Tooker] ETHNOGRAPPIY OF THE HURON 89 



hasten the foretold event might be given in these dreams (JR 33: 

 195-197). 



A sort of war god, a little dwarf, appeared to many before going 

 to war. If he caressed them, it was a sign that they would return 

 victorious; if he struck them on the forehead, they could go to war 

 without losing their lives ( JR 10 : 183) . The god of war, ondoutaehte 

 [ondoutaete ( JR 33 : 225) ], a frightful-looking man, might appear to 

 an individual as either a man or woman. In one instance, this spirit 

 was seen by a young man about 30 years old as a woman armed with 

 firebrands and flames. After she had told him that she would burn 

 him, he became furious and threw himself into the fires but did not 

 feel any pain. After several days of singing continually without 

 losing his voice, the spirit that possessed him was questioned. She 

 demanded a set of armor (in the Indian style which covered a man 

 from head to foot), an ensign of a wolf's muzzle, and other war 

 equipment. As these things could not be given her, she appeared 

 a second time to the man holding by its hair a head which she said 

 was that of a certain Iroquois chief. Then, he saw a man's brains 

 and was told that they were the brains of another of their enemies. 

 She said that they could have carried off the spoils of the Iroquois 

 the following summer, but now she would go to the Mohawk where 

 she would be honored. She departed leaving terror in the hearts of 

 the Huron (JR 23: 153-155). ''^ 



Dreams apparently also could dictate friendships. One woman had 

 a dream in which her spirit commanded her to become friends with 

 a Christian Indian woman. In order to accomplish this, she gave gifts 

 to the woman: a dog, asNshe knew that the woman's cherished dog 

 had died, a blanket, and a load of wood, and, finally, she publicly 

 invited both the woman and her husband to a feast (JR 23: 125).^^ 



In some dreams, the manner of preventing an unfortunate outcome 

 was indicated. One man, for example, dreamed tliat he would die 

 in a particular manner unless he offered a feast of two dogs. As he 

 was a Christian, he did not give this feast and 14 months later died 

 in the manner indicated by the dream (JR 21 : 161-163). 



Some dreams that foretold misfortune were enacted to prevent the 

 misfortune. For example, one man dreamed that the Iroquois cap- 

 tured and burned him. A council was called to decide how to avert 

 the misfortune predicted by the dream. The result was that the 

 chiefs had 12 or 13 fires lighted at the place where they burned their 



^ See also below, "Medicine Men" for medicine men dreaming of success in war and 

 note 87, p. 96, for mention of the comparable Iroquois custom. 



** This is probably an instance of ritual friendship, a formal and lifelong relationship 

 between two individuals that entails certain rights and obligations. Such ritual friend- 

 ships may be established on the prescription of a fortuneteller or a dream. In the 

 latter case, the ritual duplicates the dream as much as possible (Fenton 1953 : 119, 

 12.3-126; Shimony 1961 a: 218-224). The Wyandot apparently also had ritual friend- 

 ship (Powell 1881: 68). 



