LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 913.7 P34P V .5 111. Hist. Serv. I Prcl)i5t0ric America, The Mound Builders. Animal Effigies. The Cliff Dwellers. Ruined Cities. Myths and Symbols. MYTHS AND SYMBOLS OR Aboriginal Religions IN America BY STEPHEN D? PEET, Ph. D. Member of the American Antiquarian Society ; New England Historical and Genealogical Society ; Corresponding Member of the American Oriental Society ; Nu7)iismatic Society, New York ; Victoria Institute; Society of Biblical ArchcEology ; also, Editor American Antiquarian and Oriental fournaL ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO; OFFICE OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN. 190 5. V. S /jM/iAMJ^f. INTRODUCTION. lNi3reparing"a book on the Aboriginal Religions of America, the author has been impressed with the thoiisfht that very few have ever been written or published upon the subject. It is true that there are many books upon American Myth- thology, but there is a difference between mj^thology and religion, for mythology is occupied mostly with the fanci- ful tales of the people, and belongs mainly to the depart- ment of literature ; while the aboriginal religions relate to the Divinities about which the mj^ths are concerned. They are very comprehensive, and include not only the cere- monies, sacred dramas, and religious exercises, but also the symbols and external signs and objects of worship, thus making a double title necessary. It is true that the mytholog57^ of the American Aborigines is closely connected with religious ceremonies which are ex- planatory of them, and in this respect resemble the cere- monies which were common among the Egyptians and Greeks, especiall}'- the Eleusinian .mj^^steries. These mys- teries were so secret that their significance was unknown, except to the initiated, and yet the probabilitv is that the great tragedies of nature, which consist in the return of the seasons and the war of the elements, and the relation of the activities of the earth to the power of the heavenly bodies, were in reality quite similar to these sacred dramas practised by the natives of this continent. The Scandinavian mythology, which has become familiar to us through the volumes of the younger Edda, also illus- trates this point. It had to do with the powers of nature and the remarkable scenery of the Norseland, but wa» mingled with traditions and mj'ths which came from the far East. It represented the earliest system of religion which prevailed in Europe and in farther Asia, and 3'^et there was a remarkable difference between that m3'thology and the religion of the Norsemen, for the mythology is -i / Vi. INTRODUCTION. purely literary, as is well known; but their religious rites and ceremonies came from paganism. This illustrates the difference between the present work and those various volumes which have been prepared on the native mythologies of America, for the object of the author has been to get at the actual religious beliefs from which the mythology sprang, and make these the chief objects of study. It should be said that great activity has appeared among the specialists in the work of collecting the myths, and witnessing and describing the religious ceremonies, and many volumes have been published by the various museums and societies, but these are so jDurely local in their char- acter, that they do not really assist us in comprehending the entire system as it prevailed on this continent, though they have served to perj^etuate the myths and ceremonies which are fast disappearing, and are likel}'^ soon to pass away altogether. The author would acknowledge his indebtedness to these various reports, and refer the readers to them for further information upon the subject which is at hand. It will be remembered, however, that there were many tribes and nations in Mexico, Central America and Peru who gave up their religious customs at the time of the conquest. Our acquaintance with the. Aboriginal Religions of this region is dependent upon the study of the symbols which have been preserved, and the sacred books or codices which are still in existence. The method of studying the religious S3'stems has been to take the native tribes as the}' are actually situated geo- graphically, and trace the relation between the myths and the divinities, which were worshiped in the locality, to their surroundings, without undertaking to trace their historical development, or even to show their resemblance to those found on other continents. There was a great variety of religious systems on this continent, each of which seems to have arisen in the very locality where they prevailed at the time of the Discovery, and some of them are prevailing at the present time. There is one peculiarity of all these systems: viz., there were no such religious founders, as have marked the systems which prevailed in the lands of the East; but INTRODUCTION. vii. • all owed their existence to natural causes, with the slight mixture of traditions which had reached them from some distant lands. The most remarkable fact which is brought out by this study, is that the aboriginal religions of America corre- spond to the earliest forms of religions which prevailed in the lands of the East. But the grades of progress which are manifest in them follow the geographical, instead of chronological lines. The lowest form, such as Demonism, found in the far North among the Eskimos, resembled that which was the earliest in the far East. Next to this was Totemism, which resembled that which prevailed among the wild and wandering tribes of Arabia. There was also a sj'Stem of Star-Worship and Sky-Worship which pre- vailed among the mountain tribes of the Interior, which resembled that existing in Central Asia during prehistoric times. The system of Sun-Worshij) which prevailed among the agricultural tribes of the Gulf States, closely resembl- ing that which existed in Egypt and Babylonia at the opening of history, and man}?- of the same customs were observed There was a system prevailing among the partially civil- ized tribes of the Southwest, very similar to that which existed among the Greeks. It consisted in the worship of Culture Heroes and Humanized Divinities, some of whom so resembled human beings, as to be taken for historical personages, or visitors from some foreign land. Hiawatha and Quetzalcoatl (the Fair God of Mexico) correspond to Buddha, the chief divinity of the Hindoos ; at the same time Tezcatlipoca, the War God of the Aztecs, corresponds in character to Loki of the Scandinavians. There were rulers among the Peruvians who were worship- ped as Children of the Sun, and had great power over the entire nation because of this superstition. In this respect they resembled the early kings of Egypt, Babylonia, and Greece. The dawn of civilization brought out their shadowy character, so that they were regarded as super-hufnan be- ings. The same analogies may be recognized in the symbols -and mj^ths which prevailed on the two hemispheres. There were monsters of the deep which filled the imaginations of viii. INTRODUCTION. the Eskimos, just as there were dragons which haunted the- houses and tempJes of the Chinese. There were also, Bird Divinities which were regarded by the people of the North- west Coast as their protectors, just as there were among the tribes of Southern Africa. The same analogies can be traced also in the animal divinities, for there were many- animal forms which can be recognized among the art IDroducts of America, which resemble those found among the palaces of Babylon. They were wild animals, and yet they were regarded as protectors and were worshipped as sincerely as were the Winged Lions and Human Headed Bulls which stood in the palaces of Nineveh. The most striking analogy between the religious systems of America and those which existed in the far East, consists in the fact that there was a constant progress, and the con- ception of Divinity grew higher as civilization advanced, and, 3^et, strange to say, no such character ever appeared on the continent of America, as that which was embodied in the person of Jesus Clirist. In fact, it does not seem possible that the ordinary progress of society could have developed such a character, or even brought the conception to the human mind, except by the process of divine inspira- tion. TABLE OF CONTENTS. ' CHAPTER I. p^G.. Races and Religions in America i CHAPTER H. TOTEMISM AND MYTHOLOGY I 7 CHAPTER III. The Serpent Symbol in America 53 CHAPTER IV. The Serpent Symbol in America— Continued 81 CHAPTER V. Animal Worship and Sun Worship Compared ,113 CHAPTER VI. American Astrology or Sky Worship 145 CHAPTER VII. The Pyramid in America I59 CHAPTER VIII. The Cross in America 185 CHAPTER IX. Phallic Worship and Fire Worship in America 209 CHAPTER X. The Water Cult and the Deluge Myth 227 CHAPTER XI. Human Images and Winged Figures. 249. CHAPTER XII. The Worship of the Rain God 281 rx. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER XIII. Ethnographic Religions and Ancestor Worship 297 CHAPTER XIII.— Continued. Anthropomorphic and Mountain Divinities 3^5 CHAPTER XIV. Commemorative Columns and Ancestor Worship 333 CHAPTER XV. Personal Divinities and Culture Heroes ^.. 362 CHAPTER XVI. Culture Heroes and Deified Kings 3^9 CHAPTER XVII. Personal Divinities and Nature Powers in America.. 421 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. CHAPTER I. Page IFigure i — Pictographs 4 2 — Pictographs 5 3 — Pictographs 5 4 — The Deer 8 5 — The Crane 8 6— The Turtle 9 7— The Bear ' 9 8— The Crane lo 9— Dreams 10 10 — Winged Serpent 13 II— Ornamented Wall of Buried City in Honduras 14 i2 — Fresco Figure from Mexico 15 13 — Idols in Honduras 16 CHAPTER II. IFigure i — Clan Totems Inscribed on Rocks 18 2— Mythologic Totem from Arizona 27 3— Mythologic Symbols of the Cliff-Dwellers 29 4 — Clan Totems in the Effigies 3^ 5— Totems of the Village Chief : 32 14— Totem Posts from the Northwest Coast 39 15 — The Thunder Bird 4o 16— House Post 4' 17 — Totem Post 4i 18— Totem Board 42 19 — Totem Post 42 20— Feathered Doll 42 21 — The Indian Medicine Man 44 22 — Knife-Feathered Monster 5° CHAPTER III. Figure 23— Great Serpent in Adams County, Ohio 57 24— Great Serpent in Adams County, Ohio 61 25 — Serpent Effigy, Chillicothe, Ohio 63 26 — Works on the Miami River, Ohio 64 27 — Work in Colerain, Ohio 65 31 — Serpent in Scotland 7' 32— Bird Effigy 72 33 — Bald Friar's Rock .... 74 34— Serpent Heads from the Codices 75 35— Serpent Tablet from Clark's Works, Ohio 76 36— Serpent Pipe from New Mexico 77 37 — Serpent and Mound-Builder 78 38 — Plumed Serpent, Nicara>;ua 79 xii. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. CHAPTER IV. Pace Figure 46— Serpent Effigies near Ripon, Wis 83 47 — Enclosure in Shape of Serpent . . 84 48 — Rock in Shape of Serpent 90 4Q — Serpent in Rock Inscriptions q6 50 — Serpent on an Inscribed Rock in Colorado 96 51 — Human Figures Enveloped with the Serpent Symbol .... 97 52 — Vase with Serpent Ornament 98 53 — Water Trough with Serpent Ornament 99 54 — Aztec Calendar Stone .- 100 55 — Serpent Ornament on Facade at Palenque loi 56 — Serpent Ring at Chichen- Itza 102 57 — The Calendar Stone 105 CHAPTER V. Figure i— Thunder Bird of the Thlinkits 118 2— The Shield of the Priesthood of the Bow 118 3 — Circle with Symbols of Days 121 4 — Sun Circle, with Symbols of Months 122 5 — Tree and Cross as Symbols of the Sun 123 6 — The Water Spider, with Symbols of the Sun on its Back. 127 7 — Double Throne and Phallic Symbol 136 8 — Winged Circle from Palenque 138 9 — Figure of Death i ,',9 CHAPTER VI. Figure i— A Sun-Worshiper 141 2 — Ornament Representing the Skv 142 3 — Mound Builders' Map ol tlie Sky 147 4 — Serpent of the Horizon 148 5 — Arched Heavens Personifield 149 6 — Symbol of the Sun — Spiral Path, Embossed Figure on the Ground 151 7 — Mound with Circle and Ditch, Symbols of the Sum 151 8 — Place of Sacrifice and Map of the Sky 152 9 — Stonehenge Restored 1 53 10 — Circle, Crescents and Square at Hopeton, shown g t^.e Symbolism of the Region 155 II — Sky Divinities of the Zunis 156' CHAPTER VII. Figure i — Pyramidal Mounds in Mississippi 160 2 — Pyramid of Cholula 161 3 — Governor's House at Uxma! 162 4 — Pyramid at Palenque 166 5— Pyramid of Teotihuacan 167 6 — Truncated Mound from the Ohio Valley 169 7— Mound at Cahokia 170 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xiii. CHAPTER VII.— Continued Page Figure ;8— Platforms and Pyramids at Copan 171 9— Mound at St. Louis ' 72 10 — Palace and Pyramid at Palcnq t- 176 II— The Pyramid of Queniada I77 12 — Temple of the Cross 182 13— Temple of the Tablets 183 CHAPTKR \1II. Figures i, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6— Symbols of the Cios 186 Figure 7— Zuni Head Dress 187 8— Rock Inscriptions in Illinois ' 188 9 — Rock Inscriptions in Missouri 188 10— Cross in Pickaway County, Ohio 191 XI— Bird Gorget 192 12 — Spider Gorget 194 13— Spider with Cross 195 14 — Spider Gorget 195 15 — Serpent Gorget 196 16 — Cross on Shell Gorget 197 17 — Cross on Copper Disk 197 18— Suastika on Shell 198 19 — Cross on Shell 198 20 — Shape of the Crosses Found in Amir c n '. )ri am niation. 199 21 and 32 — Symbol of the Cross in Hon e and Si:r ne 202 23— Symbol for the Day 203 24— Symbol for the Year 203 25— Symbol for the Temple or Shrine 203 26 — Cross of Teotihuacan 204 27— Idol Pillar 206 28— Cross of the Tablet 207 29 — Symbolic Cross 208 CHAPTER IX. Figure i— Cup Stone at Cincinnati, Ohio 218 2 — Fire Dancers 219 3 — Navajo Sand Painting 221 4 — Map Showing the Distribution of the Suastika 223 CHAPTER X. Figure i — Water Snake of the Zunis 229 2 — Horse Shoe Enclosures at Portsmouth 236 3 — Effigy on the Scioto 237 4 — Sun Circles 238 5 — Terraced Mound Opposite Portsmouth 239 6 — Corral for Prisoners 240 7 — Enclosure and Spring near Worthington, Ohio 24 1 8 — Legendary Rock 242 9 — Aztec Migration Legend 243 xir. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. CHAPTER XL Page. Figure i — Man Eagle aS*^' 2 — The Maya Gods of Death, Life and Growth 252 3 — The Tree of Life Transformed 254 4 — The Tree of Life Transformed 255 5 — Serpent and Human Face 258 6— Pottery Idol 259 7 — Idol from the West Indies 260 8 — Haida Carving 261 9 — Figures in a Cave in West Virginia 265 10 — Fighting .Figures from the Mounds 268 1 1 — Wasco and Yetl 269 12 — Bird, Sun and Human Figure 271 13 — Human Tree at Palenque 273. 14 — Idol and Manitou Face at Uxmal 274 15 — Cortesian Codex and Symbols of Cardinal Points 275 16 — Idol with Symbols ot the Sky and Clouds 276 17 — Image with Cloud Symbol 277 18— Tlaloc, Rain God 278 19 — Tlaloc, the Aztec Neptune 279 20 — Quetzalcoatl, Air God of the Mayas 279 CHAPTER XII Figure i — Medicine Bowl with Rain Symbol 282- 2 — Rain and Sky Symbol 283 3 — Zuni Rain and Cloud Symbol 283 4 — Zuni Prayer-meal Bowl 284 5 — Butterfly, Dragonfly and Bird Symbols 286 6— Snake Kilt 293 7 — Antelope Priest 295 CHAPTER XIII. Figure i — Bear Idol from the Mounds 303 . ' 2 — Bear Idol from the Mounds— Front View. .. .' 304 3 — Carved Images from the West Indies 306 4 — Idol from Gautemala 308 5 — Idol from Gautemala 309 6 — Chart of the " Mide Wigan," or Saci ed Lodge 320 7 — Hastjelti, the Mountain Divinity 328 CHAPTER XIV. Figure i — Circle of Standing Stones at Avebury 335 2 — Haida Houses and Totem Posts 340 3 — Haida Houses .... 34' 4 — Silver Bracelet 342 5 — Silver Bracelet - 343 6 — Silver Bracelets 344 7— Carved Slate Disk 348 8— Haida Totem Posts at the World's Fair, Chicago 350 9— Ctdar Box....: 354 10— Slate Box 355- 1 1— Lid of the Box 35^- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xv^ CHAPTER XV. Pag,- Figure i— The Whale Killer 364 2 — Image on a Rock, Easter Islands 367 3— Serpent Pipe • 376 4 and 5 — Serpent Tree and Face 377 6 — Thunder Bird jgj 7 — Heyoka as a Hunter 383 8 — Lightning God ... 384 9 — Human Tree 384 10 and 1 1 — Gonktaghe " 385 CHAPTER XVI. Figure I— Gigantic Head 403 2 — Statue of Tlaloc 405 3— Seated Figure at Palenque, representing the God of War. 407 4 — Pontiff King at Copan 408 5 — The Tizoc Stone 411 6 — Cacique and Kneeling Figure 413 CHAPTER XVII. Figure i— Different Culture Heroes 423 2 — Cuculan, Chief God of the Mayas 429 3 — The Cloud Boat of the Mayas 433 FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Frontispiece— Transformation Ceremony and Dancers Dressed as Wolves. Totem Tattoos, Northwest Coast.— Portrait Figure from Guatemala. i The Dakota Indians Imitating the Attitudes of the Buffaloes in Their Dance j g Mythologic and Animal Totems lo The Eagle Man— A Mythologic Totem 30 Copper Eagle from the Etowah Mound 31 Facsimile of Pictures on the Dresden Codex 38 Carved Pipes from the Mounds ^e Zuni Water Vases. Ornamented with Animal Figures 47 Zuni Fetiches .„ Serpent Gorgets from Tennessee 58 Shell Gorgets from Tennrssee go Standing Stones in Dakota 87 Serpent Effigy, Holmes' Survey go Offerings to Serpents iq5 Mexican Goddess of Death log "Idol Pillar with Serpent Symbols i iq Shell Gorgets containing Sun Symbols. .-r. 117 Carved Animal Symbols , ,„ xvi. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page The GodTlaloc 125 Adoratorio with' Winged Globe 133 Nature Power Personified 136 Moon Worship Symbolized 1 37 The Initiation of Warriors Among the Mandaiis 143 Dramatization of the Deluge Myth and the Sky Divinities by the Mandans I44 Prayer to the Rising Sun 208 Atotarho, Culture Hero of the Iroquois 20Q Totemic Door Posts of the Stone Houses, Ocongo, Easter Islands. . . 301 Chart of the Mide Song— Schoolcraft 324 Mountain Divinities and Sand-Paintings of the Navajos 325 Village and Cemetery on Prince of Wales Island 346 Plumed Serpent Carved on Temple of Zochicalco 364 Altars and Images from Copan 365 Sugar Loaf Rock on Mackinac Island 373 Portrait Idols on Easter Islands 388 Female Statue from Copan 391 Back of Female Statue 392 Bearded King at Copan 397 Buried Statue at Copan 398 Turbaned King at Copan 409 Dwarf Statue from Copan 410 Air God Dressed as a King. 414 Rain God Dressed as a Priest 415 The Inner Tablet of the Temple of the Sun 417 ► z o PI sa en a ?! B tn VI PJ a > V) O r < PI v> MYTHS AND SYMBOLS. CHAPTER I. RACES AND RELIGIONS IN AMERICA. The subject of comparative religion has been under discus- sion for many \'ears, and some of the strongest and best thinkers have written upon it well and forcibly. The field which has received the most attention and occupied the most important position has been the continent of Asia, though Arabia, Afric£, and the northern part of Europe have also been studied. There is, however, a field on the continent of America which has not been studied as closely as it deserves, for it car- ries us back to a stage of religious development which is more primitive than can be found elsewhere, and at the same time presents a series of stages which are quite as interesting as those found in Eastern countries. It is the purpose of the author to describe the different sys- tems as they are found on this continent, especially in regard to their geographical situation, and to compare them with those which existed in Oriental countries in the earliest time, and to point out the resemblances. The thought which is to be held in mind, is that in America we have a field in which religion passed through those stages which are known to have been the lowest, and at the same time had reached, a stage which was nearl)' or quite as high as any that has been found in the pagan or heathen nations of the Old World. This makes this conti- nent a remarkable field for the investigation into the subject of comparative religion, and especially among the lower races. I. The first point to which we shall call attention, is that the races and tribes which formerly had dwelt here, were not only isolated from other continents, but in a large degree from one another, but developed their religious systems in parallel lines. It is not claimed that there were any mountain barriers which separated the races according to belts of latitude and made them subject to such differences of climate, for the mountain chains all run in a north and south direction, while in the Eastern hemisphere they run in an east and west direction. Still it will be found that the races were so separated from one another that they deve oped different phases of society, different modes of government, different forms of religion, and to a great degree different languages. There were several causes of separation. In the first place, there 2 NA TIVE AMERIC4N SYMBOLISM. were wide belts in which the climate and soil kept certain tribes hugging the sea coast, and others the forest belts and regions in the interior. The chain of the Great Lakes and the rivers ran east and west, and formed lines along which certain races clusteied; the Gulf of Mexico and the Southern sea drawing other tribes. To the west of the Rocky Mountains there were rivers and long valleys in which separate tribes were settled, each having its own mode of life, its own social system and, to a certain ex- tent, Its own religious customs; while in the midst of the moun- tains and on the great plateau of the Interior there were other tribes and races, which adopted religious practices peculiar to themselves. The effect was that a great variety of religious systems arose on this continent; systems which were largely the product of the region, and greatly influenced by the pecu- liarities of the natural surroundings. 1. To illustrate: the Esquimaux were scattered along the shores of the Arctic Sea, and were confined to the ice fields and to a region where the year was divided into a long winter of darkness and a short summer of daylight. The natural con- sequence of this was that they developed a form of religion, or superstition, entirely different from any which existed else- where. The people here were fishermen and their religion consisted in the superstition which peopled the sea with strange creatures, which they imagined to have supernatural powers and at the same time had the human form. To the suuth of this was the second district, which extended from the Arctic Sea to the chain of the Great Lakes and as far south as the Ohio River, It was occupied by a people mainly hunters, who lived on the creatures found in the forests and rivers and lakes. It was natural that they should have developed a form of religion which had regard to the wild animals which prevailed in the forest, and that their mythology should have abounded with descriptions of strange creatures which dwe't in the water. Stories were told about fish and serpents which were natural- istic and at the same time fraught with supernatural powers. 2. There were tribes living on the prairies as far west as the Rocky Mountains and as far north as Lake Winnipeg, who might be called nomads and were constantly moving about m pursuit of game, spending a part of the time in villages scat-, tered along ttie streams, and a part of the time in mountains. All of these tribes were totemistic in their beliefs, and yet their totems varied, for the people who dwelt in the. forest took the wild animals which abounded about them, and made them their totems, while those who dwelt on the prairie lands took the buffalo and other animals which roamed on the prairies as their totems. The mythology of the two classes varied almost as much as did the animals themselves. Even the form of gov- ernment varied — in one case it was matriarchy; in the other, it was patriarchy. RACES AND RELIGIONS IN AMERICA. 3 3. Another region is worthy of notice because of the diversity of population and the peculiar form of religion which pre- vailed. It is the region in which so many mounds were situa- ted — mounds which contained a great variety of relics, on which the greatest number of symbols have been discovered. These symbols are speechless, but they tell the story about the religious system . which prevailed, and have great in- terest for the archaeologist. It appears that there was a great variety in these symbols, and the conclusion is that there was a great diversity in the religious beliefs of the people who dwelt here. They were symbols which abounded with crosses and circles, crescents and squares, animal figures, spiders, birds, and serpents; all of which had a latent significance. In fact, the symbols all indicate that sun worship was the chief system which prevailed here, though it was modified by the lunar cult, and by a regard for certain animals and insects, which were connected with Nature worship. This is the region where ser- pent symbols are very numerous, but the pyramid is also found here; the two indicating that there was a greater variety of religious systems than prevailed farther north. 4. The aridregion will be considered next. This was separated- from the region just described, by a wide range of mountains, but was, and still is, occupied by a people who have a form of religion, as well as a mode of life, distinct from either of those which have been described. Here we find mountaineers who are at present shepherds, but were formerly hunters. The Navajos are the best representatives of them. But in the midst of the mountains the Great Plateau arises, which has been called the " air continent." It is an arid region, yet it is occupied, and has been for an unknown period, by the Pueblo tribes, who have developed a communistic state of society and are practicing a form of religion which differs from any other on the continent. 5. There was a district in the Vallev of Mexico, but which stretched far to the south into the region of Central America. Here society had developed beyond the hunter stage, even be- yond the ordinary agricultural stage, into a stage in which there were many different employments, but all under the con- trol of kings and priests. It was a region into which the Spaniards entered, and where they found many things which surprised them. The form of religion which existed here was a matter of greater surprise to the Spaniards, than the social development. The symbolism which prevailed here is very elaborate and worthy of study. There was here a system of writing, which differed from all others in the world, a system which consisted of hieroglyphics, but so mingled with picto- graphs that it was difficult to decipher. The system which existed here may be regarded as a solar cult, modified by the worship of the elements and a regard for personal divinities, who seem to be the personification of the heavenly bodies and * # i NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. the Nature powers. This is a form of religion which we shall need to study, for it differs from any found elsewhere. We may say, however, that it so re- sembles that which prevailed in Central America, Peru, and other parts of South America, that it should be classed under the same head. A term has been devised by Major J. W. Powell, which re- represents the chief peculiarity; the term is "Heno- theism." It consisted in the worship of the Nature powers as personified, but making some one of these powers the chief object of worship and ascribing to it a personal character, but also personifying other Nature powers and making them subordinate. Thus the religious system corresponded to the state of society, of which there were different grades and different ofifices, and at the same time it corre- sponded with the works of nature and peculiarities of climate, the correlation between the religion and the geographical surroundmgs being vcy close. - Now, this is a mere summary, but it shows that there were many different forms of religion and dif- ferent systems of mythology, on the continent of North America, and that they all corresponded to the geographical surroundings. The origin of these religions and the different stages through which they have passed, is another point, but so far as they have been studied, the systems all were closely con- formed to the geographical situation. We ajre not able to trace any of these systems back to a very early period; certainly no such early period as existed in the lands of the far East, but we do find an adapta- tion to the surroundings, which are quite as striking as any that can be traced in other lands. It will be acknowledged that in the continent of Europe there were different systems of religion, and that they corresponded v\ith the physical surround- ings. The mythology always abounds with stories which bring the natural scenery into view and give the picture a background, which is not only natural but interesting. Such is the case with the Scandi- navian and Teutonic mythology. But much of the mythology of America is equally beautiful and in- teresting, and at the same time it pictures the Ameri- can scenery as it was before the white man appeared, and is all the more interesting on that account. It is true that each tribe or group of tribes was confined to a particular locality, and developed its own myth- ology and religious system, but this gives great variety and furnishes an unbounded field for research and for speculation. D 1 1,11' i?^ CES AND RELIGIONS IN AMERICA . The continent of America, in fact, fur- nishes more systems of religion and of my- thology than any other continent upon the face of the earth, but they are all systems which seem to have grown up in the same region where they are now found, and they are full of allusions to the physical char- acter and topographical features of the region where they are preserved. II. This brings up the point which is of great interest to the scholars who have studied the subject of comparative religions. One of the first questions is: What is the lowest form of religion, and through what stages did it pass? We, who live in Christ- ian lands, know what the highest form is, but the question is as to the Towest. On this question there are great differ- ences of opinion, and no two are really in agreement. The study of the problem in connection with the races which were found on this continent, may be of service to us especially when we consider the correspond- ence of their religion to their social state, their domestic life, and their peculiar habits and ways. We begin with the Hyperboreans, who dwelt on the shores of the Arctic Sea, the most degraded of all the races upon the face of the earth. There never was a people more stupid in their religious ideas than these people at the far North, and none more degraded in their personal character. The dark night, which contmued so long and presented such a strange contrast to the ghostly icebergs and cold ice fields, un- doubtedly had the effect to keep alive the superstitions which prevailed. It is not strange that with the muttering ice- bergs and swashing of the waves under- nea^th 'the icy shores, that there should have arisen a superstition that a super- natural being dwelt under the water, and could be seen at times amid the waves. Note The cuts show the power of the shamans among the Rsquimfliix and their belief in the presence of demons In one we see the boat r sling on posts, the winter habitation, store houses, trees in the middle, the Shaman and the burners. In another, the Shaman stands upon his lodge, and drives back the g me, the deer ars seen swimming in the water In the third, we see the hunter shooting the game which has heon driven up to him by the demon and his assis ant«. The control of the Shaman over the demon is the essential part of the pictigraph 6 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. The story, as told by the Esquimaux, is that Sedna w.is a fen\ale who accompanied her liusband, or liege lord, in a canoe voyage over the northern sea, but while they were in the midst of the waters, there arose a fierce storm and both were likely to be overwhelmed. Tne canoe was overthrown, both fell into the water, but the man was able to climb into the canoe again, while the woman was only able to cling to the sides. While in this attitude, the storm blew upon them and the waves threat- ened to engulf them, and death seemed near, but the man, taking his stone knife or axe, cut off the fingers of the woman and thrust her away, so that she sank beneath the waves. The superstition of the natives is that this Sedna, who became a monster and yet retained her character as a woraan, still lives under the sea, and whenever a fierce storm arises and the waves toss high amid the blasts, and the wind's shriek, they can not only hear the voice of this first of all created beings, but they can see her face dimly looking out from beneath the sea, the water and the face mingling together to arouse their fears. Sedna is the chief divinity of the Arctic regions. She maybe regarded as the personifications of the sea and the storm, for she is supposed to be as cruel as either, and as ready to seize upon all who come within her reach and draw them down into the dark depths. There is another system which p-evails in the same region. It consists, in the belief that there is not only one living per- son who can be regarded as a demon or a ghost, but that there are many such, and they continue to inhabit the rocks and the earth, and even the air, and are constantly present to deprive the people of their food, by driving away the deer from their habitations, keeping them from success in fishing, and bringing upon them di-ease and death. This is another form of demonism, but the demon now becomes vi'^ible and in- habits the land as well as the sea, There is no ordinary person who can overcome the demons or banish them from the sky or earth, except the Shaman, and it is his chief mission to pro- tect the people from the evil influence, and counteract it by his own charms. Illustrations of this fact may 'be found in what may be called the pictographs or bone cuttings, speci- mens of which are given in the cuts. These carved bones are, perhaps, the rudest of all the specimens of art which have been found on this continent, but are suggestive of the system of religion which prevailed. Some have compared the bone carvings to those which are found in the caves of Europe, and have drawn the inference from the resemblance and other cir- cumstances, that the Esquimaux were the descendants of the old cave dwellers of Europe; but we know nothing about the religion of the cave dwellers and, therefore, can trace no resemblance between the two systems. We Itarn from the pictographs and carved bones that the people believed implicitlv in the power of the presence of RA CES AND RELIGIONS IN AMERICA . 7 demons, and therefore were led to rely upon the power of the Shnmans, or priebts, to dispel or drive away the demons, and to bring in the game. VVe see this illustrated by the cuts, in all of which we see the reindeer, and even the fish and other creatures subject to the Shaman, while the people were subject to his power for their vtry subsistence. This may be corn- pared to that form of religion which prevailed in the far East in early historic times, which consisted in the belief in demons, and depended upon the power of the priest to exorcise them, survivals of which were recognized late in history, e\'en among the Babylonians. Demonism similar to that which still pre- vails in the ice fields of the North, prevailed in archaic times in the regions of the far East, especially in Babylonia. This has been made known by the recent discoveries. It is supposed, also, that the various animal figures which are stid common here, and have been discovered among the ruins in the midst of the mounds of Babylonia, are really the survival of the totemism which pre\ailed .there. Similar to this belief in demons and growing out of it, was the habit of cutting the shapes of the human face upon the surface of the rocks, and placing within them great glaring eyes, which seemed to resemble demons looking out from the depth of the earth, suggesting the thought that Sedna, the great demon of the sea, had changed her abode from the sea to the rock, and though silent and speechless, yet was haunt- ing ihe eaith. Some have interpreted this as an evidence that animi-m was the earliest form of religion, and that it pre- vailed here, along with demonism. This may, indeed, be a true interpretation, for it is one characteristic of the supersti- tion that there is a hidden soul or spirit in almost ever)- object in creation. It is not often that the soul has lineaments which can be seen, as in this case of the face in the rocks, but it is rather a shadowy ghost and is oftent-r heard of than seen. Such is the belief of the degraded Africans and many other races, who dwell far away from the seats of civilization. The system of animism is associated with demonism, and awakens fear in the mind of the savage, just as the shadow and a ghost would awaken a fear in the minds of the partially civilized. The three systems which are to be found in the far North of this continent may well be compared to those which are called the rudest and lowest, /.£-., fetishism, animism and totemism. III. The system of totemism comes up next for considera- tion. This has been often described, and yet it is poorly under- stood. It consists in the belief that animals were the first ancestors, and are at present the chief divinities. The names of the animals are given to the clans, with the idea that there is a charm in the name itself. To make this, however, more forcible, the people place the figure of the animal on the tents or in front of the houses, on their graves, and in every place NA TTVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. which they occupied. Some of the tribes cut the hair, so as to represent the animal whose totem they worshiped. There are individual totems which are in reality dream gods, for they are seen only after long fasting and in connection with their visions or day dreams. This form of religion is quite widespread, but prevailed mainly among the hunter tribes, but varies according to locality. The totemism which existed among the Algon- quins differed from that found among the Iroquois, and this again from that found among the Dakotas, the variations ap- pearing even among the separate tribes. The study of syrn- bolism will bring us into contact with this totemism, and it is important that we should realize how deeply-seated it was in the mind of the people before we undertake to interpret the symbols. It would seem as if all nature was haunted by supernatural beings, who were regarded by the people as tribal totems and Fig, t>^' Fig. 7.— The Bear. Ojibwas, which give the private records as well as the totems of the individual. It is acknowledged by all students of comparative religion that there is a complete series, which can'be traced out by the study of the ancient monuments of the East; but that there was any such series to be found upon this continent, is some- what novel, and yet the fact that we have the same social con- ditions here which correspond with those which were common in the East at various dates, makes the continent a very favor- able field for the study of the subject. The prevalence of totemism in Old Testament times is shown by the dying words of Jacob, for in them he described the animal figures which were shown on the escutcheon of each tribe. The lion, on the escutcheon of Judah; the serpent, on that of Dan; the wild 10 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. ass, on that of Issachar; and the hind on that of Naphtali. Toteinism prevails among the tribes of Arabia to this day. It also existed in Scandinavia and may be recognized in their mythology, as well as in the ornaments and symbols, especially tlie symbol of the dragon seen upon their boats. A modified form of totemism is found in the Mississippi Valley, especially on the Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico. Here we see amid the stone graves and in the mounds, a great variety of pottery vases, shell tablets, and other relics, on which are inscribed circles and squares and spiral lines, crescents, sun symbols, winged figures, and human images. These sug- gest a thought that sun worship was mingled with animal wor- Ei^. 8. — The Crane. Fig. g. — Dreams ship and that religion had grown out of totemism into sun worship and assumed a new form. IV. There was a system of religion which prevailed among the tribes of the Northwest coast. It consisted in the worship of supernatural beings in the form of birds, animals, fishes, and double-headed serpents; the four elements — air, earth, water and fire — each being represented by a special divinity The bird, which is supreme upon the land, is the raven, called Yehl. It dwells in the forest, but reigns supreme over the creatures in the air. The bear is the animal which is regarded as the ruler of the earth. His supernatural character is shown by the manner in which he is pictured, for there always is a great RACFS AND RELIGIONS IN AMERICA. H glaring eye looking out from every part of the body of the bear; his paws, his different limbs, his head, and his ears have eyes. In fact, he seems to be all eyes. This is, perhaps, a modification of the previous system in which the eyes were looking out from the solid rock, but in this case the bear seems to be alive, and yet possessed by a hidden spirit. The myths are very different from those which prevailed among the tribes of the Interior, for they relate to the adventures of sea monsters, who had the power of transforming themselves into human be- ings, and again into animals. This was the case with the totems of the hunter tribes, for transformation was very common and many stories are told of the tricks played by means of this transformation. There was such a correspondence between the animal totems and the Nature power<, that the animals were supposed to dwell at the different points of the compass and send the winds and the rains. These were not strictly totems, at least not personal or individual totems, but the mingling of the totems with the Nature powers personified, formed the basis of a great variety of myths, which are very interesting. The sea is supposed to hide another divinity called the whale killer. This is a fabulous creature, and is capable of changing its shape, for there are many stories in which the creature appears as a great canoe, but is transformed into a sea animal. There are figures upon the fronts of the houses, which represent this whale killer as held in the claws of the raven, thus indicating that the sea gods and gods of the sky have been drawn close together. In this figure the eye is very conspicuous, but the winged feathers and the vertebrae of the bird and of the whale are al-^o clearly seen. The double- headed serpent is generally carried in the hand, and is a sym- bol which served an important part in the dances. It is called the sisul and is generally worn in front of the stomach. The human face and eyes may be seen at the center, the animal head and eye at either end, with the serpent body and scales between the heads. This illustrates the habit of bringing to- gether their divinities into one object. The stories are numerous which celebrate the exploits of these various creatures, but they all convey the idea that they are supernatural beings and to be worshiped as well as feared. There are many dances and religious ceremonies in which the natives cover themselves with blankets and put upon their heads great masks representing the head and jaws of the wolf. This suggests the idea that human beings are sometimes trans- formed into animals, and reminds us of the transformation which is so common in all parts of the continent, for there were no hard and fast lines between the different animals, or between animals and men. The supposition formerly was that they were designed as the totems of the tribes, but the opinion now is that thev embodied the mvthologies and represent the villages, as each Village was founded by a supernatural being, 12 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. who gave power and authority to the chief, or human founder, to represent him; the result was that the different crests were carved into the poles, some of tiiem representing the super- natural being, the bird or fish, or some other animal; also the crest of the village chief, and the crest of the different de- scendants of the first chief. It is to be noticed that the human- izing tendency was very strong, so that all the birds and ani- mals and creatures of the sea were spoken of as having human attributes; the sye, the symbol of humanity, being placed in all parts of the bodies, whether beasts or birds. Mr. Hill-Tout says: "The sculptures and paintings were ancestral and not totemistic in character." The son inherited his father's rank and property, with all his carvings and crests and emblems, which were largely commemorative in character. There was a tendency among all these people to humanize everything. The raven, the wolf and the bear, and all other animals were humanized, and stories were told about them, as if they were human beings. Conversation is held between men and women and the animals, and even between the heavenly bodies — the sun, moon, and the stars. There were no lines which separated the material from the animal, the animal from the human, the human from the divine or super- natural being. An immense amount of mythology has accu- mulated in this way, for everything on the earth, in the air, in the sea or sky, whether animal, men and women, or heavenly bodies, are mingled together, intermarry and converse, and their adventures are very numerous. V. There is a form of religion still existing in the interior of the continent, which well deserves our attention, and we hope to describe it mpre at length in the future. It is found among the Navajoes, who dwelt among the mountains of Utah and Colorado. This religion consists in the worship of the elements, such as the clouds, the sky, the rainbow, the moun- tains, lakes, hills, and also animals, birds, and other creatures, which inhabited them. The mythology is very beautiful and picturesque, and shows that the love of nature abounded with all this people. There is no mythology that is more beautiful than that which comes to us from the tribes who dwelt in the deep interior of the continent. Their mythology was founded upon their religion, and their religion sprang from the love of nature. We may call it superstition, yet it was a superstition that peopled everything with harmless divinities. Even the serpent, which was generally supposed to ht treacherous and hostile and dangerous is represented as a benefactor, and always bestowing gifts upon the people; in fact, the serpent is a symbol of the rain-cloud, which is always a welcome visitor. The people watch the sky closely, for their very existence de- pends upon having rain. There is a distinction between the religion of the Navajoes, who were formerly hunters but now are sheperds, and the RACES AND RELIGIONS IN AMERICA. 13 Pueblos. The Navajoes were mountaineers, yet they retain the same religion they had when in their wild state. Their myth- ology is very beautiful and abounds with allusions to all the beautiful things of na- ture — clouds, sunbeams, sparkling waters, crystals, rocks of the mountains, mosses, twigs of trees, animals which inhabit the caves and rocks, birds among the trees, supernatural beings that are in the clouds, divinities that dwell on the mountain tops; all are mingled together, and the strangest fancies are indulged in, in describing them. There seems to have been, also, a deeper apprehension of the meaning of nature than most people have, certainly much deeper and more varied than anything found among the white population of that region or any other. Everything was shadowy and filled with supernatural creatures. VI. There was a form of religion which prevailc d among the tribes of the Interior, which consisted in the worship of the Na- ture powers, under the figure of theserpent. There are occasional figures upon the pottery found in the mounds, and upon the shields and other ornaments found among the Pueblos, which represent winged figures. These can hardly be called totems, for the)- are more like mythological creatures. They may be re- garded as connecting Links between totems and a higher form of symbolism. In will be seen in the figure that the serpents have feathered heads and large wings; the body is open, so as to show the heart. The sun symbol is connected with each winged serpent. The figures on the shields have wings, but they also have the serpent below the feet. These serpents were also regarded as divinities which ruled over the different parts of creation. There was, however, the same superstition that prevailed else- where on the continent, that there were supernatural beings everywhere present, in the sky above, in the depths of the earth below, in different directions upon the «arth; and that all the elements, — the air, IVinged Serpent. 14 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYiMBOLISM. the earth, fire, and water, were haunted or possessed by unseen creatures. The main difference between this system and that which prevailed farther north, was that the ser- pent took its place in the sky, instead of a raven, as it was the personification of the cloud and was supposed to bring; the rains. This furnishes an explanation for the celebrated snake dance. The people, it appears, were not satisfied with offering their prayers to the cloud divinities, or making symbols of the rain clouds, when they performed their ceremonies, but they must have some live object which they could hold in their hands and mouth, and realize that they had brout^ht it under their power, This was, perhaps, not thought out deliberately, but came to them from their habit of putting all their prayers into sacred dramas and religious ceremonies, and miking everything as concrete as possible. It is to be noticed here that no prayer was effective unless it was svmbnlized and made substantial by something that Pig 1 1. —Ornamented Wall of Buried City in Honduras. could be seen. It was on this account that so many frames, which are called altars, are erected, consisting of painted slats of wood, while in front of them are other figures of the rain- clouds, surrounded by rods, the ears of corn and other objects placed as offerings in front of the altars. This form of reli- gion is, perhaps, more reasonable than that which prevailed in the region of the North, for it consists of sacred dramas in which the prayers of the people are acted out, the ceremonies all proving to be very carefully observed, and there is gener- ally a spirit of reverence among the people. The heavenly bodies are closely watched, especially the sun in its move- ments through the sky. The superstition is that when it ap- proaches the solstitial point, that there must be a prayer and religious ceremony, or it will never return. RACES AND RELIGIONS IN AMERICA. 15 The Pueblos have a mythology which abounds with stories about the various animals, such as the wolf, the bear, the mole, as well as the serpent. The eagle is ver}' prominent in their mythology. They carry with them shields upon which are in- scribed or painted in different colors human figures, with tur- reted caps upon their heads, symbolizing the mountains, a bear standing on either side, a serpent below the feet, thus showing that the close association of animals, human beings, and divinities, all mingled together and surrounded by the elements of nature. The serpent figures vary conspicuously in their mythology. Much can be learned from the study of their religious customs, and especially comparing the myths and ceremonies common among them, with those which prevailed among the wild tribes scattered about them. VII, We shall next consider the religion of the so-called civilized races, such as the Nahuas, Mayas, and others situated Ftg. 13. — Fresco Figure from Mexico. in Mexico and Central America, including the Quichuas in Peru. The religion of the Mayas was fund^mently the same as that of the Nahuas. Most of the gods were deified heroes, though we occasionally find traces of an older sun-worship, and the conjecture is that an original astral worship once prevailed. This is illustrated by the cuts. One of which represents the frescoes on the walls of a buried temple in Honduras. In these frescoes human forms are covered with animal heads and surrounded by figures representing plumed serpents. An- other cut (Fig. 12) represents paintings from Monte Alban in Mexico, In these an animal headed creature seems to be facing a draped altar. The significance of the picture is unknown. An- other cut (Fig. 13) represents a row of idols, which has also been 16 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. discovered in Honduras. There are no altars in front of these and so they form an exception to the general rule, for in most cases where human images are seen, there are altars in front of them; many of them being in the shape of animals or huge dragons or nondescript creatures. VIII. There was a form of religion which prevailed in Peru. It consisted mainly in the deifying of the Incas, who were regarded as the sons of the sun, and so, in a measure, divine. The symbols in Peru were, however, mainly images of the sun and moon. These were placed on the walls of the J^'ig.jj. — Idols in Honduras. temples, the best specimens of which were seen by the Spaniards at Quito. It appears that sun-dials were numerous and that from these the Peruvian priests calculated the seasons, and by this means regulated all the affairs of the nation. There were no such carved statues in Peru, as have been dis- covered in Central America, and no altars which betokened that sacrifies were offered to kings; yet th government of Peru was based on tjie idea that the Inca was S' perior to all, and that the Inca race belonged to a different order. TOTEM TATOQES ON THE NORTHWEgT COAST. PORTRAIT FIGURE FROM GUATEMALA, TOTEMISM AKD MYTHOLOGY. 17 CHAPTER II. TOTEMISM AXD MYTHOLOGY. The patriarch Jacob, just before his death, called his sons together and prophesied their future destiny and that of the tribes that were to descend from them. In doing so he used certain symbols or emblems which were probably promi- nent in their tribal escutcheons, and made these the basis of his prophecy. The following is his language : "Judah is a lion's whelp;" "The Scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come ;" "Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens ;" " Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path;" " Xaphtali is a hind let loose;" "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well ;" "Benjamin shall raven as a wolf, in the morning he shall devour the prey and at night divide the spoils." — Genesis, Chapter 48: 8, 14, 17, 21, 22, 27. In these expressions, we have a series of word pictures which clearly portray the characteristics of the different tribes, their histor}-, as well as a description of the geographical localities which they occupied. How the patriarch came to use this lan- guage is a mystery, but there may have been a kind of picture language prevalent in the patriarchal age which he used to designate the traits of each one of his children, and to show that the history of each one of the tribes which should descend from them, would partake of these traits. It is. known that at a very early time significant names and emblems; were given to individuals, and that these were transmitted to- the children, and as their posterity increased, they became tribal emblems. There were also dreams which were pro- phetic, and it may be that the patriarch in his dreams saw the emblems which belonged to the different sons, and in^ them read the history of the tribes which should be raised: up from them. Whatever the explanation is, the passages, furnish a good illustration of a custom which was common, among the uncivilized races, and is still prevalent among the aborigines of America, namely: the custom of giving the- names of animals and plants to the children, and making these serve as emblems of the clan or tribe. ' ' .\moner certain tribes there was a change from matriarchy to patriarchy. In such cases thechihlren took the name of the father's clan and bore the emblem or sign which belonged to the father. 18 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. In most of the tribes thpse names were given by the mother, or rather were taken from the clan to which the mother belonged, and were transmitted by a fixed law, for the children by the law of matriarchy, always belonged to the clan of the mother, and carried the name and emblem of that clan. It was in this way that the clan, tribal and family names first appeared. They were not names which Avere taken from the employments, occupations, or trades, nor were they names which were descriptive of personal ex- ploits or incidents such as some of the Indians have borne, nor were they arbitrary nick names which were given to describe the characteristics of the individual, but they were ancestral names and resemble in this respect surnames which are now extant. The main difference between the historic and prehistoric surnames was that the latter were always the '-^4^ i}^^ CLAN TOTEMS INSCRIBED ON ROCKS. na!mes of animals which were regarded as ancestors, while in historic times, surnames were derived from occupations, etc. Occasionall}' there was a name which was altogether private, and which might be called the dream name for it was the name of some animal which appeared to the individual in a dream. These dreams came after long fasting, and were the result of the hidden exercises of the mind which would naturally occur before the initiation of warriors. When the vision of some animal appeared, the young man felt himself prepared for his initiation as a warrior, and as he presented himself for the rite he would take the skin of the animal or some figure of it as a personal fetich or charm and would join the society which bore the name of the animal that had Maj. J. W. Powell holds that niatriaichy prevailed among the people who -were in the status of savaKcvy hut chanj^jod to patriarchy when they reached the status of bar- barism. See loth Annual Report of Hu. ]<:thnoloKy Intro. He also gives the name clan to a group of people reckoning kiusliip in a female line; tlie name of gens to a group of people reckoning kinship in tlie male line. When tribes unite in confederacies, artificial kinship is establislied as a legal fiction, and the members of one tribe know the members of another tribe by the artificial emblem, which they wear, and address them by kinship terms. Adopted members are given artificial kinship, and have the £ame rights as those who are born into clans or tribes. H Z H Z c r MYTHOLOGIC AND ANIMAL TOTEMS— From Catlix's Indians. Catlin paj-s these symbolic writings or totems are found recorded on rocks and trees, als > on r< b:'s and wigwams, and are very numerous. TOTEMISM AND MYTHOLOGY. 19 appeared to him/ In this \va}' there arose a system of reli- gion which was very wide-spread and very powerful among all the hunter tribes of America which was called totemism." Now it is to this totemism that we shall devote the present chapter. I. We shall begin with a description of the system and the new kinship introduced by it. (i) There were two kinds of kinship, the natural and arti- ficial. The natural w£s that system which led to giving the names and emblems of the mother or father to the children, but the artificial was that which introduced into all the to- temistic tribes a new relationship which transcended kin- ship according to the flesh. According to totemism, every male person must marry outside of his clan. The children which were born belonged to the clan of their mother and took the name of her clan rather than that of the father. There were a few tribes, like the Dakotas for instance, in which the law of matriarchy was changed to patriarchy, and the children in that case took the name of the father but it was generally the mother who gave the name. The name was taken al\va\'s from some animal, and generally from one that abounded in the region. ^ (2) This relationship which came from history and from re- ligion, dated back to the time when the different tribes were clans of one tribe, and so were descended from a common ancestor. The power of religion and regard for ancestr}', led the people to value the archaic kinship as more binding upon the families than the relationship which then existed. . . — - — * ' Miss Alice Fletcher says : The Indian's relisrion is spoken of as a nature and animal worship. Careful inquiry and ob-ervation fail to show that tlio Indian actually wor- shiped the objects. iMore faitli is put in the ritual, and a careful observance of forms than in any act of self denial in its moral sense, as we understand it. The claim of rela- tionship is used to strengthen the appeal. = The name was derived from an Ojibwa word which signifies tribe or family, but brings to view a system whicli was very wide-spread and very powerful, especially among the hunter tribes. It was in fact the system according to wl>ich nearly all aboriginal tribes were organized, and whicli also embodied their tribal history and regulated their tribal customs, but itself arose out of their mythology and especially out of their cos- mic myths. In the east it was called animal worsliip and the name animal tribe was given to those who practiced it. In America the term totemism is used, for it brings up the thought of the peculiar relationship which was involved, and dismisses the idea of worshiping animals whicli is very subordinate, if it existed at all. There was a rever- ence for animals inasmuch as certain animals were regarded as ancestors of the tribes, a few were also regarded as mythologic beings who were both "Culture heroes and Creators." These emblems or figures were very prominent in the " bark records" and picture writings. .^Mr. J O. Dorsey says: "The Dakotas have animal names for their gentes and tribal or clan taboos. Eacii man lias his personal taboo and his personal name. The personal names give the color of the animal. Some of their names suggest myths." (See Indian personal names, .\nier Anthropologist for .July, ISIH). ) Walter Fewkes says: ".Vmong the Tusayaus names of animals have the preference over plants, there being 46 of the first and 21 of the latter. It is natural that gentes named from horned animals, foxes, coyctes and wolves, shoulil go together. But why the ants should be associated with the horn people is not so clear unless we trace it back to the history of their migration." Captain Bourko says: " If clan names were originally topographical this does not militate against the idea that to the mind of the .\merican savage the animals have always been gods, and in some vague way connected with the mystery of human crea- tion." 20 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. (2) It was a fraternity which ran through the different tribes of a stock or confederacy, and which brought together all of the clans which bore the same animal name and had the same totem, and made them brothers. To illustrate : The Iroquois; who dwelt in New York, were composed of five tribes, each tribe was divided into ten or twelve clans named after animals — the wolf, bear, beaver, turtle, deer, snipe, heron and hawk. The tribes lived in the different parts of the state, and each tribe had its own council house, head chief, sachems and specific territory. They were named and situ- ated as follows: Beginning at the east, Mohawks, called "The Shield," next the Onondagas, called ''Name-Bearer,'' Oneidas, "The Great Tree,"' Cay- ugas, "The Great Fipe,'" Senecas, " The Door- Keeper,"' as they were the per- petual keepers of the door of the 'iong house." 1 A person who belonged to the wolf clan could travel along the trail which led from tribe to tribe, and would find the members of the wolf clan ready to receive him and protect him, and give him a home among them as if he was their own brother, as they were brothers according to an archaic fraternity and bore the same fraternal emblem. There was also an emblem which every one carried about his person which indicated the clan to which he belonged. This may have consisted in the pic- ture of an animal inscribed upon an amulet or it may have consisted in the fashion of cutting the hair, making the moccasins, or wearing apparel, or of ornamenting the person or tattooing the face. Whatever the emblem was, it was equivalent to a coat of arms, and was a native heraldry. This heraldry was recognized everywhere as significant of a totemistic brotherhood. It was supplemented often times by sign language, for each tribe had a name which could be expressed by signs. The Pawnee, whose clan totem is the wolf is seen in a plate given by Cat- lin. holding up the hand and fingers so as to show the wolf's ears. Among the Hurons and Dakotas the manner of cutting the hair was such as to make the head at once suggestive of the animal or bird whose totem the person carried. The tuft over the forehead and back of the head and ears resembling the wings, head and tail of the eagle, showed that the person belonged to the eagle clan. The ridge of hair which was left on the crown, resembling the back of the buffalo, showed that the person belonged to the buffalo clan. Among the Haidas of the North West Coast the figure of the squid or frog, or cod, or sculpin, the double figure of the wolf tattooed upon the arms, legs, breast, or back or shoulders of the man and woman would indicate the clan or tribe to which they belonged. This heraldry was equivalent to that which belonged to the royal families of Europe, and with some of the tribes symbolized the genealogy of the family and the exploits and traditional history. It was as much a sign of fraternity as the pins, badges and other symbols which are worn by the members of the 'Mr. L. H. Morgan says: ".Ml tho members of the same tjens whether Mohawks, Oneidas. Onondagas, Cayugas or St'necas wore brotliers and sisters to each other, in virtue of their descent from the same common ancestor, and were recognized as such. Three of the gentes, wolf, bear and turtle were common to five tribes. The deer, snipe and hawk were common to three tribes.— .\ncient Society, p. l'.i'.i. TOTEMISM AND MYTHOLOGY. 21 various secret societies and college fraternities, but introduced a brotherhood which was stronger and more sacred than that which came from these societies. * (4) According to Mr. Morgan, there were two changes. First. The change of descent from the female line to the male line. Second. The change of inheritance of the propert}' of the deceased member from the clan or gens in the collective capacity to the agnatic kindred, and finally to the man's children." Yet there were certain rights and privi- leges which inhere in the system. These were as follows : (a) The right of electing chiefs. (/?) The right of inheritance of the property of deceased members. (r) The right of be- stowing names upon members and adopting strangers into the gens. ((/) The right of help, defense and redress of in- juries, (e) Right to a common burial place and a share in religious ceremonies. (/) Right to a representation in council of the gens. (g-) Obligation not to marry in the gens. All these rights and privileges were enjoyed by those who bore the clan emblem. The totem which he carried on his person brought an obligation on the clan which bore the same totem to defend him. They were all brothers, not by kinship, but by religion. (5) In some tribes the communistic system prevailed. The families and persons which belonged to a particular clan had a share of the food which was to be had, whether it was in his own family or in some other family. The supply was to ths clan rather than to the household. This did not alway.s exist, for there were tribes where the family lived separate, and had its provisions separate, but it was very common. In such a case the totem may be said to have brought the pro- vision to each person. (6) The inheritance of landed property was in the clan. There was no property in severalty among the uncivilized tribes. The property and effects of the mother passed to her children, and in default of them, to her sister's children, but al- ways remained in the clan. This is the case among the Algon- quins. Among the Lagunas the land is held in common as the property of the community, but after a person cultivated a lot he had a personal claim to it which he could sell to any one of the community. Among the Iroquois the property was hereditary in the gens. Consequently, children took 'Mr. Morgan, who was initiated by the Iroquois, aays: "The gens embraced all such persons as trace their descent from a supposed common ancestor thronsh females. The evidence of the fact was the possession of a common gentile name. It does not in- clude all the descendants of a common ancestor, but all wlio bear the name are entitled to the totem. The gentile organization originated in the period cf savagery, endured through the three sub-periods of barbarism, and finally gave way when the tribe at- tained to civilization and tiie land and property took the place of kinship. = See .\ncieut Society, p. 74. 22 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. nothing from their fathers, but inherited their mother's effects. ^ (7) The history ■ of the clans is thus given by the totem. It appears that the different tribes grew up together and bore the names of a common ancestry, as the animal names of the clans were repeated in every tribe. This, to be sure, varied in the different tribes, for there were in some of the clans, or gentes, sub-gentes, which took other names. There were also clans which became incorporated in certain tribes, and these introduced certain emblems or totems. Still, even witn this confusion the history of the tribe could be traced in the totems. (8) The government of the clan was influenced by to- temism. The office of sachem or civil chief is hereditary in the gens, but elective among the members. Each gens had the power to depose as well as elect its chiefs. Carver says of the Dakotas : " The office of sachem, or clan elder, passes from brother to brother, or from uncle to nephew. That of war-chief was be- stowed as a reward of merit and was not hereditary. The sachem has more immediate management of civil affairs. His assent is necessary to all treaties " ^ Among the Winnebagos the sons of a deceased chief were not always eli- gible, for on the death of a chief his sister's son succeeds him in preference to his own son.""^ " A practice was common among certain tribes, such as the Shawnees, Miamis, Sauks and Foxes, of naming children into the gens. This would en- able a son to succeed his father in offi:e, and enable the children to inherit the property from the father. The father had no control over the question of naming the children It was left by the gens to certain persons, most of tnem matrons, who were to be consulted when children were to be named, with power to determine the name to be given." ^ Herrera rem irks of the Mayas: "They were wont to observe their pedigrees very much, and therefore thought themselves all related and were helpful to one another. They did not marrv anv that bore the same name as their father. This was looked upon as unlawful."" "The Laguna Pueblo Indians are organized in gentes with descent in the female line. Each town is divided into tribes or families, and each of these groups is named after some animal, bird, herb, tree, plant, or one of the four elements. Some are called bear, deer, rattlesnake, corn, wolf and ' See .\ncient Society, p. l.")3. '■' It was ;i totemishic history, rather than a genealogical or tribal, inasmuch as every clansman bejjan his history at tlie time he was initiated and received his new name The experience in tlie dreams may be compared to conversion in modern times, for it was always very remarkable. ^ See .Vncient Society, p. 15.'). •* See .\nciont Society, !>. 157. ■^.Vncient Society, p. Itii). " This shows that patriarchy existed among the Mayas. TOTEM ISM AND MYTHOLOGY. 23 water. The children are of the same tribe, (gens) as their mother." There arc many other characteristics to the totem system but those which have been spoken of will show how power- ful and far-reaching it was. II. We therefore turn from these to speak of the relation •of totemism to the native mythology. Here let us say that there was a native mythology in America which was as varied and interesting as that which prevailed in Scandinavia, India, or even in classic lands. This mythology had not reached the stage where personal divinities were recognized and myths invented to celebrate their exploits, nor had it reached that stage where the nature powers and heavenly bodies were deified, or at any rate, to no such extent as they were in the Far East, though there were certain myths that celebrated the exploits of the mountain divinities, and others represented the nature powers as hu- manized divinities. The chief peculiarities of American myth- ology was that it abounded with animal divinities and rung the changes as to the exploits of these, viewed as personal beings or as humanized animals. It is interestijig to go over the different parts of the conti- nent to see how the animals were deified and made to repre- sent supernatural beings. It would seem as if the whole sky and earth, and even the waters under the earth .vere filled with the imaginary beings who bore the animal form and yet had human attributes. This can be accounted for on the ground that totemism was the prevailing religion and the myths were about the animals which were worshipped as totems. It is in this way that the early history of totemism was transmitted and the meaning and object of the totems were made known. This gives to the mythology a ver^^ great value, inasmuch as it shows that the origin of totemism was in mythology, and the myths were the chief means of preserving the totems. The follow- ing classification of the myths is interesting on this account: 1. There were myths about the animals which were regarded as ancestors which would make those animals very sacred to the clan, for they were repeated at the fireside and in the hearing of the children until they be- came as household words and the animal ancestors seemed reaUties. 2. There were creation myths, which also perpetuated the same system, as the great creator or first ancestor, or culture hero, often bore an animal name and was represented under the animal semblance. 3. There were myths also which gave the idea of protection to the people, for they were full of marvelous exploits of the great animal who was regarded as the ancestor of the clan, or tribe, or village, or individual, and these exploits were a pledge ■ of securitv to those who bore the totem or emblem, i. There were also 24 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM.. myths which perpetuated the history of a tribe. Sometimes these myths-- carry the tribe back to their original home or starting place, and show how, when and where they received their first totems and how they changed them during their migration. 5. There were myths which showed the own-- ership that came from inheritance, as the totem of the individual or family was placed upon every utensil, weapon, keepsake and article of furniture that belonged to the individual, and became a kind of mono^jram. 0. There were myths perpetuated by the secret societies, which made known the migrations of the tribes and at the same time predicted the future state of the persons who were initiated. Among the Ojibwas, the first degree of the initiation was full of the symbols of creation, but; as the candidate went on through the different degrees the different animals which repre- sented the clan totems were found to guard the entrance. The bear spirit guarding the first degree, the wolf the second, etc. The candidate must pray and make offerings of tobacco that the spirits should drive the male- volent spirits away from the opening and that the entrance to the degree might be open to him. Serpent spirits were the evil manitous who opposed progress, but if the prayers and feasts were sufficient the largest serpent raised his body so as to form an arch so that the candidate might pass on his way while the four smaller serpents moved to either side of the path. In the second degree the candidate personated the bear spirit and was identified with the totem. 7. There were also myths concerning the "jour- ney of the soul " among certain tribes. These were very significant, and yet were connected with the totem system. Illustrations of these different kinds of myths might be given, but we shall content ourselves with a few of the picto- graphs which have been preserved, and the interpretations of them which have been furnished. Schoolcraft has spoken of some of the totems of the Dako- tas, and has given a plate-which is quite significant. On this we see, first, four "gods of the water," represented under the figure of animals (3, 4, 5 and 6) with lightning darting from their heads, with the principal god near them (7). In the picture the circle represents the sea which surrounds the earth. It has four passages (11) across it, representing the doors through which the gods go out into the world. The dotted line shows the migration route. Another picto- graph shows the god of the forest, under the figure of an owl (12) perched upon a tree; at the foot of the tree is the home of the "god;" on either side of him are the eagle and hawk (14), which are his guards or sentinels. One of the gods of thunder (15) is also represented, which is an enemy of the god of the forest. Another pictograph represents the six gods of the thunder, with thunderbolts in one hand and the rain falling from the other. The gods have square heads, with four points or peaks above the square to repre- sent the four quarters of the sky. Another picture represents the "goddess of war," with battle-ax in one hand and four TOTEM ISM AND MYTHOLOGY. 25 rings on the arms. Above the figure is an arch representing the sky. These were the mythologic totems of the Dakotas. Those of the Iroquois can be seen on the "bark records." An interpretation of certain mythologic totems has also been given by Catlin. There were four articles of great ven- eration and importance. These were four sacks of water made from a buffalo's skin, sewed together in the form of a large tortoise. These four tortoises contained water from the four quarters of the world. Their principal actors were eight men, with the entire skins of buffalos thrown over their backs, the horns, hoofs and tails remaining on their bodies in a horizontal position, enabling them to imitate the actions of the buffalo, whilst they were looking out of its eyes as through a masque.' The bodies of these men were chiefly naked, and all painted in the most extraordinary manner, with the nicest adherence to exact similarity, their limbs, bodies and faces being in every part covered either with black, red or white paint. Each one of these strange char- acters had also a lock of buffalo's hair tied around his ankles — in his right hand a rattle, and a slender white rod or staff, six feet long, in the other, and carried on hi-s back a bunch of ereen willow bous^hs about the usual size of a bundle of straw. These eight men being divided into four pairs, took their positions on the four different sides of the curb or big canoe, representing thereby the four cardinal points; and between each group of them, with the back turned to the big canoe, was another figure, engaged in the same dance, keeping step with them, with a similar staff or wand in one hand and a rattle in the other, and (being four in number) answering again to the four cardinal points. The bodies of these four young men were chiefly naked, with no other dress upon them than a beautiful kilt around the waist, made of eagle quills and ermine, and very splendid head dresses made of the same materials. Two of these figures were painted entirely black, with pounded charcoal and greese, whom they called the "firmament, or night ;" and the numerous white spots which were dotted all over their bodies, they called "stars." The other two were painted from head to foot as red as vermilion could make them. These, they said, represented the day, and the white streaks which were painted up and down over their bodies, "ghosts which the morning rays were chasing away." III. This leads us to take up the classification of the totems. It will be understood that there were several kinds 'The plate representing these may be seen in another part of this volume. £6 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. of totems, all of which are suggestive of mythology, or at' least of relieious customs and superstitions. The following embraces nearly all classes and a description of the ofifices which they filled: First. The clan totem. This was generally received from the mother, though in the tribes that had' reached the patriarchal age, it was received from the father.' Second. The tribal totem, common to all the members of a tribe to the exclusion of other tribes. Third. The individual totem, belonging to an individual and not passing to his descendants. Fourth. The village totem, common to all the residents of the village, generally derived from the chief of the village. Fifth. The phratry totem, common to all the members of a phratry or sub-divis- ion of a tribe, and derived from some former tribal division. Sixth. The sub-gens totem, called by Fraser the split totem. Seventh. The mythologic^ totem. (i) "The clan totem was reverenced by a body of men and women who called themselves by the name of the totem, be- lieved themselves to be of one blood, descendants of a com- mon ancestor, bound together by common obligations to each other and by a common faith in the totem." The clansman is in the habit of assimilating himself to his totem by dressing in the skin or other part of the totem animal, arranging his hair and mutilating his body so as to resemble the totem, or representing the totem on his body by tattooing or paint. The belief was common among the Indians that they had an animal in their bodies. A clansman affixes a totem mark or signature to treaties and deeds, and paints and carves it on his weapons, canoes and tents. In death the clansman sought to become one with his totem, so he was buried with the clan and had the clan totem placed above hi.= grave ^ It was an article of faith that the clan sprang from a totem or animal ancestor and that each clan at death rejoined the ancestors, though whether they reassumed the animal shape is a question. Clan totems were prevalent among all the hunter tribes, and were the symbols or emblems of the clans or gentes which existed among them. They indicated a natural kinship and in a sense perpetuated the ancestral line exactly as the coat of arms in European countries perpetuates the family history and shows the ancestry of the peculiar household They were not, however, indicative of any individual exploits as the crests and symbols upon the family crests in ordinaiy heraldy were, but were strictly genealogical. There were symbols 'It was about the oii'y totpin which was transmitted by inheritancft. All other totems ended with the individual or with tlie village, though the niythologic totem was transmitted by tradition from generation to generation, and gradually extended to other tribes. There was a sub-gens or totem sometimes called the split totem. -The myth of the " rabbit " as a " dawn god,'" contending with ti e brother is found among the'eastern tribes, Algonquin. Iroquois. Dakota, ami some of the tribes of the noKthwest. It reminds us of the Egyptian and Semitic story of the rabbit and the hare who WHtch for. the rising of the sun. .,..,,,-, cu » -.-„^ 3 It was believed that there were four souls toevery individual. One of these hoverea near the body and gained access to it, anotlier perpetuated the personal existence among the animal ancestors. A third entered the spirit world as the result of the initiation, at the end of the crooked path. The fourth was indefinite, intangible, something like our ghost. TOTEM ISM AND MYTHOLOGY 27 which were reminders of the individual exploits but these were generally worn upon the person and constituted a part of his dress so that the warrior carried his personal history in his dress and personal ornamentations. ^ (2) The tribal totem is very conspicuous, but it is sometimes difficult to distinguish it from other totems. The following, however, will' aid us in tliis: The clan totem is generally local, and can be identified with the symbols which are held in com- mon with the clans. The dream totem is regarded as sacred, and is known only to the individual. The phratry totem is best known to the members of the phratry, which is an especial brotherhood among the tribes, but the tribal totem is distinctive MYTHOLOGIC TOTEM FROM ARIZONA. of the entire tribe, niul may be seen throughout the habitat which the tribe fills. The following will illustrate this distinction: The Creek Indians were divided into twenty clans, all bearing animal names. The panther clan was prohibited from marrying a panther or a wildcat clan. The panther and wildcat clans formed together a phratry The Choctaws are divided into two phraties each of which consisted of four clans. The Ciyugas have two phratries of eight clans. The Moq'iis had ten phratries and twenty- three totem clans. Tha Thlinkeets divided into two clans, the raven and the wolf. One thing is noticeable about the naming of the clans. The most of them are named after animals which are numerous in the region where the ' The symbols wliicli woro iisprl to indicate the Gentile descent or kinship, were in the shape of animals and showed that there was a superstition among the Indians which virtually introduced a kinship between the human boincs and the animals with which they were familiar, and upon wliich they subsisted The totem then was based upon the imasrinarv ancestry and was a si™ of the artificial brotherliood. This artihcial brotli- erhood was a remarkable inyention . .VU tlie members of a totem fraternity regard each other as kinsmen and brothers. Tlie totem bond is a stronger bond than the bond of blood or family. Tlie sacredness of the new kinship may be sliown by the laws of raar- riaee for persons of the same totem may not marry or haye intercourse with each other. This wa* exoKamy. In some tribes the prohibition extended to only a man s own totem clan. He could marry a woman of any totem b.it liis own. In pth-r tribes the prohibi- tion extended to several clans. An oxogamus group of clans withm a tribe was calle;! 3 phratry. 28 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. clan, lived, or the clan habitat. The clans on the northwest coast bear the names of wolf, bear, eagle, whale, shark, hawk, sea lion, owl, salmon. Those in New York State bear the names of bear, wolf, turtle, heron and hawk: in the Gulf States, tortoise, wildcat, fish, alligator. Those of Arizona have the names of plants, while the Navajoes have the names of mountains, rivers, and very few animal names Mr. Fraser speaks of split totems. This is only indicative of a division of a clan which had a common name. It was very common among the Omahas, as there were two or three clans^ which had the buffalo for its totem, one called the black shoulder and the other the hanga. (3) There were "dream" totems. These belonged to individuals and did not pass to h\^ descendants. They were regarded as very sacred and were not often revealed. These individual totems were carried in a bag, called the "medicine bag. ' " It might be made of the skin of an animal, and contained various charms, such as precious stones and the heads of birds and animals. It was sometimes worn as an appendage to the wardrobe, sometimes »hi Jden under the dress and was difficult to be found. This " dream " totem was often identical with the initiatory totem, though there was generally something worn about the person which would be indicative of his dream, so that his totemistic kindred could easily recogniz2 him. The dress of a chief was made up generally of leggings, moccasins, headdress, necklace, shield, bow, quiver, lance, ^ tobacco sack, pipe, robe, belt, medicine bag, each one of which was covered with symbols which were suggestive of the tribe or clan to which he belonged, also, of the society into which he was initiated and especially of the exploits of which he boasted, but the medicine bag was generally emblematic of the animal which appeared in his dreams. (4) There were also mythologic totems. These have not been generall}' recognized, }'et they are important, for they perpetuate the "foundation" myths of each tribe, and remind us of the amount of mythologic literature which prevailed. They were in fact myth-bearers. They perpetuate the histor}- and genealogy of the tribe. These mythologic totems are widespread, though it is sometimes difficult to distinguish 'The clan totem is used in the "winter counts" or tribal lists. "Winter counts" constitute a sort of record of tlio tribe or clan as they give the prominent events which occurred, in a sort of |)icture writing. Tlie Ogalala. roster, obtained of Rev. S. D. Hinman contains tlie picture of ditlV-rent individuals with their totem placed over the head, tlieir tattooing or painting on tlieir faces, the pipes and weapons in their hands, tlie various parts of the dress help to identify the perSDUS as much as if their names and history had been written. The pictorial census prepared under the direction of Red Cloud, chief of the Dakotas. also contains the totems of the persons who held allegiance to him as a chief. See Mallory"s Picture Writings — - Miss Alice Fletclier says : "These religious symbols are the most sacred personal possessions. Tliey are rarely inherited, being generally buried with the person. In a few cases a man would inherit the sacred symbol of his progenitor aud cany it with his own in his personal bag. "' See Report of Peabody Museum, Vol. III., p. 290. ^ An illustration of this has beeu given by Catlin in connection with the portrait of "Rushing Eagle," who carried on his spear, shield aud headdress, emblems of his own personal history. TOTEMISM AND MYTHOLOGY 29 them from the clan or tribal totems. As a general thing, we may say that the mythologic totem belongs to a group of tribes, ajid is prominent among the myths and symbols of nearly all the tribes which inhabit a certain district, and MYTHOLOGIC SYMBOLS OF THE CLIFF-DWELLERS.' represents the being who is regarded as the great creator and progenitor of these tribes, as well as their culture hero and chief divinity. There are many specimens of mythologic totems, some of them found among the Eastern tribes, others among the tribes of the Interior, such as the Pueblos, but they are more numerous > These symbols were discovered by Mr. Lewis F. Gunckel in the valley of the Mc- Elmo and near the ancient cliff-dwellings. 30 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. among the tribes of the Northwest. Among the Eastern tribes,, this* "totem" was generally represented by the gigantic rabbit, who was in reality the "Dawn God," but was sometimes by the turtle, which was identical with the earth goddess. Among the tribes cf the lar West, the mythologic totem was represented by the coyote, who was the great divinity of the California Indians. Among the tribes of the Interior, it was represented by the vari- ous animals which were supposed to preside over the "six celes- tial spaces," such as the bear, wolf, mountain lion, panther, eagle and mole, though among some of the tribes it was the mysteri- ous spider women. Among the mountain tribes, a being having the human form and human attributes, but adorned with orna- ments borrowed from the mountains, was the mythologic totem, as well as creator. The tribes of the northwest coast took their mythologic totems from the animals of the sea or the forest near which they dwelt, such as rhe whale, the wolf and the raven, though they mingled these with their human ancestry. Illustrations of these mythologic totems may be given from the various tribes. The Lenape or Delaware Indians were descended from their totems, the wolf, the turtle and the turkey. These were their clan totems because they were descended not from a common turtle but from the great orio-inal tortoise which bore the vi^orJd on its back at the time of creation. The story was that, the whole earth was submerged and but a few persons survived. They had taken refuge on the back of a turtle, which had reached so great an age that his shell was mossy: the turtle swam to a place where a spot of dry land was found. There the people settled and re-peopled the land. This is a tale of reconstruction and has been supposed to refer ta the deluge. It fitly represents the earth as land distinguished from water. The back of a turtle represents an island surrounded by water. Sometimes the mythologic totems were taken from the lo- calities in which the tribe had previously dwelt, but they relate to the time when they were created and can be carried back to the "creation myth." Such is the case with the Navajoes, who dwelt among the cliffs. The story is given by Dr. Wash- ington Matthews : ."When the goddess Etsanetlehi went at the bidding of the sun, to live in the western ocean, and the divine brothers, the war gods, went to Thoyetli in the San Juan valley to dwell, Yolkai Estsan, the white shell woman, went alone into the San Juan mountains, and there she wandered around sadly for four days and four nights, constantly mourning her lonely condition, and thinking how people might be created to keep her company. On the morning of the fifth day the god Qustecyalci came to see her along with several other gods. These, after many ceremonies, created a human pair out of two ears of corn. The wind god gave to these the breath of life, the god of the white crystal gave them their minds, the grasshoppers gave them their voices. From these are descended th3 gens called the ' House of the Dark Cliffs ' because the gods brought from these houses the corn from which the first pair was made." ;* m/F^' THE EAGLE MAN— A MYTHOLOGIC TOTEM. Masked dancer dramatizing the eagle man— one of the mythological divinities of the Southern Mound-bujldors. It shows the manner of wearing the masks and feathers iu the war dance. COPPER EAGLE FROM THE ETOWAH* MOUND. Showing one of the totems of the Southern Mound-builders . TOTEMISM AND MYTHOLOGY. 31 Another version of the same story is as follows: " The goddeps of the west became the wife of the sun, but she deter- mined to make something of the human kind to keep her company. From her left side she made four persons who became the progenitors of one gens Qonagaiii; from 'her right side four, from whom came the gens of Kiaa'ni. In like manner, from her left breast she made the four ancestors of the gens of Co'citcini; from the right breast the ancestors of Bica'ni; from the middle of her chest the ancestors Qackligni, and from the middle of her back between the shoulders, the ancestors of Bicani." ^ The Haidas believe that long ago the raven took a cockle shell from the beach and married it. The cockle gave birth to a female child and from their union the Indians were produced. The California Indians, in whose mythology the coyote is a leading personage, are descended from coyotes. At first they walkod on all fours, then they began to have some members of the human body — one finger, one toe, one eye; then two fingers, two toes, FKOO. rOHTOISB* CLAN TOTEMS IN THE EFFIJIES. and so on until they became perfect human beings. The Iroquois are descended from a turtle which developed into a man, though their chief divinity was a rabbit. Some of the tribes of Peru were descended from eagles, others from condors. The snake clan among the Moquis are de- scended from a woman who was married to a snake she saw in a fountain and who gave birth to snakes, though the great mother of the Moquis brought from the west nine clans in the form of deer, sand, water bears, hares, tobacco plants and seed grass. She planted them on the spot where their village now stands and transformed them on the spot into men who built the present Pueblos. The crane clan of the Ojibwas are descended from a pair of cranes which, after long wanderings, settled on the rajjids at the outlet of Lake Superior. The Osages who descended from a snail, the snail bursting its shell, developed into a fine large man who married a beaver maid. IV. This leads us to consider the different methods of representing the totems. These were varied and numerous, but we may mention the following as the most important : (i) The habit of painting the totems on the tents and houses. This myth reminds us of the tattooing of the Haidas. ' See Am. Folk-Lore, Vol. 3, No. 9, p. 95. 32 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. (2) The method of dramatizing the totems in the sacred cer- emonies, especially those which took place at the time of initiatin^^ the braves into the secret societies ; (3) the cus- tom of carving the totem on the grave posts and genealogical trees ; (4) the method of writing them in the bark records or tribal lists of names; (5) the custom of erecting effigies of earth near their villages, making them represent their clan TOTEMS OF THE VILLAGE CHIEF. totems; (6) the habit of inscribing animal figures on rocks; (7) the habit of representing them on their copper plates, their pottery and pipes; (8) the habit of inscribing animal figures on shell gorgets and burying them in the graves with the dead — the latter custom showing that there was a to- temistic relation between the spirit of the dead and the supernatural world; (9) the custom of wearing masks as a sign of transformation; (10) the custom of tattooing. Illustrations of these different methods are numerous, a few of which are given in the cuts and plates. One of these represents the butfalo dance TOTEMISM AND MYTHOLOGY. 