SWANTON] 



SHAMANISM 



46r) 



Besides curing the sick a sliamim had many other functions, such, for 

 instance, as the location of supplies of food and assistance against ene- 

 mies in war. No matter how far apart they might actually be shamans 

 of hostile towns were in the habit of dressing up to tight each other by 

 means of their spirits. Sometimes they performed for no other rea.son 

 than to show their power. Whenever they did perform their friends 

 fast<>d and helped them sing the si)irit songs, of which tliere are sepa- 

 rate ones for each spirit. All kinds of tales are related of the power 

 of these shamans. Thus it is said that some United States mai'ines 

 were going to cut the hair of a Sitka shaman, when his sjjirit came into 

 him so powerfully that the arms of the big marine who was about to 

 ply the shears were paralyzed and those of the other marines dropped 

 to their sides. 



According to Katishan. the spirits that came to Raven shamans had 

 to he distinct from those that came to Wolf shamans, 

 and it is probable that this held good everywhere. 

 The prominence of sea spirits, such as killer whales, 

 among the helpers of shamans is noticeably less than 

 among the Haida. The sun spirit beloTiged to the 

 KiksA'di, while the sea spirits came partly to Raven, 

 partly to Wolf shamans. Spirits of the crest animals 

 appear usually to have come to shamans of the fami- 

 lies to which the emblems belonged. This is said of 

 the woodworm of the GfuiAxte'di, but it may be that 

 the piohibition applied onl}' to its occurrence as a 

 principal spirit. Certain shamans' spirits call them- 

 selves nJk (loa'ni ("'sick people"). At Killisnoo there 

 was a shaman who said that he had his power from 

 "a big Russian." 



The Nanyaa'yi were so high-caste a clan that their 

 spirits had very high names. One of these was called 

 Curing Spirit (Wudzinc^'xe-j'ek) and another Man-under-the-earth 

 (Antlfi'vi-qa). Although KAcklA'Lk! and Lcjlaya'k! were KiksA'di per- 

 sonal names at Sitka, at Wrangell they and their father LAkitcAne' 

 all came to Nanyaa'yi shamans. The greatest of all the shamans" 

 spirits of this family, however, was Unseeable (Ldjl'ditln), who was 

 said to be chief of all shamans' spirits. He wore a tall hat and sat 

 in the middle of a canoe in which were two other s{)irits. The spii'it 

 in the bow was called Bow-man (CAkaha'di); that in the stern, Stern- 

 man (Atll'gT). 



This spirit first came years ago to an old Nanvaa'vi shaman named 

 Big-killer- whale (Kit-Len). Whenever he said, '* LcijI'ditln's canoe is 

 coming,"' some one would shout. '"Let the Nanyaa'yi fast and change 

 their clothing." After they had done this he said, " To-morrow the 

 chief of the spirits will come ashore.*' Then the shaman dressed as 

 26 ETH— 08 32 



Slianian's 

 mcdirine. 



