BOUHKK.] TASKS OF THE MEDICINE-MEN. 461 



ill our schools has as yet exercised an influence in eradicating this sen 

 timent. 



Strange to say, I was unable to find any observance of lucky or 

 unlucky days among the Apache. The Romans in the period of their 

 greatest enlightenment had their days, both &quot;fasti&quot; and &quot;iiefasti.&quot; 

 Neither was I able to determine the selection of auspicious days for 

 marriage; indeed, it was stated that the medicine-men had nothing to 

 do with marriage. Among the Zapotecs the wedding day was fixed 

 by the priests. 1 In this the Apache again stands above the Roman who 

 would not marry in the month dedicated to the goddess Maia (May), 

 because human sacrifice used to be ottered in that month. This super 

 stition survived in Europe, until a comparatively recent period. Accord 

 ing to Picart the Hebrew rabbis designated the days upon which 

 weddings should take place. 



Herbert Spencer 2 says that the medicine-men of the Arawaks claimed 

 the &quot;jus prima; noctis. There is no such privilege claimed or conceded 

 among the North American tribes, to my knowledge, and the Arawaks 

 would seem to be alone among the natives of the whole continent in 

 this respect. 



In the town of Cumand, in Amaraeapanna, apparently close to 

 Carthagena, in the present republic of ( olombia, South America, the 

 medicine-men, according to Girulamo Benzoni, exercised the &quot;jus 

 priime noctis.&quot; 3 ,_ ^ 



To recover stolen or lost property, especially ponies, is one of theW 

 principal tasks imposed upon the medicine-men. They rely greatly I 

 upon the aid of pieces of crystal in effecting this 1 made a friend of 

 an Apache medicine-man by presenting him with a large crystal of den- , 

 ticulated spar, much larger than the one of whose mystical properties 

 he had just been boasting to me. I can not say how this property of 

 the crystal is manifested. Na-a-cha, the medicine-man alluded to, could 

 give no explanation, except that by looking into it lie could see every 

 thing he wanted to see. 



The. name of an American Indian is a sacred thing, not to be divulged 

 by the owner himself without due consideration. One may ask a 

 warrior of any tribe to give his name, and the question will be met with 

 either a point-blank refusal or the more diplomatic evasion that he can 

 not understand what is wanted of him. The moment a friend ap 

 proaches, the warrior first interrogated will whisper what is wanted, 

 and the friend can tell the name, receiving a reciprocation of the cour 

 tesy from the other. The giving of names to children is a solemn mat 

 ter, and one in which the medicine-men should always be consulted. 

 Among the Plains tribes the children were formerly named at the 

 moment of piercing their ears, which should occur at the first sun 

 dance after their birth, or rather as near their first year as possible. 



1 Dormim, Primitive Superstitions, p. 380, quoting Henvra, &amp;lt;lcc. 3, p. 262. 



a Descriptive Sociology. 



3 Admiral Smyth s translation in ILikluyt Society, London, 1857, vol. 21, p. 9, 