33 common among the Mandans. Another represents the animal figures seen by Catlin, painted upon the tents. Another represents the pottery vessel found in Arizona, made in the shape of a nondescript creature, partly ani- mal and partly human. Another represents the "effigies" which are com- mon in Wisconsin, another the "rock inscriptions" found near the cliff- dwellings. Still another represents the totems gathered about the bed of a Haida chief, as he lay in state in his tent. The plates represent the mytho- logic totems of the Southern Mound-builders. Catlin also speaks of wearing masks. He says one of the chief medicine men placed over his body the entire skin of a bear, with the war eagle's quill over his head, taking the lead in the dance, and looking through the skin which formed a masque which hung over his face. Many others in the dance wore masques on their faces, made of the skin from the bear's head; and al), with the motions of their hands, closely imitated the movements of that animal, some representing its motion when running, and others the peculiar attitude and hanging of the paws, when it is sitting up on its hind feet and looking out for the approach of an enemy. This grotesque and amusing masquerade of times is continued at intervals for several days. Mr. Catlin has given several pictures of the imitative mythologic dances celebrated among the Mandans. They illustrate the point, for in these dances the Indians are represented as assuming the attitudes of the different animals. [See plate.] In some of these dances, the attitudes of the animals whose totems we -e worn by the clans were imitated, and the spirits of the animals were sup- posed to have taken possession of the dancers. In the buffalo dance, the people imitated the various attitudes of the buffalo. In the wolf dance, the society of those who had supernatural communication with wolves were the dancers. They wore wolf skins, and paint the tips of their noses and their bodies, in imitation of the blue wolves, and dance in imitation of the actions of the wolves. In the grizzly bear dance, they pretend to be grizzly bears. Some wear the skins of grizzly bears, pushing their fingers in the claws, some wear necklaces of grizzly bear's claws. The ghost dance was one in which those who had supernatural com- munication with ghosts could partake. The sun dance has not been practiced by the Omabas, but is very common among the Ponkas. Illustrations of other methods of representing totems may be given from the various tribes. We take the Omahas first, for the totems of this tribe have been studied extensively. Mr. J. O. Dorsey is our authority. The Omahas were a branch of the great Siouan stock which at an ancient date jour- neyed down the Ohio river and scattered over the region west of the Mis- sissippi. The Omahas, Ponkas, Osages and Kansas went up the Missouri river. The Winnebagos, lowas, Ottoes and Missouri belong to the same stock, though these tribes were scattered along the Mississippi river from the Wisconsin to the St. Francis river. The Omaha tribal organization was different from that of many other tribes. The kinship seems to determine the position of the men. Three classes were recognized in civil affairs : the chief, who exercised legislative, executive and judicial functions; 34 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. second, the braves who were servants and messengers of the chiefs; third, the young men and common people. The chiefs only had a voice in the tribal assembly, but in this assembly the civil and religious affairs were not separated. Besides the chiefs proper were the seven keepers of the pipe of peace and the three keepers of the sacred tents. The tribal circle of the Omahas was in the form of a horse-shoe. In this circle the gentes took their regular places divided by the road which passed through the center of the circle, five gentes on the right side and' five on the left. There were special areas for the gentes and subgentes. The three sacred tents were pitched within the circle on the right side, the war tent was near the gate- way of the circle. The pipes were distributed among the different gentes, the eagles. The following are the names of the gentes and their location, symbols, offices, special missions and characteristics : (a) The elk had their tent pitched at the right side of the gateway at one of the horns of the circle, the sacred tent consecrated to war and the sacred bag which held the feathers and skin of the sacred bird or war eagle, also the tribal war pipe and the tobacco pouch and the sacred clam shell, which was the emblem of the divinity which led the people in their migrations. This clam shell was in ancient days carried on the back of a youth, wrapped in a buffalo hide. It was never placed on the ground but was hung on a cedar stick when the tribe were encamped. Their mission was to give the* alarm in case of attack and to hold the sacred pipe toward the sky when the first thunder was heard in the spring and to worship the thunder god. They were not permitted to touch or eat any of the flesh of the elk. Sacred names were given to the boys, names taken from different parts of the horns of the elk. The style of weaiing the hair was in imitation of the elk's horns; the hair near the forehead stood erect, that back of it was brushed forward, (b) The black shoulder gens was next to that of the elk. Their ancestors, the " inke saba," were buffaloes, and dwelt under the sur- face of the water. When they came out of the water they snuffed at the four winds and prayed to them. They were accustomed to wrap their dead in a buffalo robe with the hair out, and also to decorate the outside of their tent with a circle in which was painted a buffalo head, and above it a pipe ornamented with eagle feathers. The style of wearing the hair with the boys was to leave two tufts to imitate the horns of the buffalo and a fringe all around the head and to shave the rest of the head. They could not eat the buffalo tongues and were not allowed to touch a buffalo head. There is a myth connected with this custom. One day a principal man was fast- ing and praying to the sun god, when he saw the ghost of a buffalo rising out of a spring, (c) Next to this was the Hanga gens, which means ances- tral. They were called the clear sky makers, and the myth is that they also were buffaloes and dwelt beneath the water, but they used to move along with their heads bowed and their eyes closed, but when thoy came out of the water they lifted their heads and saw the blue sky for the first time. The sacred pole and two sacred tents belonged to this gens. The decoration of the tents was a cornstalk on each side of the entrance and one at the back of the tent. Within one of the sacred tents was the skin *The Omahas onco dwelt near St. Louis, but acconipanied by the Ponkas and the low as thoy misratnd in stajfos through Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota, till they reached tluMioigliborhood of the Rod Pii)ost.()no quarry. Tliis must have taken many years, as their course was marked by a succession of villages consisting of earth lodges. TOTEMTSM AND MYTHOLOGY. 35 of a white buffalo cow. The style of wearing the hair was to imitate the back of the buffalo, a crest of hair about two inches long extending from ear to ear. (d) The fourth place in the tribal circle belonged to the black bear recently called the Katadah gens. The tent was decorated at the top with a circle painted blue to represent the bear's cave. Below this four zigzag lines to represent different kinds of thunders; below this the prints of bear's paws. The style of wearing the hair was to leave four short blocks on the head. A subgens is called " the blackbird people." Their style of wearing the hair is to leave a little hair in front for bill and some at the back of the head for the tail and a block over each ear for the wings. Another subgens called the turtle, cut off all the hair from a boy's head except six blocks, two on each side, one over the forehead and one down the back. The Kansas gens was next in the circle. They were the wind people. They fl^p their blankets to start a breeze which would drive off mosquitos. Next to the Kansas are the earth lodge makers, Man cin-ka-gaxe, though they call themselves the wolf people. They carried sacred stones, black, red, yellow, blue, which were the same colors as those of the light- ning on the tent of the bear gens. The boys have two blocks of hah- left on their heads, one over their foreheads and another oq the crown, perhaps to imitate the head and tail of a wolf. The next is the buffalo tail gens. They wear their hair in a ridge, which stretches from the front to the back of the head, perhaps to imitate a buf- falo's bade. They cannot touch a buffalo head. Next to this were the deer head gens. They cannot touch any deer skin, or even use moccasins or the fat of a deer, but can eat the flesh of the deer. The keepers of the sacred pipe were a little apart from the rest. There was a ceremony at birth, in which a child's back was marked with red spots in imitation of a fawn, and all the deer head people make spots on their chest about the size of a hand. The next in the circle was the Ingcejide. They do not eat a buffalo calf, but paint the body of a buffalo calf on each side the entrance to their tents. The Ictaeanda gens, ths reptile i)eople, were next in the circle. They do not touch worms, snakes, toads, frogs, or any other kind of reptiles. The children were taken to the man who filled the sacred pipes, who would cut off one lock about the length of a finger, and tie it up and put it in a sacred buffalo hide. He would then put the little moccasins on the child, who was to wear them for the first time, turn him around, four times, and then say to him, " May your feet rest for a long time on the ground." We see from this description that the totem system was a very important factor in the clan life of the Omahas. It not only gave the name of animals to the clans, but made the flesh of those animals sacred, or taboo to the clans. It also controlled the position of the tents of each clan, and even the decoration and a part of the furnishing of the tents. It came into the tent and directed the ceremonies at the birth of children, placed its mark upon the body of the child. The cutting of the hair of the child was totemistic, symbolical of the peculiarities of the clan totem. The duty and mission of the clan leaders was to carry the sacred pipes in their tents. These pipes correspond to the "sacred shells" of the Ojibwas, the 'sacred bundles" of the Pawnees, and the "sacred boxes" of the Cherokees. 36 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. V. A few words as to the survival of the system may be ap- propriate here. Animal figures were common among the early nations of Europe, and may have come from a primitive totemism. It is said that the Danes had animal figures painted upon their ban- ners when they invaded England. The Norsemen carried shields with animal semblances inscribed upon them, and the Sea Kings navigated the Northern Ocean in boats, the prow of which was made in the shape of an animal, the seipent or dragon being the most common form. They placed their shields upon the sides of the boats, perhaps to represent the scales. The Chinese bear, to thi.s day, a dragon flag, as the emblem to their national power, and carve its head upon the corners of the roof of their houses. The Japanese take the stork as their favorite ornament or em- blem, while the Coreans place the tiger on their national es- cutcheon. Siam has the white elephant, and the people of Benares, the common elephant, for their "coat of arms." The ancient nations used animal figures as symbols of power. They are seen upon their coins and upon their seals, and are always significant. There are animal-headed divinities in Egypt, Assyria and India, which remind us of the totems of America, the connecting link being found in the grotesque figures described by Bartram as being common among the Muscogees and other tribes formerly inhabiting the Gulf States He says, in describing the "council house" of the Cherokces : There was a secluded place designed as a sanctuary, dedicated to relig- ion, or rather priestcraft, for here are deposited all the sacred things, such as the " medicine pot" rattles, chaplets of deer's hoofs, and other apparatus of conjuration, and likewise the Calumet, the great "pipe of peace," the imperial standard, made of the tail-feathers of the white eagle, hugely formed and displayed like an open fan on a scepter or staff, as white and clean as possible when displayed for peace, but when for war the feathers were painted or tinged with vermilion. The pillars and walls of the houses of the square are decorated with various paintings and sculptures, which are supposed to be historic or legendary of political and sacerdotal affairs. They are extremely picturesque, but some are ludicrous, as men in a variety of attitudes have the head of some kind of animal, such as those of the duck, turkey, bear, fox, wolf, and deer; and again, those kinds of creatures are represented as having human heads. These designs are not illy exe- cuted, for the outlines are free, bold, and well proportioned. The pillars supporting the front, or piazza of the council house of the square are in- geniously formed in the likeness of vast speckled serpents ^ ascending up- wards, the Atasses being of the snake family or tribe. Carvings of the Polynesians also contain animal figures. They • These serpent pillars remind us of the serpent columns which have been describe d by W. H Holmes as situated upon the summit of the pyramid, as found at Chichen Itsa, in Yucatan, arranged so as to guard the entrance of the temple of the sun, situated upon the summit of the pyramid. THE TOTEM SYSTEM. 37 may have borrowed their symboHsm from the inhabitants of the islands of the Pacific and of the Asiatic coast and so have devel- oped an cntirel}' different type from that which prevailed among the tribes on the eastern side of the mountains. The pillars and columns of the Nahaus do, however, resemble the totem posts or pillars of the Thlinkeets. They are much more elaborate, but are characterized by being built in stories. They have also hu- man forms, which are grotesque and complicated and unique. We are reminded by these characteristics of the many storied towers of India aud the grotesque carving of the Chinese. The hieorglyphics on these pillars or columns are very elabo- rate. They are not pictures and cannot well be traced back to any picture writing. Their source of development or of growth may probably be traced across the ocean and not back into the inte- rior. We certainly lose the thread when we go to the east. We are not sure that we hold it when we go to the west. We think we see fragments of it at the north, but we are not sure but that these are the ends of two threads and not the fragments of a broken line. There are, however, three or four grades of symbolism on this western or Pacific coast; the first in Washing-ton Ter- ritory, the second in Mexico, the third in Yucatan and possibly a fourth in South America. There is, however, this peculiarity in the symbols of all these localities that animal figures are ap- parent in all totemism, having been perpetuated through the different grades. There are many symbolic carved sun col- umns; but they seen to be as closely connected with a primitive animal worship as are the monuments of other regions. They remind us of the fact that totem- ism was not entirely lost, even if sun worship had come in and overshadowed it. We may say that in this region including all of Central America and Mexico, there was a great mixture of symbolism. Animal figures, human forms, and sun symbols are strangely blended and it is difficult to distinguish the animal totems from the sun symbols. *We notice, also, that animal fig- ures are conspicuous in the Codices, see Plate III. These repre- sent the images which were carried at their festivals and are sym- bolic of the seasons, yet may be connected with the primitive totemism in the Northern district. Here carved statues and pillars are called totem posts, but they present more human figures than they do animal. There are here many paintings and drawings which are symbolic and the totems of the tribes are sometimes expressed in these; but the most conspicuous symbols are those which are contained in these ancestor trees. The analysis of these carved posts reveals to us one fact, that the family genealogy is expressed in the hu- man figures, but the clan totem is sho wn by the animal semblan- *See, contributions to American Archeology. Vol. V. 38 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. P^orr: f/yoCo N Y Plate 1 1 r.- FACSIMILE OF PICTURES ON THE DRESDEN CODEX. THE TOTEM SYSTEM. 39 ces. One can easily see that toteniism is at the basis of a!l the symboHc figures which are contained in these columns. We present a few specimens of totem posts from the northwest coast. See Figs. 14, 15, 16 and 17. Fis. 14— TOTEM POSIS FRCJ.M THK NORIHWEST COAST. There are many such totem posts in which the thunder bird is conspicuous. Totemism seems to have been modified and min- gled with a genealogical record. Tlie bird represents the first great ancestor. The human figures represent the later progeni- tors. The animals represent the clan, the human figures the 40 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. f;imil}'. They call the figure at the top the " thunder bird," but it is not so much a nature divinity as it is a tribal God. If it per- sonifies the thunder or any power of nature it at the same time represents the ani- mal divinity. See Fig. 1 5. The bear is also a totem and this animal is some- times carved on the to- tem posts and some- times painted on boards or woven into blankets. There is a picture of a chief* lying in state, in which there are blankets with bears woven in them on the bed, the image of a stuffed bear is beside the bed, the same or similar figures are seen ornamenting the walls abo\'e the bed and every where in the room are animal semblances. These were undoubted- ly the symbols which Fig. X5.-THE THUNDER BIRD. exprcsscd the tribal con- nection of the chief. They show the clan emblems as well as the personal totem of the chief. It seems to have been a peculiarity of the people of the north- west coast, that they symbolized their clan history by animal figures, but their family history by human figures. We do not know that they were very different from the other American tribes except in this. It is however probable they were older or at least had continued their tribal existence longer than man}' of the tribes farther east. There were certain tribes, such as the Dacotahs, who had al- most reached the same stage that these had. It appears fi'om the researches of ethnologists, and notably those of Rev. J. O. Dor- sey, that the Dacotahs had not onl}- tribes and clans, but sub- clans, as if they were approximating to the condition where the family would be recognized as constituting a separate line. In these tribes the mother-right had disappeared, and the father had come to take the place of the mother in giving the name and in- heritance to the clan. We need only to carry the subject a little further, to see how tribes like those on the northwest coast might set up the family name and genealogy as still more important than the clan name and seek to symbolize this fact by their to- *See Century Magazine — also West Shore for 1881 . THE TOTEM SYSTEM. 41 terns. In this way we might suppose that a people would easily- pass out tiom animal worship to ancestor worship, the first hav- ing been correlated to the clan, and the last to the family. The totem posts of the northwest coast are suggestive objects for our study on this account. These were always expressive of the family honor and the family history, but they suggested at the same time the clan system, the family name being symbolized by the human figures and the clan by the animal, as we have said. There is one point further in this connection. These tribes of the northwest coast were undoubtedly descended from the tribes of the northeast coast of Asia. Their totem system is to be studied in connection with the Asiatic tribes. We know that the peculiarity of Mongolian races, and especially of the Chinese is that they were given to ancestor worship. The same is true of the tribes situated north of the Chinese wall, such as the Samoy- edes, Tungus, and Ostyaks; ancestor worship was very common among them. We may suppose that the American tribes on the northwest coast derived their system from the same source. We find in the totem posts, not only the record of the tribal history, but we may trace in them hints as to their line of migration. These tribes undoubtedly had passed through the various stages of ani- mal worship, and reached the early stage of ancestor worship. They, however, retained the symbols of both systems in these carved posts, and so we have in them a book which we may read as full of significance. The cuts which we present \v\\\ illustrate the point, it will be noticed that quite a difference exists between these totem posts. The smaller figures however represent the posts which were erected inside of the house while the larger figures represent those which are on the outside of the house. In reference to the former Rev. M. Eells says, gener- ally these sticks arc posts which are used to support the roof of their feast houses, but sometimes are in private houses, and occa- sionally are placed near the head of the bed, as protectors. See Figs. i6and 17. These rep- resent posts which are set on large cross beams to support the ridge pole, in a large communal house. No. 16 having been unveiled with great ceremony. (In the engravings the black por- tions represent red, the horizontal shading blue, and the vertical black. The unshaded portions represent white paint.) Figure 18 was a board in an- other large house, where several hundred Indians gathered for a week's festival. At this time a few persons gave to their invited Figs 16 and 17. 43 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. friends several hundred dollars in money and other valuable things and it was said that the spirit which dwelt in it really gave away the presents. The principle of idolatry was in all this superstition but still the sticks were of s u c h ; a shape that they could not properly be called idols. 1 had been here for years before I saw what could be called by this name and have never seen but this one. As I vis- ited them at one of| their religious gatherings in 1878 I saw Fig. 19, which represents a past] about four feet long, roughly carved, with the face and body of a man, but with no legs orl feet, the lower part being set into the ground and around this they performed the;r in- cantations. The eyes were silver quarter dollars nailed to it, and at the time it had no clothes on except a necktie of j red cloth, white cloth and beaten cedar bark. It is said FiR. 19. to have been made by the fath- er of a very old man and was kept secreted in the woods when not wanted. I saw it several times after they were done with their performance, and the Indians will- ingly allowed me to make a drawing of it. It has since been carried off to the woods again. There are many such figures among the tribes of the North- west coast. We present a figure, see Fig. 20, which came from this region. Very little is known concerning it. It is described in one of the Smithsonian Catalogues. It, however, probably represents a totem or a genealogical record of some private per- son. It will be noticed in this post that the animal totems are quite distinct from the human image. Crocodiles are here the tribal totems, but the knife-feathered image is the totem or em- blem of the family. VI. This leads us to another part of our subject, the modifi- Fia THE TOTEM SYSTEM. ' 43 cation of the totem system. We have traced the growth of the system from the primitive picture-writing, in which animals were conspicuous, and have found that totemism and s}'mboHsm began at about the same stage. It was not used by the fishermen but came into vogue among fhe hunter races; it continued among these races going through the different stages of growth until it finally reached a stage where ancestor worship came in to mod- ify it. It is noticeable, however, that totemism continued among the agricultural tribes, and to a certain extent among the Pueblos or village Indians. It is probable that a modified form oftotemism existed among the civilized races, but the symbols among them became changed. There are, to be sure, many animal figures among these sym- bols but along with these figures certain symbols which are significant of a primitive stage of sun worship and others which are significant of a primitive ancestor worship and so on until we come to the elaborate and complicated sym- bols of the civilized races. The modification of the totems is then an' important point for us to study because we may find in it a history of the changes through which native society in America passed, and may possibly trace the line of their migrations. This is a task which the Archaeologists must set before themselves. We have said that totemism was characteristic of hunter races mainly, and that it was confined to a certain stage of society, that stage which is represented by the term animal worship. We, however, have taken the position that the totem system was perpetuated in ancestor worship. To reconcile these two points we must consider that there were modifications of the totem sys- tem. These modifications may be seen, ist. In the adornments and decorations which were common among the native tribes, especially at their feasts and religious ceremonies. 2d, In the carved pipes and other figures which prevailed among the Mound Builders. 3d, In the fetiches and prey gods of the Zunis, 4th, In the effigies which we trace in the emblematic mounds. 5th, In the combination of animal figures and human forms, which we have seen in the genealogical trees. 6th, In the various myths and traditions which clustered about the heroes, ancestors and prehistoric divinities. 7th, In the superstitions which prevailed in reference to certain haunted places, especially those where a resemblance to animals was recognized in the forms of nature. The first modification which we shall consider is that which appeared in the personal adornments, decorations, and habili- ments of the natives. It is a remarkable fact that there was not only a symbolism in these adornments, but that the personal names and exploits, and tribal connection, were thus symbolized; in other words, that totemism was embodied in the official cos- tumes. Animals are frequently seen suspended to the dress or hair of 44 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM the chiefs and especially of the medicine men. See Fig. 21. The significance of this is that the totem system was symbohzed but in a modified form. *There are many pictures which show how totemism could be expressed in the personal adornments. The Fig. 21.— THE IXni.AN MEDICIXF. MAN. picture of the medicine man is familiar. In this picture, how *The cuts which we have present'd do not fully illustrate the sulject; other cuts may be found in the Smithsonian Report for iSSl. p. 540, Figs. 9, 10 and 14. Also American Xaturali.'-t, July 1S85, p. 676, March 1SS5, ]). 2S1. Lubbock's Origin o Civilization, p. 33, Fig. 5, and page 39, Fig. Ii. Second Annual Report of the Ethnological Bureau, p. 12, plate I, p. 16, \A. II, p. 20 pi. Ill, ]\ 24, pi I\', p. 26. pi. V, p. 27, pi. VI, p. 28, pi. VII, p. 29, pi. Vni, p. 30, pi. IX, p. 40, 111. X, p. 41, pi. XI, p. 60, pi. XIV, p. 64, pi. XV, pps. 155—163; p. 302. pi. LXXVI; p. 395> ^''g^- 566-569; p.* 596, Figs. 570-572. Author s book on Eblematic Mounds, also Picture Writing. Catlin's North American Indians, p. 40. Fig. 19; p. 128, Fig. THE TOTEM SYSTEM. 45 Plate IV.— CARVED PIPES FROM THE MOUNDS. 46 JYATIVE AMEJUCAN SYMBOLISM. ever, we have hints as to how animal totems might be used without being strictly tribal emblems. The coat of arms of the tribe seem here to have been worn by one man. The clan emblems hang to this person in great profusion. There was an appeal to the superstition of the people in this manner of dressing himself up. The Medicine Man seems to have represented the great divinity and ancestor of the people, the wolf He seems to have had a power or control over the other clan divinities, the tortoise, the lizzard, the eel, the serpent, the eagle and many other animals. The same Medicine Man would get into his tent and throw out through the roof, emblems of the tribal divinities, he would imi- itate with his voice the cry of the different animals and would finally end his ceremony by declaring the advent of the chief divinity, imitating the voice of the particular animal, with a tone of triumph, as if the contest between the tribal gods had ended. There was, however, in this ceremony the modification of the totem system for the animals seem to personify the differ- erent elements of nature as well as the tribal divinities. It was an object lesson preparing the people for a higher stage of nature worship and yet the animal emblems are all retained. Another modification is found in pipes and pottery. See Plate IV and V. These were partly totemic and partly decorative, that is theyl^were expressive of the tribal name, but were also cre- ations of fancy and were subject to a great variety of forms. On this point we quote Mr. H. M. Henshaw. He says, with reference to the origin of these animal sculptures: *" Many writers appear inclined to the view that they are purely decorative and orna- mental in character, /, c, that they are attempts at close imita- tions of nature in the sense demanded by high art, and that they owe their origin to the artistic instinct alone. But there is much in their appearance that suggests that they may have been totem- ic in their origin, and that whatever of ornamental character they may possess is of secondary importance. With perhaps, few ex- ceptions, the North American tribes practiced totemism in one or the other of its various forms, and, although, it by no means follows that all the carving and etchings of birds or animals by these tribes are totems, yet it is undoubtedly true that the to- 56; p. 234, Fig. 98. Dorman's Primitive Superstitions, p. 83, Fig. I; p, 84, Fig. 2; p. 85, Fig. 3; p. 86, pi. II; p. 127, Fig. 9; p. 288, pi. IV; p. 272, Fig. 13; p. 323, ^'g- I9'> P- 362, pi. V. Documentary History of New York, Vol. I. p. 7, Figs H, I, M, O, K; p. 9, inset. The Indian Tribes of the United States, by F. S. Drake,, plates, II, III, IV, VI. XVI, X.X, XXIV. XXV, XXVIII, XXXI, XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, TXXV, LXXXII Mal- lory's Sign Language, y. 372, Fig. 164; p. 4.22, Fig. 249 Yarrow's Mortuary Cos. tumes. Figure, XLVI, Squier's Nicaragua, p. 36, pi. I; p. 39, pi. Ill; p. 54, Nos. 2 and 3; p. 63, Nos. 11 and 12. Bancroft's Native Races. Vol. V, p. 40, Figs, i and 2; p. 42, Figs. 3 and 4; p. 43, Fig. 5; p. 46, Fig. 9; p. 49, Fig, i; p. 50. *See Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, page 150. — The plates in this chapter were taken from this report. THE TOTEM SYSTEM. 47 Fin. v,r,"i ® Fig. 370 (^ Plate V.-ZLNI WATER VAi-ES ^ast. 2d, The connection between the tradition in the East, and the traditions of the West, ^rd, The correspondence between the tradition and the sym- bol everywhere. 4th, The mingling of the serpent symbol and the sun symbol. 5th, The enquiry is, whether serpent worship was a widespread cult, or was something which was local. 6th, Did the symbol originate in this country? 7th, Can the serpent .symbol in this country be said to be derived from the scripture narrative. This last is perhaps the chief enquiry. It is a well known fact that the symbol prevails in oriental countries, and that the tradition of the serpent is common in the mythology of all lands. The fact that the serpent appears in the traditions of this country makes this enquiry all the more interesting. 8th, The ap- pearance of the serpent amid the ornamentations of the palaces and idol pillars of Central America suggests that the symbol was highly developed, and by following the stages up to this point we might learn why and how' the serpent became so prominent in Greek Art. 9th, Still further the connection between the ser- pent worship and the phallic symbol is a fruitful theme and might engage our attention throughout the whole of this paper. We arc controlled, however, by our limitations and must onl)- touch upon a few points and then pass on. I. Lenormant, the French historian and archaeologist, explains the " Serpent in Eden" as follows: He says that the tradition of the serpent, was seized upon b)' the sacred writer and embod- ied in the narrative, but the origin of it was in pre-historic times. He maintains that the symbolism of the garden of Eden was de- rived from the serpent worship which had prewiiled, and under this SN-mbolism an actual fact was made known. A new explan- ation of the fall of maii is given. It was a fall from potential holiness, and not from actual holiness. The conscience of the first man was designed to keep him in the true worship, and to teach him about the true God, but disobeying this he fell away into the various .systems of nature worship and became ruined by the fall. Serpent worship was a native faith, one of the vari- eties of nature worship, but it was a very degenerate form of the faith; tlic serpent itself became at length the embodiment of evil, and the source of degenerac}'. On this point there might be a difference of opinion, and yet if we take the association of the serpent with the phallic .sym- bol, we can easily see how man would degenerate, and this form of religion become the cause of his degeneracy or fall. Serpent worship in the East is certainly a source of evil, and whatever we may say about its age and origin we must acknowl- edge that there is a great contrast between it and the worship taught by the scriptures. In reference to the question whether the serpent symbol in America can be traced to the traditions of the East, and whether there is any connection between the scrip- THE SERPEyr SYMBOL. 55 tun.' narrative and this symbol a few words arc appropriate. The serpent symbol certainly abounded in the prehistoric period in this countrx'. If it was derived from the scripture it must have beni transmitted at a very early date. The s\'mbol of the ser- pent is here very rude, so rude as to ahnost convince us that it originated on this soil. It might, to be sure, have under- gone a degenerating process in its transmission, and }-et the fact that there is so much rudeness to the symbol and so man)^ differ- ent types manifested by it, would almost preclude this. The picture given to us by the sacred word, of the serpent and the tree; is attended with the idea of temptation to e\-il, but the tra- dition in America has no such moral distinction. The serpent symbol in America is not like the serpent in the garden. It is not even like the sacred tree of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians though it has much more in common with that symbol than with an}- picture of the fall. There are. to be sure, a fjw relics which by some are claimed to be genuine, which tran mit the symbol exacth' as it is given in the scriptures. *Mr. Ignatius Donnelly, in his volume called "Atlantis," has given a cut which illustrates this, but the specimen can hardly be called a gen 'line prehistoric relic. It is more likely to have been left by by some Spanish explorer than by any native. The tradition and the worship of the serpent in oriental coun- tries might have come from the scriptures, and in a degenerate form ma)' have been transmitted, carrying the symbols with them. This country however is very remote and the tradition can hard- ly be traced back to the sacred record. It would be easier to explain the scripture account of the serpent as the result of a primitive .system such as we find here, than it would to trace the symbol in America to scripture lands and say that it was the de- generate form of this sacred story, s}'mbolized b}- the natives in their relics. Still the prevalence of the tradition and the symbol may possibly be owing to the vague and shadow)- m)-th which ma)- ha\e been 'transmitted from the earliest time. The myth would naturally become conformed to the superstitious notions and customs of the natives. The imager)- would become American, the very conception would be savage, and the original story would be lost. The contrast between the s)-mbol in the East and the West can at least be thus explained. 2. The correspondence between the traditions of this country and those of Europe and the lands of the East will perhaps be a better point. This correspondence has been explained. Dr. D. G. Brinton thinks that all the stories about the creation, the deluge, the first ancestor, the Culture-Heroes, and e\'en some of the migration legends, can be traced to nature worship. Me makes them all to be mere variations of a primitive niN^thology. Even the heroes which are so well known to history and which ha\'e ■■'See .-Atlantis, page 445. 56 ^'A 77 VE AMEBIC AX .S YMBOUSM. appeared conspicuously in literature and poetry, Hiawatha, Mon- tezuma, the " Fair God" of the Toltecs, Quetzacoatl and the Peruvian Viracocha, are but personifications of the powers of na- ture, with a small amount of actual history as a basis for their celebrity. * On the other hand, Charles Leland maintains that there was a close connection between these traditions and those which have been preserved in the Younger Edda. Mr. Leland quotes Henry Schoolcraft as holding" a contrary opinion, but thinks the traditions of the Wabanaki are excep- tional. Mr. Schoolcraft's language is as follows:t "Where analogies are so general there is a constant liability to mistakes. Of these foreign analogies of myth-lore, the least tangible, it is believed, is that which has been suggested with the Scandinavian mythology\ That mythology is of so marked and peculiar a character that it has not been distinctly traced out of the great circle of tribes of .the Indo-Germanic family. Odin and his terrific pantheon of war gods and social deities could only exist in the dreary latitudes of storms and fire which produce a Hecla and a Maelstrom. These latitudes have invariably pro- duced nations whose influence has been felt in an elevating pow- er over the world. From such a source the Indian could have de- rived none of his vague symbolisms and mental idiosyncrasies which have left him as he is found to-da)-, without a go\-ernment and without a god." Mr. Leland says: J "This is all perfectly true of the myths of Hiawatha-Manobozho. Nothing on earth could be more unlike the Norse legends than the Indian Eddas of the Chippewas and Ottawas. But it Avas not known to this writer that there already existed in Northeastern America a stupendous mythology, derived from a land of storms and fire, more terrible and wonderful than Iceland; nay, so tciri- ble that Icelanders themselves were appalled b\' it. Here indeed there existed all the time, a code of mythological legends such as he declared Indians incapable of producing; but strangest of all, this American mythology of the north, which has been the very last to become known to Ameiican readers, is literally so like the Edda itself that, as this work fully proves, there is hardly a song in the Norse collection which does not contain an incident found in the Indian poem legends, while in several there are man\- such coincidences." * * "It made, in short, a mytholog}' such as would be perfectly congenial to any one who had read and understood the Edda, Beowulf, and the Kalavala, with the wildest and oldest Norse Sagas. The Wabanaki mythology, which was that which gave a fairy, an elf, a naiad, or a hero to every rock and river and ancient hill in New England, is just the .one of all others which, is least known to the New Englanders." '''Sec Myths of the Now World, pps 34, 49, 58. 81. tii, 117, 123, 177, 183. 193, 193, 209 and 225. tSee "AlgfoiKiiiin Legends of New England." — Introduction, pp 1-3. JAlgonqum Legends, Introduction, pp. 4 and 5. THE SE'UPEST SYMBOL. 57 Fig. 23.— gk::at serpent in adams couniv, o. 58 KA Tl VE AMERICAN S TMBOLISM. "It may very naturall\' be asked by many, how it came to pass that the Indians of Maine and of the farther north have so much of the Edda in their sagas; or, if it was derived through tht hLs- kimo tribes, how these got it from the Norsemen who were pro- fessedly Christians. I do not think the time has come for hilly answering the first question. There is some great mystery of mythology, a5 yet unsolved, regarding the origin of the Edda and its relations with the faiths and folk-lore of the older Sl).im- anic beliefs, such as Eapp, Finn. Samoyed, Eskimo, and Tartar. This was the world's first religion; it is found in the so called Accadian-Turanian beginning of Babylon, whence it possibly came from the West. But what we have here to consider is whether the Norsemen did directly influence the Eskimo and Indians." 3. The appearance of the serpent in American tradition is not confined to the northeast coast or to the Algonquin race, but is, in fact, found among all the different tribes. Mr. Schoolcraft has referred to it in his interesting volume called "Algic Re- searches." Dr. Brinton has also spoken of it in his volume, "Myths of the New World." Mr. R. M. Dorman in his "Origin of Primitive Superstitions," Mr. E. G. Squier in his volume called "Serpent worship," Mr. H. H. Bancroft in his "Native Races," and many other writers. Mr. Dorman says: *"The worship paid to the rattle-snake was universal among all the tribes, but not conferred exclusively upon this serpent. All the snakes enjoyed a share of it though in a less degree. The Winnebago^s reverenced and never killed the rattle-snake. The Indians of I'lorida venerated the rattle- snake and would not kill one for fear its spirit would incite its kindred to revenge its death. The Cherokees worshipped the rattle-snake. In Brazil, in a large town of 8,ooD cabins, Don Alvarez found a tower which contained a serpent 27 feet long, with a very large head. The Indians worshipped this as a divin- ity and fed it with human flesh. The Peruvians worshipped adders. Many images of serpents were found in South America before which the inhabitants knelt in adoration." The Iroquois have a tradition about Niagara Falls, that a ser- pent poisoned the waters, but lleno, the thunderer, who dwelt under the sheet of water, discharged upon him a mighty thunder- bolt which slew him. The Senecas still point to a place in the creek where the banks were shelved out in a semi-circular form which was done by the serpent when he turned to escape. His body floated down the stream and lodged upon the verge of the Cataract, stretching nearly across the ri\er. The raging waters^ thus dammed up, broke through the rocks behind, and thus the whole verge of the fall upon which the body rested, was precipi- •-1 If rman's Oriui i ( f I'liniitivc Supcrstili ms. pp 'A^. THE SERPEyr SYMBOL. 59 tated into the abyss beneath. In this mnnner was formed the Horseshoe Falls."* Dr. Brinton says that the serpent seems to be associated in its winding course to rivers. The Kennebec, a stream in Maine, in the Algonquin means "snake," and the Antietam. in Iroquois, has the same sis^nification. There is a tradition that a \ast ser- pent lived in the Mississippi near Fo.\ (Illinois) River, but he finally took a notion to visit the Great Lakes, and the trail he made passing thither, is the basin of that stream. t It has. b\' an association of ideas, become connected with the lightning. The Algonquins thought that the lightning was an immense serpent. The Shawnees called thunder, the hissing of the Great Snake, and Tlaloc, the Toltec Thunder god. is always represented with the snake twisted about his body. In the Ojib- way mythology the serpent robs the Thunder-bird's nest. It has also a strange mysterious relation to the spirit land. In one tradition the serpent forms a bridge on which the soul must cross the great stream which separates this world from the spirit world. "Who is a Manito?" asked the mystic media chant of the Al- gonquins. "He, who walketh with a serpent, walking on the ground." is the reph'. "He is a Manito.";); The cloud serpent. MixcoatI, the white or gleaming cloud ser- pent, is said to have been the only divinity of the ancient Chi- cimeces.>^ It is said ot Quetzacoatl, the great Mexican di\'init)', when he departed from the land, that he entered his wizard skiff made of serpent skins and embarked upon the sea, after bestowing his blessing upon the young men who accompanied him.y In some localities the serpent seemed to be considered as the embodiment of evil. The Apaches hold that every serpent contains the soul of a bad man.^ The Piutes of Nevada have a demon deit)- in the form of a serpent, still supposed to exist in the waters of P\Tamid Lake and this Devil Snake causes the water to boil like a pot, in time of a storm.' It was described to Whipple and to Mollhausen as possessing power over the sea, lakes, rivers and rain. It was, among the Pueblo cities of the Pecos, supposed to be sacred and accord- ing to some accounts was fed with the flesh of his devotees. - *''rhe Irciquois, or the I'ri'^ht Siclt: of Indian Char.icter," by Minnie Myrtle, p. 133. tDorman's Primitive Superstitions, p. 315, quoted from Schoolcraft, p. 682. J'ranner's Narrative, p. 356. I'rinton's Myths, p. 114. SBrinton's Myths, p. 171. I'Dorman's Prim. Siip.-p. 94. — Short.-aSg.-Prt^scott-Nol. I-5S. THancroft's Native Races, Vol. HI. p. 135.— Schoolcraft's .\rchives. \\A. V. p. 209. ir)ancroft's.-\'ol. lU-p. 135, — Sm. Rep. 2(".regg's Commerce with the Prairie, Vol.I-p. 271. 2WhippIc, Eubank and Turner's Report, p. 38. jP.icitic R. R. Report. Vnl. III. 60 lyATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. These traditions prove nothing as to the origin of the symbol and yet they show how prominent the serpent was in native American mythology. Perhaps the most interesting tradition of the serpent is one which has been preserved in the celebrated Red Score Record of the Delawares or Lenni Lenapes, called the Walum Olum. Of this, a new translation has been made b\- Dr. D. G. Brinton and we take pleasure in quoting from his book. The reader will notice the correspondence between this tradition and the scripture record, but v/ill see that it has been adapted to the new circumstances, the memory of the people not going back further than the migration. The following is the general synopsis: I. The formation of the universe by the Great ]\Ianito, is de- scribed. In the primal fog and water}' waste, he formed land and sky and the heavens cleared. He then created men and animals. These lived in peace and joy until a certain evil manito came and sowed discord and misery." II. "The Evil Manito, who now appears under the guise of a gigantic serpent, determines to destroy the the human race, and for that purpose brings upon them a flood of water. Many per- ish, but a certain number escape to the turtle, that is, solid land, and are there protected by Nanabush (Manibozho or Michabo.) They pray to him for assistance, and he caused the water to dis- appear, and the serpent to depart." III. "The waters having disappeared, the home of the tribe is described as in a cold and northern clime. This they concluded to leave in search of warmer lands. Having dixided their people into a warrior and a peaceful class, they journeyed southward, toward what is called the ' Snake land.' " IV. "The first sixteen verses record the gradual conquest of most of the snake land. It seems to have required the succes- sive efforts of six or seven head chiefs, one after another, to bring this about, probably but a small portion at a time yielding to the attacks of these enemies. Its position is described as being to the southwest, and in the interior of the country. Here they first learned to cultivate maize. V. " Having conquered the Talegas, the Lenape possessed their land and that of the Snake people and for a certain time enjoyed peace and abundance. Then occurred a division of their people, some as Nanticokes and Shawnees, going to the south, others to the west, and later, the majority toward the east, arriving finally at the Salt sea, the Atlantic ocean."* We call attention to this record of the Delawares, for it con- nects the archaeology of this country with the traditionary lore of Europe and Central Asia. The record is evidently genuine and has no more signs of being modified to suit missionary influ- ence than all the traditions. There is a very remarkable cor- *Thc Lenape and their Legends, by Dr. D. G. Hrinton, pp. 167-68, THE SERPEM SYMBOL. Gl respondence between the tradition as thus recorded and some of the symbolic structures which ha\e been found in the eastern por- tion of the Ohio ^'^alley. The Red Score shows that is possible to convey thought b}' sj'mbols, and we are not sure but that this was the object with some of the symbolic earth-works. 4. We have maintained that the serpent s)-mboI was very preva- lent among the mounds of Ohio ; so prevalent as to give rise to the idea that the totem or ruling divinit}- of the people was the li-. 24— GREAT SERPENT IN ADAMS COUNTY. serpent. We do not say that the whole region was occupied by this people, for there are other districts where the alligator or lizard seems to be the totem ; but the place where the great ser- pent may be seen and where the serpent symbol prevails ; is a dis- trict which is situated south of that in which the alligator appears and which extends along the Ohio River on both sides from Ad- ams to Scioto county, or from the mouth of the Little Miami to that of the Scioto River. Corresponding to this district is anoth- ■er where the Mound Builders erected their most notable works. This is situated a little farther to the east in the vicinity of Marietta. We ask the question whether this was not the habitat of the two races spoken of in the Walum Olum, the "'Snake" race and the Telegewhi. We take it as verv suggestive that ths tradition of the Lenni Lenapes so correspond with the arch?eolog}^ and especially that ■of the eastern portion of the Ohio Valley. Here were situated, according to all accounts, the far famed race called the Telleghe- Avi or Alleghewi. The Mound Builders of Ohio have been identified with this traditionary people; identified not only by the missionaries such as Heckwelder, Zeisberger, and others, but by archaeologists. Here were situated, according to the interpretation 62 iV:i TIVE AMERICAX SYMBOLISM. whicli we ourselves have gi\-en to the earth works of Ohio, the celebrated "Snake tribe or nation" which is spokeaof in this tra- dition. On this point we quote Mr. Horatio Hale, who .says: * "Every known fact favors the view that during a period which may be roughly estimated between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago, the Ohio \alley was occupied by an industrious population of .some Indi- an stock which had attained a grade of civilization similar to that now held by the \'illage Indians of New Mexico and Arizo- na; that their population was assailed from the North by less civilized and more warlike tribes of Algonkins and Hurons act- ing in a temporary league similar to those alliances which Pon- tiac and Tecumseh afterwards rallied against the white colonist; that after a long and wasting war the assailants were \'ictorious; the conqueied people were in great part exterminated; the sur- vivors were either incorporated with the conquering tribes or fled southward and found a refuge among the nations which possess- ed the region lying between the Ohio Valley and the Gulf of Mexico; and that this mixture of races has largely modified the lansfuaee, character and usages of the Cherokee and Choctaw nations."* Dr. Brinton also has pointed out the fact that the tribes of the Chahta, Mu.skoki, comprising the Creeks, Chickasaws and Choc- taws were mound builders in recent times, but he thinks that the Mound Builders of the Ohio were in part their progenitors. The remarkable work oftheTuscarorachiefCusick is evidence also. He describes the conflicts which were carried on between the northern confederacy and the southern emperor who dwelt at the "Golden City," but who also built forts throughout his dominions and al- most penetrated to lake Erie. " Long bloody wars ensued, which probably lasted about 100 years. The people of the north were too skillful in the use of bows and arrows, and could endure hardships ^\•hich pro\ed fatal to a foreign people. At last the northern people gained the conquest and all the towns and forts were totally destro)'ed and left a heap 'of ruins ;"t According to Heckewelder, "hundreds of the slain Tallegewi were buried under mounds near the Great River." l\Ir. Hale says " there could be no reasonable doubt that the Allighewi, or Tellegewi who have given their name to the Alleghany river and moun- tains, were the Mound Builders." He says " the Dakota stock- had its oldest branch east of the Alleghanies;" he thinks that the migration of the tribe was from the Northeast. Prof \V. A. Wil- iamson, the son of the missionary among the Dakctas, says that they have a tradition that their ancestors came from the Northeast, and that they formerly dwelt on the Ohio River, and built the mounds in that vicinity. It is supposed by some that *See Anier. Antq. Vol. \', No 2, p. 120. tAmer. .•\nliq., Vol. I, No. 2, p. 116.) YIIE SERPENT SYMBOL. 63-- the Dakotas and the Cherokees were different branches of the same race. We speak of these traditions for the\' seem to con- firm the point which we have made, that the mounds on the Ohio River were built by this people, which were called the " Snakes." 5. We now turn to the archaeological evidence. There are mounds on the Ohio River which are in the shape of serpents. The great Serpent Mound in Adams Co. is well known. It needs no description. The discussion has, to be sure, been going on lately, whether this mound is reall}- a serpent or not. Accord- ing to the surve}' of Squier & Davis, there is no doubt as to the serpent effigy. Fig. 23. Those authors also thought they recog- nized in the effigy, the ancient tradition of the serpent and the egg which is so prominent in the cosmogon>' of tlie *Hindoos. Rev. J. P. McLean, however, has explored the region and makes out a different figure, the figure of a serpent and a frog ; and thinks that the old interpretation cannot be maintained. Fig. 24. There is this to be said howe\-er, about the effigy, that its very size and prominence on the summit of the hill, convey the idea, that it was a very important symbol, and quite likely to have represented the chief totem or divinity of the tribe duelling in the region. From it we judge that the name of the tribe would be the "Snake Indians." Mr. W. H. Holmes thinks that it was a serpent symbol, but suggests that the circle with the altar in the center of it symbol- ized the heart of the serpent. There is a circle or earth work near Chillicothe which is in ''^^: the shape of a serpent. In this " case the serpent is not a mere effig)- resting upon the summit \ of a hill, (Fig. 25,) as in Adams i countN', but the wall to the en- -'^■V-MM closure, or rather two serpents,. •'-"^ "); the heads forming the gateway.. ; This is a \-er}- remarkable work. The situation is in the midst ofan i-ig.25.-sERi>E\iF.iii(;v, cHu.i.icoTHK. described by Squier & Davis as follows: "The body of the work is elliptical in shape, the diameter being 170 ft., transverse 250 feet. There is a single opening or gateway- 50 feet wide on the south, where the walls curve outwards and lap back upon themselves for the space of Go ft. The most remarkable feature of this singular work consists of the five walls starting within lO ft. of the enclos- *Anc. Mon., p. 96. 64 NATIVE AMERECAN SYMBOLISM. ure and extending northward slightly converging, for the dis- tance of lOO ft. 5ee Fig. 25. These walls are 20 ft. broad at the ends nearest the enclosure and 10 ft. apart. The}- diminish gradually as they recede to 10 feet at their outer extremities. The purposes of this strange work are entirely inexplicable. The small size precludes the idea of a defensive origin. It is the only structure of the kind which has been found in the valleys and is totally unlike those found on the hills. The Great Stone Fort on Paint Creek is but two miles distant and over- looks this work.* Our explanation of this structure is that it represents two ser- pents with the bodies joined, but with the heads turned back in such a way as to make the opening or gateway to the enclosure between them. The long stone walls which seem to Squier & Da- GREAT MlAMl_R!ia Two serpents guarding the gate. Ciate. Wall. Bluff. Fig. 26. -WORKS ON THE MIAMI RIVER, OHIO. vi sso remarkable, represent the tails of these serpents very much as the idols of Mexico contain the tails of serpents below'the fig- ures. The protection given to this enclosure would be partly owing to the serpent effigy and the .sacred character of the place ■^vould also be exhibited by it. An enclosure similar to this but •on a larger .scale may be found on the banks of the Great Miami river, four miles above the town of Hamilton. Here the serpent symbol is contained in the entrance to the enclosure but there *Anc. Mon. p. 4, pi. III. THE SERPENT SYMBOL. 65 is no such completed line of earth works and no structures that correspond to the rattles. Squier & Davis' description of this is as follows : " The ends of the wall curve inwardly as they ap- proach each other upon a radius of 75 ft., forming a true circle. Within the space thus formed is another circle iCO ft. in diameter which seems to protect the gateway. Outside of this circle and overlooking the bluff is a mound 40 ft. in diameter and 5 ft. high. The passage between the circle and the embankment is only about 6 ft." Fig. 26. Another enclosure resembling this has been described" by Squier & Davis. It is in Butler County. The peculiarit y of the Fig. 27.— WORK. IN COLERAIX, OHIO. work is that every avenue is strongly guarded and the entrances resemble the gateway just described. The ends of the walls overlap each other in the form of semi-circles having a common centre. The coincidence between the guarded entrances of this and similar works throu;Thout the west, and those of the Mexi- can entrances, is singularly striking.* Still another work which has the symbol of the serpent as a guard to the entrance way is found near Colerain, Hamilton Co., Ohio, on the bank of the great Miami.f Fig. 27. In this case the tails of the serpent guard the entrance way rather than the heads ; although there is another gateway where the peculiar circular entrance is seen, but it is closed up and the gate way where the tails are seen is the principal entrance. Fort Ancient is another work where the serpent symbol may *Ac. Mon., Squier & Davis, p. 21, pi. VIII, Xo. i. tA»c. Mon., p. 35, pi. XIII, Ko. 2. Anc. Mon. p. 18. -^6 XATIYE AMERICAX SYMBOLISM. be seen. (Fig. 28.) The walls of this enclosure are singularly tor- tuous and resemble massive serpent's winding along the edge of the bluffs. The place where the serpent symbol is most manifest is where the large mounds guard the entrance to the lower en- closure at the neck of land which joins the two enclosures. Here the ^\•all is not only tortuous but rises and falls very much as if two massive serpents were rolling their bodies along. There is also in the larger enclosure a singular earth work which has the form of a crescent. From its position inside of the enclosure we should say that it was designed as a moon symbol, yet it may have been built in that form merely as a matter of defense. We do not state positively that the serpent s)'mbol is contained in the Ft. Ancient, for it may be that the tortuous shape of the walls was owing merely to the nature of the ground, as the bluff is exceed- ingly broken. The walls, in following the summit of the bluffs would naturally be serpentine. And yet if the serpent symbol is found in other earth works we should conclude that it was contained in this, for the resemblance is very striking, when one conceives the idea, and looks at the wall with this point in mind. Another place where the serpent symbol is supposed to be con- tained in an earth work, is at Portsmouth. Here we have an extensive series of works consisting of walled enclosures, parallel or covered ways, curved lines, horseshoe symbols, mounds enclosed in circles, and a remarkable symbolic structure which might be considered as representing the symbol of the sun and the four quarters of the sky, or the four winds, and along with the other structures, the serpent symbol. This is one of the most remarkable series of works found in the world. It is composed of three groups ; one on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, opposite the mouth of the Scioto, about two miles below the city of Portsmouth; another which occupies the ground on the north side of the Ohio to the east of the Scioto; it runs up and across the two terraces and has its main works on the third terrace overlooking the city below. The third group is on the Kentucky shore but several miles further up the river than the first group. The total length of the parallels now traceable may be estimated at 8 miles, giving 16 miles of embankment to the parallels alone, and computing the walls around the enclosures and the circles which surround the horseshoe symbols with the circles which surround the sun symbol, we have a grand total of upwards of 20 miles of earth walls. The city of Portsmouth is now built upon the ground where the largest group formerly ex- isted. But the walls were fortunately visited and described be- fore they were destroyed. Squier & Davis say, "the avenues, or covered ways extending from one group to the other, have in- •■duced many to assign them a military origin, built with a design to protect communication between the different works or enclo- .sures; but it is very certain that we must seek for some other ex- THE SERPENT SYMBOL. 67 planation of their purposes. It is a singular fact that this entire series of works has a resemblance to the great circle at Avebury, England. There is the same prevalence of the horse-shoe symbol^ and of circular enclosures, the different works being connected here by earth walls as there by standing stones.* II. We now turn to the explanation of the serpent symbol in America. Various theories have been advanced to account for its presence on the continent, but none of them are very satisfac- tory. One class maintain that it was like all other symbols, wholly indigenous; but another class hold that it was brought in from some other continent, and is to be connected with serpent worship elsewhere. We shall not undertake to defend either of these theories, but shall speak of the possible explanations and ask various questions. I. Was it a symbol which arose out of the system of animism which prevailed among the rude tribes, the shape of the ground and the locality suggesting that the spot was haunted by the great serpent spirit ? 2. Was it another form of tribal worship or totemism. the tribe which dwelt here having made the serpent their local divinity or tribal god, and so exalting it above all the other divinities and worshiping it as the chief divinity? 3. Was it merely a symbol of the nature powers — the lightning, the fire, the sun, the water, making one or all of them objects of worship? 4, Was it a symbol which had been adopted by some secret society and which had become prominent anjong the sacred mysteries and ceremonies, but had now been made public and placed before the people to increase its power ? 5 . Was it the result of an intruded cultus. thus showing contact with other countries in prehistoric times? 6. Was there a general cult which embodied itself in both the effigies and the relics, and which spread over the entire continent? or was it a mere local cult, the result of some tribal myth or custom? These questions suggest the dif- ferent explanations which might be given, and all of them fur- nish interesting lines of study. I. The animistic conception may have been embodied in the effigies, for they are all of them situated in wild places, where it would be perfectly natural to imagine that the spirit of the ser- pent would resort, and the shape of the clifts or bluffs upon which they are erected would naturally suggest the thought. It is very common for primitive people to ascribe supernatural spirits to the various objects of nature and to trees, rocks, caves, streams, springs, lakes, mountains, islands, imagine that certain places were haunted by certain animal spirits, which become local divinities. It was in this way that the Island of Mackinaw was regarded as sacred to the turtle. The Hot Springs and Spirit lake in Arizona were regarded by the Moquis as sacred to *Dr. Stukely considered the works at Avebury to be a druidical place of sacrifice the avenues connecting the sun circles being in the shape of a massive serpent. 68 NA Tl VE A MERICAN S YMBOLISM. the great serpent. The Niagara Falls and St. Anthony's Falls were both supposed to be formed by the body of the great ser- pent which floated down the stream and lodged upon the rocks. The Pawnees had a story that the soul of a young brave who had been killed was carried to the houses of the animal divini- ties, Nahiirac. It was also a common superstition that the souls of the dead were confined to certain places, called houses. One of them was called Pa/mk, "hill island," was opposite the town of Fremont, Nebraska; another called La-la zva-koh-ti-to , "dark island," was in the Piatt river; another called Ah-ha-zvit-akol, "white bank," on the Loup lork, opposite Cedar river; another was called Pahowa, "water on the bank," on the Solomon river; another was called Pahiir, it is a rock in Kansas which sticks out of the ground, called "guide rock." At the top of the mound is a round hole and water is in it. The Indians throw offerings into this hole to Tirazva, their great divinity. They were accustomed to make a sacrifice of a captive every year, by burning the body after they had shot arrows into it. They beh'eved that there were giants at first, and these giants were rebellious against Tirazua, but they were destroyed. 2. The region in Ohio where the serpent effigies are the most prominent was once the dwelling place of a tribe of hunters who are known to have migrated from their original seats east of the Alleghenies, following the buffalo in their retreat westward, namely, the Dakotas or Sioux, and it is quite likely that the name of the snake people, which tradition has preserved, was the one which was given to them. One plausible explanation is that this people erected the most of the effigies in this region, and that they built the earliest or oldest of the two forts which are now to be seen upon the summit of the hill at Fort Ancient, the one whose walls are supposed to have been in the shape ot tortuous and rolling serpents, its gateway guarded by their heads. Confirmatory of this is the fact that the serpent effigies are found all along the track taken by the Dakotas in their migration westward to their present seats. One was discovered by the writer on the bluff near Quincy, Illinois, another on the bluff near Cassville, Wisconsin, another on the ridge near Lake Wingra, near Madison, Wisconsin, another near Mayville, Wis- consin, still another, discovered by Prof J. A. Todd, on the bluff called Dakota. And the fact that carved animal pipes, resem- bling those in Ohio, have been found in the mounds in Illinois and Iowa, the most interesting of which has the serpent coiled around the bowl exactly as the one found in the fort called Clarks works, 3. Another explanation is interesting. There is, in Ohio, an effigy of a bird which is very much like the birds which have been inscribed on the rocks in Dakota. These are supposed to represent the thunder bird, a nature power divinity among the SERPENT GORGETS FROM TENNESSEE. SHELL GORGETS FROM TENNESSEE. THE SERPENT SYMBOL. 69 Dakotas, and which had its abode near the pipe stone quarry in Minnesota. This remarkable fissure was situated upon a hilltop near the east branch of the Miami river. The effigy is contained within a square enclosure, the walls of which conform to the shape of the bluff and are very crooked. The entrances to the enclosure are guarded by fragmentary walls, which are placed within the gateway. The figure itself has not been heretofore recognized as an effigy, but on examining it closely we discover in it the head and tail and outspread wings of a bird, the wings having been formed in such a way as to represent long, drooping feathers, the very features which symbolize the rain. These various facts, which have recently come to light, render it very probable that the Dakota effigy-builders were all of them, before they migrated westward, serpent worshipers, and that wherever they had a location they erected shrines to this serpent divinity and made their offerings to it. 4. A fourth explanation is the one suggested by the serpent effigy discovered in Adams county, Illinois. Here the serpent is situated upon the summit ot a hill which overlooks the bot- tom land of the Mississippi river for many miles, making it a conspicuous object. Here, too, the t^gy is conformed to the shape of the bluff, as it is in Ohio. The sinistral turn of the effigies has been recognized in both places. The fact that there were fire beds and the evidences of cremation of bodies in the bottom of the mound, which formed the prominent object in the centre of the body of the serpent, is another point of interest. The fire was an emblem of sun worship and was sacred to the sun. The phallic symbol was also discovered here. The bodies were placed upon their backs, the face turned upward to the sun, the hands folded over the thighs; the skeletons of two snakes were found coiled up between the hands near the secret parts of the body. The number four was also observed here. This is a common symbol among the sun worshipers. There were four large mounds m the centre of the effigy; there were four burial places in the top of one of the mounds, the points of the com- pass having been observed in the burials. What is most singu- lar about the whole find was that the altar or fire bed was placed upon the summit of a deposit of black soil, constituted a circu- lar or saucer-like depression in the deposit, but all the soil which was placed above the altar and made the rest of the mound was of a strong contrast, as it was a light colored sand. A white streak of burned lime and a red streak of bark or some other substance, a gray streak of ashes intervening between the two layers. Here then we have the symbols wtiich were common in the east and which were so expressive of the nature powers, the contest between light and darkness, the cardinal points, the number four, the several colors, the sinistral turn, the fire, the cremated bodies, and the serpent effigy itself all being symbols 70 NA T.I VE A ME RICA N S YMB OLISM. of sun worship. We imagine that these symbols may have been introduced in connection with "sacred mysteries," and were preserved by some secret society or unknown organization and that the rites practiced were a part of the sacred ceremonies which were observed. The situation is to be noticed. They were situated in the wildest places and were often on the sum- mits of hills where their form could be seen at a great distance. They were, perhaps, shrines and places of sacrifice. The altars and fire beds are found in connection with them. They were calculated to inspire terror in the minds of superstitious people and yet were in harmony with the scenes of nature about them. The fires that were lighted upon them sent out their glare through the darkness and covered the whole region with lurid light. They were not merely shrines or places of worship, but were also places of sacrifice where human bodies were cremated and mystic ceremonies were practiced. We can not look upon these serpent efifigies in the same way that we do upon the animal figures, for they were strange contortions and outre shapes; and ghastlv scenes were connected with them. Here then we have different explanations of the serpent sym- bol, each of them furnishing a different answer to the various questions which have been asked, one pointing to the animistic conception, another to the totemistic idea, a third to the tutelar divinity, a fourth favoring the thought that a secret society super- intended the erection of the effigies, all of them doing away with the necessity of an intruded cultus to account for them and favor- ing the theory of an indigenous origin. 5. The argument for a transmitted symbolism is one which comes from the mingling of the symbols of sun worship with those of serpent worship in the region where the effigies are so promi- nent, and from the striking resemblance which these effigies have to others which are found in Great Britain, Europe and in oriental countries. How do we explain this remarkable combi- nation? Shall we say that there was a class of persons who by some means were able to cross the ocean and make their way to this remote region and there introduce the various symbols which were used upon the other side of the water and which be- longed to the ancient historic races of the east? Let us consider this point further and examine the evidence on both sides. We take the evidence of Mr. F. W. Putnam, who has made a special study of the great serpent in Adams county, Ohio. He has described this effigy as the figure of the serpent slowly uncoiling itself and creeping stealthily along the crest of the hill, as if about to seize the oval figure in its extended jaws. He says its position east and west indicates a belief in the great sun god, whose first rays fall on the altar in the center of the oval. He quotes the words of Dr. J. W. Phene, who discovered a remarkable serpent effigy in Great Britain. "The tail of the 'IHE SERPENT SYMBOL. 71 serpent rests near the shore of Loch Nell. The ground gradu- ally rises seventeen to eighteen feet in height, and forms a double curve. The head forms a circular cairn, on which there still remains the trace of an altar. The ridge was also modified by art, so that the whole length should form a spine of the ser- pent. Large stones were set like the vertebrae and smaller stones sloping off the ridge were suggestive of ribs." It is said that the worshipers standing at the altar would look eastward along the whole length of the reptile, toward the triple peaks ot Ben Cruachan. See Fig. 31. Prof Putnam draws the compari- son between this efifigy and the one in Ohio. He says: "Each has the head pointing west, each terminates with a circular en- closure, containing an altar, from which, looking along the most prominent part of the serpent, the rising sun may be seen. In the oval embankment, with its central pile of burnt stones, we find the Lingam un Yoni of India, the recipro cal principle of na- ture, guarded by the serpent." This inter- pretation of the great serpent is the same as that given by the first authors who de- scribed it, Squier and Davis, who say that the serpent in combination with the circle, eg^ or globe has been a prominent symbol among many primitive nations, and prevailed in Greece, Egypt and Assyria, and entered into the superstitions of the Celts, Hindoos and Chinese; and even penetrated into America. These authors speak of the altars in the oval enclos- ure of the great serpent near the alligator mound at Granville, and the cross at Tarleton, Ohio, all of which were on "high places." We are aware that there is another interpretation of these different effigies which would make them altogether in- digenous, and which would deny any connection between sym- bols found in them and those found in ether continents.* 6. The correspondence between the structures and the relics is to be noticed here. We find that animal worship or totemism was embodied in the emblematic mounds, or animal effigies, and the carved pipes. Mythologic divinities were portrayed by the rock inscriptions and rock outlines, as well as by the smaller images found in the mounds. The sun symbol was also con- *W. H. Holmes thinks that the oval represented the body of the serpent, the altar the heart, the nose of the serpent was the end of the cliff. Everything- about the efiSgy was purely aboriginal. The resemblances of the cliff to the serpent having led to the erection of the eftigy. Mg. 31.— Serpent in Scotland. 72 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. tained in the earth- works of Ohio and the shell gorgets of Ten- nessee, the correspondence between them showing that there was a religious cult which prevailed among all these tribes situated in the Mississippi valley. This, of course, does not prove that any cult was introduced from any other continent, but it at least shows that serpent worship was not altogether a local cult. This correspondence will be seen if we take specific localities for illustration and draw the analogies between the earlh-works and the relics which contain these symbols of the region, but it will be seen even more clearly if we take the earth-works or efifigies of one district and compare them with the relics of another dis- trict, for by this means we see that the symbols were not local but general. yt- Fig. SZ.—Bird Hjffit/y. In the earth-works, the concentric circles surround a central mound, which has been regarded as a symbol of the sun, and an altar to the sun has frequently been found in the mound. In the gorgets, the concentric circles surround a central disk, which is supposed to be a symbol of the sun. There are earth- works in Ohio which contain the symbol of the cross, whose sides cor- respond with the cardinal points. There are gorgets in Tennessee which contain the cross enclosed within a circle, evidently de- signed as a weather symbol. The effigy of the bird is fre- quently seen in the earth-works. One of these effigies has been described as being in the center of a great circle at Newark. It contained an altar, and was evidently a symbol of the sun. The effigy of the bird on the East fork of the Miami river, referred to above, was, it is probable, the thunder bird.f There is a square enclosure surrounding it, whose gatej ways are guarded by crescent walls. The situation of the en- closure is remarkable. It is on an emine nce, and is visible from *The following are the symbols which have been recognized; i. The circle. 2. The cross. 3. The bird. 4. The square. 5. The crescent, b. 1 he Jew's-harp. 7. The horse- shoe. ^. . tCompare Fig. 32 with Fig. 6, p. 383. THE SERPEN 1 SYMBOL. 73 all directions. The bird effigy nearly fills the entire enclosure. In its shape it reminds us of the various bird effigies found in the gorgets. It has been suggested that the structures were de- voted to rites analogous to those attending the primitive hill or grove worship of the east. The square enclosures in Ohio are, many of them, orientated, have gateways in the sides and corners. There are square figures on the gorgets in Tennessee which have loops at the corners and birds* heads at the sides. Both of these are supposed to be symbols of the different quarters of the sky. There are many crescents among the mounds of Ohio which are associated with circles and with squares. The gorgets contain crescents enclosed in circles. Now these different figures show that nature worship pre- vailed over the different parts of the Mound-builders' territory, but the serpent symbol seems to have been very prominent in it. This may be seen from the following facts. Many relics in the shape of serpents have been found in the mounds. These were evidently devoted to sun worship, and were in fact placed upon altars as offerings to the sun. The association of the serpent gorgets with what might be called the bird gorgets is to be noticed here. Mr. \V. H. Holmes has described several of these and shown that the bird, the loop, the square, the circle, the sun with rays, and the cross were some- times combined in one complicated symbol. His description is as follows: "A square framework of four continuous parallel lines looped at the corners, the inner line touching the tips of the starlike rays. Outside of this are the four symbolic birds, placed against the side of the square opposite the arms of the cross. These birds' heads are carefully drawn. The mouth is open, the eyes represented by a circle, and a crest springs from the back of the head and neck. The crest is striated and pointed, and the two lines extend from the eye down to the neck. The bird resembles the ivory-billed woodpecker more than any other species." This makes the bird effigy which we have described all the more significant, for the square enclosure there contains the bird which is in the shape of a cross, but in its curved walls may be said to present the loops. Gen. Gates P. Thruston has described specimens which have been taken from mounds at Severville, McMahon and the Harpeth cemetery, near Nashville, as well as from Carthage, Alabama, which were evidently ancient. These show that the cult was widespread among the southern Mound-builders. The association of these shell gorgets with serpents on them, with the gorgets containing symbols of the sun and moon and stars, is another proof. These shell gorgets have been found at Nash- ville. One of them contains three crescents, which have a 74 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. sinistral turn around a central disk. Outside of these are nine disks, with dots interspersed between them; outside of these are fourteen other disks, which are carved in rehef, so as to make scallops to the gorget. In Mound City we find crescents which were found in mounds which were surrounded by a circular earth-work, the symbol- i't-mbol of the supernatural power both with the culture hero and the war god. It would seem as if there was a progress in nature worship, and that the same symbol, which among the Iroquois was so expressive, became among the Mexicans very complicated and still more significant. The first idol which we shall describe is one found in connec- tion with the goddess of death in Mexico. [Plate X.] This is described by Bancroft as follows: "The idol was first brought to light in grading the Plaza in August, 1790. It is an immense block of bluish grey porphyry, about 10 ft. higli, 6 ft. wide and thick, sculptured on front, rear, top and bottom in a most com- plicated and horrible combination of human, animal and ideal forms. Vasco de Gama first expressed the opinion in which other authors coincide, that the front shown in the cut represents the goddess of death, Teoyaomiqui, whose duty it was to bear the souls of dead warriors to the house of the sun. The rear view of the idol represents HuitzilopochtU, god of war, and hus- band of the female divinity whose emblems are carved on the front. The bottom of the monument bears various sculptured designs not shown in the cut, which are thought to represent *See Plate XXVIII Dresden Codex contribuli )ns to N. A. Ethnology, Vol. V. 108 NATIVE AMFAIICAN SYMBOLISM. Plate X-MEXICAN GODDESS OF DEATH. THE SERPENT S YMBOL. 1 09 Mictlantecutli, god of the infernal regions, the last of this cheer- ful trinity; goddess of death, god of war, and god of hell, three distinct deities united in one idol according to the Aztec cate- chism. The idol was removed to the University and until 1 82 1 was kept buried in the court yard, that it might not kindle anew the aboriginal superstitions. The analysis of this idol and the examination of its different parts will bring out the following remarkable features, i. The shape of the idol is that of the cross. 2. It is a combination of a human figure and a serpent form; no other animal is represented, 3. There is a combination of kingly drapery and serpent folds. 4. There are four hands plainly visible with the palms extended and turned out, with figures of rattles between the hands. 5. There seem to be two heads, the serpent head above and the human head below ; the serpent head having teeth and fangs visi- ble; the human head being a death head. The eyes are made with rings around them the same as Tlaloc the god of rain always has. 7. The serpent head consists of massive folds bound together and fringed, but with cross hatchings to represent the seroent's skin. 8. The shoulders of the idol or the arms of the i. cross arc adorned with the teeth of a serpent and the forked tongue below the teeth. 9. The fringe which forms a skirt to the idol, contains serpents' heads covered with a cross-hatching which represent's a serpent's skin. Between the serpents' heads, tails all of them containing ratttles. 10. Below these horrid tassels, is a serpent with its four folds covered with cross hatch- ings which are dotted like that on the serpents heads above, the eyes and teeth and forked tongue resembling those in the shoulders and head above. 11. On either side of this serpent head are figures that look like claws, though they may be intend- ed for serpent's eggs. Mr. E. S. Holden has drawn the comparison between this Mexican idol and others found in Yucatan. He discovers a similar combination of serpent's heads and tails with human faces, arms and limbs but with the addition of crotalus jaws and many other symbols, and thinks that there are so many striking du- plications and coroborative resemblances that the Yucatec figures and the Mexican idols may be supposed to represent the same personage, Huitzilipochtli, the god of death. The identification of the Yucatec and Mexican or Aztec religions seem to be quite complete. See plate XI. [v.] A comparison of the tradititions and myths of the serpent and the serpent symbol will be in place here. There are many myths of the serpent as well as of the tortoise, and these seem to be very wide -spread. On this point we quote from Mr. Edward Tylor. He says: "In the Old World the tortoise myth belongs especially to India, and the idea is developed there in a variety of forms. 110 NATIVE AM ERIC AN SYMBOLISM Plate XI-IDOL PILL.\R WITH SERPENT SYMBOLS. THE SERPENT S YMBOL . Ill The tortoise that upholds the earth is called in the Sanskrit Ki^irmaraja, King of the Tortoises, and the Hindoos believe to this day that the earth rests upon its back. Sometimes the snake Sesha bears the world on its head, or an elephant carries it upon its back, and both snake and elephant are themselves supported by the great tortoise. The earth, res- cued from the deluge which destroys mankind, is set up with the snake that bears it resting on the floating tortoise, and a del- uge is again to pour over the foce of the eartii when the world- tortoise, sinking under its load, goes down into the great waters." "According to Varaha-Mihira, the Indians represented to them- selves the inhabited part of the world under the form of a tortoise floating upon the water; it is in this sense that they call the world Kaunna-cJiakra\ that is to say, "the wheel of the tortoise." "The striking analogy between the tortoise myth of North America and India is by no means a matter of new observation; it was indeed remarked upon by Father Lafitau nearly a century and a half ago. Three great features of the Asiatic stories are found among the North American Indians in the fullest and clearest development. The earth is supported on the back of a huge floating tortoise, the tortoise sinks under water and causes a deluge, and the tortoise is considered as being itself the earth floating upon tlie face of the deep. In the last century, Loskiel, the Moravian missionary remarked of the North American Indi- ans that "some of them imagine that the earth swims in the sea, or that an enormous tortoise carries the world on its back." Schoolcraft, an unrivalled authority on Indian mythology within his own district, remarks that the turtle is an object held in great respect in all Indian reminiscence. It is believed to be in all cases, a symbol of the earth and is addressed as a mother.". . . "Among the Mandans, Catlin found a legend which brings in the same notion of the w'orld-tortoise, but shows that by differ- ence of the accessory circumstances that it was not in America a mere part of a particular story, but a mythological conception which might be worked into an unlimited variety of myths. The tale that the I\iandan doctor told Catlin, was that the earth was a large tortoise, that it carried dirt upon its back, and that a tribe of people who are now dead, and whose faces were white, used to dig down very deep in the ground to catch badgers. The myth of the world-tortoise is one of those which have this great value in the comparison of Asiatic and American mythology, that it leaves not the least opening for the supposition of its having been carried by modern Europeans from the Old to the New World." The Scandanavian myth is that the serpent en- compassed the globe. In Mexico, the serpent is frequently seen encompassing the signs of the zodiac, and we cannot help con- necting the symbols on the calendar stones with myths which prevailed in the Old World. The same is true of the ornamen- 113 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. tation of the pottery. The serpent and the tortoise seem to embody the myth which, according to Mr. Tylor is so wide spread. The serpent symbol in the south-west portion of the continent is more compHcated and conventional than elsewhere. We close this article by referring to the mythological record of the creation as contained in the tablets of the creation series found in Nineveh, and described by Geo. Smith in his "Chaldean Genesis." The subject was the fight between Tiamat and the god Marduk. Tiamat, the personification of darkness, chaos, disor- der, and so of the powers of evil, is the prototype of the serpent of Genesis. Marduk, chosen by the gods for the conflict, and armed with sword and bow, engages in fierce fight with Tiamat. and eventually dashes out the brains of the dragon, a particular which at once calls to recollection "the bruising of the serpent's head," as described in Genesis. There is, however, this note- worthy difference between the Babylonian and the Chaldean ac- counts. Tiamat is a sea-monster, the sea being regarded appar- ently as a great hostile power, and so associated with darkness and evil. Tiamat is, moreover, a dragon, a composite creature, not a serpent. The conflict, however, both in the cuneiform text and as depicted on Babylonian seals, always takes place on the land. And it may be observed that this same conflict, portrayed on a large scale, may be seen on a projecting part of the wall in the Assyrian Gallery of the Museum. Here the dragon Tiamat is seen retreating, but still threatening, with claws and her wide- opened mouth. Tiamat has a pair of wings and a scale-covered body. Marduk is advancing to the attack. He has two pairs of wings, and is armed with cimeter, and is brandishing a pair double tridents, which possibly represent lightning. On the seals he is represented either equipped and ready for the conflict, or attacking the dragon with bow and cimeter. On one seal, how- ever, the dragon is represented as a serpent, as in the biblical story, and pursued by Marduk. It will seem from this that the serpent in oriental countries was representative of a nature power and that is was attended with symbols of the lightning, and other processes of nature. Our conclusion is: whether there was any connection between the two continents, the serpent symbol in both hemispheres was associated with nature worship, yet there were traditions associated with it which have very striking analogies. The serpent evidently represented a nature power, but it was more than this. It is possible that we shall find the oriental tradition still connected with the American Symbol. AXLVAL WORSHIP AND SUX WORSHIP. \\z CHAPTER V, AXIMAL WORSHIP AXD SUX WORSHIP COMPARED. The prevalence of sun worship throughout the different parts of the globe is impressed upon us as soon as we enter upon the subject of primitive religions. The early historic records show that it ex- isted extensively at a very ancient date. Traditions and mythol- ogy are full of allusions to it, showing that it prevailed before historic times. Language seems to have been affected bv it. The ve:y form of letters and the phonetic signs in certain lan- guages contain tokens of it. The earliest forms of art were also impressed and influenced by it. The symbols on coins are frequently symbols of the sun, as well as of the serpent and the tree. Ancient architecture exhibits sun worship as prevalent. The very forms of the temples were constructed so as to make the worship of the sun more impressive. The symbol of the sun is also found in the clothing of the priest and in the furniture of the temples, as well as in the adornments of the idols. Hieroglyphics are everywhere full of the same kind of symbol- ism. All of these tokens convince us that it was a most extensive system and one out of which other religious systems have grown. - This sun worship may have been preceded bv more primitive systems, viz.: animal worship, fetichism, animism, shamanism, etc., but it seems to have been more powerful and more extensive than any of these, and therefore is worthy of especial studv. We may regard it as a form of universal religion, a form which reached the stage of universalit}- before historic times. We may also consider it as a connecting link between the historic and prehistoric ages; a system which survived into historic times, but grew out of a prehistoric cult, the product of the highest stage which had been reached, but at the same time the blossom out of which the fruit grew for the next stage of cul- ture. How long sun worship may have continued during prehistoric 1 14 NA Tl VE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. times no one knows, but there are so many grades of it that we may conclude that it had continued for a long time. The change from sun worship to anthropomorphic systems was evidently slow. In some countries it took centuries to reach the first stage of idolatry, the anuiial figure changing slowl}^ to the idol as a human semblance. Animal worship and sun worship were, however closely associated in prehistoric times, and these were perpetuated in parallel lines even long after history began. The human sem.blance seemed to have been a late conception, and yet we can trace in this country the idolatry which contains the human semblance back into prehistoric times. It is probable that all three of these types of nature worship were even in the East quite prevalent before the historic period. I. We turn now to consider the connection between animal worship and sun worship. Why are animal figures and sun symbols so closely associated? In answering this question we shall compare the symbols of the East and the West, but begin with those of the East. The symbols of Egypt are first to be considered: Let us consider the different animals which were sacred to the sun. (i). The phoenix. This was a bird of the sun. Its general appearance was similar to the eagle. It had a gold collar about the neck, the breast was purple, its tail blue varied with red feathers, its head richly feathered with a tuft at the top. According to the fable there is only one on the whole globe. It lives 660 years. When it grows old it builds a nest and dies. A worm is produced from its bones which, having become, a young bird, takes the nest and carries it to the city of the sun and deposits it on the altar. (2). The bull was a sacred animal and received divine honors as representing a divinity. His prolific character was considered a divine attribute. The bull was sacred to the sun and carried the globe on its head between its horns. The bull was a symbol of x\pis, one of the chief divinities of Egypt. The ox-headed divinity Sarapis (Osiris Apis) was also a great divinity; the personal and the an- imal nature of the god being represented both by the name Sarapis and the idol, which was a human form with an ox-head. (3). The hawk was a symbol of the sun in Egypt. The god Ra was usuallv represented with a hawk's head surmounted by a globe or disk of the sun from which the asp issued. The hawk was a symbol because it was able to look into the face of the sun. (4). Lions were considered solar animals. Ra, the hawk- headed divinity, was sometimes supported on the back of lions. We shall hereafter speak of the lions whose bodies formed a throne. Sometimes these lions were separated and were repre- sented as lying down with their heads in opposite directions, the disk of the sun between them. The lion represented strength and so was a symbol of the sun. ANIMAL WORSHIP AND SUN WORSHIP. 115 (5). Tlie scarabeus or beetle was in Egypt a symbol of the sun. Some suppose this was owing to the habit of the beetle of rolling the ball of dirt or dung to its nest. Others say that the scarabeus, with its many claws, symbolized a month, thirty claws for thirty da\'s. The scarabeus was worn on the head ot Ptah, the Egyptian Vulcan, or Hephaestus. A symbol for Ptah is given by a combined figure, viz.: a man kneeling and supporting the four-armed symbol or emblem of stability on his head. Above this emblem is a beetle with wings spread, hold- ing up in its claws a globe or sun. The scarabeus was the commonest ornament in Egypt, and shows how prevalent sun worship was there. (6) The frog was used as a symbol of the sun. There are divinities having frog heads, but generally the heads are surmounted bv a scarabeus. Ka,father of the fathers of the gods, is a frog-headed deit3\ The frog-headed divinity was probably the ruler of the water. Horopollo tells us that "Man in embr3'o was represented by a frog." Diodorus Siculus says that "man was created out of the inud." The frog was the father of the gods and men. (7) The goose was a symbol of the sun. Set, the great cackler, was one of the divinities of Egypt He is identified with the earth. There is a myth that the sun is discharged from the earth as an a^g from the goose. (8.) The cow was worshiped in Egypt. Athor was a cow. She is represented by a cow's head bearing the disk of the sun between her horns. Her eyes were supposed to be symbolic. Her right eye represented the sun; her left eye the moon. S3-mbolic eyes were common in Egypt. They were used as ornaments or amulets, very much as beetles and hons were. Ear-rings, brace- lets and necklaces having eyes in them were worn as ornaments. (9.) The vulture was a symbol of the sun. The body of the vulture was worn by the goddess Nephthys, "daughter of the sun," "lady of heaven". The vulture with the win^js spread was placed over the heads of queens to denote generative power, motherhood. Besides these animals, the ram, the fox, the jackal, the dog, the hippotamus, the goat, the eagle, the crocodile, were sacred in Egypt and most of them were symbols of the sun. The elephant, the buffalo, the camel were sacred in India, but not in Egypt. The stag, the panther and the lion were sacred among the Hittites, but not among the Hindoos. The leopard, the lion, the dolphin, were sacred in Assvria. The vulture and eagle were very ancient symbols in Babylonia. II. We ask the question here, how about the history of animal worship and sun worship in the old world? We come back to the new world for the answer. It is a singular fact that animal worship and sun worship in x\merica passed through many stages, but in these stages we see a constant association of symbols. One thing is noticeable about this association in America; the animals are first made rulers of the skv before the sun divinity is, or at least the animal fetiches are supposed to IIG NA TlVr. AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. rule the different quarters of the sky in a more primitive stage of rehgion than are the sun divinities. Animal worship was in the ascendency among all the un- civilized tribes, but sun worship was prevalent among the civilized and a combination of the two may be also discovered among certain barbaric tribes. The primordial germs of the two systems are found in America. We propose to consider the association of animals with sun symbols as they are found in America, i. This association is found in the mounds. We have already in pre- vious articles shown the prevalence of animal worship. We propose to show now the prevalence of sun worship. It is well known that the sun symbol is found in the mounds. The shell gorgets which have been taken from mounds in Tennessee and other states have been described by W. H. Holmes and others. These contain four concentric rings. In the outer ring are found circles to represent the sun, numbering from ten to twelve, corresponding to the months. In the second ring are found four or five other circles, corresponding, perhaps, to the seasons. In the inner circle are three crescents to represent the moon, and at the center is a circle which represents the sun. There is no doubt that these gorgets were sun symbols. There are no animal figures upon these, but there are other gorgets in which birds and sun symbols do appear. We give cuts of these to illustrate the points. It will be noticed that the birds' heads are attached to a four sided figure which has loops in the cor- ners. These possibly may have symbolized the four quarters of the sk}' or the four seasons. See Plate I. Within the four- sided figure is a svmbol of the sun, which in one case is a single circle with a dot in the center ; in another case four rings to symbolize four suns ; in another case a ring with four dark spots surrounded by a ring with eight radiating points; another with birds' heads, and one figure has no birds' heads or sun symbol. The number four seems to have been sacred, as it symbolized the four quarters of the sky, but it is in every case attended with the symbol of the sun. These gorgets were taken from a mound in Tennessee. They show that sun wor- ship had reached a very considerable height among the Mound builders. 2. The association of animal figures with sun symbols is found on the northwest coast. Here we have totem posts sur- mounted by the thunder bird. Below this are bears' heads to represent the totem of the person who erected the post. Alon A ■v 01 i2zr^- lA cr < A V PIfilc I. Ulirll (Joryels contaiiihit/ Sun St/mbols. 118 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. vailed in the forests. It was not the worship of the sun, but of the elements. The bird which personified the lightning hovers darkly over the forest. It shows how animal divinities began to rule 'over a^t^. the sky, and p:''' " were trans- ferred to the heavens. If we would see the sun sym- bol and ani- mal figures and the hu- man form combined we must turn to the Zunis. Here we find on the shield of the Priest- hood of the Bow a wing- ed human fic"- P'O- l- Thunder Bird of the Thlinlits. ure with an animal on either side and a curved body above the figure with a crooked serpent below ; the serpent to represent the lightning; the body represents the rainbow; the shield itself represents the sun ; the wings represent the clouds, and the bears the presiding fetiches or ani- mal divinities. See Fig. 2. 