The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-24
MEDICINES" OF RED MEN.
The Indians Fetch More Precious TO
Him Than Life.

GOt4On5 Dy Ine ADOr1Rlnal 4nnaD-
itants, With the Strange Rights and
Customs Associated With the Man
ufacture.
From the st. Louis Globe Democrat.
Nothing with which the American red
man is connected is more talked about by
the whites than medicine, - yet there is
nothing with which he has to do that is
less understood by the men who have read
books on Indians, their habits and Gus
toms. Primarily the word had its origin
in a facetious expression on the part of
French trapper, who corrupted the word
''meda" into "medicine man" and then
called the rites of that individual ''mak-
ing medicine" From this it was an easy
step to call the product of the rite ''medi-
cine"
For convenience sake, however, will
continue the false nomenclature and call
the amulet medicine" for want of a bet
ter word The Indian himself does not
give 1t name. He venerates it so much
that he even hides its constituency, and
when you press an Indian so close that
his medicine is revealed to you, it imme-
dlately becomes useless to him and he is
under the necessity of making another.
There are two kinds Of medicine, tribal
and individual. Each tribe has its own
medicine, which is carefully guarded and
protected at all times and at all hazards.
Just what it is no one knows except the
chief medas who made it. 1t may be some
simple thing, or it may be composed of
many things that have been gathered with
extreme difficulty.
Whatever it is, 1t is placed in its cover
ing and holds place in the minds of the
members of the tribe as sacred as that
held among the ancient Jews by the ark
of the covenant. In fact, its mission is
very similar to that of the sacred ark
which was carried through the wilder
ness in those old biblical days. 1t is the
protector of the tribe and is the visible
embodiment of the promise of 'Those
Above" to care for and guard the tribe
against all harm. Some of the bloodiest
wars between Indian tribes have come to
a sudden end when the tribal medicine
was captured by one side and carried off
The others Immediately became disheart-
ened and sued for peace.
Individual medicine is the amulet which
the red man makes for his own use and
protection. 1t is almost beyond the com
prehension of white man, yet the little
bag which carries the sacred amulet is a
part of the life of the Indian. 1t is his
virility. his power and his assurance of
safe conduct through the vicissitudes of
existence on earth, leading through pleas
ant pathways to an abode with Those
Above, - who have earned an existence of
pleasure and ease in the happy hunting
grounds where all good Indians CO. The
popularity of the individual medicine is
that should it become known to any other
mortal, it would at once lose all of its po-
tency. and the Indian would be under the
necessity of making new one. This
may seem an easy matter, but it entails
much feasting and isolation, and comes
only after long effort on the part of the
Indians, hence the changing of medicine
is a matter of greatest Importance to the
red man.
When an Indian youth begins to feel the
impulses of ambition and thinks that he
is ready to become a great warrior, he
places his mind upon his medicine. He
consults the old men and the medals and
stalks silently about the village, seem
ingly absorbed in his own thoughts, which
are evidently of the deepest nature. The
old men tell him of the hardships he must
undergo before he can receive the enlight-
eminent that must. come ere he knows
what-to take for his medicine. The medas
give him formulas and prayers that he
must constantly repeat while he is fast
ing. He is told Just how to seclude him
self from human society and just what
privations he must undergo. If he thinks
he can successfully pass through all that
is expected of him he sets about the task.
He makes no noise about it as he would
were he departing on hunting or war
expedition, but silently sneaks away to
the mountains or to isolated places near
to commune with nature, neither eating,
drinking nor sleeping, until such time as
his amulet is revealed to him. He con-
stantly repeats prayers to the "Trues"
and to ''Those Above who are asked to
assist in this momentous undertaking. He
gradually works himself into state of
ecstacy, and suddenly his eyes are opened
to a new light and he beholds that which
is to be his guide through life or until
there is cause for change.
AS the philosophy of the red man cen
tiers upon Those Above" all the influ-
ences that surround him come from the
spirits that inhabit the invisible world,
it is TO the Precipitation of these spirits
that he bends all his energies. He real
ICES that there are two sets of spirits
who are constantly at variance with
each other over him, the good spirits,
who direct all things favorable, and the
bad spirits, who constantly attempt to
get him into trouble. The question of
right or wrong never enters into his cal
culation. If good comes to him it is because
the good spirits are in the ascendancy,
and if bad comes it is because the bad
spirits have power. He believes that
nothing in his conduct, whether good or
bad can help or hurt him; he realizes
that he is utterly helpless in the contest
that is waged between the spirits. Fully
imbued with this belief, his sole concern
is to ascertain which set of spirits is in
the ascendency, hence he resarts to di vi
nation This divination is making medi-
cine'' of the trappers, and has now be-
come an accepted word for the rite, even
among the Indians themselves. If the
Indian feels well it is 'good medicine"
that is, the good spirits are in charge; if
he fells i'll, or if anything goes wrong, it
is bad medicine" and the evil spirits
are running things.
To such an extent is he ruled by this
superstition that there is nothing in
nature that does not indicate to him the
presence of the spirits. The fight of
birds, the trail of a snake, the action of
animals, the howl of wolf, or the boot
of an owl, all have distinct meanings, and
the Indian governs his actions thereby.
If a party of Indians wishes to start On a
hunt, or on the trail of an enemy they
must first consult the signs and omens,
and often long-contemplated expedition
will be postponed, or perhaps permanently
abandoned, because of some sign that is
believed to be fatal to the enterprise
These signs and omens, which are general,
are classed under the head of medicine"
vet they are but part of the outer OBJ
servance, and nothing TO do with the
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