368 



RELIGION 



[b. a. e. 



will of the friendly power is the strict 

 observance of a great variety of proscrip- 

 tions. An important group of these may 

 be combined under the term "taboo" 

 (q. V. )• Among these, furthermore, food 

 taboos are particularly common. Every 

 tribe of America, no matter how scanty 

 their means of subsistence may have 

 been, had certain kinds of tabooed food — 

 that is, food forbidden, either perma- 

 nently or at certain seasons, or on certain 

 occasions. Thus, one division of the 

 Omaha were forbidden to eat the shoulder 

 of the buffalo, while another one was for- 

 bidden to eat the elk; the Iroquois were 

 forbidden to eat the animal from which 

 their family name was taken, and the 

 same is true of Pueblo and other clans; 

 the Eskimo must not eat caribou and 

 walrus at the same season; the Navaho 

 must not touch flesh of the bear, nor the 

 Zuni anything that lives in the water. 



Not less numerous are the taboos of 

 work. These are perhaps nowhere so 

 highly developed as among the Eskimo, 

 among whom work on caribou -skins, 

 seal-skins, metals, ice, and heather is for- 

 bidden under certain conditions. Here 

 belong, also, the taboos of story-telling, 

 and of playing certain games at certain 

 seasons, which are quite common. Of 

 great importance are the taboos intended 

 to prevent the evil effects of impurity. 

 Thus we find a large number of taboos 

 forbidding menstruating women, mur- 

 derers, and mourners from performing cer- 

 tain kinds of work. They must not touch 

 fresh food lest the magic powers controll- 

 ing the food supply may be offended. 



Social taboos, which are very common 

 in Polynesia, are not so markedly devel- 

 oped in America, although the strict 

 secrecy with which certain sacred actions 

 are performed by privileged members of 

 a tribe is akin to this institution. Thus 

 it is forbidden, except on certain occa- 

 sions, for any member of the tribe to 

 touch or even see the contents of sacred 

 bundles {see Palladium), and even then 

 only the keeper of the bundle is allowed 

 to open it to view. While all these 

 taboos are essentially negative in their 

 character, forbidding certain actions in 

 order to avoid giving offense, there are 

 positive acts which are required for the 

 same purpose. Some of these might well 

 be called rules of ethical conduct, al- 

 though the one reason given for them is 

 the endeavor to retain the good will of 

 the wonderful powers of nature. All the 

 numerous regulations which are found 

 all over the continent, and intended to 

 retain the good will of the food animals, 

 and which are essentially signs of respect 

 shown to them, belong to this class. 

 Dogs must not gnaw the bones of food 

 animals, because this is a sign of disrespect. 



The bear, after having been killed, 

 receives marks of reverence; and the 

 first game animals obtained at the begin- 

 ning of the hunting season must be 

 treated with particular care. The com- 

 plicated customs relating to buffalo hunt- 

 ing, and the salmon ceremonials of the 

 N. W. Indians, as well as the whale 

 * ceremonials of the Eskimo, may also be 

 given as examples. Respectful behavior 

 toward old people and generally decent 

 conduct are also often counted among 

 such required acts. Here may also be 

 included the numerous customs of purifi- 

 cation that are required in order to avoid 

 the ill will of the powers. These, how- 

 ever, may better be considered as consti- 

 tuting one of the means of controlling 

 magic power, which form a very large 

 part of the religious observances of the 

 American Indians. 



The Indian is not satisfied with the 

 attempt to avoid the ill will of the powers, 

 but he tries also to make them subservient 

 to his own needs. This end may be at- 

 tained in a variety of ways. Perhaps the 

 most characteristic of North American In- 

 dian methods of gaining control over su- 

 pernatural powers is that of the acquisi- 

 tion of one of them as a personal protector. 

 Generally this process is called the 

 acquiring of a nianito; and the most com- 

 mon method of acquiring it is for the 

 young man during the period of adoles- 

 cence to purify himself by fasting, bath- 

 ing, and vomiting, until his body is per- 

 fectly clean and acceptable to the super- 

 natural beings. At the same time the 

 youth works himself by these means, by 

 clancing, and sometimes also by means of 

 drugs, into a trance, in which he has a 

 vision of the guardian spirit which is to 

 protect him throughout life. These 

 means of establishing communication 

 with the spirit world are in very general 

 use, also at other periods of life (see 

 Black drinh, Dance, Ordeals, Peyote, To- 

 bacco). The magic power that man thus 

 acquires may give him special abilities; 

 it may make him a successful hunter, 

 warrior, or shaman; or it may give him 

 power to acquire wealth, success in 

 gambling, or the love of women. 



While the above is the most common 

 method of acquiring magic power, other 

 means are well known among the Amer- 

 ican Indians, particularly among those 

 tribes in which strong clan organizations 

 prevail. They believe that wonderful 

 power may be attained by inheritance. 

 There are also numerous cases, as among 

 the Arapaho and Blackfeet (Siksika), 

 where the privilege of acquiring it and 

 the control over it may be purchased. 

 Among the American Eskimo the idea 

 prevails that it may be transmitted by 

 teaching and by bodily contact with a 



