Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1905-05-13
SAVAGES AND BRUTES.
Odd Attitude of the Primitive Man
Toward All Animals.


For the primitive savage animals are
| mysterious, problematic beings, pos
sessed Of a wide knowledge of the
| things of nature They know much
more than they are ready to tell us. In
some way or another by the aid of
senses much more refined than ours
and by telling to each other all that
they notice in their rambles and flights
they know everything for miles around.
And if man has been "just" toward
them they will warn him of a coming
danger, as they warn each other, but
they will take no heed Of him if he
has not been straightforward in his
actions Snakes and birds Che owl is
a leader of the snakes, mammals and
insects, lizards and fishes-all under
stand each other and continually COM
municate their observations to one an
other.
Inside this vast brotherhood there
are, of course, the still closer brother
hoods of beings "of one Blood The
monkeys, the bears, the wolves, the
elephants and the rhinOceroses, most
ruminants, the hares and ;cost of the
rodents, the crocodiles, and so on per-
fectly know their own kin, and they
will not tolerate any one of their rela-
tives to be slaughtered by man without
taking in one way or another honest
revenge. This conception must have
had an extremely remote origin.
Even now when a savage is hunting
he is bound to respect certain rules of
propriety toward the animals, and he
must perform certain expiatory cere-
monies after his hunt. Most of these
ceremonies are vigorously enacted even
nowadays in the savage clans, especial
ly as regards those species considered
the allies of man.
1t is well known that two men be-
longing to two different clans Or tribes
can become brothers by mixing the
blood Of the two obtained from small
missions made for that purpose, but
it was also quite habitual for man to
enter into brotherhood with some ami
NAL The tales continually mention it.
An animal asks a hunter to spare it,
mand the two become brothers. And
then the monkey, the bear, the doe, the
bird, the crocodile or the bee-any one
of the sociable animals-will take all
possible care Of the man brother in the
critical circumstances Of his life, send
ing his or her animal brothers of diff
ferent tribes to warn him or help him
out of a difficulty. And if the warn
ing comes too late or is misunderstood
and he loses his life they all will try
to bring him back to life, and if they
fail they will take due revenge, just as
if the man had been one Of their own
kin.
When l journeyed in Siberia I was
often struck, without understanding it,
with the care which my fungus or
MongoI would take not to uselessly
kill any animal. The fact is that every
life is respected by savage, or, rather,
it was before he came in contact with
Europeans. If he kills an animal, it is
for food or for clothing, but he does
not destroy life, as the whites do, for
the mere excitement of the slaughter
True, the red Indians have done that
with the buffaloes, but it was only aft.
err they had been for long time in
contact with the whites and had got
from them the rifle and the quick firing
revolver. OF course there are rascals
among the animals-the hyena, for in
stance, or the shrewmouse or the man
eating tiger, but these do not count;
they are outlaws. AS to the great ami
NAL world as a whole, savage children
are taught to respect it and see in it
an extension Of their own kin.-Prince
Kropotkin in Nineteenth Century.