Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-30
THE INDIAN MESSIAH.
1t is a Duplication of a Belief Prev
alent Among All Races.
ALL THE HEROES APPEAR ALIKE.
Many of the Stories Of the Bible Familiar
to Savage Peoples.
HOW CORTEz CONQUERED MEXICO


in the stories of the excitement among the
Indians tribes produced by the promise Of
Messiah, says the ST. Louis PoSt-DiSpdtch.
1t is not certain whether or not these prom
ises are a part of the Indian mythology or
whether they are the cunning contrivanees
of white men hoping for profit from the dis
turbances which are sure to follow. But al
though the stories now floating among them
may have been given form by white scoun-
drels, the Indians would not have swallowed
the fable so easily had not their own myth
ology contained the same fable.
The aborigines have always been on the
lookout for great prince or hero, who was
said to be coming at some time to rule over
his people. The strange mythology of the
African savages and some of their most
hideous practices are duplicated among the
Americans. These practices are connected
with religious or superstitous ideas, which
are essentially the same whether found
among the African savages OF the present
time, the Hebrews of pre-Mosaic days or the
American Indians and Aztecs found on this
continent by the first explorers and
conquerers.
STORY OF CADMUs.
This story of the Messiah may be looked
upon as revival of the old hero myth
prevalent all over the continent in one form
or another. 1t is paralleled by the Cadmus
myth, partly Aryan, partly Semitic. Cad
mus is simply the Semitic word for the East,
and the legend is a slightly yelled account
of the origin and course OF light and life. In
other words, it is one of the thousand and
one sun myths which are plenty as poverty
the world over. The Egyptian story was
that the heavenly light htimpregnated a virgin
of whom was born a good man. who fought
his twin brother, and was for a time con-
quered and banished. But he was sure to
return like the morning and rule the land as
the sun rules.
1t is worth noticing, too that although the
Egyptians were brown race, their hero was
light colored, white, or yellow" In
America there is the same virgin mother and
the same career in different form. followed
by disappearance and promise of return.
"Both in America and the Orient" says
Brinton, "the myths Of the hero god born
of virgin and that Of the descent into
Hades are among the most common. Their
explanation rests on the universally and
prominence of the processes of nature which
are typifed under these narratives"
The similarity of these myths to the
Christian history made a profound i'm
preston on the early missionaries, and it
was believed by many of them that the In
dians were either descendants of the ten lost
tribes or that they had at some time been in
communication with the Orient. But this
impression was removed when it was ascer-
tanned by travellers and explorers in all
other savage lands that the same legends
prevailed among the most diverse and re-
mote tribes.
THE AZTEC MESSIAH.
The Aztec hero, Quetzalcoatl, high priest
in the glorious city OF Tular, the teacher Of
the arts, the law giver, prince and judge,
was the expected Messiah of the Aztees
He was born of a virgin, played pretty
much the same role in Aztec history that
Cadmus did in Greek and Semitic, and dis
appeared in Tollan, the Place of the Sun,
whence he was to come again to possess his
own. The myth is almost exactly the same
as that found among the ancient Britons.
In the latter Arthur after fighting all day
and being wounded, was carried to the sea
shore, where appeared a ship filed with
virgins, who lifted the King into the craft
and bore him away to the Island Valley of
Avilon, whence he promised to return and
reign again.
When Montezuma heard of the landing of
Cortez, he said: ut is Quetzaleoatl returned
from lula" Every account he received of
the strangers confirmed him in this belief.
They came from the East, they were white
and they were bearded. The legend re-
quired these features. 1t has often been re-
marked as strange that Cortez, with his
handful Of adventures, found the Mexicans
such easy prey. But it is not at all strange.
The natives were stricken with awe and
wonder. They dared not strike too hard,
because they knew not it was a human in
vader and they feared the vengeance of out
ragged divinity. When Cortez reached the
City of Mexico the monarch acknowledged
him as the emissary of the Messiah.
SITTING BULLS VISION.
The few Indians of the West who have
see the Messiah, describe him as a white
man with beard. This has been referred
to as a proof that the whole thing is hum
bug. But really 1t is proof that tie myth
retains its integrity in spite of time and the
influence of the whites. 1t is said that one
Chief, Sitting Bull, the Arapahoe, saw him;
he displayed holes in his hands and feet
proving himself to be Christ as the Savior
did when he met doubling Thomas. This,
however, is an addition due to the knowl-
edge the savages have acquired of Christian
ity. Sitting Bull, who is described as .
shrewd scoundrel, no doubt adds this feat
ure in order to win the sympathy of those
Indians who have been tinctured with
Christianity.
In some of the American regions this Mes
siahic hope was the central idea. In Mex
leo, the Messiah's name was Quetzaleoatl; in
Peru, Virachocha; in Yucatan, Kukulcan.
The word Lenape, the name of a Delaware
tribe. is said TO have an esoteric meaning,
"the man comes; at any rate the legend
was found arrOng them in perfection. It is
probable that the same story can be found in
the mythology of every tribe on the Ameri.
can continent.
BIBLE STORIES RECALLED.
The Messiah legend, or, as it ought 70 be
called, the culture-hero myth, is not the
only belief entertained by the American
Indians which is wonderfully similar to
those of other lands and which bear puzzling
resemblance to the Christian traditions. An
old Ojibway chief, on being told some Bible
stories by missionary, said: THE book
must be true, for our ancestors told us SINH
lar stories generation after generation since
the earth was new" This tribe had a
legend of eight or ten brothers, the youngest
OF whom was favored by his father and by
the gods. His brothers were evilly disposed
and tried to slay him. He was rescued by
an interposition from the other world and
lived to heap Goals of fire upon their heads.
He gave them corn principally and relieved
their hunger brought on by famine. The
story is wonderfully like that of Joseph and
mis- brethren.
Lots wife is also found among them. She
looked back upon her burning village and
was turned to pillar of stone. 1t is now
believed that the ancestors of the Chahts
tribes were the Mound Builders of the Ohio
Valley and migrated from their old home