Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-11-24

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Il certain that BIO Il our nafufnl
ruler especially since you ny That
for long tins he has known about
10. + erslore you may feel certain
that We shall obey you and shall n
spect you - holding the place Of
that great lord, and In all the land I
rule you may give what orders you
wish and they shall be obeyed, and
everything we have shall b., put ut
your service. And since you are
thus in your own heritage and your
own house, take your ease and rest
from the fatigue Of the journey and
the wan you have had on the
way" 7H
"An over the continent the same
legend is found. In every case n
hero in remote ages taught the
people laws, government and the
arts Of life, in every case he was
white and bearded and In every
case he went away promising to re.
turn. The universally Of the belief
aroused the curiosity Of the mission
aries, some Of whom held to the
belief ia the Hebrew origin Of the
natives, while otheB-particularly
the Catholic missionaries In South
America-thought the belief could
be traced TO st. Thomas, who they
thought must have visited the
American continent and taught the
people the rudiments Of the Chris
tan religion.
"The few Indians Of tie West
who have seen the Messiah, describe
him as white man with = beard.
This has been referred to as q proof
that the whole thing Is humbug.
Bnt realty II Is proof that the myth
retains It's integrity In spite Of
time and the influence Of the
whites. II Is said that one chief,
Sitting Bull, the AnPahoe, saw
him; he displayed holes In his
hands and feet proving himself to
be Christ ~ the Savior did when
he met doubling Thomas. This,
however, is an addition due to the
knowledge the savages have acquired
Of Christianity. q
"Iu some Of the American re-
ligions this Messiahic hope was the
central idea In Mexico the Mes
slabs name was Quetzalcoatl. in
Peru Virachocha, In Yucatan Kuk-
ulcan. The word Lenape, the
name Of q Delaware tribe, Is said to
havs esoteric meaning, the man
comes at any rate the legend was
found among them In perfection.
II IL probable that the same story
can be found In the mythology Of
every tribe on the American CONT
nent
"rhe Messiah legend, or, as II
ought b be called, the culture-hero
myth, Is not the only belief enter
tained by the American Indians
which is wonderfully similar TO
those Of other lands and which bear
pulling resemblance TO the Chris
tian traditions. An old 0jibway
chief, on being told some Bible
stories by n missionary, said: The
book must be true, for our ancestors
told US similar stories generation
after generation since the earth was
new This tribe had q legend Of
eight or ten brothers the youngest Of
whom was favored by his father and
10y the gods. His brothers were
evilly disposed and tried to slay
him. He was rescued by an inter
position from the other world and
lived to heap Goals Of fire upon their
heads. He gave them corn princi-
paily and relieved their hunger
brought on by a famine. The story
Ia wonderfully like that Of Joseph
and his brethren.
"LUt'e wife Is also found among
them. She looked back upon her
burning village and was turned TO q
pillar Of stone. The Chahtas had q
legend Uf their Handerings. 1t Is
now believed that the ancestors of
the Chahta tribes were the Mound
Builders Of the Ohio Valley and
migrated from their old home not
more than 500 years ago. Their old
men tell that In their wanderiDge,
after they left their Ohio home,
they were guided by pole which
they saw floating in the air before
them, leaning In the direction they
were to 20; when night came the
pole stood upright indicating the
place where they should encamp. II
was a proeaic reproduction Of the
pillar Of cloud which guided the
lsrAeiites o.er the wastes Of Arabia.
Circumcision was practiced among
the Egyptians, Arabs aud Persians
and there are American tribes
who practice the same rite.
The minute ceremonials pre-
scribed by the Levitical Law for the
publication Of women after child
birth have many parallels among
the tribes Of North America. The
Israelite might not eat certain ami
mali; neither may the Americans.
Bear meat is forbidden the Navajne;
the beaver was forbidden the Os-
ages, while most Southern tribes
held the wolf unclean. The Israel
ties had no conception Of the resur.
rection Of the body, but believed
that the dead man's spirit went
to the under world, where he led a
gloomy existence. This under
world-the place Of departed epIrits,
called In the old TRANSACTIONS 'shell"
in the revised sheol-is found among
the Indians. 1t was reached by the
spirit after long and trying
Journey. and at its end, before the
spirit was admitted. he was obIiged
10 fight . ftrocious dog. This dog is
a favorite In the underworld legend
Of almoet all people. Milton adopted
the legend Of Cerberus In his great |
poem. The belief in resurrection
Of the body Is no. entertained by |
the Indians. A tribe Of Oregon In
dians on being told Of 1t by q mis-
sionary went In multitodes to q
cemetery where were gathered |
many oftheir dead and piled stones
upon the graves In orler 10 prevent |
the departed from returning. They |
greatly fear 4 dead mans spirit, and |
shudder ut the thought Of his re-
appearance. 1t must be remembered |
that the culture hero, whose return |
they look for 90 eagerly, did not die.
.He went away" is the form used |
to describe his disappearance, and,
he Is to he welcomed |
~ . living man come as q deliv.
erer.
IA curious variation of the Mes
san mytn IL found among the Al
gonkin tribes where the culture hero
appears under q name implying
that he IL cheat, or . liSr. Mr.. |
Leland thinks that he got this name
because after creating the world and
getting his people started on the
right path he had gone away, left
them TO all sorts of misfortune and
had not kept his promise to return.
But n survey Of related customs does
not bear out this explanation. The
zane deity isdescribed m n disreput-
able individual by the Chippewas
and other tribes. But his bad repu-
tation arises not from the ideas en-l
tertained by the Indians, but be- /
cause of the inability 10 find . suit
able English word to translate the
Indian epithet. The hero was q
savior and benefactoF. He fought
kaAA6 81 l. tx..k ~