Evening star., 1940-11-30
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

Itcibinihatu.
More than any other supernatural
| figure of the red man he corresponds to
the Great Spirit" attributed to the
North American aboriginals, says DR..
John M. Cooper, professor of anthro-
| pology of the Catholic University Of
America, who spent the past summer
studying the mythology, language and
ways of life of this tribe.
DR.. Cooper was adopted into the
| tribe under the name of White Shield,
| a celebrated Gros Ventre warrior of a
half century ago, and was in the conf
dence of the leading tribesmen. He
was trying to get at the religious con-
cepts of the people before these became
| confused with white beliefs of the first
missionary contacts, about rs years ago.
His greatest surprise, he says, came
with the discovery of Itcibinihatu. All
| Indian tribes have their pantheon of
supernatural beings. Sometimes one is
supreme above all others, but very sell
dom does he have any concern with the
morals and behavior of mankind. Often
the mythical beings symbolic some fea-
ture of nature. The Great Spirit"
usually was the deity of the white men,
wrongly attributed to Indians.
But, says DR.. Cooper, there is no trace
of missionary influence in Itcibinihatu
He stands above nature, is deeply con-
cerned with the morals of the Indians,
and is not pictured in any shape what
soever. He is pure, formless spirit, a
difficult concept for the aboriginal mind.
All power comes eventually from him,
although it may be delegated to men
through various Intermediates.
The finding of such god is especially
strange, says DR.. Cooper, among such q
people as the Gros Ventres. They are
isolated members of the great Algon-
quian-speaking family of Indians who
occupied the Atlantic seaboard from
Hudson Bay to North Carolina when
white men first settled in North America.
Presumably they had originated in the
north and slowly dispersed southwark.
The Gros Ventres, Dr. Cooper believes,
| represent an effshoot which moved
southwestward through Canada. About
200 years ago. it is known, they were in
| Saskatchewan. For many summers the
anthropologist has worked among the
most northern and primitive element of
this people, the Crees of the Hudson Bay
territory. Among them, he says, he
found only faint traces of such supreme
being as Itcibinihatu. Among the East
ern Algonquins the Great Manitu" was
for the most part far less counterpart
of the deity of the missionaries.
1tcibinihatu, DR.. Cooper was told,
shared the lot of man only on one sort
of occasion. The Gros Ventres have
their sweat lodge" where men of the
tribe gather in an extremely hot tent
and perspire profusely. Thus they get
rid of all bodily impurities. The god,
they believe, comes down and sweats
with them, although remaining invisible.
Some anthropologists in the past. DR..
Cooper said. have translated Itcibini-
hatu as ruling white man." because the
word "nihatu' also is the word for white
men. He found this curious derivation.
The folk hero of the tribe, quite differ
ent from the deity, was Nihatu. He
acted as an emissary between the su-
preme being and man and was the giver
of many gifts. Nihatu, however, was a
notorious philanderer among the spirits.
Once he got caught, and his head was
shaved by an outraged spirit spouse. So
when the white man came into the
plains country with his short hair the
Indians were quick to call him a
"nihatu"
The Gros Ventres, Dr. Cooper found,
had their own legend of the great flood,
which is found among aboriginal peo-
Piles around the world. All things, in
cluding the earth itself, was destroyed by
the raging waters When they began
to subside human-like being, the Gre
ator Of the world of today, was floating
on raft carrying in his hand the sacred
pipe, the most sacred object of the Gros
Ventres. Previously Itcibinihatu had
given it to Nihatu and what became of
it when the world was destroyed the
Gros Ventres cannot say
That same pipe still is preserved among
them and is a holy object used in va
rious ceremonies.
DR.. Cooper made a special study of
the strange spiritualistic seances among
the Gros Ventres. Like various other
tribes they had until recently the curl
Gus tent-shaking phenomenon, trick
which no observer has been able to ex-
plain. Certain women of the tribe were
supposed to have ghost companions. {"
Such woman would be placed inside
sturdily constructed tent and tightly
bound. Suddenly the tent would start
to shake violently and the ropes would
be thrown outside. This, presumably.
was the work of the ghost companion.
He would answer various questions on
tribal policy, where to find lost articles.
etc. through the woman.
AS reward for his efforts the ghost
is given smoke A phantom pipe,
Indians who had witnessed the perform
ance told DR.. Cooper, appears in the
middle of the tent, and its bowl glows for
a moment as if the ghost were smoking
vigorously. Then he returns to the spirit
land where, presumably, smoking is
| prohibited
Dr. Cooper was aided in his investiga-
TONS by Dr. and Mrs. Karl F. Herzfeld
OF the university faculty. Mrs. Herzfeld
gathered extensive data on the folk