Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-31
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henri.


The United States has its legions OF
ghosts, hobgoblins, witches, fairies, ogres
and dragons of strictly native origin.
Legends of scores of these fearsome SUI
pernatural creatures of the various In
dian tribes have been gathered by
ethnologists of the Bureau of American
Ethnology.
Some Of the most fearsome of these
Halloween figures were those Of the
Chickasaw tribe-the ookprooses, the
okpulosis, the iyaganashas and the
tiboliS
The first had the appearance of men
10 feet or more in height with long arms
and small heads. They carried of wom-
en- and flayed men alive. They were
seen by witch doctors and sometimes by
hunters. The iyaganashas were little
people, only about three feet tall. They
carried some children off into the woods
and made doctors of them. Others they
taught how to hunt deer. Generally they
were benevolent toward men but the In
dams soon would move away from
place If they thought any of them were
around.
The tibolis were forest creatures about
the size of men with arms shaped like
clubs with which they pounded on trees
in winter. The Chickasaws also feared
the sintholo, giant horned snake who
lived along creeks or in caves. When it
w ntai tn tn
! other they made it rain in order to raise
the level of the rivers. 1t made noise
like thunder. Then there was the nickin-
fitcik, a giant serpent with a single eye
in the middle of its forehead.
A strange assembly of supernatural be-
ings still hold sway in the Cherokee In
dian settlements in the Great Smoky
Mountains Of North Carolina.
Prominent among them are ''the two
little red men," sons OF thunder who
always go about together wearing caps
of purple and red surmounted by a peak
described as something like a German
military helmet of first World War days"
They are looked upon as friendly beings
and inveterate enemies Of the BLACK
man" who lives in the West and Is a
symbol of disease and death.
Then there are the various kinds OF
little people" who seem to represent a
close approach to the European fairies.
They are described as very small with
long black hair falling to their heels
There are colonies of the little people"
in the mountains, rocks, forests and
water They live in settlements like hu-
man beings, and hold dances and coun-
ellis. Frequently their music and dancing
can be heard at night by lonely travellers.
AS rule they are invisible, but rarely
gifted individuals may see them. Usually
they are kindly inclined toward men and
may care for and feed lost traveller
| But they are feared as causers of disease
and are believed to choose children as
their victims
Ghosts are greatly feared, although
they are not considered malignant But,
the Cherokee believe, they feel lonesome
in the ghost land to the West and make
their friends and relatives sick in order
that these may die and join them.
Dreaming of dead relative is considered
the first symptom of a disease sent by
the ghost.
Most feared of all are the witches and
wizards, living human beings who are
malignant and believed to possess super
natural powers. They are able to take
the forms of various animals flying
through the air or crawling under the
earth. Favorite forms are those of the
raven and earthworm. When travelling
at night, the Cherokee believe, a witch
frequently goes through the air as a
flame or a moving light. The most
effective protection against wichcraft
is to shoot the witch with a bullet
around which has been wound hair from
the crown of the head-a practice prob
ably borrowed from white mountaineers.
Noteworthy in the mythology Of the
Choctaws of the Gulf Coast was a mis-
chievous hobgoblin who dwelt in the
deep woods and was supposed to aid the
medicine men in the preparation of their
nostrums. Another supernatural being
of this tribe was Kashehotapalo, COM
bination of men and deer, who took de-
| light in frightening hunters. They also
believed in "the white people of the
water who dwell in deep pools" and "the
long black man" who resembled a man
but had small eyes and long, pointed
| ears. Will-o'-the-wisps the Indians
thought, were supernatural beings whose
| hearts only were visible in the darkness.
Every man, the Choctaws believed, had
two souls. One, which dwelt outside the
body and always followed it during life,
was identical with the shadow. The other
was the inside soul" which went to the
Indian Elysium after the death was the
body. The shadow was left behind and
wandered restlessly about its former
abode, bowling pitiously at night. 1t was
supposed frequently to assume the form
of a fox or an owl. When the Indians
heard the call of one of these creatures
at night to which there was no reply they
knew it was the call of homeless soul.
| The true foxes or owls could not be de-
ceived into answering it.
Among the California Indians one
must watch out for the Ikxareyavs and
the kitaxrihars, two purely American
| species of fairies who still are feared and
reverenced in annual ceremonies. The
Ikxareyavs were the oldtime people who
were in America before the Indians came
and who were burned into animals,
| plants rocks mountains plots of ground