452 MEDICINE-MEN OF THE APACHE. 



aiid enter into it treatment of the religious ideas, the superstitions, 

 omens, and prayers of these spiritual leaders, would be to open a road 

 without end. 



As the subject of the paraphernalia of the medicine-men has never, 

 to my knowledge, been comprehensively treated by any writer, I ven 

 ture to submit what I have learned during the twenty-two years of my 

 acquaintance with our savage tribes, and the studies and conclusions 

 to which my observations have led. While treating in the main of the 

 medicine-men of the Apache, I do not intend to omit any point of im 

 portance noted among other tribes or peoples. 



First, in regard to the organization of the medicine-men of the 

 Apache, it should be premised that most of my observations were made 

 while the tribe was still actively engaged in hostilities witli the whites, 

 and they cannot be regarded as, and are not churned to be, conclusive 

 upon all points. The Apache are not so surely divided into medicine 

 lodges or secret societies as is the case with the Ojibwa, as shown by Dr. 

 W. J. 1 loffman ; the Siouan tribes, as related by Mr. J. Owen Dorsey ; the 

 Zufii, according to Mr. F. II. dishing ; the Ttisayan, as shown by myself, 

 and other tribes described by other authorities. 



The Navajo, who are the full brothers of the Apache, seem to have 

 well defined divisions among their medicine-men, as demonstrated by 

 Dr. Washington Matthews, U. S. Army; and 1 myself have seen 

 great medicine lodges, which must have contained at least a dozen 

 Apache medicine-men, engaged in some of their incantations. I 

 have also been taken to several of the sacred caves, in which solemn 

 religious dances and other ceremonies were conducted under the same 

 superintendence, but never have I witnessed among the Apache any 

 rite of religious significance in which more than four or live, or at the 

 most six, of the medicine-men took part. 



The difficulty of making an accurate determination was increased by 

 the nomadic character of the Apache, who would always prefer to live 

 in small villages containing only a few brush shelters, and not needing 

 the care of more than one or two of their &quot; doctors.&quot; These people show an ) 

 unusual secretiveness and taciturnity in all that relates to their inner 

 selves, and, living as they do in a region filled with caves and secluded 

 nooks, on cliffs, and in deep canyons, have not been compelled to celebrate 

 their sacred offices in &quot;estufas,&quot; or &quot;plazas,&quot; open to the inspection of 

 the profane, as has been the case with so many of the Pueblo tribes. 



Diligent and persistent inquiry of medicine-men whose confidence I 

 had succeeded in gaining, convinced me that any young man can be 

 come a &quot;doctor&quot; i- iliyi&quot; in the Apachr liingiiage. which is translated 

 &quot;sabio&quot; by the Mexican captives). It is necessary to convince his 

 friends that he &quot;has the gift,&quot; as one of my informants expressed it; ^ 

 that is, he must show that he is a dreamer of dreams, given to long 

 fasts and vigils, able to interpret omens in a satisfactory manner, and 

 do other things of that general nature to demonstrate the possession of 



