St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-11-30
tn: INDIANS RELIGION.
They Believe In Good and Evil Spirits
Their Sacrifices


The first English colonists. moved
by their strong Protestant feeling. and
Mortified at the heathcn ways of their
red neighbors, disposed of the red
mems religion simply by setting them
down as worshipers of the devil. Moro
charita BILE students of their character
and customs came to maintain that
their alteration was no other than u
ruined image Of the God of Abraham.
Isaac and Jacob. Thus, some writers
have fancied that their pow-wows and
cultural ordinations correspcnded 10
the hallclujahs OF the Jews 1t is cer-
tain that they conceived of great
good and a great evil spirit, ever war
ring with each other for the rule of
man. But when it came to tracing the
matter down it was found by the most
careful observers that their religious
ideas lacked uniformity.
The religion of most Indians came
practically to this: Whatever they did
not understand was in their eyes
medicine" endowed with some super.
natural power. An English ncwspa.
per has been observed 10 lie treasured
as containing a charm of peculiar etii-
cacy: SO has a wig. which has heen
snatched off the head of an officer
when his amazed conqueror thought
to scalp him. Such an incomprehensi.
ble machine as a watch or a clocs
would not fail to be supposed to have
. spirit inside it. Each rel man ear
ried about with him his own special
medicine or fetish-some relic wh;ci
he took to be his patron saint
For him all things in nature had a
spirit which it behaved him 10 pro-
pitiate as often as he had to do witt,
them. Thus, when about to shoot
the rapids of a periious water
fall, he would be seen to throw
into the boiling water two yards az
scarlet cloth and brass kettle as an
offering to secure his safety. In the
same way, when einbarking to cross "a
lake, he would sacrifice a dog or -
handful Of tobacco 20 the spirit OF the
water, who, as he believed. had power
to overwhelm his frail canoe with the
winds and the waves The wanderer
Of the woods and prairies would some
times come upon offerings displayed
on trees or platforms which had been
dedicated to the earth or air.
1t might have been thought. even bv
those who had lived with the Indians
for some time. that they had no formal
public worship: but the fact is that
most of their feasts, dances and other
ceremonies partooll of religious char
acter. Their most absurd aud disgust
ing orgies were acts Of faith, as much
rs the burning of the heretics of Spain,
or the revels of the Yuie.ide in En-.
gland. One of their prayers, trans.
lated by James Smith. who lived with
an Indian named Tecau3hretaneg, was
as follows:
"Oh! Great Being, l thank Thee that
I nave obtained the use of my legs
again; that l am now able to walk
about and kill turkeys and ducks with
out feeling exquisite pain and misery.
Grant that on my coming voyage may
frequently kill bears as they be cross
ing the Scioto and Sandusky. !. Thy
servant. will return Thee thanks for
Thy gifts"
But while the Indians opinion of the
white man may be rather harsh, his re-
ligion has been leavened by contact
with the descendants of the Pilgrim
settlers. IL the heart Of the red man
can be made to understand the new
commandment of faith that breathes
peace on earth and good will toward
men, it will be remembered that the
outcasts of England, with all their er.
rors and shortcomings. were. in tolls,
and sufferings. and earnestness, and
fearlessness, the noblest heroes of the
backwoods. Gazette.