The Portland daily press., 1896-02-04
INDIANS AS JUGGLERs.
Remarkable Tricks Performed by Red.
skin Medicine Men.


Washington Letter in PHILADELPHIA
Times)
Christian missionaries have found the
evangelizing efforts. Sorcery is init
mately associated with the aboriginal
worship, and the savages, after astonisb
ing the priests with their tricks, laugh
at them, saying: "Your religion can't
do such things" happen to know of
the case of Jesuit priest who some
We ars ago went to work among the
Arapahoes and Cheyennes, west of the
Mississippi. He gave UP the business of
saving their souls after while, and
came away entirely discouraged. They
did things which, he declared, were en-
tirely beyond his understanding. The
mystery men would go out on the bare
sandy prairie, where there was not
sprig of vegetation, and, after some
chanting and various performances, grass
would come up out of the ground-quite
patch of it, green and growing. He
himself saw it grow, and there could be
no doubt about it,
The bravest act have ever known was
performed by one of these Indian Jug
glers. favorite trick of his was one
that has often been performed by white
magioians. 1t consisted in permitting
himself to be shot at, the hocus- poous
being an arrangement by which the bull
let fell out of the barrel into a cavity in
the stock of the weapon before the latter
obor Moo 10
other bullet concealed in his mouth,
which at the instant OF firing he pushed
outward with his tongue, so as to make
it appear that he caught the proiectile
between his teeth. Now, it happend thmt
this man had a rival who was engaged in
the eonjuring business in neighboring
village. On an occasion when the trick
was to be performed, the juggler an
nounoing, as usual, that he was ready to
be shot at by anyone present, the rival
stepped fOwrard and said that he would
do the shooting. But he demanded per-
mission to use his own gun
Naturally, the juggler objected, but his
protest was overruled. 1t was decided that
the rival magician might use his own
weapon. This meant almost sure death
to the performer, yet he did not blanch
10 refuse the test would have been per-
Jnanent disgrace. There was one chance
out of hundred, perhaps, that the
marksman might piss. He decided to
take that chance, and SO permitted the
volunteer exeoutioner to take deliberate
aim and fire at him from a distance of
half dozen PAGES. An instant later he
fell dead. The bullet had passed through
his brain.
In some tribes of Indians it used TIC be
the rule that a sorcerer vino failed three
times must pay the penalty of death.
That regulation has been remarkably
widespread among savages. I under
stand it to have been accepted as far
south as Patagonia ON this continent.
and undoubtedly it survives to this day
in parts of Africa and elsewhere But
there was an ingenious magician of my
acquaintance who saved himself from
this fate by little device of his contriv-
ing. Being permitted to furnish the bull
let by which he was to be shot. he made
one in a mold in which % piece of paper
was inserted in such manner that the
ball was cast in two hemispheres These
he. put together, causing them to hold
by rubbing the edges with his knife
blade In this way at the same time the
deception was concealed. On being fred
from the gun, the bullet flew in halves.
which, being of such shape, scattered
and left the man untouched By this
means he escaped on several occasions
The penalty which ought to befall the
wizard who is failure. Finally, how
ever, he was found out and executed.
l once saw an interesting trick per-
formed inside of a ceremonial wigwam,
There was a lot of dancing and NUM-