ANNUAL MEETING AT SAGINAW. 493 



spread my arms, fairer than the lodge's roof. I will breathe a perfume like 

 that of flowers over thy evening rest. In my bark canoe I will waft thee 

 over the waters of the lake. I will deck the folds of thy mantle with the 

 latest rays of the setting sun." Leelinau drank in with eager ear these 

 magical words. Her heart was fixed; no warrior's son should clasp her hand. 

 She wasted away till she disappeared from her father's lodge forever, but her 

 figure is frequently seen, accompanied by her fairy lover, gliding through the 

 forest of young pines. 



Such stories as these are frequent in Indian lorlge lore. It illustrates that 

 feature of their religious imagination which gives a spiritual life and form to 

 plants and trees. Pike speaks of many trees being worshiped by the Dacotahs. 

 Charlevoix speaks of a tree in the province of Acadia on the seashore, extremely 

 ancient, which was always covered with offerings. Many wonders were related 

 of it and after the earth was washed entirely away from the roots upon one 

 side, it still stood for many years, and after it fell into the sea the same 

 honors were paid to it as long as any part remained in sight. On the banks 

 of the Chata lichee stood a wild fig tree which the natives had consecrated as 

 ^n object of worship. The natives of Carolina held the Yaupon or wild-tea 

 plant as sacred, and claimed that an infirm Indian discovered its virtues in 

 a dream. Bancroft speaks of many of the ancient tribes of Mexico and Cen- 

 tral America offering worship to trees, among which were the cypress, wild 

 calabash and others. Darwin saw a tree near Siena de la Ventana which the 

 Indians reverenced ^ as the altar of VVallechu and suspended offerings of 

 bread and tobacco from its branches. It was surrounded by the bleaching 

 bones of horses that had been sacrified and was a landmark in a dangerous 

 passage. The Chibchas had a tree which they called Huacan or Eoly wood, 

 a large tree, the wood of which does not decay under water. According to 

 their theory the earth was supported by pillars of its wood. Its wood was 

 used by the Peruvians for their idols. The Calchiquas of Brazil worshiped 

 •certain trees which they trimmed with feathers in a similar manner to some 

 of the North American tribes. These trees were such as attained a great 

 size. One of our western tribes ascribed the origin of such trees to eagles' 

 feathers which stuck into the earth as they fell. They regarded all trees 

 with a superstitious awe on account of fire proceeding from their wood when 

 rubbed. 



Many of the mythological stories are curious and interesting. The Brazil- 

 ians have a character called Mani. She was a child that died and was buried 

 in the house of her mother. Soon a plant sprang out of the grave, in the 

 root of which they saw the body of Mani, and which they named Mandioca, 

 from Mani and Oca, house. 



The Ojibways had the legend so beautifully told by Longfellow in Hiawatha, 

 of Mondamin, the Indian corn. The same legend was told by other tribes 

 in different forms. Among the Virginians the red clover, when it appeared 

 in the fields of the white man, was thought to come from the blood of their 

 warriors slain in battle and its blossoms to be colored by this blood. 



Many of the agricultural ceremonies of the Indians originated in these same 

 beliefs. A child's umbilical cord was cut over an ear of corn and the corn 

 planted, typical of the continued life and the never ending circle of existence. 

 The Pawnees sacrificed a female slave at their agricultural ceremonies and 

 while the flesh was warm pressed a drop of blood upon the kernels of corn as 

 they were placed in the earth. At Oajaca the priests devoted themselves to 



