426 THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE [eth. ann. 37 



fested itself upon the first introduction of the peyote. As we have 

 seen, there was in the beginning little difference between the beliefs 

 relating to the peyote and those connected with the old Winnebago 

 medicinal plants. Nevertheless the author was assured that hos- 

 tility was exhibited to the new cult from the very start. Would the 

 same hostility have been exhibited had this new feature represented 

 some development from within the tribe ? In other words, what it 

 would be interesting to know, is whether the fact that the peyote 

 was derived from without led to a hostility different in kind from that 

 exhibited toward an innovation developing within the culture itself. 

 No evidence could be obtained that would justify us in explaining the 

 hostility felt by the older conservative Winnebago as due in any part 

 to the fact that it was alien in origin. Certain elements that to-day 

 form an integral part of the most popular of all Winnebago cere- 

 monies were borrowed from the Sauk and Iowa, and the Winnebago 

 realize this and mention it in the introductory myths told in connec- 

 tion with the preparatory rites of the medicine dance. The explana- 

 tion obtained was always the same — that the hostility was due to the 

 fact that the teachings of thePeyote people departed from those of their 

 ancestors and that the Peyote were simply aping the habits and 

 customs of the whites. What seems to have met with the greatest 

 opposition from the older shamans was the denial of the doctrine of 

 reincarnation. The Christian doctrine of the immortality of the soul 

 does not seem to have been felt as a su])stitute at all. One old con- 

 servative assured the author that he had long ago prophesied the 

 appearance of the peyote among the Winnebago. He told the author 

 the following: 



"This medicine is one of the four spirits from below, and for that 

 reason it is a bad thing. These spirits have always longed for human 

 beings and now they are getting hold of them. Those who use this 

 medicine claim that when they die they will only be going on a long 

 journey. But that is not the truth, for when they eat peyote they 

 destroy their spirits, and death to them will mean extermination. 

 If I spit upon the floor, the sputum will soon dry up and nothing wiU 

 remain of it. So death will be for them. I might go out and preach 

 against this doctrine, but it would be of no avail, for I certainly would 

 not be able to draw more than one or two people away from this 

 spirit. Many will be taken in by this medicine: they will not be able 

 to help themselves in any way. The bad spirit will certainly seize 

 them." 



