512 MEDICINE-MEN OF THE APACHE. 



ginia in 1007 lie was taken to &quot;a long house, where, on the morning fol 

 lowing &quot; a great grim fellow&quot; came skipping in, &quot; all painted over with 

 coale, mingled with oyle. With most strange gestures and passions he 

 began his invocation, and environed the fire with a circle of meale.&quot; 

 This priest was followed by six others, who &quot; with their rattles began 

 a song, which ended, the chiet e priest layd downe five wheat comes. 

 This ceremony was apparently continued during the day and repeated 

 on the following two days. Gapt. Smith s reception by the medicine 

 men of the Virginians is described by Picart. 2 These medicine-men are 

 called pretres,&quot; and we are informed that they sang &quot;des chants 

 magiques.&quot; The grains of wheat (&quot;grains dc bio&quot;) were &quot;rangez cinq 

 & cinq.&quot; 



Goinara tells us that in the religious festivals of Nicaragua there 

 were used certain &quot;taleguillas con polvos,&quot; but he does not tell what 

 these &quot; polvos &quot; were ; he only says that when the priests sacrifice them 

 selves they cured the wounds, u curan las heridas con polvo de herbas 

 6 carbon.&quot; :i 



While the Baron de Graft enreid was a prisoner in the hands of the 

 Tnscarora, on the Neuse Eiver, in 1711, the conjurer or high priest 

 (&quot;the priests are generally magicians and even conjure up the devil&quot;) 

 &quot;made two white rounds, whether of flour or white sand, I do not 

 know, just in front of u.&quot; 4 



Latitau says of one of the medicine women of America : &quot; Elle com- 

 meiiya d abord par preparer un espace de terrain qu elle netoya bien & 

 qu elle couvrit de farine, on de ceudre tres-bien bluttee (je ne me souviens 

 pas exactement laquelle des deux).&quot; 5 



In a description of the ceremonial connected with the first appear 

 ance of the catamenia in a Navajo squaw, there is no reference to a use 

 of anything like hoddentin, unless it may be the corn which was ground 

 into meal for a grand feast, presided over by a medicine-man. e 



When a woman is grinding corn or cooking, and frequently when 

 any of the Navajo, male or female, are eating, a handful of corn meal is 

 put in the fire as an ottering (to the sun). 7 



The Pueblos of New Mexico are described as ottering sacrifices of food 

 to their idols. &quot; Los Indios del Norte tienan multitud de Idolos, en 

 pequenos Adoratorios, donde los ponen de comer.&quot; 8 



Maj. Backus, LT. S. Army, describes certain ceremonies which he saw 

 performed by the Navajo at a sacred spring near Fort Defiance, Ari 

 zona, which seems to have once been a geyser: 



1 Smith, True Travels, Adventures and Observations, Richmond. 1819. vol. 1, p. 161. 



2 Ceremonies et Continues. Amsterdam. 1735. vol. 0. ]i. 74. 

 :1 Historia de l:is Indias. p. 284. 



Colonial Records of Xorth Carolina, 1886, vol. 1. p. !KIO. 

 5 Mo?nrsdes Sauvages, Paris, 1724, vol. 1. p. :ixf&amp;gt;. 



6 Personal notes of May 2&amp;lt;&amp;gt;. 1881 : conversation with Chi and Damon at Fort Defiance. Navajo Agency, 

 Arizona. 

 Ibid. 

 &quot; Barcia, Knsayo Cronologico, p. 160. 



