The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-06-25

whatever ingenious theories you may
support either side Of the question. to
distinguish exactly how much Of the
Indian mythology is native and how
much Of 1t is the result of early con-
tact with white religion. We are
quite content to leave 1t with the doc
tors OF philosophy. The medicine
mans properties are moro satisfac-
| tory, because they are the red mans
| own und.sputed superstition; and yet.
are they so greatly different from the
talismans and fetiches that have been
cherished by Aryan races?
Tho Pawnee did not get his ritual
Of u worship from Spanish priests.
Did 1t come to his forefathers from
some Asiatic temple or from Egypt
or the Aztecs; and did S%tonehenge
Druids contribute? Sculptures "
Amenophis ". show rays reaching
down from the Divine Disk - ,-St
hands Of benediction upon the King"
and the Pawnee called the ray the
messenger OF our father tho sun" The
prairie tribes gave eight days to their
sun dance.
Primitive. not borrowed. beliefs were
tIS source vi SIuOIldlltS utteTdItCe
| when he was urged to settle his peo-
ple In agriculture:
You ask me to plough the ground. Shall
I take a knife and tear my mothers
BOSOM Then when I die she will not
take me to her bosom to rest.
You ask me 10 dig for stone. Shall I
dis under her skin for her bones7 Then
when | die | cannot enter her body TO be
born again.
You ask me TO cut grass and make hay
and sell II. and be rich like white men.
Hut how dare I cut on my mothers hair d?
twhitnan's 'uncu, hair OF graves"l
II I. a bad law. and my people cannot
obey Il. ,
The Indians Of the mountain and the
desert. paralleling in many details the
Legendary OF the redmen OF the prairies
and the Eastern forests. add charac-
teristically natural fruitage Of their
environment. tales of giants and
dwarfs. monstrous birds and beasts.
sky serpents and desert witches. Is
the influence OF strange atmospheric
effects not traceable in these abnor-
mal!ties? Are not the coloring OF the
sand and the Swallowed rocks. the
patterns OF the arid landscape. per-
Ceptible in the admirable art work.
tho blankets and potteries of the
Navajo and other tribes The
Navajo genesis brings the living crea-
lures stage by stage through i've levels
of existence: the age Of beginnings. the
age Of ANNA! heroes, the & OF the
gods and the patr.archal age. when the
nation wandered over the earth. pre-
cede the age of their settlement and
cllture.
Indians 81 the Pacific Coast had
many stories OF death and the Ghost
World. coyote Is the tempter. The
brothers Buzaard are directed by the
Creator. about to bring man into
beng. to build a ladder Of stone from
earth To heaven. Half way up are TO
he a pool and a resting place; AZ the
top " springs. one for drinking and
the other for bathing a fountain of
Youth. Coyote ONE TO the builders
suppose an old woman and an old
man 20 up. alone. n after the other
and come back alone, young. They
will grow old a second time. and go
up acain and come back young. hut
they will he alone. just the same as
at trs;. They will never have any
friends. any children. they Will never
have anything t. de- hut 90 ny this
road Did. and come back down young
acain.'
The BIa1rtd brothers should not
have hcel fooled ny this sort of talk
hut they were not proc. against the
Nilcs II Coyote when Il" said, wisely
euutgh nov Joy AZ birth and grief
Tor he dead IL better. FOR these
mean love" They destroy theii
partially completed work. but tc
Coyote they declare: you. too. shall
die. You, too, shall lie IN the ground
never 10 rise. never to go about with
ar otter skin band on your head ant
n beautiful culver an your back"
Coyote is d%ismayed. In despair ne
makes himself wings Of ~sunfowers
and tries TO ny upward; bat his fate
IS that Of Icarus- tn" leaves wither
Coyote fails to earth and Is killed
lit ,s his own decd says the Creator
he is killed ny his own words. Hence,
forth al! his people will fall and die.
Such a le-cal carr.cs Is W CON
mcnt: Not unnatter.ng to the first
Americans.
From oar Southwes' the author pro
oeeds 20 our Northwest and on I,
Alaska. the land Of the totem. Hi!
collection of transactions of Indiar
songs * Of an extent and an intcres
that strongly enforce the earnest ples
presented I'm NJ. Roosevelt's !ates
book for preservation OF the native
poetry ~ tho Southwest. The volum,
contains "A useful body OF supplement
any notes. a comprehensive blbliog
raphy. and "A large map showing II
oolprs the linguistic distribution o
tho North American a~borigines.