The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1921-06-10
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dRt1llVlk "a lNdRleYlM Ecuador. T h e S
savages have hither
to been unknown to civilization. Ger
tainly they have not been contaminated
by the white man. They appear to
have virtues and vices all their own.
In fact they appear to be sui generis
since they have been isolated and have
developed along a line particularly
their own.
The Jibaros are devil-worshipers,
among other things. Believing in
neither heaven nor a hell, they wor-
ship a sort Of demon, who appears
to the medicine men when they drink
a vegetable concoction unknown to
whites. Confirmed bigamists, the
braves are jealous of all their wives.
and punish unfaithfulness mercilessly.
There Is no institution Of marriage.
They have no ceremonies connected
with the changing seasons. In hunt
ing and fishing, the methods of the
Jibaros differ from those Of all other
Indians known.
The Jibaro Indians were discovered
by an expedition into the jungle of
Southern Ecuador, undertaken by
Harold e. Anthony and George X.
Cherrie for the American Museum Of
Natural History, New York, for the
purpose Of obtaining rare specimens
OF birds and mammals. Mr.. Anthony,
who Is assistant Of mammals at the
museum told of his nine months stay
and many thrilling experiences among
this primitive people.
"The Jibaros are the first tribe Of
Indians have met" said Mr.. An
thOny, "that do not believe In a
benign being. The people have no
hereafter to look forward to, and no
Sins to look back upon. They are
happy. none the less. and not bad
IL you treat them civilly. Naturally
superstitious they worship, or rather
cater to, a sort of devil, whom only
few medicine men are privileged to
see.
"The medicine men on occasions
drink terrible concoction unknown to |
whites even since the days of home
brew. This makes them beastly |
drunk, and In their Authorizations they |
claim they see this devil, of whom they |
inquire what luck they will have on
their hunting expeditions. Since the |
expeditions are always for the taking
Of the wives Of other tribes and in
cidentally killing their husbands, the
devil Is invariably ready to fall In line
with the plans Of the braves. When
the orgy is over, the hunt begins, and
does not end until several heads are
taken or lost.
"One of our party drank tiny bit |
Of the concOctiOn. and almost immedi-
ateiy claimed he was seeing things
When he got out Of the trance he
said he was not surprised that the
men. urged on by this strangely influ-
entail demon, became wild. OF course,
only the medicine men are permitted
to commune with the devil, but such
Is their invariable reaction, that they
make their followers believe In the
power of the devil even though the
latter have not taken a drop Of the
stuff themselves.
at Is not surprising that the medi-
cine men have such an influence over
the savages. Ecuador abounds in
strange trees with whose sap these .
Indians have experimental from gen.
GRAFTON to generation. Even the shrubs
and flowers have drug properties of
which modern medicine has as yet ,
small knowledge.
"But the medicine men seem to (
have made a speciality Of the most
bitter of the herbs and the most fiery I
Of the saps for their purposes. They {
use q mixture, the secret of which
they alone know, which, when rubbed r
on ones body, is supposed to keep I
away the evil spirits. In this manner r
they control the superstitious Jibaros,
and there is not tribesman who does :
not believe implicitly In the power of :
these leaders of theirs. a
Besides the fredericksburg con- '
,octions and the mixture designed to I
keep away the eVil-spirlts, there are b
Saps used for their purely medicinal c
properties Among these is a sort of h
IuInine which is used as a cure-all,
md a medicine designed to preserve c
EOuth, or, at least. encourage longevity. s