BULL. 30] 



RELIGION 



369 



person who controls such powers. Ordi- 

 narily its jiossession is considered so 

 sacred that it must not be divulged except 

 in cases of extreme danger, but among 

 other tribes it may be made known to the 

 whole tribe. In a few cases the opinion 

 prevails that such powers exist in certain 

 localities, but can not be acquired by in- 

 dividuals. 



Another means of controlling the pow- 

 ers of nature is by prayer, which may be 

 directed either to the protecting spirit of 

 the individual or to other powers. Ob- 

 jects of prayer may be protection in dan- 

 ger, removal of sickness, the obtaining of 

 food or other material benefits, or a more 

 general and abstract request for the bless- 

 ing of the powers. Many prayers are 

 addressed in fixed form or contain at least 

 certain old formulas. 



Another way of invoking the protec- 

 tion of the powers is through the use of 

 charms (also called fetishes, q. v.). The 

 charm is either believed to be the seat of 

 magic power, or it may be a symbol of 

 such jiower, and its action may be based 

 on its symbolic significance. Of the 

 formerkind are presumably many objects 

 contained in the sacred bundles of cer- 

 tain Indians, which are believed to be 

 possessed of sacred powers; while sym- 

 bolic significance seems to prevail in 

 charms like the stones worn by the North 

 Pacific Coast Indians, which are believed 

 to harden the skin against missiles of 

 hostile shamans, or the magic whip of 

 wolf-skin of the P^skimo, which is be- 

 lieved to have the power of driving away 

 spirits. 



Symbolic actions are also made use 

 of. Such acts are, for instance, the set- 

 ting-up of prayer-sticks (q. v.), which 

 are meant to convey man's wishes to the 

 powers. Often these wishes are indi- 

 cated by special attachments, expressing 

 in symbolic or pictographic manner the 

 thing wished for. Somewhat related to 

 such symbolic actions are also all proc- 

 esses of divination, in which, by a sym- 

 bolic act, the proi:)itiousness of the pro- 

 posed undertaking is ascertained. 



Still more potent means of influencing 

 the powers are offerings and sacrifices. 

 On the whole, these are not so strongly 

 developed in North America as they are 

 in other parts of the world. In many 

 regions human sacrifices were common — 

 for instance, in Mexico' and Yucatan — 

 whilein northern America they are known 

 only in rare instances, as among the Paw- 

 nee. However, many cases of torture, 

 particularly of self-torture, must be reck- 

 oned here (see Ordeals, t'^nn Dance). 

 Other bloody sacrifices are also rare in 

 North America. We may mention the 

 sacrifice of the dog among the Iroquois. 

 Only to a limited extent do we find the 



3456°— Bull. 30, pt 2—07 24 



tendency of considering the killing of 

 game as a bloody sacrifice. On the other 

 hand, sacrifices of tobacco smoke, of corn, 

 and of parts of food, of small manufac- 

 tured objects, and of symbolic objects, are 

 very common. These gifts may be offered 

 to any of the supernatural powers with 

 the intent of gaining their assistance and 

 avoiding their enmity. 



Still another way of gaining control 

 over supernatural powers is by incanta- 

 tions, which in a way are related to 

 prayers, but which act rather through 

 the magic influence of the words. There- 

 fore the traditional form of these incan- 

 tations is rigidly adhered to. They occur 

 frequently among the Arctic tribes of the 

 continent, but are not by any means 

 lacking among others, who believe that 

 the recitation of a short formula may aid 

 in reaching a desired end. In the same 

 way that incantations are related to 

 prayer, certain acts and charms, are re- 

 lated to offerings. We find among almost 

 all Indian tribes the custom of performing 

 certain acts, which are neither symbolic 

 nor offerings, nor other attempts to obtain 

 the assistance of superior beings, but 

 which are effective through their own 

 potency. Such acts are the use of lucky 

 objects intended to secure good fortune; 

 or the peculiar treatment of animals, 

 plants, and other objects, in order to 

 bring about a change of weather. 



There is also found among most Indian 

 tribes the idea that the supernatural 

 powers, if offended by transgressions of 

 rules of conduct, may be propitiated by 

 punishment. Such punishment may con- 

 sist in the removal of the offending indi- 

 vidual, who may be killed by the mem- 

 bers of the tribe, or the propitiation may 

 be accomplished by milder forms of pun- 

 ishment. Of particular interest among 

 these is confession as a means of propitia- 

 tion, which is found among the Athapas- 

 cans, the Iroquois, and the Eskimo. 

 Other forms of punishment are based 

 largely on the idea of purification by 

 fasting, bathing, and vomiting. Among 

 the Plains Indians the vow to perform a 

 ceremony or another act agreeable to the 

 powers is considered an efficient means 

 of gaining their good will or of atoning 

 for past offenses. 



Protection against disease is also sought 

 by the help of superhuman powers. These 

 practices have two distinct forms, accord- 

 ing to the fundamental conception of 

 disease. Disease is conceived of princi- 

 pally in two forms — either as due to the 

 presence of a material object in the body 

 of the patient, or as an effect of the ab- 

 sence of the soul from the body. The 

 cure of disease is intrusted to the shamans 

 or medicine-men, who obtaintheir powers 

 generally by the assistance of guardian 