3. A better illustration of the manner in which animals came to symbol- ize the sun and sun sym- bols came to be associated with animals is found among the Zunis. Here we find that diflerent ani- mals presided ever the different parts of the sky. Plate II. The mountain Fia-^. The Shield o/ihe Priexih'.od 0/ /he jiov. lion (i) was the guardian of the north ; (2) the black bear, master of the west ; (3) the badger, master of the south ; (4) the white wolf, master of the east ; (5) the bald eagle, master of the upper regions; (6) the mole, master of the lower regions. These different animals had colors which cor- responded to the natural colors of the regions over which they presided. The mountain lion yellow to correspond with the I'I'ilr 77. 1 20 JVA TIVE A M ERICA N SYMBOLISM. auroral hues ; the black bear had a black coal to represent the color ot the land oi'nicrht; the badger was black and white and cor- responded to the land of summer; the coat of the wolf was white and gray, the color of the day and dawn; the eagle was speckled like the clouds; the mole was black, the color of the caves of the earth. The figures or fetiches of these animals were kept very sacred. They were wrought out of different kinds of stone; and were painted to represent the colors of the sky. Sometimes different varie:ies or species of the same animal were supposed to be the masters of the different parts of the sky, but in that case they were wrought out of different kinds of stone to show the part of the sky over which they ruled. One mountain lion was made of yellow lime stone to represent the north; anotiier of while lime stone to represent the east; an- other of serpentine nodules, which were blue, to represent the west, the color of the ocean. The spotted lion was made from a white and blue arragonite to represent the sky, and the fetich of the lower regions, made of gypsum, was painted black. This use of colors along with the animal fetiches is very signifi- cant. In Egypt the animals and idols are of different colors. Each color was significant not so much of the quarter of the sky as of the character of the divinity, and yet it possibly may have come from the same source. 4. Mexico furnishes another stage of animal worship and sun worship combined. We have now the four quarters of the sky symbolized, but in a different way. There is a dragon which rules. The davs are also taken into account. Every day has an animal divinity. The months are named after animals and so are the vears. There is a constant round of animal symbols. There is a complicated way of counting time. The days of the month change names. A new symbol is given to every day of the month as it passes, but most of ihem animal names; i,"fish; 2, wind; 3, house; 4, lizard; 5, serpent; 6, death; 7, deer; 8, rabbit; 9, water; 10, dog; 11, monkey; 12, hay; 13, reed; 14, tiger; 15, eagle; 16, bird; 17, the sun; 18, flint; 19, rain; 20, the flower month. See Fig. 3. We have also in Mexico colors— south, yellow ; east, red ; north, white ; west, black. We have the elements, earth, water, air, fire. We have the chief divinities, Quetzatlcoatl, Huitzilo- puchtli, Tezcatlipoca, Tlaloc, corresponding to the elements and to the colors as well as I0 the gods of the skies and a most elab- orate system of symbolism to express chronologv and to^mark out the sacred feasts. The symbolism of Mexico and Central America is verv elaborate and shows a great advance upon the symbolism of New Mexico, the Aztecs and Toltecs having been much more civilized than the Zunis and other Pueblo tribes, but sun worsliip was the religion of all three districts. Animal figures are also used as symbols in all of the above metioned regions. ANIMAL WORSHIP AND SUy UOnSIIIP. 121 5. There are many figures of animals m Mexico and Cen- tral America which are evidently used as symbols of the sun. M. Habel has described the figures which he found in the Cosumalhuapa. These are very remarkable figures. We shall describe onlv two. The main feature of one is a bird with huge wincTs in a verv contorted attitude. The bird wears on his breast a flaming sun, but carries in his beak a human body in a very contorted shape. Two serpents hang below the head. The whole fifrure convevs the idea of violence. Its significance is unknown, but ic is purelv American. It is tinged by the \D I'ig. 3. Circle with >Si/»ibvls of Days. savage thought of America and yet it reminds us of the Asiatic figures. It has probably represented the thunder bird as pre- siding over or carrying the sun symbol. There is another fig- ure which also reminds us of the Asiatic symbols. A face shines out from the sky, a symbol of the sun. Flames issue from the face to represent the heat of the sun. Behind the face are massive wings, perhaps to represent the clouds. Below the wings are arUiS with bird claws tor hands. Below the hands is a circle with flames issuing from it. A serpent is intertwined through the circle. Below the circle is a suppliant with his hands held up in adoration to the winged figure. Here we have also the component parts of the sun symbol; the human 122 XATJVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. face, the sun circle, ihe overshadowincr wings, the intertwined serpent, but we have also animal figures associated with it. The Aztec c}cle" was represented with a circle with a pic- ture of the sun in the center. See Fig. 4. There were symbols for the months around this sun circle, as follows: i, water; 2, tent; 3, bird; 4, tower; 5, ^ice; 6, vase; 7, flower; etc. 6. This furnishes another point of comparison. There were in Egypt four suns: the rising sun, the mid-day sun, the setting sun. and the sun at rest or the night sun. A divinity was as- signed to each of these portions of time and a different animal represented each divinity or typified each sun. These are as we remember them, the lion for the rising sun, the ox for the Fig. >,. Sun Circlr, rcil/i Si/m'xih- of ^^oll/hy. mid-day sun, the hawk for the setting sun, and the cow for the night sun or the sun at rest. We find in Egypt also animals presiding over different parts of the country : Anubis, or the jackal, over the south; Sebo, the ram, over the north; Buto, or the winged asp, over tlie west; Apis and Osiris over the east. We have also animals and gods which preside over specific towns— Thebes, Memphis, Dendera, etc.— others over two countries. We have animal gods which preside over feasts and and funerals, etc. This, to a degree, is common in America. *For names of the months and the divisions of the year and days see " The Aztecs, by Lufien Hiart, pages 62 and 63." We are Indebted to A. C. McClurg & Co., lor the use of these cuts. AXL\fAL WORSHIP AXD .S'C'.V WORSHIP. 123 There were different kinds of suns and different animals to tvpify those suns. The points of compass were also typified by different animals and different colors were given to the animals to signify the parts of the sky over which they ruled. There were different districts and different animal divinities which pre- sided over those districts, the same as in Egypt and Assyria. III. We are to consider next the significance of the animal forms which are found in the symbols of the east and west. It has been maintained that the animal heads and other parts of the animal form which are associated with human bodies and faces in the gods of Egypt, Assyria and Farther India vvere but the symbols of divine attributes. This may be so, and vet there is another view which may be taken of them. In America animal worshio preceded sun worship ana was perpetuated after sun worship came into vogue, and so we have the means of interpreting the system, which others do not have. We do not, however, learn that the animal forms which are combined with human semblances in America had anything to do with the attributes of the divinity, but we do learn that they were, in a measure, Totemic, that is, they symbolized the relation of guardian which was contained in divinity and at the same time expressed the personification of nature powers. I. It is noticeable that the different parts of the human form in America symbolized nature powers. The e3^e of Tlaloc, the Mexican god, shows that he was a ram god, the tongue and face of Quetzacoatl show that he was a sun god, while the dress and ornaments of Huitzapochtli show that he was the god of war and death. This use of ornaments and the parts of the costume 1 24 iV.l Tl VE A ME RICA N S YMBOLISM. and head-dress to symbolize the elements over which a divinity ruled was very common. It is well known that the serpent and the cross were symbols in Mexico and in Central America. There were, however, weather symbols, the one si^nifyinj^ the lic-htninti- and the other the winds or the points of the compass. There is evidence that the tree is used as a sym- bol in America, but singularly enough the branches of the tree are frequently made to represent the cross, and so the tree becomes a weather symbol. The cross and the tree is generall}' surmounted by the thunder bird and is sometimes decorated with a mask and medallion, and with spiral ornaments, each part of the cross and its decoration having a significance and the whole being S3'mbolic of the sun and ot nature worship. See Fig. 5. None of the American symbols represent personal attributes, but they do represent the office of the divinity, and in this they differ from the Egyptian and Asiatic symbols. In Egypt the animals symbolized ;he attributes ot the divinity, in America they symbolized the office. In Asia they symbolized the per- son, but in America the elements or nature power. This distinction is worthy of notice, because it shows that in America the religion was mere nature worship and was less advanced than in Eg3'pt. We give a cut to illustrate this point. Plate III. It is a pic- ture of the bas relief on the inside of the adoratorio discovered by J. L. Stephens a tCopan. This adoratorio was a shrine or altar devoted to the worship of the sun. Inside of the shrine a mask, which represented the face of the sun, was suspended upon two cross sticks or poles, while beneath the cross was an elabo- rately carved beam supported by crouching human figures. The whole temple or shrine symbolized sun worship, each separate part and article of furniture and ornament having a significance. The sun was symbolized by the face, the eye, tongue and lips of the face being distorted to make it expressive. It was situated in front of the door of the shrine, so that it might catch the rays of the sun, and was supported by the cross bars, which symbolized the points of the compass. It was suspended above the heavy beam, on which was the skull, which symbolized the rain, and that was supported by figures which also symbolized the different nature powers. On the facade of the shrine were two figures, one of which is repre- sented in Plate IV. This was Tlaloc, the god of rain. It will be noticed that this god has a peculiarly bulging eye resembling a huge rain drop; that he has on his head a head dress made up in part of the beak of a bird, in part of a branch of leaves and cones, and in part of spiral lines or vine stalks ; that he is blow- ing through a tube, and that spiral lines issue from the tube. A crooked serpent is intertwined between his legs, but with the tail and head both bent upward, while tassels hang from the neck of the serpent. Thus the divinity is surrounded by the ANIMAL WORSHIP AXD SUX WORSHIP. 125 Ptnle TV. Tlie God Tlaloc. 126 NA TI VE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. symbols of his power — the eye to signify the rain, the serpent to represent the Hghtning, the spiral lines to signify the winds, the tiiunder bird to signify the sky, the leaves to signify the vegetation, and other ornaments, to signify the nature powers, over which he ruled. The picture is sugges- tive. It is not certain whether the form represents the god Tlaloc, or his priest, for priests were frequently clothed with the same kind of garments on their person and had in their faces the same symbols that the god himself did. It will be noticed that the tigure has a tiger skin resting upon his shoulders. This was in Egypt the official dress of the priest of the sun, and the fashion seems to have prevailed in America. We do not find in the adoratorio many figures of animals, but the tiger skin, the thunder bird, and the serpent are animal symbols. We have also plants represented, and so the three kingdoms were drawn upon for symbols. Nature worship in America combined the solar symbol with animal symbols, and made many of the elements symbolic. 2. Another point is brought out by this comparison of the symbols. In the old world the animals which were worshiped were domestic, while in America they were wild. This shows that the symbolism in America either originated among the races when they were in the wild state or was borrowed from civilized people and accommodated to a wild condition. Animal worship in Asia continued long after the people reached a civil- ized condition and was evidently modified by civilization. Animal worship in America found its highest development among the wild hunter tribes, but it remained among the civilized races. Sun worship was incorporated with animal worship among the American Indians. The Mound-builders had a kind of nature worship. It was rude and primitive, and yet it was attended with sun symbols. Some of the mound relics evidently present the tokens of a combined animal and sun worship, and some even of combined sun worship and idol worship. The thought contained within these systems we are not familiar with, but we judge from the symbols. The progress in America was from shamanism to fetichism, and from fetichism to animal worship, and from animal worship to sun worship, and from sun worship to anthropomorphic figures. The symbols, however, represented the elements and were symbols of the nature powers In Asiatic countries local animals were used for symbols and represented the attributes of the divinity. The animals differed in different countries, but they were the animals which abounded in those countries. In Egypt the animals used for symbols were the ox and the cat and dog ; in Assyria, the ox, the eagle, the lion ; in India, the ox,- the elephant, and the horse ; in Arabia, the ass, the ostrich, and the elan ; in America, the wolf, the bear, the panther. There are also certain animals ANIMAL WORSHIP AND SUN WORSHIP. 1^7 which are everywhere found, as the hare, the deer, the stag, the eagle, and the hawk, but this is because these animals abound in all countries. In the same country the animals differ according to locality; the crocodile and hippopotamus in Egypt ; the lion and the deer in Syria among the Hittites ; the fish and the hawk in Assyria ; the elephant in India. This is the case in America : on the northwest coast the whale ; on the south- west coast the monkey; on the gulf coast the crocodile ; in the interior the panther. 3. The use of compound figures is significant. Composite animals are discovered among the emblematic mounds of Wisconsin. The ancestor posts of the northwest coast are Fig. 6. The Water Spider, with 6'i/mOols of the Sun un ita back. remarkable specimens of composite figures. They are made up of the beaks of hawks, the bodies of bears, human faces and many other shapes, each part being significant of the ancestry and of the divinities which the family regarded as sacred, the totems of the family for many generations being carved into a single pillar. Compound figures were common among the mounds. There are gorgets taken from mounds in Missouri, which contain the figures of a spider (which was the divinity of water) with a circle (the symbol of the sun) upon its back, and a cross within this circle to symbolize the points of the compass. This reminds us of the beetle in Egypt whose claws symbolized the days of the month and was a symbol of the sun. It is quite wonderful that the Mound-builders should reach so high a stage of symbolic development. See fig. 6. 128 NA TIVE A M ERIC A N S YMB OLISM. There is a temple built on the banks of the Ganges in Casi, Hindoostan, the body of which is built in the shape of St. Andrew's cross, w ith a very high cupola in the center. At the extremity of every one of the four arms of the cross is a tower, probably a symbol of the sun. Inside the temple is an altar, and on the right side of the altar is a strange figure, a com- pound of the different parts of an elephant, a horse and a mule. This shows that the elements or the attributes were symbolized by domestic animals. 4. The use of masks is significant. It is noticeable that masks are worn in all parts of the w^orld, in America, Africa and in Asia. A hideous mask is worn by the priest of Thibet. It represents a human face with horns and other animal parts attached to it. Huge masks are carried by the Chinese in the feast of lanterns. Masks are very common on the northwest coast of America. They are worn in the dances and symbolize the mythical history of the dances and of the divinities in whose honor the dances are held. We do not know as any of the masks referred to have any connection with sun worship, but they are suggestive as they conve}' a thought in reference to mythology and histor}'. The heads of animals which appear on the bodies of men in 'Eg3'pt and Assyria symbolize animal divinities and the ornaments upon them symbolize the sun divinit}^ but they resemble masks. It is probable that the attributes of the divinity were repre- sented 1)3^ these animal head. In America the animals them- selves were regarded as divinities. IV. The progress of the people in prehistoric times in religious culture is our next point. The transition of animal worship into sun worship and from sun worship into a reverence for the personal attributes is the thought now before us. The figures of wild animals are found among the emblematic mounds of Wisconsin protecting villages, guarding caches, forming game drives, marking burial places, and showing where the clans and tribes lived, and to what points their tribal bounds extended. We have here the first stage, that is, the totem system, which consisted in fhe worship of animals. We have second, the sun worship, which prevailed extensively among the Mound-builders and the Pueblos of Central America. We have also the ancestor worship, which prevailed on the north- west coasts with about as much force as it does now in China. We have also the anthropomorphic svstem, which prevailed m Mexico and Central America with almost the force it prevailed in Egypt, Greece and Assyria. All the systems are exhibited by the symbolism of America. We have also mysteries and magic arts, and secret societies which remind us of the east. The progress of the totem sys- tem into the magic arts was manifest in the new world as wel as the old. The "magician" and the "medicine man" were ANIMAL WORSHIP AXD SUX WORSHIP. 129 similar or had similar offices. The Eleusinian mysteries and the mysteries of the Priesthood of the Bow have many points of resemblance. Both came out of an elaborate system ot sun worship, and both were expressive of the operations of nature. We take sun worship everywhere as the keystone of an arcii, the animal figures found in America to represent totems forming one side of the arch and animal figures in Eg3'pt to represent attributes forming the other side. We learn a lesson from the comparison. In the first place it is probable that ani- mal worship preceded sun worship in all parts of the world. Second, the progress of religion from a low stage to a high and still higher stage is manifest by this comparison. Animal wor- ship, sun worship and the worship of idols bearing human names and having human attributes, were the different grades in the progress. Third, the personification of nature powers led to much of the svmbolism of the civilized races, the sun beino often represented as a person having personal attributes. Fourth, the H O z o -n > o 3J > o z c H Z m > z D > Z \\( ^^vv( AMERICAN ASTROLOG Y OR SKY WORSHIP. i 45 bodies were decorated symbolized the colors of the sky; other objects symbolize the different elements, and the whole ceremony was a dramatization under the lead of a secret society, not only of the creation and the deluge, but also of the traditions about the astrological myths and the supernatural divinities which ruled the earth and the sky. 2. We notice that the same superstitions prevailed among the Eskimos and the Ojibwas. In the belief of the Ojibwas there is a place of shadows, a hereafter, and a shadowy spirit; each per- son also had a guardian spirit, or tutelar demon, who appears, after a fast of a number of days, in a dream, generally in the shape of a bird or animal. The future course of life is marked out by the dream, exactly as in the ancient world it was marked out by the horoscope, or the situation of the stars. Schoolcraft has given a chart which represents this sky worship. In this we find the mida tree, which symbolized the spiritual power, the wabeno tree, the charmed arrow, the sacred dish, the stuffed crane, the ghost lodge, the great spirit filling all space with his beams and lighting the world by the halo of his head. The hawk is the guardian spirit. The great spirit begins and ends the chant. This first figure was that of a bird in the lodge, the last is a figure of the face, or sun, under the arch of the sky.* 3. The tribes situated in the Gulf States also had a system of symbolism which was based upon sky worship, and which intro- duced a symbolical geography into their villages and influenced even their architecture and the arrangements of their houses, tribal organizations, and their feasts and dances. The following is the description given by Bartram of their public square and council house: "The public square is the highest part of the town. It consists of four square buildings ot one story, so as to form an exact rectangle, covering half an acre. One of these is the council house, where the chief or Mico decides cases and receives ambassadors. This building is divided into two parts, the back part perfectly dark, with three small arched apertures opening into it. This is a sanctuary, where they deposit all the sacred things, the imperial standard, calumet, and rattles. The front of the building is divided into three apartments. The pillars supporting the front are formed in the likeness of speckled serpents climbing upwards. The other buildings which compose the square are decorated with paintings, sculptures and hiero- glyphics, men having heads of some kind of animals, bear, wolf, fox, turkey, ducks and deer, and again these creatures have human heads. The rotunda is different from the public square; this is built upon a conical mound and has a conical roof. ♦Another chart has been furnished by Dr. W. H. Hoffman, which represented the cre- ation by an "orientated" circle, the initiation by four rectangular lodges, also orientated, their entrances guarded by serpents and animals, the "end of lite" by a circle, and the "future life" by a square lodge, and a circle for a "ghost lodge," and the path of the dead between them. 146 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. There is, in the center of it, a post or pillar. Around this post the spiral circle of faggots v\^as placed, the circle of faggots turn- ing from right to left, extending to a distance of ten or twelve feet from the center, rising a foot or eighteen inches from the ground. This spiral circle was lighted at the time of an opening of the council. The blaze creeps around the center pillar, follow- ing the course of the sun, illuminating the entire chamber. When the fire burns out the council ceases. After the illumina- tion takes place the warriors are seated on their sofas in three ranks, the king in front and the young warriors to the rear. The great war chief's seat is to the left hand of the king, the elders and head men to the right. The king smokes the great pipe, puffing the whiff to the four cardinal points. It is then carried to the different persons and smoked by them in turn."* The account which Bartram has given of one of the dances is very suggestive. The dance was held in the rotunda. "In this dance the musicians were seated near the great pillar, where was the central fire, but around the building was a row of seats, one above the other, like an amphitheater. A company of girls, hand in hand, dressed in clean, white robes, and ornamented with beads, began to sing their responses in a gentle, low, sweet voice, and formed themselves in a semicircular file or line in two ranks, back to back, facing the spectators and musicians, moving slowly round and round. Afterward a company of young braves, painted and ornamented with silver bracelets, gorgets and wampum, moccasins and high waving plumes in their diadems, formed themselves in a semi-circle or rank. There was something sin- gular and diverting in their step and motion. The motion began in one end of the semi-circle, the dancers rising up and down, and continued to the other end. At the same time, and in the same motion, the dancers moved obliquely, so that a revolving circle was formed by the complex movement. At stated times a grand or universal movement instantly occurred, each rank turning to right and left, taking each other's places, accompanied with a sudden and universal elevation of the voice in a shrill, sharp whoop." Whether the motion of the heavenly bodies was symbolized by this dance or not. it was a very significant cere- mony and one which was carried out with great exactness and managed with inconceivable alertness and address. Bartram gives no interpretation of the dance or of the arrangement of the houses or villages, or of the other customs which he observed, but we imagine that all of these buildings were orientated and arranged after the model of the celestial spaces, that the rotunda symbolized the dome of the sky and the spiral fire symbolized the motion of the sky, that the dances even symbolized the opening and the shutting of the day, and that the system of sky *See p. 365. Bartram's Travels. See also the spiral path on the Ohio mound, Fig. 6. AMERICAN ASTROLOGY OR SKY WORSHIP. 147 worship will account for all these customs and ceremonies. We have no record that there were secret societies and sacred mys- teries among these tribes, but a natural inference is that all of these ceremonies were under the direction of such a society. There is no doubt that there was an esoteric significance to all these customs and that they embodied the myths and traditions which had regard to the sky divinities, myths which resemble those held by the Cherokees. II. We next turn to the ancient Mound-builders. We have already referred to different religious systems which prevailed among them.* We have shown that animal worship or totemism prevailed in one district; fire worship in another; the water cult in another; the moon cult in another, and the solar cult in still another. The thought now before us is that sky worship was the predominant religion of the Mound-builders and these local cults were associated with it or were the component parts of it. i. As evidence of this we would refer to the relics which have been dis- covered in the mounds, es- pecially those situated in the Ohio Valley and the Gulf States, a region which was occupied by the sun worshipers. Among these relics we notice many shell gorgets in which there are circles, and in the circles, discs and dots and cres- . .1 . r Fiq.S.— Mound-builders' Map of the Sky. cents, the arrangement of ^ the figures on the concave shell gorgets suggesting the thought that there was an attempt to make them represent a map of the sky, with the sun, moon and stars filling the four celestial spaces. See Fig. 3. There are coiled serpents with the bodies divided into four parts by concentric circles, other concentric circles forming the eye, the concave filled with various arches (see Fig. 4) suggesting that there was a hidden astrology contained in them. There are also spider gorgets which have circles and crosses and bars upon the back, zigzag lines between the mandi- bles, all of them symbols of the nature powers, the number four being preserved, and the whole arrangement making them sug- gestive of a chart. The same may be said of the bird gorgets, though in these the spaces are rectangles rather than circles. They are all suggestive of a symbolical geography which had to do with the sky as well as the earth. Our supposition is that they represent the motion of the ♦See book on Mound-builders; also chapter on Serpent Worship, especially the plates. 148 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. heavenly bodies, the order of the seasons, the points o^ the compass, the division of the sky, the four elements — fire, earth, air and water, the celestial spaces, the nature powers, and possi- bly a calendar system. These symbols are rude and present the subject in a primitive stage, but they are constantly suggesting thoughts of the customs of the more advanced races and remind us of the marvelous things contained in eastern mythology. We have already shown that they contain the same symbols which are embodied in the various calendar wheels and sacrificial stones of Mexico, as well as those which are found upon the inscribed tablets of the ancient cities of Central America, for the crosses, circles, serpents, figures of the tree, birds, masks, human figures, which are iound rudely drawn upon the disks and gorgets and tablets, apparently have the same significance as those contained in the more advanced works of art, and represent the same general system. The temptation is to read into these lines, the symbols which developed with such great variety in the east, and to imagine that the serpent whose folds surrounded the earth and formed the ocean was symbolized in the serpent gorget; that the Nile key or Egyptian tau was symbol- ized in the spider gorget; the triskelis or revolving wheel, which symbolized the revolu- tion of the sky, and the fire generator or suastika, which is also an oriental symbol, were contained in other gor- Fig. A.— Serpent 0/ the Horizon. getS. We Can say, at IcaSt, that there is such a correspondence between these symbols and the oriental myths as to lead us to trace out a "map of the heavens" in these rude disks and gorgets, for we recognize in these figures of serpents and spiders analogies to the dragons, beetles, and tortoises which are seen in the maps of the heavens elsewhere, while the arrangement of the circles, crescents and crosses are almost identical, and suggest the same myths. An astronomical significance may be given to the winged and masked creatures which are engraved upon the copper plates. These resemble, in some respects, the winged figures common among the Cliff-dwellers and Pueblos of the west, and at the same time remind us of the winged creatures which were found by M. Habel engraved upon the sculptured stones of Gautemala. There was the same combination of birds' claws and beaks, with human bodies and limbs (see Fig. 5), the symbol of the sun being as plain upon the shell gorgets as upon the sculptured AMERICAN AS2R0L0GY OR SKY WORSHIP. 149 stones, though the flames are absent. It is probable that these represented the sky divinities, the wings filled with arches sym- bolizing the spaces above and the clouds, the birds' beaks and claws symbolizing the bird of the sky, the human form perhaps symbolizing the personal divinities. The same may be said of the dancing figures, for there are zigzag lines upon some of the laces, and there are masks in their hands, and there are circles surrounding them, showing that the lightning and the operations of the sky were symbolized by them, for masks are the signs of transformation ; the dancers are transformed into birds and ani- mals, and again into men and warriors, and yet they personate the divinities as well as the nature powers. The same interpretation may be given to the human figures, whose limbs are so strangely contorted and end in birds' claws, bodies divided into links and circles, head in the shape of an arch, a concentric circle for an eye, a large mouth, ears formed by perforated loops, arms curi- ously doubled and jointed (see Fig. 5), the space in the shell being filled with loops and other figures. These symbol- ize the sky divinities. The presence of shell masks with the tattooed human face upon them in the mounds conveys the idea that there was an as- sociation of the burial of the dead with the system of sky and sun worship, for the cus- tom prevailed among the Aleuts to put a mask over the tace of a dead person when it was laid away, as it was sup- posed to be going on a journey 1 ^1 1 J r i.? ■ -i. A Fia. 5.— Arched Heavens Personified. to the land of the spirits. A similar interpretation has been given to the faces with open mouths. These faces are attended with sun symbols, sun circles, birds' heads, symbols of the cardinal points, suggesting that the soul had departed to the celestial spaces. The fact that shells and disks on which were inscribed symbols of the sonl were deposited with the body at the time of burial shows that there was a con- nection between the native astrology and the future state. The soul which was so surrounded by the nature powers and the solar universe was to be introduced to the celestial spaces after death. Hence the symbol must be placed near the body, that the soul might take these as the doors or the patterns of the supernatural realm. This was the underlying thought with the sacred mysteries and the secret societies 150 NA Tl VE AMERICAN S YMBOLISM. 2. Another evidence is found in the shape of the mounds, espe- cially those upon the Ohio, for these contain many astrological symbols, singly and in combination, the same as the relics do. We find in them circles, crescents, squares, concentric circles, crosses, horse-shoes, platforms, altars, avenues, so related to one another and to the relics which are contained in them as to con- vince us that they were designed to be symbols of sky worship. The uniformity of the figures and of the areas contained in the sacred enclosures, as well as of the measurements of the walls surrounding them, has been noticed by all the surveyors, for the circles are perfect circles and the squares are perfect squares. It has not been held that this perfection of the figures was anything more than accidental, but the correspondence between the earth-works and the relics convinces us that these were ->-. s > ■,\- ..-^ - ^^ < V ,• ^ ^j^i"^^ W& Fig. 6,— Symbol of the Hun— Spiral Path, Embossed Figure on the Ground, all directed by symbolical geography; for the sacred enclosures and the platforms within them were orientated. It was on this account the pavements and altars contained in the mounds were constructed in the shape of circles and crescents, and the conical mounds had spiral paths and circular ditches about them. See Fig. 6. The earth-works surrounding their villages, sacrificial and burial places were constructed after the patterns which seem to represent the map of the sky, on a large scale, and everything about them was put under the protection of the sun divinity. In fact, we recognize the circles, crosses and crescents, and ser- pents and birds represented by the earth-works as the different parts of one great system, which might be taken as a "geography of the heavens" built in relief on the earth. 3. We are led by these figures to draw the comparison between the earth-works here and the standing stones and monuments of Great Britain, for there are many analogies between them, though *Thc crescent pavements made from mica scales surrounded a circular altar, in which offerings had been made to the sun. See book on Mound-builders. AMERICAN ASTROLOGY OR SKY WORSHIP. 151 the identity of the symbols is difficult to prove. Others have noticed the symbolism contained in these different works. Mr. W. F. Maurice has described the circles at Stonehenge and Avebury. See Fig. 9. Speaking of Stonehenge, he says: The number of stones in the outer circle is thirty, and of the inner circle is twelve, and the single stone, or obelisk, in the center. He says that the remarkable numbers one hundred, sixty, thirty, twelve, constantly occurring, unavoidably bring to our recollec- tion great periods of astronomy, the sothic cycle, century, the months, thirty days, twelve signs of the zodiac; five is the multi- ple of most of these numbers. He compares Stonehenge to the circle at Biscawen, a circular temple, consisting of nineteen stones, distant from each other twelve feet, having one in the center Fiff. 7, — MouuU wUt(, Circle and, JJUcli, litijinUuis ui ine Hun, higher than the rest, thus making a symbolical circle. He says • **A11 circular monuments, especially those consisting of columns or standing stones, were meant as representatives of the sun, or the revolution of the sun in its orbit. The temple was uncovered, resembling the temples of the ancient Persians. He compares Stonehenge to the circular temple at Rollrich, which is the same size, and which he calls the "Druids' wheel" or circle. The Druids, not less than the Brahmins, adored the sun in a circular dance. The Gauls imitated the sun by turning the body around while engaged in their devotions. The Phoenicians made their chil- dren pass through the fire and worship the sun as a divinity. In Scandinavia the gods were worshiped partly in the open air and in groves, or in places encompassed by a circle of big stones. The Druids celebrated their solemnities at the solstices. It is said that they used the stones which cover their dolmens as their altars, and sacrificed human victims upon these. It is noticeable that the modern archaeologists are tracing out a remarkable system of solstitial orientation in the works at Stonehenge, show- ing that the adytum or altar was open in a line with the monolith 15S NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. at "Friar's heel," and was so arranged that the light of the solstitial sun at its rising should strike across this monolith and shine into the innermost part of the temple, where the sacrifices took place. Mr, A. L. Lewis, the English archaeologist, has compared the standing stones ot Avebury, Stone Henge, Arbor Lowe and Stanton Drew, and has brought out the fact that all of these works contain circles, avenues, horse-shoes, "coves and altars," which were sacred to the sun, the very combination of these being suggestive of the astrological system of the east. The'circles differ from one another in the number and size of the standing stones, in the diameter of the circles, the length of the avenues and the arrangement of the circles, but they are nearly all alike * » * fli " ^" y tS%t9wr»U tyX.O.XrmiJ ^»^ £ ft. I>ai%», Iiig. S —I'luce of /Sacrifice and Map of the iSky.* in that they were solstitially orientated. The circle at Avebury had a diameter of eleven hundred feet, and is the "largest circle of stones in the world." It has associated with it a pyramid mound or cone at Silbury Hill, which is the "largest artificial mound" of Europe. The avenue which Stukeley thought rep- resented a great serpent is about a mile long, and ends in a circle on Beckhampton Hill. Inside of this large circle are two other circles, both three hundred feet in diameter. The "cove" is in the center of the northern circle and faces the sun at its "mid- summer rising." Stone Henge also has a circle surrounded by a ditch and bank, the circle being one hundred feet in diameter and the ditch and bank three hundred feet. Inside of the outer ♦Orientation and sky worship are shown by this cut, for the four concentric circles sym- bolize the four celestial spaces, the avenues in the shape of a cross symbolize the cardinal points, the spiral path symbolizes the motion of the sun and the mounds symbolize the sun itself. Thus a place of sacrifice to the sun was in reality surrounded by all the symbols of sky worship, and the earth-works contained the same map of the sky as the shell gor- gets, showing that the same system was embodied in the maps and in the relics. AMERICAN ASTROLOGY OR SKY WORSHIP. 153 circle is another of small stones, and inside of this five triliths arranged in the form of a " horse-shoe," the horse-shoe, forty- four feet wide, opening to the northeast. Inside of the horse- shoe is a flat stone, seventeen feet long, called the "altar storte." The avenue leads in a northeasterly direction eighteen hundred feet, and the stone called the "friar's heel" is inside the avenue, one hundred feet distant from the circle. The circle at Arbor Lowe consists of an oval ring one hundred and twenty-six by one hundred and fifteen feet, surrounded by a ditch and embank- Fig. 9. — Stone Hcnge Restored* ment, with two entrances, one to the southeast and one to the northwest. Within the oval are the remains of a "cove" formed of standing stones, like those at Avebury and Stone Henge. The avenue which leads toward Gibb Hill was once supposed to give the form of a serpent to the monument, but the entrance resembles that at the Kennet avenue at Avebury, and is in the same direction. The works at Stanton Drew consist of three separate circles, arranged in line with a "cove" or trilith like those at Avebury and Arbor Lowe, arranged in such a way that a line in the direction ot the northeast would pass through the center of the great circle. Here there is also a great single stone like the "friar's heel" at Stone Henge. The conclusion *The four circles, including the five triliths, can be seen in the cut. 154 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. which Mr. Lewis draws from the study of all these works is that the stone circles, which are more numerous and larger in Britain than in any other part of Europe, were devoted to the worship of the sun and "perhaps of the stars." They were erected on a plan and were placed so that the circle would have a position with regard to some massive stone, or some prominent hill, or group of three hills, that the sun would shine over these into the circle and strike upon the altar inside of the "cove" at the time of its rising at the summer solstice. Now whether these circles can be regarded as furnishing any "map of the sky," or any "symbolical geography," the resemblance between them and the circles, horse-shoes, crosses and other symbols contained in the earth-works of Ohio is certainly very striking. These show that sky worship was contained in the works of Great Britain and that symbolical geography has left a map of itself on that soil. We have in this country very few standing stones, though the dolmens, stone circles and other symbolic works of Peru resemble very much those of Great Britain, and are supposed to represent the same system. The earth-works of the Ohio Valley have many features that are analogous, yet as they are constructed entirely of earth, no standing stones and no system of solstitial orientation has been discovered, we must leave it as an open question whether they are to be traced to the influence of a transmitted cult, or were the result of an aborig- inal religion which developed in parallel lines. The resemblances are certainly very striking. III. Sky worship existed among the Pueblos and Cliff-dwell- ers and their descendants the Zunis and Moquis. There was associated with it a system of orientation and an extensive cal- endar system, also secret societies and many sacred ceremonies and a symbolical geography which is very surprising. It is very interesting to follow out the system as it existed here. Various authors have been engaged in the study of it and they have brought out manv interesting facts. Among these may be mentioned Mr. Frank Cushing, Mr. James Stevenson, Mrs. Matilda C. Stevenson, Mr. Walter Fewkes and Dr. Washing- ton Matthews. I. Mr. Frank Cushing has given us many facts which illustrate this. He says, the chief point in the horizon was the east and all other points were arranged with reference to this. The points were arranged leftwardly and counted around the hori- zon on the fingers, the east the land of day, the west, the land of night, the north, the home of the master of gods. The zen- ith and the nadir were also worlds peopled by great gods; the middle was also a world by itself, thus making seven divisions of the sk}' and the earth. The middle was occupied by animals and men. The gods of the several regions were represented by the elders of clans, the elders of the north being in special AMERICAN ASTROLOGY OR SKY WORSHIP. 155 favor with the gods, and so the first in rank. Next to these were the elders of the west. The divinities or fetiches of the dif- ferent clans had their rank according to the points of the com- pass, those of the north being first. 2. The order of all the dances must accord with this arrange- ment. Each region must be represented by appropriate lead- ers, clan elders, the north, west, south, east, upper and lower, each region having a house for the gods. The dances were celebrated at the different seasons and by the different clans, their order being fixed by the precedence which the gods of the region above had over each other, the rank of the gods and the order of the dances following the cardinal points from right to Fig. 10— Circle, Crescents and Square at Sopeton, showing (he Symbolism of the Region left. The Zunis also had kivas which were consecrated to these gods. In each ot the cities or pueblos in the Gila valleys were temple kivas in which the chambers were arranged in a circuit, the doorways leading around from the east to the center, the northern and southern chambers being twice as large as the others to represent the upper and lower regions. "These temple kivas were strongholds, storehouses and homes of the priest rulers of each of the pueblos, as well as a place of sacred assembly, but embodied in themselves the six houses of the gods with the center making seven. The temple of Vira- Cocha, Peru, was built on the same plan and probably owed its origin to the sequence of the cardinal points, similar to that of the Zunis. The ceremonial diagram in the prayer meal of the seven ancient spaces shows a four-fold circuit of entrance. Seven chambers in the diagram. The first entrance is at the north 156 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. and the last at the seventh or middle. The consecration of the field of the Zunis, the corn hills have a similar distribution, the yellow corn at the north, blue corn for the west, red corn tor the south, white for the east, speckled for the zenith, black for the nadir and variegated for the middle. This location accord- ing to the cardinal points, of corn hills, kivas, sacred chambers and the sacred spaces was very ancient and prevailed among the Zunis more sensibly than any other tribe. The seven cities i iG. 566 Fig. 5tj7 Fig. 11,— Sky Divinities of the Zunis. of Cibola are supposed to have been built according to the same arrangement, for in these the totems of the north dwelt in a vil- lage by themselves, those of the west in another, of the south in another, and so of the eastern, upper and lower, whilst those of the middle dwelt in another town apart from all the rest, itself subdivided into wards or septs (as in modern Zuni), having also the tribal head — ceremonially ruling all the rest, yet ruling through proto-priestl}'- representatives of and from all the rest in due order of precedence; only, here in the midmost place, these were under the Sun or Father-Proto-priest, and the Seed or Mother-Proto-priestess in at least all religious and cere- monial concerns." The idols of the Zunis exhibit the same symbolism as do the AMERICAN ASIROLOGY OR SKY WORSHIP. 157 sacred ceremonies. In these we see the arches of the sky, the turrets of the clouds, the feathers of the wind, the colors, the signs of the different quarters of the sky, the crosses of the car- dinal points, the pictures of the celestial houses, the male and female divinities who presided over the houses and were the creators and ancestors of the people, each line and color of each idol having a hidden significance. See Fig. ii. The following "creation" myth has been given by Mrs. Steven- son: "When the people first came to this world they passed through four worlds, all in the interior, the passageway from darkness to light being through a large reed. They were pre- ceded by two local divinities who dwelt upon the mountains, the one a hideous looking creature, the other a being with snow white hair, probably the personifications of the rain and snow, or the black cloud and white cloud. One of these descended the mountain and drew his foot through the sands. Immedi- ately a river flowed and a lake formed, and in the depths of the lake a group of white houses, constituting a village. There was a belief that the spirits of the dead went to the beautiful village, and that there was a passageway through the moun- tains to the depths of the lake with four chambers, where the priests of the divinities rest in their journey to the sacred waters. This myth is dramatized in a peculiar way in the kivas at the initiation of the children. The superstition is that no male child can after death enter the spirit lake or have access to the sacred village in its depths unless he receives the sacred breath of the spiritual divinities, the Sootike. There are accordingly persons appointed who are to appear at the ceremony of initiation of the children and represent the different parts of the sky. The first ceremony takes place in the open air by day. The priest of the sun enteis the sacred plaza, draws the sacred square with the sacred meal, a yellow line in the east, a blue line in the west, a red line in the south. Along these lines the god-fathers pass, each one holding the god-child on his back. As he passes the line the "Sootike" strikes the child with a large bunch of Spanish bay- onets with such force at times as to draw tears to the eyes. These Sootike are persons appointed who are endowed with the breath and represent the "different parts of the sky." The next ceremony takes place at night. In this the figure of a plumed serpent is introduced as a symbol of the rain god and carried by messengers of the "sky divinities." They wear masks ; those for the north, yellow; those for the west, blue; those for the south, red; those for the east, white; those for the heavens, all colors; those for the earth, black. These come to the village after sundown. They carry a serpent made of hide, about twelve feet long and eighteen inches through, the abdomen painted white, the back black with white stars. They pass through the town, visit each kiva and put the head of the ser- 158 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. pent through the hatchway. This signifies the rain cloud pass- ing over the mountains and occasionally descending into the valleys, bringing water and rain to the villages. This cere- mony was a sacred drama which represents the "divinities of the sky," and takes place in the sacred kivas once in four years. An old priest stands and blows through the body of the serpent with a pecuhar noise resembhng that ot a sea monster. The arrangement within the kiva is peculiar. The father of the sun sits upon a throne at the west end of the room. The high priest and priestess on either side of the throne. The war god sits at the left of the fire altar and feeds the sacred flames. The god-parents sit upon a stone ledge, which represents the third stage of the creation, each with a boy by his side on the ledge. Inside of the kiva are mounds of sand, on which are wands of feathers. Messengers of the north, east, south and west take these feathers, and go to each child and blow the sacred breath over the plumes into the mouth of the child. After this the feathered serpent appears. The high priest of the bow, of the sky, the priestess of the earth, ascend to the hatchway, holding a large earthen bowl to catch the water poured from the mouth of the serpent, Ko-lo-o-owit-si. Each god-father carries the holy water to the boys to drink, and makes a gift of the bowl to the boy. After this the priests catch the seed which is sent from the abdomen of the serpent, in their blankets, and distrib- ute the seeds to all present. In the morning the boys are taken from their homes to a distance from the village where they plant prayer plumes and make prayers to the sky divinities, the child repeating the prayers after the god-father. Here, then, we have sky worship, as among the eastern tribes, and it has the same elements, a belief in the future, a dependence upon the powers of nature, the presence of divmities, the necessity of initiation into sacred rites in order to take the benefits of the nature powers. The imagery is all drawn from the mountains, lakes, and rivers, and the personification of the rain clouds and the snow, but the symbolical geography is complete. THE PYRAMID IX AMERICA. 159 CHAPTER VII. THE PYRAMID IX AMERICA. The pyramid as a religious S3mbo], is the subject of this paper. We are first to inquire about the origin, growth and earlv use of the pyramid, and ascertain by this means, if possible, how the pyramid came to be a symbol. We shall, however, consider the pyramid as it is found in America, rather than Oriental countries, for we have here the earliest forms and the successive stages, and the primitive uses, and reasoning from analogy, we judge, that these will give us the real explanation. We go on the supposition that America is the home of iht pyramid, at least one of the homes, and that here we have a hislor}' of its growth and development. I. Our first point is as to the prevalence of the pyramid in America. It is well known that there are many pyramidal structures on the continent ; they may not be perfect pyramids like those of Egypt, nor are many of^ them as massive as those upon the banks of the Nile, yet they are very interesting and numerous, and are worth}' of study. I. Let us consider the difTerent classes of the pyramids on the continent. The pyramids of America differ from those in Asia and Egypt, in that they embrace a series of structures which are more or less in the pyramidal form, but which vary in size and shape, and are scattered over all parts of the continent. Under tliis head may be mentioned the rude and primitive mounds which are scattered through the Gulf States, but which have the pyramidal form. This would constitute the first class. Sim- ilar to these, but differing in geographical location and in size, are the massive pyramids of Mexico, many of which such as Cholula and Xochicalco, were natural eminences on which artifi- cial structures were erected. This constitutes a second class. Next to these the terraced pyramids of Mexico and of Central Amer- ica. These are wholly artificial ; and were, for the most part, erected for religious purposes, and yet there is little difference between them and the palaces found in the same region. This constitutes the third class. Under the fourth class we .should embrace those structures which are found associated with palaces, but which were pyramidal in form and were undoubtedly used for the sacred purposes of worship. This would leave for the fifth class the few perfect pyramids, such as are found at Teoti- huacan in Mexco, and at certain places in Peru. It will be seen from this that the p"ramids of America are quite numerous, 160 i\^ir/l'/; AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. and that they form a very important feature in the prehistoric architecture of the country. We give a series of cuts to illustrate these points: First, a view of the pyramidal mounds in Yazoo Pass, Miss., Fig. i ; second, a view of the pyramid of Cholula, Mexico, Fig. 2; third, the terraced palace called "the'Governor's House. "at Uxmal, Fig. 3; fourth, the pyramid and palace at Palenque, Fig. 4; fifth, the pyramid at Teotihuacan, Fig. 5. These represent the different - •-- ^mim. '■^^amMh. WJIi^ I^ ■i Ti^ior?yw I ■■'■' ,v,:;:.'.'i g;';.::.::.:;:;.;:"^ =^ .=,-''.-•" ■"*•" ^v- = iTiiiiiiiiiiriiHiiiiiiiii^ ornu. =;•! "'*■.' """':i. >»;'.','.■:.•,",'_■ •..-■■II' '. . .W , , I ->\\Ni;\; .:... Fiij. 1 — J'jjr(uiii(liil Mounds in Jli.ssi.t.s.j/jn. classes of pyramids in America. We call attention to the variety of types in these figures. It is singular what types of structure rule in the building of pyramids in America. In Egypt every pyramid seemed to have been built after the same pattern. In America every pyra- mid was erected after its own pattern ; scarcely two being found anywhere upon the continent which were alike, and few which resemble those of Egypt. Resemblances have been drawn between the terraced pyramids of America and those of Assyria, THE PYRAMID IX AMERICA. IGl and some have supposed that we have an Assyrian instead of an Egyptian type; but the so-called terraced pyramids in America constitute only one class, and others differ so much from this class that we cannot say that the Assyrian type rules. A re- semblance has been traced betwen the stone structures of Mexico and the pyramidal mounds of the Mississippi Valley, and some have undertaken to trace an American type of pyramid. This seems more plausible than either of the preceding conjectures ; and yet the pyramids of Mexico differ so much from one an- other, and the mounds also differ, that it is difficult to trace any one type in them. y>V=f: ^^^^m^m J'^ig. 2 — Pyramid of Cholula. 2. The size of the pyramid is to be considered. A compari- son has been drawn between the pyramids of America and of Egypt. It has been said that the pyramid of Cahokia and of Cholula are fully equal to those of Ghizeh and of Mycerinus. \\V^ must, however, distinguish between the horizontal extension of a natural or artificial heap of earth, and the elaborate la}'ers of stone, and grant to the Egyptians the more elaborate struc- tures. Cahokia cox'ers twelve acres; but was only ninety feet high, and it is uncertain whether it was natural or artificial. Cholula is larger at the base than anv one of the Old World 1(1 NA TI I 'E A MER K 'A N S YMB OL ISM. pyramids, over twice as large as that of Cheops, but only slightly higher than that of Mycerinus. Many visitors have believed that the pyramid is only partly artificial, the"brick work" having been added to a smaller natural hill. Humboldt says: "The construction of the teocalli recalls the oldest mon- uments which the history of our civilization reaches. The temple Jupiter Belus, the pyr- amids of Meidoum,and Dag- hour, and several of the group of Sakkahra were also im- mense heaps of bricks, the re- mains of which have been pre- _. served during a period of 30 I centuries down to our day." A l2 distinction must be, however, "S drawn between the ruins of i artificial structures and the im- £; mense earth-heaps; and the •!" imagination is to be restrained ? in its efforts to draw the com- I parison. There is no pyramid 7 in America which ever reached ';i, the height of the Egyptian, ^^ and no palace which was ever as elaborate as those in As- syria. 3. The geographical distri- bution. It has already been noticed that the pyramids of America are scattered over a large part of the continent. They seem, however, to be confined to certain belts of lat- itude. In a general way their location resembles that ot the pyramids in the Eastern hem- isphere. The pyramid seems to be a structure peculiar to the warm climate. It is prob- able that they were all devot- ed to sun-worship, and this will account for their having THE PYRAMID IX AMERICA. 163 been confined to the torrid regions, sun-worship being the rehg- ion which prevails in those regions. In order to understand the number and sizes of the pyramids of America the reader is requested to examine the appended ta- ble, which gives the various structures, with their location and character and dimensions : COUNTRY 1 1— 1 1 AND CL.\S.S OF STRUC- PART OF STRUC- 5 (R PLACE. TURE. TURE. X f* Guatemala. Zakuleu Pvraniiil. Base. 102 feet sq. , 28 feet Cawinal Palace. Two stories. ! 40 feet Vaclia P.vraniid. Five stories. | 66 feet sq. 45 feet Tikal Pyramid. Two stories. 72x24 ft. ■ q. 86 feet Utatlan Palace. Three terraces. nu0x2200 120 feet Utatlan Fortress. First terrace. Utatlan Altar. Ba.se. 66 feet sq. 33 feet Honduras.— *Copan Temple or place. 624x809 ft. 70 feet Yucatan.— +Uxmal Governor's House. Second terrace. 545 feet sq. 20 feet lUxinal Governor's House. Third terrace. 100x360 40 feet Uxmal Governor's House. Tower. 50 feet Uxmal Governor's House. Pyramid E. 200x300 65 feet Chiapas.— ^Palenque ... Palace I. First terrace. 260x310 40 feet Palenque Palace I. Summit. 180x228 30 feet Palenque Palace I. Tower G. 30 feet sq. 50 feet Palenque Palace I. Corridor. 20x150 long. 20 feet Palenque Temple of :^ Tablets. Base. 110 feet. ||Palen(iue.... Temple of ;5 Tablets. Shrine. 25x76 35 feet JPaleniiue Temple of the Cross. Base, 134 feet. Palenque Temple of the Cross. Shrine. 50x30 40 feet Palenque Temple of the Cross. Roof. 3x35 15 feet Palenque Palace C. First terrace. 350 feet sq. 19 feet Palenque Second terrace. 2.58x214 28 feet Palrnque Pyramid F. Third terrace. 200x120 50 feet Palenque Pyramid D. Base. 1.5.5x2:35 88 feet Paleniiue Temple of the Sun. .Shrine. 28x30 Ococingo Five Terraces. Shrine. 35x40 Oajaca.— 55x120 50 feet Tehuant'pec Pvramid. Base. 12x12 3 feet Tehuaul'pec Altar. Base. 120x120 :Mitla Palace. Court. 36x130 18 feet Mil la Palace. Buildings. 120x2(35 Yucatan.— Zavi Palace. First terrace. 60x220 Zayi Palace. Second terrace. 18x1.50 Zayi Palace. Third terrace. 112x160 32 feet Cliicheniza. Nunnery. 140x202 Kal)ach Palace. Base. Vera Cruz.— 90 feet 54 feet Pa pant la Seven-storied Pyramid m feet 17 feet Misantla Pyramid. 30 feet Tusapan Pyramid and Shrine. Base. Mexico.— Cholula Pvramid. Base. 1440 feet sq. 200 feet Xochicalco. Natural Hill. Base. 2 miles. Xochioaloo. Natural Hill. Summit. 285x328 400 feet Xochicalco. Natural Hill. Pvramid. 5-5 X. 50 16 feet Teotih'acan House of the Moon. Base. 426x511 Teotih'acan House of the Moon. Summit. 36x60 Teoti'hacan House of the Sun. 733 feet sq. 203 feet Teoti'hacan House of the Sun. Citadel. 1246x1338 :» feet Teoti'hacan House of the Sun. 1 Circle of Mounds. 600 feet *See Fig. 8. +See Fig. 3. tSee Frontispiece, ^See Fig. 4. .See Fig. 13. I(i4 , XATIVE AMERWAX SYMBOLISM. II. We are next to consider the question how came the pyr- amid to be in America. There are three theories in reference to this, namely: ist. The autochthonous theory. 2d. The theory of a transmitted cultus. 3rd. That of a common traditionary ori- gin. We are to consider these theories in their order : I. In favor of the first theory, we give the opinions of various authors. Mr. H. H. Bancroft has written considerably concern- ing the origin of sun worship on the continent of America. The following may be said to be an epitome of his views :* The forc-:iS which minister to the requirements ot man's phy- sical nature may be said also to aid his intellectual progress. These torces are the configurations of the surfiice, the peculi- arities of soil, stimulus furnished by climate, and the character and supply of food. If color and race are dependent upon climate, why might not the tinge of thought and the peculiari- ties of religion also. There are zoological zones in which the elephant, the hippopotamus, the rhinoceros, the lion and the tiger abound. There are other zones in which the wolf, the fox, the bear, and other hardy creatures are numerous. The char- acter of the animals seems to partake of the nature of the sur- roundings. It is so with man, his habits, disposition, character, seem to be aftected by climate and surroundings, and so was his religion. Sua worship prevailed in Egvpt, in Babylonia, and on The banks of the Ganges, even when the civilization of those regions had reached its height. The religions of the people in- habiting these lands were naturally sensuous. Sun worship was a sensuous system. It always appeared among a self-indulgent and luxurious people, and was always atttended with sensuous rites. It diftered from animal worship in this respect. Some would regard it as the result of a sedentary life, and as attend- ant upon "agricultural pursuits, but it was more owing to the subtle influence of the climate and the physical surroundings, than the employment. Agriculture might le id to a sense of dependence upon the great luminary, and so the thoughts would be directed to it as to a divinity. The blazing heat of the sun would suggest to thi inhabitants of the torrid regions many traits of a personal character, and the different phases of the sun would be interpreted as the varied moods ol a divinity. Tnere was a combination of the nature powers in the torrid regions which made them seem like divinities to the people. Storm and sunshine, clouds and darkness, night and day, light- ning and thunder, rain and wind, were all divinities. Some of them symbolized war and death, oihers svmbolized wine and self indulgence. There was a strange mingling of personal gods and the powers of nature in all these regions." It was so among the Greeks, as well as well a^ among the *Seo Bancroft, Xative Races, Vol. Ill, page 292. THE PYRAMID IX AMERICA. » 105 Hindoos. The relij^ions of these well-known people are sup- pcjsed to be the result of climate and of ph3-sical surroundin. 3. The third theory is, however, the one which just now is the most interesting, and the most novel. It is that the pyra- mid was patterned after a tradition, the tradition of the moun- tains of the North. This brings us to the main point. Dr.Warren has spoken of the mountain which was the pivot of the world, and would make the pyramid to b^ in imitation of the mountain of the north. According to this theory the pyramid of Egypt would be the pivot of the earth, a theory which Dr. J. H. Seiss has carried out to an alarming extent. According to this theory the .symbolism of the east and the west, especially that which embraced traditions and astronomical signs, was derived from the early tradition of the mountain of the north. The following may be regarded as a summary of these views: Tne Greeks had no pyramids, and we rarely recognize even he circular tower, and yet there was a latent symbolism in the THE PYRAMID IX AMERK'A. 167 Greek mylholocry. which reminds us of the traditionary mount- ains. Zeus had his abode upon Mt. Olympus, and Juno was his consort. The temples to Saturn and to Jupiter were mere shrines. They did not admit the worshipers but were onlv the abode of the divinity, the same as the shrines upon the summit of the pyramids of Chaldea. They were also placed upon hii^h rocks to typify the mountain. This conception of the mountain being the primitive place of worship, the abode of the gods, and the center of creation was common among all the Asiatic races. The Mount of Meru or Harmoezd was the pil- lar of the sky and the navel of the earth It was situated in Thibet, the primitive home o( the human race. Olympus, Parnassus, Ida, were reproductions of it. This same world U'-k^- ' '^!ffl€f%^ '-^:V:■ "^^^^ Ft;/. 5.— Pyramid of Tcodhuacan. mountain was, however, known to the Egyptians. The famous oracle of Jupiter-Ammon was at Meroe, which possibly was named after Mt. Meroe or Meru. The Hindoos maintain that Mt. Meru is the navel of the earth. The Chinese terrestrial paradise was at the center of the earth — the palace of the center. Dr. \Vm F. Warren maintains that the ancient Mexicans con- ceived the cradle of the human race to be situated in thef;irthest north, upon the highest mountains surrounded bv clouds, the residence of Tlaloc, the god of rain. We recognize in these traditions the prevalence of a primitive nature worship, as well as to the original abode of the human race. The question arises whether the pyramid wa.s the outgrowth of this primitive tradition and the result of a transmitted faith. Dr. Warren UJS NA TI 1 7; . 1 MERK \\ N S YMDOMISM. sa3's, "ihe stupendous terraced pyramid of Cholulu was a copy and symbol ot the sacred paradise mountain of Aztec tradition, whicli was described as standing in the center of the middle country. The national temple of Tlaloc stood in the center of the citv of Mexico, whence four causeway roads conducted east, west, north and south. In the center of the temple was a richly ornamented pillar of peculiar sanctity."* The center and capitol of Peru was Cuzco, (bl., "navel,") whence to the borders of the kingdoms branched of^'four great highways, north, south, east and west, each traversing one of the four provinces into which Peru was divided. Dr. Warren quotes Gerald Massey who holds that the Mound-builders had retained this tradition, "Some of the large mounds left in Mis- sissippi were called navels by the Chickasaws, although the Indians are said not to have had any idea whether these were natural mounds or artificial structures. They thought Missis- sippi was at 'the center of the earth' and the mounds were as the navel in the middle of the human body." Dr. W. F. Warren has written a book which, to some, will account for the pyramid in America exactly as it accounts for the pyramid in Assyria and in Egypt, and prove that there was a common source for the pyramid in both countries. Some might object to this and say that the theory in the book was based upon mere conjecture, and . that 'there is no more plausibility to this than ihe first the- ory. We are, however, inclined to accept the facts as brought out by this book and to say that the tradition of the ' "mountain of the north," the "holy mountain," the "primitive abode of the gods," the "starting place of the human race," is to be discovered on this continent as well as in the historic re- gions of the east. Dr. Warren has referred to the tradition among the Choctaws, that at the time of the creation, a supe- rior being came down from above and alighting near the cen- ter of the Choctaw town, threw up a large mound or hill called the "sloping hill." Then he c-nised the red people to come out of it, and when he supposed a sufficient number had come out he stamped on the ground with his foot. When this signal of his power was given, some were partl}^ formed, others were just raising their heads above the mud, emerging into life and struggling for life. We have no doubt that many other tradi- tions and customs might be ascribed to the same source. Of course the theory of the local origin ot these myths will be ofl'- set to this one of the common origin, and yet we have the fact before us and are to keep our minds open to the suggestions whether overthrowing a theory of our own or not. III. Our third inquiry is as to the development of the pyramid on the American continent, i. There are writers who maintain ••'Paradise Found," by Dr. W. F. Warren. Boston: Houghton & Mifflin. THE PYRAMID IX AMEBIC A. 169 that the mounds or tumuli found in the Mississippi valley, are the primordial forms of the pyramid, and that there is an un- broken succession of structures on the American continent, from which the pyramid was developed. The theory is, that this succession ot pyramidal works lurnishes to us a view of the various stajres through which the pyramids in Egypt and Assyria passed before they reached their perfection. This is a very plausible theory and one that needs to be considered. It makes the prehistoric works of America, all the more inter- esting if we are to regard them as the forerunners of such remarkable hisioric works as the pyramids were. If it was the same continent that produced this series, we should cer- tainly conclude that we had learned the history of the pyramid. But, as the prehistoric series has disappeared from Asiatic countries, we are glad to recognize this succession of steps on the American continent even if we have to span a wide gulf to make the early historic and the prehistoric to connect. There are types here which seem to have anticipated the more advanced pyramids elsewhere, and we might imag- ine that these were the types from which the historic pyra- mids grew. There are also various structure which seem to furnish different stages of tht- growth of the pyramid, and it i.- ^^^^^te^^^=|^ very easy for us to make out a -/i=-"^=.— . plausible and interesting theory and imagine that we have a per- fect picture of what the pyra- mids in the East were before the historic structures were erected. We misrht c o n- i-Vy. ';. — TriiDCdtf'd Mound from the Ohio Valley. jecture many things and say that there was a gradual devel- opment from the one to the other. These different earthworks found in the Mississippi valley, show the stages through which the Mexican pyramid passed on its wav to completion. We might imagine that the large conical mounds and so-called havstack mounds form connectincr links between the tumuli and the truncated pyramids, and that the terraced platform houses of the Pueblos formed the connecting links between the inhabited earthworks of the Mississippi Valley and tiie loft}' teocalli found near the City of Mexico, and conclude that we had proven a succession of structures and a sure line of growth or development. These three links or steps in the order of progress which are found in the burial mounds, pyramidal earthworks, and the sacred teocalli would to some prove that the pyramid had its origin and growth on this continent. We might reier to the correlation of these difTerent structures, to the state of society and to the different modes of worship, and 170 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. say that the tumuli were built b}' a savar^e people and devoted to the rude primitive animal worship. And that the truncated pyramids were erected by an agricultural people, and devoted to sun worship, and that the teocalli belonged to a civilized people and were devoted to the highest form of nature worship possible. This view has a great deal of plausibility about it, and yet great caution is needed in reference to it. 2. We illustrate these points by a series of figures. First, by an ordinary truncated mound from the Ohio valley. Fig. 6. Second, by the view ot the mound at Cahokia. Fig. 7. Third, by the cluster of platforms and pyramids which are found at Copan in Central America. Fig. 8. It will be noticed that there is a complete series here, and that there are some remarkable resemblances between these structures and those of Oriental countries, especially in the grouping of the mounds near together, and in the arrangement of the terraces along with the pyramids. It will be noticed that these structures are scattered and situated in different Fig. 7 — Mound at Cahokia. parts of the continent, but this only illustrates how numerous pyramids are on the continent. The subject is suggestive, and we might dwell upon the analogies and resemblances, but we use the figures onl}- to illustrate the point. It will be no*iced that there are great resemblances between the American pyramids. These resemblances are found, first, in the location of the pyra- mids among a sedentary people, the Mound-builders and the Mexicans both being partialhxivilized; second, the shape of the structures are very similar. They are platforms on which, form- erly, temporary structures were erected. If they were temples, they were temples which were inhabited ; third, the probable use of these structures. The pyramidal mounds of the Mississippi Valley and the platform pyramids of Central America, were un- doubtedly devoted to the form of worship. There were shrines on all these pyramids which were dedicated to the sun. The re- semblances between all the pyramids in America are ver\- strik- THE PYRAMID IX AMERICA. 171 ing. This constitutes the strongest argument for an autoch- thonous origin. 3. VVe are to consider what may be safe ground as to the de- velopment of the pyramid in America. Tnc following are sug- gestive points : (I.) The primordial forms of the pyramid may be discovered here, the mounds generally being regarded as the germ of the pyramid. (2.) The successive stages through which the pyramid passed, are exhibited in the dirterent kinds of mounds. (3.) The typical pyramid with its terraces and shrines is found in Mexico and Central America. (4.) The use of the pyramid as a sacred structure and as a symbol of nature wor- ship is learned here. The perfect pyramid is not discovered, and yet the earlier lorms are very common. Fiff. S.—l'/a/f >nii.s (111(1 I'lyraniid.s at Cajxiii. The Mound-builder's pyramid certainly shows uniformity. The Aztec pyramid may also be recognized in Mexico. The Maya architecture may also be recognized in the pyramids of Yucatan. The Peruvian style of architecture may also be recog- nized in the pyramids of Peru. It is possible that we shall yet trace a common type in all the pyramids ; but that i.s as far as we may go. The race quality, or the ethnic quality may be rec- ognized in the type of the pyramids. Some have undertaken to show a connection between mounds and Mexican structures. Others have undertaken to trace a resemblance between Aztec and Toltec, and between the Nahua and the Maya ; but this is a difficult task. The variety of types baffle every investigation of the kind. Prof Short says: "Maya architecture furnishes evidences of growth, and may be classified into the Chiapan or ancient, and the Yucatan or modern styles. It is a question, 17L> NATIVE AM En J CAN SYMBOLISM. however, whether the distinction between the ancient and the modern type of pyramid can be clearly established." The Chi- apan or ancient style is exhibited in the imposing remains of Palenque; but the pyramids of Uxmal differ materially from those at Palenque, and we have so diverse types in the same region, that we are at a loss to determine which is the earlier and which later. IV. This brings us to the question of the object of the pyra- mid and the law of the parallel development. The parallel lines are very manifest. It is in accord with the general law of progress. The architecture of the east seems to have devel- oped in about the same order that it did in the west. If we take any of the departments of architecture, its earliest use and form, iis ordinary ornamentation, the religious symbolism, which embodied itself in it and the technic arts which found their scope there, we shall find a parallel in each. Fif/. 9. — Mound at St. lAnd.s. I. For instance, the idea of utility. Ferguson says: "The wig- wam grew into a hut, the hut into a house, the house into pal- ace, the palace into a temple, bv well defined and easily trnced graduations." And yet he says "those styles which are admired Through all time are in the original, the products of ethnical taste." According to this theory we might say that burial was the purpose for which the pyramid was erected, and that the law of utility as well as of ethnical taste, would account for it. Utility and worship were combined in many of these prehis- toric Dyramids. We can hardly account for the earthworks, or for the platforms of the pyramids, unless they were used for habitation as well as for purposes of worship. It is prob- able that they were the foundations for the houses of the chiefs, and that the worship of ihe people was led by the chief THE PYRAMID IN AMERICA. 173 or by the priest who belongs to his household. It has been known that many of the large pyramidal mounds were used as burial places; this would show that utility and worship were combined. . The great mound at St. Louis contained a burial chamber 75 feet long, 12 feet wide, 8 feet high, and several bodies were contained in it, which were covered with beads, and other paraphernalia of royalty. We give a cut to illus- trate this: Fig. 9. The pyramid of Cahokia is another spe- cuTien which proves that utiHty and worship were combined. It will be seen that there were platforms and terraces in this P3'ramid, and it arose in successive stages to a very consider- able height. The size of this earthwork shows that it was used for habitation. It covers nearly twelve acres, and was six hundred feet in diameter at the base, but only about 90 feet high. It is possible that it was built for a refuge in high water, or it may have been like the other structures in the South, designed as a platform on which the caciques might build their houses. The terraces, however, show a diverse use and it is very probable that on the summit there were fires kept lighted as sacred to the sun. This structure reminds us of the sacred mountains of the North, and has striking analo- gies to the pyramids of Mexico, as well as to those in Assyria. There were three uses to this earthwork. It was a burial place and abode for the people and a massive temple to the sun, and illustrates the point. See Fig. 7. 2. The law ot ethnic development is an important point and illustrates the case. There are several elements which consti- tute the basis for architectural progress, or the source of archi- tectural growth. The advance of art and architecture was as follows : First, the hemispherical mounds ; second, the pyramidal platforms; third, the terraced pyramids; fourth, the massive and finished pyramids, with its simple and silent shape impressing one with an air of mystery. Subsequent to this, the mechanical principles came in. The arch, the pier and lintel, and other parts of the building. But for the purposes of worship, the simple pyramid seems to have been the most effective, and the effect may have been owing to the propor- tions. It seems strange that these pyramids in America should have assumed proportions which are so true to nature and so expressive of grandeur. The towers at Mugheir and Birs, Nimroud in Assyria, are not more correct in their pro- portions than are these. The pyramids of Cheops and My- colenus and others upon the Nile are, to be sure, higher than are any of the pyramdial mounds of America. And yet the universal testimony of travelers is, that these mounds are very impressive. Such is the case with the great mound at Caho- kia, and it is true, to a certain extent, even of the conical mounds. Their size, their proportions and their situation com- bining to produce a very singular impression upon the mind. 174 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. This is one of the most remarkable features of the prehistoric works of this country. They were designed as religious structures, and the sense of awe and fear existed in the minds of the builders to a wonderful extent. (3.) The impressibility of the human mind is another point. Architectural grandeur is often found in primitive structures, giving the impression that this sense was strong in the primitive mind. The pyramids of Egypt, the topes of the Buddhists, the mounds of the Etruscans, depend almost wholly for their effect upon their di- mensions. This is the case in America: pyramids were made massive to impress the minds of the people. There are, to be sure, a lew places where high art and elaborate ornamentation were made to gratify the sense of beauty and the more delicate emotions, but mass was mainly depended upon. The mounds are often impressive on account of their size. They are placed upon high hills and by this means they are made impressive. Their outlines when thrown against the sky give an impression of grandeur, which is irresistible. At times the gateways to the sacred enclosures are erected in the pyramidal shape, and have a massiveness about them which give the same impres- sion. The simplicity of these structures add to the impressive- ness. It may seem strange that the mounds and earthworks of the Mississippi Valley should be compared to the pyramids of Egypt; and yet we are convinced that many of the elements of grandeur were embodied in both classes of structures. We may say the same impression was made upon a rude people by these massive earthworks that were made upon a more culti- vated people by the more finished stone structures. Simplicity and grandeur, solidity and the sense of the sublime were combined in them all. The propylfe before the temples at Carnac, in Egypt, are scarcely more impressive than are the rude massive walls which form the gateway to the sacred en- closure at Newark. The pyramids of Cheops are scarcely more impressive, notwithstanding their size, than are the massive pyramidal mounds which lift iheir heads above the high blufis which overlook the valley and the city of Vincennes. The pyramidal mound at Cahokia gives the same impression, although this was erected upon the level plain and not upon an eminence. The sense of grandeur is exhibited by many of the pre-historic works of America. The pyramid form seems to have favored this. The pyramid of Cholulu in Mexico, the great teocalli at Uxmal, were impressive works of architecture; their very simplicity and massiveness, giving a sense of stability, and it may be that type of structure was adopted as much for its effect as for any other reason. The solid works were first given to sun worship. We find there striking analogies between the pyramids in the west and the east. The three uses to which the pyramidal THE PYRAMID IN AMERICA. 175 mounds were subject are very suggestive. In the first place the fact that they were burial places reminds us of the pyra- mids of Egypt. The earliest kings of Egypt utilized the pyra- mid for this purpose, and it is said that the "mastaba" or square built tomb found in Egypt was the structure which there an- ticipated the pyramid. Second, the fact that the terraces and summits of these pyramidal mounds were used as the places from which the morning salutation was given to the rising sun is suggestive of the use of the terraced pyramid in Assyria. The terraces there were devoted to the different planets and on the summit of the pyramid in Mexico, there was a shrine. Three of the pyramidal mounds were inhabited and so were the elevated platforms ot Assyria and Babylonia. This analogy between the structures of the east and the west is most remark- ble. The question arises, however, whether these p3Tamidal mounds were symbolic structures. They were cevoted to sun worship and may have been symbols. It has been conjectured that they were oriented, as the pyramids of Egypt were, yet this is doubtful. They were sometimes surrounded by circular walls and enclosures, giving the idea that ihe sun symbol was in- tended. The terraces with which the pyramids abound have been explained in the same way. There are certain pyramidal mounds which have very high conical tumuli on the summit, as if the purpose was to light fires upon them which should be sacred to the sun. The fact that the}^ were used by the na- tives, subsequent to the discover}'' of America, for the purpose of sun worship, is another proof The fact also, that they were in the territory of the agricultural races and that they belonged to the stage or grade of civilization in which sun worship pre- vailed. We should say then that the rudimentar}^ and primi- tive forms of worship were exhibited here and that we have in the P3'ramid a prehistoric structure which was anticipated of the historic pyramid. Primitive Sabeanism prevailed here as well as among the Chaldeans, so that we may examine the structures in America and ascertain what that system was in prehistoric times elsewhere. V. This brings us to the subject of the pyramid as a re- ligious structure. Were we to study the pyramids of Mexico and of Central America and ascertain their religious significance we might learn from these how the pyramids of the east, came to be used as they were. One perhaps will throw light upon the other. There is no doubt that the pyramid was primarily devoted to sun worship. This was one of the uses to which the pyramids in America were subjected; it was the chief use to which the stone pyramids were consecrated. The historical and traditional records show this. There may be exaggerations in some of these accounts, and jet it is evident that the pyra- mids were devoted to sun worship and that many bloody sacri- fices were offered. The tocalli reeked with human gore. The 176 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. victims were taken to the summits, were prostrated upon the sacrificial stone, their bodies laid open by the priests, their hearts torn out, while still quivering, and thrown into the face of the sun, while the forms were hurled down the steps of the pyramid to the bottom. It was a bloody and cruel scene. Long lines of victims were said to stand waiting to be sacri- ficed. There is no doubt that long processions marched around the terraces and approached the shrine on the summit. It was a cruel divinity which they worshipped — the sun divinity — not- withstanding the beneficence which was ascribed to him. The sacrificial stones, both covered with symbols of sun worship, but in the midst of the symbols was the channel which would carry ofi' the flood from the face of the sun. The symbol was covered with the blood of human victims and this was called washing the face of the sun. The pyramid in Mexico was de- Fig. 10.— Palace and Pyramid at Palenque.* voted to the most cruel practices. We do not learn that human sacrifices were offered on the pyramids of the east, and yet we are not sure but that they may have been practiced in prehis- toric times. The instrument of sacrifice, the stone knife, is seen depicted among the hieroglyphs of Egypt and a few are sup- posed to have survived the earliest times. The sacrifices by Abraham of his son Isaac on the mountain would indicate that the practice had prevailed in that region. ' * Bancroft says- "The basis of the foundation structures are usually rectangular, the laro-est dimensiods being 1500 feet square, as at Zoyi ; while many have sides of from :iOO to SOO feet. Most of them have two or more terrace platforms, from 20 to 50 feet high Most of them have stairways, some of them 100 feet wide. All the pyra^ mids are truncated, none forming points at the top. The edifices are usually built on a summit platform; one building on a summit, but in some of them enclosing a courtyard. The buildings are long, low and narrow, the greatest height 31 feet, great- est width 39 feet, greatest length 322 feet." THE PYRAMID IX AMERICA. 17? The association of the pyramids with temples, shrines and palaces is to be considered in this connection. In some of the localities, as at Copan, the structures are crowded to- gether in close proximity and a strange combination of pyramids, platforms, temples and shrines is apparent See Fig. 8. It would seem from this that worship was as much an object as habitation. If fires were lighted upon the summit of the pyramids, then the number of them sur- rounding one massive platform would be exxeedingly impres- sive. It was a strange superstition which should crowd the temples and the palaces so near together and then cover them all with a glare of sacrificial fires. The stairways were steep, the platforms elevated, the shrines were some of them in the Fig. 11 — T7)e Pyramid of Quemada.* most mysterious shapes, while obelisks and idol pillars stood about the foot of the stair-cases. Everything that could make the place impressive and cover it with the air of mystery, was devised. In Mexico the stair-cases were guarded by immense serpents' heads, the bodies of which formed the balustrades or rails to the stair-cases. The shrines on the summit were some of them in the shape of serpents' mouths held wide open, and * Bancroft says of this pyramid : " Here we have a square enclosure; its sides 150 feet, bounded by a terrace 3 feet high, 12 feet wide. Back i^f the terrace, on three sides, stand walls 20 feet high. The north side of the square is bounded bj' the steep sides of a central clift". In the centre of this enclosure is a trincated pyramid with a base of :?8x;515 feet, 19 feet high, divided ihto several stories. In front of the pyramid, and nearly in tlie centre of the square, stands a kind of altar, 7 feet square and 5 feel liigh. A very clear idea of this square is given in the following cut and presents an interior view. The pyramid, the central altar, the eastern terrace with its steps, standing walls, and the natural clifl', are all clearly portrayed : 178 XI TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. the fires that were burning within made them fearful to look upon, showing that cruelty was the spirit which prevailed here. In Yucatan the worship was more peaceful, but the archi- tecture was more elaborate. Our supposition is that the p3'ra- mids were temples sacred to sun-worship and were S3'mbolic structures. We give a cut of the so-called palace and pyramid at Palenque. and the pyramid accompanying it to show that there may have been a combination of palaces and of temples (Fig. lo) in the same structure or in close proximity There is no doubt that one these buildings was a palace and occupied by the cacique of^the village or city, but that the temple was in close proximity to it on the pyramid, which is in the background. The view of Char- nay is "that these ancient cities were occupied by a people among whom the ranks and grades of society were very distinct, and that the buildings in ruins are the remains of palaces and tem- ples. The huts of the common people have perished." This is in opposition to the theory advanced by Mr. L. H. Morgan that they were the communistic houses, and that the common peo- ple dwelt in these as well as the chiefs. The illustration, we think, refutes the theory. Mr. H. H. Bancroft has undertaken lo restore one of these palaces and its accompanying pyramid and shrine— the one at Palenque. Whether the restoration is correct or not we conclude that the explanation is a good one. Fig. lo. Still there are those who deny this and who would make the pyramid a place of habitation or a fortress. Mr. Ad. F. Bande- lier, has made a study of this pyramid of Cholula. He calls it a fortified pueblo, and says: "If we imagine the plateaus and aprons around it, covered with houses, possibly of large size, like those at Uxmal and Palenque, or on a scale intermediate between them and the Pecos communal dwellings, and many other places in New Mexico, we have then, on the mound of Cholula, as it then was, room for a large aboriginal population."^ This, how ever, reduces the sacred structures of Mexico and Yucatan to a very common-place condition, and would do away vyith the relicrious sentiment which was so powerful. The historical an- nal^of the aborigines prove that the chief object of this pyra- mid was to support a temple. At the time of the conquest there was a stairway which led up the slope to the temple. The Spaniards under Hernando de Cortez had a fierce hand to hand conflict on the slopes and notwithstanding the desperate resistance of the natives, they burned the magnificent structure on the top. The number and variety of the pyramids would prove that they were all used for religious purpose. Wrijfcrs have specu- lated as to who were the builders of the pyramids in Mexico, Yucatan and Honduras, and have endeavored to trace a resem- blance between the Nahua and the Maya religions. There is THE PYRA MID IX . I M ERICA . 1 79 no doubt that the two were very similar, and that the same cult which prevailed in Mexico during the time of the Conquest, prevailed in Uxmal and Palenque in prehistoric times. The study of the ruins in all of these localities, reveals a remarkable resemblance in the structures. There are pyramids at Tusapan, Papantla, at Misantla, at Centla, in Vera Cruz, which formeriy had shrines upon the summit and which were ascended by wide flights of steps. They show that the pyramidal type was the structure which was devoted to worship. The ruins of Oajaca, of Mitla, and the pyramid at Tehuantepec show the same thing. Mitla was a palace, and yet there are pyramids here. The pyra- mid of Tehuantepec was erected with stair-cases on the four sides and plastered, hemispherical walls forming the corners. A highly ornamented platform and shrines on the summit. VI. We are to consider the analogies which exist between the symbolisms of the two continents, especially that which is found in the pyramidal structures. These analogies have never that we are aware of, been traced out, and yet they are many and interesting. We shall first take up the pyramids of Egypt and their uses and see what structures in America resembled them ; next, consider the terraced pyramids of Assyria and Chaldea, and lastly speak of the traditionary views which have embodied themselves in many structures both in the Oriental continent and the American continent, (r.) Let us consider the pyramids of Egypt. In Egypt the pyramids are so-called perfect pyramids, that is, their sides are smooth inclined planes, the steps having been filled in and the whole veneered. No such pyramids are found in America, though there are occasionally structures whose face seemed to have been built up smoothly and covered with plaster. In one respect the pyramids of Egypt resemble the pyramids of America, especially the pyramidal mounds. They were devoted to burial purposes. There are sixty-six pyramids in Egypt. The oldest is supposed to be that of Senefru, of the fourth dynasty. It was prior to that of Cheops. The latest are supposed to be those of the twelfth dynasty, those of Lake Meros. All of these were sepulchers. It is a question which antedated the other, the Assyrian or the Egyptian. Lenormant says that " temples in the form of pyra- mids (that is, pyramidal or terraced temples) must be considered quite a recent institution in Chaldea, as compared with what they were in the country ofShinar or Sumar, where national tradition, like that in the Bible, placed the construction of the first of them side by side with the confusion of tongues." No one dared to attribute the foundation of the original pyramids of Babylon and Borsippa to any historical king ; for they were said to be the work of a " very ancient king," or perhaps even more correctly of " the most ancient king" or "first king." This is an interest- ing inquiry. In America burial mounds probably preceded ISO NATJVJ'J AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. pyramidal earth-works, at least in the order of succession, if not in date. The question is whether the pyramid as a burial place antedated that which was used as a temple devoted to sun-wor- ship. It is maintained by some that the tope and the tumulus gave rise to the pyramid, and that the platform temples were a later invention. Others, however, maintain that the pyramids were originally devoted to sun worship, and that their use as a burial place was I'ater. That it originated in the ambition of the kings to perpetuate their names and the religious idea about the necessity of the preservation of the body. It is possible, how- ever, that the two grew on parellel lines, the terraced pyramids of Assyria on one, and the perfect pyramid of Egypt on the other. The earliest known structure in Egypt was a quadrangular building, in the shape of a truncated pyramid, called the "mastaba." It was used as a tomb. It reminds us of the truncated pyramid or pyramidal earthworks of the Mississippi Valley. Many mastabas are from 30 to 40 feet in height, 150 feet in length, and 80 feet in width, and are veneered with hewn stone. The mastabas are arranged in regular streets in Ghizeh.and in this respect they resemble the pyramids of the Gulf States, which were often arranged in rows and around a square. See Fig. 2. The pyramidal mounds were used as burial places ; this is the case of the great mound at St. Louis, also with that at Etowah, Ga., and is supposed to be the case with that at Cahokia. There is another analogy between the mastabas and the burial mounds. A superstition prevailed that the mummy or the statute was a double of the soul. The corpse received visits from the soul, which from time to time quitted the celestial regions.