398 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1945 



at home some of the fattest meat, even when he was on short allow- 

 ance, on purpose that he might shine on him kindly. "And," he added, 

 "now you have proved to be like an evil spirit, by biting me who was 

 your constant devotee, and are kind to those accursed nothings (the 

 white people) who are laughing at you as a rogue and at me as a 

 fool, I assure you that I shall renounce you from now on, and instead 

 of giving you fat meat you shall get water. I am a respected warrior 

 and as such I scorn to lie — you shall therefore immediately fly above 

 the clouds." 



The psychology here is all aboriginal and fits in with the Natchez 

 belief as described. The connection between the ceremonial fire and 

 the solar fire is apparent. 



Since our American Indians are of remote Asiatic origin, it is inter- 

 esting to note that many of these ideas of the sun are still to be found 

 in Asia. For example, the ancient religion of Japan is known as 

 Shinto or "the way of the Gods." It is essentially a worship of nature 

 gods, especially the sun, and not of ancestors as has sometimes been 

 erroneously stated. 



This ancient worship of nature gods was long thrust into the back- 

 ground by Buddhism, the moral teachings of which contrast with the 

 absence of ethical teaching in Shinto. 



However, since Japan recently started her campaign of conquest 

 there has been a general return to Shintoism as better suited to a 

 militaristic people. It is interesting to read what Sir James Frazer 

 wrote more than 20 years ago : 



The old faith still retains a certain hold on the mind of the people, manifesting 

 itself particularly in that adoration of the Sun which appears to have been from 

 the earliest times a salient feature of the national religion. The absence of a 

 moral code in Shinto is acknowledged by modern native commentators, who 

 account for it by the innate perfection of the Japanese nature, which renders such 

 outward props of morality superfluous. It is only, they insinuate, the inferior 

 races, such as the Chinese and Europeans, whose natural depravity requires from 

 time to time to be corrected by the preaching of sages and reformers. 



Of all the Shinto deities (kamis), the most eminent is the Sun Goddess, the 

 personification of the physical sun. She is described as the Ruler of Heaven 

 and as unrivaled in dignity. She wears royal insignia, is surrounded by ministers, 

 and is spoken of in terms appropriate to personages of sovereign rank. From her 

 the Mikados claim to derive their descent and authority. Yet she is hardly 

 what we understand by a Supreme Being. Her power does not extend to the sea 

 and to the Land of Darkness (yomi), the Japanese Hades. The commission 

 to rule the Heaven was conferred on her by her parents, and did not by any 

 means convey despotic power. Important celestial matters are determined, 

 not by her, but by a Council of the Gods. The heavenly constitution, like its 

 earthly counterpart, on which no doubt it was modeled, is far from being an 

 absolute monarchy. 



The ordinary Japanese name of the Sun Goddess is Ama-terasu no Oho-kami, 

 "the Heaven-shining Great Deity". 



