Sketches From Oldest America 



not meet with success, Toongna has followed them 

 and been the cause of their failure. Should foul 

 weather with heavy gales arise at an undesirable 

 time, Toongna has been the cause. Hence the 

 necessity for some one having the power to expel 

 this evil spirit that afflicts man in such various ways; 

 and the "ongootkoot," rising to the emergency of 

 the occasion by pretending to have the desired 

 power, early became the important man of the 

 tribe. 



"Toongna " seems to have been one of those un- 

 fortunate spirits unworthy of having a history, for 

 if he ever was on earth as a mortal his parents dis- 

 owned him, and no one seems to have the least am- 

 bition to be considered one of his descendants. 



He is simply a nagger of men that has had his day. 

 Under the growing enlightenment of the people, his 

 supposed power is diminishing, and the " karookto" 

 is becoming a thing of the past. 



46 