* A narrow aperture was left to the " serdab" in the center of the mastaba. A similar superstitution prevailed among the Mound-builders. There was a double to the soul, and frequently the skull was trephined so that the soul might go in and out, and claim the body for its own. The same superstition is supposed to have prevailed in prehistoric times in Europe. The "dolmens," which were the abodes of the dead, had holes in the stone at the door, which were supposed to be for the passage of the soul in and out of its abode. There is another parallel found in the offerings made to the friends. In Egypt each mastaba was composed of a receptacle for the dead and a chapel for the living. The chapel was the lieception room af the "double," for the idea was that a double belonged to the dead, a soul and body. The relations, friends, and priests celebrate funerary sacrifices at the commencement of tlie seasons. They placed offerings at the exact spot leading to the entrance to the chamber, or eternal home of the dead. Pro- vision was made for a perpetual ob.servance of the feast. Painted *See Maspero's Egyptian Archreology, page 110. THE PYRAMID IN AMERICA. 181 or sculptured reproductions of persons and things were placed upon the walls of the chapel, so that in years to come the "double" might see himself depicted upon the walls in the act of eating and drinking, and so he ate and drank. Here then we have the animistic conception, the same conception which prevails among the Ojibwas, who to this day build houses over graves. They leave the sides and ends of the house open, the roof being sup- ported by corner posts, but on the floor they place the provisions which are offered to the spirits ot the dead. They believed in the double as much as did ever the Egyptians. (2.) The American pyramids were devoted to sun-worship. There is no doubt about the prevalence of sun-worship on this continent, or the devotion of the pyramid to that cult. In Assyria and Babylonia the pyramid was consecrated to the sun, moon and stars, the number of the terraces being either three, after "the triad of gods of the three worlds," or five, after the five planets, or seven, as at Borsippa, after the sun and moon and the five planets. The terraces were, as at Ecbatana, of different colors, according to the sacred colors of the planets, the upper gold, the second silver, next red, blue, yellow, white, the lowest black, according to the hues ascribed to the sun, moon, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Saturn. The great temple of the sun at Pekin was called the Temple of Heaven. It was also built in terraces, like the pyramids of Chaldea. It was surrounded by a wide pavement, and in the pavement were nine circles of standing stones, the circles repre- senting the nine heavens, the stones increasing in nines until the last circle was composed of eighty-one stones. In the center ot these circles was the altar at which the emperor knelt on their New Year's Day, the twenty-first of December, at the winter solstice, and acknowledged himself inferior to the heavens, and offered sacrifices to secure a prosperous season. The twenty-eight constellations of the Chinese zodiac were contained in this Temple of Heaven. Tablets were erected to the sun, moon and stars. The pyramids in Mexico and Central America were also built in terraces and had shrines on their summits, and in the shrines were tablets which were sacred to the sun and to the nature powers. A few of these pyramids present massive serpents, which remind us of the dragon of the east, their gigantic forms forming balustrades, their monstrous jaws guarding the approach to the stairways which led to their summits. There are many places where these analogies can be traced. We give cuts to illustrate this. We refer first to the temples at Palenque; one of them called the "temple of the cross" (Fig. 12); another the "temple of the three tablets" (Fig. 13); a third the "temple of the sun;" names given them from the tablets they contained. These shrines were standing on pyramids, but were near buildings which have been called palaces. The temple of 182 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. the cross was on a pyramid and faced the east. The "temple of the tablets" was also upon a pyramid, and facing the east. Each of the four central piers on this front has bas-reliefs in stucco, representing human figures, and each bearing in its arms an infant. The "temple of the sun" was also on the sum- mit of a massive pyramid, and was furnished with double corri- dors and an open door, through which the sun might shine at its rising. This temple also had a bas-relief in its interior, on which the face of the sun could be seen peering out from the midst of many other symbols of the nature powers. II. This brings us to the subject of the orientation of the pyr- amids. First, let us say that a book has recently appeared in England called "The Dawn of Astronomy." This book treats I^g. 12. — Temple of the Cross. mainly of the mythology and early astronomy of Egypt, but it enables us to draw a comparison and is of great importance in understanding the subject of astrology in America. It shows the difterent stages through which ancient astronomy passed, and reveals the views which were held in the east and the differ- ent elements which were brought together by the history of sky worship. The author divides the observation of the heavenly bodies into three stages — the first for wonder and worship; the second for utility, the observation of the seasons, the direction of religious feasts and the processes of agriculture ; the third for the knowledge of astronomical principles; the first two stages being associated with mythology. According to Trlr. Lockyer, the temples and the pyramids were all of them oriented. Some of them were oriented toward the sun while on the equator, others were oriented to the rising and setting sun at the solstices, and still others toward the stars. THE PYRAMID IN AMERICA. 183 The author thinks that the pyramids of , Memphis, Tanis, Sais, Bubastis were equatorially oriented, that the temples of Abydos and Amen-Ra were solsticially oriented. The alignment of the temples is the most interesting feature. There are temples which are so aligned that the sun at the summer solstice shines through the whole length, 6oo yards, and shines upon the shrine in the deep interior, causing it to shine with a "resplendent light." This was the case with the temple at Amen-Ra, as well as the more modern temple Edfu. The entrance to this latter temple was guarded by a massive exterior pylon. This reduced the light so that it should shine into the temple itself. Further, the arches from the entrance to the end, were covered so that within the penetralia, there was only a dim religious light, but the sun shone through the entire temple and struck upon the wall of the shrine at the back. The temple was directed l^oward the place t tvyAm .yiv ' . I I I M 5 0"I5 O R |_RirSTO Fig. IS.— Temple of the Tablets. of the sun's setting, and the narrowing doors were so contrived that the temple should prove a great astronomical telescope. The narrow shaft of light was directed and concentrated until it reached the shrine, which answered as the eye piece. We have here the true origin of our present method ot measuring time. The magnificent burst of light at sunset into the sanctuary would show that a new true solar year was beginning. The summer solstice was the time when the Nile began to rise. The priests were enabled to determine not only the length of the year, but the exact time of its commencement. This, however, they kept to themselves. The year in common use, called the vague year, began at different times of the true year through a long cycle. Here we find the analogy between the Egyptian and the American systems very startling. There seems to have been also two systems of orientation in Central America — one for the temples, the other for the palaces. The temples were oriented to the solstitial sun and the palaces to the cardinal points. We find, at least, that the shrines were so placed upon the pyramids that the sun would shine through the double door- way and strike upon the tablets upon the back of the inner sanctuary, where were the various symbols of the 184 NA Tl VE A MERICA N SYMBOLISM. cross, tree, bird and sun. The light would cause these symbols to stand out clearly. The offerings were presented to these as if they were divinities. There was a difference between the pyra- mids of the different cities. Those of Palenque were all oriented to the cardinal points, but those of Uxmal and Chichen-Itza and others seemed to have been oriented to the solstices, or at least were out of the regular line. Here the alignment of the walls of the temples formed an angle with the walls of the palace and its courts, showing that there was a regard to the solstitial sun in the temples, but an orienting to the cardinal points in the palaces. In reference to this subject of orientation, the Tusayan Indians place their sacred or world divisions on an angle ot from lorty- five to fifty degrees west of north, and construct tfieir kivas accordingly, resembling the well-known placement of the Baby- lonian and'Assyrian temples, obliquely to the cardinal points, the angles instead of the sides facing north, west, south and east. The arbitrary placing of the world quarters was carried further by the ancient Incas, as shown by the orientation of Cuzco than by any other people, except the Chinese. The sun was the all- iniportant factor in the universe, the maker of day and the renewer of light. The seven ancient spaces were sometimes symbolized in the ceremonial diagrams, which were made on the floor with prayer meal, six chambers or houses being arranged around a central one. What is most singular, the ground plan ot the ruins of Casa Grande shows a similar arrangement around a central room. This conveys the idea that there may have been a knowledge of the solstitial sun and an arrangement of the chambers or rooms in the villages so as to catch the rays of the rising sun. It is the opinion of Mr. Stephens and Walter Fewkes that the four cardinal points of the Moquis are determined by the suni- mer and winter solstices. The first point toward the north is determined by the notch on the horizon from which the sun sets at the summer solstice, the second west by its setting in the winter, the third by its rising in winter, and the fourth by its rising in the summer. THE CROSS IN AMERICA 185 CHAPTER VIII. THE CROSS IN AMERICA. Among the many surprises which the conquerors of Mexico experienced, the greatest was when they discovered the cross in the midst of the heathen temples of this far-off land. Their first explanation was that St. Thomas the Apostle, who was re- puted to have been a missionary to India, had also made his way to America, to here introduce the Christian symbol. As they continued to notice it and learned of the human sacrifices which were offered and other cruelties which were practiced, they concluded that it was the work of the devil ; that he had taken this symbol of peace and had made it sanction the most cruel atrocities, and thus had deluded the people and led them to their own destruction. We do not wonder at the indignation of the priests when they discovered this symbol associated with so cruel practices, for they were ignorant of the real history of the cross. The cross is a pre-Christian symbol, and had existed in Asia long before the history of Europe began. It was an instrument of punishment in the days of Christ, and it was only because so innocent and holy a being as our Savior was crucified upon it that it became sacred to Europeans. Were we to look upon it as it existed in Asia before the days of Christ and as it existed in America before the time of the discovery, we should better understand it as a symbol. We shall in this paper consider it in that light. We shall endeavor to disassociate it from pre-con- ceived ideas and to place it befofc ourselves as any common symbol, having no more sacredness in our eyes than the earth circles, the stone relics, the Mexican pyramids, but an object of study like them. We must acknowledge its prevalence through- out t'he continent, and shall probably be led to the conclusion that it was a symbol of nature worship, very much as the circle, the crescent, the square and other figures were. The cross as a sun symbol or weather symbol is the subject o( this paper. We are to show that it was so used. It was one of the symbols of sun worship. I. Our first point is, the cross was used by the aboriginal tribes as a sun symbol. These tribes were in the habit of using symbols to e.xpress astronomical facts ; they in fact had sym- bols which were so e.xtensive and were so similar that they could be understood by the different tribes. Their symbolic and sign language corresponded in this respect; both were 186 NA Tl VE A MERICA N S YMBOLISM. mediums of communication between the tribes, even when the language was a barrier. The symbolism differed, however, from the sign language, in that it had to do mainly with religious thoughts and with mythologic ideas; while the sign language dealt with the common affairs of life. There was a common mythology among all the tribes, at least a common astronomy and for this reason the symbols were easily understood. The study of the sign language has revealed this, and the familiarity with their mythology is bringing the fact out more and more. The means by which this symbolism has become known are varied. Certain books, such as the Walum Olum, contain cer- FiQ. 1. Piy- -• ^C- ^■ tain symbols ; the pictured records, such as the Dakota calendar, contain others ; the various pictograghs which have been preserved contain still other symbols; the rock inscriptions contain others. On these the cross is occasionally seen, though the circle and the crescent are more common. In these various records the circle was the symbol of the sun, the cross was the symbol of the winds, the square was the symbol of the four quarters of the sky, and the crescent the symbol of the moon. The following are a few of the symbolic figures common among the wild Indians. In the Walum Olum of the Delawares we find the extended land and sky symbolized by a square with diagonal lines, which resemble an ordinary envelope, with circles to signify the sun and moon and stars in the separate divisions. See Fig i The earth was symbolized by a dome or hemisphere; J_ 1 I Fig. h. J^^O- 5. ^''9- ^• sometimes the dome was surmounted by a crescent, to symbolize the moon as ruling over the earth. See Figs. 2 and 3. The points of the compass were symbolized by a cross with straight bars. Fig. 4. The winds with arrows placed at right angles to the ends of the bars, to signify the direction of the winds.* The Moquis have signs of the sun which consists of circles with rays shooting out from them, the circles having either faces or eyes and mouth on the inside. Fig. 5 and 6. Mr. C. K. Gilbert has given figures taken from rock etchings in Arizona, in which the face of the sun is placed at the intersection of the *See Brinton's "Tho Lenape and their Legends," p. 182. THE CROSS IX AMERICA. 187 bars ot the cross. These symboHzed the four quarters of the sky, with the sun in the zenith. Circles similarly placed at the intersection of the cross-bars, but without dots in the center, symbolized the stars. Mornir.g and sunrise were symbolized by the Moquis by a dome, with a face in the dome and lines or rays streaming out from the dome. In the Ojibwa pictograph, as reported by Schoolcraft, the sky was symbolized by a simple arc composed of two curved lines, but in the Moqui etchings it was symbolized by two curved lines or by a curved line with a turretted figure above the line. Rain was sym- bolized by lines drawn below the curves or arcs, to signify the drops as falling from the clouds. Lightnings were sig- nified by a crooked line ema- nating from the arcs or by a crooked line surmounted by a turretted figure.* Among the Zunis there are statuettes which probably were designed to represent the same facts. See Fig. 7. In these the im- age probably represented the sun divinity. On the head of the man was a turretted head- dress representing the nature powers, with arcs to represent the sky, turrets to represent the lightnings, and feathers above the turrets to represent the clouds, and projections at the side to represent the winds or the points of the compass. We do not discover in these the symbol of the cross, and yet the same nature powers were represented, but with different symbolic figures.! The turretted figures may, however, signify the houses of the sky and the habitations of the divinities of the sky. At least we have in these, imitations of the terraced houses of the Pueblos. II. Our next point is that the cross is a common object in pictographs and rock descriptions. There are many inscribed rocks which contain figures of the cross. In some of these the cross is associated with the circle and in some, though rarely, with animal and bird figures. Fi(j. 7—Zuni Head Dress, *See Mallery's Sign Language, Vol. I., Bureau of Ethnology, p. 371. tSee Second Annual Report, p. 395. Zunis and Wolpis. 188 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. We give here a few cuts to illustrate this point. Mr. WiUiam McAdams has described the figures which he discovered on the bluffs at Alton, 111., aud caves at St. Genevieve. Mo., and has kindly loaned us the cuts. The following is his description : " Some three or four miles above the city (of Alton), high up beneath the over-hanging cliff, which forms a sort of cave shelter, on the smooth face of a thick ledge of rock, is a series of paint- Ji'ig. S. — Rock Iiiscriptions in Illinois. ings, twelve in number." They are painted or stained in the rock with a reddish-brown pigment which seems to defy the tooth of time. It may be said, however, that their position is so sheltered that they remain almost perfectly dry. Their appear- ance denotes great age. They doubtless have been there for centuries. * * « Half the figures of the group are circles of various kinds, probably each having a different meaning." See Fig. 8. " On the left are two large birds apparently having a combat; to the right of the birds is a large circle enclosing a globe, and before this is the representation of the human form. o e ?^°}i f "^^ e® Fig. 9. — Rock lascriptions in Missouri. with bowed head and inclined body, as if in the act of offering to the great circle something triangular in shape, not unlike a basket with a handle. Among all the ancierat pictographs seen this is the only one where the human form is depicted as if in adoration to the sun. * * Counting from the left, the eighth figure seems to represent some carniverous animal with a lo«g tail. The next figure of the series is a large bird with extended wings, which seem to come from the base of the neck. This THE CROSS IX AMERICA. 189 curious winged creature seems to be having a combat with a circle with two horns, at some Httle distance there follows the representation of an owl, the whole ending with a small red circle. * * There is another very interesting group of picto- graphs to be seen in a small cavern on the banks of the Saline river, near where it empties into tne Missssiippi. The figures are eighteen in number, and are carved or cut in the smooth face of the limestone walls. See Fig. 9. There are two lines of the series, one on each wall of the cave. The relative position of the figures on the wall is shown in the cut. The size of the figures may be inferred from the representation of the human foot in the upper line: this measures 14 inches from the extrem- ity of the great toe to the heel." * * The following are Mr. McAdams observations : " These circular figures are not uncom- mon among the pictographs of the Mississippi and are of great interest, more especially those having the cross enclosed. The illustrations of the human footprints with those of birds and other creatures are found in many places. The representation of birds, however, as if in combat over a circle or planet is more rare, and we are not aware that it has been found except along the banks of the Mississippi, where it occurs a number of times, * * It will be remembered that somewhat similar figures are shown in the pictographs on the bluffs above Alton; the same figure is repeatedly shown on both sides of the cave (at this place). Along the Illinois river, some twenty-five or thirty miles from its mouth, is another cave situated in a limestone bluft, in which is another series of carvings. * * The figures are nineteen in number; three of them representations of the human foot; seven of them bird-tracks; nine of them circles with dots or rings in the center."* Mr. McAdams speaks of the mounds ; a number of them were on the bluff above the pictograph at Alton, many of them near the salt springs on the Saline river, and others near the carved rock on the Illinois river. He gives a cut of a cave in a lime- stone cliff at Grafton, 111., above which is a mound and a circle inscribed on the cliff between the mound and the mouth of the cave. Mr. McAdams has called attention to certain water vases now in possession of the St. Louis Academy ot Science, on which are painted various ornamental figures. These figures are com- posed of circles with spots, circles with crosses, circles with pointed rays, and are supposed to be sun symbols as well as ornaments^ and he makes the important remark that the fig- ure of the circle with serrated edge is not an uncommon one among the pictographs. This comparison between the pottery ornamentation and the rock inscription is an important one, and ♦See Records of Ancient Races, McAdams, pp. 22, 25 and 28. 190 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. we quote Mr. McAdams because of his opportunity in studying- the inscriptions. His extensive collection of Mound-builders' pottery enables him to speak somewhat authoritatively on the subject of ornamentation. Of the crosses found in the pottery he says : " The peculiar cross with the curved arms in the center, is a very common one on the pottery from Illinois, Mis- souri and Arkansas, and some of the most beautiful burial vases are decorated with it in some form." He says, " It is very in- teresting to learn that figures very much like these are among the oldest of symbolic forms known. We have taken scores of burial vases from the mounds of Illinois, almost exactly duplicating the most peculiar shapes of many from Egypt." He then gives a cut of a vase from a tomb at Thebes, in Egypt, The comparison is not a very close one and yet it is suggestive, for we find the circle and the spots on both vases. A better illustration is the one which is given by the same author, by which the analogy between the suastika of the East and the bent cross in these pottery ornamentations is brought out. Of this, however, we shall speak hereafter. From this point to the Gulf of Mexico, and from there to the Isthmus of Panama it was the prevailing cult. The fact, however, that in this same region there were monstrous animals depicted upon the rocks, and that these animals represented the mythological creatures which were worshipped by the so-called animal tribes, would indicate that it was the border line, and that sun worship and animal worship met at this point. III. The cross as a symbol among the mounds will next engage our attention. We have already spoken of the circle and the cross contained in the earthwork near Portsmouth, Ohio; these were evidently symbolic of sun worship. Squier and Davis have spoken of this . " It consists of four concentric circles placed at irregular intervals with respect to each other, and cut at right angles by four broad avenues which conform in bearing, very nearly to the cardinal points. A large mound is placed in the center ; it is truncated and terraced, and has a graded way leading to its summit." On the supposition that this work was in some way connected with religious rites, this mound must have furnished a most conspicuous place for their observance and celebration.* There is another structure which shows that the Mound-build- ers were familiar with the figure of the cross and that they embodied it in their earth-works. It has been described by Squier and Davis in their "Ancient Monuments". The work here figured is found near the little town of Tarlton, Pickaway county, Ohio, in the narrow valley of " Salt Creek," a tributary of the Scioto river, eighteen miles northeast from Chillicothe, on *6ee Ancient Monuments, p. 81. THE CROSS IN AMERICA. 191 the great road to Zanesville. See Fig. lo. In position it cor- responds generally with the remarkable work last described though wholly unlike it in torm. It occupies a narrow spur of land at a prominent point of the valley ; its form is that of a Greek cross, ninety feet between the ends, and elevated three feet above the adjacent surface. It is surrounded by a slight ditch, corresponding to the outhne of the elevation ; in the cen- ter is a circular depression, twenty feet across and twenty inches deep. The sides of the cross correspond very nearly with the cardinal points. Immediately back of it is a small circular ele- vation of stone and earth, resembling that in connection with the Granville efifigy and denominated an altar in the description of that work. Several small mounds occur near by; and upoa the high hill, a spur of which is occupied by the cross, are sev- eral large mounds."* Fig. lO—Ch-ossin Picknvay County, Ohio. IV. The relics which exhibit the symbols of sun worship will next engage our attention. There are many such in all parts of the country. We shall at present speak of those which are found only among the mounds. Mound-builders' relics may be divided, according to the material of which they are composed, into several classes. First, the inscribed shells ; second, the orna- mented pottery ; third, the carved stone specimens. We shall dwell mainly upon the shell gorgets or inscribed shells. (i) First among these are the shell gorgets which contain circles. Descriptions of these have been given by various authors, but all agree in making the figures upon them symbols of the sun. The figures represent a single dotted circle in the center, around which are placed three crescent-shaped figures arranged in the form of a wheel ; outside of these are several dotted circles arranged in a band, which surrounds the *See Ancient Monuments, page 98. 192 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. crescent wheel, the number of the circle^ varying from four to six. Outside of these is still another band, which is filled with dotted circles, varying in number from twelve to fifteen. Scat- tered over the whole field there are small dots which have been punctured into the shell. Here then we have a complicated sun symbol. A central sun, three moons, which are supposed to rule the year; next, the suns, which represent the seasons or the divisions of the year; next, the suns or circles, which repre- sent the months or divisions of the seasons; next, the stars or dots, which possibly represent days. We are reminded by these *iape, but aFe indeed the four winds which keep the four corners of the eartii." See Brinton's Myths of the New World, p. 181. THE CROSS IN AMERICA. 201 the form of a cross, which are attributed to the " old man in the sun who sends the winds ;" they mark his resting-places; the limbs of the cross representing his body and arms. Among the Delawares the rain-makers would draw upon the earth the figure of a cross, and cry aloud to the spirit of the rains. The Navajoes have an allegory that when the first man came up from the ground, the four spirits of the cardinal points were already there. The Quiche legends tell us that the four men were first created and that they measured the four corners and the four angles of the sky in the earth. There wives were the four mothers of our species. In the Yucatan mythology the four gods were supposed to stand at the four corners of the world supporting the four corners of the firmancnt, very much as in Norse mythology four dwarfs held up the skull of Odin to symbolize the sky. V. We now turn to consider the position which the cross held in the hieroglyphics of the civilized races. We have so far considered it as found among the uncivilized. The tokens among theseare very primitive; rock inscriptions, shell gorgets, earth-circles, carved images, and the symbolism seems to be as rude and primitive as the tokens themselves. Among the civilized races the symbolism is much more elaborate, but the ideas are the same. There are many crosses among the writings of these races; they are found not only in the manuscripts and books which have been preserved, but in the hieroglyphics and tablets which have been discovered. We shall first consider the manuscripts or codices. We are indebted to Dr. Cyrus Thomas and Dr. D. G. Brinton for our information on this.* The codices are largely symbolic. They contain a kind of picture writing very much as do the rock inscriptions, but are more systematic and are more easily interpreted. They have been studied as well as the alphabets in which they are written, though the study has not yet resulted in anything satisfactory. We shall not undertake to interpret these codices, but only to show their symbolic char- acter and to show that the symbols of the cross and the sun are contained in them. We give several figures or cuts which will illustrate the point. One thing has been secured — the names and symbols for the four cardinal points, and a few of the numerals. The names of the codices are as follows : First. The Codex Cortcsianus, which contains the Tableau des Bacab, or plate of the Bacabs, supposed to be a representa- tion of the gods of the four cardinal points. The Codex Pere- sianus which, contains a kind of tabular arrangement of certain days, with accompanying numbers. Next, the manuscript *See manuscript Troano. See Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. 202 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. Troano, which has about the same arrangement. Next, the Dresden Codex, which contains four columns of five days, cor- responding precisely with the Maya days. Next is the Borgian Codex, which is Mexican and not Maya, bnt which gives the calendar in the form of a square, each square surrounded by a serpent; the heads of the four serpents brought near together at the center, which is indicated by a figure of the sun. Next is the Fejervary Codex, which has plates similar to the Tableau des Bacab. From these codices we find that the cardinal points were symbolized, and that colors were given to them — yellow to the east, white to the west, black to the north, and red to the south. From them we also find that there were tour ages, four elements, four seasons, four cardinal points, and four epochs. The years were symbolized — one by the flint, another by the house, another by a rabbit, another by a reed ; and the elements Fi(j. 21. Fif). 2:. were also symbolized in the same way. The air by the rabbit, the fire by the flint, the water by the reed, the earth by the house but among the signs on all of these was the cross. The signs for the days are given in several of the manuscripts ; the Codex Troano and Landas Alphabet. See Plate II, at the right hand. It will be noticed that there crosses in all of the columns ; crosses with the sun symbol or circle in the center. The day Muluc has this symbol. This is significant, as the names of the days are derived from nitural phenomena. The hieroglyphs for the points of the compass contained in the manuscript Troano has also the cross with the circle in the center of them, especially the hieroglyphs for the east and the west. First. The order in which the groups and characters are to »See Brinton's Books of Chilan Balam, p. 16 and 17. Also a study of the Manuscript Troano, in Contributions to North American Archaeology, p. 144. THE CROSS Jy AMERICA. 203 be taken is around to the left, opposite the course of the sun. Second. The cross, as has been generally supposed, was used amoncj these nations as a symbol of the cardinal points. Third. It tends to confirm the belief that the birds were used to denote the winds. This fact also enables us to give a ^ Fig. 2h. signification to the birds' heads on the en- graved shells found in the mounds. "^ * Take for example the birds' heads shown in Fig. 12. Here is in each case the four-looped circle corresponding vviih Fig.2s. the four loops of the Cartesian and Fejervary plates, also with the looped serpent of the Mexican calendar stone, and the four serpents of Plate 48 of the Borgian Codex. The four bird heads on each shell are pointed toward the left, just as on Plate 44 of the Fejervary Codex B., and doubtless have the same signification in the former as in the latter — \.\\q. four zuinds or winds of the four cardinal points. If this supposition be correct, of which there is scarcelv room for a doubt, it not only confirms Mr. Holmes' suggestions, but also indi- cates that the Mound-builders fol- lowed the same customs as the Nahua nations and render it quite probable that there was more or less inter- course between the two peoples. We give a few cuts to show symbolism which prevailed in manuscripts. One of these is Mexican symbol for the day (Fig. 23), and another is the Mexican symbol for the year (Fig. 24); another is the symbol lor the house (Figs. 21 and 22); another is the symbol for the temple or shrine (Fig. 25). It will ^ be noticed that the house has a wall composed of blocks, each block marked with a circle, but at the top of the wall is a cross. In the figure for the shrine there appears to be a seat or a throne. On the back of the throne are two crosses and above it another cross. There is another figure of the house contained in the Dresden were from the manuscript Troano. VI. We turn now to the carved stone figures and idols to show that the cross is used as a sun symbol. There are man}' speci- mens of this kind; they are mainly found in Mexico and in the ancient cities of Yucatan. These figures were evidently sym- bolic and were parts of the symbolism of the sun. They are FiiJ. ,'.7. codex. The former 204 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. sometimes ornamented with human faces, the faces being characterized by a protruding tongue, but more frequently with the heads and tails of serpents; in some of these the carving is very elaborate and the ornamentation very complicated. We give a few specimens of these carved idols and altars. I. First is the cross of Teotihuacan. See Fig. 26. It will be noticed that this is an altar in the shape of a cross, the arnis of the cross forming a support for the altar, but the base of it is ornamented with peculiar figures, which may possibly be in- tended to represent the tails of serpents. This altar is supposed by Monsieur Hamy to be sacred to the god Tlaloc, the Mexican Fig. 26—Cron.f of Teotihuacan. god of rain. Very little can be said of it except to draw atten- tion to the form. Dr. Hamy has described another which is called the "cross of the serpents" It has the same general shape, but the arms are engraved to represent serpents' heads. These altars were found near the pyramids of Teotihuacan, a fact that shows they were associated with the sun worship, as the pvramids were all devoted to that purpose.* 3. The second specimen is one which r esembles this, but which *See LaCroix De Tiotihiiacan au Musee Du Trocadero, p.. 19. THE CROSS IN AMERICA. 205 IS much more elaborate. It is the idol pillar which was discovered in the Plaza Mayor in Mexico in 1790. "It is an immense block of bluish-gray porphry about 10 feet hi^h and 6 wide and thick, sculptured on front, rear, top and bottom, into a complicated and horrible combination of human, animal and ideal forms." Gama first expressed the opinion that the front represents the Aztec goddess of death, whose duty it was to bear the souls of the dead warriors to the house of the sun. The figure on the rear of the idol represents, according to Gama, Huitzilopochtli, god of war, and husband of the goddess whose emblems are carved on the front. The bottom of the monument bears the sculptured design which is thought to represent the god of the infernal regions, Mictlantecutli, the last of this cheerful trinity — goddess of death, god of war and god of hell, three distinct deities united in one idol."* This idol is in the shape of a cross, a fact which shows that either the cross as known in Christian lands as an emblem of peace has been perverted and made to represent just the opposite qualities, or it is a symbol which grew up under the cruel system of the Aztecs, and was changed from the common weather indicator to be a sign of the nature gods, who became more and more cruel as they became personal. The cruelties which w^ere practiced in con- nection with that system have been described. They were elaborate and studied, but were as severe as these emblems would indicate them to be. The adornments of royalty are surmounted by the fangs and claws of the serpent; the hands, which should indicate mercy, are placed below the cruel fangs of the serpent; in the midst of the cross, which is an emblem of life, is the grinning skull, the emblem of death. The whole idol, which reminds one of the divinities of the air, is covered with emblems of the creatures of the dust; darkness and death are symbolized rather than vital life. Plate III. 3. Another specimen of the cross is the one described by Mr. H. H. Bancroft. See Fig. 27. It was one of two statues exactly alike which were found on the southern slope of the pyramid of Palenque, which contained the temple of the cross on its summit. They are ten and a half feet high, of which two and a half feet not shown in the cut formed the tenon with which they were embedded in the w-all. The figures stand on a hieroglyph which perhaps the name of the individual or god represented. These statues are remarkable as being the only ones found in connection with the Palenque ruins and even these are not statues in the "round", since the back is of rough stone, and was likely embedded in the wall. The resemblance of this figure to some Egyptian statues is remarked by all. This statue is evidently in the shape of a cross, though the arms of the cross are near the summit and are formed by pro- jections of the head-dress. The emblems on the statue are ♦Bancroft's Native Races, Vol. IV, p. 544. 200 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. peculiar. An object resembling the Nile key is held in one of the hands, a medallion which may be taken as a sun symbol is held in the other hand; below this are objects which may per- haps be phallic symbols. 4. Perhaps the best known spe- cimen of the cross is the one which is contained on the Pa- lenqe tablet (see plate IV,) in the temple at Palenque, the same temple referred to above, the statue having been found on the sides of the pyramid and the tablet in the shrine on the summit. The following is the description : "Fixed in the wall at the back of the en- closure and covering nearly its whole surface was the tablet of the cross, six feet four inches high, and ten feet eight inches wide, and formed of three stones. The central stone and part of the western, bear the sculptured figure shown in the cut ; the rest of the western and the whole of the eastern were hieroglyph- ics. The subject doubtless pos- sessed religious signification, and the temple or adoritorio may be considered as a sacred shrine or the most Holy Place of the ancient Maya priesthood. Two men, probably priests, clad in the insignia of their office, are making an offering to the cross or to a bird placed on its summit." Of the two priests Stephens says: "They are well drawn, and in symmetry of proportion are perhaps equal to many that are carved on the walls of the ruined temples of Egypt. Their costume is in a stjle different to any heretofore given, and the folds would indicate that they were of a soft or pliable texture like cotton." Stephens and other writers discovered in the object oflered a possible likeness to a new-born child. The symbols on this tablet are worthy of study. It will be noticed that the cross itself is formed by a Fiff. 27— Idol Pillar. THE CROSS IN AMERICA. 2(»7 Standard in the center of which is a feather headed arrow, point upward; the arms are formed by the common weapon of war, the maxtli, with its crooked head pointing upwards. ¥\^. 28. The cross is supported by an animal head which probably represented some nature power. The bird reminds one of the thunder- bird of the northwest coast, and yet here we are in doubt about its significance. There is suspended from its tail a medallion which may be regarded as a sun symbol. The head is a circle with a dot in the head, which would ordinarily be called a sun symbol. The emblems on this cross are mainly the emblems of war. In that respect it differs from the one which we have already described in which the emblems are more those of agriculture, taken from the vegetable world. The significance of the emblems in this case, would be that the altar was devoted to the war god. On the exterior wall of this temple were two stone tablets sculp- tured in low relief, representing figures or persons elaboi'ately draped and dec- orated; one of them wears a leopard skin as a cloak. That the cross in this case was intended as a symbol of the nature powers is evident from the fol- lowing fact: "On an adjoining pyramid was a temple which contained a tablet, in a similar situation to that of the Tem- ple of the Cross; but the symbols on the tablet were symbols of the sun. This gave rise to the name, 'the Temple of the Sun'." We regard this, then, as another speci- men. The symbols in the Temple of the Sun are suggestive of sun worship. The form of the tablet is similar to that of the one in the Temple of the Cross; hieroglyphics and priestly figures are seen on either side of the central sym- bol. The symbol itself is in the shape ^i^.^s.-c-oss of the Tablet. of a face with an open mouth, and bulging eye; around the face are circles and knots, and symbols of various kinds; outside of these are figures which resemble bow-knots. This mask is suspended on two staves which cross one another terming a letter X. The head of the staves being decorated with various symbols; below the staves is a heavy beam which also bears a grotesque face at its center, with eyes and lips resembling those in the masks above. This beam is supported by two bent figures, each of them in the same attitude, having eyes and faces, and heads and dresses, resembling one another. These figures may be intended to represent the God Tlaloc, the god of rain, as they have the eye which is characteristic of 208 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. that divinity. The mask above was evidently intended to represent the sun, as it has the face which is everywhere recog- nized as a symbol of the sun. The proximity of the two pyramids and the two temples, the Temple of the Cross, and the Temple ot the Sun, would indicate that they were both devoted to the same nature powers, the one to the sun as a peaceful divinity and the other to the nature power as a war- like divinity 6. The most interestinj^ specimen of the cross is the one which is described by Charnay as found by him on a tablet at Lorillard. This tablet con- tains two figures, both of them clothed in royal apparel, which is covered with sym- bols. The larger person has a cross in either hand, resembling the one given in Fig. 29. The smaller one has also the same kind of cross in his kind. Charnay says of this tablet: "It occupies the central door of the temple, and is 3 feet 9 inches long, by 2 feet 9 inches wide. Two fig- ures vvith retreating foreheads form the main subject, having the usual high head- dress of feathers, cape, collar, medallion, and maxtli, like the idol; while their boots are fastened on the instep with leather strings, as similar figures at Palenque. They are of different size, and represent probably a man and a woman performing a religious ceremony; the latter holds in each hand a Latin cross, while the other carries but one in the right hand. Rosettes form the branches of the crosses, a symbolic bird crowns the upper portion, whilst twenty-three katunes are scattered about the bas-relief. We think this a symbolic representation of Tlaloc, whose chief was a cross, which here consists of palms or more probably maize-leaves, intermingled with human fig- ures, recalling to the memory of his devotees the god who presided over harvests.* Fig. 29. *See Ancient Cities of the New World by Desire Charnay, pp. 448 and 449. SUN WORSHIPPERS AND ATOTARHO, CULTURE HERO OF THE IROQUOIS. t-l z a 10 z < z ■< tr. CO O PHALLIC WORSHIP AND FIRE WORSHIP. 209 CHAPTER IX. PHALLIC WORSHIP AND FIRE WORSHIP IN AMERICA. The study of symbolism in America always brings up a great many enquiries, but none more interesting than one which has relation to a contact with Europe in prehistoric times. This is, to be sure, a point which is constantly arising in connection with all departments of archaeology, but in this connection it is especially suggestive. We therefore propose to speak of the phallic .symbol as it is found in this country, especially among the Mound builders, and to see if this does not prove a pre- Columbian contact with other countries. We shall not, how- ever, confine ourselves to this one symbol, but shall take it in its combination with other symbols, such as the symbol of fire, of the sun, of the serpent, and other nature powers. ^ The description of the dolmens and menhirs of Western Europe, which was given a year or two ago by Mr. Thomas Wil- son, and now againby Prof. A. S. Pakacrd, has brought up the subject afresh. The .same is also the result of reading about the remarkable find on the Illinois River. The question is how came the custom of making offerings to fire and water, and other customs m America? Shall we say that the Druids were here during pre-Columbian times, or shall we go farther back and ascribe them to an Asiatic source ? I. We begin with the cup stones or perforated symbols. It forms one of the standing problems for American archcTeologists hovy to account for these. These cavities have been studied by various parties and have been found in many and widely sep- arated countries. It is because of this extensive distribution that they have been regarded as important. The argument is that the prevalence of them in America proves European con- tact in prehistoric times. The argument is a good one, provided we assign to the cavities a sacred character, and recognize them as the symbols of a widespread faith. This is, however, the point. We imagine that if they were not so widely distributed the thought of their symbol character would never have arisen. The shape of the holes suggests a very simple cause, nothing more nor less than the nut-cracking, which was a natural thing for the natives of this country. The discovery of so many boulders and slabs, filled with these cavities, in Southern Ohio, which is a forest region abounding with all kinds of nuts, natur- ally suggests that this was the source of the cavities. Perhaps we should say that the question is a faux pas. It suggests a mystery when no mystery exists. Still, as various authors have 210 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. written upon the subject and European archaeologists, as well as American, have regarded them as symbolic, we take up the subject in all candor. It is noticeable that the matter-of-fact and careful Dr. Charles Rau thought it worth his while to write a book about them, and to recount all the places where such holes have ever been seen. From this book we learn that they are scattered over the continent of America, being very common in the Mound-builders' territory. A few specimens are found in the region of the Pueblos and on the rocks of California, and one specimen has been discovered near Orizaba, Mexico. They are also numerous in France, Brittany, Ireland, Switzerland, Saxony, Sweden, Scandinavia, though in these latter countries they are attended with rings and loops and various grooves and channels, as if a special U3e had been made of them and strange superstitions had been associated with them, making them sacred symbols. We learn, too, that the same works are numerous in India, and that in that country, where everything seems to have a symbolic character, they are regarded with peculiar veneration, and that even phallic worship has been associated with them and the symbol of the Mahedeo is always recognized in them. Now the point which we make is this, if we must associate so great a significance with so simple an object as a cavity, which seems to have been used for nut-cracking, then we shall conclude that the evidences of contact with older countries during prehis- toric times are very common. vVe can imagine the practice to have prevailed among a rude people of making avery common thing to seem uncommon. The very tools and weapons and ornaments which they had might become the embodiment of strange superstitions, and even feathers and sticks might be ex- pressive. Perhaps there was the addition of a myth or of a transmitted custom, and this would account for the unusual shapes and combinations by which these cavities are sometimes characterized. Still there are figures on the Bald PViar's Rock, in Pennsylvania which resemble serpents, the eyes being cup cavities or perforations, the heads only being visible. In these heads we recognize the jew's-harp pattern, and so we have in America, as in India, not only serpent worship but possibly the phallic symbol, with all of its conventionalities. We are not disposed to minimize the significance of these symbols, and yet we should make a distinction between a practical and a symbolic use. We find that the symbols are quite widely distributed in America, as widely as they arc in Europe, and are sometimes found connected with the cremation of the bodies of the dead, as they are in foreign lands, and are also associated with altar mounds. It is also noticeable that animal figures, human faces and forms, and sun symbols, as well as serpent heads, are associated with the perforated cavities. Dr. Charles Rau has referred to the bird symbol found in the San Pete Valley of PHALLIC WORSHIP AND FIRE WORSHIP. 211 Utah and the peculiar figures found among the rock paintings in Lake County, Oregon, and to the human and animal figures on the sculptured boulders in Arizona. These may all have been symbolic, and it is possible that a common symbolism has spread over this entire continent, either from the east or west, and that the connection may be traced even as far away as India. Still we think that a distinction should be drawn, and that the Ameri- can symbols should be left to themselves until it can be proved that they were transmitted from other lands. The positions of these cup marks are. to be sure, sometimes significant, and the association with various pictures is sugges- tive. For instance, there is a picture of a Scandinavian boat which reminds us of the Norse sea-kings, and a picture of battle axes and a pyramidal sfe/c in the Kivik monument in Scania, Sweden. So there are many cup cavities in the roofs of dolmens in France, and Prof A. S. Packard has declared that these must be symbolic. So there are peculiar figures resembling Runic letters on the Bald Friar's Rock in this country. There are re- markable coincidences also in the shapes of the rings surround- ing the cavities which are foimd in Denmark and Sweden and in this countr\-. Some would make them symbols of the sun, and would prove a contact with European nations or else a remarka- ble parallel development. Some would also consider the Dighton Rock as still more conclusive, but this rock Dr. Rau is especially skeptical about, taking the position that it was only fabricated by ordinary Indians. It seems to make a complication with our system if there are resemblances to Old World forms in America. Which shall we do? Shall we take the simple facts and be satisfied with these, or shall we recognize evidence of foreign contact in them ? We have seen these perforations on various stones, but have not recognized anything symbolic in either the shapes or locations or relative positions of the holes. At onetime we dis- covered a small stone slab, burned and smoked, near the altar of the celebrated alligator effigy in Ohio, the proximity suggesting that it was once on the altar. This was perforated with a cup cavity, and may have been designed as a symbol. Still other stones, v/ith similar cup-shaped cavities, are found in many places. We saw one on the banks of the Ohio at the steamboat landing at Maysville, Ky., a place which was not suggestive of anything sacred. We also at one time examined the great boulder which was taken from the bank of the Ohio near Iron- ton, and given by Dr. H. H. Hill to the Natural History Society of Cincinnati, and were told that there were one hundred and sixteen of these perforations on this single boulder. Similar stones have been found in Summit County, O., at Portsmouth and Graveport,0.,and at various places in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, and the impression is that they were used for nut-cracking. The boulder at Cincinnati has certain grooves on its surface 212 NATl T E AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. four or five inches long, which have the appearance of being worn by continuous rubbing. But about these we enquire, in what respect do they differ from the marks made by arrow sharp- ening, which are so common throughout the country. Beau- champ has described such works as being common in New York and Gen. Thruston in his new book has spoken of others in Tennessee, and has given a cut representing the same, but they seem very simple things, and we do not see that any symbolism can possibly be made out of them. Col. Charles Whittlesy thought that the perforations were made bv spindles, and that they were evidences of the domestic art of spinning and weaving. Others have taken the ground that some of them were used for paint cups, especially as pestle and mortars have been found in New Mexico with the cup mark in the pestle. The explanation is that the paint, which had been ground, was placed in the cavity while the process of grinding other paint went on. How could symbolic significance come to such simple objects? We suggest the following: It is possible that the women, who so frequently have left the marks of their handiwork, may have used the cavities as signs, giving them the hidden significance which would be expressive oi certain sexual desires. We are aware that the bird amulets and other objects of personal decoration were symbols of maternity with the aborigines. The spool ornament was also made symbolic of some more spiritual desire, and the axe, especially when made of jade, was .symbolic of the immortality of the soul, superstition requiring that bits of jade should be placed in the mouth of the dead. It is a practice with women in India to take water out of the Ganges and pour over the cavities and the channels surrounding them, as thev believe maternity will be the result. Another explanation is that they were sockets where they placed the end of the fire generator, and so came to consider the cavities as sacred to fire and having a peculiar significance. If they are, then we should say that they form only another link in the chain connecting this country with the far east, proving not only that serpent worship, but phallic worship and fire worship and sun worship were all connected and prevailed on this continent in prehistoric times. II. This point has been impressed upon us by recent discoveries. We now refer to the discovery which we made in connection with the great serpent effigy near Quincy, Illinois. This serpent is a massive efifigy, which conforms to the bluff throughout its entire length. Its folds are brought out very forcibly by four conical burial mounds located near the center of the ridge, mid- way between the head and tail of the serpent. The mounds contained many bodies, none of them remarkable except the one which was cremated at the base of the mound. This was a large body. It was lying on its back, and was partially burned. The bones, however, were preserved, and what was the most singular PHALLIC WORSHIP AND FIRE WORSHIP. 213 about the case, on the very center of the body, near the secret parts, a skeleton of a serpent was found coiled up, as if there was an intention to make it significant. The hands were folded over the body just below this skeleton. The body had its feet to the east, and its face was turned upward, as if to look toward the sun. Thus we have in this cremation scene both the phallic symbolic and the serpent effigy, and we have at the same time some evidence of sun worship. But there was another feature still more remarkable. It was noticed that there were several bodies lying parallel with the central one, and that these bodies had been burned. The fire-bed was about twelve feet across, and contained the remains of at least four bodies, all of them par- tialh' burned, all of them cremated and apparently with the faces looking upward. There were also skeletons of snakes found with the bodies, though the position of the snakes was not closely observed. Now the point that we make is, if there was phallic worship at all, it was also attended with the eastern custom of suttee burning. We learn from the early explorers that at the south the fashion was to kill the slaves and wife of a chief when he died and to burn the bodies with the body of the chief. If this was the case among the southern tribes, it may also have been the fashion with this northern tribe. These, we think, are important facts While everything in this Quincy find was very rude — no relics, no paved altar, no elaborate contrivance further than the effigy itself — still the cremation was remarka- ble. W^e acknowledge that there are many things in connection with all the Mound-builders' burials which are of purely native origin. Yet if the phallic symbol is to be seen in one case it is also in many, and, what is more, it is also almost always con- nected with the serpent symbol. It is strange that here in America native superstition seized upon the most familiar objects, such as arrow-heads, spear-heads, leaf-shaped implements, pieces of mica, or even pebbles and round stones, and made of these altars which should be symbolic of sun worship; but it is stranger still that native superstition should at times give evidence of contact with the more advanced fashions and customs of countries which have long been historic and that the two systems of symbols should be so near to one another. The find at Virginia City, in Illinois, reminds us of similar deposits in Ohio. It was a simple altar or artificial heap formed out ot leaf-shaped relics, the specimens all having come probably from Flint Ridge, but here were used as the resting place of the dead. There was, however, a mica cresent on the breast and copper spools near the head and stone weapons near the hands. Everything about the find showed a very rude state of art, and yet showed a strange rmd conventional symbolism. The same is true also of the various altar and burial mounds of Ohio. Here in one place were altars composed of similar flint 214 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. relics, chipped into leaf-shape, and deposited in two layers, one above the other, the entire heap having been used as a platform on which immense numbers of relics had been placed, but no other relics. In another place, at Mound City, mica plates are laid like scales, one against the other, the whole deposit having made a remarkable crescent, which might be supposed to have glistened with the silvery radiance of the moon. This crescent was situated at the bottom of the largest mound in the group found at Mound City, and was itself placed above a layer of clay, four layers above it composed of sand, the whole being very hard and compact. The mound itself was \y feet high and 90 feet in diameter, and overtopped all the rest. The symbolism consisted in the crescent, which was 19 down and 19 feet across from horn to horn, the greatest width being about 5 feet. Still the two altars — the one formed of leaf-shaped implements and the other containing the crescent — were very large, and it is supposed that both deposits were equally sacred among this mysterious people. In the Ohio mounds were other altars, on which many valuable relics had been placed. At the fort on the north fork of Paint Creek, where the leaf-shaped flints were placed, a large number of pipes had been offered, and among the pipes were some in the shape of serpents, the very symbol of the Mahedeo being suggested by one of them. This coiled snake may indeed have been a mere mythologic object, embodying one of the myths which have survived to modern times. Still the presence of the serpent effigy with the other features would indicate that phallic worship had been observed. The clay was at the bottom of these altars, and sand layers above just as clay was beneath the flint deposit in Illinois. So there was afire-bed of black soil beneath the cremated bodies and white soil above, the evidence of a studied design given in both cases. There are, to be sure, no two altars alike and no conventional or stere- otyped mode of burial in the mounds, yet with the variety the uniformity is apparent, the uniformity being always confined to the symbol, but the diversity coming out in the mode of burial and the articles deposited. This is also one of the strange fea- tures of the Mound-builders' religion. They seem to have been saturated with superstition. It was almost childish in its sim- plicity, for it seized upon the most trifling things to express itself; it was also held under the control of a fi.xed and formal symbolism, which constantly reminds one of foreign customs. Stately ceremonies resembling those of Druidic worship were associated with the trifling details of a savage people. The in- ference is that human sacrifices were made, and that burials of an extraordinary character were practiced in certain cases, but in other cases the commonest things seem to have been laid away as if with all the care of the most sacred treasure. We are puzzled by these deposits, and yet we recognize a strange PHALLIC WORSHIP AXD FIRE WORSHIP. 215 symbolism in them all. The great serpent in Ohio is only such an effigy as perhaps any superstitious savage might possibly de- vise; nothing conventional or foreign about its shape, but when we come to the oval and the altar in the oval, we are at once reminded of the phallic symbol and the offering to the fire divin- ity of the east. So, too, the serpent effigy in Illinois seems like a very rude semblance of a massive snake. Its shape conforms to the bluff in every part. It seems only an effigy, but when we compare its double bend to the curve of the Hindu fire generator and to count the number four in the mounds on its summit, and see the contents as they are, it seems as if the same latent sym- bolism was strangely present, and so it is everywhere. Superstition degenerated or advanced, one of the two. Symbolism, too, was either gradually lost, being merged into the totem system of the hunter races, or it grew up under the same races and became a complicated system, very like the sun symbols of other countries. The resemblance may have been accidental, but the impression is growing that the symbolism was not a native growth, but was introduced from some other land. III. It is to be remembered that cremation was in Europe dis- tinctive of the bronze age, and was comparatively unknown in the neolithic age. We are also to remember that the phallic symbol was very common during that age, so common that many think it was introduced into the north of Europe by the Phoenicians, who took long voyages for the sake of finding tin. The Druids also are supposed to have cremated bodies, and to them have been ascribed the horse-shoe symbols which are still recognized in those celebrated temples formed from standing stones. With the Druids, fire worship, sun worship, serpent worship and phal- lic worship formed a complicated system, which stamped itself upon the megalithic monuments of the land. The discovery of these various forms of superstition in the American continent suggests to us the possibility of a transmission of the same com- plicated cultus to the western coasts of the great sea. This is an important fact. Was it owing to the extension of the Phce nician voyages or to the zeal of Druidic priests that these things were introduced? The contact seemed to ha\'e produced a mar- vellous effect. It was not a decline from the bronze age which we see in these familiar symbols, but the effect of contact with European voyagers in pre-Columbian times, pre-Columbian dis- covery in fact. The conclusion is startling, but this is the only way that we can account for the marvellous resemblances. Cer- tainly no ordinary nature worship could produce a cultus which would combine all the elements of the eastern faiths — Druidic, Phoenician, Hittite, all in one, nor could the law of growth ac- count for the details as they are seen. Parallel development might indeed result in the prevalence of animal worship among the hunter races, of sun worship among the agricultural races. 216 NA Tl VE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. possibly of serpent worship; but when all of these are combined and made expressive of a strange esoteric system, with the mys- tic significance of the sun symbol as the source of life, we are led to say that something else must be brought in to account for the phenomena. Phallic worship is not a simple cult which might be introduced anywhere, nor is it to be expected that the worship of fire, or of the sun, or the serpent, would all come from natural causes. There might be a decline from a previous ad- vanced condition. The bronze age might sink back into the stone age. The absence of tin might result in the substitution of cop- per for the bronze, and the change go on until savage hunters are seen carrying about with them .strange reminders of their pre- vious condition; but we cannot see how the process of growth could bring together on the American tree the varied fruit of the eastern climes or place its many symbols in these western lands. The custom of keeping alive the sacred fire was common among the southern tribes. With them the sun was the great divinity. Idolatry, of a primitive kind, also prevailed among them. They built pyramids of earth, and placed their idols in niches on the sides of those pyramids, with their faces towards the four points of the sky. They kept their dead in sacred charnel houses, and placed images near by to watch the remains or to receive the spirits as they returned, reminding us of Egyptian customs. The Mound-builder's cult was as strange as this. Here we see the pipes offered to the sun, but the pipes are covered with animal figures, suggestive of animal worship or totemism. Here also we see the serpent effigy, everything about it expressive of a still higher cult, namely, the worship of fire or the sun. Here we see the sun circle and the crescent, showing that sun worship was very prevalent. Here we see the phallic symbol, a marvel- lous cult, holding its sway over a united people. Southern Ohio being its chief seat of power. Everything of value which was ever offered to the sun was subject to the action of the sacred flame. Here we see the horse-shoe symbol in the mounds and the phallic symbol in the serpent pipes. And with all this com- plicated symbolism we learn that the bodies were cremated exactly as they were on Druidic altars, though the flames are smoothered beneath the layers of the sacred soil. Surely it is mysterious. Could the Mound-builders have invented all this, and established their system over so great a territory, brought so many strange conceptions into their worship, unless they had received from some source a cult which was not indigenous to the continent. It is said by some that they were nothing more and nothing less than the ancestors of the present race of Indians, but by others that they were gifted with great intelli- gence; but whichever way we look at them, it does seem that they could not have had such a marvellous symbolism unless there had been among them some one horn another continent. TME SUASTtKA AND FIRE WORSHIP IN AMERICA. 217 IV, There was in all parts of the American Continent, as well as in the lands of the East, a union of fire and phallic worship. How the two came to be associated together is a mystery, but it was perhaps owing to the superstition in refer- ence to the occult princip e of life, which is hidden in fire and in the phallus. In the East the Hindu belief was that the fire generator was propelled by the snake, which constituted the rope, and the two classes of divinities pulled the rope. The result was that the fluid of life was churned out of the sea and made great convulsions. We have in the preceding pages spoken of phoUic symbols which are common on this continent, and of their resemblance to those found in the far East. Among these are the cups or circular depressions which are so often seen on the rocks, a specimen of which may be seen in the cut. These cup-stones are generally supposed to have been used as fire generators, though some have regarded them merely as depressions caused by nut cracking. The fact, however, that similar cup- stones are found scattered over Europe and Asia, and are used by persons in India in connection with religious ceremonies, has led many to believe that they are fire symbols. There was another symbol which was as wide-spread as this. It is in reality the hooked cross, or the suastika, called by some the "Gammadion " from its resemblance to the Greek letter (jama. The " hooked cross " is, however, the most expressive name, for it suggests the shape of the symbol, and yet does not explain its use. Mr. Schliemann discovered many such sym- bols in Troy, and in his work on "Troja" he refers to the opinions of Mr. E. Burnouf and Mr. R. P. Gregg. The first of these held to the theory that it represented the two pieces of wood, which were laid crosswise upon one another before the sacrificial altars, in order to produce the sacred fire; the ends of which were bent around at right angles and fastened by means of four nails, so that the framework might not be moved. Mr. Gregg held to the opinion that the symbol came to mean the god of the sky. Mr. A. H. Sayce thinks that the Trojan suastika was derived from the Hittites, but that it originated in the far East. Mr. Thomas Wilson, now deceased, wrote extensively upon the subject, and says the suastika is one of the symbolic marks of the Chinese, and quotes the opinion of many other writers. Count de Alviella says the suastika is in use among the Buddhists of Thibet. Mr. W. Crook says the mystical emblem of the suastika appears to represent the sun in his journey through the heavens, and is common among the Hindus. It is no less known to the Brahmans than to the Buddhists. The Jains make the sign of the suastika as frequently as the Catholics make the sign of the cross. The suastika is found on the pottery of the Bronze Age in Asia Minor. It is also found among the Lake Dwellings of the Bronze Age of 218 NA TiVE AMERICAN SYMBOUSM. Switzerland; on the spear-heads of Germany; on the ancient coins of Gaza, Palestine; on the ancient Hindu coins; and on the gold ornaments of Denmark. The distribution of this symbol throughout the continent of America, is a subject which Mr. Thomas Wilson treats exten- sively. He shows that it is found upon the shell gorgets of Tennessee; on the copper plates of Ohio; and on the bead belts of the Iroquois and Sac Indians. A modified form is found in the sand-paintings of the Navajos. Mr. Wilson refers to the discovery of an engraved shell in the Toco Mound of Tennes- see, on which was an image resembling the statue of Buddha, and thinks the symbol was introduced by Buddhists. Mr. VV. H. Moorehead found many specimens of copper ornaments in the Hopewell Mounds. Among them were stencil ornaments CUP STONE AT CINCINNATI, OHIO.* of thin copper, cut in the shape of the clover leaf and the fish, giving the idea that they were introduced by the missionaries from Europe, and became mingled with those common among the aborigines; five suastil^a crosses; along mass of copper covered with wood; eighteen single copper rings-; a number of double copper rings; ten circular copper rings, with holes in the center; an ornament in the shape of a St. Andrews cross; cop- per plates; copper hatchets; pearl beads; a copper eagle; spool-shaped objects; one stool of copper; a human skull with horns; a copper plate, placed on the breast of the skeleton; and an altar. This find is important, and does not decide the question as to the transmission of the suastika before the time of the Discovery. It would seem, however, that on general •The cut represents a rock found in Southern Ohio, which \% now in the Museum in Cincin. nati, Ohio. THE SUA STIKA AND FIRE WORSHIP IN A M ERIC A . 219 principles it is easier to borrow such symbols than to invent them. It should be said here, that the fire symbol, the phallic sym- bol, the horseshoe, the looped square, the serpent, and the cross were closely associated in American symbolism. The serpent was divided into four parts, the number four reminding us of the four parts of the heavens. It is supposed that the serpent symbolized the water and cloud, and sometimes the lightning. The phallic symbol signified the life principle. The significance of the hooked cross in America is difficult to decide upon, for it is found in a great variety of materials; sometimes on the shell gorgets, sometimes on copper plates, sometimes cut into the rocks, and moulded into pieces of pot- FIRE DANCERS. tery. Such is the case among the mounds. It is here asso- ciated with the circle, the square, the common cross, the coiled serpent, and many other symbols. In fact there is scarcely any ordinary symbol which is not found in some form, in some ma- terial among the mounds. This shows that there was an ex- tensive system of symbolism which had either been introduced among the Mound-Builders, or had been invented by them. The description of these symbols is given in the book on the Mound-Builders.* In connection with the subject of the hooked cross as a fire symbol, it may be well to consider the varioiis ceremonies which were connected with the fire among the aborigines. Dr. Washington Matthews has described a ceremony which prevailed among the Navajos. The ceremony took place after •See " The Mound-Buildeis; Their Works and Relics," pp. 51-54, 301-304. 220 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. nightfall, in the midst of an open circle. It appears that those who took part in it, had on only their breech-cloth and their moccasins, and were daubed with white earth until they seemed a group of living marbles. As they advanced in single file and moved around the fire, they threw their bodies into divers attitudes: now they faced the east; now the south, west, and north — bearing aloft their slender wands, tipped with eagle down. Their course around the fire was to the left, by way of the south. When they had circled the fire twice they began to thrust their wands towards it and throw themselves back, with the head to the fire, as though to thrust the wand into the flames. When they succeeded in lighting it, they would rush out of the corral. There were other ceremonies among the Navajos, in which they raced with firebrands in their hands, the brands throwing out long brilliant flames over the hands and arms of the dancers; they strike one another with the flaming wand, and sometimes catch ^ne another and bathe them in flame. The significance of this ceremony is unknown, but seems to be very impressive. The most interesting ceremony of the Navajos was con- nected with the suastika, or hooked cross, which was used, not so much as a symbol of fire, as a symbol of life. The cross was a part of the sand-paintings and represented the common cross, but in different colors. On the ends of the cross, the divine forms stood, making the arms of the cross lie with their ends extended one to each of the four cardinal points. On the cross are figures which wear around their loins skirts of red sunlight adorned with sunbeams. They have ear pen.^ants, bracelets, armlets of blue and red turquoise and coral, the em- blematic jewels of the Navajos; the four arms and legs are black, showing in each a zigzag mass representing lightnu-^ on the surface of the black rain cloud. Each bears attached by a string to his right arm, a basket and a rattle, painted to sym- bolize the rain cloud and the lightning. Beside each one is a highly conventionalized picture of a plant, which has the same color as the god. The body of the eastern god is white, so is the stalk of the corn on the left; the body of the southern god is blue, so is the beanstalk beside him; the body of the western god is yellow, so is the pumpkin vine beside him; the body of the north god is black, so is the tobacco plant by his side. Each of the four sacred plants is represented as growing from five white roots in the central waters and spreading outwards. The gods form one cross, which is directed to the four cardinal points; the plants form another cross, but all have a comrnon center. On the head of each god is an eagle plume, all point- ing in one direction. The gods are represented with beautiful embroidered pouches, symbolizing the rainbow, or rainbow deity; one end of which is the body below the waist, having legs and waist and feet and skirt, at the other end head and neck and arms, This is the rainbow goddess, which resembles THE SUASTIKA AND FIRE WORSHIP IN AMERICA. 221 the Iris of the Greeks. In the east, where the picture is not enclosed, are two birds, standing with wings outstretched facing one another. The blue bird, the herald of the morning, has the color of the south and the upper regions; he is sacred and his feathers are plume-sticks. These blue birds stand guard at the door of the house wherein the gods dwell. The colors, among the Navajos, are sacred to the different points of the compass. The east is white; the south, blue; the NAVAJO SAND PAINTING. west, yellow; and the north, black. The upper world is blue, and the lower world, white and black in spots. This cross, formed by the bodies of the goddesses standing on the rafts, with the plants standing on the side, the rambow colors with the symbols of the sky in their hands, shows the love for beauty which prevailed among this mountain people, and at the same time shows the symbol of the cross. There is no mythology more beautiful than that of the Navajos, and it seems to have been original with them. Still we are to notice that the humanized rainbow resembles that which was common among the Egyptians and signified about the same thing. This resemblance leads us to the subject of the transmission of symbols. This has been treated by Goblet 22'J NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. de Alviella, who is regarded as the best authority upon the subject. He, however, confined his studies mainly to the sym- bols found in Eastern lands, and only refers briefly to those scattered over this continent. He maintains that an esoteric system prevailed throughout the world, but was better under- stood by the priests and magicians than by the common peo- ple, but that there was so much secrecy about it, that it was difficult to decide whether it was borrowed from others, or in- vented independently. Jt is acknowledged by all that there are many symbols in America which so strongly resemble those found in Europe and in Asia, as to suggest that they came from some common center and were gradually transmitted from one continent to another. Among these symbols, the most common and wide- spread are those which are connected with the worship of the elements, and especially with the worship of fire. As proof of this, we have only to refer to the fact that the cup stones, as well as the suastika, arc very common in this country and in Asia, and the explanation which has been given, that they were used for generating fire, is the most plausible one. It is to be noticed that the custom of making a new fire was common among the natives of America. Prescott has described that which occurred among the Mexicans. He says: "Among the Aztecs it was at the end of fifty years that the new fire was created, instead of every year as among the Mus- kogees. The ceremony took place upon the summit of a mountain, about two leagues distant from the city. A proces- sion of priests moved toward this mountain, taking with them a captive taken in war and the apparatus for kindling the new fire. On reaching the summit of a mountain, the procession paused till midnight; then as the constellation of the Pleiades reached the zenith, and while the people waited in great ^>us- pense.'the new fire was kindled by the friction of the fire drill placed on the breast of the victim. The flame was then com- municated to the funeral pile on which the body of the captive was thrown. As the light streamed up to heaven shouts burst from the countless multitudes which covered the hills, terraces, temples, and housetops. Couriers with torches lighted bore them over every part of the country, and the cheering element was soon brightened on many a hearthstone within the circuit of many a league." Mr. Thomas Wilson has given a map showing the distribu- tion of the suastika throughout Asia, America, and Europe. This map is Very suggestive, for it shows that the symbol might have been introduced into America from either side — from Asia or from Europe. If from Asia, it seems probable that it was in prehistoric times; if, on .the other hand, it was introduced from Europe, it might have been in historic times. There is one point to be considered in connection with this theory of the transmission of such symbols as the hooked cros? TtiE S UA S 7 IK A A ND FIRE I VORSHIP IN A MERiCA . 223 or suastika and the winged figure. If they were transmitted from Europe they did not carry with them those symbols which were quite common in mediaeval times, and so must have been transmitted before that date. There were fire symbols in Europe before mediaeval times, but the basilisk and the cocka- trice, and other symbols, became common at a later time. The dragon, or winged serpent, has performed a part in many creeds, and the dragon slayer has been the hero of count- less legends. These legend,s vary with climate and country and the development of the people with whom it is found. In Egypt the dragon was called Typhon; in Greece, Pytho; in India, Kalli Naga, the "vanishment of Vishnu"; in Anglo-Saxon chronicles he is called Draco, " the fire drake," "the denyer of MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF THE SUASTIKA, God," "the unsleeping, poisoned fanged monster," "the terri- ble enemy of man, full of subtility and power." The story of St. George and the dragon is a common one, which has come down to us through the ages, but it is a sur- vival of hundreds of earlier ones. An old legend of the founding of Thebes by Cadmus, is as follows: "Arriving on the site of the future city, he proposed to make a sacrifice to the protecting goddess Athene, but on sending his men to a dis- tant fountain for water, they were attacked by a dragon. Cadmus therefore went himself, and slew the monster and, at the command of Athene, sowed its teeth on the ground, from which immediately sprang a host of armed giants. These on the instant all turned their arms against each other, with such fury that they were all presently slain, save five. Cadmus in- voked the aid of these giants in the building of the new city, and from these five the noblest families of Thebes hereafter traced their lineage." The meaning of this story and the 224 Ma TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. origin of the dragon itself, are difficult to understand. It is supposed, however, that they originally represented some operation of nature. "The dragon wing of night overspreads the earth," is an expression which shows the effect of imagina- tion when aroused by the story of such monsters. Pliny, the elder, gathered these stories into a book, which shows their prevalence before his day; but they continued to be told even through the Middle Ages. Among these stories, were others of the unicorn, and of the cockatrice. The uni- corn, alive or dead, seems to have eluded observation in a wonderful way, and the men of science have been left to abstract their facts from the slightest hints. One of the mediaeval writers adopted the plan of compiling statements in reference to the unicorn, just as they came to hand. Pliny states that it is a fierce and terrible creature. Those which Graceas de Herto described about the Cape of Good Hope, were beheld with heads like horses. Those which Vartomanus beheld, he described as a huge lizard. The cockatrice was another creature which was often de- scribed. It is called the king of serpents, because of its majestic pace, for it does not creep like other serpents but goes half upright, from which cause all other serpents avoid him, and it seems that nature designed him for preeminence from the crown or cornet on his head. It is said to be half a foot in length, the hinder part like a serpent, the fore part like a cock. These monsters are supposed to be found in Africa and some other parts of the world. Guildaumcs, a Norman priest, who wrote a book in the Middle Ages, which is a full description of these monsters, and especially of the cockatrice, says their poison is so strong that there is no cure for it, and one is in such a degree affected by its presence that no creature can live near it. It kills not only by Its touch, but even the sight of the cockatrice is death, and all other serpents are afraid of the sight and hissing of a cockatrice. The heraldic cocka- trice is represented as having the head and legs of a cock, a scaley body of a serpent, and the wings of a dragon, but a crowned head. The basilisk was the king of serpents. It is described as a huge lizard, but in later times it became a crested serpent. Like the cockatrice, the glance of its eye was death. Pliny says, "We come now to the basilisk, which all other serpents flee fiom and are afraid of; albeit he kiileth them with his very breath and the smell that passeth from him, and if he do set his eye on a man, it is enough to take away his life." V. Associated with the fire drill was a symbol which in the East was called the Sacred Grove. It consisted of an upright shaft, with branches extending to either side and a vine run- ning over the shaft at the end of the branches. At the end of the branches were pine cones. These symbols are common in the East. They are seen on the facades of palaces in Babylonia PHALLIC WORSHIP AND FIRE WORSHIP. 225 and are significant. We call them human tree figures. They remind us of the so-called groves or idols of Asherah, which were condemned in the Scriptures as the symbols of a degraded worship. We do not know that fire worship was thus perverted to a base system in America, but these figures are worthy of study m this connection. VI. We now consider the contrast between the fire worship in America and in Asia, ascribing the latter mainly to an historic source and the former to a prehistoric source — one aboriginal and the other traditional. Here the archaeology of the East will assist us. In Egypt the work of creation was ascribed to the gods ot fire, though the element of moisture came in. Ptah, an appropriate name for the god of fire, was a "creator," "sculptor;" Sachet denotes "kindhng fire;" Pechet isthe"de- vourer," and Bes is the " ascending flame." The Semitic gods of fire and light contend: The consuming and destroying sun god, contends with darkness as, in Egypt, Osiris does with Set. Among the Akkadians fire played an important part, though their worship consisted of magic. The Akkadians are supposed to be the same as the Turanians, which is a term used to desig- nate the so-called Ural Altaic, of which the Mongols, Mag- yars, Finns, Samoyedes are the chief branches. The religion of the Finns embodied much of the system which belonged to the Turanians; the Klavala is the book which contains the epic poems of the Finns, the subject of which is simply the contest of the nature powers personified. The three great heroes of the Klavala are the ancient spirits of Heaven, fire and earth, and correspond lo Odin, Loki and Humir, the German triad of gods. The Persian religion was one in which there was a great de- velopment of the worship ot fire and the drink of immortality. The Persians had a peculiar superstition about the disposal of the body. They supposed it could not be burned, because that would corrupt the fire; they could not bury it, because that would corrupt the earth; it could not be left exposed, that would corrupt the air; it could not be put into the water, for that would corrupt the water; it was therefore put n a tower so that it could be devoured by birds. The Wends, however, on the contrary, had three methods of disposing of the body: burial that carried the soul to the under world; burn'ng, which bore it in smoke to the heavens; burial in a boat, which tra s- ported it to the island of the sun. Among the Scandinavians, Loki was the God of fire; he was not to be trusted; while he was benificent, he was treacherous. Lenormant in his Chal- dean Magic has given the same history. He says the Chaldaic Babylonians, ' ho were devoted to astronomy, read in the sidt real and planetary system a revelation of the divine being. First was Seij Cronos, mysterious source of all things; Anu, primordial chaos, god of time; //ea, god of water, the spirit that brooded 226 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. over the water; Bel, the demiurge; next, the gods of the five planets — ^4^ar, Saturn; Afa?'duk, Jup'ittr; JVerg-a I, Mars; Isiar, Venus; JVedo, Mercury. The demons were seven phantoms in flame, who were the counterparts to the seven gods of the planets, including the sun and moon. In Anu was recognized the ideal of a cosmic or uranic triad, heaven and earth and fire. The Chaldeans had the opinion that the shape of the earth was a boat turned up- side down, a coracle; the interior cavity was the abyss where the dead found a home. Above the earth extended the sky, spangled with stars, the central point was the nadir ; here was the mountain of the East with its four spurs or peaks, and the central point. Between the earth and heavens was the zone of the atmosphere where the winds blow and the storms rage. Fire worship was at first common to both the Turanians and Aryans of ancient origin; fire was the most active of all the gods; man could hold direct communication with him by means of sacred rites and by lighting the sacrificial flame. Under the name Izdubhar, " man of fire," he became one of the heroes of epic history; he was called the supreme pontiff of the earth; he was recognized in the flame of the domestic hearth and protected the house from evil influences, and was called the " god of the House." In his natural reality, he was superior to the sun; in his historical, he was the survivor of the deluge; in his office, he was the divinity of the hearth; the insignia of his office was a reed, which took the place of a wand. The rush was used as the fire generator; hence he was called the god of the rushes. Here, then, we have the fire worship carried to a high stage of personification. Taken in connection with the cult as it ex- isted in America, we have the entire history. We may trace it through all its stages. WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 227 CHAPTER X. THE WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. One of the mysterious things about American archaeology and mythology is that they contain so many reminders of the events which belonged to the early days in historic countries, some of which have been transmitted through Scripure. We are constantly coming upon these in whatever region or prov- ince we may be, whether in the territory of the Mound-builders, Cliff-dwellers, Pueblos, wild hunters of the north, the fishermen of the northwest coast, the agriculturists of the south, the semi- civilized people of the interior, or the civilized races of Mexico, Central America and Peru. Among all these we find not only symbols, but traditions and myths which strikingly resemble those of the east. This makes the department of symbolism interesting and important, though there is no branch of study which does not, in this respect, become suggestive. If we take up the solar cult, the moon cult, the water cult, the fire cult, serpent worship, animal worship, totemism, animism, fetichism, going from the most elaborate to the most primitive, we find reminders of familiar events which have occurred elsewhere, and can not resist the impression that, even in the^least developed or most primitive of these systems, there are traces of something that lies back of them which does not belong to them and can not be ascribed to any indigenous or native origin. The clue may be misleading and we may take too much for granted, but we certainly ought not to ignore its existence or refuse to admit the evidence when presented. Dr. C. P. Tiele said, several years ago : " The question of the relation which the religions of savages stand to the great his- toric families of religions has just been opened." But very great progress has been made since that time, and we ought to be able to trace, before long, not only the relations, but also the channels through which these reminders have come. Over a large extent of Asia and Europe, the Aryans were pre- ceded by Turanian people. Such is the evidence of history. Archaeologists have, to be sm-e, been thinking of late that there were no Aryans or Turanians, but, on the contrary, that all classes descended from the paleolithic people of Europe. Some also claim that imigration to America took place during' the latter part of that age, and that settlement occurred some time in the early part of the neolithic age. But we can not do away with the distinction which Hnguists recognize, nor can we destroy the evidence which is presented to the mythologist that there is 228 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. a filtering of the events and traditions of historic countries through the tokens and myths of prehistoric America, and we cannot certainly allow a speculation to destroy or do away vvith that which is so plain. Too many discoveries have been made in Egypt, Assyria and the far East for us to ignore the record of creation, the deluge, and other events as they are recorded in Scripture and confirmed by the monuments and tablets. In fact, it seems to us to be time that the historic and prehis- toric arch^ologists should be working together instead of apart, and the department of Biblical archaeology, which has been making so great advance, should be recognized as a coadjutor in the field instead of an enemy. We do not lessen the impor- tance of nature worship when we deny that the tradition of the creation was the result ot personification, or that of the flood the result of local freshets, for there is a strange mingling of the local and the universal, of the modern and the ancient, and it is very difficult to separate them without destroying the whole fabric. The water cult in America seems to have come from foreign countries ; at least that part of it which perpetuated the tradition of the flood must have done so, for in this the symbols are too suggestive to be explained in any other way. The knowledge of the Pleiades, the traditions of the first man, the conception of the dragon, the worship of the serpent, the prevalence of the phallic symbol, the association of the water cuh, fire cult, moon cuh and the solar cult, are all arguments for the transmission of the tradition of the flood from foreign countries, even if the cult is found in a very elernentary and primitive condition. Take the following cosmogonic legend of Cannes by Berosus: "According to extracts from the Grecian historian of Chaldea, he had a body of a fish entire, but under- neath his fish's head there was a second human head, while human feet appeared under his tail, and he possessed a human voice. This monster spent the whole day amongst men with- out taking any food, while he taught them letters, science, and the principles of every art, the rules of the foundations of towns, the building of temples, the measurements and boundaries of lands, seed time and harvest ; in short, all that could advance civilization, so that nothing new has been invented since that period. Then at sunset this great Cannes regained the sea and passed the night in the vast region of waves, for he was am- phibious." This description of Cannes is interesting when studied in connection with the following picture of the Zuni water-snake, which was found by Lieut. Whipple on the rocks in Arizona. See Fig. i. It was observed by the explorers near the Rocky Dell Creek. The interpretation of it as given by a Pueblo Indian was that it represented the great water snake created by Montezuma, to give rain ; they describe the snake as of great length, slowly WATER CULT AND 7 HE DELUGE MYTH. 229 gliding upon the water. The great feathered serpent of the Zuni was supposed to live in the water and to guard the springs. The celebrated Aztec spring was its favorite haunt. Vessels taken from this fountain had upon them crescents, serpents, frogs, tadpoles and other water animals. Lieut. Whipple says: "I do not know that upon this continent any animal has been found similar to it; it would seem to be of Eastern origin." There is a tradition among the Zuni of a great flood; this flood came from the west and rushed down the great canon and filled it with water; a great many of the people fled to the top of the mesa and were saved from the waters; the rest perished — the Navajos, Apaches and wild beasts — in the sea of waters, ex- cept such as found safety there. The Zuni built a pueblo upon the lofty eminence, and waited the subsidence of the waters. Time passed and the waves still surrounded their refuge. A sacrifice was devised to appease the water divinity. The son of a chief and a beautiful virgin were the chosen offerings. As they were let down from the cliff into the deep, the waters rolled back, leaving the young man and maid statues of stone. Fig. 1.— Water Snake of the Zunis. An isolated rock is pointed out to the travelers as containing upon its summit the statues of the two persons. The high priest or governor of the Pueblo has it his especial duty to officiate before the water deities. Among the wild tribes — the Algonquins, Iroquois, and Dakotas — there are various myths as to how the earth was recreated after the deluge of waters. There are variations as to this myth, but generally Manobozho is the divinity who personates Noah. He survives the flood, floats above the water in his canoe; he sends different animals down into the water to bring up the earth. The muskrat suc- ceeds. Manobozho takes the mud from the claws, sprinkles it UDon the water, causes it to grow until it becomes a great island; he sprinkles small lumps on the island, and they become mountains; he sticks arrows into the ground and they become men and women.