sorcerers.
THE ZuNf GUILD OF -soRcERERs.
1t is a fact hat there exists in Zuni a
guild Of sorcerers, which is necessarily
the most secret Of all the secret fraterni-
ties there, since its members would be at
once executed were they known. Occa-
s~ionally one Is detected while working in
carnations, and confesses his or her guilt,
but can never be induced to reveal any
thing concerning their association. The
sorcerers really believe in the efficacy of
their own spells, and consequently, since
they intend evil, deserve punishment, for,
strange to say, they do as much harm as
IL they possessed command Of magic
powers, as they always contrive in some
way to let their victims know that a spell
has been wrought against them, and the
latter often droop aud die with the very
ills which they believe the sorcerer is
working for. possibly because their faith
in the evil powers is so strong as to affect
their Imagination. When they recover
they attribute II to the fact that measures
for exercising the spell haye been AIKEN in
time.
Mr.. Gushing saw the trials of two sorcer-
ers and heard their confessions, from
which he learned many interesting facts.
He has recently come intol possession Of
some old manuscript records OF a witch
trial Ia the old New England days, and
says that the questions and answers in 1t
read almost exactly like a witch trial in
Zuni, and in his forthcoming work he pro-
poses to reproduce It, to show the resem-
blance. The sorcerers are initiated into
the mysteries OF evil working under the
greatest Of precautions, one of those whose
trial he witnessed having received his in
structions among the wilds of the Sierras
Blancas in Arizona, scores OF miles away.
The rituals Of the sorcerers are travesties
of the sacred ceremonies practiced by the
various religious fruternities of the tribe.
The sorcerer contrives in some way to get
hold of something from the person of his
intended victim, such as a hair, a piece of
finger-nail, or a bit of c~uticlo, for they hold
that "A portion OF the life principle of a
person goes with any portion of his body, "
no matter how minute, and that connec-
ton is maintained between the two, there
fore possession Of the part gives them
means OF working upon the person.
THE WIZARDS MYSTERIOUS CEREMONIES.
Securing this they proceed to work.
They select some retired spot at the scene
of operations. One OF the sorcerers in
question had gone to the neighboring ta-
bic land, and taken four OF the highest
spines from the tallest giant cactus which
grew OF the highest place; then he went
to the ~neighbOring mountain range and
selected from the tallest pine tree In the
highest part the four uppermost needles.
Next he proceeded TO build his shrine,
which was found. as he had described, in
a wild ravine running down toward the
pueblo. The rushing waters had torn
away the ground, and it was chosen as a
place where the evil powers OF nature had
wrought destruction. Within the shrine
he placed n rude efigy Intended to re-
present his victim, and in his denominations
gave the name Of the latter. Inclosed IN
the vital part Of this ~puppet' is the bit Of
hair, or the like, to make the connection
specific and complete. Into the portion
representing the vital parts he thrust one
OF the cactus spines and pine needles, and
two Of the Others he ground up with san
and other ingredients into a fine powder.
With this he traced a magic sign on the
ground, a circle crossed by two lines at
right angles, and with one Of the lines ex.
ended In the direction Of the victims
house. Upon this extension, which repre-
sented the road the curse was to traverse,
he placed the remaining spine and needle,
their points indicating what direction on
that road the evil influence was TO take.
While making these preparations the sor.
cerer repeated a formula Of rhymthic
maledictions with the greatest fervor
three times, closing each time with the
name OF the victim. He then left his
charm to do its work, probably managing,
as aforesaid, to let his victims somehow
learn thai he was under a spell IL is also
usual that the sorcerers give public notice
OF their deeds Of tracing the same magic
figure on the ground, while unobserved,
during some public ceremonial in the
dance place. The sign, when discovered
by the crowd, auses great agitation and
horror. ~ Boston Herald.
The Historical Record of Paris-
Paris is by at least a century older Than
London, and wants now but sixty-two
years OF 1900 years of continuous histor-