The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1889-12-26
The Religion Of the Moundbuildsrs
By Rev. David R. Moore, A. NJ.

By Rev. David R. Moore, A. NJ.
Were the people known as the Mound
builders religious people2
On the fact that all men are natur
ally religious: we may predicate relig
ion of the earliest inhabitants of GU
continent.
!. Religion is a natural force. Its gerr
is a reeling of dependence enlivene
by hope and lear. In ignorance Of tn
true God. men will make to themselve
false gods, or erect affairs to unknown
gods. Man observes the mighty pow
ers of nature all aronnd him, and be
fore them he recognizes himself a
weak. To the ignorant and barbarou
man these powers became animate'
conscious things like himself, henc
his efforts to propitiate them, and t.
invoke their help by offerings and en-
treaties.
The feelings towards these powers a
objects demanding worship, lead to tn
idea of images, and sb-,nes hence idols
or gods the workmanship of men
hands. The term religion as expires
: sive Of mans feeling of dependence i'm
plies Q rupture between divinity an
man. 1t signifies rebinding, reunit
ing of things before separated.
As exercised by man it makes hin
appear as an offender, conseq quently
embraces more than merely o feelin
of dependence; it embraces all tina
man does to propitiate the favor of al
offended God.
! As therefore we would say that al
men arc religious, so far are W
Justified in saying that the Moundbuil
ders we're q religious peo1'e, In con
sidering the question of the religion o
a people, it is important that thei
ritual of worship be studied, and :hi
too in connection with practices com
mon to sepulture.
The temples of the Moundbuild
ers we're in all likelihood "only
Gods first to enples," the groves
though it has been intimated that they
erected temples. They had idols, fol
many have been found in their earth
works some of striking workmanship,
while others are very rude. From re-
mains, there is positive evidence thai
sacrifice entered into their worship
and human beings were often victims
| In the classification of Mounds ap.
pear those of sacri6cial order, evil
dencing the rearing up of a superstruc.
ture in preservation of an altar upon
which victims had beon inundated.
Such q mound the writer knows to
have existed near Oxford, O.. which
upon being opened disclosed remains
of an altar, as also of human victim.
The skull was taken intact, with indi-
cations Of burning upon it, and so de.
formed as to allow of the probable
selection of some unfortunate being
for the purpose of sacrifice.
In their practices incident to burial
evidences of faith, appear. In regu-
lar places of intermeut there were
buried with the bodies two vessels, one
dish within circle made by the right
arm, probably receptacle or food for
the sustenance of the spirit on its
journey to the spirit world. The other
q jar, or vase, placed on the opposite
side. near the read. probably the
sacred medicine vase. whose contents
were thought to be magical.
Besides such pieces of earthenware,
stone implements of diverse patterns
are found, but probably indicative of
nothing more than the remains of
funeral ornaments.
If the Moundbnilders were worship
pers of the Sun, there are no remains
amoEE their works to indicate the fact,
and the matter is left to conjecture.
The foregoing observations prepare
the way for thoughts, if not definite
conclusions upon what may have been
the faith of the Moundbuilders.
In common with all men as religious,
hence impressed by feeling of inde>
pendence, and agitated by hope and
fear, they believed in a Supreme Being.
Their sacrifcial rites indicate two
things. q feeling of responsibility, and
endeavor to expiate guilt; the Inference
follows therefore that they had the
sense of sin. Their sacrifices were
bloody, which fact is significant as
bearing upon the idea of atonement.
Indications of belief in another life
appeal in what has been noted respect
ing their burial customs, and they may
lie reckoned as in the universal con
sent of mankind to the doctrine of the
of the soul. In the pre-
paration Of the body after death, there
are discoverable no traces of the art of
mummifYlng as practiced either by the
or by some of the native
people of South America. Bodies were
Inferred in the rudest way, save as
pains were taken to erect mounds over
places of sepulture.
A belief ia another life does not ne
cessarily carry with it belief in the
of the body; SO that the
Moundbuilders may have been pe-
levers in life to come. while yet know
ing nothing of the resurrection Of the
body, and that they knew nothing of
he latter doctrine is legitimate in
terence from their Indifferent disposi.
ion of dead bodies. We are mindful
IF the fact that We are dealing with a |
people from whom has descended to US
10 written records their mighty earth.
works tell us of their numbers and
their power, and while exploration of
hose works yields many evidences
If their skill and industry, no Libraries
nave ever been found.
Supposed inscribed tablets have as
! rule proved to be about as satisfac>
ory as the celebrated slab discovered
~ the Pickwick club. If the Mound
builders hac formulated creed, and
ike the law of God inscribed upon
tone, in which material their remains
lave come down to us, we may suppose
hat some mound as yet undiscovered,
the precious document.
There is nothing to indicate what
nay have been the influence of the
eligion of the Mound builders upon
heir lives. From the EXTREMIST legiti-
nate surmises as 70 what that religion
Vas. we do no. find sufficiently SUBJ
tantial basis for q conclusion that it
ould have engendered or have been
oupled with very high type Of NOR
lity.
They were religious, no historian, 10
thnologist. would deny that.
l close this paper with q quotation
rom a paper by one of the leading
wines OF this country, on the subjec
f the Moundbuilders of America.
Those who are anxious to dlsprove
he Mosaic account of the creation of
Ian, may make the existance Of this {
eOple las remote as they choose, but
, much the worse il It for the modern
leory that seeks to deny the fact OF
Re Fall, and makes man moral nature
IMPLY a development of his animal
fe. The earliest traces of human life {
, the continent of America, reveal l