195 3 J RITZENTHALER, CHIPPEWA HEALTH 243 



Standardized into ritual. As a rule, however, their mark is spontaneity and 

 immediacy . . . One line of development leads from the vision to Shaman- 

 ism. The shaman among Southwest hunters is simply a vision recipient 

 whose experiences have been particularly intense and specialized." Further- 

 more (p. 50), "He flourishes in areas where communal ceremonies are 

 few and where attention is concentrated on the desire for health. His power 

 over disease allows him to produce it as well as cure it, so that a suspicion 

 of sorcery is constantly attached to him. As communal ceremonies arise, if 

 the shaman retains his function, he is likely to be pushed more and more 

 into the background. His healing functions are curtailed as more and more 

 of them are taken over by the ceremonialists, and, finally, he is looked upon 

 chiefly as a sorcerer." Underbill's analysis of the Southwest is, I believe, 

 applicable to the rest of North America. In particular, her picture of the 

 individualistic hunter emphasizing personal rather than group religious 

 participation, focusing his supernatural attention upon good luck and cura- 

 tive rites in the light of the rigors and dangers of the hunt, with dependence 

 on shamans rather than priests is characteristic not only in the Southwest, 

 but to be found wherever the Northern Tradition holds in North America. 

 As to how common and widespread is her evolution of the individual 

 shaman to communal priest and his simple rite into a communal ceremony 

 is hard to judge, but the Navaho seem to be one instance in which this 

 development has taken place, and the possibility of this happening in other 

 cases is certainly worthy of consideration. 



In my search through considerable literature dealing with the attitude 

 of Indians toward disease, I was struck by a rather curious, but recurring, 

 phenomenon. Namely, that there is a tremendously widespread tendency 

 j among American Indians to associate animals with disease. Furthermore, 

 that such associations are as prominent among agricultural tribes as among 

 hunting tribes. This association was first, but rather casually brought to my 

 attention in connection with the guardian spirit. This widespread concept 

 entails the acquiring of a tutelar^' spirit, often by a vision quest. Such spirit 

 or spirits are animal in the great majority of cases, and serve to aid and 

 protect the individual the rest of his life. The protection from and cure of 

 disease is one function. The tie-up between disease and animals is much 

 more impressive in the case of the shaman. The great forte of the American 

 Indian shaman is to cure or harm by calling upon the assistance of powerful 

 spirits which in the majority of cases are animal. Such spirits may be ac- 

 quired through the vision quest as was usual among the Plains and Wood- 



