188 Dr John Scouler on the Indian Tribes 



In like manner, when we hear the term Great Spirit so often 

 used in speaking of Indian superstitions, we are ready to sup- 

 pose that such an expression conveys the equivalent idea to 

 the Indian which it does to ourselves, and that their faith 

 was a simple natural theism. This, however, is very far 

 from being the ease. The religion of the Indian is merely a 

 kind of fetichism, consisting in charms and incantations. In 

 the narrative of Tanner, who lived from his childhood among 

 the Indians, and whose faithful and detailed narrrative is so 

 different from the speculations of certain writers, we find 

 that the religion of the Indian is merely a system of fetichism 

 similar to that which once prevailed among the Finns, and* 

 is found at the present day among the people of Siberia. 

 Among the Indians east of the Mountains, the fetiche, under 

 the name of medicine bag, is well known, and consists merely 

 of some object supposed to be possessed of mysterious powers. 

 Along with this, there is excitement produced by fastings, 

 incantations, and dream s. On the north-west coast the system 

 is similar ; and in a former paper, to which allusion has been 

 already made, there is an interesting account by Dr Tolmie 

 of the superstitions of the Haeeltruk. In the Oregon terri- 

 tory, the term medicine-man is more appropriate than it is 

 to the east of the Mountains ; for, on the Columbia, the chief 

 influence is derived from expelling diseases by means of 

 charms snd mystic ceremonies. 



Connected with the religion of these Indians, their mode 

 of interment deserves notice. It is remarkable, that the 

 simple and natural process of committing the body to the 

 earth, is rarely practised by the American Indians. Among 

 the ancient Peruvians, the body was wrapped up in mats, and 

 interred in a sitting posture, the same posture in which the 

 dead are represented in the picture writings of the Mexi- 

 cans. On the north-west coast, the body is sometimes placed 

 in a box, and deposited in the crevices of the rocks* or put 

 into a canoe, and raised upon props, where it dries, and be- 

 comes a mummy, and so remains until the body and the 

 canoe fall into decay. The custom of burning the body, al* 

 though uncommon, was practised among the Carriers of New 

 Caledonia. Mr Dunn informs us, that, like the people of 



