THE PIMA INDIANS OF ARIZONA. 413 



norl ; Cristobal, Kis-to ; lijnazio, I'-iias ; Maria, Mar-le, etc. It is cer- 

 tain that their religion does not teach them morality, nor does it point 

 out a certain mode of conduct. Each Pima, if he troubles himself about 

 his religion, construes it to suit himself, and all care little or nothing 

 for the life hereafter, for their creed neither i^romises rewards in the 

 future for a life well spent, nor does it threaten punishment after death 

 to those who in this life act badly. They have no priest to counsel 

 them, and the influence of their chiefs is insufficient to restrain those who 

 are evil-disposed. The whole nation lives but for to-day, never thinks 

 of the wants of the future, and is guided solely by desires and passions. 

 They believe in witches and ghosts, and their doctors (ma-ke) claim to 

 know how to find and destroy witches. Almost anything is believed to 

 be a witch. Usually it is a small piece of wood, to which is tied a piece 

 of red flannel, cloth, or calico by means of a horse-hair. Should one of 

 these be found in or near one of the Pima huts, the inhabitants thereof 

 would at once abandon it and move elsewhere. They believe that all 

 sickness, death, and misfortunes are caused by witches. If, therefore, a 

 Pima is taken sick, or loses his horse or cow, he sends for one of the 

 medicine-men, whose duty it becomes to find and destroy the evil spirit 

 who has caused the mischief. The medicine-man on these occasions 

 masks his face and disguises himself as much as i)ossible. He then 

 swiftly runs around the spot supposed to be infested, widening his cir- 

 cles as he runs, until, at last, he professes to have found the outer limits 

 of the space of ground supposed to be under the influence of the witch. 

 Then he and his assistants (the latter also masked) drive painted stakes 

 into the ground all about the bewitched sjiot. These sticks, painted 

 with certain colors found in the mountains, are said to possess the j)ower 

 of preventing the escape of the witch. Now begins the search for the 

 witch ; everything is looked into, huts are examined, fences removed, 

 bushes cut down, until, at last, the medicine-man professes to find tke 

 witch, which usually is the above-described stick, horse-hair and red 

 cloth. Of course, this so-called witch has been hidden previous to the 

 search, by some of the assistants of the medicine-man. It is burned at 

 once, and the uninitiated fondly believe that, for a time at least, they 

 will be free from the evil influences of the witch thus destroyed. Of 

 course, this mode of treatment seldom i)roduces a cure of sick people, 

 but the Pimas know nothing whatever of medicines; their medicine-men 

 never administer anything internally, and the above ceremony is the 

 principal attempt made to cure the sick. Sometimes, for instance, in 

 case of j)ains in the chest or stomach, they scarify the patients with 

 sharp stones or jflace burning coals upon the skin, and in rare instances 

 the patient is placed upon the ground, his head to the west, and then 

 the medicine-man gently passes a brush, made of eagle feathers, from 

 his head to his feet ; after which he runs several paces, shakes the brush 

 violently, and then returns to the patient to repeat, again and again, 

 the same manoeuver. They believe that, ]>y this operation, the sickness 



