208 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



who usually fare the best of all. There is, however, one custom 

 among them, which seems to evince an opposite disposition. When 

 a man dies, leaving young children who are not able to defend them- 

 selves, his relations come in and seize upon the most valuable 

 property, and particularly the horses, without regard to the rights of 

 the children. The natives acknowledge the inhumanity of the prac- 

 tice, and only defend it as an ancient custom received from their 

 fathers. 



In every band there is usually one who, by certain advantages of 

 wealth, valor, and intelligence, acquires a superiority over the rest, 

 and is termed the chief. But his authority is derived rather from his 

 personal influence than from any law, and is exerted more in the 

 way of persuasion than of direct command. But if he is a man of 

 shrewdness and of a determined character, he sometimes enjoys 

 considerable power. The punishment of delinquents is, of course, 

 regulated rather by circumstances than by any fixed code. Notorious 

 criminals are sometimes punished by expulsion from the tribe or band 

 to which they belong. 



They had formerly, it is thought, a vague idea of a Supreme Being, 

 but they never addressed to him any worship. Their only religious 

 ceremonies were certain mummeries, performed under the direction 

 of the medicine-men, for the purpose of averting any evil with which 

 they might be threatened, or of obtaining some desired object, as an 

 abundant supply of food, victory in war, and the like. One of these 

 ceremonies, called by them Sumash, deserves notice, for the strangeness 

 of the idea on which it is founded. They regard the spirit of a man 

 as distinct from the living principle, and hold that it may be separated 

 for a short time from the body without causing death, or without the 

 individual being conscious of the loss. It is necessary, however, in 

 order to prevent fatal consequences, that the lost spirit should be found 

 and restored as quickly as possible. The conjuror or medicine-man 

 learns, in a dream, the name of the person who has suffered this loss. 

 Generally, there are several at the same time in this condition. He 

 then informs the unhappy individuals, who immediately employ him 

 to recover their wandering souls. During the next night they go 

 about the village, from one lodge to another, singing and dancing. 

 Towards morning they enter a separate lodge, which is closed up, so 

 as to be perfectly dark. A small hole is then made in the roof, through 

 which the conjuror, with a bunch of feathers, brushes in the spirits, 

 in the shape of small bits of bone, and similar substances, which he 



