50 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



t ' 



Then- returning to 

 the village he an- 

 nounced his oppo- 

 sition to the con- 

 tinuance of the 

 ceremony. As he 

 was already a dis- 

 tinguished warrior 

 and the son of the 

 chief's sister, which 

 according to the 

 Pawnee system, gave 

 him the Jiereditary 

 right to succeed his 

 uncle, many strong 

 men rose in his 

 favor and pledged 

 their future support. 

 The name of this 

 man was Petahlay- 

 shahrho. In 1821 

 he visited Washing- 

 ton, D. C, and a 

 medal was presented 

 to him by the ladies 

 of that city in recog- 

 nition of his humane 

 deed. Nevertheless, 

 the ritual of the sac- 

 rifice was still regu- 

 larly performed as a 

 formal matter and 

 many conservative 

 individuals looked 

 forward to a revival 

 of the sacrifice itself. 

 In anticipation of 

 this, ^'ows to furnish 

 the accessories were 

 still made. 



Thus it was that a 

 man l)y the name of 

 Whitc-liorse, wliile 



the tribe was still in Nebraska, made a 

 vow that if he were fortunate during the 

 year he would give the thongs for the 

 next Morningstar sacrifice. Things came 

 his way and he did as he had promised, 

 but the thongs did not serve the purpose 

 intended because the sacrifice had been 

 discontinued. He was bound to pre- 

 serve them however, and at his death 

 passed them on to his family and thence 

 to the keeping of the American Museum. 

 To the serious-minded reader this 

 human sacrifice ceremony of the Pawnee 

 presents some interesting problems. So 

 far as we know there was nothing like it 

 among the other Plains tribes, nor any- 

 where else in the United States and Can- 

 ada, except possibly in Arizona and New 

 Mexico; but in ancient Mexico we find 

 some curious parallels. The Pawnee 

 captive was tied upon a rectangular 

 frame, which according to descriptions 

 consisted of two upright poles and five 

 cross pieces. Four of these cross pieces 

 were in the nature of steps, to the top 

 one of which the feet were bound, and 

 the arms were made fast to the fifth 

 cross piece. Scaffolds of this kind are 

 pictured in Mexican codices. The idea 

 in the Pawnee sacrifice was to offer 

 the victim's blood and to cut out the 

 heart, which was also the Mexican 

 idea. Again, the Pawnee ritual required 

 that the captive should be induced to do 

 everything of her own free will, even 

 to mounting the scaffold; this also has 

 its Mexican counterpart. The Pawnee 

 captive was shot full of arrows; the 

 Mexican codex sketches show many ar- 

 rows sticking into the sacrifices. P'inally, 

 there was an astronomical idea involved, 

 and there is reason to believe that this 

 also was characteristic of the Mexican 



'IhoiiKs use.) l,y III,. I'awnw liulians lo lie I h«! hair of I ho maiden to be sacrificed. 

 Th.-y an; made of J.ulfalo hid... painted red as a si^n of blood, and small deer-hoof 

 rallies are allaelied lo the ends. Underneath the beadwork decoration a small quan- 

 tity of biilfalo hair is tied for olisc-ure ceremonial reasons 



