The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-05-23
HIJMAN SACRIFICE
ARE Still RACIlCED
m WESTERN COUNTRY

Barbara Religious Rites Still
Obtain among Indians in
This Country.
In two indian villages. where white
men come and go daily, one With1n
ten miles of SanIe Ee, n. NJ, rites OF
human sacrifice are stAl practceds
The information, which has caused
great stir. botn among Scientists
and n the Indian bureau. was re-
ported TO the Smithsonian Institution
by Mrs. NatIIde Cox Stevenson, who
has just returned TO Washington ar
ter four years spent In search ofseY1-
dence OF these human. Sacrifices
Only Tue sanding of Mrs. Steren7
son one of che two women anthrop-
o1ogistsa in this country. and for thir-
ty years an expert on Indian affairs
for the bureau OF American ethnol-
ogy. gave the statement credence.s
But Mrs. Stevenson toa1Iy as
serted that her Claims may BE
substantiated. and only withhofdsztne
names sof the villages because she
does not wish 1he source of 9her.l'in-
formation traced to the medicine men
who gave it TO her But she VIII con-
fer with officials In charge of@Indian.
affairs and immediately efforts will
be made by them to stampSou tne
Women and Babies.
Women and babies are sacrificed
as a part of the religious ceremonies
Of the Tewa Indians There are less
than 1000 OF this tribe, all told. Tney
are of the Pueblos and live along the
Rio Grande valley
Mrs. Stevenson is scarcely less IN
III She
spent her life amcnE Indians. ana
has published many books. especially
upon the ceremonials. mythology. and
masks OF the Zuni Indians For
four years she has associated closely
with the life of the TeTa Pueb1os. tax
ing every opportunity to get hints
about the sacrifcia1 rites which form
! a major part of their religious cere-
monies.
! She returned to Washington for
medical treatment because her neat
was. affected by the high attitude N
which she recently has been pursuing
her INQUIRIES. When She RECEIVERS her
health and completes Ter reports OF
her fouryears' work She will return to
the field.
late James Stevenson. also an enthno.-
ozist and the man who advanced the
idea Of having the Yellowstone park
set aside as reseryaEon:
Rattlesnake is Feared.
Human sacrifices among the IeWas
are made to propitiate the rattle
snake. Mrs. Stevenson explained In
dams of that tribe worship both an
cestors and animals. They believe
the rarflesnakes are among the ma
Tor gods. and only by piacat.ng them
can they hope to be free from their
bites andato prosper
For the sacrifice either the young
EST female child IN the village or an
unmarried woman is chosen Ine
high priests go to the I1ya, the si1i-
dian relssiousa ceremonial house and
shere lthe designate the 5sacriflcl,.
victim. The war priest summons the
woman-or- orders the mother to bring
her child
The victim is given narcotic by
the priest Women then undress her
Then drug is: administered! usually
the datura metelofdes. sGncfdentally
it was Mrs. stevenson who discover
ed that narcotics, as--wen as intoxs-
cants. were known to 1ndians3
Then comes the most interestins
and the most gruesome part OF the
ceremony. BY dissection. in which
peculiar knife is used. the flesh Is re-
moved from the bones. The body
meanwhile. lies on one. of the famous
sand paintings. an Indian art express
sion about which much has been writ
sRattlesnakes then are brought in
TO the temple and allowed to swallow
the flesh.
This vas where naturalists found
flaw in Mrs. SIevenscn's report
They pointed out that rattIesnakes do
not .-eat" flesh. because they cannot
bite. But MRS. Stevenson asserts that
the flesh IS torn TO shreds so It may
be swallowed by the snakes.
Indians Have PoehcaI conception
But the Indian ceremonials are far
more beautiful and poe1ca1 than-th1s
description would suggest Especial
Iy have the rTewas poet1cal and
philosophical conception OF life that
resembles many Oriental religions.
for example, Mrs Stevenson eS-
planned. .rhey are divided into an zee
people and4a sun people. There is an
ice priest and a sun priest After all.
the Indians chief concern is with
food And they realize that-Sthe sum
mer sun. as-we!I as the =wintry blasts,
play part in nature Therefore,
during the winter. the ice priest IS
supreme, and in the sumner the sun
priest takes his place. though the
priest not in supremacy still is deep
1y respected.
..Another distinction found among
the Tewas. which almost suggests an
AngIo-Saxon theological distinition. Is
tha, the medicine men of the Texas.
unlike those OF other tribes, are not
supposed always to have the power to
cure disease. Instead the animals
! -,