398 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



Mr. Alanson Skinner, in describing the Red Bean Dance of the 

 Iowa Indians, says that among them this ancient rite far antedates 

 the practice of eating peyote {Lophophora Williamsii) which they 

 have more recently adopted. According to their traditions the society 

 of red-bean dancers was founded by an Indian who while fasting 

 dreamed that he received the secret from the deer : " for red beans 

 (mescal) are sometimes found in deer's stomachs." The beans were 

 prepared by first placing them before the fire until the}^ turned 

 yellow. Then they were taken and pounded up fine and made into a 

 medicine brew. The members then danced all night. A little after 

 midnight they began to drink the narcotic decoction, and continued 

 to drink it until daybreak, when its effects became apparent in caus- 

 ing them to vomit. After vomiting and praying repeatedly they 

 believed themselves ceremonially cleansed, the evil being having been 

 expelled from their bodies. Members of the society, when they went 

 to war, tied some of these red beans around their belts, deeming them 

 efficacious as a charm to protect them from injury. The mancacutzi 

 wariihawe, or " red-bean war-bundle," was regarded by the society as 

 a sacred charm, the possession of which brought success in war, 

 hunting, especially for the buffalo, and in horse racing.^ 



These beans are often confused with those of certain species of 

 Erythrina, which are sometimes sold in their place in the markets of 

 Mexico, but which are not at all narcotic. Sometimes both kinds are 

 found mixed together in the same package. Both are known alike 

 under the names colorin, frijolillo, and coral bean, on account of 

 their similarity; but in southern Texas the seed of Broussonetia is 

 known as Indian Bean, or mescal bean. The plants of Broussonetia 

 and Erythrina do not in the least resemble each other, and there is no 

 possibility of confusing either the flowers or the legumes of the two 

 genera; so that when adulteration of the narcotic beans occurs it is 

 undoubtedly intentional. 



MEXICAN PLANT WORSHIP. 



From the accounts of early writers it appears that the ancient 

 Mexicans attributed to all plants a spirit not unlike that of animals 

 or even of man himself. To certain plants special honors were paid ; 

 others were avoided with dread; while others, with no pronounced 

 virtues or evil properties, were little noticed. An example is given 

 by a Mexican writer of the homage paid to a certain tree cut down 

 in order to form a bridge over a stream in Michoacan. The people 

 of the village were called together by the governor and a religious 

 service was held about a cross erected for the special ceremony, 

 with candles burning before it and choristers assisting. A pro- 



1 Skinner, Alanson. Anthrop. Papers, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 11 : 718. 1915. 



