New Britain herald., 1927-05-13
UNIQUE RELIGION
 0f INDIAN TRIBE
mtorIal VIII RsIal Lost Customs

Lincoln. Nsb.. May 1s.-tUP)- Travelling in . queer little automo- bile, '. E. Blackman. curator of the Nebraska Historical society of pro- tninent historian, will leave here early in June on an exploration trip which he hopes will prove . start ling similarity between religious be- liefs of tho extinct Skidt Indian tribe and Christians of today.
 Tho ekidis. highly religious tribe, believed that the North Loup valley of Nebraska was the Garden of Eden mentioned in the Bible. ac- cording to Blackman.
 Blackman, . small elderly man with ! head of disheveled white hair, will no doubt startle the natives of central Nebraska with his unique automobile. His car weighs l5o pounds, travels 80 miles on a gallon of gasoline, and although the tank holds slightly more than . quart, the little ''so-deyil' as he calls 1t. averages about 15 miles an hour. The wheels require a 20 inch pneumatic tire and his teepee and entire camp outfit weighs 72 pounds Loosening wires in fences he goes ovsr fields or through groves with little difficulty.
 Setting out from Lincoln. Black man will go to tho mouth of the Ioup river at Columbus, and follow ing tho river the pathway traversed by the skidis as early as 1850, he will cross over to Cedar creek, sur veying the village sites for relics.
 The skidis, a branch of the Paw nee tribe, separated from the main tribe centuries ago. according to BlAckman. The tribe was simon pure in its religious practices while the Pawnees were of the renegade order. This may have caused the break but at any rate the skidis came to Nebraska as early as 1850 and perhaps earlier.
 Blackman will make strenuous effort to ascertain how much the religious legends of the tribes con- hicted with that of the early mis- sionaries. Since the doctrine was handed down by word of mouth it is quito possible that the legends became contaminated.
 Their god known as Tirawa, the supreme being. also had son. The legends begin "1n the beginning was Tirawahut." but in the remaining legends the god is referred to as Tirawa. The son in these legends somewhat resembles the man of GAlilee, although the Indian religion is closely allied with nature and anil mAlA
 After some time Tirawa became dtspleased with his children and sent a deluge and the earth was re-populated with another race The Indians believed the Loup Valley in Nebraska was the cradle of creation.
 However, the creation of man &C., cording to the legends compiled by Blackman and others, is very diff ferent fro mthe creation of man in the Bible:
 Woman was created first. accord ing to these legends. when the eve ming star and moring star cohabited and morning star was the mother of tho first woman. For many years this woman wandered about the earth alone. until tho sun. seeing the Loneliness on earth. journeyed over to tho moon and the moon con. ceived boy. Both tho girl and the boy-the legends refer to them as such-were sent to earth on . cloud. And thus the earth was populated. However. 1t Is interesting to note that the boy and girl were sinlsss. And propagation was taught by Tirawa.
 Further legends tell of the crea- ton of various animals and in this connection arises another problem which Blackman will try to solve. All animals were tho subjects of legends with the exception of the horse. which would tend to sub- stantiate the contention of archae- ologists that the horse was brought to America by Cortez
 In contradiction to this. however, Blackman has three stone horse teeth, which he asserts could not have become fossilized in less than from seven to ten thousand years. All these problems will form tho basis of his study.
 He will also add to the collection of Indian trophies now a part of the society's museum.
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