18 ZIJNI FETICHES. 



will. Therefore iiiak'e I thee the younger brother of the Eagle, the 

 giiiirdiaii and master of the Lower regions, for thou burrowest through 

 till' earth without tiring, and thy coat is of bhick, the color of the holes 

 and caves of earth," etc. 



THEIR POWER AS MEDIATORS. 



Thus it may be seen that all these animals are supposed to possess 

 not only the guardianship of the six regions, but also tlie mastership, 

 not merely geograpliic, but of the medicine powers, etc., which are 

 su]iposed to emanate from them ; that they are the mediators l>etween 

 men and Po-shai-aij-ki'a, and conversely, between the latter and men. 



As further illustrative of this relationship it may not be amiss to add 

 tliat, aside from representing the wishes of men to P(')-shai-ay-k'ia, by 

 means of the spirits of the prayer jilumes, which, it is supposed, the 

 prey gods take into his presence, and which are, as it were, memoranda 

 (like qnippm) to liim and other high gods of the prayers of men, they 

 are also made to bear messages to men from him and liis associated 

 gods. 



For instance, it is believed that any member of the medicine orders 

 who neglects liis religious duties as such is rendered liable to punish- 

 ment (Hii'-ti-ak'ia-na-k'ia=reprehension) by Po-slmiaij-k'ia through 

 some one of his warriors. 



As illustrative of this, the story of an adventure of Mi-tsi, an Indian 

 who "still lives, but limps," is told-by the priests with great emphasis 

 to any backsliding member. 



m(-tsi. 



Mi-tsi was long a faithful member of the Little Fire order (Ma-ke-tsa- 

 na-kwe), but he grew careless, neglected his sacrifices, and resigned liis 

 raiik as "Keeper of the Medicines," from mere laziness. In vain his 

 fatliers warned him. He only grew hot with anger. One day Mitsi 

 went up on the mesas to cut corral posts. He sat down to eat his 

 dinner. A great black bear walked out of the thicket near at hand and 

 leisurely approached him. Mi-tsi dropped his dinner and climbed a 

 neighboring little dead pi«e tree. The bear followed him and climbed 

 it, too. Mitsi began to have sad thoughts of the words of his fathers. 



"Alas," he cried, "pity me, my tiither from the West-land!" In vain 

 he promised to be a good Ma-ke-tsti-nakwe. Had not P6-shal-aij-k'ia 

 commanded 1 



So the black bear seized him by the foot and pulled until Mi-tsi 

 screamed from pain; but, cling as he would to the tree, the bear pulled 

 him to the ground. Then he lay down on Mi tsi and pressed the wind 

 out of him so that he forgot. The black bear started to go; but eyed 