* This story has its analogies among the Sioux, Athabascans, Iroquois, Cherokees and various tribes of British Columbia and California. The story varies according to locality. Among the Algonquins he is Michabo, the giant rabbit, but he is a god ♦See American Journal of Folk Lore, Sept. '91, article by A. Chamberlain, which gives the variations of this tradition. Page 15, Vol. lY., article by Dr. F. Boas. 230 NA Tl VE A M ERIC A N S TUB OLISM. of wind, storm and rain; he is said to have scooped out the ba- sins of the lakes. Among the Ojibways a mighty serpent began to flood the land, but Michabo destroyed him with his dart. Among the Cherokees the animals were above, nothing was below but a wide expanse of water; but the water beetle and the water spider dove'to the bottom and brought up the mud. Among the Yocusts of California the earth was covered with water; there existed a hawk, crow, duck, but the duck brought up his beak full of mud. Among the Chinooks and Bilqulas it was the muskrat, but the buzzard flapped his wings and made the mountains. The description given by Catlin of the religious ceremonies which prevailed among the Mandans before and after the in- itiation of their young men as warriors, is worthy of notice. The Mandan religious ceremony commences not on a par- ticular day of the year, but at a particular season, which is designated by the full expansion of the willow leaves ; for ac- cording to their tradition the "twig the bird brought home was a willowbough and had full-grown leaves on it." The bird to which they allude is the mourning or turtle dove, and being as they call it a medicine bird, it is not to be destroyed or harmed by any one, and even their dogs are instructed not to do it in- jury. During the ceremony a figure is seen approaching ; the body of this strange personage, which was chiefly naked, was painted white, resembling at a little distance a white man ; he wore a robe of four white wolf skins, falling from his shoulders, on his head a splendid head-dress of two raven's skins; in his left hand a pipe was cautiously carried as it of great impor- tance. After passing the chiefs and braves, he approached the medicine or mystery lodge, which he had the means of opening and which had been religiously closed during the year. While preparations were making in the medicine lodge Nu-mohk- muck-a-nah, "the first or only man," traveled through the village, stopping in front of every man's lodge and crying until the owner came out and asked who he was and what was the matter. To which he replied by relating the sad catastrophe which had happened on the earth's surface by the overflowing of waters, saying that he was the only person saved from the universal calamity, that he landed his big canoe on a high mountain in the west, where he now resides ; that he has come to open the medicine lodge which must needs receive a present of some edged tool from the owner of every wigwam, that it may be sacrificed to the water ; for he says, " if this is not done there will be another flood and no one will be saved, as it was with such tools that the big canoe was made." Having visited every lodge and wigwam during the day and having received such a present at each, he returned at evening and deposited them in the medicine lodge, where they remained until the afternoon of the last day of the ceremony, when they were thrown into the WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 231 river in a deep place from a bank thirty feet high, and in the presence of the whole village, from whence they can never be recovered. These were undoubtedly sacrificed to the Spirit ot the Water. Catlin, with this description of the ceremony of the big canoe, the medicine man, the gathering of the knives, brings in a few remarks in reference to the symbols. He says the num- ber four seemed to be sacred; the ceremony lasted four days; there were four medicine men who searched the lour parts of the ramp or village; there were four groups of dancers; four sacks of water, resembling large tortoises, were placed on the floor; four men were selected to cleanse out the lodge; four car- dinal points were symbolized; four skewers were placed as in- struments of torture in the arms and legs of the warriors; four sacrifices were made; four colors; and narrates that there were four tortoises which supported the earth; they carried dirt on their back, though he brings in the idea of forty days, as the bufTalo dance was repeated four times, eight times, twelve times, sixteen times in the successive days.* Among the civilized races the tradition of the flood is com- mon, and it is there associated with the divinity of rain, and with the water cult as it is in the uncivilized. Here, however, we find some peculiarities not elsewhere known. A white God is the culture hero who answers to the Noah of the Bible, but his history is something like that of the Messiah. The Fair God yields to his enemy Texxatlipoca, who is a very Loki, whose symbol is the serpent He escapes to the pyramid of Cholula, in connection with which there is still a tradition of the flood; he withdraws from this and takes his canoe made of serpent skins and crosses the water, promising to return again. This tradi- tion or story of the Fair God has been interpreted by Dr. Brin- ton as a personification of the sun having a contest with the god of darkness. Others, however, maintain that he belonged to a race different from the one he civilized; that he created a new religion, based on fasting, penance and virtue. The Aztec Neptune, or water god, was Tlaloc, whose image is painted green and azure, representing the various shades of water. He is armed with a wand, twisted into a spiral, ending in a sharp point, in representation of a thunder bolt. Tlaloc had a chapel on the top of the great temple of Mexico, as important as that of Huitzilipochtli, with which it was connected. On the day ot the feast of the Tlalocs the priests of these mmisters of the god of waters betook themselves to the lagoon of Citlatepetl, sit- uated a few miles from Mexico, to cut the reeds for decorating the altar. Dr. Brinton says: "The American nations among whom a distinct and well authenticated myth of the deluge was found ♦Catlin's North American Indians, Vol. I., page 158. 232 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. are as follows: Athapascans, Algonquins, Iroquois, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Caddos, Natchez, Dakotas, Apaches, Navajos, Mandans, Pueblos, Aztecs, Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Tlascalons, Mechoacans, Toltecs, Nahuas, Mayas, Quiches, Haitians, the natives of Darien and Popoyan, Muyscas, Quichuas, Tuppin- ambas, Achaguas, Araucanians, and doubtless others."* A mountain figures in most of these traditions. The Mexican Codex Vaticanus represents the picture of the deluge wth a bird perched on the summit of a tree. One of the Mexican traditions preserved by Torquemada, identified the pyramid of Cholula as the mountain of Tlaloc, the god of rain. Among the Araucanians it was a three-peaked mountain and had the property of floating on water. These people kept on hand wooden bowls to use as parasols, reminding us of the symbol of the umbrella in India. The peak of Old Zuni in New Mex- ico; that of Colhuacan of the Pacific coast; Mount Neba in the province of Guaymi, and Mount Apoala in the Mixtec province; Mount Hood among the Klallams, and many other mountains have traditions connected with them as places of refuge for their ancestors. The number seven has been pre- served; one Mexican and one Peruvian myth give out exactly seven persons as saved in their floods. This is remarkable, be- cause the mystic number in America is four instead of seven, though the seven stars of the Pleiades are known and have a myth connected with them. Another feature of the myth is that the survivor ot the flood is always called the first man and IS generally pictured as white, and as coming from the east. Quetzacoa'tl was the god of light to the Aztecs. His emblem was the bird serpent and his rebus the cross. He was born of a virgin. The temple of Cholula was dedicated to him. He had a full flowing beard, a white complexion, and wore long white robes. Among the Muyscas the hero Bochica bore the name "the white one". The Caribs' patron Tamu was "the old man of the sky". He had a light complexion, came from the east, and went to the east. The Tupis of Brazil were named after the first man who survived the flood— Tupa, "guardian of the nation," "ruler of the lightning," whose voice is the thunder. The expectation of the coming of the white man was common. Natives of Hayti told Columbus that his arrival was predicted; Montezuma of Mexico told Cortez the same; the Inca Huascar told De Soto the same. Old writers— Gomara, Cogolludo and others — have taken pains to collect the instances ot this presenti- ment among the native races. Brinton says: "Few tribes were destitute of such presentiments. The Chickasaws, the Mandans of the Missouri, the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, the Muy- scans of Bogota, the Botocudos of Brazil, the Araucanians of Chili, have been asserted, on testimony that leaves no room for *See "Myths of the New World," page 126. WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 233 skepticism, to have had these forebodings." These traditions of the flood must have been transmitted. We do not undertake to follow up the channel through which they flowed, nor to decide as to the country Irom which they came, but we cannot help the conviction that they bear the impress of systems which were known in historic countries. Let us now consider the customs connected with the water cult. We imagine that there was once in the Far East a system ot nature worship which was as rude as anything found in America; that at that time the elements of fire, water, lightning, the sun and moon, and all the nature powers, were worshiped, or. at least, divine attributes ascribed to them. We are sure that serpent worship and tree worship prevailed, and appeared in the East, though we do not know exactly at what time they appeared. Phallic worship and image worship also came in at a certain stage in the progress of thought. The last served to corrupt and degrade the other systems, and very soon perverted them, so that they became sources of degradation to the people. The Scriptures condemn these, and history confirms the justice of the sen- tence. The tradition of the serpent in the Scriptures may be an allegory or a statement of fact, but there is no doubt that the serpent worship was a source of degradation and a sentence was placed upon it by enlightened conscience. The personification of the nature powers did not elevate the people, for when the per- sonification grew more elaborate the moral practices grew more degraded. When the Eleusinian mysteries were introduced into Greece from Egypt, everything became significant of the processes of nature. Names were given to the nature powers, and myths were invented to explain the origin of the names ; but the myths and mysteries did not save the people from degradation. While the doctrine of immortality and the future state was understood, and the anticipation was symbolized in Egypt by embalming the body and transporting it across the Nile; in Phoenicia phallic worship and fire worship were devoted to human sacrifices, and sun worship itself was attended with the immola- tion of human victims. All of these systems are found in America, and their symbols are scattered far and wide. We do not know whether they are to be connected with the decline of religion in oriental countries, or with the progress of religion in America, for they are closely connected with the nature worship, from which all moral distinc- tions were absent. Still, the symbols which, in Eastern lands, are suggestive of degraded practices are the very symbols prev- alent here. They are symbols which, in the East, belonged to the secret mysteries, some of which were known to be full of degradations. We maintain that the religion of the aborigines here not only embodied the same elements as those which became so strong 234 NA Tl VE AMERICAN S YMBOLISM. in the oriental religions when at a certain stage, but it shows how these elements interacted. The fire became the symbol of the sun and consumed the offerings made to the sun, and became sacred as his servant. The serpent was frequently regarded as a divinity in some way amenable to the sun, and so serpent pipes and serpent effigies were connected with the sun circle in the symbolism of the Mound-buildprs. It is possible that there was a certain kind of tree worship;* the same element of life hav- ing its chief embodiment in the tree, which was able to stand up in its force. The moon cult also prevailed, for the moon is al- ways an attendant upon the sun. Whether there was a distinc- tion of sex between the sun and moon is unknown; but the sun circle and the moon crescent may have been male and female. These three types of nature v/orship, in which the fire, the serpent and the sun were the chief divinities, probably prevailed throughout the Mound-builders' territory, though their symbols varied with different localities. We recognize the water cult, the solar cult, and the image worship, as different phases of nature worship; but we find that in the symbols there was a re- markable resemblance to the symbolism of other countries, and whether able or not to trace one to the other, we are struck with the thought that there was a studied and intentional symbolism, which resembled that of the Druids, in all their earthworks. The altars, the temple platforms, the burial mounds, the dance circles, the village enclosures, and the covered ways, were all here used not only for practical purposes and such as would subserve the convenience of the people living in the villages, but they were especially devoted to religious purposes and contained sym- bols in them. The relics also were symbolic, and many of them were buried with the persons, — their very position, in con- nection with the bodies, having a religious significance. It was not one cult alone that was symbolized in these, for some of the burial mounds contained offerings to the spirit of the dead — the symbols of the soul being placed in the mouth; but there were other offerings made to the water, to the sun, others to the fire, and others to the moon. The relics placed upon the altars, the ornaments, the flint discs, the copper crescents, the mica plates, the carved images, and the pottery figures, were all conse- crated to the sun, and, when placed as offerings upon the altar, bore in their shape the symbol of the sun, as much as the altars themselves, or the earth-works in which they were enclosed. There is no locality where this system of sun worship is not symbolized. What is more, the system seemed to have brought into its service, and made useful, the symbols of the preceding *Thls is the explanation given by the Dakotas of tree worship. The spirit of life ■was in the tree. It may be that this wUl account for the tree worship in the East, and will explain how tree worship and phallic worship became associated. The two in the East were symbolized by the sacred groves, so-called, the symbol of Asharah, or Astarle, the moon goddess. WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 235 Stages of worship. The serpent, the phaUic symbol, the carved animals, the crescent-shaped relics, the fire-beds, — all were as- sociated with the sun circle and made parts of the symbolism of sun worship. We imagine the combination to have been as fol- lows: The sun symbol was embodied in the earth circles; the moon cult in the altars; the fire cult in the ashes in and beside the altars; the water cult in the ponds and wells found in and near the enclosures; animal worship in the effigies; the phallic symbol in the horse-shoe earth-works. We also find that the elements, such as the four quarters of the sky, four winds, four points of the compass, are symbolized by the cross and four con- centric circles. So we come to look at everything as more or less symbolic. It is remarkable, as we study the village sites; how many of the cohveniencies of village life were placed under the protection of the sun divinity, and how much provision was made for the worship of the sun under all circumstances. We notice that the ponds and springs are near the villages ; that covered ways connect the villages with the river's bank, and we imagine there was among the Mound-builders, as well as among the Pueblos and Cliff-dwellers, a cult which regarded springs and rivers as sacred and peopled them with divinities. We imagine that the most sacred ceremonies were observed in connecrion with these springs, and that the elaborate earth-works were erected to give solemnity to the various mysteries, which were directed by the secret orders. These different cults were combined, but, for the sake of convenience, it will be well to take them up separately. Let us consider the water cult as it existed among the Mound-builders of America. We shall find very many re- semblances in it to the system as it was in the Far East. It seems to have existed here, but was closely connected with the solar cult, the ceremonies of that cult requiring the presence of water to make it complete. We have shown how extensively dis- tributed was the tradition of the flood in America, how varied was the symbolism which perpetuated this tradition. We do not know that any such tradition existed among the Mound-builders nor can we discover any symbol which perpetuated it; but the water cult which we recognize is very similar to that which pre- vailed in Europe at a very early date, and was there symbolized in the prehistoric earth-works. We turn, then, to the resemblance which may be recognized between some of the earth-works in Southern Ohio and those in Great Britain. We have already spoken of this, but as certain new investigations and new discov- eries have been made, we review the evidence. I. The first group of works which we shall cite is the one at Portsmouth. The chief evidence is given by the avenues or the covered ways, which seem to have connected the enclosures on the difterent sides of the river. These, by aid of the ferry across the river, must have been the scene of extensive religious 236 NA2IVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. ■ iPSAvarsfliRiiTiirsi ffiSKDViP CtmMrry processions, which can be compared to nothing better than the mysterious processions ot Druid priests which once characterized the sacrifices to the sun among the ancient works of Great Brit- ain. It has been estimated that the length of the avenues or covered ways was eight miles. The parallel walls measure about four feet in height and twenty feet base, and were not far from 1 60 feet apart. It is in the middle group that we discover the phallic symbol (see Fig, 2), the fire cult, the crescent of the moon and the sun circle. In the works upon the west bank of the Scioto we find the ^.^gy enclosed in a circle (see Fig. 3), as a sign of animal worship, and in the concentric circles (see Fig. 4) with the enclosed conical mound, on the Kentucky side, we find the symbols of sun worship. V/e would here call attention to the theories re- cently thrown out by Mr. A. L.Lewis that the water cult was conibined with the sun cult at the great works at Ave- bury; the avenues made of standing stones having pass- ed over the Kennet Creek before they reached the circle at Beckhampton ; the same is true at Stanton Drew and at Mount Murray, in the Isle of Man. In each of these places were covered avenues reaching across marshy ground towards the circles. "If the circles were places of worship or sacrifice, such avenues con- necting them with running streams may have had special object or meaning."* Mr. Lewis says: "I have never adopted Stukeley's snake theory, lor I could never see any great resemblance to a serpent, nor could I see any thing very suggestive of a serpent in the ar- rangement of the other circles. Still, Stukeley's statements about the stones of the avenue, leading from the great circle toward the river, are very precise," Stukeley says: "There were two sets of concentric circles surrounded by another circle, which was encircled by a broad, deep ditch, outside of which was an embankment large enough for a railway; two avenues of stone leading southwest and southeast. The theory now is that they led across the water of Kennet Creek to Beckhampton and to Overton Hill, The so-called coves in the large circles mark the scal£ too rt to the Inrti S^ryfrtJ ii 8 C Sru^rr anU S J^tmr. tig, 2.— Horse Shoe Enclosures at Portsmouth. ♦Journal of Anthropological Institute, February, 1891 WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 237 site of altars, whereon human sacrifice may have been offered to the sun; but the avenues mark the place through which proces- sions passed in making their sacrifices, — a passage over water being essential to the ceremony." This is a new explanation of these works, but it is one which becomes very significant in connection with the works at Ports- mouth. Here the avenues approach the river in such a way as to show that a canoe ferry was used to cross the river, the cere- mony being made more significant by that means. The covered ways, to be sure, do not reach the edge of the water, but termi- nate with the second terrace, leaving the bottom-land without any earth-work. This would indicate that the works are very old, and were, in fact, built when the waters covered the bottom- land. It may be said, in this connection, that all the covered ways are similar to these; they end at the second terrace, and were evidently built when the flood- plain was filled with water. As addition- al evidence that the works at Ports- mouth were devot- ed to the water cult and were similar to those at Avebury, in Great Britain, we would again refer to the character of the works at either end of the avenues. Without insisting upon the serpent symbol being embodied in the avenues, we think it can be proven that the most striking features of the work at Avebury are duplicated here; the sun symbol being embodied in the con- centric circles upon the Kentucky side; the phallic symbol in the horse-shoe mounds upon the Ohio side (see Figs. 2, 3,4) and the avenues of standing stones corresponding to the covered ways which connected the enclosures on the Kentucky side with that on the Ohio side. 2. The group on the third terrace is one which is the most sig- nificant. Here the circle surrounds the horseshoes, as the circle of stones does at Avebury. Here, too, is a natural elevation that has been improved by art, and made to serve a religious pur- pose, Mr. T. W. Kinney says this mound, which was a natural elevation, was selected as the site for a children's house. In ex- cavating the cellar there was discovered a circular altar composed of stones which were standing close together, and showed evi- Fig. S.—Bffigy on the Scioto, 238 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. :»C ^"^ier^&i^ dence of heat. This altar was four feet below the surface. Lead- ing from the altar was a channel about eighteen inches wide, composed of clay, which was supposed to be designed to " carry off the blood", giving the idea that human sacrifices were offered here, as they were upon the altars at Avebury. Squier and Davis say that the horse-shoes constitute the most striking feat- ures; they are both about the same size and shape. They meas- ure about eighty feet in length and seventy feet in breadth. Enclosing these in part is a wall about five feet high. These horse-shoes might well be called coves. The ground within them was formerly perfectly level. They open out toward the river and were on the edge of the terrace, and so were elevated above the surro un di ng country and were in plain sight. Near them was a natural elevation eighteen feet high, but grad- ually subsiding into a ridge towards the enclosed mound. A full view of the en- tire group may be had from its sum- mit. The enclosed mound was 28 feet high by iio feet base. It is trun- cated and surround- ed by a low circumvallation. Dr. Hempstead, an old resident, of Portsmouth, surveyed the works and has furnished the author with a diagram. He represents the walls surrounding the horse- shoes as continuous, making it a complete circle. In this diagram the resemblance to the works at Stone Henge is more striking than in the one furnished by Squier and Davis. He says the animal mound on the west side was 460 feet long, 300 feet wide, the square enclosure 400 feet in diameter. There was a living spring near this square, thus showing that the water cult and the animal worship were associated. Atwater speaks of this group as having wells in close proximity to the horse-shoes. He speaks of the earth between the parallel walls as having been leveled by art and appearing to have been used as a road-way by those who came down the river for the purpose of ascending the high place. Most noticeable is the mound with concentric circles, which is situated on the Kentucky side. The four circles were cut at right angles by four broad avenues which conform nearly to the cardinal points. From the level summit of this mound a 4 ^ -Sectron .' J>JHr»rf fly J-Q- JVm*/' oiMf £ H.paVi* Fig. A.— Sun Circles. WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 239 complete view of every part of this work is commanded. On the supposition that it was in some way connected with religious rites, the mound afforded the most conspicuous place for their observance. See Fig. 4. "The mound in the center, at first glance, might be taken for a natural elevation. It is possible that it is a detached spur ot the hill enlarged and modified by art. It is easy while standing on the summit of this mound to people it with the strange priesthood of ancient superstition and fill its walls with the thronging devotees of mysterious worship. The works were de- voted to religious purposes and were symbolic in their design."* JPig. 5 — Terraced Mound opposite I'ortsmouth. As additional evidence, we may mention the terraced mound situated about a mile west. See Fig. 5. Here is a group of ex- quisite symmetry and beautiful proportions. It consists of an embankment of earth, five feet high, thirty feet base, with an in- terior ditch twenty-five feet across and six feet deep. Enclosed is an area ninety feet in diameter; in the center of this is a mound forty feet in diameter and eight feet high. There is a narrow gateway through the parapet, and a causeway over the ditch leading to the enclosed mound. This is a repetition of the central mound with its four concentric circles. It is said that there was near this a square enclosure resembling the chunky yards ot the South, and that the group taken together was of a Southern type. There are several small circles, measuring from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty feet in diameter; also a few mounds in the positions indicated in the plan.f We have dwelt upon the Portsmouth works for the reason that they seem to prove the existence of a water cult, and because they so closely resemble those in which the water cult has been rec- •Anclent Monuments, page 82. tMounds like this are common In this district and may be regarded as sun sym- bols. See the cut of works at Portsmouth; also of terraced mound in Greenup County, Kentucky, and at Winchester, Indiana. 240 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. • ^xttmtliy Btil: ognized in Great Britain. We maintain, however, that it was a cult which was associated with sun worship, and that the phallic symbol was embodied here. We maintain that sacrifices were offered to the sun, and that the human victims were kept in the corral on one side of the river ; that they were transported across the water and carried up to the third terrace, and immolated near the horseshoe, and that afterwards the processions passed down the terrace, through the avenue across the river, a second time, and mounted the spiral pathway to the summit of the ter- raced mound situ- ated at the end of the avenue. In reference to this corral (see Fig. 6), we may say that the walls surround- ing the area are very heavy, and are raised above the area enclosed, in places as much as 50 feet. They con- vey the idea that the enclosure was for holding captives for they resemble the walls ofa state's prison rather than those of a fort; be- ing level on the top '^and made as if de- Mg. 6.— Corral for Prisoners. signed for a Walk for sentinels. The parallel walls or covered ways on each side of this enclosure have an explanation from this theory. They were built to the end of the terrace and were probably intended to protect the sentinels who were stationed. at the ends. They command extensive views, both up and down the river, and were convenient places from which to watch the enemy, as they might approach to release the captives. The groups upon the Kentucky side and the effigies on the Scioto are connected with these horse-shoes and with one another by the avenues. The group to the east is interesting on account of its symbolism, and the most interesting part is the mound with the spiral pathway^ Si&SSiT3:Fa 600ft..ID eiebcti. SUPPLY UC*4rihllY AkAlt fc S[CTf^N, «. WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 241 We thus see that there were various localities where the Mound-builders placed their works near fountains and streams. Worthington, in Southern Ohio: Mt. Sterling, in Kentucky; the Messier mound in Georgia. These works indicate that there were sacred ceremonies connected with the springs. There are no traditions which explain these works, nor were there any known customs among the tribes formerly in this region wich we can identify with these works. We find, however, as we go far- ther west and study the customs and myths of the various tribes still dwelling there, that the water cult prevailed, and that springs were regarded as sacred. See Plate. The Shoshones have a spring whose origin they explain as follows: Wankanaga was the father of the Shoshones and the Comanches. He arose from a cloud as a white-haired Indian, with his ponderous club in his hand and with his totem on his breast and struck a rock with ^^ •OKTh'imCTOM ,f RAttKUf* c». tmro. W-Y S»a h MA* UA Fig. 7 .—Enclosure and Sprinff near Worlhimjton, Ohio. his club and caused it to burst forth with bubbling water. In Sitka they had a light and fire, but no fresh water, as Kanuph kept it all in his well. Yehl, the great divinity, visited this per- sonage and managed to steal the water and to scatter it in drops over the land, and each one became a spring. The question arises, how came these symbolic works to be so connected with springs and with water courses. Shall we say that the symbols of nature worship originated in this country and that they are associated with the springs according to the law of parallel development. In England sacred springs are regarded as proving that the water cult was introduced, and localized, and afterwards perpetuated into historic times. M. Law- ence Gomme has treated of this in his book, called "Ethnology in Folk Lore." He maintains that the localizing of such myths as relate to the water cult, stone worship and demons, preceded the tribal myths, and that they were pre-historic or pre-Aryan in their origin; that the pin wells, rag wells, and other sacred 242 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. springs were the same as those that were haunted by the rain gods and the water divinities. The belief in " river gods, sea serpents, hill deities and well worship was nearly universal, and was contemporaneous with the area of the negalithic monuments " In this country the localizing of the myth and the water cult may also have preceded the tribal myth, though the presence ot symbols near the springs would show that this cult was trans- mitted. The "rain gods" and the "nature powers" were asso- ciated with the springs, and there were offerings to the water divinities exactly as in Great Britain during pre-Aryan times. The association of the story ot the deluge with some of these springs may be merely accident- al, yet the presence of the sym- bols known in historic countries, near some of the springs, would render it probable that the water cult and the deluge myth were introduced in prehistoric times and it may be from historic countries. The story of the deluge pre vailed among the eastern tribes of Indians, the Algonkins, the Sioux, the Athabascans, the Crees, and the Cherokees. In these the mountain and tree, the lake, the raft or canoe, are prom inent, and the ancient Noah appears as a divinity, under dif- ferent figures and names. There is generally an animal, either a muskrat, a loon, a diver duck, or otter, which serves the behests of the chief divinity, in bringing up the soil from below and making a new earth. The story has been localized. A rock at the Mackinaw, another on the Ottawa River, a beach at Grand Traverse Bay, and a mountain on Thunder Bay are selected as the spot where the event occurred. The falls of Sault St. Marie are the scene of another tradition — that of the Great Beaver, who opened the dams and let out the water, — a tradition which reminds us ot one which is common in Great Britain, which is contained in Faber's History of Idolatry. The largest number of symbolic works were placed near streams and fountains, indicating that the use of water was essential to religious ceremony. The traditions linger about many of these springs, some of which are interesting and very suggestive. Ewbank speaks of the High Priest of the Zuni, whose .special duty was to otificiate before the water deities. He seeks for some Fig. 8. — Legendary Rock. WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 243 sacred spot where he plants sticks in a circle adorned with feathers and threads, and dedicates them to the divinities of water, such as frogs, snakes and turtles; these embody his invocation for rain. They are, in fact, snares for the spirit of the "water divinity". Near these "sacred circles" there are wooden col- umns covered with such symbols as the crescent, the Nile key and the suastika. These symbols remind us of the nations of the east, but the custom is peculiar to the Zunis, among whom there is a tradition in reference to the Montezuma as having been the divinity of the springs and the preserver of the people. The myth bearer is contained in the legendary rock represented in the cut. See Fig. 8. This rock perpetuates the tradition of the flood and the pair which was sacrificed to appease the water divinity. The ruins of an an- cient town upon a high mesa are said to be he place to which the Zuni escaped. A horizontal vein in the rocks marks the line of high water. In the valley of Zuni is the singular spring illus- trated in the plate, upon which is a number of earthen jars in an inverted position. It was held sacred to the "rain god". No animal may drink of its waters. It must be annually cleaned with ancient vases, which have been transmitted from generation to generation and placed upon the walls. The frog, the tortoise and the rattle snake are depicted upon these vessels, for they represent the water divinities. Both the Moquis and Zunis have a custom of bringing water from a sacred lake to their pueblo before they commenced their rain-dance.* They have one who represents a "fire-god" during these rain-dances. There is another singular custom which re- minds us of the one described by Catlin as common among the Mandans. A man comes from the west and approaches the pueblo and finally enters the estufa, while he remains. Food is handed down to him. He may represent the ancient man, possibly the Noah of the Zunis. There is a rock spring near Williams River, within which is a pool of water and a crystal stream flowing from it. The rock is covered with pictographs. There are figures cut upon the rock near Arch spring near Zuni. There seems to be a similarity between them and the inscriptions near Rocky Dell Creek. Prof. Tylor takes the ground that all such deluge myths can be /'/(/. :i. — Altec Miyrutuiii Lcf/end, *See Studies of the Ceremonies of tlie Moquis, by Walter i-V wives. 244 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. ascribed to the influence of the missionaries, and that they were all post-Columbian in their origin. He maintains that many of them are owing to the misinterpretation of the picture writings and other traditions of the natives. To illustiate: The migra- tion myth of the Aztecs has been preserved in a kind of picture writing. In part of this picture there may be seen a curved mountain, which arises from a lake; on either side of the mount- ain crowned heads; beneath it is a boat; above it a tree. In the tree a bird; from the mouth of the bird issue a number of symbols, resembling "commas," which might be taken for tongues. Fifteen human forms are in front of the bird, each one with a totem above his head. This part of the picture has been interpreted as representing the Ark, Noah and his wife, and Mt. Ararat, the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of the races. This interpretation Dr. Tylor thinks entirely gratuitous, and maintains that the picture contains no reference to traditions which prevailed among the civilized races, but in reality repre- sents the history of the jmigrations of the Aztecs. It was the popular tradition among the Aztecs that their starting place was an island in a lake, and that the voice of a bird started them on their wanderings; so a bird with the usual symbols of speech was drawn above the mountain. Mr. H. H. Bancroft also says that not one of the earliest writers on Mexican mythology, those who were familiar with the old traditions at the time of the conquest, seem to have known this tradition. "A careful comparison of the passages (in the later writers) will show that the escape of the Ancon and his wife by a boat from the deluge, and of the distribution by a bird of different languages to their descendants, rest upon the interpre- tation of the Aztec paintings." He intimates that the tradition which connects the great divinity of the Toltecs — the white god, who was called Quetzatlcoatl — with the pyramid at Cho- lula, came from the same source. The story about the departure of this god belonged to the ancient Toltec period, which pre- ceded the Aztec, and the person that represented the national god of the Toltecs, who had, like all the national gods of the Americans, a personified nature worship as a basis, but the his- torical tradition fastened itself upon the pyramid because of the resemblance of the divinity to the ancient Noah. There is a plausibility about this view, but there are other "picture writings" which contain migration myths, but begin with figures or events which resemble those described in Genesis. The Red Score or Walum Olum of the Lenapes is a genuine "bark record," which is supposed to be prehistoric in its origin. It contains pictures of the " primal fog," the " misty waste," the "extended land," the sun and moon and stars, and the group of islands; also of the "mighty snake" who brought a rushing water, destroying much, and the "Strong White One," grandfather of > o sa PI O CO Z o > N a z z D N H < O PC ' WATER CULT AND THE DELUQE MYTH. 245 men, who lived on the "Turtle Island;" also the Manitou's daugh- ter, who came with a "canoe" and helped all who came. Then the grandfather of all made the "turtle" into "dry land," the "mighty snake" departed and the Lenape lived together in "hollow houses". The resemblance to the scripture narrative becomes more apparent as we examine the myths of the civilized races. In these myths we find allusions, not only to "the mountain," "the boat," "the bird," "the gift of tongues," and other events of the "flood," but we find also many allusions to the "creation," with the same figures which are used in the Scriptures. To illustrate: from the fragments of the Chimalpopoca manuscript we learn that the Creator produced his work in successive epochs under one sign (Tochtli) the earth was created, in another (Acalt) the firmament, in the third (Tecpatl) the animals; on the seventh (Checatl) man was made out of ashes or dust, by that mysterious personage or divinity (Quetzalcoatl). This manuscript is sup- posed to be prehistoric, although, according to Bancroft, it shows traces of Christian influence and is by him ascribed to the Toltec School.* Still it is regarded as "one of the most authentic accounts of such matters, extant." There is also the tradition of giants upon the earth. We are told by Boturini that the first age or sun was called the "Sun of the water;" it was ended by a tre- menduous flood, in which every living thing perished except a man and woman of the "great race." The second age was called the "Sun of the earth" — giants or Quinames were the only in- habitants of the world. The third age, the "Sun of the air." was ended by tempests and hurricanes. The fourth age is the pres- ent, and belongs to the "Sun of fire." It is to be ended by con- flagration. Another Mexican version is that, in the "age of water the great flood occurred, and the inhabitants were turned into fishes and only one man and woman escaped." The man's name was Coxcox. They saved themselves in the hollow trunk of a bald cypress. They grounded their "ark" on the peak of Colhuacan, the "Ararat" of Mexico. Their children were born dumb, but a "dove" came and gave them tongues. A Michoachan tradition has the name of Tezpi as a substitute for Noah. When the waters began to subside he sent out a vulture, but the vul- ture fed upon carcasses. Then Tezpi sent out other birds, and among them a humming bird. The humming bird found the earth covered with new verdure and returned to its old refuge bearing green leaves. There is another version which fastens upon the pyramid of Cholula. According to this the world was inhabited by giants; some of these were changed to fishes, but seven brothers enclosed themselves in seven caves. When the waters were assuaged one of these, surnamed the "Architect." began to build an artificial mountain, but the anger of the "gods" was aroused. As the pyramid slowly rose toward the clouds *See Bancroft's Native Race.s, Vol, II, p, 547; also Vol. II, p. 69. 246 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. they launched their fire upon the builders and the work was stopped. The half finished pyramid still remains, dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the god of the sun. According to another extract of this Chimalpopaca manuscript, the god Titlacahuan warned the man, Nata and his wife Nena, saying hollow out for your- selves a great cypress in which you shall enter and he "shut them in." The Miztecs have a legend which they were accus- tomed to depict in their primitive scrolls. "In the year and in the days of obscurity and darkness before the days of the years were, when the v/orld was in great darkness and chaos when the earth was covered with water, and there was nothing but mud and slime on the face of the earth, behold, a god became visible named the deer, and surnamed the 'lion snake,' and a beautiful goddess also called the deer and surnamed the 'tiger snake.'" The palace of the gods was on a mountain, in the province of Mizteca Alta. It was called the "palace of Heaven," Two sons were born to them, very handsome and learned. The brothers made to themselves a "garden," in which they put many trees, flowers, roses and odorous herbs. They fixed themselves in this garden to dress it and to keep it, watering the trees and the plants and the odorous herbs, multiplying them, and burning incense in censors of clay, to the "gods" — their father and mother. But there came a great deluge afterward, wherein perished many sons and daughters that had been born to the gods, but when the deluge had passed the human race was re- stored as at first. In Nicaragua it was believed that ages ago the world was destroyed by a flood and that the most of man- kind perished. In the Papago county, lying south of the Gila, there is a tradition that the "Great Spirit" made the earth and all other things, but when he came to make man he descended from heaven and took clay, such as the potters use, from which he made the hero god, Montezuma, and afterward the Indian tribes in their order. He made them all brethren; men and beasts talked together in common language, but a great flood destroyed all flesh, Montezuma and his friend, the Coyote, alone escaping. This Montezuma afterward hardened his heart and set about building a house that should "reach up to heaven." Already it had attained a great height, when the Great Spirit launched his thunder and laid its glory in ruins. This legend accounts for the connection of the name of Montezuma with ancient buildings in the mythology of the Gila Valley, and per- haps, also for the connection of the same name with the various ruins in Arizona and New Mexico. The legendary adventures of this hero are narrated by the natives in all this region. We call attention to the wide distribution of the deluge myth over both continents of America, and would ask whether there was not a good reason for the interpreting, the "picture writing" of the Aztecs, as having reference to the same WATER CULT AND THE DELUGE MYTH. 247 event. The picture refers to a migration which had occurred at the very earliest date of history, the mountain where it is located being often the starting point for the tribe or nation. May it not be that the picture embodied the tradition itself, and that it represented the starting point of the Aztecs, exactly as Scripture traditions represent the starting point of Eastern tribes? We maintain that this deluge myth is as thoroughly incorporated into the aboriginal literature of America as it is in the ancient literature of the East, and that mythology everywhere abouuds with it. Let us look at some of the traditions. Mount Shasta was the wigwam of the great divinity. The smoke was formerly seen curling above it. The Great Spirit stepped from cloud to cloud down the great ice pile, and planted the first trees near the edge. He blew upon the leaves and the leaves became birds. He broke sticks in pieces and they became fishes and animals. The sun melted the ice and they became rivers. The daughter of the Great Spirit looked out of the wigwam and was so curious at the sight that she flew away to the earth, and mingled with the great bears, and became Eve, the mother of the human race. The Papagoes have the tradition that a great flood destroyed all flesh, but Montezuma and a Coyote escaped. Montezuma was forewarned and kept his canoe ready on the topmost summit of Santa Rosa. The Coyote prepared an ark out of cane, and the two sailed over the waters and repopulated the world. In Northern California the tradition of the flood is connected with Tahoe. Lake Tahoe was caused by an earth- quake. A great wave swept over the land; the Sierra Mount- ains were formed ; the inhabitants fled to a temple tower, which rose like a dome above the lake ; but the divinity thrust them like pebbles into a cave and keeps them there until another earth- quake shall occur. The Calitornians tell of a great flood which covered the earth, with the exception of Mount Diablo and Reed Peak. The Coyote escaped to the peak and survived the flood. At that time the Sacramento and San Joaquin began to find their way to the Pacific. Thus we see that the myth is localized in connec- tion with nearly every mountain, river and lake. The springs on the Pacific coast are also localized among the former tribes of the Atlantic coast. Now the inquiry arises, would a tradition which had been introduced by the missionaries at different times, and received by the converts to Christianity, and so altogether modern, have been likely to spread so extensively among the pagan tribes and to have been so thoroughly adopted by them as an integral part of their history. It is to be noticed that the tradition, as localized by the pagan tribes, always refers to an event which occurred at the very earliest date of history and has reference to the starting point or original home of the 248 NA Tl VE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. tribes. The only exception to this is the one that relates to the pyramid of Cholula, this having been the last place of refuge, rather than the starting point of the Toltec race. In the picture writing of the Aztecs, the starting point is like that of other tribes. It is represented as a mountain beside a lake. After the departure irom the mountain to the various points of the immigration route the same symbol of the mountain and the tree continues. This correspondence between the verbal and the written, or in other words, the traditionary and recorded, proves that the story must have existed in pre-Columbian times, and perhaps was known by the Aztec before they commenced their wanderings. It is to be noticed further that the imagery used by the pagan tribes wherever any is used in repeating the story of the deluge is always such as would be natural to them. The wild hunters of the north used the figure of the canoe, the island and the lake; the semi-civilized, in the interior, used the figure of the cave, the mountain, the auroya; the civilized tribes of the southwest used the figure of the boat, the curved mountain, the symbol of speech, the temple and the pyramid. This might have occurred if the tradition was modern, for the story, when filtered through the native minds, would naturally receive the tinge of their own thoughts and would vary according to differ- ent habits, conceptions and surroundings of the people. We must remember, however, that while there is a great difference between the versions of the story, yet the same elements remain — the boat, the mountain, the ancient divinity who was the first ancestor, the flood, the survival from the flood and the repeopling of the land. These elements or images seem to have been a part of the story of the deluge itself They are evidently prehistoric in their character and are associated with the prehistoric cultus. They have been regarded as autochthonous, but taken in connection with the deluge story, they furnish an additional evidence of contact with historic countries. There are also gymbols of the cross, the suastika, the serpent, the horse-shoe, the hand, the eye, the spectacle ornament, the loop, the turreted figure, the bird, the Nile key. These symbols are the most prevalent in Oriental countries, and the most widespread in this country. These symbols are, indeed, associated with the various forms of nature worship, but sometimes with the tradition of the deluge. In this we recognize a contrast. The water cult in this country was, like that of Great Britain, a pre-historic system. It was always localized at some spring and was preserved by the spring into historic times. These, with the mountains and streams, are reminders of the early history of the native tribes and of the traditions which seem to have been as familiar to them as to us. CHAPTER XI. TRANSFORMA TION MYTHS. There is an element in the mythology of America which is very interesting, but not often described. It may be called -" transformation," for that is the word which best expresses its character. It consists in the constant overleaping of those barriers which, according to modern science, separate the various orders of creation, and treats them as though they did not exist; mingling birds, animals, and human beings, as if they belonged to one order. The effect of this habit, or custom, is very peculiar, for it brings all the objects of nature, whether plants, trees, birds, animals, or human beings, indis- criminately together, and as a consequence there are many figures which are distorted and present a very strange appear- ance. Animalsappear with human faces; human forms appear as having bird's wings, claws and beaks, but with arms and legs, having weapons in their hands, either fighting, or in the atti- tude of dancing; nondescript figures appear made up of forms of vegetation, such as trees, but surrounded by human figures, and yet mingled with serpent's jaws and all the varying sym- bols which may come from the creation without. This element gives a great variety to native mythology, for there is nothing to prevent the stories which are told from transcending all material bounds. The imagination is given full play and the most extravagant tales are told, and seem to be believed, as though they were true. It is, however, not con- fined to mythology, for it forms a prominent feature in many religious ceremonies. In these ceremonies, creatures resembl- ing animals, human beings and supernatural creatures are mingled together, and seem to be closely related. The animals do not themselves appear, but the persons who take part, arc so covered and dressed that they resemble animals, and atti- tudes are taken which imitate the motions of the animals. It is an element which often appears in the relics and gives a peculiar character to aboriginal art. There are many speci- mens which show great taste for colors and correct ideas of form, and much skill in representing forms and faces; yet as a fact there are no limitations to hinder, and the strangest crea- tions appear. The same element of transformation also appears in all the secret societies, and forms a prominent part of all the sacred mysteries. It also enters into the amusements, public dances, and open air performances, and gives to them their greatest '250 NA TI VE A MERIChN S YMB OLISM. zest. It exists among all the tribes, but varies according to their social condition and habits, for the hunger tribes have one sys- tem; the agricultural, another; the mountaineers, another, and those who dwell in the arid regions, still another, though the equipments and ceremonies of all partake of the physical peculiarites of the region in which they take place. D The strangest thing about this " transformation," is that it increases, rather than diminishes, as civilization advances, for Man-Eagle. the most elaborate and complicated figures appear where art and architecture are most advanced, and where the people have attained to wealth and power. Illustrations of these different points are numerous and are found among the various tribes. There are many stories told among the Crows, a tribe situated in the northern part of Montana, about the different animals, and especially the coyotes. These are turned to buffalos, bears, bulls, bald-headed eagles, and thunder birds. There are also TRANSFORM A TION MYTHS. 251 giants and young and old men, who interchange their forms and are married to animals, and have children which are also constantly changing their form and appearance. In one case, a buffalo skull is seen in the water of a spring. A chief's daughter comes to the spring, but the buffalo's skull is gone, and in its place a young man wearing a buffalo robe appears upon the bank of the spring. The two are married and dis- appear. All the animals set to work to find the wedded pair. They call upon the buffaloes, who come from every direction in great numbers and gather around the tree where the two are hidden. This is the reason why buffaloes are so numerous at certain times. Many other stories are told by the hunting tribes, which represent the most remarkable changes of form and appearance as occurring, both among the animals and human beings. There is a story among the Arapahoes, about a boy who was gifted with the power of transforming creatures. He was left by his grandmother at home alone, but during her absence he exercised his power, which had previously been unknown to himself, and suddenly there appeared before him in the house all his relatives, especially his uncles, who came dancing out from every corner and every side, and appeared to him. His grandmother, who was at the end of the world, also suddenly appeared, herself surprised that this power had become known to the boy. There are many other novel and interesting stories of the same kind. This habit or superstition about the different creatures be- ing transformed and assuming unnatural shapes, will account for the abundance of strange relics which are found among the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, especially the copper plates and shell gorgets, which are so numerous in the stone graves. In these we see human figures, with the beaks and wings of birds, but dressed as warriors, with elaborate headdress, pouch, and war club, and dancing with tokens of victory in hand. These have been called " man eagles," or " eagle men," and are interesting as reminders of the mythology which prevailed among the Mound-Building tribes. (See Fig. i.) Catlin, the celebrated painter, has represented the dances which occurred among the Mandans, and Miss Alice Fletcher has described those which occur among the Dakotas. The most prominent feature in these dances is that the men appear covered with the skins of buffaloes, or with the. horns of deer or elk, and throw themselves into the different attitudes which these animals assume and personate their very shapes and moods. The tribes on the Northwest coast believe in this transforma- tion, to the extent that they often, in their dances and religious ceremonies, put great masks upon their heads, and will march or dance about the fire throughout the long winter nights and find a vast amount of amusement in imagining themselves 252 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. tranbformed into these very creatures. They have also a cere- mony in which some person, who is hidden in an adjoining room, bursts through the barrier and suddenly appears in a strik- ing attitude. (See Plates.) The best illustration is found among the Navajoes, among whom the sand paintings are the most conspicuous objects of native art. These consist of figures which represent the Nature powers. Rainbows which form arches resembling the arch of the sky, are humanized, having heads and arms at one end, and body and legs at the other. There are sunbeam rafts in the form of crosses, made of different colored sand, and upon these are placed the figures of god- desses, which have many-colored skirts and wear caps or hats Fig. 2. — The Maya Gods of Death, Life and Growth. which are trimmed with fleecy clouds; around their waists they wear sashes, which resemble rainbows; at their side are birds and animals which come from the mountains, also, sprigs and sprays which come from the forest. The sand paintings repre- sent the personal di\inities of the Navajoes, and in this respect resemble the sacred dramas of the Zunis and the codices of the Ma)'as. The figures in the cut are from the Dresden Codex and represent the Gods of Death, Life and Growth, as well as the various operations of nature. The Pueblo tribes also believe in this transformation, and embody their belief in their dances and ceremonies in such a way as to make them the most realistic of all the religious cere- TRANSFORMATION MYTHS. 258 monies that are known. Among this people are many so-called " altars," which resemble the. "sand paintings, ' in that they present a great variety of figures or symbols, and with all colors displayed upon them. These altars have been described by Mr. J. Walter Fewkes, who explains their different parts. It appears that every clan had a great sky god, and an earth god, or goddess. Each clan also had its totemistic ancestors, male and female, and culture heroes, or heroines; these are imper- sonated symbolically, and may be represented by a human be- ing, or by animals and birds, or by all combined. In these altars are medicine bowls covered with symbols, also radiating lines of sacred meal representing the six directions; cars of corn of different colors, which corresponded to the directions: Yellow, for north; blue, for west; red, for south; black, for the above, and speckled, for the below. The altars are made out of wooden slats cut in shape to resemble the human form, but painted with many different colors. A large number of them are placed upright, making them resemble an old-fashioned fire-place, while in front of them are figures made of different- colored sand, surrounded by images of various kinds and ears of corn of different colors. They are called altars because they are objects of worship and are full of symbols. There are pictures of " the Growth God," and slats bearing symbolic birds; also boards painted with semi-circular figures representing the sky, parallel lines symbolizing rain, zigzag markings symbolizing lightning; also images which are the tutelary "clan ancients," and others representing the sun and "Germ Gods"; also the butterfly symbols, and many other objects. The public dances of the Hopis and other Pueblo tribes are also full of symbols and ceremonies, which are the result of this belief in transformation; and many different societies em- body the belief that supernatural beings were present. Mr. Fewkes recognizes strong affinities with the tribes further south, such as the Nahuas and Mayas, in these ceremonials, and traces a resemblance between the symbols common among them and those found in the codices.* Among the partially civilized tribes of the Southwest, mainly the Nahuas and Mayas, the same supersitition formerly prevailed, for here we find symbols of various kinds scattered among the ruins, and also see pictures with many colors and strange figures, in which there is a mingling of all orders of creation in the codices. In fact, this element of transforma- tion is so prominent in Mexico and Central America, that it furnishes us a key to the solution of the problems which have been very diflficult. There are in the codices figures which represent the different •See "Central American Ceremony, which Sugfesti the Snake Dance of the Tusayan Villagers." Reprinted from the American Anthropologist, Wasninf ton, D. C; 1903. Also, "A Stady of Certain Figures in a Maya Codex," Washington, D. C, July, 1894. 254 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. divinities. Some of them appear in skeleton form in strange attitudes; others have faces with peculiar expressions, but trom the mouth are seen issuing serpent tongues. Other figures are partly animal and partly human. The whole picture or page represents creatures in the most grotesque attitudes, but all of them so strange and shadowy that we can scarcely tell whether they were intended to represent animals, human beings, or divinities, and yet they are in the midst of hieroglyphics which evidently tell the story of the past. (See Fig. 2.) There are also among the codices charts which contain trees in the form of crosses, with flowers at the end of the branches. Above the trees are birds of different kinds, while below may' be seen the jaws of serpents and other strange figures. Repre- Fig. J. — TAe Tree of Life Transformed . sentatives of all the different orders of creation are mingled together in a strange way, and yet make symbols which repre- sent periods of time and convey religious thoughts. It appears from this, that all the different kingdoms of nature are combined together and symbolized; the sky above, by the birds; the earth, by the plants and flowers; the realms below, by the dragons' or serpents' heads. The four seasons were also represented by the four trees; the four directions, or cardinal points, by the branches of the trees. There were many religious ceremonies, also among the partially civilized tribes, which depended upon this element of transformation for their effect, and there are even temples and palaces which present strange figures in their interior, in the shape of crosses surmounted by birds, with a human form on either side, and contorted animals below them; the whole TRANSFORMA TION MYTHS. 255 symbolizing the Nature powers, and at the same time forming objects of worship. . In studying ths symbols which are thus brought together in the calendars and codices we will find that nothing appears separate and distinct, for all the realms of nature are united; the Nature powers being generally represented by human creatures. It is remarkable that symbolism should have been carried so far by these partially-civilized peoples, but it must be remembered that pictographs and symbols took the place -of writing. The pictographs were historical records, but these charts were calendars, from which the priests and learned men reckoned the time. The employments of the people, as well as their religious ceremonies, were regulated by the priests, Fig. 4 — 77^1? Tree of Life Transformed, who studied these calendars and their symbols, and it is sup- posed by some that the astronomical events and long periods of time were recorded by them. The codices contain the best specimens of transformation, for in these the divinities are represented, generally by human figures in such a way that their sphere of action and character are plainly indicated. The transformation is not so apparent at first, yet the more we Study the codices and calendars, the more we realize that all the realms of creation are represented in them, but are strangely blended and interchanged: It will be noticed that there are below the figures of the trees twenty different symbols, consisting of birds, animals, minerals, reptiles, house, &c. These are grouped so as to re- present the twenty days of the month divided into four weeks of five days each. We find in these symbols and the accom- 256 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM, panying pictographs, a chart which gires to us a pretty correct idea of the calendar which prevailed among the Mayas. It was, however, the religious sentiment that gave signifi- cance to the symbols, for this threw a mysterious air over all the realms of creation, and mingled the natural with the super- natural. The study of the symbols convince us that the same 'general principles which were embodied in the ceremonies and in the relics of the wild tribes were brought together in a small compass and presented to the eye by the mute symbols, which required close study to understand and interpret. Interesting specimens of this transformation maybe found in Nicaragua, for here we see idols, finished in the round but in singular attitudes, while upon their shoulders and above their heads may be seen the great jaws of crocodiles; and again other figures, with a semblance of bears, yet having human forms. This element of transformation appears even in the codices and sacred writings of the Mayas, for in them we sec rows of hieroglyphics, but between the rows are nondescript creatures, dressed with varied costumes and assuming different attitudes, but upon their heads they wear ornaments which are in reality symbols. Their faces are very unnatural, for, while they have the eyes, nose, and mouth of human beings, there can be seen the serpent fangs and tongues and other strange symbols which transformed them into human beings. This element of transformation seems to have had effect upon the architecture of the region, for nearly all the palaces have facades on which are sculptured figures of plumed ser- pents, and above them are seated figures with glaring eyes and hooked noses, generally called the manitou face, and many barbaric ornaments, which can only be understood and ex- plained by the mythology which prevailed. We may say that the religious ceremonies, the mythologies, and the symbols of all the tribes cannot be understood, unless we take this element of transformation into account. By its aid, however, we may trace the connection between the different tribes and races, and learn that there was a mass of symbolism which was trans- mitted from the past. Discoveries are being made which'show the prevalence of this system. Even the best specimens of art seem to have been affected by it. The beautiful urns which have been recently exhumed in Nicaragua, are now in the possession of the Museum of Natural History of New York. It is worthy of notice that among the tribes of the North- west coast the chief divinity was called the " Transformer." Such, too, was the real character of the divinities of the Nava- joes, the Zunis, and the various Pueblo tribes. As to the divinities of the Mound-Building tribes, we are not so sure; yet the relics indicate that the chief trait was this power of transformation. This is illustrated by the copper plate, especially by the wings and the beak on TRA NSFORMA TION M YTHS. 257 the same. There were also taken from the same mound certain copper objects, which were evidently designed for ornaments of a head-dress. These, though made of copper, have the same shape as the so-called banner stones. We now come to the explanation of these figures, which is really the object of this chapter. This will be gained by the study of other fignres, especially the myths connected with them. It was a strange conception among nearly all of the North American tribes that there were no lines which could keep apart the natural and the supernatural, the human and the divine, for all things were blended together in a shadowy way, and were easily transformed, as if seen in a dream. As in looking into the fog which sweeps into the shore, the divisions between the sky and sea and solid land are dimly blended and obscure, and even those objects which have a definite shape seem to be mon- strous in their size, and fill one with awe because of their strange appearance, so to the eye of superstition there was no separation between the different realms of creation, no distance between the divine and human beings, but all were mingled together in one common realm, the superstition of the people doing away with the distinction between the substance and shadow, form and spirit, the feeling of awe and the sense of worship being aroused by every- thing that was strange or that excited their wonder. The divini- ties could assume the shape of animals or birds and nondescript creatures, and appear in any of the elements — the earth, air and water. They were all equivalent to the nature powers, and em- bodied in their strange forms the different forces of the sky. They could assume the human form and make that the highest manifestation of their presence. They were always supernatural, but made the natural objects subject to their power and so made their presence known. Stars came to earth and dwelt among men, men and women were changed to stars and dwelt in the skies; serpents came out of the water and married women; women changed to serpents and followed their lovers into the water; birds swept down the mountains and across the lakes, and changed to feathered serpents; serpents were carried up to the clouds and shot as lightning from the skies; great monsters appeared upon the earth and devoured men for food, but the monsters became stones and their bones were seen upon the shore; forests changed to shadows and through them invisible spirits made their way. Such was the power of transformation that even the spirit world became as substantial as the material, the material itself became ethereal, which was constantly sug- gesting the presence of the divinities. The mythology of the aborigines was full of these strange stories of transformation, and owes its beauty in part to the fact that it had to do with the realms of the spirit. There was all the play of fancy which is possible to poetry, and all the charm that is contained in the fairy 258 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. stories, but the thought was controlled by the spirit of devotion and the myths were of a dreamy and shadowy character, and have a peculiar charm which is found no where else in literature. Now it is to this transformation element in the myths and symbols that we are to call attention, for this is the clue by which we are to interpret the various figures which are brought before us, and especially those which represent the human form in combination with the various parts of birds and beasts and other creatures. These figures may well be studied, for they contain within themselves many of the myths which were preva- lent in prehistoric times, and so may be regarded as " myth- bearers" to the historic days. They are to be compared with the masked figures which are recognized in the various dances, for they probably represent the same conceptions, namely, that human beings could be easily changed into ani- mals and birds and that the totems of the clans could thus be brought near, and the divinities appeased and the prayers be granted, the drama- tization of the prayers being perhaps embodied in the figures as well as in the dances, the relics thus serving the same purpose as the "sand- paintings" and the carved columns, the transforma- tion element being con- tained in all alike. We have spoken of a few of these, but have Fig. 5.-8erpent and Human Face. confined OUrselveS tO the winged figures and to the human images which were inscribed upon copper plates and shell gorgets taken from the mounds, but there are many other specimens scattered over the different parts of the continent, and many means of representing them. These miy all be called "mythologic creatures," for they embody the myths of the prehistoric races, but they need to be studied with this thought in mind, for they are so varied and contain so many strange conceptions that were it not for the transformation cle- ment we should be utterly bafifled in our effort to interpret their meaning or to understand their object. We shall therefore call attention to the transformation cult as it is presented in the various localities, and to the different figures in which it is man- ifested throughout the land. The following may be taken as a TRANSFORMA TION MYTHS. 259 list of the objects which have perpetuated the cult and which have been chosen as the means of representing it to the eye: (l) Figures seen in the rock inscriptions; (2) effigy mounds; (3) carved posts; (4) masks and helmets used in dances; (5) painted figures and personal decorations and the attitude of dancers; (6) the images which were used in religious ceremonials; (7) the figures inscribed upon the shell or copper plates, stone tablets, carved pipes and pottery vessels found in the mounds; (8) the figures which were painted or carved upon the houses; (9) the figures which were wrought in stucco and placed in the shrines; (10) carved stone figures, made to ornament the fagades of the palaces; (11) statues in stone and wood, made to represent the sun divinities; (12) the figures which are portrayed by the codices and ancient calendars of the civilized tribes. It will be noticed that the figures are numerous and widely scattered. Such is the variety and distribution of these va- rious figures that we are constantly reminded of the great store of myth- ology which was formerly prevalent, but which is passing away. These "mythologic creatures" often baffle in- terpretation and are very mysterious, and the symbols which contain them are often difficult to understand. Yet the more we study the mythologies of the people and compare these with the figures which come before the eye, the better are we able to identify the ^^ myths in the symbols and the more ^^"' meaning do we find — that which was a sealed book becomes eloquent with a hidden sense, and beauties which were unobserved are brought before us to awaken our admira- tion and surprise.* The best aid, however, to the interpretation of the mythologic creatures is the one which is furnished by the so-called "transformation myths." We shall therefore reier to these, taking the pictographs and the myths as the double key, or rather as the lock and key, by which we may open the door to the inner chamber of the various religious systems. I . Let us consider the transformation of the creator into animals. This was a common superstition among the partially civilized. Fig. 6.— Pottery Idol. *One of the most important aids in this work is the volume which has recently been published by the Ethnological Bureau and which describes the Picture Writing of the American Indians (see Tenth Annual Report of Bureau of Ethnology). The author. Col. Garrick Mallery, makes no attempt to identify any of the mythologic divinities in these figures and briefly refers to the symbols contained in them, yet from the study of the rude drawings or engravings in the volume we may follow on from one figure to another and trace the general resemblance between them and then apply the myths already known until we have made out a tolerably satisfactory system. 260 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. tribes. The idea of the Creator with them was that he was a "transformer" or "changer." He was called "the master of life," "the holder of the heavens," "the old man of the ancients," "the god of beasts and men," and was regarded as a person having supernatural power, but was pictured as an animal or bird, though endowed with human attributes. The animal varied according to the locality. Among the eastern tribes it was the rabbit; among the tribes on the Pacific coast it was the coyote; among the tribes of the interior, the Moquis, it was the mountain lion or bear; among the tribes on the gulf coast, the eagle; in the southwest, among the civilized tribes, the tiger and the feather- headed serpent that represented the creator and the culture hero. The divinity, however, rarely retained any ani- mal semblance long at a time, for he was con- stantly changing into other animals and into the human form, and at times was without form except as the elements, such as the lightning, the clouds, the rain obeyed his be- hests and became the sign of his power. The myths abound with stories of his adventures and he always comes before us as a person having human frailties and resembles Zeus, the chief god of the Greeks, in this respect. He was unlike Zeus, however, in that he could leave his Olympus and his position as the "chief of gods and men" and become an ani- mal and act like other animals — proving to be the "god of beasts as well as men." The power of transforming himself into any object of nature was also enjoyed by each one of the culture heroes and creators. To illustrate, let us take the stories of Glooskap, the chief god of the Abenakis. He was able to transform everything at his will. One story is that there were stone giants; these were ravenous cannibals, but they were changed to stones, which can be seen in various places. An army of these giants ran across the river at Niagara, just below the falls, but they were changed to stones, which are still to be seen. The story is told of the great magician, called Kitpoosegenow, that he changed the rocks on the sea coast into canoes and the smaller rocks into paddles and a long splinter, taken from a ledge, into a spear. He changed a nian into a pine tree, which became exceedingly tall, so that his head rose above the forest. One who enters a pine forest and listens may hear the tree murmuring all day long. He took the great bird calltd the " wind-blower," — '' Woochozvscn'' — who lived far to the north and sits upon a great rock and makes the wind by the moving nf its wings, tied both his wings and threw him into a chaMii, ;ind there was a dead calm for many weeks. He after- Big. 7 .— I dol from the West Indies. TRA NSFORMA TION M YTHS. 261 ward loosened one of his wings and then the winds blew but as if with a broken wing. Glooskap had two dogs which barked at night and filled the forest with their echoes. One was the coyote and the other the loon, the voices of both these creatures being very weird and ghost-like. The Iroquois also have many myths about their "master of life" or "holder of heaven," who is called loskeha and who re- sembled Glooskap, the Abenaki god. He was pictured as a giant rabbit, but was a great magician and a wonderful "transformer."* He was able to change himself into any animal and could change other animals into new. One of his greatest adventures was that he caught themischievious sprite Pauppukeewis,who eluded him by jumping from continent to continent, and changed him into a war eagle. He overcame also the "prince of the serpents," and finally himself became the great lawgiver Hiawatha. They hold also that Hiawatha himself was changed. After terminat- ing his mission upon the earth he took his magic canoe and sailed away to the skies. A modern story is that the Atotarho, the enemy of Hiawatha, was changed from a horrid monster into a quiet man by a series of prayers. There are many stories of the transformation of culture heroes and divinities into serpents. We have elswhere told the story of Manibozho, the Algonkin di- vinity, and have given a cut to illustrate it — the cut of the pipe with the tree and serpent and human face.* There is a legend of the transformation of the great FUj.s-Haiaa Cawing. creator into a serpent still extant among the Hopis or Moquis. The figure given herewith (see Fig. 5) is that of a water pitcher or cooler from Peru. It represents a serpent and human face combined, and reminds us of the idols which were so common in Guatemala. No tradition is connected with it, and yet it may represent the same superstition The myths of the northwest coastf among the tribes of the Klamaths, Thlinkeets, Haidahs, illustrate this superstition very clearly. Among the Klamaths the creator of the world is (Kmukamtch) the "old man of the ancients," the "primeval old man," equivalent to old man above, or the chief in the skies of California. He was as great a deceiver and trickster as Gloos- kap was. He is the culture hero of his people. He did not make the world by one act, but made the lakes, islands, prairies and mountains, one after the other, and gave a name to each. He created the rocks shaped like a crescent, because the sun *See Chapter XVI, p. 377. tSee American Antiquarian, Vol. 6; article by Rev. M. Eells. See the Klamath Indian of SouthvTcstern Oregon, by A. S. Gatschet, page LXXIX. 262 .VA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. and moon once lived there. He was changed into a rock, which stands in the Williamson River. He travels in the path of the sun till he reaches the zenith, where he builds a palace and lives there with his daughter. The second in importance is the son ot the creator, called Aishish, who has great personal beauty. He is the genius of the morning star, or the rainbow, or the moon, and personifies the atmospheric changes. The moon is his campfire. The moon, seen through the pine trees, is the shadow of the famished Aishish. As the moon brings the months and the seasons, so the quadrupeds and birds which appear after the long winter months are considered his wives, and the flowers of summer vegetation are the beads of his garments. He is called the time measurer, the one that tells the time. As the revolutions of the moon bring the weeks and months, so the measuring of time was ascribed to Aishish, the moon god. The elementary deities are mysterious shadowy beings. The thunders are five brothers, the interior of whose lodge is dark, as the sky obscured by a thunder-storm, but their terrible weapon is the lightning, or thunderbolt. They are five, because the thunder rolls along the mountains in repeated peals. 2. The power of transforming other creatures was sometimes delegated to the medicine men and individuals. Among the wild tribes this power became almost equivalent to magic, and gave great influence to the sorcerers, for the superstition was that they had control over the elements and were in constant communica- tion with the supernatural. We can hardly appreciate this influence unless we take into the account this element of trans- formation. The barriers between the ghost world and the spirit of man were so broken down that superstition of the people was easily played upon, and they -were made to believe that super- natural leings were actually present. Even among the more cultivated tribes there was a dramatization of the nature powers under the semblance of serpents and other figures, the transforma- tion of the elements into animal forms being in the hands of the priests. The sand paintings owed their magic power in curing the sick to this thought. When the colors of the sky were used the sky spirits or sky divinities were actually present. The tracking of the disease into the various parts of the body and using the power of magic in the presence of the sky divinities was sufficient to effect marvelous cures in many cases. The superstition about the soul being able to pass through the mountains and into the rocks and to change its form, to leave the body and to take it up again, was also owing to the "trans- formation" elements, which so ruled the fancies of the people who dwelt among the mountains. We may say of all these different kinds of transformation, that they were based upon the thought that the human was the highest form of being, yet the human must become animal in TRANSFORMA HON MYTHS. 263 order to hold communion with the divine. This was the case, especially where totemism prevailed.* This power of transformation also came upon individuals on special occasions, especially in ceremonial dances. It was a gift enjoyed by a few favored individuals in their childhooJ. These were looked upon with peculiar awe, as if they were great manitous. An excellent illustration of this may be found in the account which has already been given of the dance seen by Cat- lin, called the buffalo dance.f This dance preceded the initiation of warriors, and was very suggestive of the transformation ele- ment. Examination of the plates will show this. In them it will be seen that the dancers wore the horns and skins of buffalos, but various persons have the forms of bears and antelopes and of buzzards or vultures. These surround the "medicine lodge," while others, with their bodies painted to represent the day and the night, appear among the dancers, all the animal gods and the sky gods being personified, and the myth of the creation and the flood being dramatized in the dance. :|: We have the testimony on this point of Professor William- son, a son of a missionary among the Dakotas, who often witnessed in his boyhood the dance called the medicine dance. He says: "The celebrated ghost dance, so-called, of the Dakotas o^ the Pine Ridge agency perpetuates one of its old forms — an old craze under a new name. In my boyhood I often wit- nessed this dance, usually called the medicine dance, although in particular forms it was called the sun dance. The ghost is only another name for the latter form. The dance I best remem- ber was held in Kaposia. (South St. Paul), about the summer of 1849. Its chief object was the initiation of new members into a secret society, the Waukau order, into which only favored indi- viduals were admitted. Members came from many other bands. They stated that, in some of these dances, the dancers actually became, for the time, by transmigration of souls, the very ani- mals they worshiped, and involuntarily and necessarily they imitated them; they acted not as men, but as these animals, while under the spell. The buffalo and deer ate grass, panthers, wolves, bears and foxes raced and quarreled over the small anmials and fishes brought into the enclosure for the purpose, tearing them with their teeth, and eating them raw. At an-other time some malignant spirit, it was supposed, took possession of the one to ♦See Charles Leland's Algonkin Legends, Micmac Indian Legends, by Rev.S. T. Rand. tSec Chapter on Sky Worship, pp. 142-4. Also Water Cult. p. 231. jCatlin has als' described a dance of the Mandans called the bear dance which was in reality a dramatization of a prayer. He says, •'Many in the dance wore masks on their faces made ot the skins from the bear's head, and all with the motion of their hands closely imitated the movements ot the animal, some representing its motion in running, some its peculiar attitudes and hanging of its paws when it was sitting upon its hind part and look- ing out tor the approach ofan enemy." The same was true also of the buffalo dance for in this the dancers wore the head and horns of the buffalo and also imitated the motions of the buffalo when they were hunted. The women in both these join in a peculiar song to the bear or buffalo spirit which must be consulted and conciliated beforesuccess can be gained. See Catlin's Indians, Vol. i, p. 246. 26i NA TIVE A MERICA N SYMBOLISM. be initiated, and he must be exorcised and destroyed, so the dancers, with guns and bows and arrows, were ready to shoot the evil spirit as soon as the signal was given. Whatever the object of worship, whether animal or bird, tree or stone, they were always careful to state that it was not the object itself, but the Waukau, the god that was accustomed to haunt the object, which they worshipped. In some cases the soul of a departed ancestor had entered into the animal, and they worshiped that. They stated that the gods not only haunted the animals, but in an especial manner were present in the pictographs and images which represented the animals and which were used in the dances. They also spoke of particular localities in which they fancied a natural resemblance to some object, either animal or other form, and therefore in an especial sense the seat of the god or spirit of that animal. If the god could dwell in a little picto- graph, how much more potently might he be expected to present himself in an immense effigy. In the days of the full sway of superstition not only the members ot the Waukau society, but the whole people were under the domination of the leaders, ready to do anything that might be demanded, and all that was neces- sary was for some leader of the Waukau to command the people to build the effigies and they were sure to be erected." 3. The superstition that the divinity was transformed into various objects in nature, making them "myth-bearers," was common. Many illustrations of this have become familiar to the author from frequent observation of the effigy mounds. It was the cus- tom of the native tribes throughout the Mississippi valley to erect effigies of various animals, especially serpents, upon the cliffs and hill-tops, with the purpose of bringing out the resemblance which had been recognized in the shape of the hill. In this way the hill was transformed into an animal effigy and it was shown that the spirit ot the animal actually haunted the hill. This, how- ever, was the same superstition which recognized the shape of the animals in the rocks and rivers and trees, and which affixed a myth to these objects to account for the resemblance. The work of art in the case of the effigies, the rock mscriptions, and the standing stones, was only designed to bring out the thought the more clearly, but the eye of superstition was always ready to recognize the resemblance. Various authors have spoken of this. Col. Garrick Mallery says: *Tn many parts of the United States and Canada rocks and large stones are found decorated with paint, which were regarded as possessing supernatural power, yet not directly connected with any special personage of Indian mythology. One such was seen by LaSalle's party in 1669 on the Detroit River. All the Indians of the region be- lieved that the rock image would give safety in the passage of the lake." He also says that in Nova Scotia there is a class of incised figures illustrating the religious myths and folklore of TRA NSFORMA TlOy M YTHS. 265 the Indian tribes. One of them indicates an episode of an ad- venture of Glooskap, the hero-god of the Abenakis. The story is that the fox, who was Glooskap's friend, through his magic power heard the song of Glooskap miles away, beyond forests and mountains, and came to his rescue. Another pictograph refers to the story of Atosis, the snake, who appeared out of the surface of a lake as a young hunter, with a large shining silver plate on his heart, covered with white brooches as thick as a fish is covered with scales. This snake, which had such wonderful powers of transformation, married an Indian girl and took her to dwell with him beneath the lake. There is a variation of the same story among the Iroquois, but this time it is the wife which appears above the water. The story runs that a young hunter was seekmg for his friend who had been lost. He met eight chiefs, who wore white plumes on their heads and who dwelt in eight tents by the side of the lakes. These chiefs called up the snake-woman. The lake boiled, great waves rolled upon the shore, and the serpent's wife came out of the water, shining like silver and very beautiful, her long hair hang- ing around her as if it had been gold. The snake woman disappeared, and then the chiefs swept in the form of a white cloud across the water. It was the cloud in the lake and not in the sky. Thus the conception of the natives transformed the objects of nature into living beings, and invented beautiful myths to account for them. The pictographs are oftentimes nothing more than the mnemonic reminders of the myths. In West Virginia there are rock sculptures in which are ser- pents, death-heads, animal figures, birds, human hands and various other designs, undoubtedly designed to represent the animals which were subject tu the power of the medicine man. These inscriptions are on the walls of a shelter cave, which was proba- bly once used as a shrine or medicine lodge. They show the communion which the medicine men had with the different species of animals and the superstition felt towards the pictures or figures of these animals wherever seen. The fabulous crea- ture called the Piasa, which was seen by Marquette on the rocks near Alton, lilmois; was another of these myth-bearers, which embodied in themselves the element of transformation, the very grotesqueness of the figure and the variety of its parts, the horns of the deer, the head of the tiger, the scales of the fish, the feet of the panther, the tail of the wildcat, showing the shapes which this Caliban might assume. Many such creatures may be seen J'^ff 9 - Figures in a Cace in West Virginia. 266 NA Tl VE A ME RICA N S YMBOLJSM. upon the rocks, but they only perpetuate the myths which have prevailed. The Dakotas were remarkable for their manner of representing their divinities under animal forms. They picture the ancestors of the Hanga as a giant buffalo moving under the water. They also picture the chief god as a thunder bird resting on the rocks. The anti-natural god they picture as a man car- rying a bow in his hands. Mrs. Eastman has given a drawing of this. In this the giant is seen using the frog tor an arrow point. He is surrounded with lightnings. He has different animals, the bear, deer, elk, buffalo; also meteors. His court, or house, is ornamented with down. He has a whistle and rattle, bow and arrow, and other objects in his hands. There are many other illustrations of this peculiar superstition that the spirit of the Divinity was transferred to the images which are presented in the different localities. This superstition was not confined to the figures of animals, but was also attached to every object which resembled the human form, and was espe- cially strong toward those objects which contained the human and the animal semblance in combination. This will explain the existence of the idol called the bear idol. In this the bear's head and skin covers the human face and form, but the mask in the shape of the human face hanging in tront is a peculiar sign of the transformation process.* It also explains the meaning of the various figures of birds, with human heads and animal claws, which are so common on the northwest coast, as well as those remarkable idols in Guatemala, in which human forms are covered with massive and gigantic tigers. In fact, it is to this idea of transformation which explains nearly all the nondescript creatures which have been seen in the various parts of the continent, and which makes them so sug- gestive and significant of the divinities which were worshiped. Schoolcraft, Catlin and others have spoken of the animal figures which are depicted in the Mida songs and charts, to which peculiar significance was given. They have also described the transformation, which was supposed to take place in the various dances and dramatizations. But it is to later writers, such as Mr. Walter Fewkes, Mr. Frank Gushing, and Drs. Brinton and Mathews, that we are indebted for a knowledge of the deeper significance which was given to many of them, and especially to the occultic and divinatory power. There were several classes of animal figures in which the transformation element was contained, some of them being totemic, others mythologic, others fetichistic, others occultic or divinatory, and still others largely anthropomorphic. The class to which they belonged is made known by the preponderance of one or another element, the totemic prevailing mainly in the •See Chapter on Personal Divinities, p. 383, 304, Fig. 2, Bear idol. TRANSFORM A TION M YTHS 267 hunter tribes of the ease, the mytholos^ic among the fishing tribes of the northwest coast, the fetichistic among the village tribes of the interior, the anthropomorphic among the civilized tribes of the southwest, and the divinatory especially among the ancient Maya race. Different classes are iound in each locality, but one class predominates in one region and another in another, so that we are never at a loss to decide as to the form which the myth- ology has assumed, or to understand the peculiar significance which the figures may possess. We have given charts and cuts taken from, the works of various authors to illustrate these different symbols, but have not undertaken to describe them all. Yet the reader can easily dis- tinguish between them and readily recognize the peculiarities of each cult from the various representations of it which are thus offered, the totemic always being the simpler figure, but the mythologic and occultic being the more complicated and con- ventional. 4. The transformation of the nature powers into birds and of birds into human beings, who were warriors and heroes, was also common. There was a reason for using the bird as a sym- bol of the nature powers and for making it a myth-bearer, for it was very suggestive in its habits and shape of the sky divini- ties, and so was likely to be taken as a representative of the thunder-cloud, and the personal divinity who made the thunder. Various authors have noticed this. Dr. Brinton says: "Beyond all others, two subdivisions of the animal kingdom have so riveted the attention of men by their unusual powers, and enter so frequently into the myths of every nation of the globe, that a right understanding of their symbolic value is an essential preliminary to a discussion of the divine legends. These are the bird and the serpent. We shall not go amiss if we seek the reasons for their pre-eminence in the facility with which their peculiarities offered sensuous images under which to carry the idea of divinity, ever present in the. soul of man, ever striving at articulate expression. The bird has the incomprehensible power of flight, it floats in the atmosphere, it rides on the winds, it soars toward heaven, where dwell the gods; its plumage is stained with the hues of the rainbow and the sun- set; its song was man's first hint of music; it spurns the clods that impede his footsteps and flies proudly over the mountains and moors where he toils wearily along. He sees no more enviable creation; he conceives the gods and angels must also have wings, and pleases himself with the fancy that he, too, some day will shake oft this coil of clay and rise on pinions to the heavenly mansions. All living beings, say the Eskimos, have the faculty of the soul, but especially birds. As messengers from the upper world and interpreters of its decrees, the flight and the note of the birds have ever been anxiously observed as 268 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. omens of grave import. In Peru and in Mexico there was a College of Augurs, corresponding in purpose to the horuspices ot ancient Rome, who practiced no other means of divination than watching the course and professing to interpret the songs of fowls." "But the usual meaning of the bird as a symbol looks to a different analogy to that which appears in such familiar expres- sions as 'the wings of the wind,' 'the flying clouds.' Like the wind, the bird sweeps through the aerial spaces, sings in the forests, and rustles on its course; like the cloud, it floats in mid- air and casts its shadow on the earth; like the lightning, it darts from heaven to earth to strike its unsuspecting prey. Therefore the Algonkins say that birds always make the winds, that they create the water-spouts, '•"v^^ and that the clouds are the spreading and agita- tion of their wings; the Navajoes, that at each cardinal point stands a white swan, who is the spirit ot the blasts which blow from its dwelling; and the Dakotas, that in the west is the house of Wakinyan, the Flyers, the breezes that send the storms." "As the symbol of these august powers, as the messengers of the gods, and as the embodiment of departed spirits, no one will be surprised if they find the bird figure most prominently in the myths of the red race. Sometimes some particular species seem to have.been chosen as most befitting those dignified attitudes. The great American eagle is the bird beyond all others which is chosen to typify supreme control. Its feathers composed the war flag of the Creeks, and its images carved in wood, or its stuffed skin surmounted their council lodges. None but an approved warrior dare wear it among the Cherokees, and the Dakotas allowed such an honor only to him who had first touched the corpse of the common foe. The Natchez and Arkansas seem to have paid it even religious honors, and to have installed it in their most sacred shrines; and very clearly it was not so much for ornament as for a mark of dignity and a recognized sign of worth that its plumes were so highly praised."