53 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



kan. " He looks at sun, moon, and stars, but knows not who made 

 them, or of what they are composed ; he hears the winds, but, as their 

 nature and source are to him unknown, they are waJcan." 



To the Indian, wind and his own breath are of all nature most like 

 his conception of the spirit force, and so these are regarded as sym- 

 bols, even as embodiments, of the spirit. The principal Creek god is 

 " the Lord of Breath " ; of the Cherokees, " The oldest of the winds " ; 

 of the Choctaws, simply " storm-wind." 



Like the Aryans, the Indians believe in immortality, and perform 

 elaborate ceremonies for the benefit of departed souls. 



Not content with souls and spirits in themselves and in the forces 

 of nature, they give them also to animals ; so that in the dog compan- 

 ion is often the guardian spirit of the Indian. 



As you have already noticed, there are spirits of unequal rank and 

 unequal powers in the Indian animism, but, though a principal spirit is 

 at times found, yet there is no idea of a single all-powerful spirit from 

 which all others come ! 



Now for some examples of the Indian polytheism. Compare the 

 following story with some myths of early Europe. It is given in the 

 words of Mr. Knortz : " When the world still lay in darkness, say 

 the Mixtecas, there appeared a god, 'lion-serpent' by name, and a 

 goddess, ' tiger-serpent.' They went to live on a high mountain, where 

 two sons were born to them, one of whom they named ' Wind of the 

 Nine Serpents,' and the other, ' Wind of the Nine Caves.' When the 

 elder of these wanted amusement, he assumed the form of an eagle and 

 flew about in the world ; but the other changed himself to a winged 

 serpent, in which shape he could fly not only through the air, but also 

 through rocks and mountains." How nearly is this play of fancy like 

 that which in dark Europe created dragons for the fabled knights. 



The Algonquins have a hero-god, Menabuscho, whose remarkable 

 adventures Mr. Knortz recounts at some length. Among others is an 

 incident of the mysterious value of dragon-oil, which we have learned 

 in the Siegfried myth : " Then he (Menabuscho) set out to war against 

 the great chief Pearl-feather, who had slain his grandfather. He 

 shot the serpent standing guard, and with the oil of the royal beast 

 greased his boat, so that without stopping it ran through the fatal sea 

 of misfortune." After death it became the privilege of Menabuscho 

 to lead the souls of Indians into paradise. 



There are numerous myths of the creation of the world and of 

 man ; others of a deluge from which only a single pair, man and wom- 

 an, escaped. 



These few examples give but an incomplete and very inadequate 

 presentation of Indian mythology. But they are sufficient to show 

 the presence of animism, and add another straw to the already accu- 

 mulated evidence that animism is the first definite shape which reli- 

 gious feeling takes. 



