﻿SHAKE 
  RELIGION 
  WATERMAN. 
  503 
  

  

  themselves, 
  becoming 
  suffused 
  with 
  religious 
  emotion, 
  and 
  ringing 
  

   the 
  bells 
  in 
  a 
  perfect 
  fury, 
  and 
  not 
  seldom 
  losing 
  their 
  senses. 
  A 
  

   Saturday 
  evening 
  meeting 
  is 
  often 
  called 
  in 
  the 
  church 
  for 
  the 
  pur- 
  

   pose 
  of 
  curing 
  sick 
  people, 
  and 
  the 
  excitement 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  mounts 
  

   much 
  higher 
  than 
  it 
  does 
  in 
  the 
  Sunday 
  services. 
  

  

  A 
  good 
  deal 
  more 
  might 
  be 
  said 
  about 
  the 
  outward 
  manifestations 
  

   of 
  this 
  religion, 
  but 
  I 
  want 
  especially 
  to 
  speak 
  of 
  the 
  presence 
  

   in 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  already 
  said 
  of 
  a 
  primitive 
  or 
  shamanistic 
  element, 
  

   which 
  has 
  come 
  down 
  directly 
  from 
  their 
  aboriginal 
  life 
  and 
  which 
  

   to 
  me 
  is 
  the 
  interesting 
  thing 
  in 
  the 
  system. 
  The 
  idea 
  of 
  " 
  brushing 
  

   off 
  sin 
  " 
  from 
  a 
  sick 
  person 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  effect 
  a 
  cure 
  is 
  obviously 
  a 
  

   direct 
  survival 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  shamanistic 
  way 
  of 
  curing 
  through 
  taking 
  

   out 
  the 
  disease, 
  or 
  the 
  " 
  pain," 
  as 
  a 
  tangible 
  object. 
  Especially 
  on 
  

   the 
  northwest 
  coast, 
  heathen 
  shamans 
  always 
  operate 
  with 
  rattles 
  

   and 
  dances 
  and 
  songs, 
  making 
  a 
  furious 
  disturbance, 
  and 
  finally 
  

   removing 
  the 
  " 
  pain 
  " 
  from 
  the 
  person 
  with 
  their 
  hands. 
  It 
  is 
  well 
  

   known 
  that 
  shamans 
  and 
  sucking 
  doctors, 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  this 
  region 
  

   but 
  far 
  and 
  wide 
  among 
  the 
  world's 
  primitive 
  tribes, 
  are 
  able 
  to 
  

   remove 
  the 
  pain 
  from 
  a 
  patient 
  and 
  show 
  it 
  to 
  him 
  afterwards 
  ; 
  

   palming 
  some 
  small 
  object, 
  such 
  as 
  a 
  claw 
  or 
  a 
  quartz 
  crystal, 
  and 
  

   appearing 
  to 
  draw 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  tissues. 
  On 
  the 
  northwest 
  coast 
  it 
  has 
  

   been 
  the 
  custom 
  through 
  many 
  centuries 
  to 
  regard 
  illness 
  as 
  due 
  to 
  

   objects 
  or 
  substances 
  within 
  the 
  patient, 
  usually 
  invisible 
  to 
  all 
  but 
  

   the 
  " 
  doctor," 
  which 
  the 
  medicine 
  man 
  is 
  able 
  to 
  draw 
  out. 
  The 
  

   pantomime 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  Shaker 
  operations 
  itself 
  is 
  probably 
  part 
  of 
  

   this 
  primitive 
  style 
  of 
  operation. 
  

  

  I 
  can 
  not 
  resist 
  the 
  inclination 
  to 
  cite 
  here 
  a 
  passage 
  from 
  Swan- 
  

   ton's 
  Haida 
  Texts 
  (Bulletin 
  29 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  American 
  Ethnol- 
  

   ogy) 
  concerning 
  a 
  famous 
  shaman 
  called 
  Tclaawu'nk! 
  This 
  man 
  

   once 
  felt 
  inwardly 
  that 
  the 
  land-otters 
  were 
  coming 
  to 
  get 
  him, 
  to 
  

   cure 
  one 
  of 
  their 
  number 
  who 
  was 
  " 
  sick." 
  The 
  incident 
  which 
  fol- 
  

   lows 
  illustrates 
  exactly 
  the 
  idea 
  current 
  among 
  these 
  Indians 
  in 
  

   former 
  days 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  cause 
  and 
  cure 
  of 
  sickness, 
  whether 
  in 
  land 
  

   otters 
  or 
  in 
  humans. 
  

  

  When 
  he 
  came 
  back 
  from 
  this 
  adventure 
  he 
  saw 
  that 
  the 
  land-otter 
  people 
  

   were 
  coming 
  to 
  get 
  him. 
  . 
  . 
  He 
  told 
  his 
  nephews 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  coming 
  to 
  

   get 
  him 
  that 
  night. 
  . 
  . 
  At 
  midnight 
  they 
  came 
  by 
  sea 
  and 
  got 
  him. 
  . 
  . 
  They 
  

   came 
  in 
  and 
  took 
  him 
  out. 
  . 
  . 
  They 
  got 
  him 
  for 
  the 
  son 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  among 
  

   the 
  land-otter 
  people 
  who 
  was 
  sick. 
  . 
  . 
  He 
  took 
  his 
  drum. 
  . 
  . 
  and 
  they 
  

   started 
  off 
  with 
  him. 
  They 
  had 
  him 
  lie 
  on 
  his 
  face 
  in 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  

   canoe. 
  They 
  did 
  the 
  same 
  thing 
  to 
  his 
  nephew. 
  After 
  they 
  had 
  gone 
  along 
  

   for 
  some 
  time 
  they 
  said 
  that 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  canoe 
  was 
  foul, 
  and 
  they 
  

   landed 
  to 
  clean 
  it. 
  This 
  meant 
  their 
  fur 
  had 
  become 
  wet. 
  The 
  cleaning 
  of 
  

   the 
  canoe 
  was 
  done 
  by 
  their 
  twisting 
  about. 
  Then 
  they 
  got 
  in 
  again, 
  put 
  

   them 
  on 
  the 
  bottom, 
  and 
  started 
  off. 
  After 
  they 
  had 
  gone 
  along 
  for 
  a 
  while 
  

   longer 
  something 
  touched 
  their 
  heads. 
  This, 
  they 
  felt, 
  was 
  the 
  kelp 
  under 
  

  

  