* These remarks are very suggestive, and yet much more might I<\g. 10.— Fighting Figures from the Mounds. *See Myths of the New World, p. 105. TRANSFORM A2 ION MYTHS. 269 be said about the bird as a "myth- bearer." It would seem that the aborigines were all very imaginative in their worship, and that they looked upon the powers of nature as if they vrere full of the activities of the supernatural beings, and so represented them under the figures of birds and other active creatures of the sky. There is no class of myths which is more expressive than the one which has regard to the bird, and none more widely distributed than this. The figure of the bird is, in fact, conven- tionalized and made to serve as a symbol in every part of the land — being drawn in the pictographs of the wild tribes of the north, inscribed upon the tablets and gorgets of the Mound- builders, painted upon the shields and ornaments of the Cliff- dwellers, carved into the stucco tablets of the civilized races and placed within their shrines as an object of adoration, and yet it always signifies the same thing, namely, the transformation of the sky god into a personality which has assumed the bird-like shape. Illustra- tions of this are abundant, in fact, too numerous to even mention, so we select from widely scattered regions. Amonp the Alaskans the thunder is caused b\ an immense bird, whose size darkens th( heavens, whose body is a thunder-cloud, the flapping of whose wings causes tht thunder, and the bolts ot fire which i' sends out of its mouth are the lightninc: Rev. M. Eells says: "The Twanas and some other northwest tribes invest thr animal with a two fold character, human and bird-like. According to them the being is supposed to be a gigantic Indian named in the dialects of the various coast tribes, Klamaths, Thlin- keets and Tinnehs. He lives in the highest mountains, and his food consists of whales. When he wants food he puts on a great garment which is made of a bird's head, a pair of very large wings, and a feather covering his body, and around his waist he has the lightning fish, which slightly resembles the sea horse. The animal has a head as sharp as a knife, and a red tongue, v/hich makes the fire. He then flies forth, and when he sees a whale he darts the lightning fish into its body, which he then seizes and carries to his home. Occasionally, however, he strikes a tree, and more seldom a man. The same thought of the thunder-bird prevails among the eastern tribes. According to Mr. J. Walter Fewkes, there were, among the Passamaquoddies, men who were able to pass through the rocks. They went to their wigwams and put on wings and took their bows and arrows and flew over the mountains to the south. They could not get home because the bird Woochowsen Fig. 11.— Wasco and Yell. 270 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. blew so hard that they could make no progress against it. This bird was the north wind, which Glooskap was said to have caught and tied. Thus the thunder-bird was here an Indian, as in the northwest coast. The lightning from him never strikes one of his kind.* The legend of the "thunderers" prevailed among the Hurons. The story is that a youth in the forest heard a murmur of voices behind him. He turned and saw three men clad in strange, cloud-like garments. "Who are you ?" he asked. They told hini that they were the thunder, their mission was to keep the earth, in order to bring rain, destroy serpents. The great deity, Hamen diju, had given them authority to watch over the people to see that no harm came to them. They gave him a dress like that which they wore, a cloud-like robe, having wings on the shoulders, and told him how they were to be moved. They said, we will leave the cloud dress with you. Every spring, when we return, you can put it on and fly with us to be witness to what we do for the good of man. In the spring the thunderers returned and he took the robe and flew with them in the clouds over the earth. This young man learned from his divine friends the secret, which he communicated to two persons in each tribe. From' him came the power of making rain, which was trans- mitted.! _ , ... The Pawnees hold that Tirawa is the great creator, who lives up in the sky. Attius lives upon the earth. The wild animals are the servants of Attius. They are called Nahumac. They personify the various attributes of Attius, but have the power of chancring from an animal's shape to that of man. The black and the white-headed eagle and the buzzard are the messengers of this Attius. The four cardinal points were respected by the Pawnees, and so they blow four smokes — first to Attius, then to the earth, and last of all to the cardinal points. They sacrifice to the thunderer in the spring-time X Among the Omahas there was a society which had a peculiar regalia. *They cut their hair so as to make it resemble the crow and trimmed it with crow-feathers; they blackened their faces, and on their backs had white spots, to make them emblematic ot the thunder-clouds and their destructive power in their advance over the heavens. Even so the warrior, as he approaches his enemy, deals his death-darts. The thunder bird among the Klamath Indians is the raven, but it was able to transform itself into many other animals. Gatschet says, the earth (Kaila) is regarded as a mysterious shadowy power, who deals out gifts to her children. Her eyes are lakes and ponds scattered over the green surface, her breasts V^SS^^^'^ C^^^S ^^rS.^ Al^^g^Son the tent. $See Journal of American Folklore. Vol. VI, No. 21. TRA NSFORMA 1 ION M YTHS. 271 the hills and hillocks. The rivulets and brooks irrigate the valleys. Besides the earth there is the genius of the under world (Munatalkni) and the ghosts which represent the souls of animals and spirits of mountains, winds and celestial bodies. The common belief is that after death the soul travels the path of the sun to the west, there joins in the spirit land the in- numerable souls which have gone that way before. The shooting stars are regarded as the spirits of the great chief whose heart can be seen going west, and the polar lights are supposed to represent the dance of the dead. The prairie wolf is the animal which represents the creator and culture hero of all the tribes of the northwest coast. His doleful, human-like cries heard during moonlight nights set him up in the esteem of the Indians. He Pig. 12 —Bird, Sun and Human Figure. appears in sun and moon stories as running a race with the clouds. He always attends another person, his shadow going by his side, and so is double; but the raven is the chief subject of their mythology.* The Moquis also have pictographs of a great bird on the rocks near their village. In this pictograph is the symbol of the face of the sun, also the symbol of the dome of the sky with zigzag lightning, four heads of serpents and a frog. And another picto- graph of a mythologic bird with feathers like crest, eight small circles. This is called Knetugui, the war bird. The god of the earth among the Moquis is a god of metamorphosis. He is the deity who controls growth.f Another good representation of the metamorphic thunder-bird is the one which is depicted on the shield of the priest of the ♦Journal of American Folk-lore. Vol. 5, No. 17. p. iS**- t.\merican Anthropologist, Vol. W, No' i, p. 16. 272 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. bow. In this shield we find the human form with the wings made from knife-bladed feathers. The lightning serpent beneath his feet, the human rainbow spanning like an arch above his head, a bear on either side.* The conventionalized terraced cap or mask with the feathers crowning the turrets or peaks also symbolizes the clouds and the sky and the thunder as does the bird itself The thunder bird is also seen among the symbols of the ancient Mayas. Here it is associated with the cross, which is a symbol of the wind, and has many ornaments attached to it, the idea of transformation being suggested by the bird being headless. The best illustration of the bird as undergoing transformation and carrying the semblance of a human being is the one which was seen by M. Habel sculptured on the stones in Cosumala-huapa. See Fi"-. 12. Here the bird has the flaming sun on his breast, a human arm projecting from its side with claws instead of a hand. It seems to be a bird of the sky and of the earth and at the same time human. No explanation of this figure has been given, yet the probability is that it symbolized the transformation of the bird into the sun and of the sun into a human being, the sculptor retainmg all the symbols, as the combination would the better express1:he thought. It was not a mere fancy that led to the drawing of a mythologic figure by a native artist, but, on the contrary, he was always controlled by a definite purpose and had in his mind the myth as it was told. His effort was to make the figure as graphic as possible. There came, at last, a conven- tionality in the manner of representing a myth, and so the figures which are found upon the various relics, such as the shell gorgets and copper plates of the Mound-Builders, the shields of the Cliff-dwellers and the sculptures of the civilized nations, have all the force of a sacred record. They show the progress of thought as well as of artistic skill, but at the same time show that the same religious conception ot transformation was retained through all the changes. 5. The transformation of the divinity into trees was another superstition which prevailed extensively among the aborigines of America, spf^cimens of the human tree being found in nearly all parts of the country. We may say that no symbol in Amer- ica is more interesting than is this, and none that more thor- oughly reminds us of the old world stories. These all may be mere coincidences, yet the analogies are certainly very striking and the figures are the more worthy of close and candid study on this account. We would, therefore, call attention to the different specimens of human trees. The superstition about the tree spirit was very common in Europe and was frequently sym- bolized by the early inhabitants, conveying the idea that there *In another figure we have the eagle with his wings spread, two serpents, their heads toward their wings, and a figure of a bear above the head of the eagle. TRANSFORMATION MYTHS. 273 was the same transformation myth there as here. The trans- formation myth also existed in Egypt, and was embodied in the story of Osiris and Isis and their various adventures, the spirit of life hidden in nature being personified in this way. We find also in Assyria and Chaldea that the tree of life or the sacred grove was set up in their temples, and priests were represented as presenting offerings to it as to a divinity. In fact, there is no land on either continent where there are not stories concerning the tree, and very few places where there is not the same con- ception that the tree spirit was a divinity or a personal being. We have already spoken of the tree and star contained in the Dakota pictograph and its resemblance to the Scandinavian tree of life, Igdrasil. There are relics, however, which suggest that the hu- man spirit was transformed into a tree, very much as the spirit of Osiris was buried in the pillar of the house of the king at Biblos. The Gest tablet is an illustration of this. This is made up of a variety of symbols, among which we may recognize the face and form of a man, but hidden in the semblance of a tree, the branches of which form the legs and arms, the leaves form the feet and hands, also the hair, nose and mouth, circles form the eye, the human face looking out from the net- work of leaves and branches as it sometimes does in the modern picture puzzle. It reminds us of the sacred proves or trees which were common ^ „ , == 1 /-I 1 1 c ^1. 4. Fig. 13.-Human Tree, Palenque. among the Chaldeans ot the east. Another tablet has also been discovered, which may perhaps embody the same conception, but in a modified form, for the lines upon the tablet seem to represent an animal head as hidden among the branches of the tree, instead of the human face, although the general form of the symbol is retained. These various tablets were taken from the mounds in the Ohio valley, and so suggest that the superstition about the tree spirits prevailed among that mysterious people. A similar fig- ure of a tree containing a human face is found in the tablet of the cross, at Palenque, usually called "Malar's cross." The pecu- liarity of this cross is that its arms are made up of the long leave's of corn, each of which, according to the photograph taken by Charnay-, contains a human face hidden away among the leaves. The standard of the cross is made up of a solid bar, which supports on its summit the consecrational form of the thunder-bird, but on the bar, at the junction of the arms, there 274 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. is a face with a peculiar bulging eye, and below the face a neck- lace with a medallion suspended to it hangs against the standard.* Another peculiarity is that two human figures clad in priestly robes stand on either side and present their offerings to the bird on its summit, exactly as they do in the two other tablets at Palenque; the same symbols also cover the bird and the human form. This cross was, like all the others, contained in a shrine or temple, which was evidently devoted to the worship ot a chief divinity, and may properly be regarded as representing the god of agriculture of the Mayas. It will be noticed that on the facade are two figures; on the head of one (the priest) there are leaves. I i! \ ■ Fig. 2.— Rain and Skg Symbol. Fig. S.—Zuni SainZand Cloud Symbol. After various ceremonies, such as lighting pipes and smoking a few puffs to the sun, repeating prayers and trumpeting to the water, pouring water, dipping the serpent's heads into the edge of the water, sprinkling meal, they again take up the effigies and ascend the mesa, go down to the kiva and thrust the struggling serpents through the screen which has upon it the sun symbols, making the serpent effigies dance to the measure of a song which is sung by a chorus. As the serpents were thrust through the sun disks in the screen and tsacred meal was placed before them, each dipped its head as if eating the meal. The life-like struggle of the serpent was imitated in a surprising manner. Before the screens were rows of sand cones, in which corn plants were inserted, making them resemble rows in a corn field. The serpents were made to dance over the cones. These repre- sented the rain-god as arising from the water, floating in a cloud and hovering over the corn fields. The dances which followed carried out the same thought. In these the men called disk-hurl- crs came out from the "corn mound" kiva and the "oak mound" kiva, and distributed baskets among the spectators. A " kiva ehief" planted a small spruce tree in the court and suspended 284 NA TIVE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. upon it?, boughs numerous ornaments, and at its base blue "prayer plumes." In the screen the four larger disks were called sun pic- tures and the two small ones moon pictures.* The panels on the upper part were surrounded with rainbows with lightning between each panel. The snake-like figures rising from the clouds are thunder bolts; the birds surmounting the conventional clouds represent the water birds; two figures in the center represent the divinities called sky-gods, or "the heart of the sky;" two fig- ures in the outer panels represent the female companions of these sky-gods. These were symbolic of the rain-god and his power over the winds, but there were many common articles used by the Zunis which represented the "world-quarters," rainbow and lightnmg. They sometimes decorated garments with the stepped figure, sym- Fiff. tt—Zuni Prayer-meal Bowl. bolizing the clouds, sometimes with scrolls, which symbolized the winds. These scrolls resemble the scrolls and circles made in the sands of the desert by the wind driving weed stalks or red top grass round and round, for they believe these sand marks are the tracks of the whirl-wind-god. They also decorate their pottery with circular spaces, which resemble the sun disk, and in the spaces draw figures in the form of stepped pyramids and other curious designs, always careful to leave open spaces or out- lets to each ornament. These "terraces m the sky horizons are the mythic" ancient sacred places of the spaces. W^SSi The stepped figure was perhaps the consequence of basket weaving, but became a symbol to the superstitious people. The lifted line of the mountain was a ladder to the regions of the sky-gods, which was heralded by the thunder-god at the rising and the setting sun, and so afforded a graphic symbol of the * No representation of the screen is given bu' the altar of the Mam-zrau Society seen in the plate contains the same symbols. See plate taken from Dr. Fevvkes' pamphlet. THE WORSHIP OF THE RAIN-OOD. 285 "sacred spaces." The figure when applied to the pottery by the supple hand of a Zuni woman, was believed to be endowed with a spirit which bore the title of "made being" ior whose ingress and exit the encircling lines were left open. (i.) The ancient Pueblo medicine jar also contains the symbols of the sky-gods and the rain, and other nature powers. There are circles and several spaces on this jar, and in these the "ancient place" ol the spaces, A; the region of the sky-gods, B; the cloud lines C. and the falling rain D. These are combined and de- picted to symbolize the storm, which was the object of the worship in the ceremonials to which the jar was an appurtenance.* See Figs, i, 2 and 3. (2.) Another symbol representing the rain, storm, cloud, and lightning is very common among the ancient Pueblos. It is woven into the garments and painted upon the pottery and is prominent in their sand paintings. It consists of three arches with a horizontal space below with a zig-zag arrow above, and perpendicular lines for the rain. See Fig. 3. (3.) The Zuni prayer-meal bowl illustrates this conception. The bowl is the emblem of the earth, — "our mother." (Fig. 4.) We draw food and drink from it. The rim of the bowl is round, but also terraced, as is the horizon, which is terraced with mountains whence rise the clouds. The handle of the bowl is also a symbol of the rainbow, as it is arched over the terraces and painted with the rainbow figure. The two terraces on either side of the handle represent the "ancient sacred spaces." The decorations of the bowl are significant. As the tadpole frequents the pool in spring-time it has been adopted as the symbol of the spring rains; the dragon fly hovers over pools in summer, and typifies the rains of summer; the frog maturing later symbolizes the rains of the later season; the feather-headed serpent also typifies the water and the rain. Sometimes the figure of the sacred butterfly replaces that of the dragon fly, which symbolizes the beneficence of summer, for the Zunis think that the butterflies and birds bring the warm season from the land of everlasting summer. It is a singular circumstance that a jar or vase has been found among the mounds which contains a figure of a plumed serpent which is furnished with wings, the lines on the wings being in the form of arches and those on the body being in the form of terraces or notched passages, the spaces being left open as they were on the Zuni pottery. Was this vase a specimen which was brought by some wandering Zuni into the Mound-builders' ter- ritory, or was it the product of the Mound-builders' skill, mak- ing the ornament represent the ancient myths which were ex- tant? It would seem as if the figure represented the "water *See Annual Report of Bureau of Ethnology. 1882 and 1883, article by Frank H. Cash- ing, p. 519, also Masks, Heads and Faces, by Ellen R. Emerson, p. 8. 286 NA21VE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. divinity" or the "rain spirit," though it is the only specimen where the serpent, which was always among the Mound-builders a water-god, is figured with wings and with step-lines. II. A rain ceremony occurs at the initiation of children. There was a tradition among the ancient Zunis that their ancestors migrated from a distant point, but on their way they were obliged to cross a stream, and in crossing the children fell into the stream and became transformed into frogs, ducks, water-spiders, snakes and butterflies, and were transferred to a kiva which was situ- ated under the water in a spirit lake. After their arrival in the village, certain supernatural messengers were sent to this village under the water, who found that the children were again trans- Fig. 5.— Butterfly, Dragonfly and Bird Symbols. formed into supernatural beings and had taken upon themselves the likeness of the chief divinities of the Zunis.* The children were alter that time worshiped as ancestral gods, and were called the Koko. They dwell in the depths of the lake, where are "waters of everlasting happiness," and are reached only by passing through the interior of the mountain by a passageway which has four chambers in it. The Koko repeat the prayers for rain, making their intercessions to the sun, Ya-totka, and by them the plume-sticks are sent to the same great god. The offerings of plumes to the sun are so numerous that at night the "Sacred Road" can be seen filled with the feathers, for the '"Soul of the Plumes" travels over the road just as the soul from the body travels from Zuni to the spirit lake. *The first divinities were Ko-ye-nie-shi, and Ko-mo-ket-si. They originally were a brother and sister, but were afterward transformed into supernatural beings which dwelt upon the mountains, the youth into a hideous-looking creature and the maiden into ajbeing with snow-white hair (probably personifications of the black storm-cloud and the fleecy rain-cloud). THE WORSHIP OF THE RAIN- GOD. 287 One of the most important characters in Zuni mythology, is called the Koklo, This divinity visited the spirit lake, where is the home of the Koko, and entered the kiva and viewed those assembled there, but found that the "plumed serpent," whose home is in a hot springy, was not there. He accordingly sent two of the Koko called Soo-ti-ki, for the plumed serpent Ko-lo- wit-si. They soon appeared, for they did not travel upon the earth but by the underground waters that passed from the spring to the spirit lake. Upon their arrival, the Kak-lo (tribal divinity) issued his commands, that certain of the "children-an- cestors," whom he designated as the Sa-la-no bi-ya, should go to the north, west, south, east, the heavens and the earth, to procure cereals for the Zuni, and ordered that the serpent should carry these with water to the Zunis. (Ashisi) and tell them what to do with the seeds. He then visited the Zunis, instructed the people regarding the children-ancestors and told them that the boys must be made members of the Koko society. Such is the myth which lies at the basis of the ceremony of initiation and which explains the different parts of it, but the true significance of the drama as a personified account of the rain god is better shown by the ceremony itself, for in these the actors both personate the gods and the operations of nature in the process of rain making. The first actor is the representative of the chief god, Koklo, who is the heralder of the coming of the plumed serpent. Ko lo-wit-si, and may be regarded as the personification of the wind or cloud that advances before a rain storm. He arrives at the village and divides his time between the kivas which represent the cardinal points, the zenith and the naJir, and gives the history of the Koko and the gathering of the cereals of the earth. The next actors who arrive upon the scene are the impersonators of the Koko, "child ancestors," who prepare plume-sticks and get ready for the initiation. After them ten men who personate the rain clouds, Koyemeslii, on the mountains, pass through the village and inquire for the boys who are to be initiated. The Sa-la vio-hi-ya of the north, west, south, east, heavens and earth, and a number of younger brothers, who are the personators of the cardinal points and the bearers of the plumed serpent or rain cloud, also appear on the occasion. They wear masks of different colors. Those from the north, yellow; from the west, blue; from the south, red; from the east, white; earth, black; the heavens, all colors.* These take the plumed serpent, which is the emblem of the rain cloud, and is accordingly (as stated below) painted black above and with white stars below, to the "kiva of the earth," and here leave the image. This kiva is already decorated with two serpents which *The following is a description of Ko-lo--juit-si. The serpent is made of hide, his abdomen is painted white, his back black, and is covered with white stars, the tail end of which is held by the priest, who constantly blows through a large shell, making the sound which represents the sea monster. 288 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. extend around the inner wall ot the room. At sunrise the actors go to this kiva and present to the image, whose head is seen projecting through an opening in a side wall, the plumed sticks, which symbolize their prayers, and ears of corn, which symbolize the objects which they want blessed. The ceremonies for the initiation of the children follow this. These consist, for the most part, in pouring water through the body of the serpent into sacred bowls, and afterward pouring different kinds of grain and seed into the blankets, which are held before its mouth. Another part of the ceremony is that which has regard to the sacredness of fire as well as of rain. In this the representatives of the war god sit near the fire altar, which is in the center of the kiva, and feed the sacred flames. The actors, as they enter the kiva from above, turn a somerset over the fire, by placing the head upon a stone slab, which stands near the fire, and throwing their feet from the opening of the kiva to the floor beyond the fire. They also pass out of the kiva by a somerset; placing the head upon the slab, and so go out of the opening feet foremost. These singular ceremonies are kept alive by certain secret societies, some of the members personating the mountain divinities, Ko-ye-me-shi, others personating the winds, who are the cloud bearers, others personating the divinities of the cardi- nal points, still others the thunder-god, and the lightning. Each of these societies has a kiva for itself, but the kivas represent the different houses of the sky and have symbols which correspond. It appears from this ceremony that the cliildren of the Zuni were brought to the worship of the rain- god in connection with the other nature powers at their very initiation, and that there was a supernatural air thrown overall the operations of the rain-cloud, which must have impressed them through the remainder of their life. It would be impossible for a child to pass through this scene, in which the chief members of the tribe were the actors, and in which his own relatives and godfathers were engaged, without feeling that it was the most sacred event in his life, and yet the whole interest was concentrated upon the part which the rain-god had in the sacred drama. III. The " solstitial" ceremonials of the Zunis also represent the worship of the rain- god and dramatize the effect of the rain upon the corn crop. These have been described by Dr. J. W. Fewkes. He says: Both solstices are marked epochs in the Zuni calendar and are celebrated by appropriate ceremonials. The sun, at the approach of the summer solstice, is watched with care by the priest of the sun, who determines the time by notic- ing the light shining at sunrise through a depression in the mountains called "the gate of Zuni," across the gnomon or sun-post, which projects a few feet above the soil on the plain of Zuni. and then announces the time for the rain dances to begin. THE WORSHIP OF THE RAIN- GOD. 289 The first of the solstitial rain dances is the most important, but it is preceded by a singular ceremony, which is probably designed to imitate the effect of the pouring rain, but is really a burlesque rather than a serious ceremony. It is called "the ducking of the clowns." The clowns are persons who wear peculiar mud-head masks and who march single file under the walls of the pueblos. While they march the women and girls stand on the roof of the pueblo with jars full of water and pour it upon their heads, thus completely drenching them. There seem to have been three classes of dancers and three kinds of dances. The most important were the Koko, who were the intercessors for rain. These wore masks with heavy beards of horse-hair and carried turtles that were said to have been gathered at the sacred lake. They were painted with zig- zag markings said to be rain symbols, and had upon their legs rattles made of small hoofs and turtle shells. Some of them had helmets, on which were figures of the sun and crescents and other symbolic devices. These represent the beings called Koko, who are supposed to live in some far away region. They approach the village a little after sundown and repair to one of the kivas; the squaws file up the street with bowls full of food and present it at the skylight of the kiva to the hungrj^ Koko below. A boy who personified the god of fire accompanied the procession. Over his shoulder he carried a quiver and in his hand a fiery wand. His breast was ornamented with shell neck- laces; he moved the fire wand back and forth as if it were incense. Another dance is named from those who bear tablets with three upright projections, each ornamented with a feather and gaudily painted with figures in the form of crescents and bird'=. Their heads were wholly covered with cedar boughs; around the neck were strings of shells made of turquoise and coral. These tablets were all of them symbolic of the rain-cloud and the lightning.* The ceremonials for rain are continued during the month of August and culminate in a corn dance, as the corn is now ripening. It is followed by a very ancient dance called O-to-na-wey. In this Ko-ye-ine-shi [zwcx&nX. builders) appear as clowns carrying a great abundance of cedar boughs. The final ceremony was a procession of the priests of the bow, who visited the shrines and placed prayer plumes in them. Here then we have the rain ceremonies in which the sun at the solstices, according to the calendar, and the zig-zag lightnings, the fire, various animals and birds, objects of nature, cedar boughs and shells were personated, all nature being drawn upon; but the effect of the rain was a special object of the dramatization. IV. The snake dance is the most remarkable of all the rain ceremonies. This dance has been often described and its ghastly *See Plate. A description of these tablets will be found in the note at the end of this chapter. 290 NA Tl VE A MERICA N S YMBOLISM. scenes depicted, but its significance is poorly understood. It was, however, nothing more nor less than a rain ceremony and differed from all others only in that live snakes were used instead of snake effigies. One ceremony was practiced by the Moquis or Hopis at their village by the particular organizations which exist there. The following is a description given by Mrs. Matilda C. Steven- son: The "snake dance" is introduced by the male members going to the different points of the compass for six days gather- ing snakes and depositing them in four vases. On the fifth day a sand painting is made on the floor of the kiva; fetiches of the cougar and bear are placed near it; the snakes are deposited on it and are kept there by the novitiates, who use wands made of eagle plumes. The Indians declare that the eagle possesses the power to charm the snakes by flying about him and gently caressing him with his wings. The out-door ceremony begins with the process of placing the live snake in the mouth of the novitiate. This is done by the chosen father, who grasps the snake and places it before the face of the novitiate and prays while he inhales the breath of the snake. After the snake is put in his mouth the novitiate dances while an attendant caresses the serpent with the eagle plumes. It is the ambition of the men to prove their skill in the handling of the snakes, for by this means they become the greatest jugglers and arise in the order. This ceremony is repeated four days in succession. Afterward an all night ceremonial occurs in the kiva for a final initiation of the young men — when their power of endurance is taxed to the extreme. The legend of this people is interesting, but is too long to give complete. In the legend the voyage of a young man, a son of the high shaman, is described, and his visit to the house of the spider woman. He passes fuur sentinels, equidistant from one another, each a huge serpent, Vv^ho held his head erect and hissed at the youth. He enters into a rocky cavern, where are many young men and maidens dressed in white blankets. He is led to the house of the "mother of the sun" by the spider woman, who lives under the great waters. He separated the great waters with his large wand, and made a dry road by which he passed to the house. Here he saw all the plume offerings of his people to the sun. He was welcomed by the "mother of the sun," who told him that the sun would return presently. He is startled by a great noise, caused by the sun passing through the waters to his house. His descent was through a huge reed. Putting a foot on either side of the reed, he descended head foremost.* *The figure of a person descending head foromcst, with feet spread, is common in the codices of the Mayas. Mav not this refer to the same legend, or one similar to it, which prevailed among this people? THE WORSHIP OF THE RAIN-GOD. 291 The spider woman said we will go with the sun to his father's house in the east, for the mother's house was in the west. They in company with the sun passed under the earth and afterward ascended the reed that penetrates the eastern waters, and passed over the world and looked down upon his people in Canon de Chelly, and could read their hearts and could tell the good from the bad. Returning to the earth the youth visited the cavern of the snakes and took for his wives the two beautiful daughters. On reaching his father's house he told him his adventures. His father then said, "we will have a great feast to the snake and antelope people in sixteen days." To this feast they invited only those good in heart. The snake people came in four delicate showers, each shower bringing the people ; the showers were however invisible to the Hopitu. On the eighth day the people danced, holding green corn stalks in their mouth, but the youth was horrified to find that the snake people had been transformed into snakes and that one of his wives had also become a snake, and their children became snakes. The legend of the flute people differs Irom that of the snake people, but it is nevertheless the "foundation myth" for a rain ceremonial. It celebrates the migration of the flute people and their encounter with the snake people and the alliance of the two people.* It runs as follows: Lelanguh was the director of the flute people. The music of his flute drives away the winter and brings the summer rains. He was the director of many people, and his insignia of office was the crook Pa-a-ya-a, which was symbolic of longevity, to which were attached four rattles ornamented with fluffy feathers of the eagle. The rattles were used by him when he sang for rain, to water his lands. The songs were sung to the rain people of the north, the west, the south, the east, the zenith and the nadir. The six songs brought the rain, and Lelanguh blew his whistle into the water which fell upon the earth, making it bubble, at the same time praying for more rain; and the earth was well watered. Then follows the story of the migrations of the flute people. It appears that these migrations were in obedience to the direc- tion of an oracle, which was carried with the people very much as the "ark" was by the Israelites in their wanderings and the sacred boat among the Egyptians.! This oracle was in the shape of a portable altar with a fetich of an ear of corn before it. This altar Lelanguh erected upon his advent into this world. The corn was trimmed with eagle and parrot plumes and had bits of *See Mrs. Stevenson's account; also article by Mr. J. Walter Fewkes in American Anthropologist. tThis carrying a sacred oracle was a common thing among all the aboriginal tribes. It was not always the same thing, but nevertheless served the same purpose. Among the was the "sacred box " 292 NA Tl VE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. abalone shells and beads of turquoise suspended to it. Wherever the people went this oracle was set up. The flute people came at last to the home of the snake people and had lour talks with them. At last Lelanguh told the director of the snake people that he knew "the secret of the rains" and could water the land for them. "Well," said he. "if you can command the rain people and know the secret of the rains we will be glad to have you with us. If you know the secret you and your people must be first, I and my people second. If you, indeed, know the secret, hasten this rain that our land may be watered." "Wait," said Lelanguh, "in eight days I will return to your village, and we will go into the kiva." At the end of the eight days the director, Lelanguh, returned with two young virgins and a youth, who went into the kiva. The virgins and the young man were dressed peculiarly, being covered with symbols which showed them to be the personators oi the rain cloud. The virgins wore white blankets and the lower portion of their faces was painted black, a white line across the mouth extending from ear to ear bordered the black, symbolizing the rain cloud; their feet and hands were colored black; their arms and legs in zig-zag of black, which symbolized the lightning. The youth wore a white breech cloth and eagle plumes in his hair. These remained in the kiva of the snake people, (perhaps as personators of the rain cloud which was to come.) On the fifth day the flute people feasted and sang. At midnight they had sung four songs, when the rain slowly approached. It came not in showers trom the heavens but walked over the earth. The waters were invisible to all but Lelanguh. The people then painted their bodies and limbs white and put on white blankets and breech cloths and followed Lelanguh, who was accompanied by the "twin war heroes"* and carried the five large wands, or prayer plumes, and advanced to the land of the snake people. All the men had sunflowers on their heads and carried corn and seeds of melons, beans and peppers. As they neared the village the rain began falling around the land of the snake people, but not upon it. After the fourth song, the rain began falling upon the land of the snake people and the land was well watered. The snake people wept for joy. Then Lelan- guh gave to the snake director all the cereals that his people had brought, and he was greatly pleased and said, "You are indeed my father; you have brought us rain; you know the secrets of the rains; the land shall be yours." Songs were then sung, on alternate years to the west for rain, to the south, the east, the zenith and the nadir, and invocations were made to the cougar of the north, the bear of the west, the badger of the south, the white wolf for the east, the eagle for the heavens, the shrew for the earth, to intercede for rain. Different colored corn was depos- ' »These war gods are common personages among all the Pueblo tribes. IHE WORSHIP OF THE RAIN- GOD. 293 ited and prayer plumes planted at the points of the compass. The plumes carried prayers for all things good. Upon leaving the kiva the flute people saw their women sitting on the hills around the village. The women wore white blankets and the children had white plumes, which were proba- bly the symbols of the rain.-cloud. In a little while the land was abundant with melons, beans and other vegetation, though noth- ing had been planted. In this way the snake people and the flute people became allied. The personating of this myth in the drama of the flute society takes place every year. In the flute drama the flute people and the snake people both appear. V. The "snake dance," which occurs at the village of Walpi, is more interesting than that which occurs at the Tusayan pueblo, which was just been described. This is also a rain ceremonial, and is pronounced very ancient by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, who Fig. 0.— Snake Kilt. says: "The reason for the whole ceremony lies far back in the past, but has become more or less obscured by the progress of time." The celebration of the snake dance lasts eight or nine days, during which there are various preparations for the cere- mony, the preparations being generally symbolic of the rain. Among these we may mention: (i.) The making the charmed liquid. (2.) Making the sand mosaic or dry painting on the floor of the kiva. (3.) The smoking the sacred pipe and the distribution of the prayer plumes. (4.) The beginning of the snake hunts. (5.) The invocation to the four world-quarters. (6.) Introduction of the snake boy and snake girl, who were the personators of the rain-cloud. (7.) The snake race, which was a race through certain sand paintings which represented the clouds and rains, of the different cardinal points. (8.) The washing of the snakes. (9.) The snake dance itself In all of these ceremonies the dress and decorations were symbolic of the rain-clouds and of the falling rain. The most interesting of these ceremonies was the race which symbolized the passage of the wind through the rain-clouds, though the washing of the snakes and the snake dance were the most tragic and thrilling in their performance. In this snake 294 NA Tl VE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. race there were about forty runners and about eight priests, the snake priests and the antelope priests moving in pairs. One part of the ceremony consisted in placing the plank in which was the si-pa-pu or "place of beginning" on the ground near a shrine, each of the actors stamping upon it as they marched by. An- other part consisted in the priests taking corn stalks and vines in their mouths and marching slowly through platoons of the actors. In another part four priests stood. with crooks in their hands and with white paint upon their bodies at intervals along the trail made of colored meal, over which the actors were to run; near the priests were sand paintings which represented the rain clouds of the four cardinal points. The runners as they passed the priests and went through the symbolic rain clouds, were expected to strike the ancient crook, held by the priests. All of this ceremony was a dramatization of the history of the people and the operations of the rain. The decorations of the priests and the symbols resemble that which was used in the flute dance, the young man and the virgins having exactly the same white garments and black lines upon the face and body, but the main difference was that the ancient relics which had been used by the Walpi were brought into the ceremony. The articles used in connection with the ceremonies were symbolic. Among these were (i) "the snake pipe," on which was a rain symbol. This was smoked in silence. (2.) The eighteen stone implements which were brought up by the ancients out of the earth. (3.) The fifteen bent sticks, which were called crooks. (4.) The plank, in which was the hole called si-pa-pu, through which the ancients ascended. (5.) The plumed prayer sticks, which were deposited m the shrines. (6.) The various sand paintings or sand altars. These sand paintings were all made in the same way. They contained four rows of semi-circles, each row having a different color to represent the clouds, with zigzag serpents shooting from the clftuds. two of them male and two of them female, with black parallel lines to represent the rain. (7.) The sand painting referred to above was another symbol. This was placed immediately above the plank in which was the opening called Si-pa-pu, which symbolized the place of emerg- ence for the ancestors of the people. The border of different colors was symbolic of the "world quarters." Around the altar or sand pictures were fetiches of the animals of the "world quar- ters," which faced the figures of the clouds. This opening in the floor was suggestive of the creation myth, but the sand paintings were suggestive of the sky and the operations of the rain clouds, thus making a combination of that which was below and of the world above in one symbol. (8.) Another article was the "whizzer," which was a thin wooden slab, the faces of which were decorated with zigzag bands; this was dipped into the charmed liquid of the sacred THE WORSHIP Ot THE RAIN-GOD. 295 bowl, which symbolized the rain, and rapidly twirled so as to imitate the sound of thunder The snakes were not so symbolic as the decoration of the priesrs and dancers, though the fact that they were carried in the mouths of the dancers and were kept from biting by the feathers in the hands of the attendants, made them significant perhaps of the lightning and the clouds, being controlled by the gods or by those who personated the gods. Fig. 7 .—Antelope Priest. The decorations of the Zunis and Hopis deserve attention in this connection. Many of these were symbolic of the rain. They are as follows : (i.) The dance kilt. This was a symbolic garment, which had a black band with a white border running zig-zag through its center, representing the plumed snake, with arrow-shaped marks representing the foot-prints oi the duck, and short par- allel marks representing foot-prints of the frog, both water ani- mals. On either side of this band were two sets of parallel bands, representing rainbows. There was a fringe on the kilt composed of little triangular metal plates. See Fig. 6. (2.) Snake kilts were worn by snake men who carried, in their 296 NA TIYE AMERICAN S YMBOLISM. hands, snake-whips made of eagle plumes. The kilt of the antelope priest differed from this in that it was a plain woven garment, but had a border at either end which was ornamented with stepped figures, to symbolize the clouds, zigzag lines to represent the lightnings, parallel lines to represent the rain ; an embroidered sash was attached to the belt of the antelope priest. (3.) The decorations of the priest consisted of white, zigzag lines on the legs, arms and body, and the chin was painted black, the body a bluish color. He wore a white embroidered dance kilt, held in place by a white girdle, and a white feather was tied to his scalp lock, a wreath of cotton wood leaves about his head, string of beads of shell and of turquois about his neck. He wore buckskin anklets and red moccasins, thus making the symbolic colors complete. In his right hand he carried a rattle and in his left hand he carried a bowl filled with liquor. On his right arm was a bundle of cottonwood twigs, in his left a plumed wand.* See Fig. 7. * A Tusayan ceremony has been described by Mr. A. M. Stephens, in which some novel rain symbols appeared. A number of ancient slabs of wood were displayed, on which were painted designs which represented the sky divinities under human forms. Some of these had faces covered with arches; others had arches and rain symbols upon the skirts which cover the body; others had faces surrounded with feathers; still others had a rain symbol attended with the phallic symbol, but no faces: one had a single corn plant and no rain symbol; one had the human form richly dressed and decorated with many symbols, the face surrounded by stepped figures and the rain symbols above the face. These tablets were carried in the final dance by about thirty girls who were dressed in white and blue tunics, and who also carried a quantity of corn stalks, thus showing that the rain gods were personified and worshiped as human beings. The dancers at the close stationed them- selves in such a way as to form a horse-shoe. The phallic symbol on these tablets was made up from the different parts of the rain symbol, which were skillfully arranged so as to make it resemble a phallus. It had a small arch on either side and one above the phallus, and lines below representing the rain. See plate. ETHXOGRAPRIC RELIGIONS AyDAXCESTOR WORSHIP. 297 CHAPTER XIII. ETHNOGRAPHIC RELIGIONS AND ANCESTOR ]yORSHIP. The review of aboriginal religions which we have been giving has convinced us that there is a large amount of symbolism which belongs to prehistoric times, and that there was a geography of religion, as well as a history. This position is confirmed by the study of the map, for we find that most of the symbols were confined to certain limited districts, and were very uncommon outside of those districts, thus making certain errand divisions which are suggestive of a previous development. The boundaries which limit these districts are, perhaps, not quite as definite as those which now separate grand political provinces, but they are more closely conformed to the physical peculiarities of the con- tinent, and more distinctly marked by material barriers, such as mountain ranges, forest belts, climatic zones, altitude, and soil, all ot which seem to have had an effect upon the condition of society, and so upon the form of religion. This is a very important point, for it reveals to us the won- derful and mysterious law which prevailed in native society, and which unconsciously molded all institutions and customs. It shows that there was a religious sentiment in the nativ^e mind, which could not be hindered by any amount of social pri\-ation, and which was not helped by educational privilege, but was greatly influenced by natural surroundings. This sentiment was constantly pressing upon the native mind, and was calculated to bring it out from the lower grades and the darker superstitions into a higher life and light. We do not know its source, but imagine that the spirit of the Almighty through it is affecting human creatures with the spiritual life which is in Him, as in a great reservoir, this having a constanttendency to bringuphuman thought to a higher level, and to reveal through nature His own attributes and being. This does not do away with the doctrine that there was a revelation, but, on the other hand, shows that there was a necessity for it; and yet it furnishes a key to the problem and enables us better to enter into the study of compara- tive religions. The review of geography will therefore be appro- priate at this time We are to study the subject of ethnographic religions, but shall take ancestor worship as one of the series. I. Let us take up the map of the continent and etudy out the localities in which each form of religion has had its chief de- velopment, notice the boundaries within which the symbols have be:n discovered, and ask why it was that within such boundaries 298 NA Tl VE A MERl CA N S YMBOLISM. the particular cult should have had its history. That there was an evolution of one form of worship out of another, is one of the first lessons taught us by the map. If we begin with the localities where society was at its lowest stage, and where hu- man nature was in its most degraded condition, we shall find each form of religion corresponding to the physical surroundings as well as to the social status. The process of development, how- ever, appears as we go out from one district into another, tor we may see that in those localities where society reached a higher stage, and where the surroundings were more favorable to human growth, there religion partook ot the social status, and itself reached a higher grade. We find, then, that we are taking steps upward, are following an ascending series, coming out of the darkness into the light, out of the uncertain and indefinite into the positive and well defined, each geographical district fur- nishing not only a new phase of religion, but also one that was more highly developed and more complete in its outline. The districts in which the different systems have been identified are very instructive, for they show that there was a law of correla- tion everywhere prevalent, and a conservation of influence every- where at work. The different religious systems may generally be arranged ac- cording to the belts of latitude, and the order of succession may be traced from the north to the south, each zone having its own particular form of worship as well as its social status, mode of life, and grade of development. The figure of a pyramid may be employed in the case of aboriginal religions as well as in the case of the architectural structures, for these stretch across the continent in parallel lines, but arise in successive steps, their ad- vance keeping pace with the advance of society. We notice that the personal element grows more intense with each successive stage, and that that which in the lower stages was a dim and shadowy animism, or spirit and demon worship, comes out at last in the worship of a divinity whose attributes are entirely personal. Monotheism does not seem to have been reached, yet there was an approach to it, for the personality of the divinities becomes more and more prominent, and the influence of the great " culture hero" is at last almost supreme. Personality does not belong to ancestor worship alone, for it appears in every local- ity, a personal spirit having been ascribed to the rocks and the trees, to animals and nondescript creatures, to the various nature powers — rain and lightning, wmd, to the heavenly bodies, the sun and moon — as well as to the culture heroes and ancestors. The lowest stage was found among the Eskimos of the north, who feared the demons, and the highest among the Mayas of the south, among whom the personal divinity was symbolized. The arrangement of the different systems of religion according to the belts of latitude is very suggestive; it shows that the V %-. *%;•; i^ CO a z < -J CO cc HI h- < UJ u CO LU Ui D O I HI CO CC < HI CO o O cc ■! H 300 NA TIVE A M ERICA N S YMB OLISM. climate had an effect upon them as well as the soil; the influ- ence, perhaps, being first felt by the employment and the mode of life; the social status, the religious beliefs and the customs being correlated to these. We may take the different zones and arrange the tribes or races according to their languages and location, but we will find that there are certain centers in which the mythology, the symbols and the customs show a certain religion as supreme. The following are the systems which have been recognized in the symbols, traditions and customs prevalent among the aboriginal tribes, and now laid down on the map as an approximate geography of the aboriginal religions on the continent. There were two or three lines oi development, one which followed the east coast, another the west coast and another passed down through the central axis. Local tribes had their particular forms of worship, but the steps or grades will be rec- ognized in the parallels which correspond to the belts of latitude. The following is the order: I. Shamanism. This was the religion of the fishermen of the Arctic regions. It may be regarded as the lowest form, though it varied in its character according to the locality and tribe. It was a system which prevailed through the entire Arctic regions, including Greenland on the east, and Point Barrow on the west, and extending down to the Tinneh tribes on the Hudson's Bay, and the Aleuts in Alaska. Among the Tinnehs and Aleuts it was in the extreme of degredation, the myths being full of vulgarity, the customs senseless, and the superstitions numerous. Here the shaman was a sort of relig- ious juggler or magician, who exercised absolute control over the people by means of his arts and pretentions. The people themselves were divided mto castes, which were said to have originated when all fowls, animals and fish were people. The fish were the Chitsah, the birds were Taingees-ah-tsah, and the animals Nat-singh.* These were the ancestors of the different tribes, as well as their divinities. The shaman had great power over these animals. The evil spirits were under his control and demons were exorcised by his magic. He seemed to dwell in the midst of the supernatural and to have power over all the elements, and yet there was always a spirit which was beyond his control, which the people recognized as the great ancestor of all. This spirit assumed different shapes in different localities and had different names given it by different tribes. Some have called it the Great Spirit, recognizing monotheism here among these darkened and degraded people as they do among the hunter tribes and more advanced races of the south. The term Great Spirit has been objected to as conveying the wrong idea, but it is nevertheless suggestive in this connection, for the Great Spirit is always identical with the great ancestor, though the *See "Notes on the Tinneh Indians of British America," page 315. CO o CO q: ui I- CO < o~ a z o o o CO LU CO 3 o X Ui z. o I- co UJ I I- Ll O CO I- CO O Q. CC o o a o UJ O 302 NA TIVE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. character of the ancestor is conformed to the character of the people who worshiped it. Some authors maintain that a ben- evolent being, who ruled over all and was the great ancestor of all, was recognized by even the most degraded tribes. Others maintain that there was a type of religion prevalent called heno- theibm, and that this has been mistaken for the worship of the Great Spirit. Henotheism consists in the exalting of one divin- ity above all others, making that one supreme. This divinity was often a local one, and became the divinity of a tribe or dis- trict, and was unknown beyond the tribe. It was often regarded as the tribal ancestor, and so anccrstor worship was introduced by it, and yet the henotheistic conception was equally strong where ancestor worship did not exist. Shamanism was the leligion of the Eskimos. They imagined that their ancestral spirit dwelt in the rocks, and that the shamans had power to open the door.* The Eskimos of Point Barrow have many tales in which a mythical person is described. This person is sometimes a dog, sometimes a cruel man called Kagsuk, sometimes a woman, sometimes an animal with six or ten legs, called Kiliopak, and sometimes a fabulous beast. In Greenland the great ancestor of all was a woman called Sedna, a woman whose home was in the sea and who had control of the sea ani- mals. The legend is that this woman was pushed into the sea; she clung to the boat on both sides, but her husband struck her with a knife; each time her fingers were transformed to sea animals. He killed her and covered her with dog skin, and the floodtide took her. Her home is now in the tide. The man assumed the shape of a bird, but the woman is the spirit which haunts all things. We may say then that ancestor worship began even in the midst of shamanism. f 2. Totemism was the second form of religion. This pre- vailed, as we have shown elsewhere, among the hunter, tribes. Its chief development was in the district which was bounded by the Arctic Circle on the north and the fortieth degree on the south, the district in which is Hudson's Bay and the chain of the Great Lakes, and which may be called the forest belt of the north. Totemism consisted in the worship of ancestors or of an- cestral spirits which assumed the form of animals and were called by animal names. It was the religion oi the hunters ; they always carried with them either the skin, or the skeleton, or head, or some part of the animal which they regarded as their personal divinity. They also placed the figures of animals, either painted or carved, over their houses, near their villages and in their cemeteries, and ever lived under the protection of these animal ancestors.. It was a mysterious and comolicated * We ciH attention to the plates which represent the svmbois found in the Easter Islands. These pictoaraphs should he foinpaied to those f.'iind among the Aleuts and the Thliniceets of the north, for they convey the idea ihut similar systems pre- vailed in both localities. tElsquimaux Tales and Songs, in Journal of American Folk Lore, page 132. ETHNOGRAPHIC RELIGIONS AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP. 303 system. It had great sway; we may regard it as the second stage through which ancestor worship passed on its way to its complete development. The symbols of animal worship or totemism convince us that the animals were elevated to the position of ancestors and were often regarded as the heads of houses, the leaders of the tribes and the guardian divinities of the nations. We sometimes find Fig. 1. — Bear Idol from the Mounds. among them human images, but these are generally mythologic creatures which perpetuated tribal myths, or were the representa- tives of ancestors, and were recognized as such. The real divini- ties were the animals, which were changed to mythologic creatures. A specimen of this mythologic totemism can be seen in the figure which is presented herewith — a figure which is in itself quite mysterious. See Figs, i and 2. This has been described by Thomas Wilson. It is an image which has the head of a bear, the form of a man, but the symbols of sun worship on the form. The image was found in a mound near Newark, Ohio. It represents a human form clad in bear's skin, th<^ head being 304 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. brought over the crown and serving as a sort of head-dress after the fashion of the lion's skin of Hercules and Alexander. "The entire head of the b( ar is on the top of the head of the man, while the arms of the man appear inserted within the skin of the fore legs of the bear. He holds in his right hand an amputated head. The hair of this head is strained tight away from the face and drawn together and held at the feet of the statue. The features HQ,2.—Bear Idol from /he Mounds— Front View. of this face and of that of the image have no resemblance to that of the Indian. There are ear ornaments in both figures which have resemblance to those from Mexico and Central America. In fact all the peculiarities of this figure point to such a resemblance." We class this image along with mythologic totems, for the mask reminds us of those engraved on the shell gorgets and cop- per plates from the mounds of Georgia and Tennessee and on the so-called Exeter vase found in Nebraska. The bear .--kin and head also remind us of the idols found in Nicaragua, in which the human figure is covered with the monstrous head of a crocodile ETHNOGRAPHIC RELIGIONS AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP. 305 or snake.* It was an old-world custom for the priest to wear the skins of animals when they went to the sacrifice. The medicine men in America wore the skins of animals, but this image sug- gests the idea that they practiced human sacrifice. 3. The third stage was sun worship. This prevailed among the agricultural tribes of the central and southern states. It was the cult of that ancient people called the Mound-builders. It also prevailed among the Indian tribes which lived in the same region at the time of the discovery. There is evidence that ancestor worship prevailed among the sun worshipers, as its symbols are mingled with the sun symbols, which are so numer- ous. Certain customs which represent it were practiced by the living tribes, especially by the Natchez and the Muskogees. These rites and ceremonies illustrate the pomt which we have in mind. The sun was personified and was worshiped as a person. The attributes of the sun divinity were symbolized under the semblance of human images or idols, as well as under the form of the sun itself. The early explorers have described human images as very common in the Gulf States. These images were generally found in the dead houses or ossuary temples, and were supposed to represent the ancestral divinities of the people. The images were placed inside of the doors, and not only guarded the bodies of the dead, but the treasures of the living, for the dead houses were often the places where the treasures and sacred things of the people were deposited. We furnish a cut to illustrate this point, though the image was found on the West India islands. See Fig. 3. It has been described by Prof. O. T. Mason. f The carving represents two individuals seated on a canopied chair. The chair has a high back, ornamented with scrolls and concentric rings. Both indi- viduals have embroidered skull caps, resembling the close-fitting embroidered caps of the Indians. The legs have bands of em- broidered cotton just above the calves, which resemble those bands which were common among the Caribs, at the time of the discovery. They may have been portraits, for the description given of the natives is as follows : Their eyes were encircled with paint so as to give them a hideous expression, and bands of cotton were bound firmly above and below the muscular parts of the arms and legs, so as to cause them to swell to dispropor- tionate size. 4! This image was 31 inches in height. Another figure, carved from a single log of wood, represents a human image resting upon arms as well as legs. There are on it earrings, or ornaments, and bands around the arms similar to those on the seated images. The length of this is 43 inches. *See "Bancroft's Native Races," Vol. IV, page 50. "Nicaragua," Vol. II, page 39. f See Smithsonian Report. 18SI, paye 8:^1. See Chap. XII, Figs. 1 and 2, p. 251. 1 Washington Irving. History ol Columbus. 306 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. The discovery of these images in the West Indies suggests a con- nection between the island and the continent in prehistoric times, or at least conveys the idea that a similar custom of making idols which should represent ancestors, prevailed in both regions. The Fiff. 3.— Carved Images from the West Indies, distinction of sex among the nature divinities is often shown by the idols. The sun and moon were regarded as male and female, and all the nature powers were arranged according to sex. The mythologies of the aborigines were full of stories with regard to the pairing of divinities and with regard to miraculous births. These myths were sometimes embodied in the idols. ETHNOGRAPHIC RELIGIONS AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP. 307 We notice that such images were common, especially at the south, showing that the southern races were all idolaters, but animal figures or totems were more common at the north, sug- gesting that the northern races were animal worshipers, the difference between the two arising from ethnic causes as well as from the influence of environment. Still there is nothing unrea- sonable in the theory that both systems were prevalent in all parts of the continent, even if they originated in separate centers and found their full development in particular districts, for the spread of symbolism from one district to another was very natural. If we take the different religious cults of the Mississippi Valley, we shall find that some of them were purelv local and never went beyond the bounds of their first habitat. Others were wide- spread and became almost universal. 4. Sabaeanism, or sky worship, is the fourth form of aborig- inal religion which we are to consider. This was also a local cult. It found its chief development among the Pueblos of the interior. It consisted in the personifying of the nature powers and in making them divinities. There was perhaps not as much of the element of ancestor worship in this cult as in those which we have just considered, yet when we analyze the system and study the symbols we shall find that it was not entirely lacking. The chief peculiarity of sky worship was. that the sky was a house, or ratner made up of a number of houses; the four quarters, and the upper heavens or the zenith and the lower earth or the nadir, each of them constituting a house or habitation for the divinity. The houses all had different colors; that in the north was yellow, in the east white, in the south red, in the west blue, the upper sky spotted, the lower black.* The houses were guarded by animals, each of which had a color corresponding with that of the house. The divinities of the Pueblos were varied. Some of them were represented by rude images in the shape of animals which were called fetiches, others by human images, which were really idols, but at the same time reminded the people of their ances- tors. The symbols of nature worship are peculiar. They rep- resent all the nature powers personified, but personified under the semblance of animals, birds, serpents and nondescript creat- *These are the colors of the houses among the Znnis. The f>-tiches or idols of the Zunis were, yellow limestone mountain lions for ihe north, coyotes for ih west, red wild cats for the south, white w >lves tor the east, eagles for the upper regions and moles for the lower. The human-headed divinity v.as the tutelar god of several of the societies, and was the h^ro ot hundreds of lolK-lore tnles His dress consisted of the terraced cap representing a dwelling place among the clouds. His w apons are the rainbow, the lightning, and the flint knife. His warriors are the mountain lion ot the North and of the up;ier regio is. The shield had the image of a whitf bear, eagle and two serpents pon it, all of them beings of ihe .skies. Ttie shie ds had diflferent colors— red, bine, areen, yellow, white, black. Diff rent symbols were used by other tr)b'='s, and the colors difTeri'd, but there was Ihe same conception of per- sonal gods ruling the sky. Kee Third Annual Report of Bureau of ;p:thnology. The suu itself was a divinity whose beautiful hous.- was under the waters — liis father's house in the east, bis mother's house in the west, and he passed under the earth to the eastern waters and passed over the world to the western waters. S-e Tucsayan Legends, by Matilaa Cox Stevenson. 308 NAIIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. ures, the human form apparently being the ruler of them all. The forces of nature, however, are represented in this way: The lightning by serpents, the thunder by a bird, the sky by a dome, the heavens by a turreted figure, the rainbow by a human image bent in the form of an arch, the clouds by wmgs furnished with feathers resembling knife blades, the water by certain plat- forms or rafts, the four quarters of the sky by pertain animals; ,.,i.>~i=r*. ^^ ^h: to. ■"^r'^ri'njVT.V.-. aaifiii,'^;^ FU/. /(. — Idol from Gautcmala. but in the midst of all and ruling over all was the image which represented perhaps the human ancestry as well as the priest- hood. The idols of the Pueblos were numerous, and were cov- ered with the symbols of the active nature powers. While the images were silent and motionless the symbols on the images always suggest the activities of nature about them. Sometimes the faces of the images are obscured by dark bands and white lines, to symbolize the clouds and lightning. But the symbols of the nature powers are always conspicuous and represent action. We may imagine that the divine being is surrounded by the elements, but is serene amid them all. The lightnings ETHNOGRAPHIC RELIGIONS AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP. 309 may play, the clouds lower, storms may rage, the rain fall, the rainbow appear above the clouds, the turrettedsky may be filled with feathery plumes, but a personal divinity controls them all. Even the Moquis, a living tribe, have divinities of this kind. The god of the surface of the earth is called Ma-cau-a. He is the god of death, as well as the god of life, who controls growth. The priest who personified him wore a mask with corn husk eyes and Fig. 3.— Idol from Gautemala, his body was daubed with blood. They have a virgin god called Mana, who was the bride of the sun, Dawa, and called the spider woman. She wa^ the mother of the war god, Pi-ho-kong. The plumed serpent was the rain symbol among the Moquis. The coil is a whirlwind symbol ; triangle, a phallic symbol ; the cross, a sky or weather symbol ; stairs or steps, cloud symbols ; the shield, a star symbol; the suastika, perhaps a fire symbol.* 5. The fifth form ot aboriginal religion is what we may call *.-«ee J. Walter Fewkes on Tnsayan pistoerraphs, American AnthropoJigiM. Vr>). v> page 19. Thev have dolls with round fa^e, fre'-ied head, and two hoins, and many idols which were personiflcatiui.s of the nature powers. 310 ' NATIVE AMERICAN ^MYBOLISM, hero worship; this prevailed, to a certain degree, among the savage tribes of the northwest, such as the Haidahs, but was es- pecially manifest among the civilized tribes of the southwest. Its chief development was represented in the so-called "culture heroes," the law givers, which have made such an impression upon the aboriginal literature of the country. There was, however, an element of ancestor worship in this hero worship, for many of the heroes were transformed from their original characters as law makers, into ancestors. We find many sculptured figures in Guatemala, which represent culture heroes as ancestors. We present here two such figures from Pantaleon, Guatemala. These figures have also been described by Prof O. T. Mason. See Figs. 4 and 5. The description of this idol is as follows: On the head was a turban with banded edge; on the front of the turban an arrangement of plumes secured by a double knot; ear-rings, gorgets and mask were suspended from a necklace; braided folds as of cloth fell from the turban behind the ears, and a medallion shaped ear- ring in front of it; from the upper margin arose a crest, which curved over toward the front and ended in a tassel. The head of the old man in one of them had deep lines on brow and cheek; nearly the whole of the ear was taken up with cylin- drical ornaments. The head-dress was composed of the body of a bird with outstretched wings. In the other head the eyes were represented as hanging from their sockets ; the long ears were adorned with heavy ornaments; on the top was a small cap, jauntily placed to one side. There is upon these images a variety of symbolism which is suggestive of sun worship and nature worship, but there is a prominence to the human face which con- vinces us that human art has worked free from the symbols of nature worship into the realm of portraiture. We do not know their history, but there is one peculiarity about these portraits which is very suggestive, conveying the idea that ancestor worship was mingled with the hero worship. There is the appearance of great age in some of the idols. This may be owing to the fact that a venerable appearance would heighten the spirit of devotion and so the idols would be held in greater reverence. But it shows that ancestor worship was a more elevating influence than either animal or nature worship, and that it had even a more sacred character. We call attention to the contrast between these figures or idols from Guatemala and those which were images of the nature gods in Mexico. In the latter the images are covered with the most horrid objects in nature, crotalus jaws, serpents' fangs, serpents' tails and rattles, the claws of beasts, grinning skulls, horrid looking eyes, muti- lated hands, the ensigns of royalty placed upon them as if in mockery, the whole figu/e the shape of a cross, making a trav- esty of the most sacred symbol of religion. These idols of Gua- temala are far more serene and kindly, and show the mild form ■ ETHNOGRAPHIC RELIGIONS AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP. 311 of religion which prevailed among the Mayas. We call them portraits rather than idols, for they have a life-like appearance, and are free from the symbols with which the idols were generally covered. They were not the portraits of the culture heroes of the Mayas or the Mexicans, for these culture heroes were mainly the personifications of the nature powers, and ex- hibit the symbols of these powers in great profusion. As to the localities where hero worship has been identified, there is scarcely a city in all the region between the city of Mexico and Lake Managua where the shrine of some of these hero divinities is not found,* and scarcely a tribe which has not an immense store of tradition concerning the same. The names of the culture heroes differ according to locality and age; yet when we come to compare their character and history, we find that they were nearly identical. To illustrate: The city of Cholula, the capital of the ancient Toltecs, was the city which tradition fixes upon as the seat of the worship of the great cul- ture hero Quetzaiicoatl dixxd the place where the greatest temple to his name was erected. This is the place where the divinity found refuge from his fierce enemy Tezcatlapoca, and the place where, according to tradition, the " waters of the great deluge were stayed." The pyramid of Cholula is the monument which commemorates both events. The feather-headed serpent is the symbol of the city, and represents the god of air among all the nations of Anahuac. From this city his worship extended over the whole country. Here was the image of Quetzatlcoatl. It was adorned with a mitre, a short, embroidered tunic, a golddn collar, the legs enclosed in a garter of tiger skin; a shield hung from the left arm. and in the right hand a scepter, which termin- ated in a crook like a bishop's crozier. Many of the ancient cities of Central America, such as Palenque and Uxmal, also had shrines to these culture heroes. This worship of the cul- ture heroes was nothing more nor less than a form of American paganism, and resembles, both in its highly developed ritual and in its elaborate symbolism, and especially in its varied mythol- ogy, the paganism of the ancient cities of Greece and Rome and of the lands farther east. 6. This leads us to the sixth form of religion, viz: the worship of the elements and the various nature powers. This was one of the most important of the ethnographic religions, for it shows to what extent the people were accustomed to carry their inven- tions, and with what complicated symbols they covered their divinities. These were : (i.) The feather-headed serpent, which probably represented the rain cloud. (2.) The cross for the four parts of the sky. (3.) The circle for the sun. (4.) The eye for the rain drop. (5.) The garments for the clouds. (6.) The * See p 402, cliapter on Culture Heroes and Deified Kings. 312 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. hair and head-dress for the fire. (7.) The leaves, cones and vines for the growing vegetation. (8.) The head or beak of birds for the creatures of the sky. (9.) The heads of animals for the creatures of the earth, and other symbols for the elements — fire, water, earth and sky.* Specimens of these have been given in the chapter on " Culture Heroes ; " others in the cuts representing the figures described by Habel as portrayed on the sculptured tablets of Cosumalhuapa f These tablets are covered with a great array of symbols in the form of flaming suns, winged circles, human faces with streaming locks, human arms with birds' claws, the whole intertwined with serpents and vines, death heads, masks made from animals' heads and human heads — all of these symbols of the nature powers ; not a single face among them which can be recognized as a portrait. These tablets evidently represented the nature powers, while the idols found at Pantaleon represented the portraits of ancestors. Naturism was very prominent among the Mayas, but it was also one of the most widespread and powerful religions of America. It was well-nigh universal, and might be called the religion of the American race. It consisted in the worship of the elements — the earth, air, fire and water, the operations of nature, such as the wind, rain, lightning, sunshine, water. It also filled the world-quarters and the cardinal points with guar- dian divinities. It deified the seasons, and made the days, weeks, months and years to revolve around a central core, called the kernel of the year, and had a calendar of its own separate from that which was regulated by the sun. It was, to be sure, a wor- ship of the sun and of the cosmic powers, but was also accom- panied by a worship of the sky, and gave colors to the different parts of the sky, which were sacred to the sky divinities. Vt introduced mountain divinities and made sacred the colors with which the mountains were covered. It also made known, by means of its symbols, the divinities which controlled the sea, the air and the earth, fire and water, the seasons, the crops, the plants, the animals, the trees, the grain, the epochs of creation, the events of history, as well as the destiny of man, making all the elements subservient to their power. It gave also a local cult to each city, as well as province, each temple and shrine having the symbol of the nature powers in the shape of crosses and masks and serpents and vines, all of them being suggestive not so much of the personal divinities or the culture heroes as of the unseen and supernatural beings which were sup- posed to inhabit the sky and air and fill the universe with their presence. It pervaded all the departments of life having control over the different employments, such as agriculture, trade and the *See Plates of the Rain-god and Air-god, pp. 414-415; a'so Fig. i, p. 403; also Air- god and Rain-god, Fig. 20, p. 279. tSee page 271, Fig. 12, and compare with Fig. 5, p. 309. also with those on p. 279, ETHNOGRAPHIC RELIGIONS AND ANCESl OR WORSHIP. 313 various arts. It also ruled over all classes, making them subject to the power of the priest as well as the king. It even controlled the various events of every individual's history, beginning with the earliest period of infancy, going on through the different ages of each individual, and gave the control of destiny, of time and eternity for every person, into the hands of the priest, who personated the gods of nature and who had access to their secrets, and controlled even the seasons, as well as the future state. Naturism introduced an elaborate system of symbolism — a sys- tem which differed entirely from that of hero worship, as it was founded altogether on the deifying of the powers of nature and presented the cosmic divinities as always present. These sym- bols or conventional forms were not confined to one stock or race, but seemed to have been adopted by all tribes and races, and were understood by all as having about the same significance. The rude tribes had mainly animal totems; the mountain tribes had more of the symbols of the sky; the Maya tribes had more ot the " cosmic symbols". Nature divinities among the former were represented under the animal semblance, such as the ser- pent, panther, bear, eagle, raven, quetzal, or parrot, and owl, and other zoomorphic divinities, but were represented among cer- tain tribes under the form of tadpoles, toads, lizards, butter- flies, and beetles, as well as snakes. Among the mountain tribes the symbols were supposed to represent the storms, the clouds, whirlwinds, snow and rain, and mountain divinities. Some of these were composed of arches and crosses, parallel lines and zigzags, each of which stood for a different element — the arch for the sky, the cross for the winds, the zigzags for the light- nings, the parallel lines for the falling rain, the stepped figures for the mountains, which were supporters of the sky, the feathers for the clouds, the suastika for the revolving sky, the scroll for the whirlwind, the Jerusalem cross for the water or sea, the tortuous line for the rivers, and the bird-tracks for the creatures of the sky. The "cosmic" symbols among the Mayas represent the epochs of the world. These are often combined with "time" symbols of months and years and seasons, so that it is difficult to distinguish the longer from the shorter period, for they are all mingled together in a mass of symbolism and can not be separated and scarcely analyzed, but generally they are very common objects which are used for the time symbols, such as circles, crosses, animal heads, serpents, plants, reeds, grains of corn, flint axes, arrows, battle axes, machete, feathers, and occasionally human faces, each object having received an arbitrary significance and being represented in conventional shape. Among all the tribes there were figures which represented the motions of the sky and earth and the order of the seasons, the very shape of the figures giving to us the idea of revolving 314 NA Tl VE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. seasons and the turn which all nature takes, the bend of the arms of the cross, or the turn of the scroll, the beak, of the birds, the coil of the "serpent, as well as the circles, indicating the motion of the sky, so that we have a map of the heavens, with its sun and moon, winds, stars, seasons, currents, as well as a map of the earth, with its caves, mountains, rivers, and four quarters, also its various seasons, all of the movements of the universe being plainly represented as in a modern orrerary. Different colors were also ascribed to the nature powers and the heavenly bodies — the four quarters of the sky, the moun- tains, seas, the upper and lower worlds, caves, all having colors which were significant. The various objects in nature, which have different colors, such as precious stones, shells, turquoise, gems, crystals, mosses, leaves, grains of sand, feathers, reeds and plants, were used as symbols of the nature divinities, and were supposed to have a peculiar charm, especially in the healing of disease and in securing the aid of the supernatural gods. There were also certain symbols which represented spiritual things — the feathers arranged upon a staff, called Pahos, were prayers which were materialized.* The sacred tree stood for the spirit of life or the soul; the serpent stood at times for the spirit of evil, the malignant spirit; the arrow also stood for prayer which penetrated the sky; the vine with nodes upon it stood for speech or prayer which reached the ear of divinity. There were symbols also to represent the state of the soul, a passage through the mountain for the journey of the soul; shrines in the moun- tains for the resting place of the soul ; the clouds and the turreted hills, which were the sacred spaces in the sky, or the city beneath the water, which formed the home of the soul. *rhe use of feathers as prayer symbols was common with nearly all of the aboriginal tribes, but was especially common among the Tusayans. They are explained by Mr. J. W. Fewkes in his pamphlet called "Tusayan New Fire Ceremony," reprint from the proceed- ings of the Boston Society of Natural History. Every breath moves them, and so they are the symbol of the breath of the body and the breathing of the soul in prayer. As the sun travels across the sky he sees the Paho in the shrine, places them in his girdle and carries them to his western home, and distributes them to the world-quarter chiefs. These world querter chiefs are the same as divinities or cloud chiefs; their servants arc the six plumed snakes, all of which are addressed in the prayers. In warrior societv celebrations game gods are addressed. Altars and shrines were also the symbols of the meeting place ofDivinity and the soul. These with the Tusayans were of three kinds, (i.) Cloud Charm altar with a medicine bowl at the junction of the six lines, and ears of corn at the ends of the lines. (2.) Sand-painting altars with fire slabs. (3.) Symbolic figures made in meal used in the flute ceremonial foot races. Keredores is a term used to represent tlie upright frame work back of the sand pictures. ANTHROPOMORPHIC DIVINITIES. 315 CHAPTER XIII — CONTINUED. ANTHROPOMORPHIC AND MOUNTAIN DIVINITIES. We have now passed over the different ethnographic reHgions and have spoken of the districts in which they predominated as local cults, and the symbols which embodied them. In giving this geography of religion and of mythology, we would not be understood as claiming that the various forms of religion were confined to the districts mentioned, or even that they pre- dominated to the exclusion of all others, for many forms of religion prevailed in all parts of the continent, and the sym- bols and the myths which served as drapery to them were also widely distributed. There was, to be sure, a striking correlation between each form of religion and its environment, the mythol- ogy always partaking of the material surroundings, and the symbols also being affected by them; but there was nevertheless a common basis for them. These all reveal the force of the religious sentiment which prevailed among a people who were so remote from the ordinary fountains of thought and the sources of religious influence. They prove that man is naturally relig- ious: and if he is not furnished with a religion, he will make one for himself and will gather inspiration from the works of nature about him. There was one form of religion we have not touched upon, a foim which brought in the element of personality and gave to the symbols a new significance and introduced others, so that we have in it|an entirely different set of myths and a distinct system of sym- bolism. To this religion we have given the name of Anthromor- phism. The term is derived from two Greek words, atithropos^ "man," and viorplia, "shape." It means the representation of a deity in human form and with human attributes. This is the type of religion to which we shall invite attention. I. Let us consider the character of anthropomorphism as it existed in America. It was one of the prominent ethnographic and religious systems in the world, but had a greater influence here than anywhere else. It was prevalent throughout the con- tinent, though its highest development was among the semi- civilized races of the southwest, where the symbolism reached its highest perfection. It was also prevalent throughout the * The Mide charts and songs of tlic Ojihwas and the sand-paintings and mountain chants of the Navajos furnish us with illustrations in this chapter: but tlie idols of Mexico and many of the sculptured figures of the Mayas are nothing more nor less than images of anthropomorphic divinities. 316 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. eastern continent and was there among the highest types of religion, only one higher form having been reached by the pagan nations, viz.: monotheism. It was, in fact, the connecting link between the prehistoric and historic religions, and was one of the most familiar types among the ancient nations. There was, to be sure, often connected with it a degraded system of idolatry, which receives condemnation from enlightened consciences ; but notwithstanding this it resulted in a view of the personality of God, which, upon the whole, was a benefit to mankind. This only shows how the human mind works in the matter of relig- ion, for it rises at one time to the greatest heights, but at another falls into the most debased and degraded condition, but some- how the religious sentiment advances with each movement, heav- ing in tide waves the thought of man to a higher stage, where the truth seems to be better apprehended. This is illustrated beau- tifully in America, for here the aboriginal mind worked accord- ing to its own laws and forces, without the influence of the historic faiths and without the aid of revelation ; and yet it seemed to have come with each advancing type nearer and nearer to the apprehension that there was one supreme and personal God. The type of religion which we called anthropomorphism is removed but one step from this conception, and was itself in the process of growth. The natives of America were, some of them, bad enough in their practices. They were full of cruelty, and some of them were carried to extreme frenzy; the dog-eating shaman, among the Thlinkeets, would take the live dog in his hands, and while fol- lowed by others as crazy as himself would tear it to pieces with his teeth; the Eskimo in his hut would tell tales of the bestial indulgence and cruelty of Sedna, his female divinity of the seas; the Thlinkeets would repeat the myths of the strange amours of Ne-kilt-luss, the great creator, and represent the an- cestors of the race as coming from the cockle-shells upon the shore; the Navajo would tell about the hermaphrodite which was born out of the union of the clouds and the sky on the mountains, having no semblance except that of the dark storm cloud and the fleecy cloud combined; the Zuni Indian would tell the story of creation, and say that the creator lifted the sun and sky from the earth, and was to be worshiped under the semblance of the feather-headed serpent; the Aztec would re- peat his myths about the god of war, death and hell, and fill temples with the images or idols which were covered with the ghastly array of skulls; and even the Maya devotee would erect the image of the serpent, with open mouth and protruding tongue, and worship this mask as the embodiment of his divin- ity; still, notwithstanding all these cruel practices and degraded customs, the conception of god was constantly rising. The habit of ascribing human attributes to the divinity was only one evi- ANTHROPOMORPHIC DIVINITIES. 317 dence that progress was being made toward the truth. We may regard then this habit of clothing the divinity in the drapery ot the human face and form as a positive aid to devotion, for it enabled the people to conceive of God as a personal being, and to represent him not only as a national divinity, but as one who ruled all nations and peoples. We do not find in America any such conception of a holy being as is contained in the Scriptures; nor do we find the thought of one true and living God ruling over all thmgs, but so far as symbols and myths could express it we may say that the con- ception of God as a personal being, having personal feelings and bearing a human semblance, was similar to that which was common among the nations of the east and that which may be easily recognized in the language of the word of God. To the benighted and belated sons of men who inhabited this continent, anthropomorphism was a great boon, for it brought them to a higher conception of God than the mere nature worship ever could have done. Though there was no Moses among them who could go up the mountain's height and talk face to face with God, nor was there any gift of law, revelation, or religion, yet those who worshiped the humanized personal divinities were much nearer the truth than those who either worshiped animals, or ancestors, or even culture heroes, for they had a view of his personal attributes and were on the way to apprehend the unity of God and his sovereignty over all creatures. II. Let us turn to anthropomorphism as found among the wild tribes. There were different phases which anthropomorphism assumed in the various parts of the continent. Its chief devel- opement was in Gautemala and among the ancient Mayas, but it also prevailed among the lower and ruder tribes, though it was here associated with animal worship and totemism, the zoomor- phic and anthropomorphic divinities being strangely mingled in their pantheon. It is a matter of surprise that so much of the advanced forms of anthropomorphism existed among the rude and savage tribes, and that even the gods of the world-quarters were so frequently represented as personal beings which bore the human semblance. The majority of them were, to be sure, zoomorphic, as would be natural with the totemistic tribes; but there were many divinities among them which had the human semblance, for we find everywhere pictographs, rock inscriptions, inscribed shells, carved relics and masks, as well as idols, contain- ing the human semblance.* There are also many charts which contain human figures or faces, and the chief divinities are rep- resented in this way, but the subordinate divinities under the * Here we would speak about the human hand, which has been recognized ag an orna- ment on the pottery and in the shells of the Mound-builders. This is different from the human face and form, and yet it was expressive of the same thought, and was a very wide- spread symbol. 318 : NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. animal semblance. There were also dances and feasts among the wild tribes in which the individuals personated the divinities, sometimes imitating the animals which they worshiped and mimicking their motions; sometimes the birds; sometimes the nature powers; sometimes the motions of the serpent, which which was the symbol of the seasons, especially spring, at its appearance after the long bondage of winter. The highest style of dramatization was that in which the supernatural powers were represented as personal beings. Moreover, the gods who repre- sented the four elements, and who ruled the world quarters and bore the sacred colors, assumed the human form for the sake of conversing with their devotees, though they were capable of transforming themselves into any shape. We can not look upon these different manifestations without believing that the personality was an element in the divine being even in the minds of the untrained savages, and that all the mysteries which were celebrated had regard to this element. Some believe that the future state of the soul was often in the minds of the initiates, and that much of the symbolism brought out the thought of the unseen world, for the religious customs which were practiced at the burial of the dead were in ac- cord with this. The spirits of the departed were regarded as still in existence, and food must be placed within the grave, or in the house which was placed over the grave, and articles for use within the grave. Moreover, the myths and symbols which were perpetuated by the sacred mysteries bring out the thought that an unseen spirit, who was perhaps equivalent to the Supreme Being and Great Spirit, directed the mysteries and de- signed to bestow gifts upon the people. There are many illus- trations of this among the different tribes, for there are charts and symbols, as well as myths and traditions, which perpetuate the religious views of the aborigines. Some of these seem to have been affected by the views which were brought in by the white man, but others are purely aboriginal. The best illustra- tion is that which is found among the Ojibwas, an Algonkin tribe which still dwells on the borders of Lake Superior and the head waters of the Mississippi River. The following is a sum- mary of their beliefs: The chief or superior manito is termed Kitshi Manido, approaching to the idea of the God of the Chris- tian religion. The second in importance is Dzhe Manido, a benign being, upon whom they look as a guardian spirit or good spirit. Another is called Dzhibai Manido, shadow spirit, or ghost spirit, for he rules the place of shadows. Aside from these, there was the chief animal spirit, who is supposed to be the national god and culture hero, represented as the giant rab- bit, called Minabozho, who was subordinate to the Kitshi Manido, but was the means by which his gifts came to the people. Op- posite to these various divinities, but subordinate to them, were ANTHROPOMORPHIC DIVINITIES. 