306 
among the various tribes there mentioned proves a belief in 
this doctrine, because those sacrifices were offered to atone 
for sin. 
According to the Sioux, bad spirits are sometimes sent 
back to the earth in the shape of animals, to undergo penance 
for their sins;* and the Sacs and Foxes, by parting with 
articles at the graves, believe that they will propitiate the 
Great Spirit for sins committed during the life of the. 
deceased.t 
TII.—Tue RELATIONS BETWEEN MAN AND THE SUPERIOR 
BEINGS OF THE OTHER WORLD. 
(a) What these spirits have done and are doing fur man. 
(1) Creation.—Says Schoolcraft, the Indians seem to have 
but few ideas of the past; one is creation, then nothing more 
until they speak of the Deluge, and then nothing until about 
the present time. ‘heir traditions about creation, hke those 
about the Supreme Being, are such that the central idea is 
plain, and yet they are so mixed with curious surroundings as 
to show that they did not get the idea from the whites. 
The shortness of space forbids my giving many of these 
traditions; reference can only be made to some which are 
specially interesting. 
According to the first race who inhabited Peru, their deity, 
Con, by his word alone, created the world, elevated the moun- 
tains, excavated the valleys, filled the rivers, lakes, and seas 
with water, gave life to man and provided him with the things 
necessary to his happiness. 
The Quiches, of Guatemala, say that there was a time when 
nothing existed; nothing—nothing but silence and darkness, 
except the Creator, Former, Dominator, Feathered Serpent, 
and the heavens, below which all was empty, unchanging 
solitude. Then appeared a vast expanse of water, on which 
divine beings moved in brightness. They said, ‘‘ Harth!” 
and instantly the earth was created. It came into being like 
a vapour, mountains rose above the waters like lobsters, and 
were made. Next, animals were created, and after them four 
men, after three unsuccessful attempts; and then four women, 
while the men were asleep.$ 
Bancroft, in vol. ii. of his Native Races of the Pacific, devotes 
* American Antiquarian, vol. iv. p. 138. 
+ Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, 1879-80, p. 97. 
{ Tschudi’s Peruvian Antiquities, p. 147, &e, 
§ Baldwin’s Ancient America, p. 194, 
