The Progress., 1888-01-28
AGENCY MINNESOTA SATURDAY. JANUARY 2s 1883

Z
placed to guard the entrance ~
the top Of the lodge, through
which | meditated to escape, and
when ! was ready to attempt my
escape | made a sign to my guard
Ian and made q dash for the open
ing and easily made my escape
Ny spirit re-entered my body, and
when ] regained consciousness I
found myself surrounded BY NY.
friends to whom ] related my ex-
perience, but it was q long time
before ] got over the effects Of ny
spiritual adventure. $ Had it not
been for the presence OF my guarssss
ian spirit / do not know what
would have been the final punish
ment which would have been IN.
Aicted upon me. ! knew the mo-
ment I entered the Ge-sah-kan,
that my guardian spirit was pres
ent as I recognized her, having
seen her in my dreams during my
fast, which I underwent when /
arrived at maturity or manhood !;
and had I taken the precautions
to paint my face black before
leaving the village my guardian
spirit would in q dream have
warned me Of the impending dan
ger which I could have averted."
Say-cos-egay further informed
us that the custom Of fasting was
for the purpose of guarding
against evil spirits, and that every
Indian had guardian spirit. He
also states that when he was q
young man incidents similar to
that which he related to us were
Of frequent occurrence, and that
those who did not comply with the
custom of fasting frequently be-
came insane when attacked by the
spirits controlled by the Ge.sah.
ke-we.nine.
It is claimed by those who prac.
tice the different arts, etc, that
the Great Spirit gives them GER
tain powers to perform featsk Of q
supernatural nature, and that a
certain number Of spirits are
placed at their disposal. To DEM
onstrate their claims that they are
assisted by spirits some Of the
Medas perform some very clever
tricks in legerdemain. We will
give an instance which came un-
der our notice:
A Anun-ann-du.w .e-way-
(the Blowers referred to in a pre-
vious chapter, was once swallow
ing bones, and drawing from the
body Of sick person the germs
Of disease, Gas he claimed which
he said was an insect. Several
persons who were present indis.
guisedly scoffed at the idea that he
swallowed the bones which he
pretended to, and which were
about four inches in length. Thi.
angered the faith curer' and he
requested that the unbelievers
give him five dollars or quart 81
whiskey with which TO appease
the spirits, and he would thor.
ouehly convince them that he was
assisted by the spirits in his pro.
fession. Out Of curiosity, 4 suff.
cient sum was collected, enough
to purchase sufficient whiskey to
appease = dozen spirits, after which
a bone was marked by two persons
and handed to the Blower, who,
after chanting awhile, swallowed
it apparently, And turning tu
those who scoffed at him he said
'sgo to that hotel Indicating .
hotel about 4 quarter Of a mile dis,
tant, 'tand you will find ii q desk
at the right hand corner the bone
you marked. The crowd repaired
to the hotel referred to, leaving
the old Medicine man alone a
his lodge, and Found the identica1
bone precisely is Indicated ~ hin,
TO them ! We are not believers il
the supernatural, but this fesl
was certainly = very clever one,
We have arranged with q Grand]
Meda to give us an exhibition q