319 certain evil or malignant spirits, which assume the shape of ser- pents and bears and birds. The manner of securing supernatural gifts and favor with the Kitchi Manido was by passing through the four degrees of the sacred mysteries. These were guarded by certain malignant spirits who assumed the shapes of serpents, bears and panthers, and who opposed the passage of a candidate into the sacred lodge, where he would receive the gift of immortality. These were, however, under the control of the good spirit, and opened the passage into the lodge at his command. When the candi- date passes into the second degree he receives from Dzhe Manido eyes to look into futurity ; ears that can hear a great distance; hands that can touch those which are remote; feet which can traverse all space. When he has passed to the fourth degree he is able to accomplish the greatest fetes in magic, and to read the thoughts and intents of others. His path is beset with dangers and points to which he may deviate from the true course of propriety ; but at the end of the world his soul is permitted to pass from the Mide-wigan to the land of the setting sun, the place of the dead, upon the road ot the dead. An illustration of these different points will be found in the charts which perpetuate the Mide songs of the Ojibwas,* which have been preserved as very sacred, and which represent the ancient mysteries, still so sacred among them. We shall call attention to these charts, for they are the "sacred books" of the Ojibwas and perpetuate the sacred songs, or the Mide songs, exactly as the sand-paintings do among the Navajos and the codices do among the Mayas. What is most remarka- ble about the charts is that they represent about the same fundamental truths or beliefs as those contained in the sacred books of the east, and like them are given in poetical language and were attended by songs that were designed as interpretations. They are, in fact, the Vedas of this aboriginal tribe, and repre- sent the religion as well as the literature of this people. Nearly all of these charts begin with the story of creation and end in the passage of the soul into the sacred lodge in the heavenly spaces, but represent the processes by which the can- didate is. to appease the great divinity, who is unseen, but who has revealed these m.ysteries to the people. The interpretation of the chart reveals the fict that there was a foundation niyth which prevailed among all the tribes of the Mississippi Valley, and, with variations, appeared among the tribes of the interior, ♦Schoolcraft says: The North American Indians have two terms for their pictoffraphs — Kekeewin, such things as are generally understood by the trihe; Kekeenoxym lor tlie teachings of the Mides or priests. The knowledge of the latter is chicHy conhned to per- sons who are versed in tlieir system of magic medicine or their religion, and may be termed hieratic. The former consists of figurative signs, such as are employed at places of sepul- ture or hunting or traveling parties. It is also employed in the rock writings, mez/inabiks. Many of the figures are common to both. This results from the figure of the alphab et be ing precisely the same, but the devices of the medicine (Wabenoi, hunting and war s on? are Known solely to the initiates, who have learned them. S20 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOIISM. and even may be recognized among the more civilized tribes of the southwest. Let us first take the chart furnished by Henry Schoolcraft: It begins with the picture of a bird under an arch (No. i). This repre- sents the medicine lodge hlled with the presence of the Great Spirit. (2.) Next is the candidate for admission, holding the pouch from which the wind IS gushing out. (3) A man holdmg a dish in his hand. (4.) Next a lodge in which the Mide men are assembled. (5.) Next the arm of the priest. (8.) The Mide tree, or the tree of life. (9.) The crane, which is the totem o' the tribe. (10 ) An arrow, which penetrates the entire circle of the sky. (11.) A small hawk, which is capable of flying high into the sky. (12.) The sky, with the Great Spirit looking over it, a suplicating arm inside of it. (13.) A pause. (14.) Wabeno tree. (15.) A drumstick. (16.) The sun pursuing his course untd noen. (17.) The Great Spirit, filling all space with its beams. (18-19.) A drum and tambourine, (20-21.) The raven and crow, symbols of the nature powers. (22.) A medicine lodge and the master, holding in his hands the clouds. Let us next take the one given by Dr. W. J. Hoffman, and the myth or legend which is attached to this. It is as follows : Minabozho, the great rabbit, was the servant of Dzhe Manido, Chart of the "Mide Wigan," or Sacred Lodge the good spirit, and acted in the capacity of ancestor and mediator and was the friend of the Indians. He looked down upon the earth and beheld the ancestors of the Ojibwas occupying the four quarters of the earth, and saw how helpless they were. The place where he descended was an island in the middle of a large body of water. He instructed the otter, whose home was in the water. Here he built a sacred Mide lodge, "Mide Wigan," and took the otter into the "Mide Wigan" and shot the sacred migis into his body that he might have immortal life.* This is the myth. The following is the chart which embodied it: The circle with the four projections (Nos. i, 2, 3, 4) represents the world at creation, with the four quarters inhabited by the people (Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8). The two oblong squares (Nos. 11-12) represent the lodge guarded by two malignant manidos(Nos. 9-10). Four human forms (Nos. 13, 14, 15, 16) rep- resent the four officiating priests. Cedar trees are represented by Nos. 17, 18, 19. Nos. 21 and 22 represent a bear spirit. Nos. 23 and 24 represent a sacred drum. Nos. 28 and 29 represent the entrance of the first and second degrees. Nos. 30-34 represent the five serpent spirits who oppose the prog- ress, one of which raises its body to form an arch for the candidate to pass *The "niigis" is considered the sacred symbol of the Mide Wigan," and may consist of any small white shell, ANTHROPOMORPHIC DIVINITIES. 321 under. Nos. 35-47 represent the four malignant bear spirits. Nos. 37-38 represent the door of the lodge. Nos. 39-45 represent the seven Mide oriests. No. 48 the candidate receiving supernatural powers. No. 50 the Bad Mide. No. 53, the third degree, Nos. 61-67, the Mide spirits who in- habit this degree. Nos. 59-60, the bear spirits. Nos. 69-80, the fourth de- gree. Nos. 81-84, 88-96, malignant animal spirits. No. 99, the angular pathway. No. loi, the end of the road. Above the fourth degree (i lo-i 14) are the ghost lodge and the path of the dead. No. 113, the owl, which represents the sou passing from the Mide Wigan or ghost lodge to the land of the setting sun. It would appear from this chart that even the savages had a conception of a supreme being and creator, of a mediator, of an evil spirit and of a divine or supernatural gift which came in answer to offerings and prayer. They had also a view of a future state and the passage of the soul after death into the sacred abodes, which was not derived from the white man, but was aboriginal and was perpetuated by the medicine men from generation to generation. This conception accompanied the worship of anthro- pomorphic divinities far more than that of the animal divinities. The Ojibwas were not the only tribes which had charts and symbols in which the human face and form were used to repres- ent the personality of God and the super-natural being. The Dakotas, Omahas, Ponkas, Winnebagos and Pawness all used the same semblance. These tribes combined them with the sym- bols of the nature powers, such as the lightning, water, air and wind, in such a way that the human features could hardly be recognized; yet when we come to understand the symbols we see that the human semblances are given to the nature powers, and that human attributes are ascribed to the supreme divinities, the animal gods being subject to these, though they acted as guardians to the sacred mysteries. III. This brings us to the "mountain divinities," which were worshiped by the tribes ot the interior, such as the Zunis, the Moquis, Pimas, and especially by the Navajos. These were always regarded as personal beings, having human attributes, and were represented under human semblances, thongh they were nothing more nor less than the nature powers personified. They inhabited the mountain rocks and caves, and had the ap- pearance of animals, with human faces and hands. These divinities or spirits dwelt in different houses; but they were houses which were hid away among the mountains, or water of the lakes, or amid the clouds above the mountains, and can be called nature divinities or mountain divinities. They, however, all possessed the human form, or at least had faces, feet and hands like human beings and could talk and act as if they were human. It appears that the universe was peopled by supernatural beings, and there was not a living creature, nor even an imagin- ary object, which did not have its representative in the varied "pantheon." The clouds, the rainbow, the storm, the thunder and lightning, the snow and rain, the rocks, and the caves among 322 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. the rocks, the crystals formed among the rocks, the water, the streams, the trees, the foliage on the trees, the birds, and the feathers and the plumage on the birds, the animals, and even the fur on the animals, were personified and made objects of worship. The colors were especially dwelt upon as representing divinities, and were regarded as the clothing with which the nature powers were arrayed. There were not only divinities of the water, sky, earth and fire, but there were divinities which represented the different colors and the different elements. It was a very brilliant and highly colored universe which the people inhabited and which they imagined were also the habita- tions of the anthropomorphic divinities. The houses of the divinities had different colors — the black water and the white water, the blue sky and the red sky. the yellow sunbeams and the black rocks, the white lightning and the red lightning. The colors had much to do with the worship of the divinities among the eastern tribes, but here they were magnified and exalted to a higher rank, and they had a great force in the religious cere- monies of the people. The points of the compass were regarded as sacred and had different colors, which were sacred to certain divinities; but there were added to the four points three more, to represent the zenith, nadir and the central point around which the universe revolved, making seven spaces, six of which were occupied by the divinities, the central one being the place where the divinity and humanity met. Among some of the tribes there were double spaces, making two worlds — the celestial and the terrestial. Both worlds revolved about the central space exactly as the nine worlds of the Chinese revolved around the throne of the celestial emperor, and as the four peaks of the Hindoo mountain stood around the central mountain of Meru, which was regarded as the pillar of the sky and the navel of the universe. The celestial spaces were occupied by the anthropo- morphic divinities, but the terrestial spaces were guarded by animal divinities which were represented in the red stone fetiches,* which the people worshiped. There was a central space in the sacred geography of the ancient natives of the east. There it was always located in the city, and in the temple in the midst of the city. With this people it was located in the pueblos. Sometimes seven pueblos were built, perhaps to symbolize the different spaces. We would notice further that the dwelling place of the *Thc central mountain among the Navajos, as well as four mountains surrounding it. (See ttie mountain cliart liy Dr. Wasliington Mattliews.) .. r . • • There were six pueblos among tlie Zunis, one of wluch %vas the seat ot dominion, or central power. (See Bandelier.') x- j * c r- i„^ \ checkerboard village with a larger edifice in the center was noticed at ban L:iros. Arizona. (See Investigations in Southwest, p. 417.) This was of tlic Mexican type Clus- ters of the checkerlioard pattern were found near Phoenix. Arizona, f . 444- J^ot only from tlie discovery of totemic devices, but from other evidences, it is supposed that eac 1 was tlie abiding place of a particular clan or gens. Cassa Grande shows three stones, w^ith a third story like a tower-one of them suliterranean, making four. (Sighted from bartlett s Personal Narrative, Vol. II, p. 272.) (Bancroft's Native Races, \ ol. I V , p. 625.} ANTHROPOMORPHIC DIVINITIES. 323 divinities differed among the different tribes, the Navajos representing them as dwelling on top of the mountains and above the clouds, while the Zunis and Moquis represented them as dwelling beneath the waters and below the mountains. Still the houses in which the divinities dwelt, which were pictured out by the Navajos, were formed of the clouds and were built in terraces resembling the terraced houses of the Pueblos, but had different colors, very much as the Babylonian pyramids had. These many colored clouds were guarded by animal divinities, but they could be reached by human beings, especially when attended with the supernatural beings as companions. One of the most beautiful tales, or myths, of the Navajos is contained in the description of an individual who was seeking after his spiritual body and who was led by two of the divinities through the different clouds, the grey cloud, and the red cloud, to where the body was lying. According to the myth each bank of clouds contained a chamber which had a different color and was guarded by some animal with a color corresponding to the cloud. The house in which the soul body was lying was situ- ated in a field beyond the clouds ; it had a door and sill, front part and back part, each of which are mentioned as if they were sacred. Ihe body itself seemed to be held in its place by a secret spell or charm which was broken by the presence of the supernatural divinities and taken up part by part — hands, ieet, body, hair, even to the spittal, and carried back to the habitation of the human being, who, as a soul, seemed to be disembodied. The story reminds us of the Dakota myth of the souls of their ancestors which passed up through the different terraces, which were supported by the tree of life, and took the bodies of birds. It required the greatest formality for these attended divinities — the one before, the other behind the soul in its passage through the clouds, and the myth is stretched out a great length in its repetitions, but is very striking. This differs from the mythol- ogy of the Zunis, who imagined that the houses of their divini- ties were beneath the waters of the sacred lake, and were to be reached by passing through the secret path through the mountains. These houses, themselves, resembled the pueblos in all particulars. Thus, we see that the different tribes drew their ideas of an unseen universe from their surroundings. The same contrasts are perceptible in the story of creation. With the Navajos the gods were born upon the top of the mountains; with the Zunis and Moquis their original home was in the cave beneath the earth. There are many myths extant among these partially civilized tribes which exhibit their conceptions in reference to the appear- ance of the humanized divinities. They are very beautiful and full of poetical fancies; the imagery of them having been drawn from the magnificent scenery of the region and is resplendent 324 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. with the colors with which the rocks and mountains were clothed and sparkles with the jewels and precious stones which abound, and is as varied and striking as the vegetation which covered the mountains. The symbols also of the different tribes were de- rived from the scenery; many of them were invented to express the operations of nature, though the tribes borrowed symbols f -om one another as well as myths. Many of these myths and symbols were embodied in the sand paintings, which for a long time were unknown, but are now proving to be very interesting objects of study, for they are like the missals written during the middle ages. They are not only very beautiful, but they perpet- uate the ancient traditions of the people; in fact, have preserved the sacred book from destruction.* These sand paintings show a wonderful taste for color, and at the same time reveal an elaborate symbol which represents the various nature powers — such as the wind, rain, lightning and four points of the compass — also a familiarity with the sacred plants; but the most remarkable thing is that the gods of the sky are always represented as having the human form clothed with the sunbeams and the colors of the sky and adorned with rainbows, but controling the nature powers and guarding the plants. This is one peculiarity of anthropomorphism. The divinity who has the human form is really master of the creation and reigns supreme over all the other powers. The best illustration of this is given by the ceremonial and sand-painting called Hastjdti Dailjis. This ceremonial was founded upon the story of creation, which is as follows. Hastjelti and Hostjoghcn were the children of Ahsonnutli, the turquois and the white shell woman, who were born on the mountain where the fogs meet. These two became the great song makers of the world and were the rain gods.f These two gods were the mountain divinities which were worshiped by the Navajos, They stand upon the mountain tops and call the clouds together around them. Hastjelti is the mediator between the Navajo and the sun. He communicates with the Navajo through feathers, so the choicest plumes are attached to the prayer sticks offered to him. They gave to the mountain of their nativity (Henry Mountain, in Utah) two songsj ♦These sand paintings were first discovered by Dr. Washington Matthews, but others, have added to the descriptions furnished until quite a mass ot literature has accumulated— Mr. James Stevenson, Mrs. Mati da Stevenson, Mr. F. H. Cashing, Li utenant Bourke, Dr. J Walter Fewkes, and others having furnished many articles in reference to them. fThcy may be regarded as personifications of the white and yellow corn, for they were conceived of ears of corn— the male from the white corn and the female from tlie yellow- though they are also rain gods, the effect of the rain being confounded with the cause, as it is frequentlv the case. iThe Tusayans, according to Dr. Walter P'cwkes, had sand-paintings and song makers, which served an important part in their rain ceremonials. The Tusayans also had many idols which were distinguished by their head dresses, most careful attention being paid to the colors. The gods and goddesses of the Egyptians were principally distinguished by their head dresses. These idols were placed before the altars and set in piles of sand. They were sprinkled with meal and adorned with feathers. In many of the houses there are large stone images standing in conspicuous places. \ large collection of these idols of the Tusayans and Zunis has been gathered at Washington, in the National Museum. (See Tusayan Indian Dolls, by J. Walter Fewkes, Boston, Mass., 1894.) knKEA9 or tTEHOLOOT »OOBTB iHMDAt. REPORT Pt. r» OJIBV/A MEDA SOMG. CHART OF THE MIDE SONG-SCHOOLCRAFT. O -> < > < z Hi I u. O a z < Q. I Q Z < CO UJ H Z > a z < Z 3 O ANTHROPOMORPHIC DlVINIllES. 225 and two prayers; then they went to Sierra Blanca (Colorado) and made two songs and prayers and dressed the mountain in clothing of white shell with two eagle plumes placed upright upon the head. From here they visited San Mateo Mountain (New Mexico) and gave to it two songs and prayers and dressed it in turquois, even to the leggings and moccasins, and placed two eagle plumes on the head. Hence they went to San Fran- cisco Mountain (Arizona) and made two songs and prayers and dressed that mountain in abalone shells with two eagle plumes upon the head. They then visited Ute Mountain and gave to it two songs and prayers and dressed it in black beads; this mount- ain also had two eagle plumes on its head. They then returned to the mountain of their nativity to meditate, " We two have made all these songs." The myth which served as the foundation of some of the sand paintings has relation to a song hunter and the Colorado river. A Jerusalem cross was formed out of two logs — a solid one and a hollow one. The song hunter entered the hollow log and Hastjelti closed the end with a cloud. The raft was launched upon the waters, but the Hostjobokon (river gods), accompanied by their wives, rode upon the logs — a couple sitting on the end of each cross arm. They were accompanied by Hastjelti and Hostjoghon (divinities of the mountains), and two hunchbacks, Naaskiddi (cloud divinities). These hunchbacks have clouds upon their backs in which seeds of all vegetation are held, and were perhaps the gods of vegetation. After they had floated a long distance they came to (the ocean) waters that had a shore on one side only. Here they found a people who painted pictures and who taught them how to make sand-pictures. See Plate.* In making their sand-paintings the Navajos prepared a sweat- house and painted the rainbow on the outside. This rainbow had the head and body, which hung down at one side of the lodge, and skirted legs upon the other side. The entrance to the lodge was covered with a black and white striped blanket, which symbolized the black and white cloud, and two buckskins, which represented daylight, or the twilight, or the dawn. Pre- parations for the sand-paintings were very elaborate in some cases, as in that of the ceremonial called Dailjis ; there were deer skins, reeds and colored tubes filled with feathers tipped with corn pollen and lighted with crystal, corn husks containing bits of turquois, beads and abalone shells, baskets filled with pine needles and corals, rugs covered with feathers, medicine tubes and crystals. The actors or personators of the gods adorned themselves with scarfs, belts, masks, eagle wands, rings *In this we see the suastika as well as the cross; the one representing the points of the compass, the other the revolution of the sky. Also the staves, by means of which the god- dess kept the logs whirling around with a constant motion. The chart is called the "Song of the Whirling Sticks." 326 KA TlVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. and gourds. The bodies and limbs were painted white. One wore knee breeches and a skirt of black velvet ornamented with silver buttons, a robe of mountain lion skins fastened around the waist with a silver belt. Another wore a red woolen scarf and silver belt; grey fox skins hung from the back of the belt. The first sand-painting was made up of three figures representing the divinities, as follows: Hastjelti's chin was covered with corn pollen and his head was surrounded with red sunlight, red cross lines on the throat, ear- rings of turquois, fringed leggings and beade'l moccasins. Hostjoghon has eagle plumes, ear-rings, fox skm ribbons, beaded pendants, carried feather wands brightened with red, blue and yellow sunbeams. Hostjobokon, was similarly dressed and ornamented, The second painting represented the raft of sunbeams which brought back the song hunters. This raft is the shape of a Jerusalem cross, and was composed of black cross bars, which denote pine logs; white lines, the froth of the water; the yellow, vegetable debris gathered by the logs; the blue and red lines, sunbeams. The blue spot in the center denotes water. There are four divmities — Hostjobokon with their wives upon the arms of the cross or upon the logs. They carry rattles and pinon sprigs m their hands, which bring the rains. Their heads are ornamented with eagle plumes, and they wear turquois ear-rmgs and necklaces. A line of sunlight encircles the head; white spots to repre- sent ears; the chins are covered with corn pollen; red sunlight surrounds the body; the skirts have a line of blue sunlight. Hastjelti is to the east and has a white skirt; he carries a squirrel skin filled with tobacco; his head is ornamented with an eagle's tail. Hostjoghon is to the west and has a black skirt; he carries a staff, colored black, and his body is covered with four colored stars. The Naaskiddi (cloud divinities) are to the north and south; they carry staffs of lightning with eagle plumes and sunbeams. The hunch upon the back is a black cloud, and on the cloud are eagle glumes, for eagles lived with the clouds. The lines of red and blue which order the black cloud denote the sunshine which penetrates storm clouds. The white lines in the clouds denote corn and other seeds. A black circle with zigzags of white around the head denotes the cloud basket filled with corn and seeds. The mountain sheep horns, tipped with tail feathers of the eagle are cloud baskets filled with clouds. A rainbow surrounds the picture with the feet and skirts upon one side, the head, arms and body on the other side. See Plate. There are other sand-paintings which accompany the ceremo- nies in which the medicine men undertook to cure the patients who were wealthy and could afford the expense.* Of these the following is especially worthy of notice, because of the number of human figures and the beauty of the colors: In this sand-painting there are twelve figures beside the corn-stalk; four of them are the hunch-backed cloud-bearers, with lightning staffs in their hands, called Naaskiddi; four of them are the goddesses of the white lightning called Ethsetlhe, and they carry in their hands the plume and circles which symbolize the clouds, and they have their bodies painted white; four of them represent the people of the white and the red rocks, called the Zenichi. Their homes are high in the canon wall. The deli- *It is said that the Navaios borrowed their ideas in recard to sand-paintings from the Pueblo tribes. The Zuni andTusayan tribes, the Mission Indians of California have sand- paintings and also the Apaches. The prominent feature in them all is this: The divinities are represeuted in the human shape, and the nature powers are symbolized in the orna- ments and colors. + The superstition which represents the rocks as abodes of spirits was common among the Eskimos, as well as among the inhabitants of the Easter Islands. This led them to carve the human face upon the rocks, and the rocks themselves into the shape of animals with human faces. This was a species of animism, but it was owing to the animism which prevailed that it was mingled with ancestor worship and animal worship. ANTHROPOMORPHIC DIVINITIES. 327 cate white lines indicate their houses, which are in the interior or depths of the rock.t and can not be seen from the surface. The people ot the rocks move the air like birds. They are painted in parti-colors, two of them having one side of the body, includmg the arms, the legs and face, red, the other side black, with cross-hatching or zigzags of black; the other two having one side blue, the other yellow. The red denotes the red corn; the black, the black clouds; the blue, vegetation in general; the yellow, the pollen of vegetation. The white zigzag lines represent the white lightning; the circles around the head zigzagged with white are cloud-baskets, which are in the pyramidal form and capped with three eagle plumes. A lightning bow is held in the left hands of these figures; the right hand holds a rattle ornamented with feathers and decorated baskets. They wear white leg- gings and beaded moccasins.* The myth or sand-painting which best illustrates the belief in anthropomorphic divinities is the one which accompanies the myth called the "Mountain Chant," which has been described by Dr. Washington Matthews. This myth celebrates the exploits of a Navajo who was taken captive, and who was delivered by Hastjelti, the great mountain divinity. In delivering him the mountain god led him through the different houses which were inhabited by the animals and various creatures which hide amongf the mountains, such as the mountain bear, the mountain rat, rabbits, porcupines, serpents, all of which were supposed to have the human form. The various powers of nature are also personified — the water, lightning, wind, storm and rainbow. The following is the story : Hastjelti appeared to the captive while he was bound in the tent of his enemies, and encourages him to escape. He bestows upon him some magic bags which he is to carry as a passport to the houses in the mountains. He even volunteers to lead him and help him make his escape and puts forth most miraculous feats of power to make his escape easy. Their first adventure was when they reached the summit of a steep precipice, near which is a tall tree growing; the divinity flings out the white lightning like a lasso, wnich fastens around the tree, and he brings it up near the precipice. On this they descend. They next came to a deep cafion, which seemed to be impassable, but Hastjelti blows a strong breath and instantly a great white rainbow spans the cafion. He orders the Navajo to cross on this. He points to a small hole in the cliff and says, "This is the door of my lodge, enter." He blew on the rock, and in- stantly the mountain opened and closed again, and saved him from his pursuers. They passed through three rooms and stopped in the fourth, when Hastjelti went out, and presently the voices of the pursuers died away and were heard no more. When all was silent Hastjelti returned and said: "Your enemies have de- » These different colors in which the mountain divinities were painted remind us of the tattooing and face painting of the Oiibwas and Dakotas. Mandans and other eastern tribes. Among the Ojibwas the face painting was done in connection with the sacred mysteries or sacret societies and was a sign of advancement tlirougli the different degrees. With all totemistic tribes the personating and the painting were designed to represent animal divin- ities rather than mountain divinities. The Mandans paint themselves as deer, putting white stripes on their limbs, or as bald eagles, with whitened faces. They rub green earth on the face from the ear to the mouth and put Indian red on the body in spots. They place white feathers on their heads, which wave slowly in the dances. See Catlin's Indians. 828 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. parted; you can leave in safety." So, taking a tanned elk's skin to cover his back, a pair of new moccasins, a pair of long, fringed leggings and a shirt, he set out. The Navajo, thus clothed, hastened on until he came near the foot of a high pinnacle of rock, on which was a mountain goat who bade him to go around the mountain, and then led him into the mountain, where there were St. Bsys?^:ii^jSw.:i..: ; :: : - ,>Kv:^Z ■ • ;■■-■;• r^ ^:, '. : v' f^^ij- departments, over which the rainbows extended in all di- rections. From this place the Navajo went to the house where was an old man, with a sharp nose, little bright eyes and a small moustache, who led him to the home of the bush rats, in which were a little old woman, two sons and two daughters, who offered him food; but the wind god, in a low voice, bade him not to eat it, lest he be turned to a rat himself In the next ad- venture he came to a hill which was difficult to climb. The di- vinity bade him ascend, but to close his eyes as he took the last step. When he opened his eyes he stood on the summit ot a great mountain peak, seamed with deep cations, from which he could see the place where he had lived. As he went on his way, the wind god, Niltci, walked beside him. He brought a great dark whirl-wind, which dug a hole in the ground, and a cavern with four chambers. The wind god said, in a low He went down and rested secure, while the dark cloud and the rain passed over him. He heard overhead the great peals of thunder, the rushing of the tempest, and the pattering of the hail-stones. The wind god then told him that his enemies had been dispersed. He accord- ingly went on, until about sunset he reached the top of a mountain, when the snow began to fall and the wind to blow. Here Hastjelti appeared and commanded him to go down a spruce tree and pointed to a distant glen beyond the valley, in the side of the mountain. Here, again, the god put forth his power and spanned the valley with a flash of lightning and led the man into Hastje'H, the Mountain Divinity voice, descend into this retreat. ANTHROPOMORPHIC DIVINITIES, 329 a cavern, in which was the fire. There was no wood on the fire, but four pebbles lay on the ground, which were gleaming with flames, and around the pebbles were four bears, who were colored like the pebbles — black, blue, yellow and white. These bears brought out stores, and offered him food to eat. They also unrolled a great sheet of cloud, and on it painted the forms of cultivated plants — the same plants which afterward appeared in the sand-paintings. In the next adventure the Navajo beheld a tornado; the air filled with logs and uprooted trees. He cried out to the storm and the tempest recognized him and sub- sided. Before the next adventure the wind god said to him, "those whom you meet are evil ones. I will go before you." The two then came to a hole in the rocks, which was guarded by two great rattlesnakes, which shook their rattles and struck at them. Within the rocks was a bald-headed old man, who had a little tuft of hair over each ear. This was Klictso, the great serpent, who taught the Indians how to make sacrifice to the great serpent. From the home of Klictso they went to a place called Wind- Circles-Around-a-Rock, and where they heard loud peals of thunder. They entered a house of black clouds. It was the house of Icni, the lightning god. He was also bald like the great serpent, having only a little tuft of hair over the right ear.* At each side of the house was a lightning bird — that in the east was black; south, blue; west, yellow; north, white.f From time to time the birds flashed lightning from their claws and the lightning was the same color as the bird that emitted it.| The next place that they reached was a dwelling filled with butterflies and rainbows. Here the butterfly woman brought a beautiful white shell filled with water and soap root, and bade the Navajo to wash his body and dry himself with meal, and paint his face with white earth. When the painting was done she worked his body over until she moulded him into a youth of the most beautiful form and feature. She gave him fine white moccasins and a collar of beaver skin, and put plumes on his arms to represent wings, and adorned him as the courier Akaminih is adorned, § ♦This shows the idenity of the lightning with the great serpent, and makes it probal)le that the Maya god, Xniucani. was also the lightning. This god is represented in the Cor- tesian Codex as having a bald head and a tuft of hair over the ears. He is seated under the Tree of Life, and is accompanied by the figure with the scroll about his eye, called Cucul- can. Dr. Brinton thinks they represent our first parents, the divine pair, called in tlie Popul vuh the creator and the former. t These colors of the cardinal points varied with the different tribes, as will be seen by the table given by Rev. J. O. Dorsey. J This conception of the bird throwing lightning from its claws is common among the Dakotas and corresponds with the conceptions ot the emljlem of the .American eagle, which holds arrows in its claws. §This courier is the one who summons the people to the dances or sand-painting. The legs and forearms are painted lilack to represent the storm cloud, with white zig zag streaks to represent lightning, and had white spots scattered over their bodies, and eagle feathers in their hair, necklaces of shell, collars of heaver skin, plumes on their arms to represent wings, fawn-skin bags in the hands, a girdle of shell around the waist, a short skirt covering their loins. (See Mountain Chant, p. 424 ;_fig. 52}. 330 NA Tl VE A MERICA N SYMBOLISM. The butterfly woman laid two streaks of white lightning on the ground and bade him stand on them with one foot on each streak, "for the lightning is yours," she said. She then pointed out the lightning trail. This trail he followed until he arrived at the house of the holy woman (Estsan-cigini), whose door was of trees. Within on the east wall hung the sun and on the west hung the moon. Here he was shown the kethawn, or sacrificial stick, and was told how to make it. The next house that he entered was two stories high, with four rooms on the first and four in the second, and had four doorways with trees of differ- ent colors for doors. Here dwelt four bear maidens; their faces were white, with hands like human hands, but their arms and legs were covered with shaggy hair and their teeth were long and pointed. The bear woman was a great warrior and in- vulnerable. He then entered a house made of water, and found eight holy young men, with arrows hanging on the wall, two standing at each cardinal point, thus representing these points. He next went to the house of the big oaks, whose door was made of red sunbeams, and of which the walls were made of logs of different colors. The east wall was black ; south, blue ; west, yellow, and north, white. Here were young men and women in the form of squirrels, with red and black stripes on their backs, who taught him to make kethawns. He went to a house whose door was of darkness, and was guarded by the bat, and was the home of the skunks. He then passed to the home of the porcupines, which was colored according to the cardinal hues. He next entered a house made of black water, with wind for the door, which was the home of the frog, water snake and the animals of the water, and here learned some of their mysteries. The next place was a house built of white rock crystal, the door being made of all sorts of plants, and was the home of the supernatural young women. He also went to the house of cherries with a door of lightning. Here he found the gods arranged around the fire holding arrows made of the cliff-rose in their hands, and afterward to the leaf mountain and found a house made of dew drops, with a door made of plants. This was the home of the goddesses who had long bodies. They had plumes on their heads and were so very tall they seemed to touch the heavens. Leaving the house of dew he came to the white water and the great spring, where there was a house of corn pollen, the door of daylight. The ceiling was supported by four spruce trees and rainbows ran in every direction, making the house shine within with beautiful colors. Hastjelti next took him to the house of brown water, and led him to the top of a high hill where he could see his own home. When he arrived at home it took him four days and four nicrhts to relate his adventures and to instruct his hearers in o ANTHROPOMORPHIC DIVINITIHS. 331 the mysteries which he had learned. On the fifth day they sent out couriers to invite the neighbors to a great feast and dance, and then the sand-paintings were introduced. There are four sand-paintings which embody this mountain chant, each representing the visit of the Navajo chief to the different houtes in the rocks and the people which he there met, with the various objects which surrounded them. The first represented the home of the snakes, which was a house mide of the dark water. In the center of the picture was a circular cavity to represent the water, which was sprinkled with charcoal.* Surrounding this are four parallelograms representing the rafts of sunbeams.! This figure of Hastjelti, the divinity who befriended the Nav- ajo prophet, differs from the wind god in appearance. He is represented as wearing a white skirt, bordered with black lines, to symbolize the black clouds. He carries the squirrel pouch in his hands, in which is the food of the gods. He wears on his head plumes, which are also symbols of the clouds. He has moccasins of different colors and garters. He is the chief moun- tain divinity of the Navajos. The second picture represents the painting which the prophets saw in the home of the bears in the Carrizo Mountains, and contains the figures of the mountain divinities and the plants which they protect. There is in it the same rainbow, sunbeams, rafts, and the same water bowls. But on the rafts are the four gods which have the human form; each one with the feet placed upon the raft and the head extending so as to represent the cardinal points. These divinities are painted different colors also, to represent the world waters— blue, black, white and yellow. The arms are half extended and are adorned with lines to represent lightning, and black to represent the clouds. They carry in their hands, suspended by a string, a rattle, a charm, and a basket. They have skirts of red sunlight, adorned with sun- beams, also ear pendants, bracelets and armle'S, made of blue and red turquois, the prehistoric jewels of the Navajos. Their forearms and legs are black, to symbolize the rain-clouds, zigzag marks to represent lightning. At the side of each of the gods is a plant which has the same color of the god, a stalk of corn in the southeast painted white, which belongs to the eastern god, which is white; the bean stalk in the southwest belongs to the southern god, both painted blue; the pumpkin vine in the southwest belongs to the western god, both of them yellow; the tobacco plant belongs to the god of the north, both of them black. Each of these four sacred plants are represented as growing from five white loots in the central waters, but * The water is the abode of the spirits of life, and the water-jars were regarded as sacred. Cusliing says: When a woman has finished a vessel, with its ornaments and sym- bols, she will tell you. with an air of relief, "It is a made being." 'J"he space in the orna- ments was the exit trail of the or being. When the vessel cracks you can hear the voice of this "made being," supposed to be the voice of the associated being as it escapes. tThese rafts are called, according to Dr. Washington Mstthcws, ca'bitlol, or "rafts of sunbeams," the favored vessel on which the divine ones navigate the upper deep. When a god has a particularly long journey to make, he takeS two sunbeams, fastens them together and is borne off whither he wills. Red and blue represent sunbeams and the morning and evening skies. External to the sunbeam rafts, standing on them, are the figuses of eight serpents— two white ones to the east, twe blue ones to tlie south, two yellow in tlie west and two black in tlie north. These snakes cross one another and seem to stand on the arms of the cross; The neck is blue crossed with four bands of red. Outside of the eight snakes are four more of greater length, which fosm a boundary to the picture. These have differ- ent colors and may represent the rain-gods of the world-quarters. In the west is a black figure representing a mountain, in which the snake divinities dwelt. From the summit of the mountain to the central waters is a line on which are four foot-prints which represent the track of the bear, one of the mountain divinities. In the northwest of this picture is the figure of a wind-god, who awpeared to tlie young man and went with him to the home of the snakes. He is called Niltci. 332 NAflVE AMERICAN SYMBOLtSM. spread out from the center to the circumference— alternating with the gods The gods form one cross and represent the four cardinal points. The plants form another cross and represent the mtermediate pomts of the com- pass. The gods carry beautifully embroidered pouches in their hands, the pouches being the shape of birds. Near the gods is a figure of a suastika * which is formed by crossing the center, the arms of the suastika bemg made of plumes; these are the cloud baskets which are carried by the gods, Surrounding the picture is the rambow deity, with the body pamted in different colors, to represent the rainbow, and the hands and feet black, to represent the black clouds and the white lightning. The rainbow is always a female and reminds us of the Iris, the Greek goddess, who personated the rainbow. The third picture commemorates the visit to the lodge of the dew, whose door was made of plants of many kinds, and contains the figures of the goddesses with long bodies. The third picture of this series was made in accordance with the in- structions received in the house of cherries with the door of lightning. In the picture the naked figures of the goddesses were first drawn and colors given to them appropriate to the points of the compass which they occu- pied in the house of the dew-drops— white for the east, blue for the south, yellow for ihe west, black for the north. To indicate their great height the figures were twice the length of any in the other pictures. Each is clothed in four garments, one above another, for no one garment could be made long enough to cover such giant forms. The appendages at the sides of the heads represent the head-dresses made of skins of different colors, which the goddesses are said to wear. Each one bears, attached to the right hand, a rattle, a charm, and a branch of choke-cherry in bloom. Some other adjuncts of the picture— the red robes embroidered with sunbeams, the forearms and legs clothed with clouds and lightning, the pendants from wrists and elbows, the blue and red armlets, bracelets and garters— are properties of nearly all the anthropomorphic gods shown in these pictures. The rainpow, which encloses the group on three sides, is not the anthropo- morphic rainbow; It has no head, neck, arms or lower extremities. Five white eagle plumes adorn its southeastern end; five tail-plumes of some bluebird decorate the bend in the southwest; the tail of the red-shafted flicker is near the bend in the northwest; and the tail of the magpie ter- minates the northeastern extremity. Throughout the mvth not only is the house of dew spoken of as adorned with hangings and festoons of rain- bows, but nearly all the holy dwellings are thus embellished. It is the task of the shaman, when the work of painting is completed, to put the corn- pollen, emblem of fecundity, on the lips and breast of each divine form, and to set up the bounding plume-sticks around the picture. Then the one who gives the feast enters and is placed sitting on the form that belongs to the east— the white form— and looking eastward. Then the colored dust from various parts of the divine figures is taken and applied to correspond- ing parts of the patient, and many other ceremonies are performed which it is not my purpose to relate here. When the patient has departed many of the spectators pick up the corn-pollen, now rendered doubly sacred, and put It in their medicine-bags. Some take dust from the figures on their moistened palms and apply it to their own bodies. If the devotee has dis- ease in his legs, he takes powder from the legs of the figure; if in his head he takes powder from the head, and so on. ♦The suastika. with bent arrows for arms, is novel but this indicates that it is a sky symbol— probably denotes the revolving sky. The circles denote the sun and the crescent. the moon and tlie central cross the cardinal points, the colors the different colois of the sky, COMMEMORATIVE COLUMyS. 33c CHAPTER XIV. COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP. The custom of erecting columns which were commemorative of the departed is as old as history and widespread as the human family. It, in fact, began in prehistoric times 'with the earliest race, but has continued into historic times and still survives as the custom among all nations. The pattern or style of mon- ument varies with different nations, but perhaps the earliest style is that which developed into the standing stones of Great Britain, Northern Europe, Western Asia and India, and which still survives in the gravestones and monuments which are found in our cemeteries everywhere. There were other styles which appeared at a very early date, perhaps as early as the standing stones, and which spread over the different continents from a common center. It becomes, then, an interesting task to study the different types, and to follow out the lines along which they were transmitted. The starting point of these monuments may not be very easy to find, yet we may begin at almost any point and trace them from race to race and from continent to contment, and make them objects of study. When we do this we find problems arising which are the most perplexing and difficult, problems concerning the origin of man, the spread of the human race, the progress of art and the development of symbol- ism, and many others equally as important. These must be heeded as we start in upon the broad field, and must be borne in mind as we advance, for we may find clues to their solution as we study the different monuments. I. Let us consider the general custom, i. The main question which arises here is the one which relates to the history of com- memorative art and its spread among the different races. We find this illustrated in the monuments of Europe. This habit of erecting a column as commemorative was introduced at an early date and has largely prevailed. The erection of the standing stones in the form of a circle was very common in Europe, but wherever it appeared was evidently symbolic of sun worship; and yet, strange to say, the circles almost always surround some central burying place, and are in reality both commemorative and symbolic. The decoration of these standing stones, with cup marks and channeled circles and loops and intaglio battle axes was a second stage in the same art. Angel faces and wings, crosses, wreaths, circles, and other em- 334 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. blems and symbols, came in after historic times. These mark the third stage and show the change from Paganism to Christian symbolism. Mr. Joseph Anderson, the author of "Scotland in Pagan Times," has given some very interesting facts in this con- nection. He says: "The typical form of the stone age burial custom was the chambered cairn, but we find these occasionally encircled by stone settings or circles of standing stones, but when the circle is associated with a cisted cairn the circle always appears as the principal member while the stone setting originally rose as an adjunct oi the chambered cairns of the stone age. It acquired its dignity and importance in the subsequent age, by the degredation of the stone structure, and came at last to stand alone as the most distinguishing and characteristic mark of the bronze age burial. The burial ground is fenced off from the surrounding area by a circle of stones, sometimes mere natural boulders, rolled into their places, at other times tall slabs, set erect on their ends, and at still other times surrounded by a trench and embankment of earth. Ocasionally the stone circle is doubled, the inner circle being formed of smaller slabs. From the frequency with which these burial circles are found to con- tain a plurality of interments, it is obvious they are not the monuments of single individuals, but family or tribal burial grounds. The stone setting then is the external sign by which the burial ground is distmguished from the surrounding area- Like the cairn, it is the visible mark of the spot of earth to which the remains of the dead have been consigned. The colossal size of their pillar stones, the magnitude of the area enclosed, the care and labor expended in trenching and fencing are features which give to these singular constructions a peculiarly impressive character. This impressiveness is especially charac- teristic of such a circle as that of Stennis in Orkney. It stands within a trench enclosing an area of two and one-half acres. The diameter of the area is 366 feet, the trench 29 feet, the stones 17 feet apart, the highest 14 feet. 23 m all. We are unable to define the limits of the area in which stone circles are found, but they are not confined to either Scotland or Britain, or even Europe." The best specimen of stone setting in circular form is that contained in the memorable works at Avebury, England, which we have several times described, but without giving an explanation of its use. See Fig. i. Another class of monumental stone settings, much more rarely met with than the circular groups, consist in the group of upright stones or alignments. Mr. Anderson also speaks of the standing stones which are found arranged in alignments* rather than in circular groups, and classes them under the same head of commemorative col- umns. He says : "There is a relationship of type between *See Scotland in Pagan Times, by Joseph Anderson, page 131. COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 335 these monumental stone settings, for the cairn is associated with both classes, those arranged in alignments and those in circles." He speaks of the alignments found in Scotland, and says there is a relationship of type. The cairn is associated with settings of standing stones when they are arranged in alignments. These are, like the circles, adjuncts to a sepulchral cairn. On the hill side of "many stanes," in Caithness,* is a group that consists of tv'enty-two rows of standing stones, one hundred and fifty feet in length, the number exceeding four hundred. Looking at the magnitude of the work, and the immensity of the masses of indi- vidual stones, we discern indications of confidence of power to overcome the forces of nature, of organization, and co-operation which are the necessary concomitants of civilization. This is an explanation of the standing stones in Scotland and Great Britain, but it may be applied to the standing stones and alignments of the north of France, especially those at Carnac,t in Brittany. ^s?*^i*r''-~:r75Jii-i:i]tij;j: Pig. I. — Circle of Standing Stones at Avebury, These consist of eleven rows of unhewn stones, the largest being 22 feet above the ground. The avenues originally extended for several miles, but at present are 3378 feet in length, 328 feet in breadth and tapering to 200 feet at the tail. There is at its head a cromlech of 62 menhirs — thus confirming Mr. Anderson's po- sition. The province of Brittany has 23 alignments, one half of those in all France. They are generally associated with either dolmans or cromlechs and may have marked the burial places of the common people, or battle fields, but this is only conjec- tural. They are the monuments of the bronze age. and are associated with the dolmens which were burial places through that age. The relation of the standing stones to the summer solstice has been studied by Mr. A. Lewis and others, and it is held that the northeast opening ot the circles was designed to admit the rays of the rising sun at the time. ]\Iiss A W. Buckland has spoken of the proximity of these * See "Scotland in Pagan Times," by Joseph Anderson, page 121. t See Archoeology in Westarn Europe, American Antiquarian, Vol. X, No. i. page 14. 3468 dolmens, 1577 menhirs, 457 cromlechs, 56 alignments; 6 alignments represent 3000 menhirs. 336 NA Tl VE A MERICAN S YMBOLISM. alis^nments, circles and dolmens to the sea coast, and says that they are not found in central Europe, thus furnishing a hint as to their origin. The theory once prevailed that they were intro- duced along with the other tokens of the bronze age by Phoe- nician voyagers, but this like the theory of their having been erected by the Druids, is now rejected by many. Sir John Lubbock says megalithic monuments resembling these are found all over Europe. There are stone avenues in Moab. Standing stones were erected in memorial of some particular event. Arctic travelers mention stone circles and stone rows among the Esquimaux. Even in Australia, stone circles are. said to occur. Lafitau figures a circle of upright stones in Virginia, carved at the top to rude representations of human faces. 2. Another question is, were they ethnographic lines which were followed, or shall we recognize a process of development which had no regard to the races. In answering this question we shall avoid all theory and shall only study monuments which have appeared among the different races, and especially those which are known to have been commemorative. We shall begin with the far east and shall follow the lines which have been marked by the great races in their various migrations, making it a point to study the different types of art which were adopted by each, and especially the symbolism which was pecu- liar to each. V/e think by doing this we shall certainly ascer- tain the line of transmissions which ultimately reached this continent and introduced the art into America. (i.) There were three different lines of transmission : one by the Aryan, the second the Semitic, and the third by the Tura- nian race. We can hardly tell which was the earliest, though the simplest type is seen in the northwest part of Europe, where we find the standing stones and the other commemo- rative monuments of the widespread Aryan or Indo-European race. We trace the same custom in its transmission through the commemorative art, which spread into Egypt and Phoenicia and many parts of western Asia, and are preserved in the various monuments, commemorative columns, obelisks and sculptured stones of the Mediterranean coast. (2.) We can see the Semitic line illustrated by the burial cus- toms of Egypt. In early historic times the mastaba of this race contained the body, which was placed in a sarcophagus and buried in the depths of the tomb. This mastaba was undoubtedly the same as the stone cist, and was an outgrowth of the same custom of burial. Whether the obelisk was placed outside of the mastaba is uncertain. A little later the mastaba changed to the pyramid and the body of the distinguished dead was buried in its depths. This, however, obscured the memory of the deceased. While the portrait of the deceased was painted on the case or coffin which contained the mummy, and the deeds were recorded in COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 337 the hieroglyphics upon the cell inside of the pyramid, there was nothing to remind the living of the exploits of the dead. The obelisk was then a necessity, and soon became conspicuous as a commemorative column. It was covered with hieroglyphics and contained the record of the dynasty. The portrait of the king was carved into the statues, and often proved as commem- orative as the obelisk ; but these were monuments for the living, while the obelisk was designed as a mortuary record. The same custom was observed by the Phoenicians, but in a different form, for the Phoenicians were base idolaters. There are sculptured figures near Kana which resemble portraits. These are placed along the foot of the mountains, or in the side of the valleys, or on the rocky terraces, and are in lonely and wild places, near large natural caves. The history of these is unknown. They all look toward the rising sun, and are Jiewn out of the rock.* Other tablets have been found in Phoenicia which contain animal figures, some of them standing erect and contending with one another. These may have been totems, or possibly they repre- sented the divinities. We do not class them with the mortuary records. The obelisk was common also in Assyria. The one frorfi Nimroud, now in the British museum, is an ancient specimen. The rock-cut tomb in Lycia has two columns in front of the door, but they are in the Ionic style and are modern. The monu- ments of Amrith are much older. They are called spindle columns, but are truly majestic. They are cylinders which arise from a square platform and terminate in a cone. The propylon of Xerxes at Persepolis is another specimen which, though mod- ern, contains the column. At the gate of the lions at Mycenae is a column which is supposed to have been symbolic as well as commemorative. Many other specimens might be cited, but enough has been said to show that the custom was prevalent among the entire Semitic race, and that it influenced also the Hellenic race. (3.) Another line will be found in the Turanian race, who were ancestors of the great Mongolian race, and perhaps also ancestors of the Malay race, though there is some uncertainty as to the identity of these two. The Turanians have been regarded, how- ever, as the so-called ground race. The custom of- erecting mortuary columns was the basis of the art of all these races, and it may be that we shall yet trace the line of transmission back to a common center, making the Phoenician and Hittite monuments the outgrowth of the same custom prevalent among Egyptians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Chinese, Malays, and the wide spread Indo-European races, thus proving not only the unity, but also indicating a connection between the races of the west with those of the east in prehistoric times. *The work is very rude, but was quite ancient. 338 ^A TIVE A MERICAN SRMBOLISM. II. The custom of erecting commemorative columns prevailed in America. How do we account for this ? Was it introduced from some other continent, or did it originate here? It is a sin- o-ular fact that there are few commemorative columns in the eastern part of this continent. A few standing stones have been discovered situated in the Mississippi Valley. We do not know that they were commemorative. There are many specimens ot ancestor posts, however, on the northwest coast, which give rise to the thought that the custom must have been introduced from some other continent. If we place these along with the so-called portrait pillars found in the southwest provinces, we shall have a confirmation of the thought. We shall it for granted that the Turanian stock is to be located in the northeast and southeast coast of the continent of Asia, and that it formed the under- lying stratum of the entire Polynesian race, though the lines of migration have not been followed up. The commemorative columns of the entire region will come before us for our study. These connect closely with the totem posts or ancestor posts of the northwest coast. This race seems to have migrated eastward and may be divided into two great branches — one located in Mongolia, the other in Polynesia and perhaps upon the Ameri- can continent. The religion of the Turanians was largely ancestor worship and abounded in commemorative colums. We do not find totemism as developed in this as among some other races, nor do we find sun worship as prevalent. Ancestor worship and hero worship predominated. This accounts for the difference between the cults which prevailed in the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Atlantic furnishes but little evidence of an ancestor worship, but in the Pacific it prevailed extensively. There seems to have been a transmission, not only of the system itself, but also of the custom of erecting ancestor posts, over the entire region occu- pied by the Turanian race. Erman, in "Travels in Siberia," says the Ostyaks and Samoyedes were in the habit of erecting images in honor of deceased parents. These images were set up in their " yurts." and received divine honors for a greater or less time, according as the priest directed. The body was buried with a nart and reindeer for use in the next life, also a tinder-box and pipe and tobacco ; but the image in the tent represented the deceased husband, and at every meal an offering of food was placed before it. The image of Ortik, one of their deities or deified heroes, was also often seen. This was only a bust, without legs, the face made of plated metal, the body a sack stuffed with hair and skins, the whole figure dressed in a linen frock. This suggests the idea that the transmission of the custom of erecting ancestor posts may have been from Siberia to the coast of America, for the use of the copper plates upon the totem posts of the Haidahs was very common in con- nection with their ancestor posts. Still the evidence is much COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 339 stronger in favor of the transmission from New Zealand to this coast, for the resemblance between the New Zealanders and the Haidas is very striking. We here quote from Ensign Albert P. Niblack, United States navy, who has made a study of the Haida totem posts and has furnished the most valuable information in reference to them. Drawing a parallel between the Haidas and the New Zealand- ers, he says: "In point of physical resemblance both are of the Mongoloid type and both live on groups of islands whose climates are remarkably similar. Poole says of the climate of the Queen Charlotte Islands that the most graphic comparison he could draw was with that of the northern islands of New Zealand. Their political organization of the tribe, their ownership of. land, and their laws of blood revenge are similar. The men tattoo with designs intended to identify them with their sub-tribe or household, and they ornament their canvas, paddles, house fronts, etc., in somewhat the same manner as on the northwest coast." Dixon (1787) is quoted as saying that the cloaks of the Haida and Tlingit were the same as those worn by the New Zealanders, A Ilaida fortified house on an island of the Queen Charlotte group was built exactly on the plan of those of the savages of New Zealand. The adzes made of jasper, the cloaks of shred- ded bark, and the paddles from the Queen Charlotte Islands and those from New Zealand are so much alike that it takes a close inspection to distinguish them." We quote a description of a house, given by Featherman,* for it may be taken verbatim and applied to those on the north- west coast." "The frame was constructed of posts painted red, carved into an ancestral image. The sloping rafters were sup- ported by a ridge pole which was supported in the middle by a post, carved at the base to represent a human figure, who was represented as the founder of the family. In front of the an- cestral image was the fire place, which was a shallow excavation marked by four slabs of stone sunk in the ground. A narrow opening, only large enough to admit a man on bended knees, was used as an entrance. The roof was lofty, and projected at the front gable end so as to form a kind of awning, generally occupied by the head of the family. The house was surmounted at the end of the ridge pole by a carved human figure. The sleeping places were partitioned off on both sides of the room by low slabs of wood. There was no chimney ; the smoke could only escape through the door or window. The burial place was almost always within the enclosure, near the family dwelling." The description of the war canoes ot the New Zealanders will answer for that of the Haidas. They were the property of the whole tribe, and measured from 60 to 80 feet in length, 5 or 6 ♦See Featherman's "Social History of the Races," p. 170. 340 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. feet in width, 4 feet deep, and capable of carrying about 80 per- sons ; the bow jutted out in the form of a spur and rose to the height of about 4 feet; the stern was from 12 to 15 feet high, 2 feet wide ; both were ornamented with grotesque devices executed in bas relief At burial the body was placed in a canoe shaped coffin and was interred in some secluded spot in the forest and surrounded by a palisade. The body of a chief was placed in a tomb which was surrounded by carved figures, representing Fiij. Z.—Haida Houses and Totem Posts. the illustrious dead, with their tongues projecting from their mouths. The funeral ceremonies were concluded by immolating some of the wives and slaves of the dead chief. The corpse was buried. The clothes of the dead chief were preserved in a carved chest,' which was considered an heir-loom in the family and a sacred relic. All their gods were known by specific names and were recognized either as hero divinities — men who in ancient times had distinguished themselves — or were simply impersonations of the elements. ' This description should be compared with the one given by Ensign Niblack. He says : "The carved columns are in front COMMEMORA TIVE .COL UMNS. 341 of the houses, generally in contact with the front, the doorway or entrance being through a hole in the column about three feet from the ground.* The villages are situated along the shore with the houses in a single row, a few feet above high water. The houses are not very lar apart. The beach in front of them serves as a street and as a place for hauling up canoes. At the end of the village is the grave-yard with its variety of sepulchers and mortuarv columns of ancient and modern form. Scattered through the village m front and at the corners of the houses are the commemorative columns. Each village practically consti- tutes a tribe. The canoes have projecting prows, high spear-sterns and flaring gunwales, and a grace- fully rounding cross-section. The war canoes are said to have formed a distinct class in themselves. The evidence is that the Haidas bor- rowed their style from the New Zea- landers. In confirmation we quote Ilif .:,.,.,,:, Fig. S.—Haida Houses. * further: The Haidas have been the center of impulse on the northwest coast, and in their development they may have influ- enced the adjacent tribes to a great degree, but the weight of evidence is that, with no great originality in themselves, they yet present the curious and puzzling circumstance that they extensively borrowed their ideas from the other stocks, but developed what they have borrowed with marvelous skill and independence. They seem in themselves to have typified or intensified the representative characteristics of the Indian stocks of the northwest coast. Whether they have originated or bor- rowed their ideas can not be made apparent with the data at hand, but it may be well to here state briefly the peculiarities of the Haida as they have struck the writer in their relation to the other Indians ot the region. The details of the method of house-building among the Haidas will be understood from the study of the cuts. See Figs. 2 and 3. The living room was excavated below the surface, as seen in the dotted line. The fire-place was in the middle of the room. The totemic figures will be seen in the column in front. The *See sketch of house in Fig. 2. Entrance, .\: the fire, B. burns on the bare hearth or on a trame-work made of logs; there is an excavated interior; the upper ledge is at the level, D, lower platform at C. See also cut of a village on page 347. 342 NA TTVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. entrance to the house was through the column. The ornamented front of the house above represents the wolf totem. The orna- mented front with corner posts represents an ancient style of house-building. The house to the left has an ornamented front to represent the eagle totem. The column to the right represents the bear totem, with the frog at the bottom. Of the three houses given in Fig. 3, one shows the eagle totem, with the entrance through the whale; another represents the method of roofing and the details of the smoke-hole; the third represents the Thlinkit style of house front. III. The explanation of the commemorative columns found upon the northwest coast will be in place. We shall find that these contain the same general art forms as those found in New Zealand, but at the same time embody a mythology and a totem system, which was peculiar to the region. I. Let us consider this totem system. Mr. Frazer says that FUi. h.— Silver Bracelet. "while totemism as a religion tends to pass into the worship first of animal gods, and, next, of anthropomorphic gods with animal attributes, it was often localized." The peculiarity of totemism in North America was that it introduced a relationship, which cut across the kinship ot blood and introduced one of religion, and was entirely arbitrary. It was the source of a new lineage which was to be recognized wherever the totem was seen. The crest of one clan was enough to bring the members of all the clans which bore the same totem into a new and novel brotherhood. This relation was generally shown by the animal figure, which constituted a crest or coat-of-arms, though there were tribes — such as the Navajoes and the Apaches of Arizona — which had no animal names, but instead took topographical liames, such as red rock, salt springs, black water, grassy hill, coyote pass, Cottonwood jungle. Others took the names of plants — walnut, juniper, cottonwood, rush, willow, tree-in-water, arrow reed.* The system among the savages consisted in the identification of the individual with his totem under a specific name. Adair says: "When his lineage is known to the people his relations, if •See Journal of American Folklore, "Gentile Organization of the Apaches," Vol. Ill, p. Ill, by Washington Matthews. COMMEMORA TIVE COL UMNS. 343 he has any, these greet him in a familiar way, invite him home and treat him as a kinsman." The clan totem is a material ob- ject, which a native regards with superstitious respect, believing that there exists between him and every person who bears the same totem a special relation which is equivalent to a blood kin- ship. They all believe themselves the descendants of a common ancestor, and bound together by common obligations and a common faith in the totem. This is seen in the customs formerly prevalent among the tribes in the Gulf States. The same custom now exists among the tribes on the northwest coast. Here an Indian, on arriving at a strange village, would look for a house indicated by its carved post as belonging to his totem, and make for it. The master of the house comes out, and perhaps makes a dance in honor of his visitor, and protects him from all injury. A captive is brought into the village, but it behooves those of his totem to present themselves to the captors and sing a sacred Fig. 5.— Silver Bracelet. song, and offer to redeem the captive. Here, then, we have the same system which prevailed among the savages of the interior, but modified, for in this case the father adopts the captive or the stranger, instead of the mother. The person becomes a member of the family rather than of the clan. This constitutes the main difference, a difference which has been brought about by the influence of ancestor worship beyond the sea. The mother rule has changed to the father rule. The clan has changed to the family as the unit of society, and we now have patriarchy with nearly all the features which distinguished that system in oriental countries. It was a change, however, which appeared mainly in the Haidas, for the Thlinkits still retain matriarchy. It was very rare that human figures were used to represent totems, though they were sometimes used to show the mythol- ogies which prevailed. Wherever the human figure is seen, we may conclude that a higher type of totemism has been introduced. Generally it is a type which has been influenced by sun worship or by ancestor worship, reverence for the animals having been transferred to the heavenly bodies. Among the Puebloes the sky was the habitation of the ancestors and the nature powers were deified, but the clans all retained the animal names, the clans of the Zunis being named the crane, eagle, bear, coyote ; those of 344 NA TIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. the Jemez coyote, corn, pine, evergreen, oak, sun, eagle, water, antelope, and badger. There were no commemorative columns among any of these tribes of the interior ; but the letiches and the diminutive idols, which were adorned with the symbols of the nature powers, were to the Pueblos reminders of their divin- ities, just as the carved specimens, tablets, inscriptions and shell gorgets with human figures, served as reminders to the people farther east, such as the Indians and the Mound-builders. 2. The ancestral columns are totemic, but they contain figures which illustrate the traditions, folklore and mythology of this singular people. The carved column in front of the model of the Haida house is an illustration. The surmounting figure rep- resents Hoorts, the brown bear, which is the totem of the head of the household. At the bottom is Tsing, the beaver, the totem Fig. 6, — Silver Bracelets. of the wife and children. Above it is the figure of the bear and hunter, which perpetuates the legend of the laison of the wife with a hunter, and is a warning to wives to be faithful to their husbands. It shows a belief in the possibility of human connection with animals. Above the bear and hunter is Tetl, the great raven, having in its beak the new moon, in its claws the dish containing fresh water. According to the legend of the creation, the raven stole the dish from the daughter of Kanuk, and flew with it out of the smoke-hole. He also stole from his uncle the new moon, which he imprisoned in a box. Above the raven are four disks, which serve as an index of the rank of the owner. Each disk commemorates some meritorious act. Another illustration is found at Fort Wrangel. Here there are two posts, one to show the descent on the female side, the other on the m.ale side. The genealogical column of the mother's side has at the top the eagle, the great totem or crest of the family; below that is the image of a child; below that the beaver, the frog, the eagle, the frog, all showing the generation and sub- families of the female side. The male totem has at the top the COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 345 portrait of a chief wearing a conical hat ; below that is the family- crest, the crow ; next below a child, then three frogs, and at the base the eagle, the great totem of the builder's mother. In front of another chief's house a very natural-looking bear is couched on top ot a pole, gazing down at his black foot-tracks, which are carved on the sides of the column.* Another illustration is found in the plate which represents the columns found on Prince of Wales Islands, Alaska, as compared with the so-called "Tiki," which stands, together with several others, near the tomb of the daughter of the king of New Zea- land. Two of the columns from Alaska are evidently modern, for they contain the image of a priest with folded hands, and of an eagle resembling the American eagle. The angel above the priest and the figure of a man with hand pointing upward, signi- fying that in heaven the god of the white man dwells. The only native totem on this column is the eagle at the top, which is the crest of the chief Skowl, who is said to have erected the column in derision of the missionaries. f The other figure, to the left, represents the head of a European — white face and black whiskers; two figures of children, one on either side. This per- petuates the story of the disobedient children, who wandered away and were kidnapped by the trader. Below this is the crane, with an instrument like a draw shave in its hands. The crane was an expert with tools, but they were stolen, and the crane now utters the cry, "I want my tools!" The next below is Hoorts, the bear, holding in its paws the butterfly. It perpetuates the story of creation. When the raven, the great Tetl, created the world, the butterfly hovered over its head, and pointed to the place where the bear lived. Below this was the giant spider, sucking the blood of a man. The story is that the spider was an enemy to man, but it was taken by Teskanahl, the divinity, and thrown into the fire. Instead of burning, the spider shriveled up and turned into a mosquito and so escaped, carrying a small coal of fire in its claws. The mosquito does not kill a man, but sucks his blood and leaves a coal of fire in the bite. The lowest figure is Koone, the totem of the owner. The New Zealand post represents, in the lower figure, the dvinity Mani, who, ac- cording to the Maori tradition, fished up the islands from the bottom of the sea. The protruding tongue of the upper figure shows that it is one of the numerous defiant statues which abound on the islands. We notice an approximation to the horrid orna- mentation of the Mexican pillars, which represent their gods, but we find the four ornaments which remind us of the sacred num- ber of the wild tribes. 3. We notice in all of these totem posts certain features uhich are common. First, the tall hat, which resembles that of the *See Alaska, "The Sitkan Archipelago," by E. R. Skidmore, p. 57. See Fig. 2, p. 340. tThe plate illustrating this will be found in Smithsonian Report for 1888, p. 327. 346 NA TIVE A M ERICA N S YMB OLISM. Chinese, is over the heads of many. Second, the frog is carved upon the post, but is seldom used as a crest. Third, the eagle, the bear, the wolf and the crane, are generally the totems. Fourth, the raven is the great divinity, who was the creator and ruler of all. Fifth, the Orka, or whale-killer, a species of por- poise, the beaver, the dragon fly, sea lions and other figures are used to perpetuate certain legends. These are frequently com- bined together in a grotesque way, the tongue, generally, pro- truding from the mouth so as to make a connecting link between the figures, and the large eye being carved upon the different parts of each figure. Sixth, the totem posts are carved so that the figures rise one above the other, making a genealogical tree, but the pipes, dishes, rattles, paddles, mortuary boxes, paint brushes, and other tools, are carved pell-mell on the different sides. Seventh, the nature powers, wind spirit, clouds, man in the moon, thunder bird, are personified and carved in the shape of animals or human beings. The creator of all things and the benefactor of man was the great raven called by the Thlinkeets Yetl, Yeshl, or Yeatl,and by the Haidas, Ne-kil-stlus. He was not exactly an ordinary bird, but, like all old Indian mythical characters, had many human attributes, and the power of transforming himself into anything in the world. His coat of feathers could be put on or taken off at will like a garment, and he could assume any character what- ever. He existed before his birth, never grows old, will never die. Numerous are the stories of his adventures in peopling the world and giving to man the earth, fire, fresh water, life, fish, game, etc. This story of creation as well as belief in the cause of the changes of the weather, and a thousand other superstitions are' noticeable. The imagery is entirely that which is peculiar to the northwest, and contains the figures of whales, animals of the sea; bears, wolves and animals of the forest; eagles, cranes, ravens, creatures of the air, as well as many fabulous creatures, all of them peculiar to this region. Some have imagined that they recognized the monkey, but the grotesque figures with a human form and animal head, such as the wolf, beaver, etc, might be easily taken for a monkey. It is not likely that the monkey was ever seen, or portrayed, by the natives here. The conventional figure of the orka or whale killer, the bear, the sea lion, of the crab, crow, whale and other animals were often carved upon the boxes, tattooed upon the person, woven in the ceremonial blankets, and twined in the basket hats in such a way as to be recognized only by those who were familiar with the figures. Strips of silver (see Figs. 4 and 5) made into brace- lets, representing the bear and raven, show the custom of placing their totems upon their personal ornaments. The same custom is seen in the woven garments which cover the bed of the chief • :}l.V.>i 4i o m m H m < o z r ^ 2 O m > m CO CO I— > z t3 wmmm 348 NA TI VE A M ERICA N S YMB OLISM. Shaks and in the Chilkat blankets which hans^ on the wall above his head. In this we have the bear totem repeated several times — the stuffed bear at the side, the woven bear on his gar- ments, another bear on the wall, a bear's head on the table. The ornaments are modern, but they contain the same symbol- ism as the ancient heir-looms. The same may be said of the carved pipes and other specimens. One of these already pic- tured* resembles a totem post. It represents at the top the figure of the eagle; next below, the orka, or whale-killer; next, the raven, known by its beak ; lowest down, known by its tongue.f The figure of the bear-mother is a slate carving, finished in the round. It perpetuates a legend.^ The daughter of a chief spoke in terms of ridicule of the bears. The bears descended and took Fig. 7.— Carved Slate Disk. her captive and made her the wife of the chief of the bears. She became the progenitor of all the Indians bearing the bear totem. The carving represents the agony of the mother in suckling her child, which was half bear and half human. The slate disk, (see Fig. 7) represents the orka or whale-killer. This is known by the fins, the nose and the eyes. We see from these specimens that the carvings are designed to perpetuate the legends, but that there was a different style of carving among the different tribes. Mr. Niblack says: "Every carving and pictograph is pregnant with meaning, but the task of tracing out the legends and com- paring them with those of adjacent regions is difficult. No idea of the ethnological affinities can be found withput comparison of" *Sce Fig. S in Chapter XIII, p. 278. tSee article on Ethnographic Religions, p. 311, Fig. 6. Xlbid., p. 312, Fig. 8. COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 349 the mythology." Mr. James Deans, who is familiar with the different tribes, and has made a study of the totem posts, says that each tribe has its own way of carving and its own set of myths, so that one is not sure that he is giving the right inter- pretation unless he knows the tribe to which the carving belongs. The following is a description, given by Mr. Deans, of the totem posts and carved images which have been gathered from the different tribes of the northwest coast and placed in front of the Haida house, near the Anthropological building in Jackson Park, Chicago. He begins with a post not seen the cut, which contains many carvings of male and female figures. On the above mentioned column, reading from below, the first is the carving of an Indian with his head encircled by feathers. This represents the owner of the house in front of which this column stood. The second figure is the raven, called by these people Caugh. This, the raven, is the phratry or principal crest, along with the eagle phratry, of all these people. The next is the dogfish, which along with the raven phratry, was the crest of the man who had this house built for himself. The third figure is a man, perhaps designed to represent the owner of this totem post. The fifth figure is a woman with head-dress, and is evidently a figure of the housewife. Above her is the figure of a killer or fin-back whale, with two young ones, one on each side of its mouth. The sixth figure is the crest of the wife. The young ones show her to have had a family, which, like herself, would have the whale crest. The next or seventh figure is that of a woman, showing that the wife was connected by birth with the tribe in which she lived. The upper or last figure is the eagle, and designates the phratry to which she belonged. The second column (Fig. 8) is a Haida column. This house formerly stood in the middle of the Haida Indian village of Skidegat's Town, so called from its chief always taking the title of Skidegat. The house belongs to a man whose name formerly was Choscah, or raven. It was the first house in the village be- longing to the Cathlins Coan hadry (point of the waves people), who came and settled in the town of lllth-cah-gutla (hut between streams) called Skidegat's Town, as above mentioned. These people were driven from their home by tidal waves and by ravages of war. When they came to Skidegat they lived all together by building their houses in a row; their descendants live all together in the same style to-day The figures on the post are: lowest, the bear with man's head dov/nward; second is the spout-fish (lown); on each side of it is the Chemouse of the Sinesheans, which is a symbolization of a river snag, a floating snag or oftener a tree. To an Indian sail- ing down the rapid streams of the Pacific slope these snags are dangerous, and a superstitious dread has painted them as monsters of the worst kind ; so, in order to be safe, they adopted them as 350 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. a crest. The Haida tribes borrowed this crest from these Sine- sheans. The next figure is a head with large eyes. It is shown as holding on with its mouth to the tail of the lown. This is the head of a bear as is shown by the tan giie (bear's ears) placed on each side of the head. From this head upward is a large dogfish. It is shown as having a woman on its back. I L- Fiff. S.— Haida Totem Posts at the World's Fair. Above the woman's head is another bear's head, with tan gue. Above all is the tail of the dogfish, shown between two little images. The following I consider to be a correct reading of the carvings on this post: First, the bear with a man's head down- ward; amongst the natives of southern Alaska symbolized a strange custom. When any one built a house a slave was killed and his blood sprinkled on the post, his body generally being buried beneath it. the bear on the post being the crest of the man who built the house, and the man being the slave who was killed. I have been unable to find that such a thing as killing a slave for COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 351 such a purpose was ever done amongst the Haida. In this case I speak knowingly, as I helped to dig up the post, and I found that no slave had ever been buried there. In fact the man who built the house says he killed no slave. There are two stories told by these Haida people with regard to a man's head being upside down on the post. The first I shall give is the one told by the builder of the house: The bear was the crest of the m^n Chaouk, by whom the house was built. His intention being not to follow the old usage of his people by having the doorway in the post, he had the man's head put on in order to have no blank space, as well as to exemplify an old story, which runs thus: Long ago, a little boy wandered away and got lost in the bush. A hungry bear found him and ate him up. The second story is founded on a usuage common among these people: If a man owed just debts to another, he was politely asked three times to pay it, and if then he refused, no more was said of the debt by the party to whom the money was owing, but he quietly waited until he had money enough to build a house, when, among other carvings, he had the image of the debtor put on in the shape of a man with his head down, and his crest above him, in order that the people might know who it was. j\ debtor seldom waited until the third time, well knowing the consequences. The next figure is the lown or spout fish. It was put on to show the crest of Choouto's first wife, who was a daughter of Crosaw, chief of Hieller, on these islands. The Chemouse on each side were put on for ornament more than anything else, al- though no doubt there was a connection between it and the wife. The two bears' heads above show a double relationship between this chief and the bears, which came about as follows: He inher- ited his uncle's crest, which was a bear, as well as the bear crest of the village Cathlins Coan (Point of the Waves), in which he was born. Together with these heads is a woman's head and a dogfish. This represents an old legend among these people, the legend of Hathlingzo (Bright Sunshine). She was a woman who, long ago, went to the open country in order to dig roots for food. After she had plenty, she went to the seaside to wash them. While there a dogfish came along and turned her into a sort of mermaid — half woman and half dogfish. This is said to symbolize the storm clouds, which, in that land of mountains, often quickly turn the bright sunshine to a storm. This story may also symbolize the Cathlins Coan hadry or people, when they left their own country and settled at Skidegat. The dog- fish being the crest of the town of Ilith-cah-gutla, or, as it is generally called nowadays, Skidegat's Town, from the chief, who also takes the name of Skidegat, so by becoming that town's people, they became entitled to the dogfish crest. The two wooden men with the tail of the fish between them, with Taden 352 NA TI VE A M ERIC A N S VMS OLISM. Skeel on top, may signify this man and his uncle Clads-an-Coond, and it may not. Probably they meant that he was a chiet at two times or places. The three circles, black and white, are three degrees of aristocracy. They also show that he was allowed to have three dances, and to wear circles around his neck while dancing. This carved column is forty-two feet in length and is, like all the others, made of red cedar. The third post is an Alaskan one from Tongass.on the south- ern boundary of that country. This one is also about forty-two feet in height. The carvings on it are: i. The lowest, a bear holding a raven, although it looks more like a fur seal, which I should certainly say it was if the post was a Haida one. 2. Next above is bear, a frog with a bear's tongue in its mouth, and a hat with eight rings. As for the signification of the carvings on this post, I may say that the bear at the bottom was the crest of the people whose house this was. The bear holding the crow or raven, as is shown here, would show that the bear and the raven were foes and that the bear had the best of him, though accord ing to the Haida tribes it would show an old legend about the bear and the fur seals. 3. Next above was the phratry of the man who owned this house. He also was one of the Cauhada gens. 4. Next above is the frog with the bear's tongue in its mouth, which showed the bear and the frog to have been friends. This frog I believe is the bear's wife's crest. The highest figure — the head and hat with eight degrees — must have been the husband, because the hat is on a bear's head. This post is badly finished. A Haidah carver would never put such a post out of his hands, and if he did he would be laughed at by the rest of the people. The next column, fourth in order, is a Haida post. It is of far better finish, and is worthy of a Haida. This post has for its figures, first and lowest, a scamsun or sparrow-hawk, the door- way to the house being in the belly of the bird. The next is a frog ; the next a being with a bear's head and a human body, holding on to the dragon fly; the next a crane; on the top is the Taden Skeel of three men, showing the chief's successors. This one, as well as No. 3, is exhibited by Mr. E. D. Ayer, of Chicago, 111, to whom, I believe, it belongs. The description given of this post is rather imperfect, and a stranger could glean but little information from it. The large bird on the bottom can hardly be called the sparrow-hawk. It should be called the mosquito-hawk. The Haida legend of its origin is as follows : Long ago the land was mostly covered with water, and when the water left it was very swampy. Then the sun was very hot, far hotter than it is nowadays. This swampy ground bred mos- quitos of an enormous size ; they were as large as bats. These bats are well known to most people from their habit of flying about by night. These insects were so large, and their bite so COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 353 deadly, that many people died from them. The country was slowly being depopulated from this cause. The people com- plained until the god Ne kilst-luss heard their cry, and sent the butterfly to investigate. On its return, it gave a woful account of the people's condition. Hearing this, Ne-kilst-luss sent the mosquito-hawk to live on them and drive them away, which it did. Now that the sun is less hot, and scamsums plentiful, the people can live. One legend is that the scamsum was an enor- mous bird, which still lives in the mountains, from which it flies over the sea, in order to destroy the killer-whales, or, as the Haidas call them, the scannah. Its body is the thunder- bird, the clapping of its wings the noise, the lightning a fiery dart sent out of its mouth, in order to kill these whales. The next figure is evidently a frog, showing that the party who had this house was allied to that crest or gens, or, what is not unlike- ly, they might have been connected with Skidegat's family. The next is rather difficult to decipher, owing to the head, which is evidently a bear's, being upside down. It has the tan ^uc (bear's ears) on it plain enough, showing it was highly connected with the bears. From its mouth to the mouth of the figure above is a band, which is held by the under figure. This shows a con- nection between the two. In the third post it shows friendship existed between the two figures — that is, the bear and the frog. In this case the animals shown are different. The lower figure I consider to be a bear, and the upper I believe to be either a butterfly or a mosquito, and doubtless symbolizes the old story of the butterfly sent out by the ancient god Ne-kilst-lass. The figure above seems to be intended for the dragon fly, which also is an enemy to these pests; although I consider this portion of the carvings to be neither more nor less than a rendering of the above legend. A number of years ago I saw in the old village Yukh, Queen Charlotte's Islands, a rendering on a very old totem post of the same myth. The figure with the long beak is a crane or heron, and doubtless was the crest of the wife of the man who built this house. The three figures on top belong to the family of Skidegat. The first chief of that name adopted it in order to put on top of his column. It is a mythological tale of the west coast, and is as follows: Long ago the god, Ne- kilst-lass, for a frolic, turned himself into a beautiful woman, and three men fell in love with her and, some say, married her, al- though this totem post shows it belonged to one of Skidegat family. This ends the totem posts from northern British Co- lumbia. The next is a house of a dififerent sort and belonged to the Quackuhls of Vancouver Island. Instead of a totem post these people generally paint their crests on the front of their houses. The paintings on this one represent the sun on each side of the doorway ,with the thunder bird above the door. This is the style 354 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM of this bird, as is shown by these people. This house, the notice on side of the wall says, belonged to the Nu-enshu clan of the Quackuhls, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The next carving is a doorway from a house at Billa Coola, in the interior of British Columbia. It is a bear, and was the crest of the peo- ple who lived in the house. 4. The study of the ornaments and figures on the mortuary boxes aids us greatly in interpreting the symbols found on the totem posts. These boxes were commemorative, but the figures are largely mythologic. To illustrate: The cedar box (see Fig. 9) '',-'4.^^*;.;i^^^mmmi' Fiy. u.— Cedar Box. used by the Thlinkits as a depository for the ashes of the dead, contains on its front the figure of the bear, with eyes, ears, paws, mouth, breast, all portrayed in an allegorical way. The slate box (see Figs. 10 and ll), an heir-loom, contains on the lid two figures or faces. The upper one, with rows of teeth and protruding tongue, is lloorts, the bear. The figures in the upper corners represent tiie ears, with an eve in each. The lower figure on the lid con- tains the face and flippers of the sea lion. The head of the sea lion can be seen in the handle on each side of the box. The face in front is that of the bear, having in its mouth the hunter; the paws of the bear are in the lower corners. In the Ilaida drawings, an eye is placed in the breast, ear, paw, tail and other parts of the body, with the belief that each part has the power of looking out tor itself There arc certain conventional signs which indicate to the natives what animals are meant. With the COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 355 brown bear, it is the protruding tongue; with the beaver and wolf, the character of the teeth ; with the orka, the fin ; with the raven, the sharp beak; with the eagle, the curved beak. Certain groupings are generally recognized as portraying certain well- known legends, such as the bear and hunter, the raven and moon. In the Chilkat blankets, the colors are interwoven to form a totemic pattern. These blankets are very common, and have become so conventional in their style that they are recog- nized. The figure of Hoorts, the bear, is common on them. The same is true of the ceremonial shirts, thoug-h sometimes the figure of the wolf is seen upon them, instead of the bear. It will be noticed that all parts of the body of the bear, such as the ears, paws, breast and legs, have eyes looking out. This illustrates the personifying tendency and at the same time shows /"'/(/ 10.— if^l(i/c Jlox the superstition which the people had. They imagined a spiiit io be in every part of the body. This spirit was able to rule and direct the part even as the totem spirit did the whole body. IV. The question of the origin of the ancestor posts here comes \ip. On this there will undoubtedly be a difference of opinion, for one class will hold that these originated on this continent independently, as the result of the system of develop- ment here, while another class will hold that they prove a contact between the races and are the result altogether of a transmitted cultus. Our position, as already indicated, is that the resem- blances between the Polynesian and the Haida symbolism is too strong to resist the conviction that much of it was borrowed. While there was an American system which consisted in the widespread totemism or animal worship, yet there was a Polyne- sian or Asiatic ancestor worship mingled with it, which gave a new tinge to and which ultimately resulted in that very unique system which is now our object of study. We maintain further that there was in Polynesia a very extensive esoteric system, which embodied in itself many of the religious conceptions which pre- vailed in the far east, and that the very conceptions were by this 356 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. means transmitted and adopted by the natives and became em- bodied in these ancestor posts, the difference between the sym- bols of the two wide areas being owing to the underlying ground work, but the resemblances being owing to the transmitted ele- ments. We recognize the resemblances both in the customs and in the symbols, and shall therefore call attention to these and afterward point out the differences. The resemblances are very numerous. The following have been noticed as common in New Zealand: i. Cremation of the bodies and the preservation of the ashes. 2. The keeping of the head in a box or carrying it about the person. 3. The cre- mation of the husband and immolation of the widows and slaves. 4. The burying of tfie bodies in canoes. 5. Erecting the statues with protruding tongues in the midst of cemeteries. 6. The preservation of garments and making them "taboo." 7. The glorifying the memories of heroes and ancestors by the carved figures. 8. Naming the divinities, and calling them ancestors, i-ifir. 11.— Lid of Uip Bur. and offering saciifices to them in the cemeteries. We can com- pare these with Ensign Niblack's description of the mortuarv customs among the Haidas: i. On the death of a chief the bod\', after lying in state for a year, is finally burned on a funeral pyre and the ashes and burned bones are deposited in a mortuary box or house. 2. Formerly the head was preserved separately in a box. 3. Certain slaves were selected to be sacrificed at the funeral of their master, and their bodies were cremated with his, that their spirits might accompany his to the next world. 4. In some cases pillars were erected, and the mortuary boxes were placed on them, while at the base of the pillar was the canoe, but in other cases the canoe itself became the burial place. 5. Carved columns and boxes and ornaments on which a protruding tongue connects the various figures are common. 6. The ceremonial apparel of a deceased chief was always placed with his personal property m boxes and preserved for many years. 7. The height and elabor- ateness of the carved columns were generally signs of the wealth of the individual. 8. The carving on the boxes, sculpturing on COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 357 the rocks, and the drawings, paintings and tatooed patterns were "totemic pictographs" which perpetuated legends concerning the various divinities, which were either animals, birds or creatures of the sea, or in some cases wind spirits and nature powers, each represented by an eye in a wing, or limb, or claw. The symbols, however, illustrate how pregnant with meaning every carving and pictograph was, and how difficult a task it is to trace them out and compare them with those of adjacent regions, and how im- portant a knowledge of the legends is to the proper interpreta- tion of the figures. No idea of the ethnical affinities of the various stocks can be formed without comparative mythologic and ethnologic study. "In the ceremonial institutions, in the elaborate dance paraphernalia, in the carved heraldic columns, in the varied mortuary customs, in all the practices of highly im- aginative and inventive tribes of Indians; we have similarities and differences so beu'ildering, that it is difficult to trace the mutual influence of the different ethnic groups." Still the commemorative columns of New Zealand and the northwest coast are worthy of study. If they do not prove a contact between the two races, they show at least a transmission of religious conceptions, for there are many resemblances be- tween them. These consist in the position of the hands, the abdominal protuberance, the protruding tongue, the arrange- ment of faces and figures in stories, and the attitude and location of the images, as well as in the appearance of the phallic symbol. In New Zealand, the abdominal protuberance, the hands usually resting on the abdomen, represents the immor- tality of the soul and the longevity of the gods. Here, too, the tongue was significant, as it was a symbol of life, the pro- truding tongue signifying the departed life. It appears that in the act of death, the voice or spirit was drawn out by the god. The word «//// means, in the New Zealand language, to pull out. The nuns are sacred pieces of carved wood, with which the cemeteries were decorated. The Tiki in New Zealand was a protecting genius, a kind of household god or ancestral spirit. There were in the Exposition at Chicago two remarkable im- ages which illustrate the distribution of symbols throughout the entire western coast of America and on the various islands of Polynesia. One of these, from the Marquesas Islands, was in the collection of the University of Pennsylvania, in the Liberal Arts building. It represents the god Tiki Akau, and has the same attitude and position of hands that the Tiki from New Zealand have. The peculiarity of the idol is that there are symbols on either side of the wide open mouth like the horse-shoes and the double arches, which are sky symbols with the Zunis and Moquis. The hands also are apparently made to represent the phallic symbols — the four fingers making arches and the middle finger a single line. The other image was to be found in Emmons' col- 358 NA TIVE AMERICAN ,S YMBOLISM. lection in the Government building. It was labeled a shaman's guard — a spirit to protect the grave of a shaman. It is a lull- length image, and resembles the idol irom the Marquesas in the shape of the body and position of the arms and hands, but the expression of the face is more like that of an Indian. The peculiarity of it is that there are on the shoulders and breasts and the hollow of the thigh, carved heads of animals, the two animals' lower heads being near the pelvis, reminding us of the serpent heads which are seen projecting from the thighs of the gold figures of the Chiriquis, depicted by W. H. Holmes. On the northwest coast, the image over the grave of the shaman was supposed to be a spirit which guarded the shaman.* The phallic symbol is also significant in ^oth regions. Ellis speaks of certain carved figures or batons on which the divinity is represented by the phallic symbol. The same symbol is used on the northwest coast and signifies life as a gift of the divinity. The arrangement of the figures and faces in stories is also signifi- cant, for they betoken ancestry and a long line of descent, the number of stories proving the superiority of the family. Still further details in the symbols of the two regions may also be recognized. To illustrate : the custom of sacrificing a slave at the dedication of a house and planting the totem post over the body was formerly common among the Haidas, and weapons are still preserved which were used for the express pur- pose of slaying slaves. In New Zealand, Ellis says, some of the buildings for the abode of their Gods were actually laid in human sacrifices, and the central pillar supporting the roof of one of the sacred houses was planted upon the body of a man who had been offered as a victim. Similar resemblances may be recog- nized between the mythologic creatures of the two regions. There were many such mythologic divinities, some of them creatures of the sea, others of the land, and others of the air, ard yet all had nearly the same office — the shark serving the same office which the whale-killer did among the Haidas, a fabulous bird corresponding to the raven, and certain gods or genii serving as protective divinities, as the images protected the graves of the medicine men. The most romantic accounts are given of the god of the sea and his combat with the tempest, while the bird is sup- posed to dwell by the rock which was the foundation of the earth, and contained within himself the tempest, just as the raven, who was the great creator, was also the thunder-bird of the Haidas. The superior gods and men, the animals, the air, earth and sea were supposed to originate in the procreative power of the supreme god, hence the significance of the phallic symbol. Illustrations of these points may be found by studying the works of Ellis,t the missionary, and comparing the myths, espec- *The symbols on the Marquesas idol are given elsewhere. tSee Ellis" "Researches.'" Vol. I; pp. 97, 99. 2;S, 295. COMMFAIORATIVE COLUMNS. 369 ially the myths of the deluge, the creation, about the Pleiades, the passage of the sun by a hidden path and many others, with myths which are extant in various parts of North America. V. The most important feature in the commemorative columns of the northwest coast remains to be considered, namely, the individual totemism which was embodied in them. These col- umns are called ancestor posts, but they are properly totem posts of individuals rather than of clans. Accordmg to Mr. Frazer, there are three kinds of totems: i. The clan; 2. Sex; 3. Individual. The clan totem is the one which is the most common throughout the hunter tribes of the eastern coasts. The sex totem is more common among the Polynesian tribes, but the individual totem is the system we recognize among the Haidas and the Thlinkeets. In the first system there is no place in a tribe or clan for any person whose kinship is not fixed and only those persons can hold a totemistic relationship who are either born into a clan or adopted into a clan, with the artificial kinship specified. In the last case descent is important, but it is not absolutely essential, for rank and position depend upon one's own property or prowess or personal qualities. I . Individual tote mism can not be traced from ancestors directly, because it often exists where there is the most unsatisfactory recognition of ancestry, whether it be of paternity or maternity. The confounding of animals with their known ancestors, and reverencing them as they reverence ancestors, was a result of totemism among this people. The belief in a possibility of a human descent from natural objects, such as rocks, animals and trees, exists universally among primitive peoples, but this belief here took the shape of regard for certain creatures of the sea or land or air, and gave rise to a wonderfully varied and grotesque series of myths concerning these animals, which became em- bodied in the many and elaborate symbols. According to this system the individual became so fully identified with his totem, which was generally one or another of these fabulous animals, that neither his own name or that of his parents could be made known, tor it was entirely swallowed up in the name and history of the animal whose totem he bore. As a result, the columns were no longer the records of the clan or the tribe, but they were erected for the exaltation of the individual and of his family while living, or for the glorification of his name after he was dead. This exaltation, however, depended more upon the amount of property which the individual had accumulated than upon personal prowess or upon genealogical descent. In a strict sense, the village was the tribal unit; but the head of the household in the village which, through inheritance, numbers and influence, predominated over the others, was nom- inally chief of the village. Besides the principal chief there were others who were the heads of the principal households or clans 360 ^A Tl VE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. of the village; their rank or claim to distinction and respect was proportioned to the degree of their wealth, age, superiority, the general good fortune and prosperity of the group of persons of which they were the head. The chief was not treated with any marked deference on ordinary occasions, but in ceremonies a degree of state was formally kept up to impress visitors. Often the alliance of the medicine men was gained by purchase, and the chief and shamans combined to hold themselves in the res- pect and fear of the community. The chiefs generally had a carpenter in their household who was especially expert in build- in"- houses, carving wood, stone, horn and bone, slate and metal implements and ornaments, and household utensils; though there we're wood carvers whose specialty was to make and paint totemic or mortuary columns. Some of the women were expert basket makers, and weavers of cloaks and mats of cedar bark and wool, makers of dance and ceremonial costumes. Tattooing was a fine art and was common to both sexes. The figures or conventional representations of their totems, pricked in charcoal or black pigment, served to identify the individual with his totem. The ceremonial masks and head dresses of thechiet were made by his carpenter. These masks were painted with the totemic rep- resentations of the owners, and. were, by their hideousness and grotesqueness, calculated to strike terror into the minds of the spectators, and to give the appearance of some superhuman be- ing to the person who wore them. The completeness of the disguise was an object with the chiefs as well as the medicine men, so they were careful not to show their own faces. This disguise of the person under the semblance of his totem was continued after death, so that the mortuary boxes and the ceremonial blankets in which his ashes were deposited were covered with the totemic figures instead of portraits. 2. A ceremonial ownership came in along with individual totem- ism. The relief carving on the totemic columns and totem posts was done either by the owner or by persons hired for the pur- pose. This carving was often arbitrary and fanciful, and yet identified the individual with his totem while he was livmg and after he was dead, and introduced a sort of ceremonial owner- ship which was carried out in painting or carving his crest on every article of personal property. The simplest implement or utensil is ornamented with some pictograph relating to the legends of the totem to which he belongs. Tattooed on the body, woven into fabrics, etched on the metal bracelets and orna- ments, painted on the house fronts, drawn on the canoe outfits, emblazoned on metal, wood and stone, the totem of the Indian is his earliest and latest care. The totemic ownership extended to the canoe, the paddles, the houses, the villages, as well as to the utensils and tools. In the case of the canoe the totem was indicated by carving or painting COMMEMORATIVE COLUMNS. 361 the bow and stern with elaborate totemic patterns. The canoe is to the northwest coast what the camel is to the desert and the horse is to the Arab. It reached its highest development here. Classified according to shapes, sizes and uses, there were four kinds — hunting, family, transporting and those used in time of war. They were all adorned more or less with totemic sem- blances. The houses in the villages were also totemic in character. Formerly the doorway or entrance was through a hole in the carved column, and the posts within the houses were generally covered with carved figures. The villages are invaria- bly situated along the shore, the houses arranged near a shelving beach in rows, with one or more carved columns in front of each. At the end of the village is the grave-yard, with its variety of sepulchres, and scattered throughout the villages, in front and at the corners of the houses, are the mortuary columns similar to those in the grave-yards. Each village practically constitutes'a tribe, but the totemic system often operated to make the alliance between the phratries and totems of different villages stronger than the clannish feeling due to close ethnical affinity of any particular household. Still there were villages which were brought under the control of some one chief and were held under a suzerainty. An individual distinguishes himself and becomes wealthy and a leading man in the village. His totem, which has been an obscure one, rises in importance. Under his successor the totem widens in its number and influence and finally comes to be ranked as a ruler over a territory. There was, in fact, a change from tribal or clan descent to property, and the territory over which the chief held, sway was the limits of the totemic rule. 362 NA Tl VE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. CHAPTER X\'. PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. We have now passed over the entire region occupied by the uncivilized tribes and have considered their religions in their order. We have found that various animals, the serpent, the sun and moon, fire and water, idols and human images, myth- ologic creatures, winged creatures, ancestors, and even the cardinal points were, in a manner, worshiped by them, the cult varying according to the locality. There remains, however, one important work, that is to trace out the particular personal divinities and to identify them by name and locality, and to describe the office and character which they bore in the minds of the people. This is a work which has been done for nearly all civilized races, both in the east and the west, and there are few divinities anywhere, whether in historic or prehistoric times, which are not known by name. A sort of classical mythology could be written about them, but somehow the divinities of the uncivilized races are not so well known and so every dictionary is destitute of their names. The task is a difficult one, and yet there are certain things which aid us greatly in identifying these aboriginal divinities. 1. In the first place, the chief divinities were generally "Culture Heroes," which were regarded as the tribal ancestors and guardian spirits, but also as great creators and transformers, the beginning of nearly all tribal history, going back to the creation. 2. The character of these "Culture Heroes" generally corres- pond with that of thepeople who worship them, those of the lower or degraded tribes having a very low character, and those of the more advanced tribes being characterized by exploits which were full of a certain kind of barbaric heroism. 3. The myths which perpetuate the names and exploits of the divinities, especially those of the "Culture Heroes," generally con- tain an imagery which remarkably corresponds with the scenery of the habitat over which these divinities had their sway. The study of the scenery in particular localities is a great aid in identifying them. 4. There are occasionally certain traditions connected with certain objects in nature, such as rocks and caves, streams and waterfalls, lakes and sandy beaches, trees and mountains, rivers and oceans, which convey the ide% that these scenes were con- tinually haunted by the spirits of the divinities. The influence PERSONAL DIVJMTIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 363 of these traditions was felt so much that savages rarely passed by the objects without making an offering to the spirit of the divinity. 5. Various relics are found in the different parts of the conti- nent which may be taken as images of the divinities, or as embodying the myths concerning these divinities. These relics are in the shape of carved pipes, engraved shells, masks, rock inscriptions, amulets and charms, idols, as well as the figures on the inscribed rocks and on the effigies of earth, nearly all of which were designed to be symbols of the supernatural powers. The study of the relics, and especially the comparison of their peculiarities with those given in the myths, will enable us not only to identify the divinities, but to carry back the cult to pre- historic times, thus showing that the same "Culture Heroes" were worshiped in the earlier and later times. With these points in mind, we propose now to go over the territory occupied by the uncivilized tribes, taking the different tribal groups in their order, and making a special study of the divinities which were the most prominent in those groups, and especially those which were regarded as their culture heroes. We shall begin with the rude fishermen of the north and search out their myths, with the idea of ascertaining the chiet divinities. We shall then pass to the hunter tribes on the northwest coast, from those to the hunter tribes along the chain of the great lakes, from these to the nomadic tribes of the prairies, and from these to the mountain tribes of the Central and Southern States, leaving out the tribal divinities of the Gulf States as belonging to a solar cult, which is very different from that of the wild tribes. We shall find that in all these northern regions, the chief divini- ties are presented under animal names and animal shapes, though many of them were nothing more nor less than the personification of the nature powers, but clothed with the imagery which the prevalent totemism or animal worship would suggest. Many of these are "Culture Heroes," which were common to all the tribes, having a similar character everywhere. These bear such resem- blance to the "World Makers" of the old world that we are forced to believe that there was a transmission of legends and traditions from other continents which filtered through and effected the con- ception which the natives had of the creation. Occasionally there is a trace of that grand perception of a supreme being, who was the great first cause of all, exactly as there was among the earliest races of the far east, and in classic lands, and which is an inherent quality in human nature, however much it may be obscure d. I. We begin with the divinities of the Eskimos, taking the entire group which occupied the shores of the Arctic sea, and which stretched from Greenland to Alaska, embracing the cen- tral districts, The chief divinity and culture hero was a phan- 364 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. torn, in the shape of a hucfe dog, which was really the spirit of the sea, though the spirit figures in the shape of a woman, called Sedna, who lives in the sea. There are, beside this, other divinities which were personifications of the nature powers. One of these figures is a triad in the shape of three sisters, the three symbolizing the different parts of the thunder storm. One ot them strikes the fire and makes the lightning {liigiilitung), another rubs the skins and makes the thunder [Udlugitiing), the third makes the rain and is a rain god. They live in a house made of whale ribs. Their faces are entirely black, reminding us of the thunder clouds, but they wear clothes which symbolize the rain clouds. There were supernatural beings among the Eskimos who were owners of the stars and constellations and revolve with the stars. There are also other spirits which haunt the rocks, but which are in the shape of bears, birds and other animals. They are called tornaits. The tornait of the stones live in the large boulders, which are supposed to be hollow and form a house, the entrance of which is only visible to the Angakoq or Shaman. The bear is the Firi- t.— The Whale Killer. most powerful among the spirits. The spirits of the dead are also very active. They knock wildly at the huts which they cannot enter. There are also spirits in the air. When the storms rage and the sea breaks from its icy fetters, and the ice floes break with loud clashes, the Eskimo believes he hears the voices of these spirits. Sedna, the great divinity, lives in the sea, and is the divinity of the sea. She is sometimes controlled or summoned by the Shaman or Angakoq. She comes up through the hard rocks, and the wizard hears her heavy breath- ing. She is harpooned and sinks away in angry haste. The deluge myth prevails among the Eskimos, but it may have come from the missionaries. Still there is one feature of the myth which is very remarkable. The story is, that the waters rose to the top of the mountains, but after they retired they left the mountains covered with a cap ot ice. Some think that this is a tradition of the glacial period, others that it is only one method of accounting for the glaciers which still exist in Alaska and elsewhere. There is also a myth concerning the man ETIJ - I> p O PC *^ w D r c n c w t P3 H > X o n B o >- r o IDOLS AT COPAN. ALTAR AT COPAN. PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 365 in the moon. The same tradition of the "man in the moon" is found among the Haidas. The story, according to Judge Swan, is as follows: The moon, >^^(?;/^, discovered the man, Ecthlinga, about to dip his bucket in a brook for water. It sent down its rays, or arms, and caught the man, and took him, with his bucket, up to itself, where he has since lived, and can be seen every lull moon, when the weather is clear, The man is a friend of T'kjtl, the spirit of the winds, and at the proper signal empties his bucket, causing it to rain upon the earth.* The Eskimos have perpetuated the name and memory of their chief divinities by identifying them with the objects of nature and making the very rocks and streams and heavenly bodies to be their abodes. There is one remarkable thing left out from their mythology, namely% the northern lights. There may be, indeed, myths in reference to these, but they are not on record. There is a myth concerning the northern lights among the Chippewas. The story is that during one severe winter famine and distress came upon the people. An old chief, the oldest man in the nation, was informed in a dream that the anger of the great spirit could be appeased by human sacrifice. Lots were cast and three braves were selected for sacrifice. The spot selected was the summit of a neighboring hill covered with woods. The three were fastened to sticks and burned alive, by the magicians, in silence, unattended by spectators. The weather moderated and afterward there was an abundance of game — buffalo, bear and deer — in every wigwam. A feast of thanks- givings was offered. During this ceremony the northern sky was illuminated by brilliant lights. Among the lights three huge figures of a crimson hue were seen constantly dancing. These the magicians proclaimed to be the ghosts of the three warriors who had been offered in sacrifice. II. We turn next to the divinities of the Haidas and Thlinkits. The chief divinity and culture hero of this region is the raven. This may be, perhaps, considered as a spirit of the forest, and at the same time a personification of the nacure powers. The raven was the creator and ancestor of all the tribes. There were, however, other divinities which were the spirits of the sea. Among these, the whale killer, a species of porpoise, was the chief. There is a figure carved on the rocks near Fort Wiangel, Alaska, which represents the orka or whale killer. See Fig. i. Many other animals and birds, which were common on the northwest coast and nowhere else, were regarded as super- natural beings. The Smithsonian has furnished various cuts which represent human faces and conventional signs, which were carved upon the rocks. These show that the same superstition which pre- *See Smithsonian Report for 1888, p. 323. 366 NA Tl VE AMERICAN S YMBOLISM. vailed among the Eskimos prevailed also among the Haidas, that the rocks were haunted by spirits. The same superstition also seems to have prevailed among the uncivilized tribes elsewhere. This is illustrated by the mammiform images from Porto Rico, which represent both the shape of the island and the guardian divinity of the island.* There is an image found inscribed on the rocks in the Easter Islands which represents a mythical creature, half human and half animal, with bowed back and claw-like arms. According to the natives this was intended to represent the god Meke- Meke, the great spirit of the sea. Mr. William J. Thomson says the figure bears a striking resemblance to the decoration on a piece of pottery which he once dug up in Peru while making excavations in the graves of the Incas. See Fig. 2. This animal might be taken for a monkey. Mr. James Terry and others have claimed that the monkey mav be seen carved upon the totem posts of the Haidas. No such animal figure, however, has been found on the northwest coast. The figure which he has taken to be the monkey is nothing but the bear with the human face and form. There are many myths which are descriptive of these ancient creatures. These myths are often very beautiful, for they are full of word pictures which bring the scenery before us, but at the same time are full of fabulous adventures, and show the strange imaginings of the natives in which the sea, land, and the creatures of the earth and water and sky were all mingled together. Images of these divinities were frequently embodied in the sculptured figures, were woven into garments, or were tattoed upon the bodies of the natives. The myths and symbols served to perpetuate their memory and make them very sa:red in the minds of the people. At times the individuals would tattoo the figure of different animals upon their persons — upon their arms, breast, and legs, conveying the idea that each part of the body was controlled by a different divinity. There are figures in the reports of the Ethnological Bureau which repre- sent this. In one a man has a fish tattooed on his arm, a cod split open on his breast, on each thigh the octopus, below each knee the frog. The back of the same man has the wolf split in halves and doubled. A woman has on her breast the head and fore paws of a beaver, on each shoulder the head of an eagle, or thunder bird, on each arm the halibut, on the right leg the skulpin, on the left the frog.f The Haidas have many myths about the raven, the whale, the wolf, bear, salmon, and whale-killer, all of which were totems; stories of their adventures as human beings, which are exceed- ingly novel and interesting. Occasionally there is a trace of sun *See chapter on EthnoKraphic Religions. See Report of Romers Collection of Relics from Porto Rico. tSee Annual Report for 1892, p. 69. PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 367 worship, for the sun and moon are personified here, as among other races, but it is a sun worship which is mingled with animal worship. One tradition is that the sun descended from heaven, in the shape of a bird, and was transformed to a man. He built a house, and on his house front, on either side of the door, a sun was painted. The uprights represented men carrying suns. These were the slaves of Senttae, the sun. The crossbars con- necting the uprights were also men, but the beams were sea lions. Thus we see all the kingdoms were mingled in their mythol- ogies, the animal, the astronomical, and the human, to represent Fig. S— Image on a Rock, Easter Islands. the divinities which ruled the people. There is one heraldic column, or gens tree, on which at the top there is a slave extend- ing his hand as though he were talking. His name signifies "he who gives presents to strangers." Above the man is a mask surrounded by wooden rays, which represent the rays of the sun. There are also masks which the natives use in their dances, which have the beak of a bird, and are surrounded by a circle which represents the sun, but have a human eye. The masks worn in leasts often represent birds, animals, and human faces. These masks embody legends which are preserved about their divinities, which were birds, animals, human beings and ancestral spirits. The myths are also suggestive. These are full of descriptions of the gods of the sea and land and sky, though they bear the human semblance. One myth represents a man with lung hair, who is the spirit of the sea. The myth is embodied in a column. In this, the man with a split skull stands on his head. Above him is another man seated. Above 368 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. this man is a wolf, and above that a beaver. The uppermost figure is a halibut. Here, then, we have again creatures of the sea, wild beasts of the forest, and human figures, all mingled together in myths and symbols, and covered with the air of the supernatural. Some of these myths are very suggestive, for they remind us of legends which were common among the Greeks, as well as of the traditions which are contained in the Scriptures. In one carved column, one figure represents Vet/ with the new moon in its bill, and a dish of fresh water in its claws. The story is that he stole the stars from the boxes in which they were imprisoned by the lord of the tides. When the sun shone forth for the first time, all the people were frightened and ran in all directions — some of them into the mountains, some into the woods and some into the water. This was connected with the discovery of fire, thus repeating the legend concerning Prometheus, who discovered fire and let out the spirits from the box. There is also another story of the sun that broke away and burned its path in the sky, reminding us of Phoebus and his chariot. How such myths came to be prevalent here is the mystery." The same is true also of other myths, as for instance, the one which reminds us of the story of Jonah in the whale's belly. The myth is that the raven went into the whale's belly, which frantic with pain, rushed ashore, while the invisible Hooyeh (raven) walked quietly out and was ready for another adventure. There is a variation of the same story, in which the whale killer is repres- ented as in the whale's belly. This whale killer was believed to be a demon called Skana. He could change himself into any shape. The story is that the whale killer was kept alongside of a canoe. The young men amused themselves by throwing stonesathim and broke his fin. Upon this the whale killer changed himself into a canoe, partly broken, with a man by the side of it, who exclaimed, "You have broken it." Next the canoe is seen going over the first breaker, with the man sitting in the stern. When the canoe came to the second breaker, it went under and came up outside of the breakers a whale killer and not a canoe, and the man or demon in the belly of the whale killer. This is a common anec- dote with all the tribes of the northwest coast, and is of ancient origin, antedating the coming of the white man. See Plate.* There is another drawing among the Haidas, which symbolizes the winds and clouds; the center figure is Tkiil, the wind spirit; on the right and left are its feet, which symbolize the long *In the plate. Fig. i represents the legend of the raven and the fisherman. According to the story, Skana put on a magic hook to his line and caught the raven. He pulled the raven's beak entirely off, when the raven changed to a man. Fig. 2 represents the moon, who drew the man up with his bucket of water. Fig. 3 represents the raven in the belly of the whale. Fig. 4 represents the raven who has the power of changing himself into any shape. Fig. 5 represents the wind spirit. The Chilkat blanket and ceremonial shirt show the totemic legend of the owner and represents Hoortz, the bear. The legs and feet are drawn up at the side. The face is in the middle, reminding us of the figure on the "Gest' stone, which has a human face at the top, the legs, arms, hands and feet are bent up at the sides. This is a human-tree image, instead of a human animal. PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 369 streaming clouds, and on each side above are the wings, which symboh'ze the different winds, each designated by an eye and separated by patches of cirrus clouds. When T'knl wants a certain wind to blow he gives the word and the o<"her winds retire. The change in the wind is usually followed by rain, which symbolizes the tears which stream from the eyes of T'kiil. But we need not dwell longer upon these myths. It is plain that the nature powers were personified, and that the names of the divinities were identical with the various animals and creatures which abound here. III. The divinities of the Algonkins are next to be considered. The chief divinity and "Culture Hero" of this wide-spread stock, seems to have been the personification of the dawn, under the figure of the rabbit. It reminds us very much of the divinities of the far east, which figured under the shape of a hare. The religious conceptions of the Algonkins were very striking, for they represent this dawn god and culture hero to be the great creator and ancestor who survived the flood. The divinity is draped in the imagery which is taken from the scenery amid which the Algonkins lived. It is very easy to identify him as the divinity of the Algonkins on this account. Still we must re- member that there were different divinities among the Algonkins and that they varied according to the locality over which they had sway. This shows how strongly this people, which belonged to the same stock, were influenced by their surroundings.* They were a wide-spread people, whose habitat stretched from Hud- son's Bay to the north of the Potomac, and from the banks of Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Lawrence. They were a wild hunter race, and their divinities were such as hunters would be likely to worship. There were differences in their gods, but they were differences which came from their surroundings rather than from inheritance. We shall make subdivisions of their territory, and study the correspondence between the imagery which they have used and the scenery of the specific region, for this is very striking, I. We begin with the gods of the Abenakis. These generally bore the shape of animals, but mainly animals vvhich were known to the Abenakis — wolf, fox, whale. Still there was a personal- ity about their animal gods which made them seem to be almost human, for the lines between the animal and the human were entirely obliterated and all were blended into a combined picture, in which the scenery served as a background. They had their sway in the eastern provinces, and were very unlike the divini- *Dr. Boas says: The comparisons which we have made show that each group of legends has its peculiar province, and covers a certain partion of our continent. VVe found a num- ber common to the North Pacific and Arctic coasts, .\nother series we found common to the territory between the North .Atlantic and the Middle Facific coasts The Kiowa tale ' and the northwestern tale indicate a third group, which seems to extend along the Rocky mouni^xns.— Folklore Journal, January-March, iSgi, p. i8. 370 NA Tl VE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. ties which ruled the region along the great lakes and which were reverenced by the western tribes, such as the Mississaugas, Menominees and Ojibways. Various reasons have been given for this dissimilarity in the gods of the Algonkins, some writers ascribing it to the influence of the scenery and surroundings, but others recognizing in it the effect of contact with other countries. Mr. Charles Leland says that the myths which are still afloat among the natives of the eastern tribes along the coast of Maine have great resemblance to the Scandinavian myths, and makes • out that the gods which ruled here were exact counterparts of the Scandinavian gods. He also suggests that these myths were introduced by the Norsemen, during their various voyages, long before the times of Columbus, and that they were adopted by the natives with which they came in contact. This, however, does not account for the strange character of the myths of the western tribes, for if the eastern myths contain fragments of the ancient Sagas, the western myths contain the fragments of the still more ancient Scripture story, the location of these being still farther in the interior and more remote from any historic country. There is something very mysterious about this transmission of myths? Why are there so many more resemblances to the Scripture narrative in the myths of the Algonkins than in those of any other tribe? Shall we admit that there were strange visitors among the natives of the region, concerning whom theie is no record at present, and that these visits, whether of pagan Norsemen or Icelandic Christians, had the effect to introduce among the natives the stories which abounded both in the "Eddas" and in the sacred Scriptures? We do not claim for any American race the marvelous feat of remembering Scripture traditions throughout all their history, for we ascribe the preservation of these traditions in Europe to a written literature. Whatever portion of the tradition is found among the Algonkin tribes must have come from a filtering process, rather than from the embalmment of tradition. May it not be that there were influ- ences which crept down from the early colonies in Iceland and transmitted both pagan and Christian legends, and that the Al- gonkins of the east and of the west appropriated them, but clothed them in imagery drawn from the different localities? Carlisle makes the Scandinavian myths a development of paganism. "There was a natural religion which brought a recog- nition of the forces of nature as godlike and personal agencies as gods and demons not inconceivable to us." "The infant thought of man, opening itself with awe and wonder on this ever stupen- dous universe, might bring out something very genuine." "The work of nature, for every man is the fantasy of himself, the image of his own dream." But how these facts of Scripture history could be suggested by the works of nature is difificult to understand. "These do not come from the unnamable subtleties PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 371 of spiritual law, to which many pagan fables owe their shape." The Abenakis are supposed to have held the great eastern di- vinity — the sun — as their "Culture Hero," while the western tribes situated on the great lakes are supposed to have had the rabbit and the muskrat and loon as their chief divinities, because these animals were better adapted to the water and to the scenery of the interior. The myths which have been gathered by certain writers — Rev, S. T. Rand, Mrs. W. Brown and others — illustrate this. They are legends which are affixed to certain spots, which serve to make them sacred to the minds of the natives. The objects of nature thus became myth bearers, and through the influence of these traditions are still reminders of the strapge divinities which ruled here. There are not many divinities, and such as are spoken of, were personifications of the different animals which abounded, such as the whale, the wolf, the wolverine and the moose, the wolverine being the divinity which corresponded to the Scandinavian Lo^i and was called " Loks." The story of the creation, or rather the deluge and re-creation of the earth, is not conspicuous among the Abanaki traditions. In place of this there is a series of transformations and local adventures in the forests and in the sea. and which makes the whole scenery alive with supernatural beings, very much as the scenery in the north is filled with the spirits of the divinities which the Eskimo worshiped and as the Scandinavian scenery was alive with the spirits of the pagan divinities.f 2 We turn now to the divinities of the western tribes, including those of the Delawares, Ojibways, Blackfeet, Ottawas and Crees. Here we find animal divinities again, but the chief of the divini- ties is a sort of culture hero and creator. He presides over the territory of each tribe and is identified by certain objects in that territory. His name varies according to the tribe m which he rules, though there is a similarity between the names. He is called by the Delawares Manibozho and is identical with the hare, the giant rabbit.* Among the Menominees he was called the Manibush. He was born from a virgin, the daughter of Nokomis. He was a little white rabbit with quivering ears. He was the means of destroying the evil manitou, or the great fish. He transformed himself into a pine tree, but he at last went away and dwelt in a wigwam which is preserved in a large rock near Mackinaw.'!" This rock is noted for the tradition which still ♦Journal of American Folklore, September, 1891, p. 193. Ojibways, Nanaboghu; Nipp- sings, Wisakedjak; Crees, Wisakketchak; Massasaugas, VVanibozhu: Menominees, Mani- laush. t In the Ottawa legend. Nenaw-bo-zhoo is swallowed by a great fish that dwelt in a cer- tain lake. He is identified by certain objects of nature, as follows: On a smooth rock on tlie Ottawa river, there are prints of human footsteps, and a round hole about the shape and size of a kettle. These are believed to be the tracks of Nenaw-bo-zhoo, and the kettle which he had dropped. The great rocks of flint on the east shore of Grand Traverse bay are the bones of the stone monster, his brother, whom Nenaw-bo-zhoo slew. A depression in a rock near Thunder Bay Point is Nenaw-bo-zhoo's grave, and a mountain, some ten 372 NA TIVE A M ERIC AN ,S YMBOLISM. lingers about it. It is in the shape of a wigwam and is still sacred to the hare. The island itself is in the shape of a turtle and is supposed to be possessed by the turtle divinity.* Dr. Brinton says the names of the four brothers were, Wabun, the east; Kabun, the west; Kabibonokka, the north, and Shawano, the south. Wabun was the chief and leader. The tribes on the Potomac in 1610, said, "We have five gods, the chief is the mighty hare, the other four are the four winds; the rays of light are his servants; the morning star, which heralds the dawn, was sacred to him; seated at the east, at the place where the earth was cut off, in his medicine lodge, he sends forth his messengers, called Gijigonai, to make the day." Among the Winnebagos the earth-maker was called Maiuina, the wolf When the world was created he was sitting on a piece of ground tacing the east, because the east was the source of light. At the creation there were four brothers. The green wolf, black wolf, white wolf and grey wolf It is very likely that some of the wolf effigies which prevail in Wisconsin were identified with the name and memory of this divinity. The most remarkable account of the culture hero of the Algonkins is the one which was preserved by the Delawares in the book which was called the "Walum-Olum." According to this account the rabbit was the chief divinity as well as creator. The account is given elsewhere. We only call attention to it here to show the similarity of the conception among the Algon- kins everywhere. We take it for granted that this tradition of the flood could not have come from a mere local freshet, for there is no tribe that would date the beginning of its history and the process of creation with a local freshet. We maintain that the resemblance between the flood myth of the Iroquois and the Algonkins, and the deluge myth of the eastern nations, is too great for any one to ascribe it to a local freshet. Moreover, the cosmogony of the two continents are very similar. We shall dwell, therefore, upon this point, because it is important. We shall find that there are certain points in these cosmogonies which are very prominent. These are as follows: (i.) This divinity existed before the flood and was a great man- itou and creator.f This is not saying that there was only one being who was a creator and ruler, for there were, according to the American mythology, as many creators as there were tribes, each tribe claiming that the great m.anitou was their special miles long, which has the appearance of a man lying on his back, is his image. The pieces ot native copper found along the shores of Lake Superior, he took from his treasure house inside the earth, where he sometimes lived. He studied how the spider weaves her web to catch flies, and invented the nets for catching tish. (See American Hero Myths.) *Lewis Cass and Schoolcraft say that offerings of tobacco were made to the turtle. tRev. A. L. Riggs. C. L. Pond, M. Eells and others maintain thai the Indians were polytheists, that the Great Spirit was used as an accommodation borrowed from the white man. SUGAR LOAF ROCK ON MACKINAC ISLAND. 374 NA Tl VE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. ancestor and ruler. This was probably the meaning of the Great Spirit when used among them. The term was used out of accommodation to the white man. The Great Spirit had no semblance, and was a very indefinite being to the savage. The term might apply to the great manitou o.r creator, though to the particular tribe he might be the great rabbit or hare or any other animal which existed before the creation. It might be the per- sonification of the sun, and yet was not known or worshiped as such. (2.) The manner in which he came into existence is to be noticed. Generally it was by an untimely birth, through the side or arm- pit of his mother, which caused her death. In most of the legends there were two brothers, one good and the other evil,* who struggled for the mastery, like Esau and Jacob, before they were born. In this respect the myth reminds us of the Scandin- avian myth and. also one contained in the ancient Vedas of the Hindoos. This conception of a hero, born of a virgin, who contended with his brother who had caused the death of his mother, and who afterward became the creator and transformer as well as benefactor, is very common throughout the globe. f It is accounted for by many as the result of personification, the light being the great benefactor, but the darkness being the great enemy of mankind. This conception is at the basis of the myth- ology of the east and vvas common in Egypt, Assyria and India. According to most writers, it was transferred to Scandinavia, and there formed the basis of the strange mythology which has been preserved in the ancient sagas. It may also have traveled further west and become the basis of the myths concerning the culture heroes and the great divinities here. If the eternal struggle of Ormuzd and Ahrimam, light and darkness is so prominent in the Zend-Avesta of the Persians, and was also embodied in the story of Thor and Midgard in Scandinavia, and of St, George and the Dragon in Great Britain, we see no reason why it may not have been transferred to Iceland and been embodied here in the story of Glooscap and Lox, or Manibozho and his brother. Certainly when one comes to the part of the story which refers to the struggling ot the two brothers in the mother's womb, and the issue of one of the brothers from the mother's arm-pit, thus causing the mother's *Dr. D. G. Brinton maintains that this distinction between good and evil spirits was only symbolic of light and darkness and had no reference to moral qualities. There is a plausibility in this view, yet the distinction between a benefactor and a mischief-maker is plainly illustrated by the character of the two brothers. Glooscap, who is called a cheat and a liar, is, nevertheless, a benefactor, while Loks, who is fiis enemv, resembles the Scandinavian Loki, a mischief-maker. The animals are somewhat significant. Glooscap is the rabbit, or hare, and Loks is the wolverine, a stealthy animal. fTlic cliief Cusic (182^) called it the good mind and the bad mind, but Father Brebeuf, missionary in i6.'?6, described it as the struggle of loskelia (the white one) with his brother Tawiskara (tlie dark one). Thus two centuries have given the tale a different or a modern bearing, through the Christian intiueace. E. G. Squier says that Manibozho is always placed in antagonism to a great serpent, a spirit ot evil, but Father Lejeune, in 1634, makes no mention of a serpent. It is not certain that the serpent was the type of evil among the natives, but was rattier the embodiment of the nature powers, the lightning. PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 375 -death, it seems as if it must have been borrowed, and could not have been an original invention among the American savages. This struggle between the two brothers is very v/ide-spread in America. The Miztecs hold that two brothers dwelt in the garden. One was the wind of nine spirits and the other the wind of nine caverns. The first was an eagle, which flew over the waters ot the enchanted garden. The second was a serpent with wings, which flew with such velocity that he pierced rocks and walls. Among the Dacotahs. the combat is waged between Unk-ta-he, the god of waters, and Wauhkeon, the thunder bird. Schoolcraft has recorded a myth in which four sons were born at a birth, which caused the death of the mother. The first was the friend of the human race, Manibozho. The second presides over the land of souls, Chipiopos. The third is the rabbit, Wabosso, who rules the north. The fourth was the flint man which supplies fire to men from the stones which are scat- tered over the earth, Chakekenapok. Manibozho killed the flint god, tore out his bowels and changed them to trailing vines. Then he himself gave them lances, arrows and implements and taught them how to make axes, snares and traps. He placed four good spirits at the four cardinal points, whither the calumet is turned, in smoking at the sacred feasts. The spirit of the north gives snow and ice, so that men may pursue game. The spirit of the south gives melons, maize and tobacco. The spirit of the west gives rain, and the spirit of the east gives light. The voice of the spirits is thunder. (3.) The third fact, which is common in all the myths, is that there was a great flood which came and destroyed the whole race that covered the earth. The cause of this flood is not always the same. By some it is said to have originated in the sins of the people, and others, in the jealousies of the gods. Among the Ottawas the god of the deep was jealous of the wolf. He killed the wolf and made a great feast, to which sea serpents and water tigers were invited. During this feast Manibozho, the great divinity, changed himself to a black stump. The sea serpent coiled himself around the stump. Manibozho then fled, pursued by the monsters. The waters rose mountain high, but Manibozho commanded a great canoe to be formed, in which he saved himself. Among the Menominees, there were three brothers, who de- stroyed a great fish, but the evil Manitou from under the earth was angry at this and seized one of the brothers, Manibozho, as he tried to cross the lake. The waters poured out of the earth and pursued him, but the badger hid him in his burrow, and by throw- ing back the earth kept out the waters. Manibozho then took refuge on the highest mountain and climbed to the top of a pine tree. The waters continued to rise, but Manibozho caused the tree four times to grow, so as to lift him above the waters. He then saw the 376 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. animals struggling in the water. He commanded first the otter, then the beaver, the mink, and the muskrat to dive for the mud. Among the Crees, the Manibozho makes a monster fish, which strikes the water with his tail and causes the inundation until the tops of the highest mountains are covered and no land is seen. Then Manibozho makes a raft and sends down the diver duck, and then the muskrat. Imitating the mode in which the muskrats build their houses, he formed a new earth, placing the disk of earth on the water, which grew to great size. Among the Missasagas, the story is that Manibozho hunted the great beaver around Lake Superior, and broke open the great beaver dam at the foot of the lake, exactly as Glooscap broke open the beaver dam on the coast of Maine.* I~ig. S.— Serpent Pipe. Among the Canadian Indians, the story is that two brothers were hunters. They chased the deer out upon the ice, the sea lions broke the ice, and the brother was slain. His body was hung across the doorway of the sea lions' house. Manibozho took down the body, but the sea lions chased him to the edge of the lake. They made the waters to rise, and accompanied by all the birds and beasts, they chased him far inland. He climbed a very high mountain, closely followed by the waters. He then built a raft, took on it his brother and all the animals and floated away. Another story is. that Manibozho was walking along the sides of an enchanted lake. The waters began to boil, and from them all the beasts came forth, among them the white lion and the yellow Hon. Manibozho changes himself to a stump. The bear hugs it and tears it with tooth and claw. The great serpent coils himself around it and tries to crush the stump. Thus the story of the deluge varies with the different tribes, for each tribe makes the river or lake on which they dwelt the scene where the tragedy was enacted. Generally the myth bearers are certain inscribed rocks or caves, in which the serpent *Faber. in his History of Idolatry, relates a story of the drawing out of a divinity from the lakes and ponds of Great Britain. PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 377 is a conspicuous figure; sometimes an island, or a headland, or a waterfall will be pointed out as the place where the scene oc- curred. What is most remarkable about this myth is that it seems to have prevailed among the Mound-builders. At least a pipe was found, by Squier and Davis, in a mound in Ohio, with a snake wrapped around the bowl, in a manner to suggest the story of the serpent and the stump. See Fig. 3. There is also a pipe in the Canadian Institute at Toronto that embodies this same myth. At first sight it may seem as if it was a representative of the tree and the serpent, but in reality it embodies the myth of the pine tree, or pine stump, with its branches taken off. See Figs. 4 and 5. The pipe was found in a mound in Kentucky, opposite the great fort at Lawrenceburg, Ind. It shows the branches of a tree in relief on the side of the face ; also the coils of the ser- Fif/x. Unrtd 5.—Sei~pe:it Tree (tnd Face. pent twisted tight about the throat. The face is very ghou' sh and might well be taken as the portrait of Manibozho. The eyes are expressive, as they are deep set, and yet the eye balls project and depict agony, as if the person was being strangled.* (4.) The re-creating of the earth was the chief work of the divinity. The manner in which this was done varies according to the different tribes. The Canadian Indians say that the great hare or the dawn god, which was virtually the same as Mani- bozho, floated on a raft of wood, on which were animals of all kinds. S-eing only swans and waterfowl, he pursuaded the beaver, the otter and the muskrat to dive. He took up the grain of sand and made a mountain of it. Manibozho started to go *Other pipes found in the mounis illustrate myths still prevalent. \ pipe found in Ohio represents ananimil like a bs.ir, with aw jnun's face, but with a serpent w)und around the neck, the head and t lil on the breast of the w,)nnn. A pipe in the Illinois collection at Chicago represents a trog carrying a chunky stone or mace in its claw. .\ tassel falls from the stone across the claw of the trog. Another pipe represents a man on his knees holdmg a rabbit in his hands, the rabbit in an attitude as if ready to jump. There are also human -effigies wh.ch remind us of the myths of the culture heroes. 378 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. around the mountain, but it increased in size and became the great earth. When the Indians hear noises in the mountains they know that the great hare is continuing his work. The story is that he is still traveling about the mountain and the earth is still growing. Schoolcraft says there is scarcely a prominent lake, mountain, precipice or stream in the northern part of America which is not hallowed in Indian story by the fabled deeds of this great divinity* The Pottowottamies say there were two great spirits, Kitche- maneto and Matchemaneto. The former was the creator of the world. He piled up the mountains and filled the valleys with streams. The first creature made was a wolf. He threw it into a lake and it was drowned. A storm arose and washed the bones of the animal ashore. They were turned into a woman, who bore the likeness of the Pottowottamies. f He made five other beings for her companions, smoking weed (Usame). the pumpkin (Wapaho), the melon (Eshkosimin), the bean (Kokees), the yellow maize (Montamin).| As to the process of world creation, we have a remarkable analogy between the American myth and the story given by Diodorus Siculus as the common tradition among the Egyptians. After the flood there was chaos, and the mud (maut) was the prevailing element. I'he mud was changed to human beings. Some of them came out fully formed and were completely human; others were partly animal and partly human; others still stuck in the mud, the upper part perfect, but the lower part unfinished. § (5.) The chief point which we make in connection wnth the myths of the creation is that the imagery is drawn entirely from the local scenery, objects which were familiar to the aborigines. This varies according to the tribe which repeats the myth, that of the Ojibwas having been taken from the region ot the great lakes and the falls of St. Marie, but that of the Abenakis con- taining pictures of the rocks and forests of the coast of Maine; while with the Dakotas the imagery is taken from the pipe-stone quarry, and that of the Haidas from the scenes of the northwest coast, and that of the Cliff-dwellers from the region of the great plateaux. The whale figures conspicuously in the Abenaki myths and those of the northwest coast, but never appears in the myths of the interior. There is one Algonkin myth, however, which seems to refer to the whale. The story is that a great fish — the king of fishes — swallowed Manibozho and his canoe. When he *Sce Hiawatha Legends, p. 49. tSee I-anman's "Records of a Tourist." tThe Caddoes have also a story of a fiood. They lived on an eminence on the Red River of ttie ?nuth. Alter all tne world hud been destroyed by the flood, the Great Spirit placed one family of Caddoes on the eminence, and from tliem spruncf all the Indians. §There is a tradition among the Pawnees that a race of giants was first created, but they became mired in the soft mud before the waters of the Hood were fully drawn off, and the Dones of the mastodon occasionally found are the remains of this race. PERSONAL BIVINIIIES AND CLL2URE HEROES. 379 found that he was in the fish's belly, he sought to escape. He looked in his canoe and saw his war-club, with which he struck the heart of the fish. He then felt a sudden motion, as if the fish was moving with velocity. The fish said, "I am sick at the stomach." Manibozho then drew his canoe and placed it across the fi::,h's throat, to keep from being vomited into the deep. He then renewed his attack upon the fish's heart, and succeeded by repeated blows in killing it. He then heard birds scratching on the body as it floated on the shore. All at once rays of light broke in. The birds, which were sea-gulls, enlarged the orifice and in a short time liberated him. The spot where the fish happened to be driven ashore was near his lodge. This story is given by Schoolcraft, but he does not tell what tribe it came from. The event is evidently located on the sea rather than on the lakes. It resembles the one among the Haidas already re- ferred to, and reminds us of the story of Jonah in the whale's belly. There is another myth of Manibozho acting as a fisher- man. His hook is caught by the great serpent. It reminds us of the Scandinavian story of Thor and the Midgard serpent.* IV. We next come to the "Culture Heroes" of the Iroquois. This remarkable people had many divinities, but the chief of them was called loskeha, though he resembled Manibozho, the Algon- kin divinity enough to be taken as the same. Hiawatha, the founder of the Iroquois confederacy, has also been deified and worshiped as a culture hero. There is no doubt that the divinity loskeha was a personification of a nature power, as the story of his birth and life and many adventures would indicate. His brother was the troublesome Tawiskara, whose obstinacy caused the mother's death. His mission was to water the earth. He called forth the springs and brooks, the lakes and the broad rivers, but his brother created an immense fog, which swallowed all the water and left the earth as dry as it was before. He pierced this fog and let the water out, and so fertilized the land. He opened a cave in the earth and allowed to come forth all the varieties of animals with which the woods and prairies are peopled. t He contended with Tawiskara, his brother, and dealt him a blow in the side. The blood flowed from the wound in streams. The unlucky combatant fled toward the west, and as he ran drops of blood fell on the earth and turned to flint stones. The home of loskeha is in the far east. There was his cabin, and there he dwelt with his grandmother, the wise Attensic. This Attensic was a supernatural being who dwelt above the earth when it was covered with water, and when the aquatic animals and monsters of the deep were all the living creatures. She threw herself through a rift in the sky and fell toward the *Sec Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 44;. fThis story of letting the animals out Irom a cave reminds one of the Haida story or the stars stolen from the box. the Cherokee story of the boys who opened the box and let out the tfies. and of the Greek story of Prometheus, who let the fates out of the box. 380 NA TIVE A M ERICA N 6 YMB OLISM. earth. Here a turtle, which dwelt in the primeval waters, offered her his broad back as a resting place. Upon this mossbacked turtle she sat, while a frog, or beaver, or some other animal, brought her mud, from which she, with magic power, formed dry land. It was the daughter of this Attensic who gave birth to the two sons. The birth cost the mother her life. Her body was buried, and from it sprang the various vegetable productions which the new earth required to fit it for the habitation of man. From her head grew the pumpkin vine, from her breast the maize, from her limbs the bean and other useful esculents. There are many myths and traditions which perpetuate the various exploits of this culture hero. The state of New York abounds with localities where his spirit was supposed to have dwelt. The point, however, which most interests us in this con- nection is the extent with which the tradition of the flood was associated with the culture hero of this entire region.* Enough has been said to show that the chief divinity of the Algonkins and Iroquois was very similar. About the only difference is that the imagery of the Iroquois divinity partook of the scenery of the state of New York, while that of the Algon- kins partook of the different regions in which the several tribes formerly dwelt. The same may be said of one of the divinities of the Dakotas. This divinity, railed Ictinike, is represented as a trickster, resembling Glooscap. He answers to the Iowa Ictoinke, the son of the sun-god, and to the Santee Unktomi (spider). Ictcinke, the deceiver, taught the Indians their war customs, but he was also a creator. He created fruits and veg- etables out of parts of himself, as the Iroquois Attensic did out of herself. V. The chief divinities of the Dacotahs are to be identified by the objects of nature in their territory. Catlin gives the myths of the Mandans, a branch of the Dacotahs. The one in reference to the pipe-stone quarry is very interesting. The great spirit at an ancient period called the Indian nations together here. Standing on the precipice of the red pipe-stone rock, he broke from its wall a piece and made a huge pipe, which he smoked to the north, south, east and west. He told them that this red stone was their flesh; that they must use it for their pipes of peace; it belonged to all. At the last whiff of his pipe his head went into a cloud, but the surface of the rock was melted and glazed. Near this spot, on a high rock, was the thunderer's nest. Here a bird sits upon her eggs during fair weather. At the approach of a storm the skies are rent with bolts of thunder, which is occasioned by the hatching of her brood. Her mate is a serpent, whose fiery tongue destroys the *The great Algronkin deluge storv appears to have its analogies in the legends of the Athabascans, the Sioux, the Iroquois, tlie Cherokees. besides various tribes of British Co- lumbia and Canada, the Pueblos, the Navajos and tlie southern tribes. PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES 331 young as soon as they are hatched, and the fiery bolt darts through the sky. Not far away, in the solid rock, are the foot- steps of the thunder bird, the track where he formerly stood when the blood of the buffalos which he was devouring ran into the rocks and turned them red. A few yards away runs a beau- tiful little stream, which leaps from the top of the precipice to the basin below; and on the plain, a little distance beyond, the five huge granite boulders, where was a shrine tor the guardian spirits of the place. Here offerings of tobacco were made, and on the surface of the rock were various marks and sculptured figures, which were totems of the tribes which resorted there. The K'nisteneaux version is, that at the time of a great freshet which destroyed all the nations of the earth, the tribes of the red men assembled at the great rock, called the Pyramid Rock, to get out of the way of the waters. The water continued to rise until it covered them all, and their flesh was converted into red pipe stone. While they were all drownincr in a mass, a young woman, K-wap-taw-w (a virgin), caught hold of the foot of a very large bird that was flying over, and was carried to the top of a high cliff not far off that was above the water. Here she gave birth to twins, but their father was the war-eagle. Her children have since peopled the whole earth. "The pipe-stone is the flesh of their ancestors, and is smoked by them as the symbol of peace, and the eagle's quill decorates the head of the brave." A tradition of the Sioux is as follows: "Before the creation of man, the great spirit (whose tracks are yet to be seen on the stones, at the Red Pipe stone quarry, in form of the tracks of a large bird) used to slay the buffaloes and eat them on the ledge, and their blood running on the rocks turned them red. One day when a large snake had crawled into the nest of the bird to eat his eggs, one of the eggs hatched out in a clap of thunder, and the great spirit catching hold of a piece of the pipe-stone to throw at the snake, moulded it into a man. This man's feet grew fast in the ground, where he stood for many years, like a great tree, and therefore he grew very old. He was older than a hundred men at the present day. At last another tree grew up by the side of him, when a large snake ate them both off at the roots, and they wandered away. From these have sprung all the people that now inhabit the earth." This tradition of the tree and the serpent gnawing at the root of a tree, reminds us of the Scandinavian myth. According to this mvth the ash tree was the tree of existence. This grew out of Niffleheim. Its roots were in Nidhogg, and the fountain Urdur-fount was near its roots. The great eagle oerched on its branches, but the serpent gnaws at the roots in Nidhogg. The giant Hraesvelgur sits on heaven's edge, in the guise of an eagle, and the winds rush down to the earth through his outspreading 382 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. pinions. The squirrel, named Ratatosk, runs up and down the- tree and seeks to produce strife between the eagle and Nidhogg. There are so many snakes in Nidhogg that no tongue can recount them. These myths, contained in the Sagas, were put together in Iceland about lOOO A. D., but some of them may have been easily transferred to the red Indians of America. Among the Dacotahs the ash tree was very sacred, the serpent was a great divinity, and the bird resembling the eagle was the chief divinity. These were the symbols of the nature powers and the conception may have arisen as a result of personifica- tion, but the resemblance between the myths of the Dacotahs and the Norsemen is very striking. There is a myth among the Dacotahs which reminds us more thoroughly of the Scandinavian myth. A chart accompanies the myth. On this chart is a tree, which represents the tree of life. By this tree flows a river, and beneath the river is a red star, the morning star. Near this are six stars, called the elm rod. Beneath these are the moon, seven stars, and the sun. Under the "seven stars," the peace pipe and war hatchet. Beneath these the four heavens, or upper worlds, through which the ancestors of the people passed before they came to earth. They are represented by four lines, sup- posed to be pillars. These four heavens are supported by an oak tree. Beside the oak tree are earth lodges and villages. There was a chant or song connected with this chart. It was used by a secret society. The chart was tattooed on the throat and chest of the old man belonging to the order. The picture of the chart and the picture of the ash tree of existence are quite similar.* The tendency to leave signs of their mythology upon the rocks and cliffs, and in the caves, was very strong among the Dacotahs. There is a belief in the Omaha tribe that before the spirit finally departs from men, at death, they float toward a clifT overhanging the Missouri, not far from the present Santee Agency, and cut upon the rocks a picture showing the manner of their death. It is said that these pictures are easily recog- nized by the relatives and friends of the deceased. The place is- called, "Where the spirits make pictures of themselves. "f The thunder god was a being of terrific proportions. It bears the shape of a bird. There are four varieties of this bird, one is black, with a long beak, and four joints to its wings. (Set Fig. 6.) Another is yellow, without beak, but with six quills to its wing. The third is scarlet, and is remarkable for having eight joints to its wing. The fourth is blue, with two plumes of *Sce Fourth Annual Report Ethnological Bureau, p. 84. Also see Mallet's Antiquities, Frontispiece. tThe belief is common among the Omahas and among the Ojibwas that the spirit hovers about tfie grave. On this account food and water are placed at the heads of the graves. Among the Ojibsvas there is a little house constructed over the grave. The food is placed upon the floor within the house, w'hile the image which shows a totem of the deceased is carved upon the gable of the house.— Jo it rji a I oj Folk Lore, March, iSSq, page 11, PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 383 down for wings. When this bird flies, it is hid by thick clouds. The lightning is the flash of its eyes and the thunder the echo of its voice. The house of this e[od is on a mound, which stands on the summit of a hill, and opens to the four points of the compass. Each doorway is watched by a sentinel, a butterfly at the east, a bear at the west, reindeer at the north, and a beaver at the south. He is represented in the human form. His eye- brows are lines representing the sky, from which two chains of lightning zig-zag downward. Here we have the symbolism of the sky worship which pre- vailed among the Zunis, but localized among the Dacotahs. Another divinity of the Dacotahs is called the "moving god." He holds the four winds. He invented the spear and the toma- hawk and gave them to the Indians. His home is in the Fig. 6. — Thunder Bird. Fifj, T.—Heyoka as a Hunter. boulders, and the boulders are always worshiped as symbols of the divinit}\ The stone god Toohkan is another divinity. He is the oldest god. His symbol is the Lingam. His home is the round or oval stone, about the size of a man's head. This is often painted red and covered with swan's down. There is a round stone at Red Wing which was formerly vis- ited by the Dacotahs and painted red as a reminder of the divinity. This stone was thrown into the water by the whites, but was replaced by the Indians. Another stone, near St. Paul,, was painted in a similar way. This has been described by the Rev. H. C. llovey. Rock inscriptions in a cave near St. Paul have been described by Mr. T. H. Lewis. One of these has the shape of an immense bird with drooping wings. See Fig. 6. This was evidently designed to represent this divinity. The feathers in the wings of this bird are drooping, and possibly may symbolize the falling of rain. There is serpent form attached to the head. This may symbolize the lightning. It was evidently designed to represent the thunder bird. A similar figure may be seen in a cave in Allamakee County, Iowa. In the same cave 384 NATIVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. are human faces, with horns rising out of the faces. In the same region are pictures of snakes, animals, canoes and cres- cents. In Reno cave, in Houston County, Minnesota, there are carvings to represent birds and men. One figure represents a man with large hands, to represent clouds, and a crooked head, to represent lightning, and a circle enclosed in a triangle, to represent the sun. See Fig. 8. In Lamoille cave, in Minnesota, there is a man with upraised arms. The upper parts of the arms are in the shape of plants. See Fig. 9. This was a human tree figure. Oonktaghe is the god of the waters. He wears the horns of an ox as symbols of power; but has the human form. See Figs. 10 and ii.J This divinity is niale and female. The dwelling place of the male is the water and the female the earth. The Dacotahs offer sacrifices both to the water and to the earth. It Fig. S. — Liightiiing God. Fig. a.— Human T)-ee. was this god which Carter speaks of as a spirit which dwells under the falls of St. Anthony, in a cave of awful dimensions. The god Oonktaghe taught the Dacotahs what colors to use, but Heyoka told them how many streaks to paint upon their bodies. The use of paint with the Dacotahs was always symbolic. Scarlet or red was always for sacrifice; blue was the symbol of the sky. There was no temple for worship among them. Rites of initia- tion and of purification were common, as among other tribes, but the details were peculiar to themselves. The iniation of warriors was similar to that of the Mandans, and the same cruelties were practiced. The medicine men were sorcerers and acted as jugglers and exorcists. There was a religious society among them that was full of symbolism. The supernatural was always present with them. Everything mysterious was called Wakan, which is identical with the Great Spirit of modern times. The animals were mingled with the human beings. VI. The Cherokees also had their culture hero. This singular people was formerly located in the mountains of north Georgia, PERSONAL DIVINITIES AND CULTURE HEROES. 385 eastern Tennessee and North Carolina, and might be called the mountain people. They were once located on the Ohio river and were probably a branch of the Iroquois, but they were driven south by the Algonkins and became mingled with the Muscogees. Their divinities are not so well known as those ot other tribes, but there is a resemblance between their myths and those of the northern Indians, and yet there was a mingling of the southern system of sun worship with their mythology. We find ourselves on the borders of another system, a system of sky worship, which was allied to that of the cliff dwellers, and yet has the characteristics of the Iroquois and the Algonkin myth- ologies. The best information is that furnished by the collection of manuscripts gathered by Mr. James Moonev, written in the Cherokee alphabet. Mr. Mooney says that the exposition ot aboriginal religion could be obtained from no other tribe so well, J*jKk*.- . ^^^^J.Z-fc^^. tVLlVRE HEROES AND DEIFIED KINGS. 389 CHAPTER XVI. CULTURE HEROES AND DEIFIED KINOS. One of the most interesting subjects connected with American archeeology is the one which relates to "Culture Heroes and Deified Kings." Much has been said about the " Heroes," and many theories have been adopted to account for their origin and history, but as to the kings little has been written, for there seems to be but little known. That there were different classes of divinities v/hich were worshiped by the native races will be acknowledged. Some of them were the personifications of nature powers; others semi-historic human divinities; still others actual historic characters or potentates. It remains, however, for the archaeologists to identify these, and make known the localities where they were worshiped. This is the task which we have set before us in this paper. We shall first take the tes- timony of the historians and see what they say in reference to the "Culture Heroes." We shall next take the testimony of the monuments, and from them endeavor to trace the relation of the "Culture Heroes" to the "nature powers." Lastly, we shall speak of the various statues and images, which have perpetuated the record of the "Deified Kings." In all of these departments we shall seek aid from the study of the myths and symbols. Our object will be to distinguish between the three classes of symbols, those which represent the " nature powers," those which relate to the "Culture Heroes," and those which show that royalty was represented. There may be a difficulty about sepa- rating the first two classes, for the nature powers were often per- sonified, and the element of personality was hidden behind the symbols ; but this is not the case with the third class, for the portraits and decorations of the kings are apparent. We shall give attention especially to the symbols of the Mayas, for it is among them that the statues of deified kings are to be found; but we shall also take the symbols of the other civilized race so-called, such as the Nahuas, by way of comparison. Our chief inquriy will be whether the "Culture Heroes" of these races can be identified by their monuments. I. First let us take the testimony of history. I. The two nations, the Nahuas and Mayas, were for a long time associated together, and borrowed from one another customs and habits, even symbols and mythologies, though the Mayas were much the older, and their culture was really more advanced. 390 . NAllVE AMERICAN SYMBOLISM. Their history may be divided into several epochs or periods, the first period being that of the Maya supremacy, which began before the Christian era. Bancroft says, "It is not likely that the Maya empire in its integrity continued later than the fourth century, though the epoch of its highest power preceded, rather than followed, the Christian era." The second was the Toltec period, which commenced about 647 A. D.; the third, the Chicemec, commenced with the twelfth century, and the fourth was the Aztec period, commencing 1363 A. D. It was during the Toltec period that that mysterious person, called Quetzatlcoatl, appeared and introduced the various arts of civilization, and an elaborate system of religion. He was the great "Culture Hero" of the Na- huas, and the pontiff king of Tulan. He effected many religious innovations, and was distinguished for his opposition to human sacrifice. Temples to his honor were erected at Cholula and in all parts of Anahuac. His reign was a short one. He retired before the machinations of his enemy, Tezcatlipoca. Who he was and where he came from is altogether unknown, yet such was his character that he impressed himself, not only upon the Toltecs and the Nahuas, but also upon the entire Maya race, for there are culture heroes mentioned in the history of all the tribes of Mexico and Central America, though under the different names of Votan, Cuculkan, Gucumatz, and Quetzatl- coatl, according to nationality. Some writers have explained this on the theory that they were only personifications of the great sun divinity, and have compared them to the various culture heroes which have appeared in the early history of all nations. Quetzatlcoatl is represented by the Aztec historians as a white man, wearing a beard and enveloped in a garment covered with crosses, and resembling an European monk or priest. Some have accounted for him by the supposition that two personages have been confounded; one the early "culture hero," an entirely mythical character, another the pontiff king of Tulan, who assumed dominion about 873 A. D. His reign in Cholula lasted about ten years. Others have imagined that some visitor from a foreign shore had appeared and introduced great reformations, and this gave rise to the traditions. Quetzatlcoatl was the great divinity of the Toltecs and repre- sented the more gentle and humane religious tendencies which prevailed among them, and which were supplanted by the cruel and warlike religion of the Aztecs. He was the feathered serpent or serpent bird. We recognize in his name, and in the legends concerning him, the god of the wind or air, which was known in Central America under the varying names of Cuculkan (bird serpent), Hurakan (hurricane), Gucumatz (feathered serpent), Votan (serpent). He was always a serpent, either feathered or flying.* He reminds us ot the beneficent gods of the ancient ♦Reveille's "Native Religions of Mexico." i . 57. 5)j;^s^5ii(^j^MMffi*,^^;vfBiiij0iius^ FEMALE STATUE FROM COPAN. •^f^^sR^ "St '■'-:^-#.s ?^;'L*r.. BACK OF FEMALE ^DTATUti. CULTURE HEROES AND DEIFIED KINGS. 393 world, Dios or Jupiter Pluvius, of the Greeks; Ormuzd,* of the Persians; Varuna, of the Hindoos; Tien, of China, who were embodiments of good. In the Maya traditions the person whose name appears first is Zamna, a son of the chief deity, who taught the people the hieroglyphic alphabet and gave a name to each locality of Yucu- tan. He played the same role here that Votan did in Chiapas. The same events are recorded in the Yucatec, Tzendal, Quiche and the Toltec traditions. According to a Maya tradition, this culture hero came to America and apportioned the land to the people. He came by sea from the east. He built a great city, the city ot the serpents, and became a law-giver and civilizer, the introducer of the Maya culture, and after his appearance was worshiped as a god. Votan was also a divinity among the Mayas. He corresponded m his history to Quetzatlcoatl of the Mexicans. Bancroft makes him the first historian of his people. "He wrote a book on the origin of the race, though at times he seems to be a mythic creation, a sort of mediator between man and God, and at times a sort of legislator. He portioned out the land. He founded Palenque, the future metropolis of a mighty kingdom. He was supposed to be the founder of civilization. He came by sea from the east. He made four mysterious visits. Still he was not the first to appear, for American civilization was already in ex- istence. After his death he was deified, and may be regarded as one of the deified kings. It was in the days of this ancient Maya glory, when Votan and his successors reigned, that the kings played roles, to a great extent mythical, combining the powers of legislators, teachers, high priests and monarchs. Then came a famous personage, bearing a striking resemblance in his traditionary career to the Quetzatlcoatl of the Nahuas, called Cuculkan, whom, some think, was an historical personage, and others imagine to be only a personification of the sun or some of the nature powers. f" There were two distinct cycles of myths in Yucatan. The earlier related to Itzamna, the later referred to Cuculkan. It was a tradition among the natives that the most ancient emigration was from che east across the ocean, the later was from the west. The former was called the great arrival, the other the less arrival. Itzamna was the guide, instructor and civilizer. He was the first priest, and taught them the proper rites to please their gods. He invented the characters or letters with which the Mayas wrote their numerous books. He devised their calendar. As city- builder and king, his history is associated with the noble edifices of Itzamal.t There was a temple at Itzamal consecrated to him as the eye of the day. the bird of fire, Kin-ich-kak-mo — Kin, the *See Lockyer's Dawn of Astronomy, page 6. tBancroft, Vol. 111. p. b\y. tCharnay speaks of finding a gigantic face at the foot of the pyramid at Itzamal. 394 NA Tl VE A M ERICA N SYMBOLISM. sun; ic/i, the eye; ^'al\ fire; vto, sacred bird, the brilliant plumaged guacamaya, the red macay. This was the word adopted as the name of the ruler of Chichen-Itza. Some have derived the name Itzamna from sa/n, early; j'a^n, first; Zanialyam, the dawn, the aurora, the dew, the son of the morning. The symbol which represented this divinity and culture hero was the sun's disk, which shot forth its scorching rays.* There was a temple sacred to him, to which the people resorted, and at high noon spread a sacrifice upon the altar. The moment the sun reached the zenith, a bird of brilliant plumage, which was noth- ing less than a fiery flame, shot from the sun, descended and consumed the offering in the sight of all. His shrine was ex- tremely popular, and to it pilgrimages were made from such remote regions as Tabasco, Guatemala and Chiapas. Four paved roads were constructed to this shrine, from the north, south, east and west, straight to the quarters ot the four winds. f Associated with Itzamna were the four Bacabs, or gods of the winds, each identified with a particular color and the cardinal points ; the first, that of the south, yellow; the east, red; the north, white; and the west, black. The winds and rains from these directions were under the charge of these gods. Bishop Landa says they represented four brothers, who sup- ported the four corners of the heavens, who blew the winds from the four cardinal points, and presided over the four dominical signs of the calendar. Each year in the calendar was supposed to be under the influence of one of these brothers. They were the sons of Ich-chal, the goddess of the rain-bow, who was the wife of the light god and mother of the rain gods, since the rainbow is never seen but during a shower, and while the sun is shining. These four divinities were called "chacs," giants. They were gods of fertility; they watered the crops; they presided over streams and wells; they were divinities whose might was manifested in the thunder. They were represented as enormous giants, standing like pillars at the four cornet s of the earth, and supporting the heavens. They were worshiped under the symbol of the cross, the four arms of which represented the four car- dinal points. This was regarded as a tree, and in the Maya tongue was called the "tree of life." The celebrated cross at Palenque| is one of its representations. There was another such cross in a temple on the island of Cozumel. This was a symbol of the four rain gods, the Bacabs. In periods of drought, offer- ings were made to it of birds, and it was sprinkled with water. The festival to the gods of the harvest occurred in the early spring. In this festival Itzamna was worshiped as the leader of the Bacabs, and an important rite called the "extinction of the fire" ♦The face of the sun may be seen in the shrine at Palenque, Casa No. 4: the'bird on the cross, Casa No. 2; the tree of life and cross. Casa No. j;; the three tablets Cjsa No. i. tChichen was a holy city among ancient cities, p. 353, Landa. See xiii, p. 344. jSee Plates of the crosses at Palenque. CULTURE HEROES AND DEIFIED KINGS. 395 was performed.* The Bacabs were supposed to blow the winds from the four corners of the earth through wind instruments or trumpets. t It was in the second period of the Mayas that Cu- cuikan appeared, and was the culture hero. This period was later than that of Itzamna, though its date is unknown and the sym- bols were different. The natives affirm that there were twenty men, the chief of whom was Cuculkan, that they wore long robes and sandals on their feet, had long beards, and their heads were bare. Cuculkan was the tutelar divinity of Yucatan, as Votan was of Chiapas, and Quetzatlcoatl was of Cholula. His name means "feather serpent," the "mighty serpent."^ He was worshiped in Chichen-Itza, a city whose ruins still rank among the most imposing in Central America. A temple was built in his honcr. It was unlike others in Yucatan. It had circular walls, and tour doors, which were directed toward the four cardi- nal points, with a staircase guarded by serpents. Under the beneficent rule of Cuculkan the nation enjoyed its halcyon days. At length the time drew near for him to depart; he gathered the chiefs together and expounded to them his laws, then took his journey westward toward the setting sun. The people believe that he ascended to the heavens, and from his lofty house he watches over the interests of his adherents. Such was the tra- dition of the mythical hero as told by the Itzas. Previous to the destruction of Mayapan, temples were built to him, and he was worshiped throughout the land. One version of the tradition about Cuculkan makes him arrive from the west and return to the west, while that concerning Itzamna and Quetzatlcoatl was that they came from the east and returned to the east. With this exception the chief divinity and "culture hero" of the Mayas and Nahuas seem to have been very similar. There is another point in which they resemble one another, they all prophecied their return. These prophecies were obscure, but they distinctly re- fer to the arrival of white and bearded strangers from the east, who should control the land, and alter the prevailing religion. These prophecies gave rise to the general expectation, so that the Spaniards were surprised to find themselves welcomed as the divinities whose adv^ent had been foretold. The culture hero of the Peruvians was like those of the Mayas and Nahuas with one exception, he seemed to have been at the outset worshiped as a supreme being.§ Vira Cocha was the name of this "culture hero," and divinity.|| He was the first cause and ground of all things. He made the sun, •formed the moon, and gave her light; he created the beautiful aurora, the dawn goddess; the twilight, whose messengers were ♦Brinton's Hero Myths. See description on page 195. tThe Mandans say that four tortoises vomit out the "rains; theNavajoes that four Swans drained the eartli: the Kiches that four animals brought the maize. tSee Bancroft's Antiquities, page 229, and Native Races. Vol. Ill, page 325. ^See Brinton's Gods of the Kiches, also Native Myths. liMyths of the New World. 396 NAIIVE A MERICAN SYMBOLISM. the fleecy clouds, who, when she shakes her clustering hair, drops noiselessly pearls of dew on the green grassy fields. Invisible himself, the rays of light were his messengers, faithful soldiers, "shining ones," who conveyed his decrees to every part. He was worshiped as a creator. He was not the sun, but was the creator of the sun, the incarnation of the infinite creator. The legend is, that two brothers started from the distant east, and journeyed to the west, and gave names to the places as they passed. They reached the western ocean, and having accomplished all they had to do in this world, they ascended into heaven. Still there is a myth that Vira Cocha was human. At a remote period he ap- peared to the tribes as an elderly man, with white hair and flowing beard, supporting himself on a staft'and clothed in flowing robes. He met the same fate as other wise teachers. According to another myth, he had a host of attendants, white and bearded like himself. When they reached the sea, they walked out upon the waves and disappeared in the west. His name means "foam of the sea." Dr. Brinton thinks that this story is founded upon the personification of the sun, the god of light and of wind. The Peruvians expected the return of Vira Cocha, so that the Span- iards found themselves expected guests in the realms of the Incas as well as in Yucatan. There were "culture heroes" among the other races of South America. In the lofty plateau of the Andes, in New Granada, was the home of the Muyscas, who were skilled in smelting and beating the precious metals, and were fond of agriculture. They attributed their various arts to the instruc- tions of a wise stranger, who came from the east, and whose path led to the holy temple at Sogomoso. His hair was abund- ant, his beard fell to his waist, and he was dressed in long flowing robes. At night he retired into a cave in the mountain, and again reappeared in the morning. His name was Chimizapagua. Another name applied to the hero god was Bochica. He is represented as the supreme male divinity, whose female associate is the rainbow, the goddess of rains and waters, and fertility, fields and child-bearing. There were culture heroes also in Brazil and even in Paraguay, one of which was named Tamu or Zume, called our ancestor, whom the natives regarded as a ben- evolent old man, to whom they attributed their arts. He came from the east, the sun-rising, and went towards the east. The impress of his feet was left upon the rock, and a well-marked path was pointed out here as the path of Bochica in New Granada, The interpretation of these various myths given by Dr. D. G. Brinton is that they were all based upon the personification of the sun or the god of light, since the most of them came from the east, though he does not explain why they went back to the *The culture hero of the Moqul Cliff-dwellers was a personage who appeared poorly clad and was for a time despised, but he introduced many arts, and is now looked upon under the name of Montezuma, as the great divinity and l)enefactor. "^ .„•-«• S^f^:-^ BEARDED KING AT COPAN. BURIED STATUE AT COPAN. CULTURE HEROES AXD DEIFIED KIXGS. 399 east. The strange thing about these heroes is that they all have beards and wear long robes, which are sometimes covered with crosses. They were evidently prehistoric in their appearance, and were worshiped as divinities; and yet when we come to identify them in the monuments, we find few human figures which have either beards, or robes covered with crosses.* II. This leads us to the study of the monuments. Do these anywhere furnish testimony as to the " Culture Heroes," so that we can identify them, and fix upon the localities where they were worshiped? This is an important question, for by the answer we may not only decide as to the difference between the myths and the traditions, but verify history. In taking the testimony of the monuments, we shall consult those authors who have visited them, and made a study of them, among whom Mr. J. L. Stephens is regarded as chief. This gentleman, in 1840, started with his companion, Mr. Catherwood, from New York for Nica- ragua. The two were fortunate enough to strike upon the very localities where the chief cities of the ancient Mayas were situ- ated, some of which had been seen by the Spaniards, but the majority of them were totally unknown to the conquerors. They were surprised at the extent and magnificence of the ruins, but were able to visit many of them, and take sketches of the chief buildings and statues and works of art, and to write out descrip- tions of the same. The ruins were scattered over a wide region ot country, some of them in Honduras (Quirigua, Copan), others in Guatemala (Quiche, Quezaltenago), others in Chi- apas (Ocosingo, Palenque), others in Yucatan (Uxmal, Chichen- Itza, Merida, Kabah), all of them bearing the marks of ancient Maya civilization. Tlie publication of their work made a great sensation, and was for the science of archaeology nearly as im.portant an event as the discovery of America was for his- tory. A few explorers had, to be sure, visited the region before,! and still others followed; but the work of Stephens is the most valuable of all. Bancroft says, "The accuracy of his survey cannot be called in question." It was with great difficulty that the overhanging forest trees were cleared away, and the lines were run out which secured the platting of the various ruins, and the location of the pyramids, palaces, temples and altars, with relation to one another; but it was owing to these measurements that we learn the length, breadth and height of the various pyra- mids, the size of the shrines upon them; also the height and *Charnay discovered sculptured door-posts at Chichen-Itza on which bearded men were depicted. Stephens has described two of the idols or portrait statues at Copan as haviiig beards. Neither of these have crosses on their garments, though there are different kmds of crosses among the symbols. tWaldeck. a French artist, in 18^;: Norman, from New Orleans, in '43; Charnay. the French author, in ';S and again in "78^ Friederichsthal in "41: Capt. Del Rio, i79^: Dupai.x, i8o^ Col. Galindo". governor of the province of Peten. C. A., explored Copan in 1S3;, and published an account in the bulletin of the Societe de Geographic of Paris and in Ameri- can